Feliz Año Nuevo!

David and I just got back from a week in Baja California with our friends Shian and Janna. It was an incredible week. Some of my favorite parts were daily fish and shrimp tacos, surfing in Cerritos and kayaking in La Paz, grilling fresh-caught fish on the beach, sleeping SO well, New Years on the boardwalk in Loreto, and a 12-minute border wait coming home (we used our SENTRI passes for the first time!).

Here's a panorama of an incredible sunset from the trip:

On the water in our kayaks, we talked about some of the things we would like to accomplish in the next year. It's a family tradition of Janna's, like new years' resolutions but more concrete than "I resolve to work out more." I like it. I thought I'd share a few of mine for now, though I'd like this to be an ongoing list.

A few of the things I would like to accomplish in 2013:

• Complete the majority of my pre-reqs for nursing school. Hopefully I can finish enough of them that I'll be applying to schools by the end of this year!
• Go to Haiti and with Naturopaths Without Borders. Sarah and Sean (two incredible Naturopaths and a dynamic duo) are creating a clinic with all sorts of other amazing community programs, a Garden Pool, herb garden, and so much more. Stay tuned for more about Haiti and Naturopaths Without Borders- a bullet point can't come close to summing it up.
• Run another half-marathon with my sister-in-law Crystal. We ran one together with our friend Lorin in 2011. I didn't train, at all. It was my second day back from Peru! I'd love to give it another go, this time with training, and I'd like to beat my previous time of 2:20. 
• Learn how to use a pattern and make clothing on my sewing machine. (All by myself, without tons of help from my seamstress mother or Kathleen!) My first project is to make a dress for Codi's wedding at the end of May. I plan to find the perfect pattern, make a practice dress, and then go for the real thing. I also plan to do this early enough that in case it's a major fail, I can still buy the perfect one!
• Visit Chicago, and some of my loved ones who live there now: Katie, Dan, Melody, Jen, Kellie and Javi. Am I missing anyone? With so many people I love there, visiting is a must.
• Cook using lots of locally-grown, seasonal food.
• Keep up with and deepen my practices.
• Spend quality time with family, my dear boyfriend David, friends, and other loved ones

What's on your list?