New Year. New Theme. New Phone. New World!

It always feels like one should write something very profound on New Year’s Day. It is a pretty big deal, after all. The old year is in the past. The new year lies ahead. It’s a chance to start again. To do things differently. To embrace newness…

New Year (Resolutions)

This new year, I want to make a new commitment to this blog. I pretty much took December off from writing. It was a good thing. I read a lot, participated in various holiday celebrations, and completely decluttered my house (once again…). I’m resolved to write at least weekly, but ideally twice per week (in addition to my Sunday email—join here).

Besides consistently publishing content on Simply Enough, I have also set a deadline for finishing the draft of my book on childhood mental health: May 1, 2014. This amounts to about 2,000 words/week, which is very doable. I look forward to sharing snippets with you here on the blog.

Other than that, I want to continue to work on following my life guidelines, especially the following:

• Eat real food (most of the time).
• Walk or bike whenever possible.
• Read, write, and sing every day.
• Be present.

New (Blog) Theme

At some point this past fall, I totally simplified this website to be more focused on the writing and less focused on my (currently on-hold) health coaching business. I used Leo Babauta’s theme from zenhabits.net.

While I *love* that theme, it was just too much like zenhabits.net. Every time I looked at my blog, I had to do a double take to convince myself that I wasn’t on the Zen Habits website.

So today, I bought the Wintersong Pro Theme by StudioPress. It had just enough functionality, and I really loved the simple design. I hope you enjoy it!

New (Smart) Phone

I used smart phones for the last five years or so of my corporate career. Based on peer pressure, I always went with a Pocket PC. I used it primarily for email, appointments, and emergency Internet look-ups. When I left my corporate job, I cut the data plan and eventually reverted back to an old-fashioned “dumb” phone. It was a nice break.

However, this year, we decided to make luther.edu responsive (mobile-friendly), and I realized that if I’m going to manage a project like this, I need to use a smart phone on a regular basis.

So I renewed my contract with my carrier and bought the green iPhone 5c using points. It has changed my life. I believe with proper use, this device can definitely contribute to a simplified life.

New (Childless) World

Two days ago, my husband and I waved goodbye to our (only) daughter, Rebecka, as she made her way to security at Chicago O’Hare Airport. She is in Sweden to study, hang out with relatives, and learn the language for the next 5 1/2 months. For the first time in almost 17 years, I don’t have a child to care for. It’s weird. And a little sad.

Good thing the Internet exists! When I came over to the U.S. 20 years ago, I was still using snail mail to correspond with my loved ones back home. My, how things have changed. Now we Snapchat, FaceTime, and Instagram. We’re in contact multiple times per day (although, I’m sure that will change when school starts). It’s rather fun!

I’ll view these childless months as an opportunity to finish my book, get serious about running again, be more diligent about walking to work, and maybe create that extra space to be present more often than not.

And with that, I’m off to order some new running shoes, so I can start tracking them in my new Runner’s Log app.

Happy New Year!