New Year 2011

"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." ~R. M. Rilke

This New Year's was spent with friends and family in New York City.  More than some new years, 2011 ushers in a year of new beginnings for me.  So, in following with the tradition, I have come up with a few New Year's resolutions.

Resolution 1 - Bake my own bread

This past fall I ate the most delicious rye bread ever at a church get together.  I made a mental note to ask where the person had found bread this amazing in the area when she began talking about how she made the bread and how easy it was.  I immediately thought it had to be a bread maker recipe if it was homemade and so easy, but I was wrong.  She showed me her book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes as Day, and then let me borrow it to copy down a recipe or two from it.  When I got it home and began looking through the book, I realized I wanted to copy the whole book, but I also didn't want to wait a few months to get it for Christmas or my birthday . . . so the next day I went to the book store and bought a copy for myself.  I also got a pizza stone, which is required, and then never did anything else.  I haven't cracked open the book since then.  So, my resolution is to make the dough once a month and then bake a loaf from the pre-made dough once a week or as necessary.

Resolution 2 - Take up photography

For my college graduation, I received a Canon Rebel XT camera from my extremely generous Aunt E and Uncle S.  My Aunt E is interested in photography and has taken several classes at a local college.  So, I spent 2 weekends at her house having a "photography weekend" where I learned about aperture, depth of field, ISO, white balance, etc.  After that summer, I felt fairly proficient, but since then the "use it or lose it" principle has taken over.  So, I am going to re-enter the world of focusing, shutter speed. and flashes to learn how to use my camera again.  Taking a photo a day for an entire year seems a bit daunting, but I think I am going to take up the challenge of the 365 Project.  I will have a weekly post on my blog with the photos from the past week - and now that it is in writing I can't back out ;)

Resolution 3 - Paint something for my apartment

Painting is something I have wanted to do for years, but always seemed impossible.  Last spring I took a few drawing classes at the local YMCA Arts Center to prepare myself for some painting classes.  However, like many other things, I started but never finished.  Unfortunately, since then I have taken up salsa dancing, which is on Thursday nights, the same time the drawing classes are offered.  So, the drawing classes are on hold for now . . . . but my new sister-in-law is a painter and has promised to help me paint something for myself - YAY!  My apartment has far too many blank walls, and I want to be able to fill them with my own work, not a print from Wal-Mart.  So, this one will probably be on hold until the summer, but I'm am going to make this happen in 2011!

What are your New Year's resolutions?