A Brand New Year

Bye, Bye 2009! Welcome, 2010!

You gotta love the new year, fresh and clean and full of hope. What will I do with this year? I have sort of a rough draft worked out for some things, but for others...I can't wait to find out!

On another blog I read, there was a post about resolutions. I've never been too much of a resolution girl, because let's face it, you make a new resolution Jan. 1st, and by February, it's forgotten about. Mostly because it's too restrictive, or unreasonable. The blog I was reading was about taking a different approach to making a better new year. Instead of making a list of specific things...

...go to the gym every day!
...lose 10 pounds!
...eat better!
...etc, etc.!

...instead of doing the list thing, make a one word resolution. A one word resolution? I can do that! So that's what I did. Of course, I had to put some thought into my word, and decide just what word was going to make the biggest impact on the most areas of my life.

The word I decided on?

Simplify

My word choice was simple, and it was actually something I have already been trying to do. I want to clear out the clutter in my life, whether it be simplifying my wardrobe, making menus for the month so it simplifies mealtimes and grocery shopping, or even prioritizing my computer time.

I’m all in. What’s your New Year’s resolution?

The New Blog!

I decided over the last couple days that it was time for a new blog. Not that I am giving up the photography blog, but rather adding a more specific family blog. That way I can post silly, possibly out of focus, underexposed, not following "the rules" photos and funny stories over here for everyone interested, without feeling bad about them being on a "photography" blog. Then, on the photo side of the house, I can take as many pictures of fruit, trees, flowers, macros of dirt, or whatever without having to disappoint those of you who are just stopping by to look at Brennan's cuteness.

I will still be posting plenty of pictures on both!! : )

Since we found out that we will be moving to Massachusetts this fall, (not South Dakota anymore for those that aren't up to date on the happenings around here) I thought it would be a good idea to put this together so all of our friends and family can keep track of us. After Brennan was born, I emailed pictures every month, (ok, sometimes it was more than once a month) but I started feeling that not everyone wanted pictures of my kid spamming their email inboxes all the time, so with the blog if you want to see our smiling faces, here we are. If not, well, just don't tell me who you are or it might hurt my feelings! haha!

So here we go! This is the official new home on the web for The Bal Family. And if you want to see what's up with my photography hobby, you can still find me here. Thanks for stopping by.