Wow. Can I just say that? Wow. This year. 2016. Twenty sixteen. I think a lot of us can admit that this year was a rough one. I feel a little beat up, you know?
I want to do a post similar to last year where I talk about some of the major things that happened in 2016 but I also want to talk about how I ended up doing with my commitments.
If you never saw that post, click here. It has been fun going back and looking at what I was going through and what I wanted to achieve this year.
1) Become more "house wife-y"
My first commitment was to spend more time being present at home. This year I wanted to be able to cook more, keep the house clean, and spend more time at home. Last year, I struggled with depression and did none of those things as extensively as I should have. Depression just knocks the will out of you. It took me a lot of effort to get up and go to work, let alone come home and clean or cook a meal. But this year I made the effort to do things even when I didn't want to. It has made me feel very proud that I could accomplish things that I struggled with just 12 months ago. Not every day is easy, either, but I remind myself that I know I'll feel better at the end of the day when I know that there aren't dishes to do, laundry to be folded, floors to be cleaned, or other household things that I ignored. I also noticed that once I got into the habit of doing something, it was a lot easier to keep doing it every day. Consistency and structure really do help and it calms my mind knowing what I need to do next.
2) Embrace my delightfully weird self
Boy, have I! This year has been so fun in this regard. I've gone to comicons, I've dressed up as movie characters, I've made nerdy clothing, I've bought geeky things. I have had no shame in the things I love and it has brought me a lot of peace knowing that I don't care what people think about me. I've gone to a few movie premiers, Jose and I went to Universal and I was nerding out the WHOLE TIME and it was amazing! I dyed my hair pink because I wanted to and it has been awesome. I've been buying makeup because I've grown to love it and have been learning how to do more makeup techniques. I'm hoping to start a new blog and really do something with it! (More to come on that) It's just been great expressing myself and not worrying about it.
3) Read more books
Not gonna lie, I fell short on this one. I read quite a few at the beginning of the year, but by April I had slowed way down on the reading process because I became obsessed with YouTube and crocheting and moving and stuff! I'll try to update the list and link it HERE to show you what I read.
4) Take care of myself
This was the most important commitment of 2016. Because of my struggle with depression in 2015, I really wanted to work on taking care of myself. There is so much I want to talk about in this category so it might be a little long-winded, but... this is my blog and I want to discuss my year and that's what I'm going to do.
4a) Physical well-being
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I started RUNNING this year. What. the. heck. After the new year started, I realized I couldn't just sit on my bum and become a sedentary lump of potatoes. Not gonna lie, it was ridiculously hard to start running. When I first started, I couldn't even run a quarter of a mile, but I have done three 5Ks this summer and I am REALLY proud of myself. It has also alleviated a lot of knee pain I've had since I was 17. At the moment, I've backed off of running a bit (my shoes are causing some pain) but I'm trying to hit up the gym 3 days a week if not more.
4b) Mental well-being
Mental well-being is just as important as physical well-being. This year has been a year of self discovery, which I hope I will have time to write about in other blog posts. I had several eye opening moments in 2016 that have brought me to this point today. I feel much more confident and sure of my choices and opinions. I've learned to follow my gut instinct more and to stop ignoring red flags. I've been working on standing up for myself and not accepting unacceptable behavior.
I'd love to talk more about taking care of myself, but like I've said a few times, I want to write more about these things in separate blog posts. So let's move on!
2017 Commitments and Intentions!
I have a handful of commitments I want to achieve this year!
1) Clean up my eating habits
I want to definitely focus on eating healthier this year. I'm not swearing off junk food forever, but I want to make more conscious about what I put in my body. My goal is to not eat meat this year, and try to stay away from dairy as much as possible.
2) Keep running and working out
I also want to keep running this year, and maybe work towards running a 10K by the end of the year. I have a gym membership through OU, so I hope I can make an effort to work out often. I love all of the options that the Huff has, so I can run, do weights, elliptical, or take a class.
3) Minimize clutter
Something that I already failed at once I got a billion things for Christmas. LOL! But I want to clean out things and get rid of stuff we don't use. I'm very sentimental, so I have a tendency to keep EVERYTHING. I've gotten better about it over the years, but then we also have a Super Nintendo stored in our closet. It happens.
4) Save money better
Obviously this is something almost everyone tries to do, but there are several things I want to save money for this year, so that's a goal. It's mostly practicing NOT shopping all the time. Haha.
5) Take an awesome trip
Jose and I plan on going to Puerto Rico this summer! I'm super super SUPER excited about that! If we don't end up going to PR, then I want to go somewhere else!
6) Blog more
I feel like I'm being pulled towards writing more. I really enjoy writing blog posts and want to write more about life! Perhaps things about what I do, my hobbies, etc. I think I want to focus on a lifestyle type blog. I just need to start!
7) Apply... for... GRAD SCHOOL
That's right! I want to go back to school! I don't have a solid timeline or deadline. I'm currently looking at schools I want to apply to and will be rebuilding my portfolio this year. I'm incredibly nervous but I know it's what I need to be doing and am trying to overcome my fears by just doing it!
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