Y is for ... (Happy New) Year

So, everyone else has already done their New Years posts, filled with resolutions and pictures of the past year and all sorts of things. I decided it was time to jump....and then nothing would load. :( While there won't be any photos to share (I have to figure out this problem, ASAP), here a re a few of my top things of the year:

• my ten day drip to Vancouver to visit my friend, Frane, in February. While I spent my 18th birthday in Vancouver and Calgary airports, the ten days leading up to it were wonderful. Since it was Olympic time, we didn't end up heading to too many places because of the traffic, but some places we went that I recommend:

1. Bon's Off Broadway
2. Granville Island
3. Cafe Crepe

• graduation was definitely a highlight of my year. Since there was no one willing to go through all the legal stuff for the grad party, we all went our separate ways for the evening, though I house hopped for a bit, ended up in bed at 4:30 that morning, and woke up at 7:30, with my hair pins stuck all odd angled.
  
• the beach: we moved this summer and are now 15 minutes from our favourite camping grounds, so, on a daily basis, my family would pack up and my dad would BBQ supper, I'd take pictures, my sister would drop in for food during work, and everyone else would dive in and out of the lake.
  
• missions trip that my sister and I went on this year. Ten days on a big bus, heading through the US. Definitely a bonding time, and one of the last times I shot with my FujiFilm FinePix s1500.
• the end of August/beginning of September had me getting my new Canon Rebel XSi and leaving for Ontario for the next four months. If that's not exciting, I really don't know what is.
• and then, coming home. These last three weeks that I've spent at home has definitely been wonderful. While I haven't taken as many pictures as I probably should have, I've been able to see everyone and my time has been packed. I got to see people I haven't seen since graduation, my family, go out for coffee, stay up late, have a Criminal Minds marathon with my sister, and re-discover my love for The OC's soundrack.

While 2010 wasn't entirely stunning and full of wonder, there's definitely things that made me believe in humanity, life, and love. And really, that's all I needed.

Now! Goals for 2011 (I know, I know. I'm a good six days behind in this.) :

1. Shoot more often: if I'm really going to do this photography/photojournalist thing, I'm going to have to
   
2. Believe in myself more: everyone who knows me has no doubt of what I'll be able to do; it's me who does the doubting. I need to just go out there and try my hardest. Really, that's all anyone's asking of me.
   
3. Loosen up a little: not everything needs to be pre-planned and figure out. Just going out and being spontaneous is good, and it's something I need to learn to do a little.
   
4. Write more letters: self explanatory. :)
   
5. Money & time management: because I don't have a job, and an allowance of $200 a month, I need to learn to spend money more carefully. Same with time. I need to be able to write things down (goals/deadlines/to-do lists/etc) and make sure that I'm not scrambling a day or less ahead of time to get things finished.
   
6. Become more organized: with all the pictures I've taken/will be taking, I need to be able to find everything quickly. Which means I need to keep everything in files and organized.
   

There you go. My six things that I'd like to do this year. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to them all. :) Now, I'm off to finish making up that playlist with all my The OC music. That stuff's addicting! ♥