I don’t know about you, but I’ve already begun planning for the new year. New resolutions, a new word to guide the year, and a fresh mindset — all part of preparing for a better year ahead. I’ll likely write a more detailed blog post about my plans, so I won’t go into everything now. The goal is simple: make next year the best one yet. My husband is a couple of years from retirement if he stays the course, and I’ve started scaling back my photography work. I want to have our home and life in order so we can enjoy more freedom when that time comes.
Coco is getting ready for the new year too, though she may need to find a new favorite spot. She discovered the Christmas decoration boxes we put in front of the living room bookcases and claims them as her own. We rarely use the living room — I mostly go in there to browse my cookbooks — so it’s a quiet, cozy spot that she clearly enjoys.
That bookcase in the corner? It’s one of the projects on my list: decluttering and organizing. There’s simply too much stuff, and I want to reduce the clutter so our home feels calmer and more functional. Of course, I have a new cookbook arriving in the mail today, which proves I’m not immune to accumulating more things. Old habits die hard.
This year the cats and I are planning a peaceful New Year’s Eve: some quiet TV, a small glass of champagne, and the simple pleasures of home. What are your plans?
My artsy photo was edited with Topaz Labs.