First off I should say I can not believe yet another year has gone by! 2011 was, to say the least, a very interesting year. There were many ups and downs that brought along both triumphs and “defeats”. One thing I am very proud of myself for having accomplished throughout the year though are the realizations I’ve made about myself and the way I live my life, as well as the type of people I allow into it. I found myself taking a lot more time to reflect on why certain negative situations turned out the way they did and how to make positive changes in my life to learn from them.

Now that we’re officially in the new year I’m carrying over what I’ve learned and have vowed to make 2012 a healthy and happy one. Yes, I know, it sounds cliche but I’m really starting to realize that your own happiness truly does start from within. So with that on to my resolutions..

1) Start my journey into a career..

Check! I can proudly say that as of December 27th that this has been accomplished. Yes, I know it was before the new year but I wrote it down as my number one on my resolution/goal list a week earlier so to me it still counts. After graduating college in May and doing some traveling in June/July I started my 5 month job search and was lucky enough to land a position as a Merchandise Assistant for a pretty well known company in the Milwaukee area. Though I don’t start for another week I’m  all sorts of excited to be putting my degree to use and moving on from my part-time job as a waitress(don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with that). Hopefully all goes well!

2) Hit the gym..

OK, so I’m sure this is probably 6,473,829 other people’s resolution as well but as I was telling a friend the other day the only thing that can make this not as cliche as it sounds it to actually stick to it! My goal is to do some sort of physical activity at least 3 times a week whether it be in a gym or not I don’t really care. I know you’re supposed to have 20 mins of some type of cardio 5 to 6 times a week but I’m sticking to the “baby steps” route and taking things slow. I’ve had a gym membership for a year now and while I have been going a lot more than I ever use to (which was never..) I’d like to make it consistent. I’m prone to going for 3 months n then disappearing for another 3 (then repeat).

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3) Turn healthy eating into my lifestyle, not one that I just read about..

I’ve been wanting to make changes in my diet for quite some time and have been waiting for the “right” moment. I’ve made subtle changes such as cutting out sodas and most energy drinks (I was seriously addicted to Red Bull), and drastically cutting back my intake of fast foods. But when the holidays arrived I found myself back down my old path, all that holiday cheer had me living, eating, and drinking without a care in the world. So with the new year I’ve vowed to take all the information about healthy eating and living I’ve been researching and put it into use. I’m not looking to lose weight or try out some crazy fad, crash diet, I just want to generally improve my quality of life. I want to feel better from the inside out, not weighed down and sluggish from the crap I put into my body. And though I’m only 22 I’ve seen the results of excessive eating, drinking (especially alcohol), and other unhealthy habits and don’t want those to be the habits I incorporate into the rest of my life.

4) Pay more attention to Beauty n Things!..

One of the things I’ve come to a realization about this year is that I’m the type of person that waits for “the right moment” to do things..or in other words a procrastinator. For example, this blog. I’d been reading beauty blogs for who knows how long and had wanted to create my own for a good 6 months before I actually did due to the fact that I was waiting for “the right time” to come around. A time when I wasn’t so busy, or had more energy, or was feeling more inspired, or whatever  other excuse I could find. Then I realized there never was going to be a perfect moment to create this blog, or do anything for that matter. Obviously I finally sat down and took the time to create Beauty n Things and boy am I glad I finally did!

It’s been almost 5 months (where does time go?!) now since I’ve started this blog and keeping up with it is something I really enjoy doing. However, I still find myself spending more time reading other peoples blog vs working on my own. While I do intend on keeping up with other the other ladies (and gents) in the beauty blogging world I’d really like to keep Beauty n Things more involved  by committing to 1 or 2 posts per week. This will be a bit of a challenge for myself since I’ll also be getting used to a new work schedule and trying to fit my fitness routine into that too but I’m very much up for it!

I really hope I can stick to the majority of these resolutions in some way, shape, or form. I know motivation seems to lessen as the months go on but these are all things I’ve wanted for a long time, so wish me luck!

What are your resolutions for 2012?

xx,

Mariana