I love making New Year’s resolutions — it’s always nice to have a road map for where I want the year to go, even if I end up only making it halfway to Louisiana, or off on a side quest to Alberta.

Um, I think my metaphor is breaking down. Sorry.

In the chaos that was the end of last year (pregnancy, cross-country move, pandemic…) I seem to have forgotten to finish my 2021 resolution post. I just posted it now; here it is in its full, possibly-unfinished glory. And for reference, here’s 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. Phew!

And so here we are on the cusp of 2022. Can we be finished with this pandemic please? No? Not yet? Oh, alright. The good news is, all of my resolutions — or really, intentions — can be completed from the safety of my own home.

First, a recap of last year.

Looking Back on 2021

Did I keep working at streamlining our food and grocery budget? Yeah, kinda! I did at least work at it, even if I haven’t made great strides! Still haven’t figured out how to get my kids to eat anything other than fruit, carbs, and cheese. Ha. There’s always next year.

Did I continue working on my writing and blogging? Well…yeah! I didn’t finish The Hallmark Project, but I did finally get to a stopping/submitting point on Basically Yours, and am actively working on Lucy in Love, which is a bit of a morph of The Hallmark Project. And I’m only blogging once-weekly, but I’m also doing weekly Medium posts. So, it counts.

Did I recover from three children in four years? Working on it! I did the pelvic floor PT stuff. Not sure if my nutrients are repleted, but I also wasnt’ able to freely eat what I wanted for several months. And the baby weight is lost, babyyyyy. Well, most of it. Still need to get to pre-Ambrose weight. But strides are being made.

Did I do some YouTube videos? No. Absolutely not. That’s a project for another year.

Did I use my camera and Lightroom for real? Also no. I finally cancelled my Adobe subscription because I was just wasting my money. I still want to use my camera for real, but that didn’t happen this past year.

Did I kill my 2021 TBR list? Mostly! And I’m okay with the fact that I didn’t complete it. More on that later though.

Did I advance my career? “Once the baby gets a bit older/more independent” HAH. Welcome to the world, clingy 3rd child. THAT SAID, I did do the copywriting course (see: detour to Alberta) and although I haven’t been able to get it off the ground, I’m not giving up. I have plans for actively reviving it next summer once Liesl is truly able to be left with someone else for longer periods of time, and once she’s no longer reliant on my milk for sustenance. Orrrrr (as I’m updating this in December) something else entirely unrelated.

Did I curate my closet? You know I did! Well, at least, I’ve started to. Which I count.

As for the future…

Looking Ahead to 2022

I have a very specific plan for this coming year and, if all goes well, future years. It’s plug ‘n play!

First off, I’ll read one long ClassicQuest book. I always try to read 6 ClassicQuest books each year, but it’s easy to put off the ridiculously long books that take months to read. But reading one over several months is manageable. I did it with Les Miserables a few years ago, and will do it with Gone With the Wind next year. (The rest of my TBR list for the year, by the way, can be found here.)

I’ll also read one self-help book and spend the whole gosh darn year applying it. Next year, that will be How to Win Friends and Influence People. You know I need to coerce some people into becoming friends with me, DIANE.

I’ll read one parenting book and apply it as well. I’ve always been meaning to read and implement How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk, and I want to make sure I do a really good job with it and truly soak in the message of the book. A year should get me there. Hopefully.

I’ll focus on cooking as many recipes from one cookbook as I can. I recently rediscovered the cookbook The Scandi Kitchen on my shelf. My sister sent it as a Christmas in July present but I’d completely forgotten I even owned it! I cracked it open after it arrived and was a little overwhelmed by all the recipes that use like, pickled herrings and caviar. But I finally flipped through the whole thing last week and boy do I want to cook everything in it. All of the breakfast porridges! All of the desserts! So I will. Or at least, I’ll cook through as much of it as I can. And I’ll be doing a monthly recipe review post too, so look forward to that.

I’ll learn a language through Duolingo. I haven’t decided what the language will be yet — I’m leaning toward either French or Russian — but my goal here is to spend an entire year doing at least one Duolingo lesson per day, with the end goal of (hopefully) achieving Legendary status on each module. Russian would be good for our future pursuits, and I could always find someone to practice it on at church. But French would be a lot easier and perhaps more practical. So, I don’t know. I want to learn all.the.languages, but I have to start somewhere. One at a time, Em! One at a time.

I’ll work on achieving my goal of performing a single pull-up. A bit less plug and play from here on out. I’ve found a training program, so…we’ll see. It says it will take a month. I’m banking on it taking at least the entire year. (Here’s another I might try if the first one doesn’t work out. I do enjoy Nerd Fitness.)

I’ll also complete as many Conquerer challenges as I can. Virtual race routes through cool places that plant trees and earn cool medals? Count me IN! Jarrod got me three races for Christmas this year. I figure I can do about ten miles a week, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do all three, but we’ll see!

I’d also like to do a 75 Hard. I’ll do a separate post on this if/when I start. I mean, with three young children and a deploying husband (I’ll do it during a deployment and Great Lent, if everything aligns properly) I might not be able to get beyond day three. WINE, people. Also like…what if another stomach flu or a challenging day of appointments prevents me from working out for an hour and a half one day? Goodness gracious. We’ll see.

I’ll get an agent? I mean, I can’t say I will specifically do this, but I’ll try as hard as I can. I won’t give up after this first set of queries comes back as all noes! (Is that English? Can I even write?) I will revise! I will cut ruthlessly! I’ll resubmit to new agents and gosh darn it…I’ll hope and pray that someone will want to take on Basically Yours. Or Lucy in Love. Because…

I will write Lucy in Love. And start drafting the next book. Enough said there.

I’ll (MAYBE) spend the time it takes figuring out how to get Medium posts curated. Intentional time researching and planning is probably better than throwing random spaghetti-articles at the wall and hoping they stick.

I’ll (MAYBE) start up this copywriting business, for real! The first step in that is to put Liesl in morning care once Jarrod gets a pay raise come June. Then I’ll get five glorious hours each morning to dedicate to writing and pitching.

I’ll (MAYBE) start a completely different career in software development. More on that here, but it’s looking promising. The movement is slow as mud, but it is movement toward starting the program. But who knows if I’ll be able to complete it. Or if I’ll choose to defer starting it because of crazy life circumstances.

I’ll continue curating my closet, slowly and intentionally. Meaning: I’ll only buy one keeper wardrobe item per month. Truly. Each item will be carefully considered and not an impulse buy. Each item will be sustainably and ethically produced. I will not impulse-buy linen overalls on Amazon. I won’t!

I’ll smash my TBR list. But it won’t be my typical TBR list. It will be a list of books I actually want to read.

I’ll get help for my anger. Whoo that’s a hard one to write down. But it’s reassuring to know that no one reads this so…it’s not out in the open, even though it is? Anyway, I was recently reading that one of the symptoms of ADHD (which I’m like 99% certain I have) is outbursts of anger and inconsistent parenting. Jarrod is pretty outspoken against ADHD medication, but like…if it helps me be a better parent, I should probably actually get a diagnosis. I hate when I scream at my kids.

Anyway. I think that’s it. The year is fast drawing to an end. Bring on the Vafflor and arm workouts, baby!