2016 + 2017

Just like that 2016 is over. In some ways this year went by so quickly, but when I look back and think of all I did and accomplished, maybe it wasn’t that quick after all. This year has been life changing. I have grown as a person. I have accepted who I am and what makes me happy, and I’ve clung to it. I’ve learned that I can do things on my own. Or I can find people/groups that enjoy the same things I do. I’ve gone out of my comfort zone. I’ve spent time on myself. I’ve paid attention to how I spend my time. And I’ve found that I can be happy, even when life tells me I shouldn’t be. 

As I sit and reflect on the year I’ve had and the year coming up, I’m happy, content, and excited. I wasn’t able to accomplish every goal this year, but I came pretty dang close! My biggest goal was to be happy and to find happiness and I can honestly say I’ve been able to do that. Other goals I’m especially proud of accomplishing: getting a job that uses my master’s degree. I love teaching for BYUI! It doesn’t feel like work to me and has made me realize that’s how all jobs should be. Also, I love that I’ve become a better runner this year. I set such small goals (but big when I set them in January) only to far surpass what I thought I was capable of. I ran a marathon. I honestly never thought that day would come. I ran over 800 miles this year after setting a goal to run 200 (and I thought that would be hard!). I’ve realized that running is my stress-relief and it has become essential in ensuring I feel good. I consider myself a better, more rounded reader after reading 52 new books of various topics this year. And I feel close to my Savior as I’ve been to the temple this year.

My two goals I didn’t accomplish were buying a house and becoming foster parents. Unfortunately, those two things just weren’t in the cards for this year. And honestly, that’s okay. I don’t know if we’ll buy a house next year or not, but I know we’ll have a roof over our heads. I don’t know if we’ll foster or not, but I know we will actively move forward to becoming parents. And someday, when the timing is right, both of those things will happen for us.

And until then, I’m going to live my life purposefully…which is my theme for next year. And I can’t even begin to say how excited I am. Let me explain: to live purposefully means to do things intentionally, not letting the moments pass before you. It means spending less time on the couch and more time doing. It means making every single moment count and living a life you love. It means you don’t work at a job just to earn money. It means you try new things and have new experiences. It means you live. And you do it on purpose. How liberating, right?  

I started thinking up my goals in October/November-ish and I have been so excited for them! Making goals should be exciting. They should be things you want to do/accomplish, not something you feel obligated to do. If you’re not excited about your goals, nothing is going to change and chances are, you won’t get anywhere with them. I have learned that by creating a theme and planning my goals around that theme, I am most successful. As I thought about how I wanted to live a more purposeful life, I realized my goals for 2017 will be (mostly) loosely structured and all about taking opportunities that come my way. Learning not to be scared and saying yes.

When I began writing out my 2017 goals, my header was: “how to have a bomb year by:”... and I decided I’m going to keep it that way. A bomb year is a purposeful year which will turn into a purposeful life. So, without further ado, here’s what I have planned thus far.

·       Re-read all of the best books (my favorites) and for good measure, read some new favorites.          No new goal number, but no less than 12 new authors.

·       Earn the trifecta medal with Runtastic. And also, only new races, with one freebie.

·       Speaking of running, I’m going to run 1,000 miles in 2017!

·       Visit 6 new temples (ones I haven’t done temple work in) + Continue to visit the temple at least          monthly.

·       (My favorite goal for the year) Travel more than 200 (ish) miles each month

·       If I’m going to have a bomb year, I need a good camera to document it with (aka buy a SLR            camera of sorts)

·       If I’m going to be taking a lot of pictures, I better scrapbook them as the year goes by. (or for          heaven’s sakes, at least print them)

·       And while I’m at it, I better blog and or journal each week so I don’t forget.

·       Last, create a lifestyle that will allow me the freedom I want to go have adventures and create          lasting positive memories.

Overall, live a life I would be jealous of someone else living. Seriously, just do it.

I have learned to accept what I cannot control, I’ve learned to find happiness around me and how to cultivate that happiness, and now it’s time for me to go out and do. This life isn’t lived to get from weekend to weekend, or to sit behind a desk. It was meant to live and experience. It was meant to live each moment with a sense of purpose. I will know I’ve had a successful and meaningful 2017 if I can look back on a bunch of new memories and know I’ve developed a life of freedom, happiness, and if I can say that I am experiencing what this world has to offer me. This is the year I develop my own Happiness Project (Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin http://gretchenrubin.com/) 

Good luck to everyone setting goals for 2017! 

12.16 review

Here we are at the end of the year. People are posting about how 2016 was rough and they want to watch it die. Maybe you accomplished your goals, maybe you didn’t. But for me, 2016 was a great year. One I will look back on with happiness. I’ll keep it brief as I plan to post a reflection from the past year and my goals for 2017.

This year I wanted to be happier. I knew I could find and create happiness all around me in my day to day life. This is something I feel like I can say I accomplished. I enjoyed writing about what made me happy each day so much, that I plan to continue it. I learned that I can find happiness in every day and is has made such a difference!

I set out to run one half-marathon this year as I didn’t run one in 2015. I ran the Phoenix half in February, Drop 13 and the American Fork half in June, Revel Big Cottonwood half in September, the St. George marathon and the Haunted Half in October, and the South Davis 5k on Thanksgiving. I am so proud that I was able to keep my running up all year. Never before had I run over 150 miles in a year. Usually I would train for a race and then pretty much stop. So this year, I set out to run 200 miles. I thought it was going to be hard, but then I ended up running over 800 miles. I suppose I didn’t give myself enough credit.

Last December I graduated with my Master’s degree and set a goal to get a job that would use it (as in it’s on the list of qualifications). I applied for a job in December and then was hired for it in August.

I knew I wanted to travel somewhere new this year. My sister Lisa and I had talked about visiting our other sister in Romania, but nothing had been planned. We were able to go to London and Romania in May and had such a nice time! I can’t wait to go back to Europe in 2018! 

As always, I made a reading goal this year. In 2014 I set a goal to read 100 books (which I did) and last year I didn’t know how to top that, so I didn’t read much. This year, I knew I couldn’t top 100, but I still wanted to do something. I stumbled on a reading challenge that had you read 52 new books with certain categories. I thought this would be pretty easy, but it was definitely harder than I thought it would be. I finished in plenty of time and was able to read books I wouldn’t have read otherwise. 

The first two years I had a temple recommend, I didn’t go very often. And in fact, I waited about 4 months to renew it as I didn’t ever go. After I renewed it, I made it a goal to go once a month. I fell in love with going to the temple as it brought me so much peace while I was living in Arizona. For 2016, I decided to step it up and go twice a month. I love going, but at times it felt more like a chore and less like I wanted it to feel. I spent time in 6 different temples this year. I will probably always miss the Mesa temple, but I consider myself so blessed to live so close to so many temples.

The two goals I didn’t accomplish this year were buying a house and becoming foster parents. I was really upset about not accomplishing these two goals. They were the goals I most wanted to see succeed. But sometimes, things are just out of your control and you have to reassess and move on. 

2016 has been wonderful, but I can’t wait for 2017! 

My reads

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book”. –Dr Seuss 

Earlier this year, I was afraid I wasn’t going to accomplish this goal. I had been behind in my reading all year and I felt so busy all the time. Reading has always been important to me and in the last 6 years, I’ve tried to make it a priority by setting reading goals each year. I’ve read more than 52 books in a year, so I felt like this was an easy goal when I initially set it, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be to do an actual reading challenge with specified topics! I loved this challenge because it made me read books I would have never read otherwise. I have new favorites and read from many new authors. 

Here’s how I finished up my year: {see my post in July for the first half} 

*As a reminder, these were all new books for me, I didn’t re-read a single book this year. 

 

24. Life after life- Kate Atkinson (for the category: a book with more than 500 pages)

25. Talking as fast as I can- Lauren Graham (for the category: a book published this year)

26. Flatland- Edwin A. Abbott (for the category: a book with nonhuman characters)

27. I feel bad about my neck- Nora Ephron (for the category: a funny book)

28. PS I still love you- Jenny Han (for the category: a book by a female author)

29. The shadow of the wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafon (for the category: a mystery or a thriller)

30. After you- JoJo Moyes (for the category: a book set in a different country)

31. Songs of the humpback whale- Jodi Picoult (for the category: a popular author’s first book)

32. The education of little tree- Asa Earl Carter (for the category: a book at the bottom on your to-read list)….recommended to me at the DI 

33. Anne of Green Gables- L. M. Montgomery (for the category: a book your mom loves)

34. Sting- Sandra Brown (for the category: a book that scares you)

35. The book of Joy- Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams (for the category: a book based entirely on its cover)

 36. Not that kind of girl- Lena Dunham (for the category: a memoir)

37. Two by two- Nicholas Sparks (for the category: a book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit)

38. Matilda- Roald Dahl (for the category: a book that came out the year you were born)

39. Alice’s adventures in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll (for the category: a book with bad reviews)

40-42. The Matched series- Ally Condie (for the category: a trilogy)

43. Stuart Little- E. B. White (for the category: a book from your childhood)

44. To all the boys I’ve loved- Jenny Han (for the category: a book with a love triangle)

45. Delirium- Lauren Oliver (for the category: a book set in the future)

46. The color purple- Alice Walker (for the category: a book with a color in the title)

47. Jacob T. Marley- R. William Bennett (for the category: a book set during Christmas)

48. Harry Potter and the cursed child- J. K. Rowling (for the category: a play)

49. Brave new world- Aldous Huxley (for the category: a banned book)

50. Friday night lights- Buzz Bissinger (for the category: a book based on or turned into a TV show)

51. I am Malala- Christina Lamb & Malala Yousafzai (for the category: a book you started, but never finished)

52. Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children- Ransom Riggs (for the category: a book with magic)                  

 

Out of all of the books I read the second half of this year, my favorites are (in no particular order):

Anne of Green Gables

Talking as fast as I can

The matched series 

Harry Potter and the cursed child

 

Overall, my favorite was either Anne of Green Gables or Talking as fast as I can. I read both this month though, so they are still fresh in my mind. 

Next year, my reading goal is going to be a little bit different, but I’m excited! Have you read any of the books I listed above? If so, what were your favorites?