2010 Goals

Ok, so my 2009 goals were a bit lame despite my efforts. Here’s to a better set of goals for this year and therefor better results! Some of these stem from what I see as some personal failures in 2009, others are just brand new.

Join an activity group on a regular basis. this can be anywhere from Geocaching to Flickr meetups to the ADK club outings to toastmasters. The point is to do something on a regular basis in order to forge some new relationships. We’ve started with ADK but we didn’t keep up with the meetings.

Don’t hesitate when given an opportunity. If I want to do something, do it, if I don’t, likewise. This is something I really need to work on.  I tend to flip flop and wait until the last minute to make decisions on things like this.

Run a profitable Photography business. Given my goals of last year this one almost seems comical. However my first income will be coming in 2010, and my planned expenses are minimal, just some equipment rental for said income. This probably won’t be hard to do.

Do 2 weddings. Along the same lines as above. I’ve got one booked already and I have another possibility. I’d like to start booking some more but if I can manage 2 this year, maybe I can double that next year and then really get something going. If you know someone looking for a Photographer please let me/them know!

Finish the work in the basement. this isn’t a real finishing job, it just means some cleaning (a LOT), implementing some better storage solutions, doing some wiring work and fixing the lighting situation. Still though, some things I’ve been dragging my feet on and just need to get done.

Buy a new house. We pretty much need a miracle for this to happen without selling our current home(which we don’t want to do). We need to though, we’re outgrowing our current home. Not so much the floor plan, but the yard and the storage. That along with a new member of the family coming soon pretty much necessitates a new, bigger house. which brings me to my next goal:

Do everything in my power to ensure the well-being of our new child. This is pretty self explanatory but something not everyone might think about is:

Lead by example. We can’t hope to have a child with healthy habits if we don’t first develop them ourselves. This applies to everything from sleeping properly to exercising regularly to only watching extremely minute amounts of television. This might seem too broad to be a goal, but the idea here is to simply be aware of my decisions and their implications on my own life and for the little one.

Lose 20lbs by May. Lose Another 20 by the end of the year. The first 20 I’ve done several times and isn’t really that difficult for me. the second 20… that will put me back to my junior year of college weight, and will be far more difficult to do. I don’t think keeping it off will be an issue since I’ll have done it by (re)developing better habits, NOT a diet.

Some carry-overs from last year:

  • increase the size of our emergency fund (again!)
  • complete the first floor of the house
  • sell at least one photo
  • EXPERIENCE one sunsets or sunrises a month.  This means actually watching and enjoying it, not just noticing out a window.

2010 is going to be a really exciting year!

Genesee Bike Ride

Preferred Care is putting on what they call Nature Nights every Tuesday at 6pm from May 26th through August 25th.  These nights include biking, (canoe) paddling, hiking and walking in the different areas Rochester has to offer.

Tuesday Rachel and I, along with my mother and several other of their coworkers, participated in a 10 (ish) mile bike ride along the Genesee River.  We started at the Seneca Park Zoo parking lot.  From there we crossed a walking/riding bridge to the other side of the Genesee.  We rode along Lake ave for a short distance and then through Turning Point Park.  From there we rode on to Ontario Beach Park.  We took a short break at abbots and then headed back along the same route.  Some people got a longer break than others, due to a lost rider… but that’s a story for another day.

I intended to record video of the whole thing.  However; the battery in my camera died after crossing the bridge so this is all I got:

The pace was very leisurely (a bit slow for my taste) but it was a great ride with a great group.  Everyone was very friendly and we’ll probably participate again.

Enjoy some  of the scenery the Genesee Riverway Trail has to offer below.  Please note, these were shot with my iPhone so the quality is a little… well the quality is little.