Happy New Year! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday period. It feels so redundant at this point to comment on how fast time seems to be going, so I just won’t (but I will encourage you to think about WHY it feels like time is moving so quickly… hmm). 2017 was an awesome year for me! It was hard in some ways – I struggled with unemployment, we left our wonderful life in Melbourne, I felt really sad and lonely at times – but it was also one of my favourite years yet! Liam and I got married, we went to Europe for our honeymoon, we adopted a dog, we moved home to Adelaide, and we spent so much time with our friends and family; I feel so grateful.
I think that 2018 is going to be a good one. As much as I love the feeling of a New Year – a fresh start – I’m not one for specific resolutions per se, but I do have some intentions:
Simplify
My wardrobe, my home, my thoughts, my relationships, my inboxes. I’d like to focus on taking away extraneous stuff that doesn’t add to my life in any way.
Settle
The last few years have been huge. There’s been so much change, so much stress, so much to do – and it has been fun and rewarding, but also incredibly challenging at times. This year, we are back in Adelaide, we have no big life events planned, we have jobs and a home. I’d like to cultivate a feeling of settledness.
Lean Into Joy
To borrow a phrase from one of my favourite bloggers, Meg Fee. Lean in. Feel the joy, and be grateful for the abundance in life.
Do you “do” New Years Resolutions? What are your hopes or intentions for 2018?
Anyway…
Eating: so much delicious stone fruit! I love summer fruits! The yellow peaches at the farmers market are perfectly ripe, the cherries are juicy, and the strawberries come home by the box-full!
Cooking: I made this absolutely delicious meal the other night while Liam was out. Not exactly a summery dish, but my favourite kind of comfort food! I had mine over wholemeal toast, and it would go well with a generous drop of red wine, too.
Drinking: a lot of coffee. Cold drip, or a long black over ice is the usual order on these warm summer days.
Learning: about my personality type – INFJ. I love self-development and self-exploration (nobody is surprised), and I found the online quiz and the website in general really comforting.
Reading: Promethea – an awesome comic book series about a warrior-woman-goddess. Plus Solve for Happy which I’m really enjoying, and still slogging through Women Who Run With The Wolves; which I love, but is hard work.
Wanting: a veggie garden. Although we’ve been living in our little home for five months now, with all the wedding craziness we’re really only just finishing unpacking. I’d like to get a bit more settled in and set up a little veggie garden; but as it was 41 degrees last weekend, that’s probably a task best left until autumn.
Looking: forward to camping over Australia Day! Also to opening a bottle of my first kombucha brew this weekend! (Huuuuge thanks to my friend Jess from Dressed In Copper for holding my hand through the whole process!)
Listening: I’ve had a good listen to The National’s new album Sleep Well Beast. Also, I know I’m really, REALLY late on the bandwagon, but I’ve been listening to Serial, and have been enjoying, and getting so much from the Girlboss podcast.
Wasting: food scraps. We really need to set up a compost situation at our new house!
Liking: this summer. I’m usually a cool weather kind of girl, but I’ve been having so much fun this summer! We got married and went to Europe for our honeymoon in November, and December has been full of food and fun with friends and family around Christmas and New Year’s. I’m already excited about this year!
Feeling: nostalgic, grateful, positive, hopeful. There are a few exciting projects on the horizon which I hope will come to pass!
Watching: Liam and I are currently watching the new season of Fresh Off The Boat, and Marvel’s Runaways – which we’re enjoying very much after having read the comics. We also recently finished the new seasons of The Simpsons, Modern Family and Black Mirror, and am on to Electric Dreams. I’m also watching Pretty Little Liars in my solo time. I’m only semi-embarrassed. We also watched Blade Runner 2049 which I really liked!
Needing/wearing: needing some new clothes. I’m currently in a “I hate all my clothes” phase – thankfully I received some vouchers for Christmas so I can go on a little shopping spree!
Smelling: puppy smell. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that we finally got a doggo! After so many Just a Minute posts wishing for a pup, we finally got one in late August. We adopted our little Kelpie x Rottweiler pup – Jet (Jethro) – from a farm dog rescue group, and we adore him. His floppy little ears flapping in the breeze when he runs towards me just melts my heart!
Grateful for: Yoga With Adriene. I’m doing the new 30 Days of Yoga program, and am so into it.
Loving: my husband! (Still getting used to that word)
I’m playing with the idea of getting back in to blogging. To be honest, I feel like I’ve lost a bit of my writing… flow…? (See?!) I’m struggling with the idea of expressing myself on the internet in such a public way, but what’s the point in blogging if it’s not a creative expression? “What’s the point” has been a recurring question I’ve posed when thinking about my blog. What do you think?