Self Portrait - 001 - 2010So, 2010 is here and with it a new series of resolutions. But, this year, in the spirit of keeping it simple, I’ve decided to tackle things in a smaller scale (at least I hope this is on a smaller scale). The photo on the left (yes, that’s me) was taken this morning shortly after waking up after a New Year’s Eve night filled with some sort of horrible allergic reaction to whatever blew into Austin at First Night… ugh – totally not cool. My eyes were an itchy, red, watery mess. So, this morning, with swollen eyes and feeling generally miserable (I slept most of the day after Jana woke up), I realized that I was still excited about what the future holds. We’ve joined a new church (Soma Austin Community Church), I’m finally starting to get into the groove of what it means to serve my community (slowly… VERY slowly), I’m beginning to make connections in Austin with people who have a real vision for making Austin a better city, and my family will be growing by one member in May (we still don’t know gender yet for the bambino). So, I decided to snap this picture with me hiding my disheveled and allergy-induced visage behind a beautiful bouquet of flowers that Zoë picked out for her birthday. I may be a bit worse for wear, but my outlook is still beautiful.

So… my (hopefully simple) resolutions are:

  • Continue my diet with the target goal of 175 (about 20 lbs left to go on that front) – so this is not so much a new resolution as it is a resolution to continue being resolved… or something,.
  • Begin a simple exercise program that doesn’t require the gym – 3 cardio days (comprising a 20 minute walk) per week and at least 1 strength training day per week (using very simple resistance exercises)
  • Take 1 self-portrait photo per day (or at least take a picture of something that signifies my state of mind that day) and write about it in this blog… which leads to…
  • Write at least 1 article per day on the blog with the only intent being something tangible and I resolve to not be afraid of keeping it short and I resolve to not over-explain (well, I resolve to TRY and not over-explain… see what I mean?)

Anyway – I hope everyone has a fabulous first week of the New Year… and if I don’t fail on my resolutions too quickly… I should be back at the keyboard tomorrow!!