Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018!

Here we are again, another new year but its no new me (I don't care for that sh*t) NOPE,  its the same me. I still have no idea where all the time went. I vividly remember being at this same state of mind and seeing the same situations at work as last year. I remember feeling a little bit more empowered though and this beginning of the year I feel a little bit more reserved, a little bit less of myself.

2017 could only be summed up by two words: BUSY and EXHAUSTED. I was consistently busy at work, I often described my day as busy, my work schedule? BUSY. Everything was just busy, busy, busy. My mental state? EXHAUSTED. Physically? EXHAUSTED. I was overrun and overworked. I spent more time at my job than enjoying some time away. I was in a never ending cycle of eat, sleep, work, repeat. I felt like I never had any free time. And when I did have free time it was filled with errands and chores. Things that I didn't quite enjoy but things that I just had to get done otherwise it would pile up on my TO DO list. I very seldom got to travel, there wasn't any time to explore new places. Even my husband was busy with his job. It was definitely a year of work.

Last year had a lot of downs but it definitely had a lot of ups. I found myself being able to focus on improving my skills through experience at work. I got to learn new areas, meet new people, and even train new associates a bit more that I've had in awhile. On the days when I would finish errands early, I got enjoy a little down time, catching up on reading some favorite books. And when my husband got his new schedule at work, I found a lot more days where I was able to spend evenings with him, cooking our favorite dishes, watching our favorite shows, and having more movies nights in 😊😊😊 Those little moments always outweighed any bad days I came across.

At the end of the year in 2017, (even though I had a strong sense of it in my mind the past months) I made the ultimate decision that I needed a few changes in my life. Like the people I let into my life, my lifestyle, my career, my well being....pretty much a lot of things in my Life that I would like to see improve. So slowly, I began to implement some changes. I began to declutter and donate more. I began to save and spend less. I began to cook more instead of eating out. Small steps but a big impact that helped me change habits or improve upon them.

With a lot of that being said, 2017 was alright.
                    I've let that year go
and its time to bring on the greatness in 2018!!!

Journey to Simple.

I've always thought of myself of being a very simple person. I never really needed to spend money unless its on food or necessities. I don't find myself in dire need of shopping trip when there's a sale going on or whatever people seem to like to do all on the same day at the same time (😁). I don't need to update my home decor every season (or week or month like some unmentioned people). I'm content with what I have and that's how I have always been, its the person I grew up to be. Things are not as important as people. We should all remember that. But the journey to living a simple life is much more than that. I find myself realizing I've missed several steps along the way. That in reality, I am actually drowning in chaos in my surroundings.

I don't need anything trending in make up, but why do I have such a big collection of makeup. Because I haven't let go. The box that my family sent me through the mail with goodies, the goods are used but the box is just sitting there, piling up along with the rest of the boxes. Whenever I do get actual down time when I'm not working I realize how much material things I have accumulated over the years than what I had started with. When my husband and I first moved into our apartment, we started from nothing. We had this plan to be together and that was it. I brought as many of my things that I could from California to Washington, that fit into a rental car, that barely filled a corner space in our place. Fast forward years later and now I'm fighting to get a space for anything.

So more than ever this year, I have been really learning to let go. The Journey to Simple for me, is letting go. I have to let go of the things that gave me temporary joy. What I learned is that, all the years that my husband was active in the military and was away on duty, I began to fill that void with a temporary fix that came in the form of splurging for things that I want but never needed. After reading a bit of the Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I began to realize what is of importance to me now. And slowly but surely I have been cleaning away different sections in our abode.

Now, most people seem to start with clothes as that is what is suggested in her books, but I have found inspiration in starting where I know I don't have most of my attachments which have been (of course) my makeup/beauty collection a.k.a the items that I had splurged on over the years. You would think this would actually be difficult for me seeing as to how much I have added to my collection over the years but its the easiest because like I mentioned, I do not have attachments simply because I no longer wear much makeup.

Over the next couple of posts I hope to add in a bit of before and after maybe to serve as inspiration for those of you on the same journey with me. Thank you for reading this post if you made it this far:)

Until next time!!!

-J

2017 Resolutions.

So I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here but growing up, my family was very typical and standard during the holidays. For Thanksgiving we would all gather and watch the Macy’s Day Parade even though we were not fans, it was “tradition!”. During Christmas it was that exciting time of writing to Santa about all the things we hoped to find under the Christmas tree. On New Years’ Eve we would all be sure to jump at midnight with money in our hands in hopes it would promote good fortune (but thinking back now I’m wondering if this was just a Filipino Tradition). On New Years’ Day it was time to talk about and set our resolutions for the new year. Fast Forward to present day and…I’m pretty sure I might be the only one in my family that still follows these (rather silly) traditions. But for me, setting some goals (okay maybe like 10-15 goals in a detailed list) has somehow always made me feel pretty damn good and motivated. Though the question is… after all these years, have I been able to even complete all of them during the year. The answer is simple: No.

I’ve never been an over achiever and until this day I still seem to try and give myself way more than I can handle. Not quite sure why I do so, but I do. And naturally its taken me years to get to the point that I am at today. My 2017 Resolutions!!! (Lets all clap because this time I think they are quite do-able within the year J). This year I’ve decided to try three main goals. YES, just THREE. Seems easy enough right? I once watched a video about trying to get goals completed and how she (the lady in the video of course) said that she likes to give herself three tasks to complete in day because then she feels its easy to accomplish and by doing so each day you will get a lot done. So I tried it. AND BY GOLLY, it worked for me. SO here I am, looking to complete three main goals this year at which I hope will better myself in the long run. So without further ado, here they go….

MY 2017 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS/GOALS:
1) Change My Mindset
2) Live Simple
3) Get sh*t done!!! JJJ