Hello! Last year, around this time, I wrote a list of 8 things I hoped to add to my life before my next birthday. Well, what do you know - that birthday is now looming a mere ten days away, so I thought I would revisit last year's list and see how I got on... here are 2016's 8 resolutions:

1. Take more photographs

My external hard drive is most certainly filling up and I'm trying to document as much as possible before our little squidge arrives! I finally got round to printing some wedding photos and as we've started a baby book I've also tried to take more photos to add into this for our little one to read in a few years' time. So yes, I'd say this was 100% achieved - thank goodness!

2. Resume yoga practice
Ha. Ok. This was a complete failure... although I did some low impact workouts and swam a bit, yoga just didn't happen. And it's unlikely to happen within the next week... 

3. Be more mindful

This is still so difficult. I'm absolutely addicted to my phone and it's all too easy to fall into a work-home-work routine without stopping to take a moment to myself. But I have made an effort; I wrote about it here, how I'm using my addiction to Instagram to enjoy the moments that make up my days.

4. Accept more social invitations

Yes - I left my comfort zone on several occasions and have even gone out for (non-alcoholic) drinks while sporting a bump! 

5. Travel

I didn't really achieve much travel through 2016, although I did visit York, Brittany and went home to Luxembourg more frequently. But in terms of discovering new places I fell woefully short. 

6. Start driving lessons

No... I know, ok. I know I ought to bite the bullet and just go for it. But it still freaks me out a little! Hopefully I'll change once I've had bubba and become desperate for some independence!

7. Make more time for reading

Yes, I read 48 books in 2016! Not quite the 50 I hoped for, but close enough. I'm trying to keep the reading going throughout 2017, as I find it really helps to settle my racing brain and thereby helps with my third goal of mindfulness!

8. Turn our flat into a home 

Well, I've taken baby steps...quite literally. It's still just a jumble of rooms filled with clothes and books and not much else, but I've got a few photographs printed out and am in the process of getting the bedrooms just how I want them, especially as my nesting instinct has begun to kick in. It's mostly a functional home though, rather than an aspirational one, but hopefully I can put together a cute nursery and living space to accommodate all our baby paraphernalia!




So, bearing these in mind, here are nine things for my 29th birthday...

1. Practise more photography - eventually being able to charge for it?
2. Live in the moment
3. Scrapbook/document our family life
4. Grow my Instagram
5. Develop my cooking repertoire
6. Try to accept my body - it has just grown a baby, after all...
7. Look after my health
8. Spend more time with family
9. Learn. To. Drive!

As always, rather than strict goals, I see these as guidelines - little things that might add value to my life, if I invest some time in them. I always think goals put too much pressure on me and that takes away any enjoyment I might find while trying to achieve them!

What do you think about my birthday resolutions? Is this something you do?

Love Dani
xoxo