New year = new goals! I'm excited to share my 2022 resolutions with you today, as well as my word of the year. And we will also check in to see how my 2021 goals turned out. (Spoiler: although I didn't share it publicly in last year's resolutions blog post, my top resolution for 2021 was to move and get a new job. CHECK! 😊)
Photos by Sandra Leigh Photography
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2021 Resolutions Recap
- Learn how to French and/or Dutch braid my hair (Did not do this): To be honest, I kind of forgot about this resolution- haha! My braiding skills are still limited to regular braids. I ended up cutting my hair pretty short in July 2021- so I didn't wear very many braids of any types this year.
- Wear a matching pajama set to bed most nights (Did this!): This seemed like such a silly resolution, but I did it!! And it's made wearing matching pajamas a habit for me. Even though I'm the only one seeing them (besides for my cat Delilah 😸), it is amazing how put-together it's made me feel. I also feel more prepared to tackle the day ahead when I wake up in the morning in matching pajamas, and not the ancient sorority t-shirts and old gym shorts that I used to sleep in.
- Spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas with my parents (Half credit?): But I want to give myself half credit, because I did spend Christmas with my parents, and Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle- so I was still with family? I ended up having to work on Black Friday, so it wouldn't have been feasible for me to travel to Maine at Thanksgiving this year.
- Continue French lessons on Duolingo app most days a week (Did this!): Unfortunately I did accidently lose my 250+ day lesson streak on Duolingo in 2021, but I quickly jumped back in and ended 2021 with an 80+ day lesson streak. So glad I've stuck with this pandemic hobby to re-learn French. (This year I also became obsessed with the Duolingo TikTok account- ha!)
- Memorize 12 bible verses (Did not do this): I wish I could say I kept on track with bible verse memorization, but sadly I fell away from this during last year.
- Visit Vermont (Did not do this): I would still love to visit Vermont at some point, as I haven't been back since I lived there 2017-18! But that wasn't able to happen just yet. Moving to Virginia Beach and starting my new job unfortunately prevented me from traveling as much as I wanted to in 2021.
2022 Resolutions:
- Learn to play golf: My biggest resolution for 2021 and I am so excited about this!! If you saw the picture of the mysterious large box on my Instagram Story last week, that was my newly ordered golf clubs! My friend Soo Jin in college was on the golf team, and through her I got to know some of the other golfers at my college as well. I got to go to the driving range with Soo Jin once and I was absolutely terrible, but I had a lot of fun! Meeting so many golfers in college made me start to wonder if I could ever take up the sport myself, as it really did seem like something I'd enjoy once I had proper instruction. Anyways, I decided that 2022 will be my year to finally learn how to golf! I am starting golf lessons next month, and purchased a set of beginner clubs. I am hoping this will be a sport that I can enjoy for the rest of my life! I'm looking forward to playing with friends who already do golf, and hopefully making more friends through the sport. I honestly haven't learned something totally new (sports related or something else) in a very long time, and I think it's good as an adult to still put yourself out of your comfort zone.
- Become more knowledgeable and comfortable around firearms: Prior to last weekend, I'd only shot a gun once in my life (my 2018 Texas trip if you were wondering when!). While I had absolutely nothing against anyone who did safe and legal firearm ownership, it just didn't seem like something for me personally. This past fall, one of our salespeople at work approached me with an opportunity to do radio commercials for the first few months in 2022 for a local shooting range. In addition to voicing the commercials, I'd have the chance to try different classes at the range and become more comfortable and knowledgeable around firearms. I said yes!! I'm trying to get better in life about saying yes to opportunities that find me, even when they are out of my comfort zone. I took my first shooting class last weekend. I was so scared (and hate to admit that I jumped every time a gun went off for the first two hours), but I did it and successfully completed the class! I have the chance to have more firearm instruction this winter, and I really hope to make the most of these opportunities, and to be more comfortable and less intimidated around guns.
- Keep a dating app profile active for at least 6 consecutive months (unless I enter a new relationship): I've used dating apps off and on since 2015, so this year will mark seven years. I have a bad habit where if I have something end disappointingly from an app (like getting ghosted or having something end abruptly after a few dates), I'll delete all my current app profiles for a few months. While I don't think this has necessarily been bad every time that I have done it, as I'm getting older and trying to be more intentional about dating, I don't think deleting all my profiles semi-frequently is really helping me much. I made a new profile on a dating app on January 1st of this year, and my current goal is to keep that profile up and active until at least July 1st! It's fine if I take breaks some weeks from swiping or messaging new guys, but I want to at least keep my profile active. (Of course- my rule allows me to delete it if I am to enter into a new relationship before July! Haha. 😉)
- Start investing (separately from a 401k): This has been a goal for awhile and is even on my 101 in 1001 list! Investing is just something that I don't know much about, and to be honest I'm intimidated by. But this is my year that's going to be all about getting out of my comfort zone and doing new things! So I'm determined to finally start investing money in something besides a 401k this year. Speaking of- next month I'm finally eligible to begin a company matched 401k at my new job- so I need to figure out soon how to transfer the money from the one at my former job into my new one.
- Find a new church in Virginia Beach: Although it's been a wonderful first six months in Virginia Beach, I hate that I still haven't found a church home yet. A lot of the ones that I visited this summer and fall I wasn't too crazy about. For the past month or so, I sadly haven't felt comfortable going to in-person church with the rising COVID cases. Hopefully that won't be a problem soon! Anyways, the one that I've watched online for the past few weeks seems really promising- I haven't been in person yet but hope to soon. I really miss being part of a church community and I do feel like my motivation with my relationship with God suffered a bit in 2021 from not really having a church home yet once I moved.
2022 Word of the Year:
NEW - is my 2022 word of the year! I feel like my resolutions that I picked for this year accurately reflect this. 2021 brought a ton of change and newness for me, and it made my year really interesting and full of great memories. I don't anticipate nearly as much change in my life in 2022- no moves, no new jobs, no new cars, etc. But I still want to keep things interesting in my day-to-day life. I'm hoping to integrate more "New" into my life this year through new hobbies and skills, new friendships (and maybe a new relationship too?), visiting new places near and far, and overall just trying to take advantage of opportunities to get out of my comfort zone as they present themselves. Life is short right?!
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
Your goals for this year are awesome! I knew nothing about investing but Rob loves it- so if you need any advice let me know :) and golf will be so fun!!
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