New Year Resolution Updates...I NEED YOUR HELP!

It's been 17 days since I made my New Year's resolutions and surprisingly, I'm still keeping every one! Woo hoo! I think a big part of that (minor) success is that I'm making myself accountable by having told my goals and plans to family and friends. Whenever they ask me how my new designs for the shop are coming along or give positive comments on my weight loss (5 pounds by the way!), I am reminded that I have an obligation, not only those around me, but also to myself, be the best me I can be! 

Here's an interesting secret no one knows: I have actually kept my past 2 New Year's resolutions from January straight through December without fail! Last year, I noticed that I wasn't doing a very good job of saving and vowed to find a way to put more aside each month. So, for an entire year, I wrote down every penny that we spent, categorized to find out where we are spending the majority of our money, and pinpointed exactly what we can cut out. The year before that, I felt sad that I had lost touch with so many of my friends throughout the years, and I made a resolution to, if nothing else, send every one of my Facebook friends a happy birthday message.

This year, I have two sets of resolutions. One is for my personal growth and the other is for Pop Heart. I have found from past experiences that I am more likely to reach my goals if I set out to accomplish them one at a time and list specific strategies for achievement. So this year, I am finally going to tackle the BIG ONE.

I. WILL. LOSE. WEIGHT. 

I haven't set an amount as of yet, so I won't be disappointed if it's unreachable or if I accomplish it before December. Instead, I am focusing on my strategy; to spend, at minimum, 10 minutes of extra exercise per day, apart from my regular mommy duties, and break a sweat. And the absolute best way for me to do this... is to join a gym. I've actually never belonged to a gym before. I've always enjoyed walking/jogging outside, roller skating and playing intramural sports (especially tennis!). But the twins are toddlers now and absolute "Mama's boys"! I can't get one thing done around the house without one of them wanting to hold my hand or stop what I'm doing to play or read with them. And while I really love nothing more than to do that, I just can't while I'm trying to work out.

So the gym is really working out great! The boys love meeting new friends at the "Kidz Zone" and I love having an hour each day to dedicate to my health and fitness!

As far as my goals for Pop Heart, there are so many it was quite difficult to narrow them down to a small list of dreams that I believed might be achieved by year's end. But by New Year's Day, I compiled my list of three.

1. Create new products (posters, teaching tools, labels, etc.) and branch out into different media (i.e. melamine plates + bowls, t-shirts, aprons, bags, stamps, and school supplies).

2. Revamp and rework my website so that it's less generic and functions as it's own e-commerce site (This is the BIG ONE)

3. Be a better blogger!

I have already added a few new posters to the shop since the beginning of the year, and now, while I'm continuing on with that goal, I'm setting out to reach my second dream, to rework my website! But this one has me stumped! I am so embarrassed to say that while I consider myself a "graphic designer", I actually self-taught myself how to design in a range of programs and since having not been formally trained through a university, I have NO CLUE how to go about web design!

As I'm sure many of you have noticed, my blog is as generic as it gets and my website was created using a free template from wix.com, completely stuck and simple, and most annoyingly, not available as an e-commerce site. I NEED HELP!

And I know just who can save me! Amanda and Allie, from The Girls' Guide to Web Design, have created two super awesome learning programs that teach everyday DIY wanna be graphic girls how to create a beautiful, custom and completely creative website using Wordpress! I would really love to join in on their First Class session! Not only do you get their amazing 8 step program, you also have the opportunity to "meet" other girls going through the same learning process as you and actually ask Amanda and Allie questions as you go along! How awesome is that?!

And here's the BEST part! A & A are offering scholarships to 3 lucky contestants! So I'm taking my chances and asking you guys for your help! All you have to do is go to their contest page, look for Heather Bredimus, and click "Like". That's it! And you guys will have helped make my New Year's dream come true!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, soooo much! Winners will be chosen on the 25th and you know I'll be here to tell you guys if I made it! I'm so excited!