Reflections on 2009 + Intentions for 2010

Hello, my dears, and happy belated New Year! After taking a break for the holidays and a vacation to Key West, I am finally getting back into the groove with blogging, twitter, etc. The past couple weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflecting upon the past year as well as thinking about my intentions for the new year.

2009 was quite an exciting year. Among other things, I:

• Became engaged to my best friend and the love of my life and began planning a wedding
• Took an amazing trip to California during which I toured a vineyard and tasted wine straight from the barrel in Napa; dined on ocean-fresh oysters at San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace; and climbed the rocky coastline of Northern California's Humboldt Bay
• Said goodbye to urban apartment living; and
• Moved, with my fiancé, to the picturesque town of Annapolis
• Became a homeowner and enjoyed turning our condo into a cozy sanctuary
• Started this blog and discovered an incredible blogging community
• Re-committed myself to living a creative life and took steps toward exploring my creativity more fully
• Visited art museums on the West Coast (SF MoMA), the Midwest (The Art Institute of Chicago), & the East Coast (various)
• Joined a gym, began running 4-5x/week, and started a home yoga practice
• Took advantage of my spacious new kitchen by making all sorts of delicious home-cooked meals, and grew my knowledge of ingredients, techniques, flavors, etc.
• Deepened my commitment to using organic, local, and seasonal products
• Celebrated New Year's with my family and fiancé in Key West

After much pondering, I have decided that my word for 2010 is SAVOR, meaning "to appreciate fully; enjoy or relish." I wish to greet each new experience with gratitude, and to fully appreciate, enjoy, and relish what each day has to offer. Guided by this intention, I will:

• Get married and savor all of the moments that will make up that day (and every day with my husband thereafter!)
• Honeymoon in Italy: Cinque Terre,Tuscany, Florence. Savor the art, architecture, food, wine, and scenery.
• Continue to grow my cooking skills and take better advantage of the fresh ingredients at local farmer's markets. Savor both the cooking process and the end result!
• Savor artist's dates on a more regular basis (I really want to make it a priority to do at least 1 per week!)
• Savor the creative process via various projects and activities
• Continue to grow in my yoga practice and savor all of the benefits to my mind and body
• Savor good health and learn more about about keeping my body healthy through naturopathy, healing foods, Ayurveda, and other holistic methods

I have so enjoyed reading about all of your words and intentions/goals for 2010. I have been gathering bits of inspiration and ideas from all of you!

Here's to 2010!

Image via TheSketchedbook. Is that not the most awesome calendar ever?