Blogmas Day 19: Looking Back on 2018 and Resolutions for 2019

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This year has been a great year and one of my favorite so far! I found a job I love early in the year, I was maid of honor in my sister's wedding in September, I got engaged last month, and I have felt so happy and stable in life. I feel like this is the feeling I had really wanted for a long time when I was in jobs that weren't right or relationships that weren't right. 2018 has been amazing and I am excited for 2019 that will be even better. 

Photo source

2018 

Resolutions I made for 2018 and progress:

1. Get a job 
 I have a job that I really enjoy and I am excited for what opportunities might come from working there. I like my team and the work I am doing. 

2. Get in shape and eat healthy  
I am getting in shape and feeling better. But I did not get down to my goal weight this year. I did not really focus on this goal and take it super seriously so next year will be the year for that as my wedding will be coming up soon. I do however feel like I have achieved this goal because I joined a gym this year and have a personal trainer and feel so strong from doing a lot of strength training and being able to lift a lot heavier weights.

3. Read 20 books 
I got to 8 books this year and maybe I will finish a 9th book, so next year I might aim for less than 20 so I can accomplish this goal next year.

4. Knit different projects
I knitted fingerless mitts and a tank top (I still haven't sewn together oops) and some more little holidays plush decorations. I knitted a ribbed scarf in December.  

5. Try cooking new vegetarian and vegan dishes  
I have tried some more recipes from cookbooks I received for various occasions. I tried making a pasta dish from the Oh She Glows book and also a chickpea dish from a sheet pan meal recipe book. I have tried a recipe my sister gave me that is a taco mix that you eat in a taco shell that is really good. I think there are so many recipes to try I could be making so much delicious and new food all the time. 

2019

1. Use less plastic 
I would like to use mesh bags instead of plastic ones, refuse plastic bags unless I really need them, and limit buying food or other items that are wrapped in excess plastic. I bought toilet paper last week that had rolls wrapped in plastic in pairs of twos, is that necessary? I want this to be more of a focus this coming year. I might have a more tangible goal to reach each month such as only take one plastic bag from a store each month so it is an emergency situation otherwise I need to carry things and force me to bring reusable bags wherever I go. I also want to stock up on more totes I can bring with me shopping like the one below and also purchase more environmentally friendly products like the wooden toothbrush. I did but mesh bags to put my produce in instead of using those plastic bags each time I grocery shop.

Photo source 

2. Knit a shawl 
 in 2018 I kept thinking I want to knit a shawl and I never did, this year I would like to find a nice shawl pattern on Ravelry and go for it. 

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3. Read 15 books 
 As I mentioned above, reading 20 books was a bit of a stretch for me this year and so I brought it down to 15. I kept it higher than what I achieved this year so I could aspire to get to a higher number because I am almost at 10 and it is doable. Then each year I can work my way up to 20, 25,30 etc. I really love to read I just don't take enough time out of my day to read and usually try to squeeze it in right before bed when I am tired. Once I get started reading, I love it and can read for hours. 

Photo source 

4. Complete 12 knitting projects 
I would like to complete a new project each month next year. Most years I probably do get to this number, but some I don't and it would be a fun to have a monthly project to work on and help to set time limits to how long I am working on something.

5. Find and secure a venue for my wedding 
 This is a goal that I have to do because I will be getting married in 2020 and we need to find a venue to have the wedding and make sure we secure a location in order to move ahead with other plans. I am looking forward to really getting into planning the wedding next year. This year has been busy since our late fall engagement with Christmas coming and other things on the go. I am looking forward to slowing down in the new year and taking more time out to plan.

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6. Get to my goal weight
I would really like to get down to my goal weight this year and really feel ready for this to finally happen again after years of wanting to but not getting there. I am now part of a gym and have a trainer and should really make better use of these resources. This is the year for it to happen before my wedding. I want to feel and look my best for one of the biggest days of my life. 


What are your New Years Resolutions for 2019? 

Thank you for visiting my blog for blogmas day 19. It was fun writing this post and I love sharing my year reflection of the goals I made more this year and looking ahead to the goals I want to focus on for the next year. 

Have a great day!

Hello September! Goals and Knitting Updates

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy September! This week has been so busy at work and just in life. I was cross-training at work on a new task and it has been my main focus for the past two weeks. My Sister's wedding is next weekend so I have been preparing for that by working on my Maid of Honor speech and getting some things ready. I have also been going to the gym four times each week and this week, two times a week being with my personal trainer.  My trainer has continued to deliver on workouts that keep challenging me, so I really appreciate that and it has been keeping me motivated. I am feeling stronger and the workouts are getting easier, and I am also losing weight which I am so thrilled about!

Since it is now September and it has been getting a bit cooler outside finally, it makes me think of the start of things and new beginnings. I am thinking more about my goals and where I want to be in life lately and it always happens this time of year. I will revisit the resolutions that I made in January, and also add some more to focus on for the rest of the year.

New Year's Resolutions Update:

1. Get a job ✅

I got a full time position in June this year! I started off on a contract and worked hard hoping to secure a full time position. I let my team leader know I was interested in working there, and enjoyed the work. I was not sure for awhile if I would get it because my contract got extended along with some other people on contract and they said it would be extended on a month-to-month basis so I figured I would be done in the Fall. I was very surprised and happy when my team lead pulled me aside one day and offered me the position there in the same role. I love my work and feel it is the perfect fit for me!

2. Get in shape and eat healthy 
I have been working out with my trainer at the gym twice each week and working out twice on my own. I have also been trying to eat cleaner. This has been more recent and I am feeling more positive that I can achieve my fitness and health goals. I hope to continue losing weight and getting more toned and feel my best!

3. Read 20 books
I have read 5 books so far this year. I have started some and stopped as well that I will pick up again. Currently I am reading Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella and hope to finish this one soon and start up another one to add to my list of finished books.

4. Knit different projects 
I have knitted fingerless mittens as a new project and would like to also take on knitting another new project or some smaller knits before the end of the year. I am thinking it would be fun to knit a shawl this fall.

5. Try cooking new vegetarian and vegan dishes
Because I am vegetarian (but eat fish once and awhile) I wanted to come up with some more delicious recipes this year which would be fun to try. I haven't been as experimental in my cooking lately and have not cooked a new vegetarian or vegan recipe in awhile. I am thinking of getting some new recipe books soon to get some more inspiration and ideas on what to make. I am going to Veg fest in Toronto this weekend so I hope to get more ideas and inspiration.

I hope to make more progress in these goals by the end of the year. It really helps me to review my goals at this time of the year so I still have time to work on them and feel more successful at the end of the year by making more progress.

Some more goals I would like to work on for the rest of the year are:

• Learn to play an instrument - Maybe ukele? Any ukele players out there to give me advice on buying one?
• Learn a new skill - I love the look of cross-stitch, it would be fun to give it a try

Knitting Progress and Reading Updates:

I have been working on knitting fingerless mittens and have made some progress and finished the first mitten. I will be starting the second one this week to finish them soon in time to wear for cooler weather. 

Ravelry Pattern: Ribbed Fingerless Mitts by Kathy North

I haven't been working on the decadent socks lately. I was having problems with it and had to keep frogging it. Below is a photo of what it looked like where I left off. I love the colors and the pattern is interesting. I will pick it back up once I am finished the mittens and sewing up the Wool and the Gang top then I can devote more time to figuring it out.

I am currently reading Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella and it is a good read so far. I just haven't been reading as much lately and want to get back into the routine of reading before I go to bed and setting time aside to do that. 

Joining along with Ginny over at her blog Small Things for Yarn Along and Nicole at Frontier Dreams for Crafting On.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Let me know in the comments below what you want to focus on as goals for the rest of the year, or how you are doing in your resolutions. I would love to hear about your goals too!

Have a great day!

New Year's Resolutions and Getting Back on Track

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. The past couple days I have been working on getting on track for the new year. My boyfriend and I had a great time at a friend's place on New Year's Eve and welcomed the new year with some great people. I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve night and New Year's day. I took down the ornaments off the Christmas tree yesterday and then we threw out the tree last night.  This is always kind of a bittersweet moment because it is accepting that it is not Christmas anymore, but also a sign of a new year with new possibilities. I still have some Christmas decorations to put away today.

I was happy to do a bit of knitting on the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top yesterday and get back into working on my personal knitting projects. Today I will be working on knitting the front piece again and making some more progress. I will also be looking up patterns to use for some new yarn I purchased recently.

Progress on WAG Farrah Billie Jean top

I have been filling out the Q&A a day book and the first question I answered on January 1st was "what is your mission?" I was stumped on that question for awhile then thought of my answer. I flipped through the rest of the questions to see if they were all difficult to answer, but some are also easier to answer such as "what is the last restaurant you went to?". I am really enjoying answering the questions and look forward to seeing how my answers differ from year to year.

I got my planner organized yesterday and today by adding the inserts and filling in what I ate in the fitness insert and my exercise. I am loving the home planner insert, I think it will really come in handy to keep track of cleaning, to-do lists, and my budget. I feel more ready to start the new year now and excited for the possibilities of 2018. Because I just started adding stickers to the page today it is pretty bare and I did not do too much on New Year's day anyway except sleep and relax off the night before.

First page of my new Happy Planner so far

I am still reading Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed and have added a couple more books to the list since Christmas because I can never seem to only read one book at a time haha. I started reading Stuff Every Vegetarian Should Know by Katherine Mcguire and The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. I was gifted both of these books for Christmas and I was excited to start reading them. I am hoping to finish Wild soon so I can focus more on the books I received for Christmas.

I made a list of my resolutions for the year 2018 and came up with five resolutions to focus on. I had more goals, but these will be my main focus of this year.

1. Get a job - I finished my certificate in December and now it is time to really focus on getting a job.

2. Get in shape and eat healthy - My sister's wedding is coming up this fall and I would like to feel my best for her big day. I did a Tone it Up workout yesterday and it felt great to get back into exercising again.

3. Read 20 books - I would really like to make it to 20 books read this year. I have a few on my to-read list so far and look forward to reading a lot this year.

4. Knit different projects- I would like to challenge myself to trying some new knitting projects this year. Maybe I will check out some Ravelry patterns and try out some new hat and sock patterns. I will also be knitting a tank top this year from the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean kit.

5. Try cooking new vegetarian and vegan dishes - Since my decision in September 2017 to go vegetarian, I have been experimenting with cooking a lot of vegetarian and vegan meals. I have really enjoyed the food and it would be fun to try some more that we can add to our weekly meal rotation.

What are some of your goals or resolutions for the year?

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unwraveled Wednesday. Also linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along on her blog Small Things today (January 7th), because I found out she is back with a monthly Yarn Along post!

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Have a great day!

Progress on Resolutions and Goals For the End of 2017

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today is day 7 of NaBloPoMo! it has been going by fast and I have loved it so far!  Today I worked more on trying to untangle the mess of alpaca yarn that came as a hank of yarn. The ball I am forming has gotten larger, so that is promising and I am hoping that soon I can start knitting the toe up socks I told you all about in October. In the meantime, I have been knitting up my stocking and have knitted four stripes which I am happy about.

I thought today I would share the progress on my New Year resolutions that I made at the beginning of the year. I have always done a progress update in the past on my resolutions to myself just to see how I am doing and if in the short time left in the year, I could do anything to also add to my progress. In the past I liked to write a list of resolutions, then every month I would write progress notes on how I am doing. Now I mostly just write down goals each month in my planner of what I'd like to accomplish. At the beginning of the year, I wrote a list of resolutions and I also shared with you a post on my three words here.

My three words for the year are: Radiant, Balanced, and consistent

Radiant:
I believe I have been radiant by being true to who I am and embracing my strengths and the features I love about myself. Before the end of the year, I would love to really appreciate myself more and be my best self to end this year amazing and start the year off right.

Balanced:
This has been a very balanced year so far in terms of keeping myself centered and balanced emotionally. I have been working on keeping things in check and not getting too overwhelmed. I also kept my life balanced by having a good amount of spending time working on my own and having alone time and also time to see my family and friends.

Consistent:
Consistency at the beginning of the year meant to continue to be consistent in work and also in my personal life. I was thinking I would like to put in a consistent effort in my job and in some of my personal goals. I have seen consistency in my regular exercising, self-care, attention to relationships, knitting, and blogging. I have developed more of this skill at keeping going with working on things that are important to me instead of getting sidetracked by unimportant things and losing track of my goals. I look forward to using more consistency when I get a job as well and continuing on with all these things and also being consistent at work.

Photo source

The resolutions I wrote down in my notebook at the beginning of the year:

• Knit a sweater: finished knitting the sweater on November 2nd, 2017. Please click here to read my blog post about completing the sweater.
• Knit with real wool: Knitted a hat using Patons Roving yarn which is 100% wool. Please click here to see post.
• Read 25 books: I have read 6 books and I will be finishing a few more soon.
• Get down to my goal weight: did not this year, but I have lost 13 pounds this year!
• Grow my blog followers: grew Bloglovin' followers from 35 in May 2017 to 44 and counting now November 2017.
• Post on my blog once every week or every two weeks: I have been more consistent this year with posting on my blog and I have really enjoyed chatting with you all more often! Glad I made my blog a priority this year!
• Go on a trip with my boyfriend: we went to the Dominican Republic in April 2017. Please see blog entry here.

It has been a great year so far and I have accomplished most of what I wanted to at the beginning of the year! 

Goals for the remainder of the year 2017 would be:

1. Finish the books I am currently reading to add them to my books read list
2. Lose 5-10 more pounds
3. Continue posting consistently on my blog
4. Knitting socks with alpaca wool 

And... to have a great rest of the year, happy and healthy. I am looking forward to making my next list for next year. 2018 will be a great year!

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Have a great day!