Okay, I know I said that I was going to take a break until the new year but an opportunity for the blog fell into my lap and I also think writing about my year will be somewhat of a cathartic experience. Plus, I’m feeling a little nostalgic. It’s time to recap my 2019.
The title of this post is a major understatement. My 2019 truly was filled with really down downs and really up ups. Not all of this is going to be in chronological order. A lot of this year blurred together for me and I don’t remember exactly when all of it went down.
Start of the Year
My year started with ringing in the new year with my two very good friends, Susan and Kate. Unfortunately, our friends Brittany and Luke couldn’t make it due to inclement weather. The joys of living in Minnesota. It has become somewhat of a tradition to get together at our favorite pizza restaurant, Pizza Luce. So that is where we met and had conversations about what we wanted to accomplish during the year and what we were excited about. It was a good time.
A Big Birthday
I also turned 30 this year. A BIG birthday! I didn’t celebrate it how I thought I would, but it still was a good birthday. This year was also when my mindset just switched. It was just as if I just didn’t care what others thought anymore. It’s still a feeling that’s hard to put into words. It’s something that just washed over me. Unless you’re experiencing it yourself, it’s hard to explain. Still doing this to the day.
Loss
Then tragedy struck my family. Okay, tragedy might be a tad dramatic but it was still a rough time for our family. Still is. My grandma fell sick and was in the hospital for a very long time. She never truly recovered from a surgery she had previously and was sent to a hospice care center. We lost her in February. To be honest, I’m not really ready to talk about any of it. I did talk about it a little bit in an Instagram post.
Bookclub
I attended some of my last ever bookclub meetings as well as hosted my last ever bookclub meeting. It was right before the big move down here to Mississippi. We read some great books and I chose quite the book to leave on. I chose to read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It was a lot to read, but it was also a book I was interested in reading. It brought some great conversations from my fellow bookclub attendees (a.k.a. all my friends). It also deterred me, and probably most of my friends, from ever choosing a book that long again.
Big Move
Honestly, this could be a whole series of blog posts on its own. And I might actually still do that, but for now I will give a brief synopsis of how this all went down. It was the most stressful thing I think I have ever experienced. We had no time to pack up everything because we had to be in and out of the house for showings so much. And then when all of that was done, we actually had to move down to Mississippi. Longest car journey of my life! Luckily, we did it in two days instead of one (which can be done). We also had to live in a hotel for a month or so. I think that it was actually less than that, but still. Living out of a suitcase, for the most part, isn’t a lot of fun. Let’s just say that I’m glad to be in the house now (for 8 months now!). I’m still exploring my new home and I will continue to do so in 2020.
Focused Less on Putting Makeup on My Face
Sorry, that’s a really long title for this section. I really wanted to talk more about this. This is something I kind of started in 2018, but really went gung ho with it this year. I just really didn’t care much for wearing makeup. I really wanted my skin to show through. I took care of it. I love a good skin care routine. In fact, I probably spent more on skincare this year than I did on makeup. This one kind of goes along with my section on turning 30. I just didn’t really care what others thought. If I had a breakout, I didn’t cover it up. I went out in public. It didn’t matter to me. I felt more like me when I did. I’m going to do more of that in 2020 and the next decade.
Blogging & Instagram
I have to say that I got more serious about my blog and Instagram. I really want them to grow in the new year, so I really tried to invest more time in them in 2019. I spent some money to learn more about blogging. I came across Helene In Between in an Instagram ad and started taking a course she was advertising. In fact, I took two of her courses. It was so good, that I started following her and turning to her for advice on blogging. It has been so helpful. I tried to post more on Instagram and here on the blog. I don’t think with a business brain. I think of myself as a creative with an analytical brain (at least that’s what all those personality quizzes say I am). You would think that would make me more business savvy, but alas it doesn’t. I’m hoping what I have started this year will help me going forward into the new year.
Goals for 2020 and Moving Forward
This time of year is when everyone is talking about New Year resolution this and New Year resolution that. I hate that term ‘resolution’. I’m more of a goal kinda gal. So what do I want to accomplish in the new year? A lot! I want to continue the self care/self love journey. I want to travel more. I want to focus on the blog and Instagram and really make it a business. I want to spend more time with family and friends. I want to talk to those said friends more. I want to keep exploring my new home. I want to read more. Suffice it to say, I want to accomplish and do a lot in 2020.
It’s been a wild year, to say the least. Goodbye 2019! Hello 2020!
Jess xx
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