Well, I thought this year couldn't top 2012, but I'm glad I was wrong.

Looking back on the year, my favorite moments were from all the new places I got to travel to and experience. I had the best time exploring Los Angeles and Las Vegas with Eric, Richmond with old friends, and the cute little town of Columbus, Georgia with one of my coworkers. I also got to know my own state much better when I traveled to Asheville, Boone, Oak Island, and the Outer Banks for the first time. 

Along with traveling, I pushed myself more than I ever have in my life. I pushed my body in ways that I didn't know that I could. I began running several days a week (something I've always hated), and kept doing it until I completed a marathon in November. I pushed myself at work, becoming a designer full-time and stretching my boundaries creatively more than I ever have. I even attended two conferences and joined several groups in the Triangle to better hone my design skills.

Yep, 2013 has been a great year. Before I get too sappy and start talking about how great I think 2014 will be, I thought it would be fun to look at my resolutions for this year and see how I did.

Design More Check! Not only did I start solely doing design projects at NMC, I tried out a lot of different types of design work, from app design to more illustrative work, to a bit of hand lettering. In October, I designed the first site that I couldn't build out on my own, which was both a sad, yet accomplished feeling since I had obviously come strides ahead in my design work. Along with designing more frequently, I branched out a lot more by going to several design conferences and meetups, and discovered a lot of great designers I was oblivious to before. And I finally worked on my own website a little and made it look decent!

Watch Less TV Haha, I seriously didn't even remember making this a resolution. I don't want to know how many hours I spent watching TV this year...let's just say this resolution will be on my 2014 list.

Spend Less, Save More I did work at this, I promise I did. I've definitely saved more than I have in years past, but I think I failed at making a proper budget. At the beginning of the year, I created budget plans using Mint, which you may remember from my blog post here. While the app worked wonders for me at first, it seemed like it was scolding me when I made purchases that were things I was actually saving up for. It also became a huge pain because my bank account or credit cards would often become disconnected. In the end I just stopped following a budget all together.

Looking back at my spending throughout the year, when I saved the most was when I went on my Bangladesh explosion ban and only bought American made goods for a month (aka, I didn't really buy anything). While I sort of failed at budgeting, I did save up enough to do some traveling, which was my main goal for saving. Next year I plan to have more concrete resolutions that will hopefully help out my budget.

Learn to Sew Also another laughable resolution. I touched my sewing machine a total of two times this year, both of which have just been attempts to actually set up the sewing machine. Each time, a nap has become more appealing. If I don't learn to use this machine in the next year, I swear I am selling it!

Run, Run, Run! Check, check, CHECK! If this needs any more elaboration, you can read more about my running here.

Blog More I definitely blogged more this year, both personally and for NMC's blog. I'm still not quite satisfied with my posting schedule (will I ever be?), especially since there were some several week spans where I never touched the blog. I plan on coming up with a more concrete schedule in the new year.

So those were my 2013 resolutions, not too bad eh? I'd give myself a grade B since I overcompensated for the TV and sewing in the running department. Can't wait to share my 2014 resolutions with you all!