Welcoming 2014 and creating those dreaded resolutions

2014 is going to be a big year, I can feel it.  We have approximately 11 days until we ring in the new year and to be honest, I can't wait.  2013 was by no means a bad year, but it was a weird one.  There was a lot of change and a lot of growth and I am certainly grateful for the lessons that life inevitably taught me this year.  With that said, I am more than ready for what 2014 is going to bring.  I think as each year undoubtedly comes we are provided with a unique opportunity to hit the refresh button, to set goals and to put life in perspective.  It's important to stop and ask yourself, what do you want from 2014?  I've always found making a New Year's resolution to be frivolous. We are so often setting ourselves up to fail with a resolution that may or may not be obtainable.  Rather than make one resolution, I typically set goals and create a list of things I'd like to do in 2014.  Since my Photoshop has decided not to work tonight, I will just go ahead and type them out :)

In 2014 I'd like too:

• Lose 50 pounds
• Get a job (terrifying that I have to write this down!!)
• 4.0 in the spring semester (I've never had a 4.0, I always end up with a damn B+ in something that brings me down to a 3.8)
• Plan at least one weekend trip.  I asked Santa for this amazing travel book for Christmas.  Hoping to get it and plan a fantastic trip for my girlfriends this semester.  
• Blog at least once a week
• Take a dance class

Feel free to join in on the fun with this adorable print I found on Pinterest.  This adorable little print comes from the blog Run Lucas Run and was created by Lindsay.  The site is adorable and I highly recommend you all check her out!

I've also filled this out and have, as always, sent it out to my girlfriends to do the same!

Comment below and let me know what you are planning to achieve in 2014! Or Tweet them to me at @ashnduvall :)

Happy planning my loves!

Happy Monday! I'm having a crisis...

It's snowing or raining outside..I'm actually not at all positive which one it actually is.  I'm in class and writing on this blog which should tell you all that I am bored to death.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about life considering so much is changing.  This weekend, while my boyfriend and I were lounging around, he very candidly asked me if I still wanted to do public relations as my career.  We were watching the new show "The Taste" and I had been discussing with him how much I loved to cook and really thought I could go on the show.  Well, I suppose at some point I made the comment that I could go on that show and then I wouldn't have to sit in a cubicle every day for the rest of my life, I could just do what I love.  So he asked...and I don't blame him for asking.  What scared me in that moment was the fact that I didn't know the answer.  Instead I got quiet and mumbled a very quiet "I don't know."  

To be completely honest with all of you, I didn't have the best semester this past fall.  Classes were rough for me and I struggled, even within my major. It was upsetting and frustrating and I left for Christmas break feeling very sad.  Like someone had burst my PR bubble.  When I came back for the Spring I was offered an amazing internship at a small PR firm in the city, a mentorship program with the Vice President of TBS, and I had a wonderful conversation with my adviser in which she assured me that I was good at what I do.

Well...I should feel better right?  I should want to do this again, right?  Wrong. So terribly wrong.  I am literally having a quarter life crisis and I have no idea what to do about it.

I have been taking the time, upon realizing I was having a quarter life crisis, to think about what I really want to get out of life.  What are my dreams?  What do I see myself doing?  While not everything fits into a picture perfect, step-by-step, scenario, it is what I want in my life and I am going to try my hardest to accomplish it.

1.  I will continue my education with public relations and graduate from my University
2.  I will search for a job as a wedding planner and obtain any extra necessary documentation to do so
3.  I want to eventually open either my own wedding planning company or a bakery
4.  I want to have the opportunity to stay home with my children when that is the case
5.  I want to have a successful blog in my lifetime

That's what I want as a career.  A compilation or variation of all of that.  So no, it's not exactly public relations, but it's my dream.  My degree will help me achieve all of it.