Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Probably. Oh well, looks like I have some catching up to do!
Last year I posted quite a list of resolutions for 2022 and I am proud to say that I did pretty well on most of them. Except #2, obviously, because it was to write/blog more! But here’s to 2023 and doing better (although this being my first post of the year isn’t exactly starting off great!). Let’s see how 2022 ended up…
#1 Consistent Exercise Routine. I am super excited to share that this happened and is still happening! In April, 2002 I joined Orange Theory Fitness and I love it! I have several friends that go all over the country and they all raved about it and so I thought I would give it a whirl. The hype is real! There is no other workout that I burn 500-600 calories doing in 55 minutes and don’t hate it the whole time! I also starting running outside with Drake (we were training for a 5k but that training has slipped during the winter), walking the dogs more and overall just being much more active than 2019-2020 (the c o v i d era).
#2 Write More. Nope! Just didn’t make it a priority but hoping that changes this year!
#3 Address Stomach Issues. CHECK! I went to the doctor’s in January of last year, had an endoscopy and started taking meds. I also changed my diet so now I don’t have to take my meds very often which is great!
#4 Landscaping. This is 50/50. So while yes, we did put in new landscaping in the front as we had hoped, I am worried that a lot of died in the frost this winter which is annoying and expensive. But it does look like my hydrangeas are coming back which obvi is the most important!
#5 Save Money. Also 50/50. Did I save as much as I had hoped? Noooooo. Did I spend less on stupid stuff? YES! Baby steps people!
#6 Travel. If you follow me on social media at all then you would believe this answer to be yes. And technically, yes I did have a lot of travel but not as much as the fun kind. I did get to go Maine for a month but John and Drake had to stay home. I did go to Orlando with Drake to visit John during spring break but John was working most of the time so not quite the same. Lots of work trips and I did get to see two of my besties, in VA and TX. Ok, fine, I will answer this YES. But I didn’t get to use my passport!
#7 Oh baby. Nope. No baby.
#8 Cook at Home. CHECK! We were really good at this. We whittled down out going out to eat to once a week, its crept up a little bit at the end of the year to maybe 2x a week but all in all, MUCH less than we used to! I will have to do a GF meal post this year. (Can’t give it all away in the first post of the year!)
#9 Gluten Free Household. CHECK! You might find a few gluten-containing foods in the house but not many and nothing that would impact Drake.
#10 Giving Back. Fail 🙁 My goal was to do something once per quarter other than just donate money to something. We did three things – organized a Suits for Success Clothing drive, helped with our church’s yard sale fundraiser and Drake and I did our annual Food Drive in our neighborhood. I did donate to several more charities than usual but still did not meet my goal for events where we gave our time.
#11 Read More [less social media]. CHECK! This happened later in the year but I did join our neighborhood book club which has been a lot of fun! I have met new people and certainly quadrupled my reading (anything is more than zero). I also started posting less on social, or at least tried to make it more consolidated.
#12 Improve Flexibility. Utter fail. I think I did two stretching routines in 2022.
#13 Practice Spanish. Fail. Why is this so hard to stick to? I start and then stop. Drake and I are really good for a couple of weeks and then it falls off the wagon. Must. Try. Harder.
#14 Go to Church. We did it! We went every weekend we were home except 2 that we played hooky. And I even went by myself when I was in Maine. More important than attendance though, is that I really grew in my relationship with God and it’s been super cool. I even joined a bible study which was something I was super nervous about doing and really put me outside of my comfort zone but I have truly loved it!
I will have to share my goals in a later post for 2023. But for now, here is a short recap of 2022 in pictures. Happy New Year, y’all! lol
