Tag: new years

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Fabulous living

2025 New Year’s Resolutions

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year! 

I hope you have had an enjoyable holiday season. For many people, itā€™s back to work and reality, but others have a few more days to relax and unwind. I hope these past few days or weeks brought you rest, family and friend time, a good recharge, joy, love and memories. I know my heart is full after this holiday season.

I like to use the time between Christmas and New Year to reflect on the past year and look forward to whatā€™s to come. 

I did my annual planner prep this week!

I accomplished a lot in 2024, you can read all about it here.

Before I get to my New Yearā€™s Goals and Resolutions for 2025, I wanted to give you an update on my resolutions from last year. You can read about them here.

My motto of the year was to ā€œBe Open and Aware of Changeā€ while it was a challenge, I certainly embraced the change that was thrown my way. I grew a lot this year, I became more independent and confident in myself and my decisions. 

This year, while I leaned into my routines, I worked on being more flexible when it comes to schedules. Flexibility is something I have always struggled with and Iā€™m constantly working on and itā€™s something I want to continue to improve on in the new year.

My 2024 Resolutions for 2024 was to donate blood, do an 8K or 10K, Relearn Piano, Learn how to Braid Hair and Cook One Meal a Week. 

I accomplished all of these goals minus learning to braid hair, that was mostly because I have short hair and itā€™s not conducive to braiding right now. Once I grow it out, I plan to learn how to braid it. 

I donated blood for the first time this summer and I have continued to donate every time I am eligible. 

Donating Blood

I ran two 10Kā€™s this year and broke my personal record during my second one.

First of Two 10 K

I attempted to teach myself piano and practiced almost every day, but I donā€™t know if I will continue with this hobby in the new year.

Learning Piano

I have continued to make one meal a week and tried lots of new recipes and even mastered some too!

Cooking a new meal each week

I was pleased with how much I accomplished this past year whether it was trying new hobbies or continuing with old ones.

My mindset going into 2025 is to approach my days and schedules in a calmer manner. I found myself overbooking last year and want to leave more room for flexibility every day and focusing on doing one thing at a time and not always multitasking. Flexibility is something I want to be better at in the new year. Itā€™s something I say every year and each year I am getting better and better at it.

I want to continue with some of my habits that I started from last year including daily meditation, donating blood, making one meal a week , and paying attention to my budgets. 

When it comes to new goals or resolutions for 2025, I want to:

-Run a half marathon (something I have been working towards over the past few years)

-Read 70 Books (I read 68 this past year, so I think this is doable.)

-Learn How to Bake Bread (I know this was very popular during the pandemic, but now I am jumping on the bandwagon and want to learn as well.)

-Learn how to iron (I know how to iron, but I want to get better at it this year.)

-Get more involved in my community (whether this is through joining a fitness class or club, I want to meet new people in my hometown.) 

In addition to these new goals for the new year, I want to work on spending more time outdoors, especially when it comes to being with my dogs. I want to continue to spend time with friends, go on a family trip and visit a new state. 

I have a few other personal goals that I want to work towards in the new year. I love the feeling of a fresh start and new beginnings that each year brings and I canā€™t wait to see what 2025 has in store for me. Happy New Year! Welcome 2025!

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Fabulous living

2024 New Year’s Resolutions

Hello All!

Happy New Year and Happy January!

I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I thoroughly enjoyed my holidays with my family. We ate lots of food, enjoyed our favorite holiday traditions together and made some wonderful memories. I have no complaints about my holidays, everything was merry and bright and filled with joy.

A look at our New Year’s Eve spread

We are in a new year which means it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s goals and resolutions. I always enjoy the feeling of fresh starts and new beginnings. Get me a new planner, a fresh sheet of paper and pen and I am one happy girl. I am doing the 2024 Simplicity Challenge through Simplified this year again, so be on the lookout for a post on that in the coming weeks. As a new year begins, I also like to take some time to look back on how far I’ve come and what worked from the year before and what didn’t before I start plotting for the year ahead.

As a quick recap, my goals for 2023 were to eat healthier and run a 5K (which I accomplished), take advantage of local spots and parks (I did a good job with this in the spring and summer, but fell off the wagon a bit in the fall and winter), plan to do things on days off (I was really proud of how I used my vacation days and weekends to the fullest by planning things to do with friends and building in down time), and continue to grow in my profession (I accomplished this by tackling new projects and assignments through the year.)

My motto for 2023 was to “Embrace Change”, even though the year didn’t bring all the changes I was anticipating, I still did my best to be flexible and adaptable through the year and embrace whatever came my way.

As far as 2024 goes, my motto or phrase of the year is “Be Open and Aware of Change”. I am someone who loves and craves her routines and rhythms and doesn’t do well with change. This year I want to do better with being open to change and adapting to it and not fearing it. I also hope to be more flexible and not as rigid with a schedule, (we will see how that goes, but I am up for the challenge).

I really liked the routines and hobbies I established last year, and I want to continue and build off them in the new year. For example, I took on the hobby of running and grew to love it. I want to continue to run and work on my speed and distance this year. I also made sleep and self-care by establishing a good morning and evening routines and establishing better boundaries and I was to continue that in 2024 as well.

From 2023 to 2024, I have list of goals and resolutions for the next twelve months, here’s what I hope to accomplish in 2024:

-Donate Blood– I am not a fan of needles, but I have heard so many good stories about donating blood. I also know so many people who donate and who benefit from it. I want to give back more this year and this is one way I can achieve that.  I hope to get over my fear of needles but donating blood to help others and possibly save a life.

–Do an 8K or 10K -This is building off my new hobbies from last year. I want to challenge myself and run an 8K or 10K. I really have grown to love running and I want to challenge myself this year by upping my mileage and doing more races. I have lucked out with fairly nice weather in the fall and winter to continue to run outside and I plan to do that for as long as possible until I have to run on a treadmill indoors. I’m hoping by setting these goals it will challenge me to run farther and faster.

–Re-Learn Piano– Speaking of hobbies, I want to re-learn to play piano. I learned when I was in middle school but didn’t put in the time and practice that I needed to keep up with it. Now, that I’m an adult and I have a bit more freetime, I want to re-learn piano this year as a creative outlet and to challenge myself in a new way. I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes and how quickly I recall things from my earlier lessons.

-Learn how to braid hair-This may seem very silly, but I have never learned how to braid hair and I want to learn this year. This may only take a few YouTube videos and a few hours, but once again, I am looking for a creative outlet with this hobby and I;;m looking to learn a new skill

-Cook a New Recipe a week– I started doing this a few years ago and then I slipped but I want to get back to trying new meals each week and cook for my family. I love being in the kitchen whether it’s for cooking or baking and I want to continue to use my skills and learn new recipes, so when I am out on my own, I have plenty of recipes to cook. I also think cooking is a skill that you can always get better at, and I want to be savvy in the kitchen. 

These are some of my big goals and resolutions for the new year, I have a few others that are a bit more personal, but these are goals that I think are attainable and realistic. 

Tell Me: As we begin a new year, what are some goals or resolutions that you want to achieve? Let me know in the comments below so we all can hold each other accountable and lift each other up. Have a great first week of the new year. 

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Fabulous living

2023 New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year and Happy 2023!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday week and weekend with family, friends and loved ones. It was so nice to spend some extra time with family, slow down just a bit and get reset for the new year. I am someone who loves a fresh start and the promised hope of a new year.

I already have my new journal and devotional ready for the new year. I purchased Emily Ley’s “Sure as the Sunrise” last year and couldn’t wait to begin it on the first of the year. I love her books and I couldn’t wait to dig into her devotional. The days can get busy and overwhelming at times which is why I like to start my days with some journaling, reflection and reading. 

As we begin a new year, I like to set some resolutions for the next twelve months and reflect on my resolutions from last year.

Before we jump into the new year, here’s a look at my resolutions from last year. You may remember, I broke them up into four categories: Physical, Spiritual, Professional and Lifestyle. You can read the full post here, but just as a recap.

For physical, I wanted to continue with daily workouts and incorporate more vegetables in my diet. I did very well with keeping up with working out daily and even tried to get in some form of movement on days I couldn’t get in a full workout and I am SO proud to say that I ate more vegetables Every. Single. Day. and often times twice a day. From, salads, to sides with meals, I could definitely feel a change in energy levels when I added more vegetables in my diet.

For spiritual, I wanted to carve out more time for my faith life and I did a good job with that for the most part, but I know there’s always room for improvement.

For professional, I wanted to get more creative with my storytelling and I started out strong but waivered a bit as they year went on. I am looking to get back on track for the new year.

For lifestyle, I wanted to use more sustainable products and I did a very good job at that. It also didn’t hurt that a lot of stores went to a no plastic bag policy which helped me use my reusable bags more. 

My motto for last year was “Build the Best version of myself” and I think I really found my routine and rhythm last year and I loved having more structure in my life and a normal year after the past few years of craziness. Now that we are all caught up on last year, let’s get to this year.

My motto of the year is “Embrace the Change” I don’t know what these next 52 weeks will bring, I’m certain, there will be some change, new beginnings and new routines and I’m ready to embrace it fully. I am someone who loves the status quo and who doesn’t do well with change, so I’m going to try to be more flexible and adaptable and not get so hung up on my schedules or routines. This is easier said than done, so we will see how this goes.

Here’s a few resolutions I have for 2023:

Eat Healthier and Run a 5K

I have been doing better by making healthier food choices, but I want to do a better job with it this year. I find myself mindless eating and indulging and I want to do a better job at being more mindful with my eating habits. I also want to try and run a 5K. It may not seem like a huge deal or accomplishment, but I hate running and I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and try to see if I can run a 5K. (We will see how it goes).

Take Advantage of Local Parks and Spots

I love traveling to new places to walk and hike, but there are so many hidden treasures in my own backyard, and I want to take advantage of them more this year in all seasons. I try to get outside as much as possible and I hope that I can take enjoy the beauty that’s in my own community this year.

Plan to Do More Things on Days off

I am a planner through and through and this year I want to do better with planning more things to do on days off or weekends with friends and family. I have been doing such a great job with staying in touch with friends consistently both at home and those who live further away and I want to continue to plan events or activities to do with loved ones on the weekends. Plus, this also gives me something to look forward to in the dark winter months when life tends to be a bit quieter.


Continue to Grow in My Profession

Every year, I am looking to continue to get better at my job and in my career. I plan to do this by pushing myself to tackle challenging stories and topics. I also want to try to step out of the box and get more creative when it comes to storytelling too and take every opportunity that can help me grow.


I know more resolutions will come to me as they year goes on, but I like to use this a good starting block for the new year. I really enjoy looking back to see how far I have come and what changes I have made. It’s also fascinating to see how I continue to evolve and grow as I get older.

Here’s to a year of change, flexibility, family, growth, and love.