Tripping the Friday Fantastic: Fresh Start

I generally don't give a new year much thought. I've never changed jobs or relationships or houses or anything big at the start of a year. Same ish different date. And, as I previously discussed, I don't really make resolutions. This time around, I'm treating 2016 as a fresh start. I am actively working to make changes in my life and plan to re-evaluate at the end of the year to see if the hullabaloo is worth it. The following fantastic sources might just help:

1. I've been considering a capsule wardrobe for a looonnnggg time. My closet is out of hand (and in the floor and on my bed and on top of the dryer). I hate most of my clothes and getting dressed is a chore. Something has to give. Check out Un-Fancy for tips if you are interested in the concept.
2. 26 Tiny Things You Need to Start Doing For Yourself This Year. I recently started number 3, thanks to my mom. I've always been pretty good at 8, 10, 12 and 26. I refuse to do number 16 because I can't stand the smell. 
3. Let's get real for a moment. How do you choose to suffer? Happiness requires it. You have to want the benefits and the costs.
4. I love the Lively Show Podcast. I need positivity in my ears and Jess Lively has it in spades. The episode on diversifying self-worth with Tal Ben-Shahar is great.
5. 52 Ways to Awaken Your Spirit in 2016. Number two!

2016 To Do List

Resolutions. Just typing the word makes me itchy. I'm far more comfortable with a To Do list. In 2016, I want to: 

1. read (at least) one career related book per month (in addition to usual entertainment reading)
2. get back into regualr yoga routine
3. eat more "real" food (i.e. stop eating out of boxes so much)
4. make a more structured quiet time/Bible study (choose a specific place, dedicate a notebook, set an amount of time)
5. revive my blog
6. revive my etsy store
7. spend at least a little time learning Spanish EVERY DAY
8. illustrate every day items EVERY DAY
9. get rid of lots of stuff - think curated instead of cluttered
10. send mail
11. paint master bedroom and office/craft room
12. host a dinner party
13. go on a weekend roadtrip
14. write, illustrate and self-publish a children's book
15. plant a vegetable garden
16. clean out the fridge and pantry every month
17. be thankful EVERY DAY
18. get my email inbox cleaned out
19. sew a legit quilt
20. stop apologizing for my opinions / be more outspoken

That wasn't so hard. No itching. No pressure. No formality. Just a list. A list of things that I have an entire year to work on. A list of things that I actually want to do instead of a handful of resolutions that look just like everyone else's and include only big, daunting ideas (looking at you, weight loss).

What's on your list?

What Had Happened Was / 2016

So you know how sometimes you start a blog and write in it a lot and then suddenly just stop doing that for two and a half years? Yeah, me too. 

A lot happened during that time. I started a new position at work, became a beekeeper, learned to crochet and barely knit, helped build a house in a foreign country, got a pixie cut and grew out a pixie cut, added four new tattoos to my skin, let a piercing grow over and finally had one of those pears wrapped in gold foil from Harry and David. My name is the same and I still have a body that is 60% Mexican food instead of water. So there's that. 

I'll always come back to you, blog.
Partly because I hate talking.

I miss this blog. I miss writing. Since I claimed this space of the internet, I have revamped it many times - into a place for DIYs, a place for recipes, a place for humorous stories. I just couldn't settle on one thing. Blame it on my ADD, baby (the other 40% of me is made up of song lyrics that people stopped using conversationally a long time ago). Instead of settling on one thing, I'm going to settle on all of the things in 2016. Just what big time bloggers tell little time bloggers not to do. Does that put this space of the internet into "lifestyle blog" territory? Meh. Maybe. I kind of don't like the way that sounds. This will just be a blog about stuff and things. That's a category, right? Squirrel (see note above about ADD). 

Ready or not, here I come.