Hello, 2017//year-end review

Sometime in 2016, I made a list of things I wanted to focus more on, in addition to things I wanted to spend less time on. It’s now 2017–how did I fare?

• Play more piano
  I didn’t nsistently pick up the piano. It’s such a shame as I have such a beautiful instrument gathering dust at home. Now that I’m settled into my long-term home,  I need to get my piano tuned and just get settled into a routine. I’ve been listening to Ravel lately and made Matt learn how to play Pavane pour Infante Defunte. He totally makes me gush. 😍 We’ve been playing guitar and singing together more often, too. I’m glad we can bond in that way. 🙂 It wasn’t a goal of mine to practice singing more, but I think I will–I’m not too bad at it!
• Focus on fitness
  This one is kind of vague. There are a lot of things you can do in fitness, but let’s be honest, I probably just wanted to lose weight for aesthetic reasons. I did end up losing about 15lbs because of my issues with acid reflux. That helped me keep a more health-conscious mindset. I improved my diet but I still need to work on establishing a regular workout schedule. I renewed my membership to Paradise Fitness Center in the last week of December. I also got Matt to join so he can lift weights with me, which I’m totally looking forward to!
• Be more outdoorsy
  Living in Yona and starting a plant business (I’ll blog on that later!) definitely has been keeping me outdoors. Needless to say my tan always looks great. 😎 I even brought Matt to one of my favorite spots–Ricky’s beach! Unfortunately, it was high-tide at the time we went, so we didn’t get to go exploring on the natural ocean stairs (I don’t know what they’re actually called). I’ve been outdoors more, yes, but I think I want to make my future goal more specific and try to go to the beach or go paddle boarding more often.
• Blog consistently
  I’ve blogged SLIGHTLY more, yes. But a lot of my posts are unpublished. I have many snippets of ideas that I want to elaborate on but don’t find time to. I’m not too upset with myself for not committing to this one. I’ve been trying to focus on more artsy things like watercolor painting and drawing. I think I will make it a point to write AND publish more.

Now, for the things I wanted to do less of:

• Video games
  I played more handheld games and PC games during down time at work. The PC games I play with Matt. This is part of our bonding so I think it’s ok. As for the handheld games, I love it because I don’t have to commit too much time at once and I can just play when I want to.
• Baking/cooking
  I haven’t really baked much at all. I think I’m a lot more forgiving to myself in terms of perfection. What really helped was a “screw it and don’t look back” attitude. I do, however, want to cook more so I can control what I’m putting into my body. I think when I originally wrote this, I was thinking of experimental cooking. Delicious experimental cooking. As in, cream-filled, MSG-laden cooking, lol.
• Watching TV/browsing the Internet/perusing social media
  If anything, I think this has increased on all fronts. I’ve been watching The Office and House of Cards with Matt. I’ve been on Reddit a lot. I’m also on Facebook more often. I think I’m going to elaborate on another post why I feel this is bad for me.

Here are some goals for 2017:

• Be more financially responsible/raise credit score
  I have a small amount of debt that I’d like to clear. This is about ~$4k in credit cards. *gulp* If I attack this aggressively, I can clear it off within a year or two. My credit score has slowly been climbing up, but I want to get it over 750 so I can get a good rate on a mortgage and buy some nice land or a house.
• Go to the gym three times a week
  My last fitness goal was pretty vague. This time, I want to establish the habit of going to the gym. Three times a week should be enough to establish a good habit, right?