New year, new goals, new challenges

Ah! A new year! What a perfect time to pretend everything is new, and that this year you will become You v.2.014. Right? Ha. Except that it is 2 weeks into 2014 and I have already failed my resolutions (particularly not drinking for the month of January. But that was just silly. They call it a drinking city with a music problem for a reason). Fortunately, I don't believe in resolutions, and therefore don't experience major feelings of failure upon - erm - failing.

Side story relating to said city - I experienced my first Music City New Years Eve with some awesome people in Nashville, watched the music note drop on Broadway with Hank Williams Jr. and 75,000 of my closest friends (almost alone due to some questionable/champagne-induced separation logic until one friend plucked me out of the crowd!) There was dancing, there were photos, there were sequins, pizza, and great friends. Therefore, it was perfect.

Since January 1st (or 2nd - let's be honest, my brain wasn't 100% on the 1st), I have been feeling a little reflective. And a little restless. A couple big projects just wrapped up at work, the weather's kinda crummy and overcast (and cold! -12C tonight! Yes my blood is thinning), and I've really been trying to plan my next adventure. In the near future I will be running my second half marathon on April 12 in Austin, Texas! Excited to push myself and improve, but it's still not enough...

Also looming is the fact that my official contract in Nashville will come to an end on October 12 of this year. And if I've learned anything about time it's that those 9 months will fly like none before...and I realistically need to make some decisions before 11:59 on October 11. So what is it? Without getting into unknown details that I should probably flesh out before publishing for the world (or the 50 people who read my blog), let's just talk about goals.

Back in October, I set myself some specific goals for my second year. I'm happy to say I've already completed 1 (football game), and have concrete plans for at least 3 more. But when I think about my future, and where I want to go, it gets a little harder. The funny thing about growing up is, your goals start to become a little less S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely, for those of you who didn't go to business school or sit through a terrible life planning class in high school), and a little more ambiguous. Case in point - I always had a very specific goal of "moving someplace cool before settling down". Done. Check. New goal? In my next 5 years I would love to find a project that excites me and utilizes my talents and passion. Is that a career? A new business venture? A blog? A family? I would love to deepen and broaden my circle of friends. I want to take risks. And I want to leave it all behind, get myself out of my Type-A planning head, and spend some time finding myself.

Oh - there's the S.M.A.R.T. goal: In the next 5 years, I would like to discover the meaning of life and the true source of happiness. Sounds like a challenge.

New Years Eve with Sarah and Kristen, my half marathon
partners in crime pain. The after picture will likely
not be this attractive.