Lessons Learned in 2013

I was going to do a “Review of 2013” type post where I list the things I did, or good memories that happened each month of the year.  As I sat down to prewrite it about a week ago I realized that I didn’t too much that was super notable.  Instead, I decided to share some lessons that 2013 taught me because if I’m 100% honest, this year wasn’t a very good one for me; just because it wasn’t a good year doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn some things, and most of those things I will remember in 2014. If not, well at least I have this post to come back to as a refresher.

Lessons Learned in 2013

In 2013 I learned that it’s worth paying extra money for good quality name brand shoes instead of the cheap ass ones you can grab at Walmart.  They not only fit better and don’t squeeze my toes in all the wrong places but have helped improve my walking and my back problems.  Red, if you’re reading this in the future, I don’t care if you need a new pair of shoes and would rather buy a pair of Walmart ones to get by until you have money to go to the mall: remember all those blisters from New Orleans in the summer of 2012? That’s what I thought.

In 2013 I learned that I don’t know how to control my spending.  Looking back, it seems that every paycheck from B’s was spent within the week and then I was kind of just hanging around waiting for the next pay day.  I was fortunate enough to not have to pay for rent or laundry or utilities or most of my food while living with my parents.  Why the hell did I spend so much? What the hell was I spending it on? Red, if you’re reading this in the future, I really hope you’ve got your shit together and are actually saving money for a new car.

I learned that “faking it until it’s real” was a morale booster on most days when it came to confidence.  Thank goodness for those long conversations with the girls after our workouts or I would have been a total wreck for most of the year.

Once again, I learned that procrastination is a bitch.

In 2013 I learned that I will probably never be artistic but it definitely helps to reduce stress.  Red, I hope you’ve never shown anyone your first art journal if you’re reading this in 2014. That’s meant to stay a secret.

In 2013 I learned to be aware of my mind and body.  This was something I had struggled with at the beginning of the year and thanks to one awesome manager at B’s, I got better at figuring out what my body was telling me and how I feeling emotionally.  If it hadn’t been for this manager, I would have overworked myself way too many days.  Or, I would have been distracted for a few days after receiving bad news about a family friend if I hadn’t learned to talk it out.  This is a lesson that I’m still constantly working on.

In 2013 I learned that the Anxiety Monster is nasty but can be mastered.  It’s a new battle every day, but the Anxiety Monster does have to hibernate for a while at some point.

I learned that negative thoughts can bring down a day and positive ones can brighten a day. 

I learned to learn from those around me.  It’s amazing the lessons I’ve taught myself just by being around certain people. I’ll never forget Deb who not only was there to talk to before, after and during work at B’s but also how much love and compassion she always had.

In 2013 I learned that I prefer to have “four quarters instead of 100 pennies” when it comes to friends.  The few close friends I have make up for all the ones that have floated in and out of my life or the ones that keep trying to make it seem like they’re always there but aren’t.

In 2013 I learned that there are people like me.  People who have Hashimoto’s disease and struggle with day to day things similar to me.  People who have had hip replacements and still live a full life even though other people tell that they shouldn’t do something or that they’ll never make it.  People who understand what it’s like to be a #spoonie.  Without the internet and finding these people, mostly through Twitter, I wouldn’t know these small tips and tricks to make things easier when I have bad day.  Nor will I have ever known some amazing people who offer such wonderful thoughts when I’m having the worst day.  Connecting with these people have helped me so much, mentally and emotionally.

I learned, again, that God has a plan that completely blows my “picture perfect plan” out of the way.  I don’t know what it is, or even if I will ever know what it is, but I’m working hard at remembering this and that I need to follow His footsteps to where He wants me to go.

I learned that I’m still hung up on some certain things in the past, things that I need to let go.  I realized this lesson not too long ago and it’s one of my goals for 2014.

In 2013 I learned to not let other people’s opinions or thoughts control me.  The hardest part of this lesson was breaking the mentality of always thinking “what if they…” and just doing what I wanted to do.

In 2013 I learned to be more open to those who matter the most.  It’s a scary thing for me, but I’m working on it.

I learned that the gym is a great place to ignore the outside world and focus on me.  I don’t know why all of these lame excuses are stopping me.  Red, if you’re reading this in 2014 or even later, you better be taking your ass to the gym at least once a week!

In 2013 I learned that God is always with me, even when I try to ignore Him.

I also learned that He forgives me for when I ignore Him.

In 2013 I learned that I can really be a bitch, but that’s not the only thing that defines me.  I’m tired of acting like I’m a bad ass bitch all the time.  In many ways, I’m the kitten that’s trying to act like a pit bull.

I learned in 2013 that I have a really fricking hard time committing to things.  I’m just thankful that I’m fully aware of this problem and focusing on fixing it.

In 2013 I learned that doing what I have to do isn’t always fun, but it’s needed.  Procrastination doesn’t help this one either.

In 2013 I learned that pink is okay.

I learned that some adults twice my age are way more dramatic and childish than I am. I’m just happy it’s not my problem to worry about.

In 2013 I learned it’s okay to say no.  It’s okay to say no if I’m not feeling well but I get invited to go out to dinner.  Or, if someone wants to hang out but my body is far too sluggish.  It’s okay to say no when I have too many things to work on that’s due soon. 

In 2013 I learned that in the grand scheme of things, my problems are small but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important.

I learned that though I love to read, I can’t always finish a book and that I need to stop forcing myself to finish one I can’t get into.  “Read the best books first or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” – Henry Thoreau

In 2013 I learned that music will always be there to lift my spirits.  Sometimes I just need to put in the headphones, turn the music up loud and cry until I feel better.

In 2013 I learned that my best friend is a phone call away and that I need to utilize it! I don’t know why I got into my head that I’m just a bother to my bestie when I really need to talk to her about things.  She’s always there.

I learned that sometimes a curse word gets the emphasis across but not always needed in every conversation.   Also that I don’t need to fill my Tweets with this nonsense.  Definitely working on this…

I learned to not worry about acting like a fool but to just have fun.  Club Rodeo was a good experience and definitely made me loosen up quite a bit.

In 2013 I learned that I need to focus on the important things and if my hobbies start stressing me out I need to rethink and step away for a while.  I don’t know how it took me so long to learn this lesson.  A good example of this for future Red reading is when you feel like rping with your Harry Potter friends its okay to not get super involved in it.  You’ll just get stressed out because you had to miss a few days because of IRL stuff and then you get anxious. Just take a step back, relax and rethink. 

In 2013 I learned that it will be okay.  Everything will work out one way or another. Just breathe and let God work.

2014 Already?

I don’t know about you but I seriously can’t believe we’re about to enter into 2014.

My friend Kate and I were discussing on Thursday that Christmas hadn’t seemed like it was Christmas.  For some reason we both felt that Christmas should have waited another week, that it was just too soon for it. It didn’t feel right.

Now, pushing on a week after all the festivities, it’s starting to feel somewhat normal again.  Then I’ve realized that 2014 is nearly here.  What? When did the New Year sneak up on me?  Was it the fact that I wasn’t in school most of this year that made time slip away from me? Or was it that I’ve been dreading a big report due in the New Year that has made time go by so fast?

Whatever it is, I’m still trying to figure out how we managed to get to Christmas so quickly and how we’re now focusing on what everyone is going to ring in the New Year.  I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve forgotten an important thing that happened in 2013. Like, oh I don’t know, the Doctor showed up outside my house in need of a new companion and in all the time traveling and helping to save the entire human race I didn’t realize that 2014 would arrive so quickly once I was transported back into my ‘normal’ life?

I’d like to think that was the reason for this entire post needing to be written.  And yes, I’m going to continue to pin Doctor Who related things on Pinterest as I pretend it did happen.

Are you ready for the New Year or are you still convinced there’s another month of the year left?

Halloween Reflections

This post is a part of a “series” called Sunday Memories that I once did on my other blog that I really enjoyed and wanted to make it apart of Procrastination Ramblings. Sunday Memories is just what it sounds like: sharing a memory once each week from family gatherings, road trips, odd experiences, those interesting methods used to pull an all nighter during finals week, and random every day type things I somehow have managed to remember.

 

This week I thought I’d share a memory that I find rather ridiculous and funny now that I look back and think about it some.  Let’s take a quick stroll back to October 31^st, 2010 or maybe it was 2009...

It’s Halloween night and I’ve got nowhere to be except sitting on the couch with my Ma waiting for the few kids to come knock on our door for candy.  My dad had gone to bed super early that night so we had the remote all to ourselves so we flipped the tv to the SyFy channel and started watching the Ghost Hunters marathon.  It was the first time that Ma and I had watched the show and we deemed it fittingly for that night’s festivities.

We live out in the country in a subdivision and with very few younger kids we hardly ever get anyone knocking on our door on Halloween night.  Naturally, we shut off our light early and started to pick out our favorite candy pieces from the bowl while we watched Ghost Hunters.  Eventually Ma decided it was time to go to bed so she took her bed time meds and off she went.

So here I am, in our living by myself eating far too much Halloween candy by myself while watching Ghost Hunters as the clock is getting closer to midnight.  Ma had turned on a couple lights early in the evening and they were still on so I wasn’t really freaked out much by watching the show.  Well I wasn’t until I got up to go the kitchen to get a glass of milk to wash all that chocolate down.

I flipped the kitchen light on and headed to get a glass of milk.  I stood in front of our sink to drink the milk so I could see the tv from where I standing if I looked over the kitchen bar into the living room.  When I turned around I saw something in the window above the sink.  I freaked out and dropped my glass, thankfully it was a plastic one and didn’t shatter when it hit the floor.  My heart was pounding and I just had to figure out what I saw.  It was then that I realized the light in the kitchen that I turned on cast a perfect shadow of my body into the window above the sink.  The thing I had seen in the window was just my reflection.  And then as I stood there at the kitchen sink I realized how the light hit the window from behind me and I realized how ridiculous I was being.

If I recall correctly my Ma found me the next morning asleep on the couch with the kitchen lights and the living room lights on and I was still watching the SyFy channel. Apparently I was kind of freaked out about my stupid reflection in the window in conjunction with continuing to watch Ghost Hunters that I wanted to be able to see everything from the couch just so nothing crept up on me.

What I Read in 2013 [A Link Up from Love Woke Me Up This Morning]

 

When Emily said that she would doing a book linkup to lead out the year and bring in the new, I couldn’t pass up participating.  I must say that I have slacked quite a bit on my book reading this year, especially when it comes down the reading goal I had set on Goodreads…

Regardless, I still have the urge to do the questionnaire and share my top three books of 2013.

1.      How many books have you read this year? 36 of my goal of 50.

2.      What book surprised you the most? Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  I had to read this book for my history class at the beginning of the year (before I left school).  We read the book in a week and had quizzes each class period. I had missed the whole week of this class and hadn't done the reading...I ended up reading this book in one night and scored extra credit on my quizzes.  I just kind of fell in love with the story and really enjoyed the writing style of it.  I forgot that I had read it until I went to my Goodreads account, and now I want to read it again!

3.      What book were you most disappointed in? The Executed God by Mark Lewis Taylor.  I had found this on Goodreads quite some time ago and forgot about it. My good friend Levi had to read it for class last spring and I borrowed it this fall to read.  I don't know what I was expecting but I didn't find it at all appealing to read and I think I stopped about half way in mostly because it seemed super repetitive. 

4.      Did you start any new series? I was going to say no, but I forgot that I did actually.  I started the Violet Chronicles by Makayla Yokley. I also just started the Courtship of Nellie Fisher by Beverly Lewis.

5.      Did you finish any series? No I didn't, unless you count that I already read book #3 in the Courship of Nellie Fisher, I read that one first by mistake and I liked it so much I got the first one and intend to read the second as well.

6.      What is your favorite book cover this year? I haven't gotten to read it yet, but The Mortal Instruments City of Bones by Casandra Clare cover is pretty awesome.

7.      What was the best non-fiction book you read? The Executed God by Mark Lewis Taylor.  I was disappointed in it, yes, but I have to admit that it made me think about things in a very different way.  If anything, this book opened my eyes to thinking more worldly.

8.      What are you currently reading? Current I'm reading The Parting by Beverly Lewis (the first book in the series I mentioned in answers 4 and 5) and One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury as well as rereading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.

9.      Any reading goals for 2014? To read more books that I want to read.  I have a hard time focusing on books that I would enjoy. I tend to force myself into reading stuff that other people want me to read and I can't get into it, thus wasting time and frustrating myself.

10.  What books are you looking forward to in 2014? I'm a bad book nerd, I haven't been keeping up to date with new releases.

11.  What other books deserve a shout out? NYPD Red by James Patterson was just a fantastic read.  This book was laid on my desk after my Ma had read it.  It got shoved into the bookshelf and I forgot about for a few months.  I just loved reading it and getting to talk about the plot with my Ma afterwards. Also, The Ruby Curse by Makayla Yokley that I mentioned answer 4.  I had never read steampunk before so that was a first.  Oh, and she's a local author that lives near me who participates in NaNoWrioMo so I love supporting her and her series.  It's a great read!  It's Not Summer without You by Jenny Han is the second in the triology (not quite last this time!) and I bought it because it was cheap at Walmart.  I really enjoyed it just because it was a nice read and kept me engaged with the plot line that was just a smidgen predictable. 

12.  Top 3 books of 2013:  Longing by Karen Kingsbury, Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han.

Short and simple! Well, simple for everything except the top three, that one was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be!

I definitely encourage you to check out Emily’s blog, Love Woke Me Up ThisMorning, as well as check out her own responses to this questionnaire. And a big shout out to Emily herself for hosting such a lovely link up! I love hearing about everyone else's reads for the year!