Last year I created and failed pretty miserably at a 19 in 2019: A list of 19 things to do in the year 2019. Since I only did a few of them – far less than I ever imagined – I’d like to pick it up again this year and try to complete some of those things I had wanted to do then. The things I did accomplish this past year were: attend a wine tasting, put down new floors, paint and renovate the laundry room, and bake a fancy cake. That’s 4 out of 19; I told you I failed miserably. For this year, I’ll include the ones I didn’t do plus 6 more and they can serve as my New Year’s resolutions.

So, in no particular order, here are my 20 things to do in 2020:

One of my new life resolutions this year was to read more books. I set a realistic goal of 12 books this year, which equals out to one per month, and so far, this is the only new life resolution that is actually going well! If I can make it to 25 – the goal I set on Goodreads – then that would be even better, but I’m trying to stay realistic. Here are the books I’ve read so far in 2019.

Welcome 2016!

photo source

I have a good feeling about this year. The last few have been somewhat of a transition, as I was in graduate school and everything was basically suspended until I finished school and found a real career. Nick and I both started new jobs recently and we’re settling in quite nicely so I think now is a good time to focus on really making a life we want to live. I’m notorious for making New Year’s Resolutions that only last for a few months tops but this year I’ve had a serious talk with myself and determined that I need to get it together and really be an adult. So, Nick and I are setting four big goals for ourselves to reach in 2016 that are both realistic and much-needed.

1. Get it together. This one simply means it’s time for me to be a real adult: get out of bed in the morning with enough time to work out, shower, put on makeup, AND make a healthy lunch; actually fold the laundry instead of telling myself they need another round in the dryer (this will also solve the issue of shrunken clothes!); tidy up clutter before it has a chance to take over the dining room table…. you know, adult things like that.
2. Follow through. How many times have you ran into a friend at the grocery store and, after a lovely chat, made plans to get together for dinner, meet for coffee, etc. and then weeks later you forgot you even saw them that one time at Target? This year, we’re going to start following through with those plans. Whether it’s pulling out my phone and scheduling dinner right then and there, or sending them a reminder email to look at their schedules when they get home, or whatever we have to do, we’re going to make sure we get that dinner/coffee/whatever on the calendar. Think of how much our friendships will strengthen from being placed at the top of the list!
3. Say yes to new things. I’m taking a cue from Amy Poehler and Shonda Rhimes this year by saying yes to all of the new opportunities that get presented to me. I’ve caught myself on several occasions missing out on great things in life because I’ve been too afraid to say yes for whatever reason. So this will be my year of yes, and I look forward to making it my best year yet.
4. Finances. For the past few years we’ve tracked our expenses pretty well, but haven’t been able to stick to a budget that will help us hit our goals of knocking out debt while saving up for fun things.  We’re not getting any younger and we’d like to travel more and really build our savings for whatever lies ahead.  We have the means to do so and now’s the time to be responsible and get it done.  

There you have it, the lifestyle changes we’re going to make to live our best lives. I also think I’ll include some blog-specific goals later. I read a really great article recently that highlights how feeling like you’re unable to “pull something off” in style & fashion might actually have a larger impact on the way you view your actual talents and abilities, so I’m going to give it some thought and set some style goals for myself. So I look forward to all that 2016 has to offer!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

Linking up with Confident Twosday | Garay Treasures Blog | Tucker Up: WWIW

Photo via Pinterest.

I’m not very good at making New Year’s resolutions and probably even worse at following through with them. My favorite one, however, was to try at least 6 new things within the year, which turned out to be a good one because I did end up trying a lot of new things. I tried to repeat it as my resolution for the following year but wasn’t nearly as successful.

This year I wasn’t even going to attempt a resolution until I saw this wonderful guide on 2 Girls 2 Cities blog. It was inspiring and seems like a realistic and manageable list so I’m giving it a shot.

A bad habit I’m going to break: Picking at my cuticles. This is a real problem because I’m constantly picking or biting or cutting at my cuticles until they bleed and it’s very painful. I think it’s a nervous habit so I’d like to start directing that nervous energy elsewhere, ideally harnessing it into something more productive.

A new skill I’d like to learn: Networking. You always hear that when it comes to your career, it’s all about “who you know.” This year, I would like to work on my networking skills and get to know more professionals in my field and make connections that might help me advance in the future. As a graduate student, I feel this should be a valuable skill.

A person I hope to be more like: Leslie Knope. Technically, she’s a fictional character but she has been more influential to me than some real-life people. She’s ambitious, ridiculously driven, hard-working, and passionate and she makes things happen.  I want to be more like that in school and in life, and especially in my future career. 

A good deed I’m going to do: Volunteer. As a graduate student, I don’t have a ton of extra free time, but I’m incredibly lucky to not have to work this semester so I see no reason why I can’t devote some time to giving back to the community. This year, I would like to accept more volunteer opportunities.

A place I’d like to visit: New Orleans. If I play my cards right, I might be able to go in the Fall while attending a major public health conference. I’ll have to save money and work hard but I think I can make it happen!

A book I’d like to read: For Christmas, I asked for a ton of books and got most of them, so this will be an easy one. The next one on my list is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.

A letter I’m going to write: If it counts, I would like to get better at responding to emails/text messages/other means of correspondence. Emails will sit in my inbox for embarrassingly long amounts of time before I get around to responding and, it’s silly, really, when I could just respond right away and take care of business.

A new food I’d like to try: Traditional Creole/Cajun cuisine. Jambalaya, crawfish, red beans and rice, remoulade, etc. If I get to make that trip to New Orleans, then I’ll be set!

I’m going to do better at: Blogging. I have a new camera, new ideas, and won’t be commuting to school quite as often this semester thanks to online courses so I hope to create better content with better photos and more consistently in hopes of growing my readership and growing as a writer. This means putting more time and effort into my posts, which is exciting and inspiring.   

So, there you have it: some little improvements I’d like to make, little adventures to strive for, and overall a better me in the coming year. 2014, here I come!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

I guess it’s kind of official: I’m a belly dancer!

I’ve taken beginner classes in the past. My studies began around 2009 when two friends and I took three classes and learned some of the most basic moves. Not long after that, another friend and I took a 14-week class and learned even more moves. I had a lot of fun and thought I was pretty decent at it but I didn’t pick it up again until this year. The same teacher, Andalee, held an advanced beginners class where we learned how to perfect some of the same moves we learned in the beginners class and then how to dance them in a choreographed performance. And on Saturday, I had my first performance. So that pretty much makes me legit, right?

©Melissa Richard photography

The origins behind belly dancing aren’t known for sure. My favorite explanation – that I first heard in a short segment on tv featuring belly dance several years ago that I can’t seem to find now – is that it was created for women by women to prepare their bodies for childbirth. Movements in the belly represented the movement of the fetus in the womb, the movements of the chest and shoulders representing breastfeeding, etc. Pretty cool, huh?

Andalee and her advanced beginners!

Anyway, we performed at my teacher’s student hafla (which is Arabic for  party, get-together, or celebration) to a crowd of about 100 performers and their friends and families. I was so nervous but it was a lot of fun. I’m not a stranger to performing as I’ve done plenty of community theater, and, if you can believe it, it wasn’t the first time I’d ever performed a choreographed dance (I entered a talent show in elementary school where 3 other girls, one boy, and I made up a dance and performed it to a song called Romeo by Dolly Parton and the achy-breaky heart king himself, Billy Ray Cyrus – true story, it’s actually on VHS somewhere) BUT it was the first time I have ever belly danced in front of other people. A new class starts in a few weeks so I think I might continue… and maybe I’ll do it all again!

P.S. This is the third new thing for my New Year’s resolution!