Self Portrait Project: January

I’ve been wanting to do a self portrait project for a couple of years now.. ever since i started following the beautiful Gail Werner and fell in love with her self project series. I always put it off, i felt so funny doing it even tho i’m one of the few photographers that loves to be in front of the camera as well as behind it. But this january (as most januarys go) is full of new resolutions and goals.. i don’t usually do well with resolutions, but part of that might be because i don’t write them down, or let people know about them. This year i’m putting some of my major goals out there for everyone to see, and hopefully hold me accountable. We can all use a little help sometime, am i right?

So, here are some of my goals for 2014:

1.finally start self portrait project and post an image monthly

2. train and run at least one half marathon, preferably 2. i’m not the worlds best runner by any stretch. i haven’t found that love for it yet that so many others have. but i ran my first half marathon last year and the feeling that came along with it was absolutely amazing. i can’t wait to feel that sense of accomplishment again. i’ve already signed up for the Cap City Half Marathon in may, so heres hoping i can at least beat my time from last year.

3. do not get caught up/worked up/etc about things that don’t concern or affect me.

4. get in better shape. most of 2013 i put fitness on a back shelf. our wedding was over, our honeymoon was over, both sisters weddings were over. besides the half marathon, and some other little races scattered thru out the year, i didn’t make running a huge priority. we’d do really good about getting to the gym for a few weeks then stop going, go a few weeks, then stop again. and on and on like that. i put on a lot (a lot) of weight and i feel pretty miserable about it. i’m not putting this out there as a poor poor me or for people to feed me compliments. this is an admission, a confession if you will. I know i can be better, do better and i want to. With all this extra weight on me, its harder to want to exercise because i get more tired easily and i feel more sluggish. this year that is going to change. i’ve taken some before photos but you can bet your ass i won’t be posting those before i have  a kick ass after photo to go along with it. maybe that will be a self portrait later this year. Plus if i ever wanna have a kid in a few years, i need to get into shape now, because it’ll be a helluva lot harder with another human to take care of.

5. daily yoga practice. i started doing yoga almost daily last May. there were a few times i took some time off, i had some back issues in october and got sidetracked in december when the baby got here. I’m making sure this year to carve some time out of every day to get on my mat. as a lot of you know (if you follow me on instagram) i partake in a lot of yoga challenges. I do this because they’re fun, and they take me out of my comfort zone a lot of the time pushing me to try new poses that wouldn’t normally be part of my practice. I’ve made a lot of progress in a lot of areas and i’m excited to see where this year brings me. this photo shows me doing something that until the last day of november 2013 i couldn’t do.. when i was able to grab those toes (without that strap), that was a happy happy day. i work on this pose every single day, so it can only get better from here. my next goal with this is to touch those toes to my head.. i’m so close, maybe i’ll get there in february.

what are some of your goals for 2014? I’d love to hear what you all are working on! xxjbz

oh since everyone always asks about my pants, these are one of my favorite pairs ever from K. Deer Haute Yoga.