Holy crap guys, I guess I haven’t shared resolutions since 2015! See them here. Katie has been more diligent, here are her 2016 and 2017 resolution posts and here are her 2019 resolutions. Inspiring, yeah?

Here’s a look back at 2018 – These were the main things I had hoped to accomplish, some went better than others.

Strive to be more organized. Contacts, finances, blog, life… I’m on the right track with this one. I’ve started utilizing spreadsheets, calendars, and organizational apps more than ever although I feel like I could improve upon this for the rest of my life. We’ll see how well I did during tax season this year!

Create something to make passive income like an ebook or course. I did not do this! I started writing two books, haphazardly created a patreon, and of course, dreamed about being more productive, but nah, I did not fully follow through with this one. That gives me the motivation to move it to the top of the list for 2019.

Follow through with Meditation Monday and Live Seasoned – start planning ahead and stop missing deadlines. I’m giving myself half credit here. Live Seasoned had an awesome year, but I did cease Meditation Monday about midway through the year for a couple reasons, but it’s coming back in a different (and hopefully better) way this year. I need to remember it’s okay to shift gears and do things my own way instead of how I think others would do them.

Wittle down belongings until they fit in a single car or closet. Yeehaw, this one was a major success. I’ve donated and purged so much this year that it’s become a general habit of mine. Each time I see something that I don’t fully love, it’s gone.

A few habits I picked up in 2018 or hung onto – cheers to another year of:

• No phone while driving
• Maintaining a flossing habit
• Spending less than 2 hours per day on phone. Full disclosure, I don’t always succeed.
• Reading instead of watching TV or wasting time on social media. I love this supremely relaxing habit and can’t wait to continue it. Check out all our Read With Me posts.

Onto 2019 – the best year yet?! We hope so. Here’s what I hope to accomplish in 2019:

Appreciate cold weather – This may seem like a silly one, but this year I’m going to make a concerted effort to appreciate cold weather. I’ve always been a lover of hot and humid climates, but take me somewhere cold and I’ll start grumbling before the car doors even open. I realized just how much I despise cold weather when I lived abroad in Thailand in 2011 – 2012. That’s when I noticed that weather has a huge effect on my mood and there was no way in hell I was going to survive another winter in my home state of Pennsylvania.

I promptly moved to Chapel Hill, NC and for the past five years, I’ve enjoyed mild winters and sunshine all year long. Now I’m dating someone who swoons over snow, fresh powder, and mountain landscapes, so in an attempt to stop my constant bitching and cold complaints, I’ve turned it into a resolution. This is the year that I learn to always pack enough sweaters, buy all the wool I can afford, and breathe through the cold weather like a Buddhist monk. I’m one chilly ski trip in and I’m giving myself an 8/10 thus far.

Learn to shoot a gun –  Definitely an unconventional one, but it’s about time. First, I would like to diminish my fear of guns. I’ve been around them a bit, but I’ve always been too scared to hold or shoot them. Even unloaded guns creep me out a bit. I think it couldn’t hurt to know how to actually use one as well. I don’t really foresee myself buying or owning a gun, but I do think it’d be useful to know how to use one just in case. Oh, and hunting is starting to seem appealing and interesting to me these days, so maybe it will be a lead up to a whole other new experience.

Have a bedtime – Hah! Dudes, I’m almost thirty and I’m making myself have a bedtime again. For the past ten years, I’ve gone to bed whenever the hell I feel like it. Sometimes that means staying up all night until it’s light out. This time last year, I saw the sunrise at least five times. WTF. Even though I love the night and I feel most productive after dark, I’m not convinced it’s productive to randomly stay up until 3am or 7am. In an effort to wake up earlier and have roughly the same schedule during the weekdays, I’m trying to go to sleep during the same hour at least five days a week.

Hike the Colorado Trail – Finally, a fun one! Completing the Colorado Trail is definitely my favorite resolution this year and it is truly a pass/fail. I either do or I don’t. I’m setting aside the month of July and a week or two of August to hike the 500+ trail that winds up, down, and along the high peaks in Colorado. This is something I’ve thought about for two years and after not hiking a single mile of it last year, I realized how bummed I was and how much I really wanted to do this, so here I am. I can’t wait for others to complete my own goals, which means I’m planning on hiking it solo. I’m hoping a few friends can join for different legs of the trip, but if not, I’ll have mountain lions to keep me company 😉 My spreadsheets are color-coded and my lists are being tweaked every day. Woohoo!

I would love to wrap this post up nicely, but I’m about to miss a flight! Eeeek!