It's Resolution Time!

Crack open the champagne! The time has come to think back on the year and come up with crazy resolutions for the next. I've always been terrible about sticking to my resolutions, but I still make some anyways. Who knows, maybe this is the year things stick.

 1. I want to rekindle my love for photography and blogging, so my first goal is to finish my 365 lifestyle project. That means at least one picture and one post a day (or to catch up on the days I'm not in class for the month of January). I do need to put this new camera to good use.

2. I lost 60 pounds in 2010, but I've managed to put 50 pounds back on over the last two years. I went through huge adjustments in 2012, but the excuses have run out. I want to lose 40 pounds by my 25th birthday. I have 9 months to make the best of it. But if I fall short, I'm not going to beat myself up too much. It's a very ambitious goal, and pushing the limits of realistic weight loss. Also, when I lost the weight initially I had some aid from undiagnosed hyperthyroidism. This time around, I have no thyroid and very little metabolism control. But damnit, I can do my best instead of not trying at all. My first step is to go to the gym 15 minutes each day I'm not in class, and to add 5 minutes to that every other month.

3. A couple of years ago my parents bought me a record player for Christmas. I bought so much vinyl, but since moving away from two record stores I've stopped buying and the player has been collecting dust. It's such a beautiful piece in my living room that deserves use, so I want to buy at least one new record a month. I started this one already, getting Elliot Smith's Either/Or over the weekend. My love has been rekindled!

4. Johnny wants to go to Europe in 2014, but tuition takes up so much of my money. I need to save more if I want this to be a reality. I can probably save an extra $1000 a year if I stop buying so many impulse items and use my espresso maker at home instead of going to Starbucks before work and buying clothes every time there is a sale.

5. Finally, I want to focus more on school. I have four MBA classes left and six MS/Marketing classes before I graduate, so I need to make every grade count. And since I'm part-time now, I can put more focus on each class instead of spreading it out among four classes a semester. I'm so close to reaching the 'graduating with honors' mark...

Johnny actually studies. I take pictures.

That's an ambitious list, but I'm confident I can pull it all off. Do you have any resolutions? Are any of them major life changes? Together we can help keep each other motivated.

Hello there!

Hello! I'm Sarah, or Ruby. I got that nickname from the signature red hair I had throughout college. The name has stuck around even after.

The boring stuff: I live in Tampa, Florida (and it's not paradise like the vacationers think). I go to grad school (dual degrees) and I work as a researcher for an economic development non-profit. I know way too much about MSA demographics thanks to this. The interaction between school and work plays a huge role in my life right now.

The fun stuff: I've been blogging on and off for years, including a gig for an urban planning and landscape design blog (check it out here), but nothing has ever stuck. I really want to change that, and I thought the best way to do that is to start a /365 lifestyle project. My life has been pretty well-documented through my photographer friends, but as they become busy with work and building their own lives the photos have slowed to a trickle. 2012 was such a great year, and I have very few pictures to remember it by. Armed with a new camera, I'm ready to document this year, and hopefully more after. This is one of my goals for 2013, and I hope you enjoy it. Day 1 starts on January 1st, but I couldn't wait to start writing until then.

Miscellaneous: I live with my boyfriend, Johnny. He's a pretty big part of my life, so he'll be in many pictures. I really enjoy cooking, but I'm never home to cook. I hate living in Florida. I live for hispanic foods of all kinds, and I'm probably the most caffeinated person in the Tampa Bay area. I'm also a huge music nerd and worked in a record store during college.