January 2023 In Hindsight
Happy New Year peeps!
Looking back on January in hindsight, it was a turbulent one. My relationship was on the rocks, the panic of permanent work set in, house renovations ramped up and my little sis got some devasting news. Pushing against a tonne of resistance and efforting a lot, somehow I made it through.
Also, it was the school holiday season, and I was at home, not away travelling as my heart desires. But I’m doing it for the team. Focusing on the house for now and shit did get done. We made huge progress and we are much closer to getting it getting the big guns in. Little things all add up to big things and we got a lot of little things done as well as a few big things.
Listened to -
* How To Fail with Elizabeth Day - my South African friend recommended this one and whilst I don’t believe in the word failure, I am loving these life reflections
* Manifestation Babe with Kathrin Zenkina - it’s got me listening to my intuition again and asking for signs
* 10 Minutes To Less Suffering with Alison Carmen - only ten minutes long which I love but she always has a really good message which is relatable
* Real, Raw and Relatable Podcast with Kat John - last episode was talking about finding your place financially when you enter a relationship, is something I struggled with too. I am all about having open and honest conversations with my bf. Thankfully he is too
Read -
* Providence by Chris Coppernoll - about a guy writing his life story. Gave me some motivation
* The House On Carnaval Street by Deborah Rodriguez - loved it
* Mindset by Dr Carol S. Dweck - finished it in a three-hour train ride. Great takeaways
* Dawn Breslin’s Power Book - 7 Steps to a Life Makeover - had it on the shelf for years and read sections of it. This time I finally made it through
* Pardon Me! I’m Prospering by Pat Mesiti - initially about buying property but did suggest other areas
* The Hemsworth Effect by James Weir - lots of characters to keep track of, basic but sometimes complex story line. Recommend for readers in their 20s
Splurged on -
* bought myself a mini Thomas Sabo bracelet. I lost my Thomas Sabo bracelet Chloe gave me about two weeks ago. I have worn it every day for the past eight years and without it, I felt sick. I bought the mini one but it’s not the same. Two days ago I turned our mattress over and it fell on the floor. It must have been wedged between the mattress and the bed frame all that time. Best feeling to have it back
Watching -
* The Man Named Otto movie - laughed and cried so much I had a migraine by the end of the movie. Plus I had a clothing meltdown before we left to go out so my emotions were fried
Went to -
* combined January birthday BBQ family dinner at the parentals - my sis, brother and dad all have birthdays within ten days of each other so we did a combined celebration this year. Was really nice
* Van Gogh Live at Moore Park with my two sisters on a torrential rainy wet day. Added to the fun. Was good. Was not at all what I was expecting but still enjoyable. Went to China Town for lunch and joined the queue for the famous custard puffs. IYKYK. So good!
* Totti’s at Rozelle. We rode in with a couple who have Harleys. My first ride with bikie friends. Was so cool. Took lots of home decor ideas from Totti’s and the food was incredible. Five stars. Highly recommend
* playground hopping at Elara in Marsden Park with my nephew and niece and dog. Visited four parks. Then we went ten-pin bowling another day. My nephew took out the win, both games.
* Coonabaran for a job in the truck. Stayed overnight in the sleeper. Whilst Coonabaran is not the nicest, the country drive there and back is beautiful. Always love dreaming of a country life whilst passing it all by. Maybe one day?
Booked -
* my second booster shot. Finally getting around to it with abit of prompting from little sis
Cooked -
* Vanilla Cup Cakes, Lemon Meringue Pie, Apple Cinnamon Crumble Cake (Donna Hays mix), Plant-Based Chocolate Cake, and Caramel Mudcake
* Noodle Salad, Chinese BBQ Stirfry, Quiche, Cottage Pie, and Caramel Chicken Stirfry
What's new -
* Home improvements - cleared the house out in preparation for flooring and painting. Emptied it. Sold a tonne of furniture, donated things or it’s going out for council clean up next week. Cleared out the last of the boy’s stuff. Wardrobes, clothes, trophies, TV, all gone. Cut tree down behind the shed, cut dead head flowers off and cleared up the front garden, seasolled all the plants, bought a sprinkler and watered the grass on the sweltering days.
My bf took up the carpet and flooring upstairs, fixed the water leak and crack in the ceiling with epoxy, changed the downstairs lighting configuration whilst the flooring was up, added new noggins and put boards down for flooring upstairs, to strengthen and stop all the creaking when people walking. Added a floor leveler and is now ready for Masonite. Now just to do downstairs. Was a massive six-day project. Also added an additional pipe to the bathroom exhaust fan, ripped off the old architraves and got a carpenter in to put in new ones around the doors and windows. I finally got my walk-in wardrobe wall built and door installed and I love it. Can’t wait to get it kitted out with shelving. Persuaded my bf to get rid of the two oyster lights downstairs and installed three downlights instead. The lighting is so much better and the ceiling is much cleaner and less distracting
* Updates on my blog - paid a guy on Fiverr to create the latest pins for me. Spend time batching them on Pinterest. Published a few new blog posts and scheduled plenty more. Updated titles and SEO of a few older posts. Wrote to a few people to see if they were interested in being featured and got a couple of responses.
* Completed the Insight Timer Better Habits Challenge for January where I listened to a meditation every day for the month. I missed the first eight days so had to do a binge meditation session one day and it was full on!
* Signed up for the four-day Simplify Workshop. I usually sign up for these online workshops but then never watch the videos but I did this time. I started to declutter papers and got rid of a tonne. The following week I was contacted by the Wanderlog company and I trialled their app and I love it. It was such crazy timing. With a goal to clear all paper excess in the house, you wouldn’t read about it. I have a tonne of cutouts of places to travel, newspaper and magazine clippings, trip notes, trip planner etc. And I mean a cupboard full but now I am using Wanderlog I have been able to transfer it all online. So good!
* Bought fruit hot cross buns and choc chip hot cross buns in January. Gluten free of course. I cant go past hot cross buns. Weakness of mine.
* Ate plenty of ham - my bf was given a ham for Christmas. We ate ham sandwiches, ham salads, ham toasties, ham, cheese and tomato melts, ham pasta, and ham carbonara pasta. Don’t think we will be rushing to have ham in a little while
Looking for -
* a place to stay the night with mum and sisters in February
Sold -
* some novels, toiletry bag, teaching resource book, picture books, bedside tables
Started -
* being more serious with my dairy-free, gluten-free eating. Taking probiotics and digestive enzymes to decrease my chronic bloating and lactose intolerance. Swapped soy milk for almond milk, swapped ice cream for Proud & Punch pops, eliminated bread again and saying no to garlic bread, avoiding cheese and yoghurt, drinking lots of herbal teas. So far, so good….
Attempting to -
* get back into yoga. Whilst single I used to do a yoga session every morning and night however that went by the wayside when I got with my bf. My body misses it so I am attempting to get back into it this year. I think it will help with my mindset also. I signed up for the Yoga with Adrienne 30 Day Challenge and I was mostly good at sticking to it. It was hard though. Took some doing.
Did you set any goals for the new year? Make any changes? Did you do anything you have been putting off? Have to push to get something done or where you lucky enough just to be in the flow this month? Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below.
For other months in hindsight click here
