resolution for the new year {2014}: build my portfolio

i've had this writer dream forever. i've tweaked it over the years, and i've dabbled here and there, but i can't get it out of my head. but the problem is that i don't really have writing samples, per se. i have blog posts and journal entries, but nothing really concrete, aside from a couple personal essays i wrote in pat madden's essay class a few years back. i have these aspirations of writing something more serious, and then it never happens.

so, this year i want to dedicate time (hopefully each day, if only for a few minutes), to writing for real. i think blogging kind of counts, especially if the posts are of the more essayistic variety (and let's face it, i should be doing more of those anyway). but i want to start to put together a portfolio, since many of my dream jobs require something like that.

por ejemplo, a couple weeks ago, joanna goddard of cup of jo posted a job opportunity working as a writer and editor for her blog, which has a pretty huge national readership. in my opinion, i could totally do something like that--write interesting and meaningful posts and build a brand. but i don't have the experience i would need to even feel comfortable applying.

that's what i want to change this year--write more, on a more consistent basis, with the intent that i will actually do something with that writing. i even bought this book to help me :)

resolution for the new year {2014}: eat cleaner

every year, i make a resolution, whether public or private, that pertains to being healthier. i want to exercise more or eat out less or cook more often. this year my goal in this regard is to eat cleaner. all that other stuff is encompassed in eating cleaner, but it's a different approach than i've taken before. and for the first time probably ever, i've been feeling like i need more vegetables in my life. who'da thunk, right?

so i'm determined to cook more during the week, preferrably full and complete meals, with sides and everything. i'm in the market for some good, easy veggie recipes, so send any of those my way. i guess i'm not really thinking about clean eating in the fanatical, wholly organic way, because, let's face it, most diets are probably going to be cleaner than some of the habits i've gotten into. i don't think it would be super effective to completely cut out all processed foods at this point in my progression. maybe someday, but not now.

but i do want to eat better, and i think there are a few little things i can be doing to get there. help is appreciated :)

resolution for the new year {2014}: overview

i always try to use the first few weeks of a new year to plan out some ways i think i can improve my quality of life, which become my "new year's resolutions", but i think i'm a pretty self-reflective person in general. so, most of these goals are iterations of thoughts i've had for a long time and that i maybe haven't articulated in quite the same way, or ever.

as i was thinking about how i wanted to pattern my life this coming year, i thought about the roots of the word 'resolution'. 'resolve' means, for one thing, to be firm and determined. in music, a resolve is a progression from dissonance to consonance. both of these are key to new year's resolutions, in my mind. as with any goal, you have to be determined and disciplined in order to accomplish anything. this has always been a weakness of mine, one that i am constantly working on. but one of the purposes of resolutions is to create a happier life for yourself, to resolve some of the dissonance to make way for harmony. cheesy? probably. still true? yesiree bob.

my overarching goal for the year is to choose happy. sometimes it is very easy to choose unhappy, or even to just choose complacency. i want to be actively happy this year. i hope my formal resolutions and my loosely ideated resolutions help me with that. let the self-improvement begin (or continue, as the case may be :))

year in (p)review

This has been a pretty eventful year—both in the sense that it has been full of events and that is has been full of personal growth. I guess that’s pretty much all you can ask out of a little ol’ year, right? So I thought I’d give a little run down of what has happened in 2013 (in the briefest of detail—ain’t nobody got time for more than that) and a sneak peek into what I hope will happen in 2014 (not to be confused with my resolutions—those are in the works and will be coming over the next week or so). And away we go! 

Year in Review

Took a couple classes that were actually pretty interesting (it seems really weird to think that I was in classes this year…that feels like a lifetime ago)

Tutored ACT English and Reading at Sylvan Learning

Job searched

Job secured

Job started

Lived with both of my sisters

Did a ton of Zumba and Just Dance

Listened to so much great music

Moved out of Provo

Moved home

Moved away from home

Moved to Sugarhouse

Went to Taylor Swift

Went to Hanson

Went to Kelly Clarkson at Stadium of Fire

Saw a bunch of really good movies

Wrote in my journal a lot

Got an iPhone

Went to Disneyland on two occasions

Welcomed a missionary home

Hit the Peaks (Seven Peaks, that is)

Bought a car (sheesh, I almost forgot that, the biggest thing!)

Blogged on and off :)

Became a homemaker/DIYer/crafter (who am I kidding—I was already one of those)

Read almost all the standard works—all that’s left is the New Testament!

Read a bunch of books, too many to keep track of

And, without further ado: 

Year in Preview

Go to One Direction (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (I am a teenage girl, I know)

Send off a missionary brother :(

Have an awesome time in Sugarhouse

Go on at least one epic trip, hopefully more. But maybe not more.

Sew my Shop Hop quilt

Finish The Great Bedroom Redecoration at Logan Avenue

Basically be a dating machine

Create lots of art. In a lot of arty ways.

Finish the Book of Mormon at least once

Progress at work

Keep a faithful thankful journal

Get a TIME magazine subscription and actually read TIME

Have a bunch of parties

Just generally have an awesome time

This has been a good year, overall, with many ups and downs. I haven’t really mentioned any of the downs here—no one wants to hear about my identity crises or breakdowns. All of it translates to good things in one way or another. Onward and upward, my friends. Adventure is out there!

Happy New Year!!

my (dream) christmas list

i don't really expect to get any of these, at least not from someone else, but these are the things i've been drooling over.


amazing rainbow glitter kate spade watch: $225

 i haven't even worn a watch in years, but i would go back for this kate spade masterpiece. i almost started a kickstarter campaign a few weeks ago to see if i could get my friends and family to donate to the cause of me getting this watch that embodies every thing i love about life. that one little sentence up there--"this item is currently not available"--breaks my little glitter-loving heart. find me one of these sold-out beauties and you'll have it forever.

one direction "our moment" perfume

i became a directioner this year, somehow. it just came on all of a sudden. anyway, i smelled their new perfume at macy's a month or so ago, and i'm pretty much obsessed with it. it reminds me of some scent i wore in my youth. so yeah, i really want it. i'll probably end up buying it for myself at some point. plus, the topper is a crown so...yeah, i'll be getting it.

TIME magazine subscription

i've been meaning to subscribe to TIME for over a year now--it's 30 bucks for one issue every week!?!--and it just hasn't happened. every time i remember that i want to do it, i think, oh, i'll start it next month. or, oh, i'll start it at the new year. so i just haven't ever actually done it. it's one of those things where i'll keep a window open on the subscription page for a few weeks and then eventually come to the realization that i'm not going to do it anytime soon and just close out the window. if somebody else got me the subscription, i wouldn't have to put myself through that mental anguish anymore. do it for my mental anguish, people!

one of these from society6:

can you sense a theme in what i like here? sheesh.

and...that's all i can think of right now. thanks in advance for your thoughtful gifts!

things that are making me happy right now

in the spirit of choosing happy:

slowly putting together my room. it's kind of amazing, actually, how closely it's coming to what i envisioned. and it's almost done, i promise.

having catered lunches at work. it's pretty great, you guys.

getting to know people around these parts.

new perfume. it's nice to have a new scent once in a while.

frozen. loved it!

do-it-yourself and crafting projects. this is related to getting my room all gussied up, but for other reasons, too. and it's really fun.

family time, which includes going home mid-week for dinner and just dance. i'm pretty lucky.

roommates who are involved and want me to be involved, too.

sisters.

two days off this week :)

finishing the old testament!!!

extra time thinking about the savior, his birth, life, death, and rebirth.

i really can't complain ;)

i'm lame.

i know, i know. you're all thinking it. you're all whispering it behind closed doors: wasn't courtney going to post everyday in december? well, things have been really busy, i'll have you know. but busy is good. remember how a few months ago my life basically had no purpose and i had nothing to wake up for ever and all i did all day was read and watch netflix? oh, how the times have changed!!

i know i'm repeating myself here, but i have a million posts i've been thinking about, but i always feel like i need to catch up on the here and now first, you know? like i should have written my christmas playlist post weeks ago, like back when i started listening to christmas music after halloween. but i didn't. listen people, i'm not a professional blogger, if you didn't already know. i've got a life to live. your expectations are too high! :)

but really, it's like every day my fingers itch to write and it just doesn't happen. and i know not many people are waiting with bated breath to see what i'm going to say about some random subject, but this dumb blogging thing does mean something to me, i guess. wow, this turned weirdly existential all of a sudden.

i guess i just wanted to check in with my blog and let it (and whoever's out there. probably only dad.) know that i still love it and will be better about  not neglecting it in weeks to come. i mean, it's almost resolution time!