2015 New Year Souvenir List

The New Year is right around the corner and that means it’s time to reflect on 2014 and resolve to do better in 2015.  The problem is that I’ve never been one for making New Year’s resolutions, at least not officially because I don’t like making promises I can’t keep.  The closest I got to a resolution this past year was a memory calendar where I would take time each night to reflect on the day and write memories or thoughts on my Bacon-themed calendar.  That lasted til May….  So yeah…I don’t have a winning streak at this, but there are a couple things I would like to try to do in the new year and they have some measurable goals so I thought I’d do a monthly report on the progress and maybe even show some pictures of the adventures in progress.  It probably will only last til March, but hey, if I put this up online, maybe someone will follow it enough to hold me accountable and say….what happened to April?  We’ll see…but without further adieu..

2015 New Year Souvenir list

A.)    Shop local at least once a month------  I am pretty frugal with my money and am pretty decent at talking myself out of wasteful spending.  I love, in theory, the thought of shopping locally for goods, services and food.  The hang up is that, generally speaking, most goods can be bought elsewhere cheaper and then my super frugal mind takes those same goods and totally throws them out the window because many of them, when boiled down are not even necessary, so at the end of the day, I don’t buy local and I hardly buy anything at all.  I happen to live in a sweet little New England town with a downtown I like to trod through just for kicks, so one of my plans is to visit a locally owned shop or restaurant and show some love on those who are making a name for themselves in this neck of the woods. 

B.)    Find myself in at least three different households in a month------ Since moving out on my own 10.5 months ago, I’ve enjoyed the freedom of having my own cave to come home to and hide.  That’s not to say I don’t get out, but sometimes when I should get out, I don’t, so I am hoping putting this on the list will help me stay motivated to keep reaching out…and hey….maybe someone local reading this will think, “maybe I can help Joy reach her goal by inviting her over!”  :-)  As much as I need some alone time to recharge, community is really necessary support system and I need the motivation to seek it out sometimes.

C.)    Prepare a legitimate meal at least once per week------  As mentioned before, I’ve been living on my own now for a little while now.  In that time, I have yet to perfect or even had the motivation/desire to want to serve myself well balanced meals.  I’m coming off living with amazing couples who had well balanced meals as they were serving for at least three or four to now only having to feed me.  Sometimes I default to chips and salsa for a meal, but many times I will eat something half decent like a thin steak or broiled asparagus or a crown of broccoli….just ONE of those things though.  I cook in stages because when it’s just me, there is no one to impress and no timing that I have to get right.  So I cook and eat the steak and then if I’m still hungry, I’ll broil up some asparagus and then if I’m still hungry, I’ll grab and handful of strawberries and call it a meal…..the problem is….I hardly ever make it past the steak.  One and done for me.  So my third new year souvenir is to make a meal once a week that contains at least a protein AS WELL AS a veggie of some sort. 

D.)   Take a trip to Texas------  I haven’t been back home since Thanksgiving of 2012.  I miss my family there as well as the food but Texas is far away and my breaks have been too short to justify the trip as well as the high cost of airline tickets.  So I’m not sure when in 2015, this would take place, but I’m making it public knowledge that I hope to take a trip to Texas this year.  If I haven’t set anything in stone by March, someone needs to start bothering me about it because if it doesn’t happen at least by summer, the chances of it happening at all go down significantly.

E.)    Read more------I still haven’t decided if I’d set the bar at reading at least a chapter of a book a week or reading one book per month.  Reading is another thing I love the thought of, but I haven’t made it a priority.  It’s kind of sad too, because I can’t say I don’t have time for it…I’ve got plenty of time for other mind numbing activities (soduku, sims, walking in circles).  So here’s to reading because as Dr. Seuss said “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” 

So these five things make up my New Year Souvenir list.  Oh yeah…you may be wondering why I called it a “New Year Souvenir” list to begin with.  Well reason one would be because it rhymes, of course.  But reason two is because a souvenir is a momento or keepsake that one obtains to remember a place, person, or milestone.  I want this list to provide a framework where memories can happen, relationships be born and grow, and personal growth take place.  Some of that growth will take place within the confines of my own apartment, some as I connect with the world around me, and some even as I travel the road to wherever God leads me.  Cheers to making each month of the new year one to remember!

Do you have any new years resolutions or memory making souvenirs to look forward to in the new year?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.  Wishing you and yours blessings in the new year! 

Until next time,

In Christ,

Joy Lynn