My 2021 Word of the Year: Courage

I have been doing word of the year for a few years now, and it has gone ok, but it definitely needs some work.

I was recently thinking about what I want my word to be for 2021, and saw the word courage somewhere (I don't remember where, exactly).

Courage is the perfect word for me, as I tend to shy away from a lot of things that would put me out of my comfort zone on many occasions.

And I want to change that.

As a very shy and introverted person, most of my time that is not spent at work is spent at home. I will either be playing a video game (I have been playing video games A LOT this year), listening to music, watching a movie, or hanging out in my room.

Which is why I don't do the things I really want to do much of the time. 

Things like:

• Talking to people, and in turn making more friends (I don't have very many friends)
• Traveling to new or favorite places
• Getting my driver's license, and driving
• Working at a bakery, and improving my baking and decorating skills
• Taking better care of myself (and loving myself)
• To be in a relationship with a significant other
• Asking for help when I am struggling
• Living on my own
• Shaving my head at least once in my life (yes, I want to shave my head!)
• Calling people (I hate making phone calls, especially to people I don't know)
• Reaching out to current friends, to talk or do things with
• Going to events in the city that I would really like to go to (concerts, plays, etc.)

I want to have the courage to be who I really am, and to do the things I really want to do. I want to have the courage to stand up for myself, to have my voice heard.

A lot of people have made me feel like I am not worth getting to know, not worth being friends with, not worth being heard, not worth making memories with.

I am one of those people that cares about what others think of me, which is why I hesitate to do things, why I hesitate to be the real me.

And I want to have the courage to change that.

My 2021 Bucket List

I am always thinking about things I want to do, and am always making bucket lists for different aspects of my life.

Here is what I would like to do in 2021:

• Get my driver's license
• Be an STM at a Joni and Friends Retreat
• Go to the Joni and Friends Walk 'N' Roll
• See a movie at a drive-in movie theater
• Visit the zoo
• Be in a loving, caring relationship with a significant other
• Have a more balanced diet
• Exercise on a regular basis
• Have a skincare routine that works for me
• Have a haircare routine that works for me
• Buy as DSLR camera
• Buy a laptop
• Spend the day (or a few) in the city
• Have a girls' night out/in
• Have at least one spa day a month
• Visit New York
• Go to a fall fest
• Cook Thanksgiving dinner
• Host at least one game night
• Host a Friendsgiving
• Go on a road trip with friends
• Have at least one photoshoot done
• Save more money than I spend
• Learn how to French braid
• Learn how to do a fishtail braid
• Learn how to apply my own makeup
• Be more confident in myself
• Learn how to do calligraphy
• Go horseback riding
• Go sledding
• Ride my bike often
• Try at least five new-to-me restaurants
• Make new/more friends
• Take up painting
• Knit/crochet one item a month
• Learn to sew
• Work on writing a book
• Pay for someone's drink/meal
• Learn Spanish
• Learn sign language
• Complete a video game
• Learn how to make macarons
• Bake something at least once a week
• Go on a picnic
• Write in a prayer journal on a regular basis
• Visit at least one friend in another city/state
• Sponsor a child
• Go on a shopping trip with friends
• Become more independent
• Start my photography degree
• Start my own YouTube channel
• Learn how to film, edit, and upload videos
• Keep in contact with my friends on a more regular basis
• Tie dye/bleach dye clothes
• Have at least one beach day
• Keep a prayer journal
• Diffuse essential oils
• Make my own pizza
• Make chalk art on the sidewalk
• Go tubing
• Visit relatives
• Buy and lay (lie?) in a hammock
• Play laser tag
• Go paintballing
• Get my passport
• Get a tattoo in memory of my mom
• Get another piercing in each ear
• Get my nose pierced
• Write at least one song
• Put together a 3D puzzle
• Make friendship bracelets
• Make a cake and decorate it
• Make ice cream
• Play with bubbles
• Run through the sprinklers
• Have a water balloon/water gun fight
• Learn how to play the ukulele
• Go for early morning walks
• Take better care of my mental health
• Learn how to use chopsticks
• Dye my hair a crazy color
• Keep my bedroom clean
• Own a denim jacket, and decorate it with patches
• Have a snowball fight
• Go sledding
• Shave my head
• Make a hot chocolate charcuterie for winter
• 
  

Yes, I know this is a lot, but I want to do a lot in my life, and I think this is a good start for 2021.

What I Got for Christmas 2020

First, I would like to say merry Christmas to those who celebrate! To those who do not, I hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you do.

My dad, brothers and I opened presents on Christmas Eve, and then my sister and her family came over on Christmas day for a little bit, and we opened up more gifts.

This is what I got for Christmas this year:

• Believe by Andrea Bocelli CD
• Once Upon a Time season 3 on DVD
• Downton Abbey season 5 on DVD
• Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far PlayStation 4 game
• Taste of Home Meal Planning: Smart Meal Prep to Carry You Through the Week cookbook
• Cell phone case
• Portable cell phone charger
• USB cables for cell phone
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire DVD
• WREBBIT 3D Harry Potter The Burrow puzzle
• Amazon Echo Dot
• Amazon Smart Plug (works with Alexa)
• Baby Yoda plushie (not on my wishlist, but I love it!)
• Lego The Incredibles PlayStation 4 game (not on my wishlist, but I will play it)
• Lego City Undercover PlayStation 4 game (not on my wishlist, but I will play it)
• Sunrise Wake Up Light alarm clock
• Real Life Dinners cookbook by Rachel Hollis
• Going the Distance by Jonathan Antoine CD

I am happy with what I got, and enjoyed spending time with my family. I just wish the days lasted a little longer. Christmas went by way too fast for me.

I have already started using my Echo dot, and am having way too much fun with it!

Christmas was definitely unusual this year, but I still had a good holiday season. Hopefully next year will be better, and we can spend more time with others, in person rather than through video chatting.

Merry Christmas!!

My Favorite Christmas Songs

I love Christmas music, and always look forward to the time of year, when radio stations start playing this type of music.

I do have my favorite songs, that I absolutely love listening to. I never get tired or hearing them, and look forward to the songs every holiday season.

My favorite songs are:

• God Bless Us Everyone by Andrea Bocelli
  (from the 2009 version of the movie A Christmas Carol)
• The Kenny Rogers and Wynona Judd version of Mary, Did You Know?
• Dominick the Donkey/The Italian Christmas Donkey
• O, Holy Night
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
• Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby
• Believe by Josh Groban
  (from the movie The Polar Express)
• Adeste Fideles
• O Come All Ye Faithful
• The Burl Ives version of Holly Jolly Christmas
• The Johnny Mathis version of It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
• Angels We Have Heard on High
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town
• O Come Emmanuel
• Hallelujah
• We Three Kings of Orient Are
• Mary's Boy Child
• Gene Autry's version of Up On The House Top
• Elvis Presley's version of Here Comes Santa Claus 
• Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby & David Bowie
• The Harry Simeone Chorale version of Little Drummer Boy
• Caroling, Caroling by Nat King Cole

What are your favorite holiday songs? If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas time, and that it is as memorable as possible.

My Friendship Bucket List

I have done many wonderful things with my friends over the years, but lately, I haven't been able to do as much as I would have liked (not just this year, but in years past as well).

And I want to change that. I love my friends, and would love to be able to do more things with them.

Here is what I would like to do with my friends, in no particular order.

• Have photoshoots
• Go on a girls road trip
• Have a regular game night
• Have a spa day
• Go to a local football game
• Go camping
• Have a picnic
• Have a shopping day
• Go to a paint night together
• Go swimming
• Do a gift challenge
• Go to a concert
• Go indoor skydiving
• Write letters to each other, to open in ten years
• Have sleepovers
• Have a movie night
• Go to the beach
• Bake together
• Go to a drive-in movie theater
• Make pizza from scratch
• Spend a day at an amusement park
• Make friendship bracelets
• Go to the zoo
• Write a song
• Go to a pumpkin patch
• Go ice skating
• Host a craft night
• Go to a museum
• Go to a carnival
• Have a water balloon fight
• Put a puzzle together
• Visit a foreign country
• Binge-watch a TV show
• Visit a Disney park
• Make scrapbooks
• Do an Escape Room
• Host a Friendsgiving
• Celebrate New Year's
• Have a Christmas party
• Celebrate Galentine's Day
• Go thrifting
• Carve/decorate pumpkins
• Play on a playground
• Go on bike rides
• Make s'mores
• Go ziplining
• Go on double dates
• Volunteer together
• Have a silly string fight
• Host/have bbqs
• Fly a kite
• Paint/decorate white sneakers
• Decorate gingerbread houses (Halloween, Christmas, etc.)
• Make Christmas cookies
• Dye our hair
• Take selfies with each other
• Have a girls' night
• Take pictures in a photo booth
• Make vision boards/books
• Have an all nighter
• Get henna tattoos

I may add more if I think of anything, but I think this is a good start to what I want to do with my friends.

Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas

My family and I haven't done Christmas stockings in years, but I always loved them, and seeing what I got in mine.

If you are doing stockings for Christmas, and don't know what to put in them, here is a list of ideas for what to get for your family (and anyone else you may be giving them to).

• Gift cards (favorite restaurants, coffee places, Apple, favorite stores, etc.)
• Favorite candy/gum/snacks
• Socks
• Perfume/cologne/body mist
• Body wash
• Loofahs
• Toy cars
• Nail polish
• Nail files/clippers
• Hand sanitizer
• Hair ties
• Headbands
• Deodorant
• Bath bombs
• Bath salt
• Chocolate
• Jewelry
• Cell phone chargers
• Makeup
• Makeup brushes
• Makeup remover wipes
• Money
• Books
• Brushes/combs
• Fairy lights
• Coloring books
• Colored pencils
• Journals
• Magazine Subscriptions
• Lip gloss
• Hand lotion
• Candles
• Scarves
• Hats
• Gloves
• Sleep masks
• Shaving kits
• Ear buds
• Bluetooth speakers
• Cell phone cases
• Wallets
• Stickers
• Crayons
• Playdough
• Stuffed animals
• Card games
• Travel games
• Legos
• Sidewalk chalk
• Glow stick bracelets/necklaces
• Slinky
• Silly straws
• Onesies
• Sippy cups
• Teethers
• Pop sockets
• Beauty blenders (or similar)
• Face masks (for healthier skin)
• Pacifier
• Erasers
• Water bottles
• Tea
• Travel mugs
• Mini flashlights
• Movies
• Grilling items
• Sunglasses
• Puzzle books
• Playing cards
• Movie tickets
• Bouncy balls
• Jump ropes
• fruit snacks (kids)
• Crackers
• Gel pens
• Frisbees
• Nightlights
• Knitting supplies
• Crochet supplies
• Keychains
• Baking supplies (spatula, cookie cutters, cupcake liners, etc.)
• Slime
• Conair perfect bun maker
• Mugs
• Temporary tattoos
• Fidget toys/items
• Bobby pins
• Finger puppets
• Hand warmers
• Finger painting kits
• FitBit
• Reusable grocery bags
• Homemade soap
• Rubber stamp sets
• Memory cards
• Amazon Echo Dot
• Pajamas
• Instax camera film
• Hot cocoa mix kit
• Watches
• Manicure/pedicure sets
• Scrunchies
• Painting supplies
• Photo albums

Whatever you put in the stockings, I hope they are a big hit for whoever they are for!

My 2020 Christmas Wishlist

Since 2020 went in a direction no one ever expected, I started writing my Christmas list ages ago, and came up with this list of things I would like to get for the holidays.

It took me a while to decide what I really wanted to get this year, and what I would be willing to wait for, for some other time.

So, this is my 2020 Christmas Wishlist:

• Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Card Game
• Paint brushes
• Canvas boards
• Acrylic paint
• The Hunger Games Catching Fire DVD
• The Sims 4 PlayStation 4 game
• Kingdom Hearts 3 PlayStation 4 game
• WREBBIT 3D Harry Potter the Knight Bus Jigsaw Puzzle
• WREBBIT 3D Harry Potter the Burrow Weasley Family Home Jigsaw Puzzle
• UNO Flip Game
• What Do You Meme? Party Game
• Joking Hazard Deck Enhancement #2
• UNO Attack! Card Game
• Wonder Woman DVD
• Funko POP Doctor Who Tenth Doctor
• Downton Abbey Season 5 on DVD
• Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace on DVD
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone book on CD
• Wake Up Light Sunrise Alarm Clock
• Echo Dot
• Amazon Basics Colored Pencils
• Kingdom Hearts The Story So Far PlayStation 4 game
• Sketchpad
• Taste of Home Meal Planning Cookbook
• Going the Distance by Jonathan Antoine CD
• Bonanza Season 4 on DVD
• Real Life Dinners cookbook by Rachel Hollis
• Christmas is Here! by Pentatonix CD
• Cell phone wall charger
• Once Upon a Time Season 3 on DVD
• Cell phone case
• Lego the Hobbit PlayStation 4 game
• Portable phone charger
• Outlander season 1 on DVD
• Who Can Do It card game
• Incohearent card game
• Believe by Andrea Bocelli CD

Yes, I know this is a lot. I do not expect to get all of these for Christmas, these are just things I would LIKE to get. I will be happy with whatever I get for Christmas.

My Winter 2020/2021 Bucket List

I love making bucket lists, especially seasonal/holiday lists. It is always fun to think of things I would like to do, and to check them off once they are done.

Here is my winter 2020/2021 bucket list, in no particular order:

• Knit or crochet a blanket
• Decorate my room for Christmas/winter
• Bake Christmas cookies
• Make a snowman
• Have a weekly spa day
• Journal
• Make friendship bracelets
• Learn sign language
• Learn Spanish
• Learn to sew
• Learn how to French braid
• Drink hot chocolate
• Go ice skating
• Play board/card/video games
• Make paper snowflakes
• Build and decorate a gingerbread house
• Learn how to apply makeup
• Take up painting
• Make a vision board/notebook
• Host a game night
• Purchase and wear Christmas/winter pajamas
• Put together a puzzle (or two!)
• Dye my hair green for St. Patrick's Day
• Dye my hair red, pink, or purple for Valentine's Day
• Bake a loaf of bread
• Watch Christmas movies
• Send Christmas cards
• Go for a winter walk
• Make ornaments
• Make a pillow/blanket fort
• DIY snowglobes
• Put photos into albums/scrapbooks
• Put up fairy lights in my room
• Figure out a hair care routine that works for me, and keep up with it
• Figure out a skin care routine that works for me, and keep up with it

What are some things you would like to do this winter? 

What I Am Thankful For in 2020

2020 has been one heck of a year. Even with everything that happened this year, this is so much that I am thankful for, things that I will always be thankful for, not just this time of year.

• Being able to keep my job (I know many people had lost their jobs because of Covid, which is/was NOT their fault, but I was-and am-fortunate enough to still have my job during all of this)
• My workplace figuring out ways in which to keep everyone (both employees and patrons) safe during this time
• My home
• Being able to vote in the presidential election
• Clean, running water whenever I need/want it
• My favorite blogs
• My favorite YouTubers/YouTube channels
• My friends, both old and new
• My family
• My cats
• Joni and Friends
• Zoom get-togethers with my Joni and Friends "family" 
• Co-workers emailing/texting/calling me every once in a while, to see how I am doing
• Naps (I love to sleep!)
• My cats
• Snuggles with my cats
• Photography
• Baking
• Writing
• Long conversations with friends (whether it be through phone calls, in-person, or text messages)
• Essential workers who were, and are, willing to work through this pandemic, to help others
• Masks, gloves, and other ppe's that can help protect people from sickness
• Text messaging with friends, family
• Grief Share, which a co-worker turned me on to
• My favorite TV shows
• My favorite movies
• My favorite music
• My favorite books
• Grocery home delivery services
• Being able to have the Joni and Friends Walk 'N' Roll event through Zoom
• Audiobooks
• Fall colors (leaves changing to all different colors, pumpkins, etc.)
• Pumpkin pie (I love pumpkin pie!!!)
• Brussels sprouts (yes, Brussels sprouts...one of my favorite veggies!!!)
• Showers and baths
• Chocolate
• Video games (I have been playing video games A LOT this year)
• Board games
• Card games
• Sweaters in cold weather
• Central air
• Headphones
• Pinterest
• Musical instruments (especially violins, as I used to play)
• Knitting
• Crochet
• Audiobooks
• Netflix
• Disney Plus
• Puzzles
• Christmas music
• Backpacks (I LOVE backpacks, and have several of them!)
• Edible cookie dough
• Comforters
• My bed
• Songs that speak to me (and when they come on the radio at the right time)
• Alone time
• Silence (sometimes, I just prefer to have silence over sound)
• Notebooks and pens (I love notebooks, and have accumulated a very large number of them, especially composition notebooks)
• Making a sweater for my dad
• Learning new crochet stitches

To those who celebrate, happy Thanksgiving!! What are you thankful for this year?

New York Times Journaling

Yesterday, I saw a post on the Girls' Life website (yes, I read Girls' Life, as they do have some good ideas), about a trend going around on TikTok about NYT journaling.

Basically, you read the Times (or any newspaper of your choosing), then cut out articles, headlines, or photos that spark an interest with you, and put them into a notebook, as a sort of time capsule/collage-type journal.

I loved the idea, so I have been reading my local newspapers (something which I have seldom done up until now), and already have a nice collection of articles and photos that interested me.

This type of journaling is a very good way of remembering the events that have happened, and gives people a creative outlet in life, and I don't know why I didn't think of doing this before!

Journaling is one of my favorite things to do, as it gives me a sense of what I want to say, and it helps me remember the things that are important. I am a shy, quiet person, so this gives me a voice.

It helps me to say the things I want and need to say, when I can't find the words to say what I want out loud.

My collection so far. Sorry for the blurry picture, my phone camera just wouldn't cooperate with me, and this was the best I could get.

I can't wait to start putting my journal together, with all of the newspaper clippings I collect. I am always looking for creative things to do, and this is one thing I am happy to try out.