Looking Ahead: 2010

Hey 2009, we had some PHENOMENAL times together, didn't we? If I wasn't so friggin' excited for 2010, I'd be really sad to see you go. Esme put together a retrospective the other day, & now it's time for me to handle the looking ahead part. :)

P+E's Goals for 2010 (in no particular order)

1. Put our passports to use! We both have the ability to leave the country. So...it's time to take advantage of that. We've been throwing around a lot possibilities (Paris, London, Toronto, Vancouver, South America, Iceland, Copenhagen, Sweden), & each destination is exciting in its own right. We've got friends in some of these places, but not in others. Still, all are contenders.

2. Eat better. I live with an amazing cook. She's fearless, & actually responds well to questions like "hey, can we make something with rainbow chard in it tonight?" No seriously, sometimes I like to throw a curveball. She hits it out every time. So why are we eating cheese steaks one night a week? That needs to be one night a MONTH, no? More veggies, less greasy takeout.

3. Run the Lyon Street steps. Whassat, you say? Check it out. It's about ten blocks from our house, & is basically four blocks of very steep steps. Running the entire thing from bottom to top just ONCE makes us want to lay down & die. That's gotta change. We'd like to tackle these 3 times a week, if possible. Who needs a gym membership? (Editor's Note: Esme has a gym membership & intends to keep it. Pete has his eye on those steps).

4. Read. A lot more. As in Books. We read lots of magazines here. It's kind of embarrassing. Randomly, Esme receives 'Us Weekly' (as to WHY, neither of us has any clue...she's never paid for it), & it's time for us to read something that requires a longer attention span. No more getting distracted by shiny objects, PETE.

5. Finish 'The Wire'. Okay, this one's mine. Esme doesn't like 'The Wire' much, & I pretty much have to beg her to sit through it with me. But she always does.

6. Learn Photoshop. Because it's time.

7. Take pictures constantly. I really need to get back to that place where I keep the camera close at hand everywhere I go. Ideally, I'd like to upgrade my camera this year, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards financially speaking.

8. Esme gets back to dance. She grew up dancing, & with so many awesome dance studios in the city, she's going to treat each of them as one LESS excuse to get out there again.

9. Get our careers focused! Esme has been working really hard & doing a great job at networking within her company. Hopefully this will be her year to turn the corner. I've got no shortage of big ideas, I just need a hard shove in the right direction.

10. Volunteer. This is something else that we talked too much & did too little about in 2009. 

11. Be Happy Every Day! It may sound cheesy, but we've been really lucky this year & we like the way this is going. We want to keep the ship on course & be thankful for one another & the life that we're building together in every moment.

Here's to 2010!