Happy New Year!

Happy 2019, friends! It's time for the annual return to this blog to talk about last year and next!


Last year's resolutions:

Graduate from college
Done! Please keep reminding me to not go to grad school. But dang with the spring semester about to start I'm feeling this weird draw to take classes again but it's probably just the wanting the familiar. If I did more school it would probably be for a certificate or something.

Get a job
Not done. Been struggling with this a lot (feeling afraid/not knowing what I'm doing) so prayers are greatly appreciated!

Read 4 books
GUYS. You know how I've been struggling to read much the past few years and reading six books would be a big accomplishment? According to Goodreads, I read 52 books this year! Now the vast majority of them were thin Star Wars books (and some comics) for young readers, but 7 were adult fiction/non-fiction so definitely hit this goal!

Get at least one fanfic close to completion
I wouldn't say so, but I did a lot of writing (for me) this year (at least 17k words between two writing challenges plus stuff outside of that) and even some editing, so I don't feel too bad about not getting this done exactly.

Create other things
Hmmmm......I'm trying to think of things. Not coming up with much, sadly. With figuring out life and the feelings that go along with it, it's been kind of hard to "do" "things" and I'm only just getting a little better at it.

Take care of myself (body, mind, and soul)
Hmm....I'd say kind of! Mental stimulation is still a bit tough to figure out but sometimes!

Love myself
(Which is a more catchy phrase than "learn how much God loves me so I can love Him, others, and myself more.")
God has done amazing things for me this year! It was a slow progression from "self help" to, really days ago, "I am His beloved." Not that I'm done with this (far from it) and I'm sure I will continue to struggle with it but man. He is so good!
Don't get your hopes up, but maybe I'll make another post about with book recs in this area.

Dress well
Uhhh didn't really make any changes in this area this year haha. I have thought about it at least!


This year's resolutions: 

Read five books
Like the past couple years, just moving the number up until I miss it! I may not have as many short SW books to boost my number this year but I keep remembering some so we shall see.

Reread The Fellowship of the Ring
Or the whole trilogy (or six books depending on how you count) but let's at least get this started. I actually haven't reread LotR since becoming an adult, so I'm excited to see what they look like from a new perspective! And I got a companion devotional/journal for Christmas that has a page for each chapter so I must use it - check it out here! 

Finish a dang fanfic already
I'm not holding my breath on this one lol but going to shoot for it again! 

Be more intentional with physical/mental health
Uhh I guess I'm basically in the "mid-20s" age range so probably need to keep up on things a bit more. Also a good goal would be to acknowledge that feelings are a thing that exist. That's a first step at least lol.

Make at least one video
I had so much fun with this a couple years ago and then did almost nothing, but recently I learned how to do some things with my editing program and want to try them out! 

Go to daily Mass on a semi-regular basis
It's tough because I am definitely a night person and we only have morning Masses nearby, but I've ended up at daily Mass several times this year because of music ministry and it was so good so let's keep doing that on occasion.

Punch social anxiety in the face
Or you know. Something like that. It may not be social anxiety exactly, but it's definitely very uncomfortable! I've been home a lot this year which probably made "people-ing" harder, and I'd like to get back to that "outgrowing shyness" that adults promised me would happen when I was a kid.

Kind of want to come up with one more new/crazy resolution but no ideas as of yet!

EDIT Jan 2nd: Okay I thought of something I should definitely do:

Learn to cook

I generally find cooking Stressful so I’d like to get some practice and have a few meals (simple is fine, but ones I can’t already do easily) down that I can do from start to finish. That are also allergy-friendly and somewhat healthy. 

Thanks for stopping by this year! How have you been, how was your 2018, and what are you looking forward to or hoping to do in 2019?