My year in review - 2015
Happy New Year!!
Well 2015 has been quite the year for me. Because it's always good to do an end of year review, I've decided to share mine with you.
January
Feeling distraught over losing my father on October 11, 2014, and a little unhappy over other things in my life that weren't as I'd hoped they would be, I decided to take on my first Whole 30. Through this process, I realized that I have a strong reaction to dairy and sugar. Dairy gives me muscular aches and makes me moody (feeling down). Sugar also makes me moody and makes my joints hurt. Grains don't seem to affect me as much. Also, I had no idea, but apparently I'm very much an emotional eater. It was good for me to focus on this challenge. It got me out of my funk.
At the end of the month, I met an interesting sweet man and we dated for about three months. The end of that relationship was a difficult heartbreak for me. But I got so much from it that I appreciate it despite the heartbreak. He was very much a "make it happen" kind of guy which inspired me to make it happen for myself. And so I did!
February
I started living a minimalist lifestyle. It's been life changing! It has allowed me to free myself from my possessions "owning me". This freedom from clutter has given me room to think more clearly and finally really live my life. It's been a long process and it's ongoing, as it should be. Minimalism is a decision you make every day.
April
I took Lindy Hop swing dance classes. It's a very fun dance... when you have a good partner. Unfortunately, most of the men I danced with weren't very good dancers, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. But at least now I have the basic steps I need to dance it whenever the opportunity arises. And that's pretty cool!
I did the 30-day minimalism challenge. That was fun and it certainly helped me to get rid of my clutter. Over 400 items gone from my home in one month!
May
Mid-May to mid-June was the gym. It was great to know that I'm stronger and more capable physically than I thought. It was also interesting to realize that my body was holding on to emotions. I had no idea that that was possible. But why not, right? We can react quite physically to events in our lives. I guess we can become so good at holding back our reactions to our emotions that our bodies just end up holding on to them and lock them up in our muscles. Exercise helps release them.
June
It was decision time. I had to decide if I wanted to go through with moving.
I also finally bought my domain name to attach to this blog and decided to take my blogging seriously. It's when I decided to put more thought into my posts.
I met Dr. T. Another make-it-happen kinda guy, and fishies rescuer on top of that too! He helped make my summer more spontaneous.
July
My daughter and I wanted to explore our city as tourists might do. We did a Capital Cruises boat ride. Then I got the opportunity to rent the condo attached to the parking spot I was already renting. I went for it. So having to prepare for the move kind of slowed our city exploration endeavours. But that was fine because we knew that we'd be exploring it even more after we moved.
August
My daughter and I took our first international road trip. We had lunch in Ogdensburg, New York. It was a little anti-climactic, but still, we did it.
I turned 41.
September
We moved into our downtown apartment. I've never lived in an apartment building this size. Some would say that moving from a house to an apartment is a step back. But I really feel like it's a step forward.
My mother moved out on her own. I'm happy to say that our relationship is pretty much back to how it was before we lived together after my father died. I'm relieved. I was afraid that our struggles to adapt as roommates had damaged our relationship. Also, she loves her new apartment, which makes me very happy for her.
October
Adapting to the condo hasn't been as easy as I expected. But I'm finally starting to feel more at home. I'm happy to be living downtown. It suits me more than any other place I've lived before as an adult. (As a child, the neighbourhood I grew up in suited me well.)
I went hiking and canoeing with Dr. T. It was a cold day. Good weather for hiking because I got very hot during the hike. And it was fine for canoeing too, because Dr. T. knew enough to lead us to where we'd be shielded from the wind. However, a picnic in the park at -1 Celsius probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had.
I got rid of more stuff, and will continue to get rid of stuff.
In the last week of October, my friend Theo (friend since high school and an actor) asked if I could write a script for him. Although I'm hopeful that something decent will come out of that, I haven't been able to find the inspiration to write anything for it yet.
November
I lost touch with Dr. T, which means that I won't be going hiking with him in the Adirondacks next late summer/early fall. But I have a feeling that I've found a new willing adventure partner.
I started working on my first novel. "First" - implying that I will write more than one. :)
December
My daughter turned 16.
I decided to be still for a while - to let the dust settle in order to evaluate what's important to me.
I started dating Mr. Romantic. We started our own personal book club and started it off with A Christmas Carol and made a night of it on Christmas Eve.
2016
What adventures and experiences await me? I'm hoping that I'll be spending more time living intentionally. I'd like to spend more time out in nature camping, canoeing, hiking, cottaging... I also want to finish writing the first draft of my novel. I might even try to push myself a little to get it published by the end of the year, while keeping balance with my being still of course...
Changes
I'm changing the frequency of my blogging. In the spirit of being still a bit more and to allocate more time to the novel and to life, I'll be posting only once a week on Fridays instead of twice a week as I have been. I'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll find that I have too much to write about to you guys and go back to twice a week. But I think this is right for me for now.
Thank you!
I want to thank you for following me in 2015 on my journey to simplicity. I sincerely like getting feedback from you and hope that you get some value from my writings. I enjoy sharing my experiences with you. I hope that I can continue to entertain you in the year to come.
P.S.
Oh! And by the way, ... I still haven't bought soap! :)
Well 2015 has been quite the year for me. Because it's always good to do an end of year review, I've decided to share mine with you.
January
Feeling distraught over losing my father on October 11, 2014, and a little unhappy over other things in my life that weren't as I'd hoped they would be, I decided to take on my first Whole 30. Through this process, I realized that I have a strong reaction to dairy and sugar. Dairy gives me muscular aches and makes me moody (feeling down). Sugar also makes me moody and makes my joints hurt. Grains don't seem to affect me as much. Also, I had no idea, but apparently I'm very much an emotional eater. It was good for me to focus on this challenge. It got me out of my funk.
At the end of the month, I met an interesting sweet man and we dated for about three months. The end of that relationship was a difficult heartbreak for me. But I got so much from it that I appreciate it despite the heartbreak. He was very much a "make it happen" kind of guy which inspired me to make it happen for myself. And so I did!
February
I started living a minimalist lifestyle. It's been life changing! It has allowed me to free myself from my possessions "owning me". This freedom from clutter has given me room to think more clearly and finally really live my life. It's been a long process and it's ongoing, as it should be. Minimalism is a decision you make every day.
April
I took Lindy Hop swing dance classes. It's a very fun dance... when you have a good partner. Unfortunately, most of the men I danced with weren't very good dancers, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. But at least now I have the basic steps I need to dance it whenever the opportunity arises. And that's pretty cool!
I did the 30-day minimalism challenge. That was fun and it certainly helped me to get rid of my clutter. Over 400 items gone from my home in one month!
May
Mid-May to mid-June was the gym. It was great to know that I'm stronger and more capable physically than I thought. It was also interesting to realize that my body was holding on to emotions. I had no idea that that was possible. But why not, right? We can react quite physically to events in our lives. I guess we can become so good at holding back our reactions to our emotions that our bodies just end up holding on to them and lock them up in our muscles. Exercise helps release them.
June
It was decision time. I had to decide if I wanted to go through with moving.
I also finally bought my domain name to attach to this blog and decided to take my blogging seriously. It's when I decided to put more thought into my posts.
I met Dr. T. Another make-it-happen kinda guy, and fishies rescuer on top of that too! He helped make my summer more spontaneous.
July
My daughter and I wanted to explore our city as tourists might do. We did a Capital Cruises boat ride. Then I got the opportunity to rent the condo attached to the parking spot I was already renting. I went for it. So having to prepare for the move kind of slowed our city exploration endeavours. But that was fine because we knew that we'd be exploring it even more after we moved.
August
My daughter and I took our first international road trip. We had lunch in Ogdensburg, New York. It was a little anti-climactic, but still, we did it.
I turned 41.
September
We moved into our downtown apartment. I've never lived in an apartment building this size. Some would say that moving from a house to an apartment is a step back. But I really feel like it's a step forward.
My mother moved out on her own. I'm happy to say that our relationship is pretty much back to how it was before we lived together after my father died. I'm relieved. I was afraid that our struggles to adapt as roommates had damaged our relationship. Also, she loves her new apartment, which makes me very happy for her.
October
Adapting to the condo hasn't been as easy as I expected. But I'm finally starting to feel more at home. I'm happy to be living downtown. It suits me more than any other place I've lived before as an adult. (As a child, the neighbourhood I grew up in suited me well.)
I went hiking and canoeing with Dr. T. It was a cold day. Good weather for hiking because I got very hot during the hike. And it was fine for canoeing too, because Dr. T. knew enough to lead us to where we'd be shielded from the wind. However, a picnic in the park at -1 Celsius probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had.
I got rid of more stuff, and will continue to get rid of stuff.
In the last week of October, my friend Theo (friend since high school and an actor) asked if I could write a script for him. Although I'm hopeful that something decent will come out of that, I haven't been able to find the inspiration to write anything for it yet.
November
I lost touch with Dr. T, which means that I won't be going hiking with him in the Adirondacks next late summer/early fall. But I have a feeling that I've found a new willing adventure partner.
I started working on my first novel. "First" - implying that I will write more than one. :)
December
My daughter turned 16.
I decided to be still for a while - to let the dust settle in order to evaluate what's important to me.
I started dating Mr. Romantic. We started our own personal book club and started it off with A Christmas Carol and made a night of it on Christmas Eve.
2016
What adventures and experiences await me? I'm hoping that I'll be spending more time living intentionally. I'd like to spend more time out in nature camping, canoeing, hiking, cottaging... I also want to finish writing the first draft of my novel. I might even try to push myself a little to get it published by the end of the year, while keeping balance with my being still of course...
Changes
I'm changing the frequency of my blogging. In the spirit of being still a bit more and to allocate more time to the novel and to life, I'll be posting only once a week on Fridays instead of twice a week as I have been. I'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll find that I have too much to write about to you guys and go back to twice a week. But I think this is right for me for now.
Thank you!
I want to thank you for following me in 2015 on my journey to simplicity. I sincerely like getting feedback from you and hope that you get some value from my writings. I enjoy sharing my experiences with you. I hope that I can continue to entertain you in the year to come.
P.S.
Oh! And by the way, ... I still haven't bought soap! :)
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