Today kicks off the first in my series of year end wrap up posts that I post annually! This one is all about how things went this year for me personally, as well as my personal goals for the new year. The next two posts, coming next week, will be a year in review of the blog, as well as a year in review of my reading life. I love doing these posts every year because it’s so fun to reflect and look back. Here we go!
Memorable Moments of 2019
This list contains most of the big and memorable happenings of the year, both good AND bad. Obviously, we did a lot more and a lot more happened, but these are the things that I’ll look back on and remember about the year.
The Good
- We kicked off the year with our usual busy January, since Jerry, Caleb, and I all have January birthdays. It was a big birthday for me as I turned the big 30, and we had a KFC themed party for Cal.
- In May, Jerry’s car unexpectedly died, so we panicked, started a frantic search, and ended up getting a great deal on a 2017 Jeep Renegade for him. YAY for having a reliable car that doesn’t surprise us with random breakdowns and unexpected bills every other month!
- I went to TWO comedy shows this year, seeing some of my most beloved comedians EVER: I saw Sal Vulcano with Jerry, and Chris D’Elia with my brother and SIL.
- Caleb wrapped up his first year of preschool in June, and started his second year in September! He’s blossomed this year. For instance, last year, he NEVER danced or sang at any of his school performances, and this year… he is! I am so proud of him. Y’all should have seen him as a shepherd in the Christmas pageant. He had a scene where he had to act scared and he crushed it.
- Our lifelong friends from Ireland came to visit this summer! It was so incredible to be reunited for the first time in 10 years. It made for a memorable summer, that’s for sure! While they were here, my boys both had some “firsts:” Caleb’s first time at the movie theater and Holden’s first time at the beach. I also took a two week staycation from work which was niiiiice, and much needed.
- Holden turned one in September. He is a mischievous, joyful, daredevil of a baby. Every time I look at him, he looks just like a doll. That’s probably why my dollmaker friend made an elf that was inspired by him! AWESOME!
- We had a very fun, very full, and very busy fall. It included TWO trips with Caleb on a “spooky” hayride, a spooky lighthouse tour, and a virtual 5K pumpkin walk with some of my favorite people…. and a sh*t ton more! I also discovered my new favorite horror movie: Hell House LLC.
- My friend and I hosted our very first annual Christmas cookie exchange, which turned out to be probably my FAVORITE happening of the year.
- Christmas was quite good this year. Caleb REALLY understood it for the first time. He was starting to grasp it last year, but this year? Oh, he knew. He knew about Santa and the reindeer and got really into the season. I LOVED giving him his gifts, and his reaction when he opened his Echo Dot (which he’s been wanting for months) was perfectly priceless.
The Bad
- I’ve been dealing a lot with my anxiety and depression this year. I’ve had both for FOREVER, and try not to let them affect me, but it’s been a hard year for me in both departments. I actually just recently switched to a new antidepressant this month, so I’m hoping to see some improvement. My old one didn’t seem to be working well anymore. So yeah, it’s been an emotionally draining year for me, with a lot of emotional eating and no weight loss. I think part of my uptick in anxiety has just been trying to balance life with TWO kids and a full time job. I had hardly gotten used to doing it with just one. I hope next year is a better year for me health wise.
- Speaking of health, this has also been a year full of sickness and firsts. This part may become too TMI, so read at your own risk. This year, I have had TWO ear infections, my first ever UTI, and then my first ever yeast infections. Yep, lots of horrible firsts thanks to antibiotics from the ear and UTI infections leading me to multiple yeast infections. I will say it again: may next year be healthier for me in ALL the ways.
- Our downstairs spare freezer sh*t the bed unexpectedly (just like Jerry’s car and our riding mower… it was a crappy and expensive year). We had to throw away SO much food, including over $200 worth of custom ordered cookies that I had shipped from NYC. Sigh. Such is life.
We had a very major falling out with a family member this year over money, of all things. This person has pretty much NEVER been around, so it’s no real loss, but nevertheless, it was a major ordeal of the year, so here it is. Lots and lots of drama ensued from this one. I’m glad that it’s over and that ties have been severed.
New Discoveries
- One summer weekend, I started a Bookstagram account with my friend / coworker Karen, and I also started a primitive doll collectors group on Facebook with a friend, Margaret. As a result of running that group together, we’ve become better friends and have been hanging out, which has been fun! I’ve also made a lot of new friends from the group itself, too. Making new friends as an adult is HARD, so new friends are always a highlight!
- My aunt, friend, and I are season ticket holders to our local theatre, and see quite a few musicals each year. We saw a lot of great ones, as always, but we saw some that I just abolustely fell in love with and consider new favorites! Ready? Hamilton (which I expected to hate but LOVED), Waitress, and Come From Away. All of these were SO SO SO GOOD!
- I used to read something like 70 books a year before I had kids, but once I had Caleb in 2015, my numbers dropped drastically. Every year since 2015, I’ve been reading 20-something books a year. This year was MY BEST reading year since 2014, with almost 50 books completed! I am SO happy about that.
- I never understood the hype of podcasts, but I dipped my toes into the waters a bit this year, since I wanted something more engaging than music to listen to on my outdoor walks. It’s been fun to see what the buzz is all about. I don’t see myself ever becoming a heavy podcast listener, but it’s been a good way to pass the time while exercising.
- This ended up being the year of the side hustle for me. I started getting really into mTurk, which is where the bulk of my extra income came from this year (aka the money I make that isn’t from my FT job), but I’ve also continued selling dip, started using multiple survey sites, and started using Ibotta and eBates (now Rakuten). I’ve also started making some income from the blog which is good considering I SPEND money each year for hosting and domain fees. This was all a lot of work, but it’s been nice and almost necessary to have these extra streams of income due to it being such an expensive year (see above about EVERYTHING breaking down – car, freezer, lawn mower).
- Lastly, I was kind of reverse Catfished this year when some woman stole family photos from my blog and used them on a fake Facebook account. You’ll now notice that personal photos are a bit more sparing here than they used to be, for this very reason. I’ll still be posting the occasional photo of myself and my kids, but it’ll be far less than it used to be.
Okay, I didn’t realize this until just now when I was putting this post together, but… DAMN, 2019 kind of sucked for me! I say this not to sound like a debbie downer or for pity, it’s just a startling realization that I made just now. Yikes. There were definitely some really great, fun, happy, and memorable times, but it was full of illnesses, expensive things breaking down on us, and just plain garbage! Now, I’m feeling more ready than ever for 2020. I hope and pray that it’s a MUCH better year for me and my family.
Recap of 2019 Goals
- Lose 30 pounds: I have been losing and gaining the same 5 pounds all year long. I started out the year really strong, but then all the physical illness and mental health stuff kind of stalled me out.
- Work out 200 times and log work outs for the year: I ended up with about 136 work outs for the year. While I didn’t hit that goal of 200, I honestly think 136 ain’t too shabby.
- Run a 5K: Counting this as complete. I walked the virtual pumpkin 5K, and it definitely counts in my mind.
- Go off Facebook for at least one month: it just didn’t happen again. I love Facebook too much, I use it for work, I run my doll group, participate in other groups, and LOVE the marketplace.
- Catch up on my photo books: HA! No.
- End the year with credit cards under $3,000: Nope. As mentioned above… expensive year! Lots of broken things! Preschool tuition!
- Earn an extra $1,000 this year: I crushed this goal with around $2,712 in extra income made this year. Here is the approximate breakdown of the extra money I earned in 2019.
- Migraine medical study: $50
- Diplicious (my FB page here): $100 (though a lot of this was money I earned back from my own purchases… oops! LOL. Some of it was from actual sales though). This amount was from online orders, plus a little dip party I had where I sold some stock. This is a very rough estimate, honestly, since I bought the dips then resold them for a small profit and don’t care enough to figure out the profit.
- Rakuten (eBates): $110
- Ibotta: $20
- Facebook Marketplace sales: $87 (bassinet, kid’s birthday shirt, a ring, a necklace, and a dog Neater Feeder)
- mTurk: $1,250
- Survey sites: $275
- Blog income: $820 — this was my first year really making an income from my blog… although a few years ago I got a very generously paid writing gig (even higher than this year’s total) because of my blog, so that kinda counts too.
- Fully fund our emergency fund to $1,000: Nope. See above about the expensive, crappy year.
- Build vacation fund to $100: Nope. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea, but we have a 1 YEAR OLD. Caleb is finally getting to the age where I could see us taking him on a vacation, but not the baby. Also… life is expensive with 2 kids. Vacations will have to wait.
Personal Goals for 2020
- Lose 20 pounds: since 2019 was a no-go on the weight loss, I thought it’d be wiser to aim a little lower and more realistically for this goal in the new year.
- Work out 150 times: setting this one a bit lower too as I didn’t reach my goal of 200 for 2019.
- Earn an extra $3,000: can I step it up in 2020?
- End the year with an emergency fund of $1,000: obviously emergency funds go up and down throughout the year, but I’d like to end the year with this amount.
- Remodel the downstairs: I’ve talked about it before, but basically, we want to remodel our downstairs and turn it into a playroom for the boys. It’ll be a big undertaking as we will have to pack up and temporarily store everything that’s down there, rip up the carpet, and install vinyl flooring. We already started talking to a contractor, but it just didn’t happen this year because MONEY. We might be able to do it with our tax refund in the spring though, so we’ll see.
…and I’m going to leave it at that. It’s really hard to set overarching yearly goals, so that’s why I do my monthly goals too since priorities shift and change so much throughout the year. However, I’m satisfied with the theme of these goals which basically boil down to working on both my physical and financial health for the year. My reading goals and blog goals will be outlined in separate posts next week in my continuation of my annual yearly wrap up series!
Looking Forward to 2020
Here are some of the things I’m looking forward to in 2020!
- Paying off my auto loan: my 6 year auto loan will be paid off this spring. Hallelujah! Having that monthly payment gone will hopefully enable us to tackle some other debt more quickly.
- Resuming a healthier lifestyle: I kicked off 2019 on a strong note with a lot of exercise and healthier eating, but the last couple of months have been bad, especially with all of the holiday goodies. Jerry and I are both looking forward to a health refresh in 2020.
- Preschool tuition ending: we’ll pay our last preschool monthly payment in May, then Caleb starts kindergarten, which is free of course. We will have a year off with no preschool payments before Holden starts in 2021. More opportunity to pay down other debts!
- Kindergarten: yep, as stated above, Caleb starts kindergarten in the fall of 2020. I’m nervous more than anything, and it’ll be a big adjustment for all of us. Here’s hoping it goes okay.
- New couch: our couch has seen much better days and we are in desperate need of a new one. Jerry is on board with me to get a new one after we get our tax money. This is a definite purchase. The downstairs remodel is a possibility depending on cost, but the couch is a certainty.
- Fall and the holidays: honestly, I feel like I’m just biding my time the rest of the year because I LIVE for the fall and Halloween, and then it wraps around into the holiday season, and it’s just the best. Basically, September – December are the sh*t, and it’s getting more and more fun as the kids get older and can do more with us.
That’s a wrap on life in 2019! Can’t wait to welcome 2020!
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