Happy New Year everyone! I cannot believe 2013 has come and gone already. For the past few days, I have sent some time reflecting on 2013, as well as thinking about what I hope 2014 will bring. Here’s a look back at 2013 by some of my more memorable events (note: I probably forgot some of them!)!

Although I rang in 2013 with pneumonia, it turned out to be a pretty great year. I started this blog, enjoyed playing in the snow after the big snow storm, went to Dallas for work trips in January and February.

I treated myself to a spa day, I taught a lot and then stepped back and dropped some classes, which was upsetting at first, but ended up being the best decision. I got my kickboxing certification, which was a great accomplishment.

I was showered with love on Valentine’s Day, went out with my girls a number of times, made a number of delicious meals, and drank A LOT of wine.

I got a promotion at my “real” job, but also lost my best friend/coworker when he took a new job in Chicago.

April was a mix of emotions: very sad ones because of the Boston Marathon Bombing, but also very happy ones because of some wonderful birthday celebrations. I went out in Boston with my parents and my friends and then my boyfriend at the time took me to NYC which was an amazing little vacation. We also hosted Sara’s baby shower, which was a beautiful day!

I experienced the SOWA open market, spent Mother’s Day weekend at home with my mom, went to the Wellness By The Water Retreat, a class at Exhale Spa and spent Memorial Day Weekend in Maine.

I on a number of work trips: Atlanta, Stowe, VT for a work conference, NYC, Ohio and North Carolina, to name a few.

Two of my best friends from home welcomed new babies into the world just a few weeks from each other (Zeke and Tucker).

We celebrated Father’s Day while home in Maine, as well as the 4th of July and both parents birthdays.

I went to only one wedding this year, but it was a good one!

I went through a breakup, which was very hard, but he and I have been able to remain friends, which I am so grateful for.

I moved into my own apartment and am absolutely loving it! To warm my apartment, I threw a house warming party, which was a great time. I dated someone who also lives in East Boston for a while which was fun because he took me to lots of fun places like Santarpio’s, Ecco, and the Australian Meat Pie restaurant.

My sister and I went to Chicago to visit JP (recaps: Chicago: Part1 {Shopping and Bar Hopping}, Chicago: Part 2 {The Bean, Navy Pier, Boat Tour, Brewery}, Chicago: Part 3 {Brunching, Architecture Tour, Homemade Dinner}) and my family went to Michigan for a family wedding.

I was surrounded by family and friends for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which I wouldn’t have any other way!

And lastly, because of this little blog, I have been able to make so many connections through social media and share my passion with all of you: fitness and healthy meals. Thank you so much for reading and joining me throughout all my journey’s this past year.

With that said, let’s look forward to 2014, shall we? I am not one for resolutions, but there are a number of things that I would like to be more cognoscente of, be more mindful of and practice more, which is what this list is all about.

1. Be more present. Because of my Type A personality, I find myself always planning everything out… sometimes to the minute (my to-do lists usually even have times listed, as well as things like “shower”. it’s bad.). As much as it’s usually easier for me to just do the things on the to-do list and THEN relax, I need to learn what is important on my list and what is not and the things that are not important and critical to get done at that time can and should be moved aside so I can enjoy the present moment.

2. Slow down and learn that it’s OK to say “no”. Although the past year was great in so many ways, it was incredibly busy. There was a time when I was teaching 5-7 classes a week, working full time, blogging, going to events and trying to manage a social life. And you know what? I survived, but was it worth it? Probably not. It was exhausting and caused me to reach a ‘breaking point’ more often than I’d like to admit. Over the past few weeks, I have made more of an effort to take time for myself and it’s been amazing. I felt guilty at first for watching cheesy Christmas movies on Sunday afternoons, but I realized that during that time I was completely relaxed and calm and it felt really good.

3. Practice more yoga. When I was a studio assistant at Prana Power Yoga, I got in the routine of practicing yoga at least once a week and not only was it good for me physically, it was even better for me mentally. It was an hour or so out of my day where I focused more on breathing and stretching and slowing down than I did anything else. I need more of that.

4. Focus more on the present, less on the past. Focus more on the positives, less on the negatives. As I mentioned, I went through a sad breakup this past year and it affected me more than I ever let on to. But I’ve reached a point where I’m tired of looking back on it and wishing things had worked out differently because I do believe everything happens for a reason. With that said, this year I am going to try to focus less on the negatives and to not dwell on stuff so much because that is wasted energy. I don’t like myself when I’m like that, so why would anyone else?

5. Become a better instructor and become a personal trainer. The more I teach, the more I love it, but I know I have a lot of room for growth. As I’ve been experimenting with more and more classes with seasoned instructors, I’ve learned a lot about good cueing, good formats, “less is more” (it doesn’t always have to be the biggest, best, fastest exercises to be effective) and stepping outside of the box with different “toys” and ways to use them. On top of that, I want to be more knowledgeable about how the body works (muscles, etc.) and would really like to get my personal training certificate.

6. Grow Burpees to Bubbly. My 1 year anniversary is approaching and with that will hopefully come some changes. My pages need work, the content of the posts could use more substance, I need to grow my voice more… basically, B2B needs some serious TLC!

7. Be more financially stable. I was doing so well financially before I moved, but moving was expensive and totally set me back. My goal this year is to get my finances organized, grow my savings and cut back on frivolous spending.

8. Be more accepting of myself. I’m always putting myself up to all sorts of crazy standards and you know what? It’s tiring! I want to be successful and driven, but I also want to be more balanced and appreciate the smaller things I do, too.

I know it seems like that’s a lot of things to try and accomplish this year, but if I were to sum it up, I really just want to be more relaxed and less intense. I know it won’t happen over night, but if I write these things down and continually remind myself of them, maybe eventually I’ll be able to lose some of my “Type A-isms”? If nothing else, I just hope this year brings about new experiences and I hope I am able to appreciate them.

Cheers to 2014, friends! I can’t wait to see what this year has in store!

Questions for you: What was your favorite memory of 2013? Do you like to make resolutions? What’s a goal you hope to accomplish this year?