This is the first year in a very long time that I actually set New Year Resolutions, and I’m very pleased to report that I actually accomplished most of them! And because I know you’re all just dying to know all about it, here are the results:
- Spartan Race: This is the only goal that I didn’t fulfill. I found out how ridiculously expensive they are and realized I couldn’t afford it, especially not with travel expenses added to the bill. I wanted to do a 5K instead, but never heard about any in time to sign up for them. I’m also lazy and didn’t train, so there’s that—but I did do a fair bit of time on bicycles (both stationary and mobile) , so at least I wasn’t a complete couch potato.
- Drink More Water: I’m still not where I should be, but I’m working on it and I definitely improved. For one, I actually started drinking the water I’ve been carrying around in my Philmont Nalgene instead of just lugging around 32oz of stale water like I used to. Small victories, man.
- Wear This: This, of course, referring to the cap, gown, and pretty blue hood that graduating MSc students get to wear. While I didn’t get to attend my graduation ceremonies a few weeks ago and didn’t technically wear the pretty blue hood, I did pull out my cap and gown from High School and wore it to work on the day I got my results. Granted, that day was Halloween, so people just thought I was in costume. And I did also wear an afro wig so I looked really ridiculous, but whatever. I’m counting it. And as a special birthday present to me, I got this in the mail today:
- Read 10 Books Just For Fun: I knew with all the school-related reading I was going to do, I wouldn’t have as much time for personal reading. I purposefully set a low goal for this year’s reading, but I managed to read more than I thought I’d be able to. Most of these were kindle books that I got for free through Book Bub, but I did discover that the Newcastle City library had a half-decent YA section. Here’s the complete list of my reads for the year, with my favorites in bold.
- Keeping Secrets by Maggie Dana
- War Child: Pawn by Ernie Lindsey
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick
- The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
- The Book of Deacon by Joseph R. Lallo
- The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
- Rippler by Cidney Swanson
- Appaloosa Summer by Tudor Robins
- Steel Lily by Megan Curd
- Everblue by Brenda Pandos
- The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard
- Far World: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage
- Wednesday Riders by Tudor Robins
- Create Stuff: Okay, so I didn’t exactly do a project every month, but I did crochet a scarf, edited some videos, and made a bunch of crafty stuff when I taught art at the Boys and Girls Club for two months after getting back to Idaho. My favorites were these two:
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- Five New Passport Stamps: So apparently, they don’t stamp your passport when you cross borders on a train or a bus. They also don’t always stamp your passport at the airport. But whatever. I totally visited 12 countries this year, so BOOM. Checkin’ this one off the list, even if they didn’t stamp my passport.
2015 was a pretty awesome year, and I’m excited to see what 2016 will bring.
Did you complete your resolutions? What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming year?
