Some Goals for 2017

Hello 2017! its pretty good to see you. Almost done with month one of you, so far you are alright, the world is pretty scary right now, not gonna sugar coat that but, I do hope that some good will come out of this year. At least personally.

Now, that we are almost done with the first month of 2017 I wanted to list some goals. Some I have already started working on since the beginning of the month and others I want to start pursuing too. I am hesitant to call them "resolutions" because that kinda sets me up for failure but, I have some goals that I want to try and keep simple and attainable so maybe I can see some progress towards them instead of getting overwhelmed.

1. Blog A Little More In 2017
I feel as though I need to put this here because I really didn't get a lot of blogging done in 2016, not nearly as much as I would have liked to. I had phases in my life last year where I feared about giving up on blogging. It wasn't yielding any sort of results for me. I don't have many interactions here after a couple years of doing this, and I don't mean just analytically speaking I mean just conversations and connections. I wrote a few posts but most of them don't have comments on them. It discouraged me because I was putting quite a bit of work into the things I wrote and I worked on improving my photography but I felt like I was doing it for nothing. There is still a small part of me that feels that way. Though, I know this shouldn't stop me. Besides blogging more and creating more content, I also should be reaching out more on social media and connecting with other blogs and perhaps then I will have more blogger friends to talk to.

2. Practice My Lettering and Calligraphy
I was very lucky and grateful to receive an Ipad pro and apple pencil for Christmas this year with it I have been practicing digital lettering and cursive writing as well because mine isn't that good at all.
On the app Procreate I downloaded a sheet of letters and have been practicing with them for a little while. I want to be able to letter and use calligraphy for designing things and for my photos on the blog as well.

3. Practice Japanese
For the past couple years I have taken mini stabs at learning Japanese. I have always been interested in Japanese culture and language ( yes, I am an anime and manga fan as well) and have learned a tiny bit along the way. This year I want to learn a little bit more, maybe speak a full sentence maybe?

4. Move More// Have More Adventures
This counts those healthy fitness goals. I am simplifying mine for multitude of reasons so I just want to move more. That means going to the gym and if I can't make it to the gym I want to get off my butt and walk more, try kayaking this summer, hike. I live in Maine I should be exploring this beautiful state more instead of huddling up inside most of the time. I had quite a few adventures last summer to Peaks Island and to Long Island as well. Those were so fun and I would like to do more things like that this year.

5. Try and Build My Confidence
One of the biggest things holding me back from everything is me. The little voice in my head that tells me I can't do a damn thing right, the one who tells me I am ugly and not enough or anything special. I want to try and give a little self love, maybe read a few books on it and put it into practice. By the end of this year I want to not hate myself quite as much and not be so hard on myself.

What are your goals for 2017?

Halloween at Acres Of Wildlife

Hello all, I just came back this afternoon from camping! and I wanted to share my experience from there!
Annually, at the end of September Acres of Wildlife in Baldwin Maine puts on a special Halloween themed camping weekend. There are a variety of different activities and besides that you are encouraged to decorate your campsite for trick or treating!

It was actually quite chilly this weekend. The temperatures dropped from the low 80s down to around 50 and 40 degrees. Pretty cold for sleeping at night but we made it! Even if we had to wear beanies to bed.

Some of the activities Acres offers are carving your own pumpkin, making a sundae, tractor hayrides through camp(for kids), making jump-rope, a haunted walk and a dance. But, if none of those things are appealing its still just as fun to chill out at the campsite or walk around and enjoy nature and look at how others have decorated their campsites. There were some really cute decorations out. We also took advantage of making sundaes. They were very yummy.

(Above is Brittney modeling her sundae which was arguably the prettiest sundae out of the three of us.)
I love to decorate things, especially for Halloween because it's my favorite holiday, the featured photo at the top of the post was our finished result at night. We focused a lot on lighting. We also had a small graveyard and a couple of skeletons all named, ( Barbra, Steven, Yorick and Captain Pickles).

Trick or treating was a blast our campsite was extremely popular. However, it didn't last too long we severely underestimated the amount of candy we would need and ran out pretty quickly. I also took this opportunity to dress up as well in my skeleton garb, though I decided to keep my halloween cardigan on because it was very cold. I also found some stickable glittery bats to adorn myself with.  

After trick or treating was over we all sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows for smore's and also some hot-dogs. I love the smell of fire and smoke, it just reminds me of the fall season. 

Overall, it was a really great time and I would highly recommend going if you get the opportunity.  

Hope you are all having a great week! 

See you soon! 

- A