New Year Same Me

As I sit here and reflect back on to the year of 2018, I can definitely say the year has brought me so much goodness.

We first ended up moving to California and getting an apartment. We traveled to different parts of the world and was able to go home to see family. I created a name for myself and Dillon is creating his own. On top of all that I was given an opportunity to be able to work from home, plan my own work hours, and write about what I want to write about. Then we bought a house. We moved to Oceanside California. And now we are just trying to get our house together.

People say every year on New Year’s “New Year New Me”. But that is not what is going to happen. I am not going to make New Year’s Resolutions for a “New Me”. Why would I want to change who I am? Instead I am going to stay the same me. However, I am just going to have new experiences and improvements in 2019. Therefore, below will be my New Year Resolutions, goals, and items to check off my list:

• Practice More Yoga
• Post More Often
• Go to Catalina Island
• Travel Somewhere
• Purge My Closet and Restock It
• Organize Both of Our Offices
• Start Our Vegetable and Fruit Garden
• Build Our Outside Gym
• Practice more Hygge

It seems as if there is never enough time. The time always goes by way too fast every year. Therefore, this year will be more about making time and enjoying the moments in life. Towards the end of 2018 we definitely felt rushed. We bought the house in November and have so much to do to it. Our focus for the past two months has been to get the house done. Which its somewhat almost there. The rooms are almost all done being painted, and *almost* all of the backyard is torn up. What we have left is to fence in the whole yard, create our garden, build our outside gym, install the pool, and build on top of the house (eventually).

Luckily, I had the privilege to go to college and take food and nutrition classes. Because of this I learned that diets and shakes do more damage to the body then you would imagine. Even if they are “all natural”. People think the keto diet and these fancy brands with shakes are great…well it’s not and that is another blog to write about another day. The best diet to follow is the Mediterranean diet. But to be healthy you need an adequate amount of exercise too. Both Dillon and I are looking forward to getting back in shape, not that we are not healthy and fit we just want to better ourselves. Therefore, we are wanting to create an outside gym where we can put all of our workout equipment and have the space for it and this is where I can also practice yoga as well.

Blogging has also had its challenges too. When being rushed and trying to get stuff done you end up having to put other things on the back burner. When I first started the blog, the goal was to post twice a week. However, with everything we have been doing it has been more like once or twice a month. Hopefully that will change in 2019. This coming year I am aiming for 1-2 posts per week instead.

Along with blogging comes a balance in the office. Which our office isn’t even set up yet. When we bought the house the owners actually left quite a bit of stuff behind. Besides gym equipment they also left behind a nice desk. Right now, our office is acting as the storage room while the house was painted. Needless to say, the office has been neglected. Dillon and I are wanting to create a workable environment for both of us. So that is when organizing and getting the office together comes into play.

Dillon and I also never really take leave much. As a result of that Dillon has a lot of leave days saved up. Over half of the maximum you are allowed to have with the Marine Corps before they tell you to “use it or lose it”. In 2018 we had the chance to go to the Bahamas as a delayed honeymoon trip because of my mom and Frank watching our dog (you can read about in here). That trip has opened my eyes to the love of traveling and experiencing different cultures. We are hoping this year, besides vacationing to Catalina Island for a few nights, that we will be able to travel to a new location for another week or two. Even though my mom is allergic to my dog she loves him and both her and Frank have been generous enough to watch him in the past a few times. Dillon and I do not tend to trust a lot of people with our dog due to past events that occurred (our dog was not treated right) therefore we really only trust a select few people. Mainly my mom and Frank. But with that being said it is hard to always travel places when you have a dog. We would take him with us traveling, but the last time we flew with him was a hot mess there was no AC on the plane and that is a whole other story I may tell one day.

Clothes. Well lets just say a lot of my clothes are old. I take good care of my clothes which means I do not buy a lot of new clothes. I was going through old photos from my freshman year of high-school and realized a lot of the clothes from back then I still have and wear. But I think it is time to purge my closet again and buy a new wardrobe. It is time for a mix up. Plus, I definitely need new shoes…mainly sandals and a pair of sneakers.

This year I was introduced to the practice of Hygge from Pia Edberg. Denmark is known to be one of the happiest country’s in the world. They have only a 36-hour work week, and they do tend to have higher taxes, but yet everyone there is content. Hygge is often practiced in Denmark as it apart of the Danish Culture. Hygge (pronounced HOO-ga) “is a Danish word used when acknowledging a feeling or moment, whether alone or with friends, at home or out, ordinary or extraordinary as cozy, charming or special” (Hygge House 1). Pia does a wonderful job describing exactly what Hygge is in her book. She shares her and her father’s experiences of Hygge and explains the foundations of Hygge and what exactly is means to practice Hygge. Basically, in short terms you learn to enjoy the simple moments and appreciate those around you. Most times it is practiced in the Winter Season however it can still be practiced year-round as Edberg explains in her book “The Cozy Life”.

So, for the New Year 2019 I am still staying the same person, I am still Rachel O’Donnell. However, I may just end up improving something in my life to make me the best version of myself possible.