This weekend, for the first time in years I went out to the country and went for a ride. I grew up riding horses, but when I finished high school and started university I had just moved out into my first apartment and I was so busy that riding faded out of my life. I started riding because I spent my early childhood living on a farm in the country where we had our horses. While I was growing up I spent most of my time climbing the huge stacks of hay bales, making forts in the woods, making friends with barn cats, feeding carrots to big, sweet horses, and dusting dirt off my boots. Something about that means I cant see a horse without wanting to go over and make its acquaintance.

While our city is surrounded by big prairie skies barns, I havent been on a horse for at least five years, and I stopped my weekly riding lessons some years before that. This weekend my Dad I drove out to visit his ponies, and to see if I still remembered how to stay on :)

They were all so sweet!! In the winter a horses coat get big shaggy, and tiny icicles form on their whiskers. I even got to play with a foal (code for a baby horse whos a boy) who was so fascinated by me that I couldnt get photos of him because his nose was almost never 3-4 inches away from my face! The tiny little horse would play with my hair hands before going to his mom to nurse, and then coming back to nuzzle my glasses and smell my lip chap. One of his buddies even opened my messenger bag up enough to start sucking on the opening flap, until I noticed and offered ear scratches in exchange for my bag back in one piece.

It was so cute that I almost needed to be sedated.

I rode a horse, who was very attentive patience, and also somewhat unfortunately named Stumpy. Hes a very attentive gentleman who is very aware of his rider, and was definitely aware that I hadnt been riding in a very long time. He seemed a little concerned about me and would flick his ears back like he was thinking …Are you sure you want to go faster? Your legs arent in the exact right position and you seem to be thinking an awful lot… but we had a really great time.

It was a lot of fun and more of a work out than I remembered! On Sunday morning my legs hurt like crazy, but I had so much fun that I think Ill do it again soon. Im an expert on handing out carrots and giving pats, after all.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just because I cant resist, heres a Monday morning song called Horse Riding by Euros Childs. Its a little known, really fun song that I think youll enjoy. How was your weekend? :)

This week I’ve spent lots of time with tiny animals. I’ve been wrangling, cuddling, bribing & generally annoying my feral little dogs which always involves equal parts eye rolling and laughter. And then…

A ladybug has turned up, awake and a little confused in my craft room at home. Because I’m an over thinker &  an animal lover (and yes, ladybugs count!) my first thought was that unless I put something out for her, this ladybug was going to die a terrible death from dehydration or starvation. Ignoring this would be like letting a ladybug version of the Saw films play out in the room where I knit & drink tea on the weekends! Obviously, I can’t let that happen.

After some online research I found that a water soaked paper towel would let her drink & a rasin soaked in warm water would help her keep up her nutrition. I placed them on a saucer on top of my typewriter by the window she’s been frequenting and very soon she found her way to it…

Baby bunny, needle felted, l… Ainigmati $74.00	Confetti, 100 Red Hearts – M… LBCpaper $2.25	Vintage Rosenthal Selb Handg… NifticVintage $77.00
Hand Knitting Socks Patterns… SockClub $45.00	box Bunny Rabbit linen Oatme… hoganfe $29.98	Embroidery Hoop Art, Sign. &… merriweatherco… $24.00
grey wolf – miniautre felt w… RoyalMint $32.00	white and red fingerless gl… fatoss $18.00	Wool badger, modern natural … needleandfelt $18.00
3″ Bunny Rabbit with Re… AdoraWools $30.00	Miniature Needle Felted Pock… alishaharms $9.00	Mushroom Love Heart Pincushi… FoxtailCreek $24.00
White Glitter Kitties in Flo… wishdaisy $34.00	Heart Magnet Valentines Day … PowersOfLove $3.00	Brass Kittens thewhitepepper $21.50

I’m happy to report that the ladybug has been resting on her new saucer home since yesterday afternoon, and being able to watch her while I’m at my computer has been making my days a lot sweeter. Here’s hoping the weather changes to Spring soon so I can let her outside!

In the mean time, I’m thinking of naming her Beatrice.

This is part of the series A Creative Start To The New Year- read part one here

image: Lo&

I love January & February because I see them as a time when I can set my intentions for the year. I love feeling energized and inspired after a little time off, and taking the time to lay out plans to make sure I’m doing what I can to have an amazing year.

What’s talked about less at this time of year is that it’s also the perfect time to consider the way we think about our goals & plans for the year, and how that can impact our daily life, and what we decide is worth spending time on. So much of the time our concept of goals or plans have an external or “end results” focus. They’re things that we can physically observe or experience and feel rewarded by. Job changes, hair styles, losing weight, travelling- these aren’t negative things, but they’re only one way of thinking about the coming year and how we can spark change for ourselves.

This year I made a point of shifting my focus from the end result focused changes to changes I wanted to make to my experience of the coming year. These are what I call expansive & experience focused goals, because they allow for more room to breathe and flexibility in how you carry them out.

Some of My Experience Focused Goals for 2012:

• Do what I can to have a rested body & positive mind every day
• Strengthen my relationships with my family & friends
• Get my body stronger and explore healthy savoury foods I can make at home
• Spend more time on handmade & cooking
• Add more personality into my home’s decoration
• Make choices that are stress reducers to decrease my experience of GAD
• Give myself unscheduled time in the evening’s and weekend’s

Moving my focus to goals and priorities that are experience focused has made a huge difference in how I think about the coming days & months. Knowing that I’m an over achiever, when I make goals focusing on end results they can quickly change into rigid schedules that aren’t realistic, but that I’ll still feel guilty about not living up to. We’re taught to goal set in this scheduled, To Do list way during school, and while checking items off a list is effective for some things, ultimately our lives are the sum of our everyday experiences. Thinking about the little choices you can make to have more of a fun, authentic and energizing daily experience can have an incredible impact on your overall happiness- but it does takes a little effort to change the way we usually think about what a goal is.

So far, I’ve felt like my effort has been well spent. Switching the focus of my goals to from end results to experiences means that I’m putting value on how I approach and feel during every day, which helps me make choices that are great for me in the long term but that I’ll also benefit from right away. So far that makes it both a stress reliever, and a fun experiment!

1. Think about the end result focused changes that you’ve been wanting to make, and try to see the experience behind it. Is there a feeling that you’d like to have as a result of achieving that goal? Is your end result goal an attempt to schedule in a bigger experience? (e.g. Reading two books a month could be part of a bigger goal to keep learning or to explore the lives of historical figures you’re curious about)

2. Is there a way you can make that experience your goal, and then schedule different ways to achieve it every month? Separating out the feeling you want to get from how you’ll build that into your life means you can work toward your bigger goals in ways that are flexible and grow with you. You’ll still have that item on your To Do list to cross off, but if your new goal is to keep learning and previously you were going to read two books every month, you could listen to an audio book while walking to get your groceries and go to a free lecture at your local university. This flexibility in approach will help make it enjoyable to stick with throughout the year.

3. Schedule a “check in” reminder every one or two months. I’ve found that digital reminders on my smartphone are the best way for me to remember these maintenance tasks without cluttering up my daytime, and scheduling them to reoccur is extremely easy. When my reminder goes off – mine are always on a Sunday afternoon – I’ll take a detour what I’m doing to make a pot of tea and sit down for 15 – 30 minutes to look at my expansive, experience focused goals and schedule fun ways I can meet them every week of the month.

4. Make a reward system you can love! Using a results focused way to motivate yourself is an amazing way to get moving in the short term. If you were trying to blog more projects like I am, for a month you could “earn” a drink from your favourite coffee shop for every week that you posted a project on your blog, and then you could change the motivator after a month or move it to another goal you want to focus in on.

5. Remember that your life is about experiences, not items on a check list. Even though I’ve married myself to my day planner, sometimes I lose track of what I want my experience of daily life to be as my routines and looming deadlines take over my focus. Creating expansive goals that focus on my experience is a monthly reminder to ground myself in how I’m living every day, and to remind myself that adventure and possibility are always waiting for you to invite them in.

For each post in A Creative Start To The New Year I’ve asked a special blogger I love
 to share her thoughts and today’s post features Diana from Our.City.Lights:

Advice & Insight from Diana of Our.City.Lights:

“2011 was a year for recovery and planting roots. After overhauling my life completely from the people I shared my time with to my diet, I’m ready for 2012 to be a year of growth. I don’t have exact goals, but documenting my vegan and sometimes raw diet through Instagram has been a huge step for me. What I put in my body determines my day & sharing the healthy choices I’m making through photography has made sticking with my new habits something I look forward to”

BLOG // INSTAGRAM // GADCHICK

Thanks for sharing Diana, I love how sharing your vegan diet through Instagram
has added another element of something you love to your day & helps you stay motivated :)

I love getting organized and when it comes to planners, day timers, agendas… whatever you call them, I’m a sucker for a great system that will keep me motivated through the week.   Inventing my own system is the most fun for me, and while I’ve posted a DIY planner tutorial that I used to make my 2011 planner, the problem with making a planner for yourself that will last you a year is that you have to bind it yourself, and make it durable enough to last a long time. That’s a big stumbling block for many people, so when I made my 2012 planner I wanted to come up with an approach that more of you could try for yourselves :)

This tutorial will show you how to take a Moleskine Notebook and turn it into a weekly & monthly view planner that you can start at any time of the year, and need almost no supplies to make! It’s completely customizable and uses every last page of the notebook, but each week is infinitely flexible so you can naturally change how you use it over time, and let your planner evolve as your year unfolds.

Supplies

• A Classic Extra Large Moleskine Notebook (I used the squared, soft cover version)
• A Pen
• A Ruler
• Optional: determination & a distraction, tracing the template takes a while!

What’s Inside

Weekly Pages for the Day To Day

The weekly view pages are what makes up most of the planner. They have a large space for every day To Do lists, appointments and projects that need to get done. Then above and below the weekly notes there’s lots of space for checklists, notes and anything that you’d like to add in! This extra space means that I can adapt how I use my planner as the year goes by so I’ll never grow out of it or be locked into one system. I love how flexible it is!

A Monthly Calendar View Page & Blank Pages for Dreaming and Planning 

At the end of every month I have three double wide pages. One is a monthly view page with a calendar layout for planning my projects, client plans, appointments and being able to see things in a slightly different layout. Then I have two more: one for brainstorming & dreaming (I call it dreamstorming for myself), and one for planning how I’m going to approach work with my design clients in the coming weeks.

How I Use Mine

I use my weekly pages differently every week! Right now I’m using check marks for the things I need to get done everyday, and I’ve added an extra line under the main section for what I’ll be blogging about every day. I write my husband’s travel in on washi tape for a pretty reminder of when I’ll be a solo-puppy mama.

Above the weekdays I’ve made notes on fun projects I can work on in the evenings, and below the weeks sometimes I have the steps that I’m working on with my current clients (like above)…

Sometimes I add in cue cards for special projects- like here when I was working on the launch of Indie Business, or I’ll add sticky notes that I can move forward from week to week.

Then sometimes I’ll make time lines or check boxes to keep track of clients I need to invoice or pieces of work I need to get done. This whole bottom section can be whatever I like it to be, and change as much as I need it to from week to week.

And of course, with the Month View I can still plan with a big picture view of how each month will go, and I can stay on track of my goals and dreams throughout the year.

Steps To Make Your Own

1. Take your ruler & pen, and open your Classic Extra Large Moleskine Notebook to the second page, so you can see two pages opened up at the same time like in the photo under the “Weekly View” heading at the start of the post.

2. Consider where you would like your week days positioned vertically on the page- you can put them right at the top, so there’s no space to write above them or place them in the middle of the page, whatever feels the most natural to you. When you’ve decided, draw a horizontal line all the way across both pages.

3. Consider how much vertical space you would like the week days to take up, and how much space you will need for each day. I strongly recommend leaving 2-3″ of space at the bottom of the page, so you can make a flexible system that will adapt as your year progresses. When you feel decided, add a second line that will form the bottom of the weekly area, across both open pages.

4. Create the divisions between the days of the week! My measurements make weekends more narrow than the week days:

Saturday & Sunday are 1 and 7/16ths of an inch wide

The weekdays are 2 and 3/8ths of an inch wide

5. Add the labels for the month and days of the week, and then move forward to repeat steps 1 – 5 again until the end of the month.

6. At the end of each month, leave some pages blank for tracking your goals and plans. I recommend leaving six individual sheets, or three pairs of pages that open up facing you together, and then starting the weekly view pages again. These blank pages can be used for anything you like (or you can skip them and leave extra space for writing at the end of the year) but adding them in will allow for a perfect 13 month weekly calendar that has room for monthly brainstorming and tracking.

Thanks for following along!

I’d love to see how you take this idea and make it your own,
so if you use this for a planner make sure to link back to this post :)

Even though we were just down for a week, the Mexico trip was so much fun it needs two posts. In Part One there were baby sea turtles and lots of SPF 110 in the hopes of keeping my tattoos colourful- in the second half of our trip we went exploring Puerto Vallarta, I got to have a surprise meet up with one of my favourite people on the planet & our sweet friends got married!

Scroll on… :)

So, I did get a sunburn- and of course it was a second degree burn. I was reading a great book and got carried away! While I was wearing SPF 110 & SPF 60 I ended up getting burned while no one else was affected. I didn’t like not being able to hang out with our new friends from the wedding party on the beach, but in the middle of the trip I had two days of time to nap, rest, read and relax in a gorgeous, soft bed.

During the day there were butterflies and pelicans everywhere, strong coffee and sea breezes, and manta rays that would swim beside you in the waves. At night, music would waft up to the balcony and the ocean would send giant waves crashing up and down the beach- just perfect for falling asleep to.

Evidence of my resting & enjoying myself way too much while doing it!

The resort was right outside of Puerto Vallarta, which has a huge boardwalk stretching along its coast. As soon as I was feeling better I got to take advantage of the short cab ride from town so I could explore the markets.  Along the boardwalk there were huge, amazing sandcastles, colourful shops and vendors with little carts selling candy, toys, and food while the sun set.

This was my first time travelling as a young woman with visible tattoos, and honestly I was a little worried. I’ve been to the Mayan Riviera before, and there was always a lot of shouting at women as everyone walked through the towns and I wasn’t sure if PV would be the same, or how people would react to my tattoos. While I was definitely stared at in town and didn’t see any other women with visible tattoos, people were really incredibly nice. I didn’t hear anyone cat calling tourists and I wasn’t approached by shop owners nearly as much as in my previous trips to Mexico. It was a very pleasant surprise!

Close to the end of the trip I got the chance to see my friend Andrea from Kempt Life. Andrea and I have been friends for years and have always kept in close touch since we found each other’s blogs. I knew that she’d slipped away from Canada and moved to Mexico but I only found out that she was living a half hour from my resort right before I left for Mexico! We made last minute plans and were incredibly lucky to be able to connect- especially without the help of cell phones and 3G internet on my part. After years of stories, laughing & tears- while being on opposite ends of Canada, we got our first full day together… in Mexico. Why not!

We slipped out of the city and back to the resort and caught up over two meals, many drinks, a number of restaurants, a couple of beach chairs… and also over a giant iguana who was sunning himself directly under my chair as we ate lunch!

Honestly, if I’d moved my chair at all it would have been a very bad situation. I don’t know if iguana’s attack, and I’m glad that I didn’t have to find out!

The highlight of the trip – and the whole reason for it – was definitely the wedding. It was a short, sweet ceremony with a really fun reception that even included a dance battle. I couldn’t say enough good things about the wedding party or our friends getting married, but I do wish we could go back and do it all again!

By the end of the trip I was completely relaxed & recharged- and getting a little restless. Being away from reliable Internet access, Freckled Nest & my puppies was a great break but it reminded me how incredible it is to have a life built on all of these small pieces of things that make me so happy. The only way I could have stayed in Mexico and had fun was if I brought everything I have in Winnipeg and moved it there- including the restaurants, our tiny house, my family & friends, and all of it. It was a great feeling to know in my bones that I couldn’t wait to get back to real life!

While I loved the getaway, I’ve taken some lessons from the time away and have started stitching them into my daily life.

Seeing the great group of friends in the wedding party, and spending time with Andrea, reminded me that it’s important to be active in my friendships & to invest and make those connections deep. The time away from e-mail and notifications made me realize that I don’t need my e-mail open all the time to be on top of what’s happening, and helped me see that I’m more effective when I only check in during set times. Having a week away from crafts and handmade made me miss it terribly, and dive into my projects with more enthusiasm. And the week of time with Jesse made me fall in love with him again, in a whole other way, which has to be my favourite part of being married to such a sweet man.

And, of course, being away for the first week of The Bachelor made be realize that I’m a hopeless addict with no shame (or pride!) when it comes to those dopey kids and their crazy rose ceremonies. Send help!

Thanks for reading while I was away, and I’m excited to get back to normal around here with more projects, recipes and hands on ways to take the every day and turn it into a creative, beautiful life :)

Weekly Weak Knees is a round up post of the “currently loving” section in my sidebar, where every day I pop in an image and link to something I lovely that I can’t help but share. It’s a pretty feature that feels like I’m passing notes to friends & reader who check my blog every day, and I hope you enjoy it enough to make it part of your routine!

These are some of my favourite links from past little while, click on the pictures to explore…

Did you find something beautiful online this week?

Share a link with me in the comments!

Hello there! Leigh-Ann, Jill and I are beyond excited to let you in on the details of our new eCourse, Indie Business: Compass. We’ve been dreaming, scheming and writing our hearts out since the fall, and are so proud of the finished product! The Compass achieves what the annual Indie course was missing, by offering a thorough, engaging work at your own pace approach to setting up a successful and strong foundation for new businesses and giving existing business owners a chance to perfect and grow what’s working for them. It’s all new, completely original content and a fresh perspective on how you can approach your creative business!

What is Indie: Compass?

Indie: Compass is an eCourse built by the creators of the widely-loved and successful Indie Business online class. The Compass eCourse is the perfect starting point for your small business journey. The Compass will guide you through eight chapters of teaching and prompts for action and examination that have been specifically developed for people starting, growing or fine tuning a creative independent business. The Compass is a foundation for understanding yourself, your motivation and how what you bring to the marketplace can make your business irresistible!

At the conclusion of each chapter in this eCourse, you’ll find a section called “Calibrate Your Compass” with an image of that chapter’s puzzle piece. Using the printable Compass chart made available in the course, you can track your discoveries and progress and use the your ‘Calibrated Compass’ to guide decisions in your future.

We believe that your business should be perfectly designed for you. We’ve written the Compass to help you a) explore your options, motivation and interests b) develop your focus, style, ideas, brand, name and to c) ultimately help you establish a foundation that will guide your entire business’ future.

Our Course Outline

1. Your Core Motivation:  Different types of people open business for different reasons, impacting everything that lies ahead. This chapter explores the variety of motivations people have for going into business and the unique strengths each brings to the table. Identifying what drives you will help calibrate your business compass.

2. Open Your Sails:  A lasting business keeps its options open. It’s important to consider versatility and range when building your foundation. Open Your Sails explores how you can structure your business to carry you farther and serve your customers for the long term. Shifting trends and interests don’t have to rattle your business, with your sails open you can surf the winds of change.

3. Discovering Your Business Style:  Style isn’t just about your favorite colors and how you dress- it’s the way you do things and how you transport customers to a world of your making! This chapter offers written and visual cues to help you identify the direction of your business’ style, equipping you to infuse personality and identity into your brand.

4. Creating a Business that Breaks the Mould:  Whether you’re a handmade seller, life coach or photographer, at their core, all creative businesses are connected in their ability to enhance the lives of their customers. Through exploring this chapter and “Your Core Motivation” from Chapter One, you can fuse your unique strengths with your chosen field to ignite your passion and build a unique platform for success in your industry.

5. Connected Products & Services:  Products and services are opportunities to reach customers & engage in their lives. This chapter redefines how you approach creating products and services, and breaks down the walls between them. Connecting and expanding what your business offers will allow you to create new opportunities, revealing a versatile business that thrives.

6. Your Message, Your Story, Your Brand:  Strong branding creates a memorable identity for your business that helps customers believe in you and feel confident about what you offer. Your Message, Your Story, Your Brand helps you discover your story and create a message that partners perfectly with your businesses style from Chapter 3. Through this process your brand will emerge and will reinforce your compass so no matter what the situation, your brand and its true purpose will direct you

7. Elements for a Lasting Name:  Choosing a business name is one of the most exciting (and intimidating) defining moments of your new venture! Elements for a Lasting Name helps you make an educated decision through guided brainstorm and fire-tested tips. Using our litmus test, you will feel confident about choosing a name that has the strength to grow with you!

8. Looking Through Your Customers Eyes:  With the confidence of Chapters 1-7 behind you, we turn your focus outward. Looking Through Your Customer’s Eyes explores who your ideal customer is, what their needs are and examines what their experience of your business will be. This final part of our journey helps you discover the most impactful ways to engage with your target market so they’ll make a connection and support your business for the long run.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I access and read the course?

A. The Indie Business: Compass is a privately hosted online e-course and you will receive access by email as soon as payment is completed. Your eCourse purchase will also include a digital copy of the Compass so that you can read it on any device that reads a pdf (tablet, iPhone, eReader, etc). This is a great option for those who do not always have Internet access and want to learn as they go.

Q. What’s taking an e-course like?

An e-course is a stand alone, self paced experience where students work through the chapters on a timeline that works for them. The entire course is made available to students and they can take advantage of it as soon as they like. An e-course is a little like a blog, so the navigation will be easy and familiar for students, but there are no comments on the chapters.

Q. I’d like to purchase the Compass for a friend, is that possible?

A. How thoughtful of you! Yes, you can purchase the Compass for a friend by using our special Buy Now button here. The course is the same price but this purchase button gathers your friends name so that we can help him or her redeem their gift.

Q. I’ve taken one of the annual Indie Business classes before– will the Compass be useful for me?

Hey Mogul! The Compass achieves what our annual Indie Business course was missing and we’ve created completely original content that will set you up with a foundation for success! We’d love to see you benefit from the Compass too!

Feel free to email us if you have a question at Hello [at] FreckledNest [dot] com

Meet the Teachers

Indie Business courses are created and taught by owners Jill Munro, Leigh-Ann Keffer and Kyla Roma. With over 27 years of combined small business experience, our teaching team has seen it all and we want to help you make your dreams come true!

Testimonials from Previous Indie Students

Jennifer of Lucky Jackson “The Indie Business course is essential to anyone starting a creative business venture. I have read books upon books on starting and running a small business but they did not offer the clear guidance, resources and support that this course provides. For those looking to start or improve upon their new ventures look no further than Indie Business.”

Dianne Knight of Simply Design  “Indie 3.0 helped me re-evaluate and take a fresh look at my business. Even though I’ve been working on my own for a few years, it was valuable to see experiences from other classmates, and learn from the amazing teachers. Owning a business is a journey, it is constantly evolving and never ending and it’s important to keep a fresh outlook. Indie helped me do just that!”

Moorea of Moorea Seal  “When I took Indie Biz 2.0, I was still debating over whether I wanted to run my Etsy jewelry shop as a hobby or a business.  Taking the class confirmed that I wanted to turn my jewelry business into a full time job, and within a year after taking the class, I made my dream a reality!  I have been self employed for a year now and I absolutely love it!  Indie Biz gave me all of the tools to market my business well with a clear vision, taught me how to produce my work more effectively, and so much more.  My blog following, twitter following, and all of my social media sites began to really buzz after taking the class which is a really important thing in trying to promote your business online.  The skills I learned in Indie Biz are what have given me the opportunity to be featured on 50+ blogs and websites, featured in magazines, and interviewed by multiple websites and businesses that I absolutely adore.  And my jewelry is stocked in over 20 stores across the globe.  It’s all thanks to Indie Biz!”

We’re so excited to put this into the world, and hope that you absolutely love it. You can purchase the course using one of the secure Paypal buttons here or if you’d like to learn more, you can explore the Indie Business HQ :)

xo, Kyla, Jill and Leigh-Ann

At the start of this month I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would make intentional choices in my life to change it for the better. I  poured through my daily routine, looked at how I had been scheduling my days, thought about how I was using my free time, and tried to take a critical look at the habits and tools I was using every day. I wanted to know if all the things I was putting my energy into were actually serving me. In my experience, your daily choices can either re-charge your batteries or drain you, and taking a little time to reflect can make for amazing positive change.

Over the next two weeks I’m going to be sharing a series of post’s called A Creative Start to The New Year. I’ll be sharing some pieces of my life that I’ve been daydreaming about and brainstorming on, along with words of advice from some of my favourite online personalities. It’s going to be a great time to do some reflection and get really excited about the months to come, and I hope that you’ll join me by sharing your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Not least of all because I have a very pretty new way of replying to your comments and I cannot wait to dive in!

To kick start the series I quizzed some of my January sponsors and they’ve shared some truly beautiful thoughts- and at the end of the post you can grab the questions to answer in a blog post or in the comments below!

Do you have an intention setting ritual for starting off the new year?

I am not one for resolutions in the New Year, however, every year for the last few years I always start the new year off with the intention to change and grow during the coming year. This includes doing small things from reading more to larger, emotional changes like being more patient. There are definitely proverbial goals of exercising more, but the only real thing I hope in accomplishing each year is to change in a positive way.

Are you the only handmade enthusiast, toy camera lover, vintage pyrex collector, blogger or fill-in-the-blank that you know? How do you embrace your differences & the things that make you unique in your every day life?

The funny thing about answering this question is how it directly relates to the first question. I am actually the only blogger I know in my physical life. With that said, my goal this year is to better connect with readers and other bloggers and cultivate these relationships with other like-minded folks. I am proud of what I do and how I have grown as a blogger, foodie, wine nerd, etc., which has spread amongst others around me. My friends and family may have not been blog readers before, but it has been interesting and rewarding to captivate their attention and welcome them into the blogging world. I am sometimes so excited by my passions in food, wine, fashion and writing that I think it is infectious with others, and I hope, charming? I began Fork and Vine almost a year ago and it has grown more than I could have imagined in that year and I hope to continue to nurture it for more time to come, which really, is reward in itself.

Do you have an intention setting ritual for starting off the new year?

I’ve never been one to set many new year’s goals or resolutions (whether from laziness or from fear of disappointing myself I’m not quite sure) but my favorite new year’s ritual is buying a brand new planner. I take my shopping seriously as I search for theee most perfect and theee cutest one. Perfect as in having plenty of room to organize my busy schedule and having plenty of blank note pages in the back for my many lists, and cute as in cute. I love transferring my notes, dates, and lists from the old planner to the fresh new one! It’s seriously one of my favorite things.

Do you have any tips or inspiration for staying connected, engaged & inspired without getting lost in online limbo or feeling overwhelmed?

I confess that I definitely don’t have this one down pat – I often times find myself stuck in routines of checking my social media sites without end. But I am always careful not to let it take precedence over the important relationships in my life. I make sure to unplug daily from the computer to spend time with my hubs when he gets home from work, and also to head to the gym with my bff, or go thrifting with my mom and sister, or have a fun night out with the girls. These things help keep me refreshed and energized. Plus I don’t have a smart phone, and although I would LOOOVE one, not having one definitely helps to be able to escape from the wide world of interwebs.

Ciera’s blog, twitter, facebook & instagram

Do you have an intention setting ritual for starting off the new year?

I am always striving to improve my business, blog and personal life so this year I decided to write a 30 before 30 list. I wrote down 30 goals, both personal and professional that I would like to achieve before turning 30 at the end of the year. I will be sharing my progress on my blog so this is a great way to keep me motivated throughout the year!

Do you have any tips or inspiration for staying connected, engaged & inspired without getting lost in online limbo or feeling overwhelmed?

There are a few approaches that I use in order to have a fun and active online world without feeling overwhelmed.

• Creating a list each day of online priorities keeps me from getting distracted
• Coming up with a realistic online schedule helps to minimize wasted time. I like to check all of my media while I drink my coffee in the morning. When that time is up then I move on to client work!
• I don’t feel the need to prove myself. I know that I’m busy but don’t have to update my networks each time I send an email to feel accomplished.
• Unfollowing people or blogs that are negative or make me feel jealous or frustrated is a good way to keep your online world positive.
• Interacting with people instead of just following is important to me. I love being able to connect with all types of people all over the world.

It is not easy and I have to concentrate on this balance daily. I hope these tips help you with a fulfilling online space without it taking over your life!

Do you have an intention setting ritual for starting off the new year?

I don’t really have an intention-setting ritual, but like many people, I do spend some time at the end of the year reflecting on what was good and bad about the previous year. I try to focus on everything as a learning experience so I can avoid making the same mistakes, and build on the successes I’ve had. For me, 2012 is about connecting with people and trying to spread a little kindness wherever I can, while at the same time trying to grow and be successful personally and professionally.

Are you the only handmade enthusiast, toy camera lover, vintage pyrex collector, blogger or fill-in-the-blank that you know? How do you embrace your differences & the things that make you unique in your every day life?

I spent the better part of my 20s trying to figure out who I am. I’m turning 30 on February 24th, and I finally feel like I’ve figured it out, but more importantly, I discovered that I knew who I was all along — what I had to do was become unafraid to BE that person. Now that I have made that step, I am a much happier person!

I’m a geek — I adore blogging, web design and development, and reading/learning about everything tech-related. I have a few “geeky” friends, but I wish I had more — especially more female geeky friends! (Incidentally, if any one is from the Erie, PA area, get in touch with me!) I also have an artistic side that I’m only beginning to allow to shine through: Knitting is my passion, and I also love art and design in general.

I’d love to know your answers or tips & tricks to any of these questions below in the comments or in a post of your own so we can copy off each other’s notes & make this an amazing year :)

• Do you have an intention setting ritual for starting off the new year?

• Are you the only handmade enthusiast, toy camera lover, vintage pyrex collector, blogger or fill-in-the-blank that you know? How do you embrace your differences & the things that make you unique in your every day life?

• Do you have any tips or inspiration for staying connected, engaged & inspired without getting lost in online limbo or feeling overwhelmed?

Last year Jesse was asked to be the best man for his best friend, who was the best man in our wedding. If you’re feeling brave you can find a mini-recap of our wedding here, but it’s from the very beginning of this blog and I just discovered how to round the edges of photos, so consider yourself warned :)

We were so excited for our friend, and got even ore excited when it was decided that the wedding was in Mexico! I’ve been working long weeks for the past year and couldn’t wait for the getaway. At the start January we slipped into a plane at the crack of dawn – with my SPF 110 carefully packed – and made a break for Puerto Vallarta…

Trip highlights: $2 Coronas at a local bar and new Havaianas- the best sandals ever!

The all inclusive resort that we stayed at was beautiful, and the people in the wedding party and attending the ceremony were so much fun! We all adopted each other and spent time playing in the ocean and lying on the beach (and then lying on the beach some more). There was a great gym at the hotel, though I will say that travelling as a vegetarian hasn’t changed much in the past ten years, it’s still hard to get food that isn’t carbs or cheese! It reminded me to be thankful that North American menus have changed so much as I’ve grown up.

Every morning I would wake up, go to breakfast for French Press coffee, and then read or work while the waves crashed in the background. It was a heavenly change of pace.

One of the highlights of the first days was getting a chance to release baby sea turtles into the ocean! Our hotel’s beach has sea turtles that return to lay eggs every season, and if you’re there at the right time a local conservation group gathers the babies after they hatch, and saves them for a supervised evening release so predators are less likely to get them. Before you handled them, everyone had to coat their hands in sand and they need to crawl along the beach and enter the water on their own so they remember the smell of the sand and return. The most amazing part was holding the baby turtles- they would do a swimming motion in mid-air for a while, and then take a rest by dropping their heads and legs and going completely limp as you held their shell. When they had napped for a little while, they would start up with the swimming motion again! It was the cutest thing.

Watching the baby sea turtles go to the water was so dramatic, the turtles would start moving and then get washed back toward you by the waves- it was hard not to jump in and help! Everyone was cheerleading “their turtle” on, and I even broke the rules and hopped in to flip my turtle over when she was upside down. I got shouted at, and felt like a bit of a hero for helping her out.

There was a big group of fast friends, guacamole served at almost every meal, fresh mint in the mojitos, late nights on the beach, free room service and tiny turtle prints in the sand at night. It’s hard to get better than that!

And in case you’re wondering, yes- of course I managed to get a sun burn ;)

Today I’m over at my friend Becka’s blog, Life as an Artistpreneur talking about making your online world work for your business, and getting comfortable with putting a little bit of your personality on display for your clients or customers. It’s a scary thing for lots of small business owners, but I think the pay off is completely worth facing your fears :)

Want to read more? You can find the post here!