Then and Now: A Year in Review

Well ladies and gentlemen...it's the end of the year again.  I can't believe I've been blogging now for over two years.  I can believe that I've managed to miss both of my anniversary's!  Fail. That's OK though, because celebration or no, I can see the vast improvement that those two years have made.  The picture above is my very first post of 2012.  When the year started I had already improved by leaps and bounds and I was feeling AWESOME about where I was at.  Looking back at it now I can see that I've improved even upon that and THAT feels pretty awesome! It really does show that there is nowhere to go but up and everyone has room to improve!  Here is my last post of 2013 (not counting tomorrows flashback mani!)

The lighting is better, the cuticle line is smoother and the top coat isn't EVERYWHERE. lol...even though you can't see it in the picture, polishing from start to finish (zero nail art) now takes me around 10 minutes. That's base to top and ready to go.  I feel great about that!  So what else has changed since 2011? Well let's see shall we?

*New blog layout. I got a brand new layout and graphic courtesy of Emma of Manicurity and my sister, who makes super sweet graphics and who put the whole thing together for my lazy butt!! Thanks to both of them for giving Bee Polished a fresh, new look!

*Rehab Series. This year I got a nail tech degree.  I started in January and finished in April and it was the LONGEST three months of my life.  I spent many hours in school and working and had practically no time to do anything, let alone my nails!  But it was worth it for all the wonderful information I gained. :)  It allowed me to bring my Rehab Your Nails series to you and that will continue in 2013, starting with the New Year New Nails series!

*Regular Challenges. I joined a few regular challenges in 2011 and never was able to keep up.  I started up more this year and have two that are currently running: A-Z and Digit-al Dozen.  I also added mini challenges to keep myself inspired but also not get overwhelmed. Some of them included LOST, Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.

*Less Polish/More Use. It doesn't seem like it...but I actually purchased significantly less polish this year than last.  In 2011 I started out with about 20 polishes. At the end of that year I had amassed close to 450.  This year I'm around 800.  A good number of those came from swaps and birthday groups.  In the new year I'd like to buy even LESS polish and get around to using more of it.  I'm also gearing up for another blog sale to try to clear out some space. I've already cleared out two drawers of my second helmer!

*More interaction. I had more opportunities to interact with you, my readers, this year.  I'd LOVE to have even more in the next year. I have added a feedback form for you to use if you want to provide me with feedback, whether good or bad.  It's totally anonymous so you can say how you feel!  I also have a Facebook page now and an Instagram account.  I spoke with a lot of you via email this year as well and I love to be able to help you guys out and use your common questions to create new series. :)

*More innovation.  In 2011 I was mostly limiting myself to stamping.  This year I've played with all sorts of textures from flocking to beads.  I'd like to play with even more in the new year!

Hopefully the new year will bring more of the old stuff and plenty of new things as well!! I'd like to focus more on cultivating my blog and do less challenges over time.  I also need a new camera. I think I've reached the maximum quality I'm going to get with this one. It's three years old though, so I feel good about the progress it's made!  I'd love to get down to a reasonable and manageable amount of polish and stick to a more regular blog model so that you'll know what's coming and when!  I also have about six posts which have been sitting in my draft file for TWO years. I'd love to get those up on the blog finally. :)  Later today I'll have up my most popular of 2012 and tomorrow you can watch out for my then and now photo challenge featuring my VERY first blog mani. *shudders* it's scary people. Just scary. 

What are your goals for the new year?