I knew 2013 would be a good year. 13 is my very favorite number, precisely because so many people don’t like it and are afraid of it. I decided at a tender single-digit age that I would adopt 13 as “my” number for the rest of my life, because it clearly must have its feelings hurt by being skipped over and singled out. I was always #13 on the softball field. So imagine how excited I was around this time last year when 2013 was coming up. I decided to make it “my year” since this is already my favorite number.

2013 Goals

1. Take a road trip once a month and explore the Midsouth. This we did most heartily with our closest couple friend, Westerling (Wes & Sterling) from January – April.

• January – We traveled to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky to see the caves. We popped up to see Cincinnati, Ohio while we were in the region.
• February – We visited our beloved St. Louis and frolicked in its City Museum.
• March – We went to East Tennessee in Chattanooga, which is now one of my favorite cities.
• April – Went a bit further to New Orleans, a place I had never been but always wanted to see. After this road trip, our dear Westerling departed for Europe to live there for a few years.
• May – Caleb and I visited our family in Florida
• June – Caleb and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary with an epic trip to Colorado, where we visited Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, and Estes Park. I see why he wants to move there so badly!
• July – We found another traveling couple and decided to see Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee (and yay, Chattanooga!)
• August – My best friends in the whole wide world converged at my house. I traveled a bit for gigs, Caleb started med school.
• September – I was too busy to travel for fun in September. I literally traveled every weekend for orchestra gigs.
• October – I went to Nashville to visit my friend Howie for a girls’ weekend, and Caleb went on a Men’s retreat to Arkansas
• November – TN countryside for Thanksgiving
• December – We’ll go to Texas to visit family for Christmas.

2. I wanted to get serious about my health and lose some weight. I ended up losing 20 pounds over the course of the year. I think this marks the first year I have steadily LOST weight rather than steadily gained weight. Feeling pretty good about this.

3. Dedicate more of my time to my music again. I threw myself into this pretty heavily, and I have been very blessed so far. I have a lot of regular gigs, and my colleagues are very kind and think of me if they need to recommend a cellist. I have really enjoyed playing this year.

2014 Goals

My goals for 2014 are really just an extension of my 2013 goals. I want to travel the world instead of just the Midsouth, increase my strength and overall health by committing to working out, and continue to focus on my music. This year, though, I’m going to put a lot more effort on listening to God’s focus for my life. The wisest thing is to allow my Creator to point me in the direction of who He created me to be.

What about you, what are your goals for 2014?