Kiss it Goodbye: 2018

Dec 31, 2018
5 min read

For a handful of years now, I’ve taken time on December 31st to write a big, dramatic New Year’s Eve recap of my previous 365 days which I think, for the last couple at least, have been pretty wild and overwhelming and disastrous and entertaining.

However, if you read this little piece from last month, you already know that my 2018 has been kinda boring - and t h a n k g o o d n e s s for that. I’ve had enough excitement and near-death experiences for the next 50 years...

That being said, one of the things I realized more and more throughout 2018 was how much I value tradition and ritual, and this NYE blog has come to be one of those things for me. SO, in the spirit of keeping tradition alive and ending the year on an organized, thought-compiled note, I’ve decided to grace you with my 2019 New Year’s Resolution List (insert confetti cannon here).

Please note: I think resolutions are actually the dumbest thing ever, but I still *actively* choose to create a list of them every year...and then *actively* not accomplish any of them. I guess you could say that is also one of my traditions, and like I said, we just don’t mess with tradition.

Spend Mindfully: this new year is bringing with it a chance for me to finally get back on my feet financially (arguably never really been "on my feet” to begin with...but that’s irrelevant) and one of my biggest challenges is going to be watching my spending. When I’m bored, I buy things. When I’m sad, I buy things. When I’m lonely...you get the point. But this year, I’m going to make budgets and stick to them, and snuggle my puppy when I’m bored or sad or lonely instead of heading to Winners...
Prioritize Real Food: since moving back to an actual city, I’ve definitely taken advantage of having 3 McDonald’s between work and home. I can literally justify ordering a pizza at *any* time, but I know that it’s time to settle down and eat a real meal. Thankfully, I’m dating a Master Chef, who feeds me and also inspires me to grocery shop, which leads nicely into resolution #3...
Start Cooking: there is a huge stack of beautiful, colourful cookbooks in our kitchen FULL of delicious-looking dishes that I could probably manage to not mess up. If I spent half as much time trying out those recipes as I spend telling people I can’t cook, I would already be Betty Crocker by now.
Read 12 Books: I feel like this one is pretty explanatory...it’s also one that I’ve failed two years in a row now…#killinit
Convince the Handsome Bearded Boyfriend to Take More Photos with Me:
fact - we’ve been dating for a year-and-a-handful of months.
fact - there are exactly *two* photos of us together in the whole, wide universe.
fact - he’s like, basically the most attractive human I’ve ever known and I feel like I’m also like, you know, pretty cute so we should have more photos together it’s only fair to the people!!!
fact - he also sometimes reads this blog so I’m fully adding this one in here knowing that the eye-rolls are inevitable.
Waste Less: along with spending mindfully, I also want to start paying more attention to *what* I’m buying and bringing into my household, as well as how those things impact the world beyond little ol’ me. My beautiful amazing world-saving warrior princess friend, Haley (whom you might remember from previous posts that I’ve written because I’m low-key in love with her) has been rocking this zero-waste, vegan, superhero lifestyle for a while now and has been inspiring me to check myself a little bit. This month, I purchased some adorable little reusable produce bags that she FRIGGEN HANDMADE HERSELF, YOU GUYS. and I’ve been practicing my recycling (because when you’ve been living the “just throw it away, the city’s recycling bins are across town and you have no vehicle” life for over a year, it takes some readjustment). Bottom line: my sister is bringing a perfect little tiny human into this world in 4 months and I want to make sure I’m doing my part to help this planet reach tip-top shape for that baby, and all the babies to come.

*if you’d like to peek at the sweet zero-waste goodies that Haley is selling, or if you’d like to catch her tips & tricks for living waste-free, check her out at https://www.ahemwastefree.com/ and at her etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ahemwastefree

GO TO YOGA: twice a week (because that’s how many times I have to go to make the membership worth it…and, you know, to be centered and chill and whatever...)
Send More Cards: because those postal workers didn’t strike for nothing - viva la snail mail!! PS. if you’d like to get in on this, let me know. Phil and I live in the same place now so sending him mail seems kinda ridiculous...
Purge: after moving this month, I have come to the conclusion that I just have too many t h i n g s. I think this resolution fits in with the little theme I’ve got going with #1 and #6 - I want my life and my world to be filled with people and puppies and love and that’s it.
Prioritize Adventure: this year’s travels included Victoria, Enderby, Vancouver, Stewart BC on route to Alaska, Kamloops, and Calgary. But, despite all the lovely spots we visited, my very favourite place is still the passenger seat when he’s driving us to our next adventure. Here’s hoping for much, much more of that in 2019.
Stop Planning for the Future: I’m really good at working myself up over things that are like, lightyears away. This new year, I’m going to [attempt to] stop freaking out about anything that is 6 or more months away. Because as I’ve said, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over and over and over in my young adult life, it’s that nothing is ever going to go the way that I’ve planned, so for the sake of my mental/emotional/physical health, I’m going to sit back and appreciate the stress in the moment instead of *also* killing myself by worrying about the stress in the future, as well!
Kiss the Negativity Goodbye: I could actually win a “pessimist of the year” award, if that was a thing. And by golly, it needs to stop. I think positive people are just prettier - negativity is such an ugly shade. 2019 will be the year of “Glass-Half-Full Jessica”; please feel free to hold me to this one, I’m going to need *all* the help I can get.

So that’s that! All my goals for 2019 in a neat little list there for me to cringe at in 11 and a half months when I’ve failed again! Or who knows - maybe 2019 will be different.

Now what are YOUR resolutions?!

Cheers!

Jessica*.