How to (Hopefully) Not be too Late

Hey there everybody! In case someone has not yet said it to you, happy February!! 💗 And because I haven't yet posted about my goals, or resolutions yet this year, I personally apologize. Sometimes it is difficult for me to get a running start...seriously, like you wouldn't believe (in more than just my little limp...that my darling husband says he barely notices anymore! Guess those years and years of therapy are finally working...Thank you!), so even though I am having a bit of a prolonged leap in my start to goals this 2022, I still believe that it has the potential to be a fantastic year. Life is what you make of it, or rather, my life is what I choose to make of it (insert your own name in the sentence, because I know that no one has anyone to blame but themselves truly in the scheme of their own personal life). Sorry not sorry! Let's get this started (no matter it is a bit late or not) this 2022. Happy New Year (I know, I know...I'm really guilty, please be forgiving, if you may)!

1) Turn home into a restful retreat: Not to be too overly judgmental of the idea, or thought in the above picture, but in my own personal opinion, if my home were more of a restful retreat, I would indeed be happier, or let's say, look forward to coming home after work each day more. Not to say that I don't, but on occasion I will stop at the library on my way home because if anywhere is restful, it is a place full of books! I am a bookworm, and proud of it! Sometimes I will stay a minute there to pick up a specific book that I have in mind (because startlingly, I don't think I will ever own every book in the world...though it is an unreasonable, impossible dream...but it is still a dream!), check out a book for my book club, or just simply to browse the shelves (whether I be more in the mood for either a mystery or a fantasy novel) (I don't dislike other books, I just prefer fiction). Drawing to the above picture again, I fancy myself as the girl dancing with her single flower (or Michael and I's single bookshelf...though thankfully, he never seems to have enough books either) (knew that I fell in love with him for some reason 😉), and the library as the woman dwelling in sorrow among her full garden of flowers. That thought is comparable too, sometimes people don't notice the things that they have, and they put them to waste. That is why I wish to tun my own home into a restful retreat. I want to notice the things that I have and enjoy them. I'm not talking about Michael here either, because he is often at school or work, I do cherish my time spent with him as much as I can. What I am referring to is the simple parts of my home that would help me relax, if only I noticed them more...like my yoga mat (on which I find peace with my stretches...though I admit that I currently need to do that more; you should've seen e this morning doing them, it was laughable as I tripped over myself because of things that my body couldn't do), my bookshelf (I mean our...Michael holds a startling amount of books too), or my little mint plant that I am raising, and is still alive, though it is not Spring yet in Idaho (I keep it good and watered inside).  

2) Take vitamins in the morning: This is a habit that I thought that I was already good at and adapted to when I chose to live on my own (this weakness comes from even before I got married to my husband, I believe...though I am not sure, and I already have a really bad memory and that is never going to lift me up!) (I am stubborn, and I know that I am right.), but alas, I find that sadly I am not. Regular vitamins include the ones that I think that we all have, like Vitamin C, but with me and my Acid Reflux disease, I also have Zantac that I take each day to...help keep my stomach acids in my stomach (and save myself from the burning in my chest known as heartburn). Truly, a change, or slight altering in one's diet aids greatly in this sometimes painful, though never fatal disease, like eating less sweets and grains or drinking more milk, and I do try to do that each day (though currently, Valentine candies are becoming more and more tempting and I do currently hold a job in retail and know where the store that I work at keeps wasteful things like our chocolate heart boxes, chocolate oranges, and sweethearts (never been a fan of personally, though I almost never can say no to anything offered to me that is chocolate...like a temptation). It probably doesn't help that I have a pretty good idea with what food my husband will spoil me with once the Valentine's Holiday arrives 😋 (he loves fruity candies, which I give him, and he knows that I love chocolates (oh Michael, why can't I be more like you??)), which is why I set this goal to break the bad habit of forgetting my vitamins or my Zantac in the morning, to save myself.

3) Read together with family (Michael): As if you need to be told this again, I have always, well almost always been a reader. There lies a certain magic with books that I don't believe can ever be caught truly in the real world (not to mock books with a realistic setting and/or story, because that was meant to be a complement). Whether it be the fanatical description of dragons found in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (and let's be honest, The Hobbit) of Glaurung the Golden (first in the evolution of Middle Earth dragons that could breathe fire, but didn't have wings), Ancalagon the Black (greatest dragon in Middle-Earth, which I find interesting), Scatha the Worm (what an insult, to a dragon?), or Smaug (assumed, at least personally as the best, because he is the best known fire drake, and his scenes in the movies terrified me, and I'm not afraid to say it!). Description doesn't die there with that author though (think of something besides fantasy...). Another recent addition to my favorite books list (that happens to be the one that I am reading right now as a recent Christmas gift which I received from my sister-in-law, Rachel happens to be The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. The reason that I am enjoying that book is the relatable way that Green appeals to the reader's emotions through the book's narrator, Hazel Grace who feels that her tumor-shrinking cancer diagnosis has been anything but a miracle. The book is reminding me that life is no fun until you have something to live for. Not to say that my case is at all comparable to a cancer diagnosis, where Hazel finds herself waking in the middle of the night where she must be rushed to the hospital, because she can't breathe, but after sitting at the point of impact in a car accident near 12-13 years ago, my life changed dramatically too. I could participate in barely anything that I dreamed of (or rather, should have dreamed of) in school (that now hosted some sports teams...lucky me 😒) like the basketball team (one of my favorite sports to play as a child), I couldn't audition for the school musicals (well, I could audition, I guess and I did a few times...I just never expected or received success), and a plethora of things that surprisingly take a more able body than I thought. Never take anything for granted. I have loved reading since I was 8 years old and began graduating to higher level chapter books, so I will not and never will take that for granted. (This also is a thank you to my parents, since I don't think, I would love to read as much without the stories commonly read, or even simply told to me when I was young.)

4) Keep learning, though not in college anymore: I feel like this goal certainly deserves more of an explanation. For any of you out there wondering about me furthering my education through certain courses that are indeed offered up here at BYU-I in Rexburg, where I currently live. When I got married, I had to do a reevaluation of my life, as in what I could afford and what I couldn't afford. There may be stark difference in opinion, but I am sorry to say that money does indeed make the world go round. Michael is finishing up his years up here and getting a degree in Biomedical Science, and so far, has no debt (and I love that! I thought that I was frugal, then I met him 😜). After doing that in the next few years, he plans to go to Medical School, we are not sure exactly where yet (though he is currently looking at schools in Florida (state where he was born), Colorado (state where I was born), and Washington (state with the Med School that is closest to where we live right now). Needless to say, I really hope that Colorado accepts him, but anything could happen and as long as we keep hope alive, I believe, or rather know, he will accomplish amazing things. On that degree (haha get it? degree), I do not wish to add any extensive payments to our list with my own schooling expenses. Not to say that I give up in that factor of my life, because I don't, I'm just trying to remain frugally minded. That is why I am going to keep learning, though I am not in college anymore. That is why it will be done through a source like YouTube classes or...now that I think about it, reading a book!

5) Go to networking event through Reedsy, post something you've written: In case you haven't been paying attention to anything which I have written on this occasion, here is a little newsflash for you: I LOVE to read. I always have and I always will. Drawing on that, along with reading, I love to write too, though admittedly, it has been quite some time since I've written anything justifiable or that I would be willing to share with others (these posts don't count, they aren't fictional, which is my niche). That ends this month. I would be lying if I wrote that I didn't have the dream of someday walking through the shelves of a library and seeing my very own shelf that includes several books, novels even, which I have written, and they are all popular, because I do. I am also sick and tired of the excuse of writer's block. Now, granted, it does happen to us all occasionally but that too has an expiration date. Personally, I think that I need to go out on the search for ideas once more, and not say no to any of them with my writer's notebook (or one of my, since I have way too many, and a lot of people that I know know I love to write). I am an inactive member of the writing/publishing group/club/company (I should really be more active) or Reedsy, and they host several writing competitions for those of us in the rut (like me) that don't know what to do or how to get out of it, and if you submit to them, it allows others to comment whether they liked or disliked it (though they all are friendly), and if you win the competition in the end, you may win a cash prize. Getting paid for something which I have written...hopefully that will not always be only a dream. That is why I set this goal to start dreaming, writing thing down, and posting my thoughts to this group again once more, because you never quite know what could become of it, or how spectacular it is going to be.