Farwell 2014: Thanks for All the Memories

Today I was looking back on my journal entry from this time last year and remembering how hopeful and excited I was for 2014. One of the lines I wrote was “Jill is going to shine in 2014” and you know what I feel like I did.  2014 was an amazing year for me.  Over the last twelve months I found the ability to focus on my goals, a greater sense of confidence in myself and even more peace with my life.  It was a year that surprised me in many ways and also taught me many things.  I feel blessed and changed for all that I experienced this year.  So as I count down the hours until I say goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015 I figured I should do one last look back at the resolutions I made for 2014 and the new ones I will take forward with me for 2015.

For a look back on my entry at the start of 2014 you can check it out here:
New Year’s Resolutions Past and Present

1) Move More/Lose More
Of all my 2014 resolutions this one is the one that I am the most proud of.  Without a shadow of a doubt I can claim success of this goal.  Actually the sad fact is I was so successful adding movement into my life that this also became one of my excuses why the other goals didn’t get completed as well.  Hehehe.  Not only have I seen my daily Fitbit step totals rise (I am regularly achieving between 11000-13000 steps each day) but I have also taken on many new challenges.  The biggest of course was signing up and completing my first 5K walk.  I also got over some of my fears and misgivings when it came to training and signed up with a personal trainer to help continue to push me along with this resolution.  In terms of my weight loss I didn‘t lose as much as I had hoped but I did manage to lose 23.2 pounds this year bringing my overall weight loss total to 31.1 from my highest weight.  I‘m very proud of this and am beyond excited by the fact that I was finally able to get below the weight I was when Will passed away.  It helped me to feel like I really am moving forward and starting to live the life I know he always wanted me to have.

I am amazed all the time when I look back at where I was at the start of the year to where I am now.  I am doing things I only vaguely hoped for and even things that I didn‘t know to hope for.  This resolution did have a little surprise for me though.  Going into this goal I knew that I would find success when it came to my weight loss.  I also knew that there was no reason I couldn’t move more.  What surprised me though was how much this resolution actually had an effect on my confidence.  Every challenge I took on and every time I lift a stronger weight at the gym I get this huge rush of knowing that I am capable of doing anything.  This goal has allowed me to prove to myself that I am able to do anything.  It has also shown me just how determined I can be when I really believe in something.  I am changed as a person for taking this resolution on.

2) One Day a Week Vegetarian
This resolution was and is mostly a success.  I don’t have a set day that I am all vegetarian but I do eat a lot more variety when it comes to my diet especially when it comes to my proteins.  I have discovered that I love the flavour that comes with a lot of my vegetarian dishes.  I have also been trying to incorporate more vegetables into my everyday diet.  I never knew just how much I really do love veggies until I started this challenge.  Besides just adding more veggies to my diet it has also been interesting to try different forms of protein, grains and other foods I probably never would have tried had it not been for this goal.  A few of my new favourite foods that I wouldn’t have tried include lentils, quinoa and spinach.  This resolution has very much turned into a lifestyle.  I will never become a full vegetarian but I will for sure continue to make many vegetarian meals and continue to have meat free days play a role in my life.

3) Regular Blog Posts
This resolution was pretty much a failure especially when you consider my last entry was back in September after my 5K.  I did have moments of success where I had a purpose and was able to write regularly but I found it hard to maintain.  This is where I blame my first resolution.  Working out regularly has taken a huge toll on the amount of free time I have in my day.  Writing has slipped a bit to the back burner.  I am still writing but it is finding the time to finish the blogs I start and get them ready to be put up that I am struggling with.  That being said I am starting to realize the importance and power that could come from my blog.  This year I have learned the importance of finding people to support you in your goals and it is my hope that my blog can grow into something that will allow my friends the chance to be a part of my journey even if they can‘t physically be with me on all parts of it.  I also hope that it can become a source of inspiration to help my friends find support for their own journeys.

4) 365 Photo-a-Day Project
As much as I love this project and think the one I did for 2013 is still one my favourite scrapbooks, I didn’t manage to pull it off for 2014.  I think the biggest hurdle was the fact I wasn’t printing the pages as I went.  I had a lot of great things happen in 2014 but without the effort of scrapbooking them regularly I lost motivation and focus on this.  As October came I found that it was a huge struggle to remember to take the photos and I was feeling the fatigue of trying to come up with new things to take pictures of.  I love how much I have learned from even attempting this challenge though.  It has taught me to find beauty and gratitude in even the smallest parts of my life.  It has also helped me to capture moments that I might never have before.  Although I didn’t complete this challenge I do plan on continuing to take lots of pictures and continue to try and capture all the little and big moments that happen in my life.  The pictures help to keep the memories and moments alive.  I love looking back on all the moments I have captured so even if I failed this resolution I still feel like I found at least some success in it.

5) Read 50 Books
I came close to completing this goal but again fell shy this year.  I managed to read 42 books this year which is 14 more than I read in 2013.  I can’t feel bad about that.  I read some pretty great books this year, rediscovered an old favourite author (R L Stine) and even discovered a new favourite author (John Green).  All things considering I think that it was a pretty great year for reading in my world.  The coolest part of this resolution was the fact that all the reading helped rekindle my love of fiction and desire to create stories. 

Of the 42 books that I read this year there are a couple that stand out as being favourites.  They are all different and became favourites for different reasons but for those of you who are curious here are my top picks in no particular order:

                The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

                As You Wish by Cary Elwes

                The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (in Real Life) by Chris Hardwick

                Ashfall by Mike Mullin

                Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

 

6) Nanowrimo challenge Complete a Draft of Conor’s Story

Like my blog writing this challenge was not completed.  I did spend a good deal of time both researching and working on this story but I’m starting to realize the challenge that comes with wanting to write historical fiction.  I love the story that I’m trying to create but there is a lot of stuff that I really had no clue about that I need to know in order to help make it believable.  Who knew I didn’t know much about being an orphan boy going off to war ;-)  I have made a good deal of progress on this story though so I’m still happy with how this resolution came along.  I will continue to plod away to try and bring the story that is running through my imagination out into a form that everyone can enjoy.

 

After 2014 and learning just how important having goals really is for me I would be remiss if I didn’t set out some new resolutions for 2015.  I have been thinking a lot about it the last few weeks because I want to know when I look back at the end of the year that I am able to be successful.  The perfectionist in me wants to set a goal and be able to check it off a list but one of the other things I learned this year is that it is okay not to reach a goal as long as you keep pushing for it and can walk away after and say that I have done my best.  So with all of that in mind I have tried to pick resolutions that will challenge me to push myself but will also hopefully allow me to find an even greater sense of success at the end of 2015.  It will not be surprising to see that my overall goals haven’t changed but I have added a few layers to the goals that will hopefully help me build to the big overall resolutions.  So here they are my resolutions for 2015.

 

1) Move More, Lose More

                Mini Goals: Run a 5K, Repeat the Terry Fox Run with a quicker time
2) Set aside dedicated time for writing once a week
                Mini Goals: Regular blog posts, continuing work on Conor‘s story, tackling Nanowrimo
3) Read 50 Books
4) Eat Cleaner and Less Processed Foods
                Mini Goals: Eating out no more than once a week, creating weekly meal plans, batch cooking on weekends

Once again I find myself excited as I look towards next year.  I am finally learning to feel comfortable in my skin and I expect next year will continue to see me grow and learn how to get the most out of my life.  I look forward to celebrating as I complete at least two more 5Ks and look forward to doing some real travelling because it has been far too long since I took a major trip.  This year was amazing and I only expect that it will continue to get better.

So as we all get prepared to celebrate the end of the year I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.  I hope that 2014 was good to you and that 2015 will help you all get a little closer to your dreams.