H.A. Larson's Blog, page 8

It's Only Going to Get Worse

 

The writing is on the wall. Inflation is climbing and rents are climbing, but wages aren't. I don't see any relief in sight for quite some time. It's a time in our lives when we need to ponder, "Am I prepared?" 
I'm not suggesting anyone become one of those doomsday-type preppers we all hear about, but there's no better time than now to start preparing as much as we can for tougher times ahead. How can you do that? Well, there are a few ways:
* Start saving money if you haven't already. Even if it's a dollar a week or five bucks a paycheck, save something. Every little bit helps whether you think it does or not.
* Cut spending where you can and save money on things you can. Cancel subscriptions that you don't need and unplug items you aren't using.
* Buy a little extra food and household supplies whenever you go to the store. Take it home and put it in your pantry, long-term storage, or wherever else you put things. I have items in my stockpile from 2020. What's significant about that? I bought them at 2020 prices. Things are expensive now, but I guarantee they will get more expensive.
Every little thing you can do now to save, prepare, and make changes is going to help, whether you believe it or not. I'm not saying things won't ever get better, but why struggle so hard until they do, because....things will get worse before they get better. 
After I wrote this post for future publication, I happened across a Frontline episode on PBS - Age of Easy money - that talks about our financial situation, how it happened, and where it's going. It only echoed the things I've read and seen and made me realize that I'm accurate in what I can see happening. I suggest you watch it. It's available for free on YouTube. 
Then, just yesterday, Jerome Powell, the Fed Chief, raised interest rates again. Indeed, things are going to get more expensive, so do your best to put yourself in a better position than you are today, if you haven't already.




 

24ish Hours in Des Moines

The wanderlust has been striking pretty hard lately. So hard, in fact, that I recently started thinking about spending a Saturday night in either Sioux City or Des Moines - both of which are less than a 2-hour drive from Omaha. It happened, then, on a Friday morning I pulled the trigger and booked a hotel in Des Moines for the next night.
Now, you all know I dove head-first into the Iowa Beer and Wine Passports after having a fun year doing the Nebraska Wine Passport in 2021. It was such a fun thing to do on a partial or complete weekend and a great way to see the state I call home. Since a nice amount of the participants of said passports are located in the Des Moines area, my goal was the go to a few and spend the night, and that's exactly what I did - and I brought my friend Jayne along.



Our goal for the trip was to go to one winery and two breweries on the passports, and our first stop was at Covered Bridges Winery. The winery takes its name from the famous Bridges of Madison County. I thought about visiting a few of those this trip, but realized they would be much prettier to visit in the Spring or the Fall when the foliage is the best. 



Like many wineries, this one is located out in the country amongst a bucolic setting. The inside was nice and spacious, with high ceilings.



And a picture window in which to get a good view of the rolling hills.



The wine was quite delicious, and there are plenty to choose from. Not surprisingly, the variety of grapes in Iowa are the same as the ones in Nebraska.



They also have charcuterie (standard for wineries) but they also had pub mix and deluxe chocolates for purchase. Jayne got two of the latter. Aren't those chocolates just pretty? Since I'm doing keto, I just had a bite of each of the three kinds of chocolate on offer.



After we visited Covered Bridges Winery, we made our way to Des Moines and checked into our hotel.



After a quick break to relax and refresh ourselves, we headed to our next stop, Exile Brewing Company. Exile is a bigger player, at least here in the Midwest, in the brewing world. You can, and I have, purchased their brews here in Omaha.



I got a big glass of their Tico Time, which is a tropical wheat ale, brewed with passion fruit and pink guava. It was both refreshing and delicious.



Exile is also a pub, so there were plenty of food offerings to choose from, so Jayne and I ordered dinner. I got the Black & Bleu burger (no bun, of course) and their fried brussel sprouts. I have to tell you, this was one of the best meals I've eaten out, ever. The burger was amazing and the brussel sprouts, omg, they were sooo incredibly delicious.



Happy and satiated, we headed for our last stop of the day, Fox Brewing Company. A small, innocuous place out in the boonies, this low-key brewery had some tasty brews. 



We got shared a flight of all twelve beers of their on tap. My favorite was their Marzen. Lightly dark and refreshing, I could drink that brew all day. After the flight, I ordered one.






The next morning, nursing mild hangovers, the hotel's big continental breakfast, and a dip in their heated pool set us both right again. After that, we checked out and headed home.

This was a fun getaway for an evening that is close to home. I'm glad I started doing the Iowa Passport program. There are so many to choose from and, like the Nebraska Wine Passport program, it's a fun activity to do on a weekend. If you'd like to participate yourself, here's the link for the Iowa Tourism site. There are other passports you can choose from and ideas to plan a trip that includes things besides booze...although why would you want to skip that?  

Have a great week, friends.









 

Healthy Life: It's Damn Hard

 

Oooo, boy. The last time I posted one of these was in June of 2021. Yeah, gaining on two years now. What happened? Well, I'm not going to go over all of that again because what was happening then kept on happening if I'm being honest. Instead here's the link so you can refresh your memory.
As the new year rolled around, I decided that it was high time I got back on the wagon. I needed to. I had to. I'm not getting any younger and I have many things I still want to accomplish in life. This means I need to be healthy and well until I leave this earth. 
The first thing I did, then, was go back to eating a keto diet. Back in 2018, I lost a bunch of weight by following keto and exercising quite a bit. After I stopped doing keto, all my old habits crept back in. At first, I maintained the weight I lost and then when 2020 hit, I started to gain. Fortunately, I didn't gain it all back but unfortunately, I gained a large chunk of it back. Le sigh.
After a few successful months of eating keto, I also hopped back on the intermittent fasting wagon. I ate that way for a long time and I feel better when I eat later in the day. Now, I'm not saying anyone else should do keto and/or intermittent fasting, but I will say that one should listen to their own body and do what works best for them. This is what works best for me.
Have I been successful yet? Well, yes, yes I have. I have refused to step on the scale because every time I do I am disappointed, but my clothes are getting bigger and I have more energy than I have had in a few years. 
Because of my success and diligence over the past few months, I'm planning on gently getting back into hiking once Spring hits. Why not now? Well, if you all remember from previous posts I tore the meniscus in both knees trying to hike with a large pack using a body that was carrying too much weight and suffering from not being treated well. Are my knees healed? No, they will never be completely healed, but by eating in a way that keeps inflammation in my body away and getting rid of weight that exacerbates the issue, they can do what they're supposed to do. 
After a few more months, then, of me being good to myself and shedding some more weight, I'll be ready to dust off my old day pack and start taking short hikes in my favorite spots again. Over time, I'll gradually get back to being the hiker I used to be.
It's been a while since I've attempted any real hiking since I got deathly sick on the AT last June. Which was just as well because I was incredibly out of shape. Barring that, I cannot leave this earth until I make it back to the AT again one day and accomplish what I set out to do in 2022.
Another bad habit I fell back into was drinking too much (I'm so predictable, eating and drinking all my feelings). Once again I've relegated drinking to something I do on the weekends. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but drinking alone just isn't as fun as it once was. I've noticed over the past several months that I naturally only drink 3-4 times a month now. I'm also happier than I've ever been, and finally at the point I want to be in life. I think that helps a lot. I mean, when you don't need to escape anything, then you don't.
Above all else, I'm not critical of myself anymore. Much like life, this journey isn't a race either so I'm not treating it like one. I'm slowly, but surely, working toward the health and life that I desire. 
So, that's where I am. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Twenty Years

Back in early January, I passed a milestone: my 20th year of living in Omaha. 
In many ways, it feels like I've always lived here. Most of my adult life has happened in this city I call home. I moved here as a 31-year-old single mom, fresh out of a difficult life change. I needed a fresh start, a new place to call home, and Omaha was it. 
I learned the streets of this town, first driving a mile here and there in straight lines so I could easily find my way back to my starting point. 
In this manner, I found and frequented the Family Dollar and the thrift shop on 24th Street in South Omaha, in the heart of Little Mexico. It's the same place where I had my first authentic Mexican meal. I can still hear the music, the people talking in rapid-fire Spanish, and the aromas of that little cafe that also sold hand-made pinatas. I bought one for my son's 4th birthday party. None of those places are there anymore.
I lived with one of my best friends at the time in the suburb of Bellevue, then moved to my own apartment in the city proper with my ex-husband following a few months behind. There was a movie theatre, a bar & grill, and a frozen yogurt place down the road, while an old Kum & Go sat on the corner. There was a grocery store and a department store down another block and across the street. Everything we needed was a brief walk away. All of these places? Long gone.
Six and half years after I first moved to the area, I was now married with a daughter, and we moved our bigger family out of the two-bedroom apartment and into a three-bedroom rental house. It was our family home and our kids grew up there. The kids grew taller as each subsequent Halloween rolled by. The house got older, too, and lost the newness it had when we first moved in. We spent many nights on our back patio, sitting around a fire and consuming more drinks than were good for us. Our son grew up and moved out on his own, our marriage ended, and after twelve years of living in the house, we went our separate ways: my daughter and I into our own apartment, and my ex into his. 
That was almost two years ago and yet I can still feel the renewed sense of hope and excitement at the prospect of new beginnings I had.
All of those years, all of those memories, and all of those places are a vivid part of the past twenty years of my life. I've never done so much yet feel like I've done so little.
Such is the passage of time. Our greatest, and most fleeting, of commodities.
I wonder what the next twenty years of my life will bring. I mean, I have a pretty good idea but if I've learned anything over the past twenty years, it's that nothing is a given. Things don't always work out the way you expect or hope, and that can be either a good thing or a bad thing...depending on the situation. 
I guess I hope that life goes, to a large extent, the way I have imagined it in my head peppered with an occasional bad or good bump in the road.
Here's to the next twenty, friends.




 

Trip to Seattle: Part Two

It might have taken four months, but damnit, I did it. I finally edited the rest of my photos and have prepared the second part of my trip to Seattle. Mind you, I took the trip back in September of last year but better late than never, right? There are a TON of photos in this post but I wasn't going to make a third post so I'll keep my commentary to a minimum and let the pictures do the talking. Let's go.
After we wandered around Pike's Market, we headed over to the Bainbridge Island Ferry to visit Bainbridge Island. 



The ferry is huge, carrying both passengers and cars. On the passenger floor, there is plenty of seating as well as a dining station - which wasn't open on our trip.



As the ferry left Seattle, I took the opportunity to head to the stern of the boat to get a fantastic view of the city.



We sat at several different places on the ferry, trying to take in all the views from Puget Sound.



Although it was brisk on the deck, I went out for a little bit. While the destination was the island, taking the ferry was a cool experience within itself.



Looking out from the second story on the bow.



The ferry lands close to the main strip of Bainbridge Island.



Our first stop on the island was the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.






While not as large as any major museum, it was more impressive than any other small museum I've been to.



After the museum, we headed farther down the main strip and happened upon Fletcher Bay Winery so, of course, we had to stop.



If I remember correctly (hey, it's been five months since the trip) I got the Blackberry/Raspberry fruit wine.



We made it to the main area of Winslow Way, which is the main strip closest to the Sound. The whole area reminded me of other touristy main streets, like Estes Park, CO, so I didn't take any pictures. Although, like Mackinac Island in the UP of Michigan, they also had their "World Famous Fudge" so I tried some. We moved closer to the Sound where the whole area is a park - Eagle Waterfront Park.



There's not much to it beyond some trails that follow along the shoreline, which we followed back to the Tacoma Ferry.



Back in Seattle.



Where I found a battered and discarded copy of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album. Sacrilege!



The Space Needle was literally right outside our hotel window. With such limited time in Seattle, though, I didn't make it a point to visit - especially since it's a bit expensive.



Pike's Market, the Ferry, and Bainbridge Island were on my list of things to do while in the city, so our last day in Seattle, we did the things my friend Lisa wanted to do. Her first pick? The Seattle Aquarium.



Anenomes we could touch, which I did.



Big jellyfish.



I was excited to see seals, which you see from below...


...or above.



Small jellyfish.
I have to admit, I thought the Aquarium was a letdown. It costs $35 to get in and wasn't nearly as big nor had the variety of marine life I would have expected. The aquarium in the Omaha Zoo is just as big, has more in it, and costs the same...with the added bonus of being able to see the rest of the zoo as well.  Lisa enjoyed it though and that's what mattered most.



As we wandered back towards the Market area from the Aquarium, we came across Old Stove Brewing Co. and I couldn't leave Seattle without trying some of their local brews.



I got a flight and enjoyed the views. The entire wall to my right here looks out over Puget Sound and opens up to the outside. It was warm enough outside for them to do so.



After filling up on beer, we hopped on the bus to Lisa's second pick, Washington Park. It's similar to Washington Park in Portland, which I went to in 2018, so it must be a PNW thing.



Stumbled upon this cool totem pole.



I read about it here.




Close up.


Goodbye Seattle, thanks for the memories!



I hope your weekend is shaping up to be a good one. I'm off for an overnight adventure that will include me working on the Iowa Wine and Beer Passports. I'll make sure to let you know how that goes.








 

What Have I Been Up To Lately?

As I mentioned recently, life has begun again for me after a rough few years. Coming through it, things have definitely changed in my life - for the better. The main thing is that I resumed the life I had prior, the one I had envisioned for myself. One where I travel - near or far, get together with my friends more often, take care of myself, get outside as much as possible, and spend quality time with my family. To that end, I guess I've been making up for lost time. I've been busy, without a doubt.

In mid-December, I drove down south to Missouri to spend a weekend with my friend Audrey. She, her sister, and some of their friends get together once a month for game night and she had been wanting me to come down for it for quite some time. I was glad I could make it and had a lot of fun. 



The following weekend was Christmas weekend. In years past, for many years in a row, I, my ex-husband, and our kids would spend a weekend in Platte River State Park sometime during the holidays. We'd rent the one cabin in either one of our two favorite pods that had a fireplace and just enjoy being out in the woods. We didn't do this for 2019, 2020, or 2021 - for obvious reasons - but resumed this year.
It was a blisteringly cold weekend so we hunkered down with food, gifts, and plenty of games.



I woke up to a beautiful sunrise coming in the window.



I started homeschooling my daughter in January, so we took a field trip to Kansas City to learn about the Maya. Union Station had an incredibly cool exhibit on the ancient tribe and we both found it fascinating. 













The day after we returned home was NYE and I had a little get-together at my place to mark the occasion. Audrey even came up for the evening and she and I managed to make it up past midnight. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

In the middle of January, I made the short drive over to Lincoln to spend a long weekend with my son. He's 23 now and has his own apartment there (instead of the student share he's been doing the past few years) so I made a goal of getting up there once a month. We always have a lot of fun together and this visit was no different.
The next weekend saw bad weather and a trip up to my Dad's.



The weekend after that was the first weekend in February, which just so happens to be one of my best friend's birthdays. So I drove up north to spend the weekend with Amy and to celebrate her birthday, of course. On top of the Iowa Scenic Byways Passport I started last year, I also downloaded the Iowa Beer, Iowa Wine, and Iowa Distillery passports.
Our first Birthday stop was at Wise I Brew Co. in Le Mars, Iowa. These digital passports provide discounts for nearly every location on them, and we each got a dollar or two off our first drink.



I got The Cure Vol. 4, an absolutely stunning sour, while Amy got the Salty Sailor, a pleasant cider. 






Next, we visited the Oscar Carl Vineyard just outside of Sioux City, Iowa. The passport discount was $2 off a wine flight. I picked Wiolet, Loesscato, and Jerry Wane. Delicious!






Our last stop of the evening was at Jackson Street Brewing where I got a glass of Roman Garden. I have to say, I enjoyed every drink we had this day - I think a true first in quite a long time.


The following weekend I finally got some big projects done around my place along with a good deep cleaning. It was exhausting but nice to get things taken care of, like the following.



I bought a couple of legit shelving units for my storage unit. My daughter and I put them together, cleared out the unit, cleaned things up, got rid of a bunch of things, then reorganized everything into a space that's tidy, not overcrowded, and where everything can be found easily.



To celebrate all my hard work, my friend Jayne and I headed down to Glenwood, Iowa, to cross another brewery off my Iowa Beer Passport, Keg Creek Brewing Co. They only had a couple of brews that I wanted to try, which worked perfectly with the $2.50 off two drinks coupon that came with the passport.
We ended the evening at a local bar where we sang karaoke. The same karaoke where I got covid from the microphone back in November of 2020. And guess what? I got sick again from the same damn microphone, only this time from the flu. I guess that's my sign to never sing karaoke there, ever again. That sickness put me down for the next two weeks and today is the first day I've felt largely okay in that time.

And that's what I've been up to lately. The weather is warming up again this week and there are some busy weekends coming up. I'm looking forward to it.


Until later, friends!

Emergency Funds, Sinking Funds, and Side Hustles

Today, after years of saving, I finally have my six-month emergency fund (aka my BIG ER Fund) fully vested. For me, it's a huge accomplishment but, even more, a sense of relief that I have a security blanket should something happen. When I say it took me years to save it up, I do mean years. I've talked about it in length before, but I started in my 30s saving a mere $5 per paycheck upping the amount when I could over time. For the past few years, I've been adding a little over $250 a month to it.
What will I do with the extra money now? Well, now that I had to sign up for my own insurance again (I got a long period of insurance from my ex-spouse in my divorce settlement), a rent increase in May when my lease renews, and the cost of inflation, I will add that money back into my cash flow to make up the hits to my budget from these items.
In addition to my six-month emergency fund - which is split up between two high-yield online savings accounts - I have two other savings that I use to stave off ever dipping into my BIG ER Fund. One is my regular savings account at my everyday, local bank and the other is my checking account buffer (or CAB as I refer to it). I have a month's worth of expenses tucked into my regular savings account in case I need it. My CAB is a simple process by which I deduct $10 per paycheck from my checking account balance. It doesn't go anywhere but I pretend like it doesn't exist, although I do keep track of it on a ledger sheet. 
These different types of ER funds I have are the three lines of defense I have against minor and major problems. Here's how it works:
1. CAB: If I have a monthly bill that's higher than my budgeted amount (looking at you, electricity bill) or I miscalculated what I might need, for example, I can pull from my CAB. I don't need to pay myself back for that, but rather I will just keep adding $10 to it each paycheck.
2. Regular Savings: If I have a bigger unexpected expense or need than my CAB can handle, I have a month's worth of expenses saved up in my regular savings account. If I do borrow from this I have to pay it back at a certain amount per paycheck.
3. Lastly, my BIG ER Fund is there strictly in case I lose my job. If I never lose my job, it will be used for retirement.





This past Fall, I finally figured out that I needed to be saving in advance for certain items and came across the concept of Sinking Funds. Sinking Funds, for those of you who don't know what they are, are monies you set aside for future purchases. My credit union allows me to open and nickname as many savings accounts as I want, so I set up five savings accounts in addition to my main savings account. They are:
 Insurance and Phone Fund
I save a bunch of money by paying my car insurance six months in advance, my phone bill six months in advance, and my renter's insurance a year in advance. Instead of scrambling to come up with that large amount when the bill comes due, I calculated the cost per paycheck and put that amount in this sinking fund each time I get paid. When the bill comes due, it's paid automatically by one of my rewards credit cards and I pull the money from the sinking fund to pay the card off.
Clothing and Gifts Fund
I have a growing teenager who needs new clothes a few times a year. I also need clothing here and there and sometimes I need to buy a gift for some reason (mainly for Christmas) so I put money aside in this sinking fund each paycheck.
Car Fund
This is money to use for oil changes and new tires. I do have a new car under warranty, as a side note, so I don't have to save a large amount.
Health & Beauty
My face products and makeup cost a fair amount of money, more than my standard Household Supplies category can support, so I put a small amount in this sinking fund each time I get paid.
Travel Fund
Last, but surely not least, I put money in this sinking fund every payday...for obvious reasons.





Side hustles get talked about a lot on the internet. Trust me, I've watched and read lots of articles about side hustles, both positive and negative but they're not really something that I'm either keen on or can do...for various reasons.
However, I do *technically* have a couple of side hustles. The first one is babysitting. I babysit about 4 times a year for a family with three kids. They go to bed early and I make $5/kid/hour. It's not lucrative but does add a bit of spending money into my pot. The second one is credit card churning, something I've discussed a few times before. I made part-time job money without having to work the part-time job. Today, in fact, I just received a direct deposit (that went straight into my Travel Fund) for $224.55. If you're interested in credit card churning, check out this blog post I wrote or this one. 


I hope you're inspired to make a few financial changes or shifts. If you have questions, shoot 'em in the comments below.

My Top 10 Tips for Life

1. Learn how to use public transportation
Learning how to use and be comfortable taking public transportation is a skill. It means that no matter where you go, you'll have no problem getting around - especially if you like to travel.

2. Use a checkbook register
I know, I know, checks are basically obsolete, but even if you strictly use a debit card, utilize a checkbook register. Knowing how much money you have without having to log into your bank app is the first step in getting hold of your finances.

3. Learn how to cook from scratch
Ever look around your kitchen and think, "There's nothing here to eat," all while knowing you have a bunch of ingredients? Learn to cook from scratch and you'll never go hungry.

4. Don't be afraid to try new things
Seriously, just don't. You'll never know unless you try, so why miss out?

5. Don't sweat the small stuff
Sweating the small stuff has only ever caused stress and anxiety. Save your worry and concern for bigger, more pressing issues.

6. Pick your battles
Some things just aren't worth the time to argue. Know when to let it go and walk away and when it's important enough to fight over.

7. Think before you speak
Take a second to consider the words you want to say, especially during important conversations. It makes a big difference, trust me.

8. Be intentional with your actions
Do things with intention and you'll never feel like you're wandering around blindly without a plan. Much like "think before you speak", think before you act.

9. Don't be in such a hurry
Time is fleeting and only moves quicker the older you get. Slow down and enjoy it more because you'll never get back the time you've already lost.

10. Put aside a little bit of money each time you get paid
It doesn't matter how much, just be consistent. Learning to save money has wide-ranging, long-term, healthy financial consequences.




 

Goals and Stuff

 

Alright, folks, new year new me. Right? Right! This year is shaping up to be great (no matter what that nagging little voice in my head tries to tell me) and it's high time I get some goals going. So, what are my goals for 2023? 


1. Get my physical health back on track
I fell off the health wagon over the past few years, gaining back a good chunk of the weight I had lost, getting lazy, and indulging in bad habits. Back in early November, I started back up with keto and started seeing some success when I decided to nose-dive into carbs over the Christmas Holiday and ride that wave out through the end of the year. Man, I felt it too. I'm back on keto as of the beginning of the year and can already feel an improvement. Carbs + me = bad.
After gaining back weight and moving in 2021, I tore the meniscus in my right knee and then a few months later in my left knee. This really put my walking/hiking on the back burner and started a long period of time where not being able to walk/hike just became the norm. I tried a few times in 2022 to pick them back up but the excess weight I am carrying only makes the meniscus problem worse. 
My goal is to get healthy and return to where I was in 2019. 


2. Get my mental health back on track
Honestly, I've never been someone who suffered from anything more than some seasonal or situational sadness or stress, but after the past few years of turmoil, my mental health needs a boost. No, I don't have any long-term issues, but my mental health took a back seat to other things that needed my attention and I carried an immense amount of stress because of it. This led to a lot of bad coping mechanisms - like eating too much, drinking too much, and not leaving my house much. 
I decided to take advantage of the employee assistance program that my employer provides and have made an appointment to talk to someone later this month. 


3. Have my emergency fund fully vested
I have been working, little by little, to build up six months' worth of an emergency fund. As long as nothing serious pops up, I'll have that goal realized by the end of February. It gives me comfort and a sense of security knowing that I can handle a true emergency.
While I keep my emergency fund in high-yield savings accounts, I do keep a small amount of cash in my local bank. I've decided to beef that up a bit as well. Why? Well, with inflation, things cost more and our paychecks don't go as far.


4. Inventory and build up my stockpile
I have a small stockpile of food that I keep well-stored. I've realized, again because of inflation, that I need to get it to a point where I feel satisfied that my daughter and I could live off just that for a solid month or two should we need to. I've even "shopped" my stockpile over the past handful of months to replenish items in my kitchen without having to go to the store. Hey, I bought them when they were much cheaper than now so I figured I should rebuild and shape the stockpile before prices rise even more....which I have no doubt will happen in the near future. I mean, have you seen the price of food? Do me a favor and don't even look at eggs. 
Just as important as having a proper stockpile, I realize that I need to have an accounting of exactly what items I have and how much. Makes sense as I don't need to overbuy certain items while ignoring others.


5. Get out and do more things
Because of the aforementioned hiding in my house, I haven't gotten out and about like I used to. Whether it's hiking, day trips, camping trips, getting out of Dodge for a weekend, etc, I have a severe lack of adventure in my life. A person like me, who struggles with wanderlust and itchy feet, I myself can't believe how little I've done with my life over the past few years. Not that it happened without reason, because it surely did, but I need to move on and get back out into the world. I need new places, new experiences, new food, and all other things new. At least new to me. Whatever it is, I'm going to fit as much in that works within my budget as far as domestic travel goes and make myself just get outside and about more in general - especially on the weekends.
Yes, I have grand plans to go back to Europe (my ultimate dream) but I am currently planning a realistic return for 2024. More to come on that in the future!
I do need to give myself a bit of credit though, I did do many fun things in 2022, just not to the degree that I normally would want to. 



6.  Dust off the old hobbies
I used to love to read books, write stories, go to concerts, and cook yummy food, among other things. My passion for these things waned with my life's struggles. That needs to change. Hobbies help keep us occupied, help bring meaning to our lives, and enrich us - things my life sorely needs. While I have no plans to go overboard on hobbies, I think I need to read a bit each night before bed (something I did without fail for years and years), hit up a few more concerts, and put together a meal that takes more than 30 seconds to prepare.




There you have it: goals I'm working on for this new year. There's nothing like a new year to bring about changes in one's life - myself included. I'm going to keep you all posted once a month on my progress. I figure it will keep me more accountable if I actually have to update people on my progress.

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” —J.P. Morgan

I Rode out the Storm

 

For various reasons, the last three years of my life were hard. I mean, they were fucking hard. So many shitty things happened. Okay, more like a handful of shitty things, but still, they were long, arduous, and stressful. To be honest, combined, they nearly broke me. I'm a tough broad, though, if nothing else and I managed to make it through.
Here I am, then, at the dawn of 2023 and all the shitty things have (finally) passed. Now what? 
There are so many things that need to happen that the first thing I'm going to do is bury the last three years as far down into the ground as humanly possible and take control of my damn life again. I mean it this time. That's because things really are different this time.
What am I going to start doing to turn things around?
* Lose all the weight I gained as I ate myself through the past three years* Start walking again* Eventually start hiking again* Remember to breathe* Relax. Like actually relax so my shoulders aren't in fear of falling off my body* Stop sitting around thinking so damn much* Pay off the car* Save more* Smile more* See my friends more* Start camping again

There are so many other things that need to happen this year, but that's all that I need to share right now. Regardless, my life needs to change, and change badly. There's more to say, but I don't have the words for it all now.

I will. 


I will.