Hello, friends! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!
For Jordan and I, the celebration continues this weekend in the great land of Tay-has (that's how I like to say Texas sometimes). But before we leave to spend time with my side of the family, today, Beka and I are hosting a 2013 linkup!
Scroll to the bottom to link up your 2013 posts,
and be sure and visit a few of your fellow bloggers.
* * *
I was going to write a letter to 2013,
but I saw these questions on Kenzie's blog
and was further inspired by Alicia's post.
1. What am I most proud of this year?but I saw these questions on Kenzie's blog
and was further inspired by Alicia's post.
There are two things that make me the most proud:
a) Completing all my 2013 resolutions by September
b) Landing my sweet job and, most specifically, holding out for something great. You CAN find a job you love. It might take some time, but it's out there. I believe that 100%.
2. How can I become a better ________?
The first thing that came to mind was wife. You know how you guys think I'm hilarious and awesome? Well, sometimes I'm not so awesome, and Jordan does not always think I'm hilarious. Shocking, I know.
In 2014, I want to be more intentional about being a better wife to Jordan. More posts on that later. Survey says you guys love it when I talk about marriage.
I am really hard on myself, so I don't allow myself much grace at all. I'm constantly down on myself about how I could be a better wife (see #2), a better Christian, a better friend, just a better person in general.
And while self-improvement is a good thing, I do need to give myself some grace and remember that I am not going to change overnight. I'm not going to wake up and magically be more patient, less materialistic, and better at managing my time. I need to allow myself grace to make mistakes.
4. Am I passionate about my career?
At the start of 2013, I would have said my career looked like a black hole of awfulness.
Now? I can happily and thankfully say yes (see #1b).
5. What did my finances look like?
Due to my job loss, our savings plan slowed down dramatically (aka stopped altogether), and our house buying plans have stalled for the moment as well. Actually, we've decided to rough it out in apartment life for another year, so there's that.
But all in all, it wasn't so bad. Our budget saved the day, and even though it wasn't fun to pinch pennies, we made it without having to dip into our savings one time! Winning. You can check out my budgeting posts here, and one post I'm going to do soon is a short introduction to budgeting to just give you some easy tips on how to actually get started. The new year is the perfect time to implement some easy budgeting practices.
6. How did I spend my free time?
Mostly, running and blogging. And talking to my mom on the phone.
Oh, and thinking up hilarious tweets.
7. What projects have I completed?
Does my how to start running series count? Because that was a heck of a project!
I also crocheted some stuff like pot holders and scarves, bought a desk for myself so I actually have a home base for my computer and stuff like that, and I ran a marathon. That was a pretty labor-intensive project.
And I baked a lot of cookies. A lot. You could say my project was not gaining 28495 pounds.
8. In what ways can I restructure my time?
I go back and forth between feeling like, "I love my blog! It's fun! It's not a waste of time," to, "You idiot! You realize how much time you spend on this blog for no money? At least do sponsorships for pete's sake."
So there's that. I could probably restructure my blogging time, although I have no idea what that would realistically look like.
Still, in general I think I do a fairly good job of structuring my time. As previously mentioned, I am one of five people in the world who don't own a smart phone, so I at least have some freedom from social media when I am out of my apartment and/or not near a computer. But I definitely waste my share of time on the computer too. I guess I would just like to be more intentional about the amount of time I spend doing certain things and making sure I'm continuing to be productive and not just wasting time. Was that too vague? Probably.
9. When have I felt the most alive?
While running. Bet you didn't see that one coming, huh?
Specifically, running on a beautiful day with a good song on my ipod and the wind blowing at my back. It's those days that remind me why I love it so much. It makes up for the days where I get honked at by creepy strangers and chased by dogs and angry geese.
10. How can I improve my relationships?
I need to ask my friends how I can be praying for them, and then I need to actually follow through and spend time in daily prayer. That's the first thing.
Secondly, I need to remember things. Birthdays and anniversaries. I need to send cards and emails and make an effort to stay in touch. Because even though I have the kind of friendships where we don't have to talk all the time, those are the friends I want to talk to the most. So I should.
11. What lessons have I learned in 2013?
Budgeting is important. Annoying sometimes, but always important.
Salmon actually is not disgusting. It's delicious.
Black olives, however, will always be disgusting. Stop trying to eat them thinking the taste has changed.
God is good.
12. What old habits would I like to release?
Being quick to speak. Not that I haven't been working on this my entire life. It would be really nice not to blurt out everything I'm thinking at any given moment. I am constantly offending people. On the bright side, I've gotten quite good at apologies.
Also, I pick at my face a lot, which I KNOW isn't good for my already terrible complexion. I'd like to stop doing that. Old habits die hard.
13. What new habits would I like to cultivate?
a) Daily prayer (see #10)
b) More strength training and other things like pilates or yoga.
I'd really like to be able to cross off "do a pull-up" on my 30x30 list before I'm too old to care about doing pull-ups.
c) CLEANING
I have tried to start a cleaning schedule since I moved out on my own. And I have failed miserably every time. Like, I don't even clean the first time. I can budget and wake up at 5am to run, but I can't get my act together to regularly clean my bathroom sink. It's a problem.
What do you have to say about 2013?
Write a post, grab a button, and link up!
