Happy New Year Folks!

This seems to have become a ritual on Life as Freya; blogging at the beginning of the year is like this thing I’ve been doing for over 5 years now it seems. I hadn’t realised I’d been doing it and now it’s a ritual, a pattern, a routine, like so many other things in our everyday life. Little things we do everyday so often that, sometimes we forget we are doing them, their doing goes unnoticed.

I went back and read a few of my ‘start of year’ posts and they made me smile with fondness at my younger self. It’s just a couple of years but so much has changed since then. It was pleasant reminder of the joys and challenges, the fun times and the togetherness, love and our family and life as I know it.

Last year I put together a bucket list for the year and did good at it, I think. It was the year of ME and I did a lot of me stuff! I did hit my weight target, watched 100 movies, read 74 books, got started with my kitchen garden, and kept my eyebrows intact through the year. 🙂

This year I’m putting together a few buckets I’d like to work on. 😀

Reading

For three years now I’ve tried to hit the 100 mark in the Goodreads Book Challenge. It took me three attempts to realise that competition, even with oneself was’t the way to go. Reading for numbers just doesn’t cut it.

Of all the things I love doing, this one I love doing the most, so this year I’m looking to take this up seriously, paying more attention to the books I’m reading and being more unforgiving with myself about how I spend my reading time. I’m going to be more critical of my book choices and I’m going to try reduce my #ForeverTBR.

Fitness

I’ve been meaning to get fit but I spent most of last year hoping it would happen while I still lay curled up in the couch. It was only at the end of the year that I finally did something about it and got myself to Zumba class. The last month has been so much fun! (Thanks Yashodhara Lal for introducing me to Zumba in your book There’s Something About You)

Getting started helps, it’s still baby steps but now that the ball is rolling it’s easy to push further. A shout-out to Bhawna of YellowMellowLife who pushed me into putting on those running shoes for #Pinkathon at the end of this month. This year I’m back to pushing to finish that marathon. 🙂

Blogging

Last year I wrote 139 posts, that’s not a huge number but it’s the highest ever and double done in 2014. This year I want to explore the creative space beyond writing. Giving myself space on the reading front has opened up a lot of stuff in the blogging space too.

I’ve enjoyed dabbling with video the last few months and I’d like to do more in the video space this year. Maybe even start a podcast. I’d like to explore the overlap space of reading and creativity, and see what I can do with it beyond writing.

Gardening

I spent a bit of time in the garden in 2015, trying my hand at ideas and experiments. We grew some veggies – corn, carrots, methi, coriander, radish, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, bitter gourd, but lost some too – palak, peas, chillies. The one thing that flourished through it all was my composting khamba. It’s a hit with everyone!

Got to get more active in the garden this year. I want to expand my potting space and do some more experiments; try my hand at more new plants and veggies. Also got to try and increase my compost production. 🙂

Learning

This section has a few things to list –

– I’m going to learn to play the harmonica this year. I’ll start of with youtube I think, in the security my bedroom. 😀

– I’m going to take up a course related to books this year. I’ve tried my hand at Lit. Degrees before, so not that. I’m not sure but I’m leaning towards a librarian course for now.

– I’m also planning to plunge into some craft challenges. Putting together the quilling pieces for my 500 post winners was a reminder of how much I enjoy craft and why it has to be a part of my year plan.

– And I’m gonna learn to do Zen Doodling. I have to master doodling. 😀

2015 was truly my ME year. I went through some weird phases in my head but it seems to have been worth it, for now, as the fog is shifting and clarity is making itself somewhat felt.

2016 must follow from where the last year left off, so I’m hoping to better ME this year in all the areas I’m choosing. What I’ve left out in the above are the bits about working on getting more productive, better time management, setting routines, tracking tasks, packing in more stuff,… You know, all that stuff that makes you do more. 😀

Aside from do more, this year I’d like to take time out to notice, to see the little things around me, to appreciate the life I have, life as I know it, in everything I do.

What is your plan for 2016? If you run, tell me in comments, we should connect, being running buddies would be great. The same goes for reading and craft, I’d love to join a challenge. So, what’s in your buckets?

Happy New Year Folks!

This post should’ve gone up yesterday but we woke up to a rainy morning that shouted out for cozying up and hot cocoa. The rest like they say is history. 😀

I don’t do well with New Year resolutions. Every year i tell myself that there will be new rules, a list is made and most often these don’t even last a week. Then of course comes the guilt of letting go, not having enough will-power and all such things.

Then there is the guilt over time. Over the years there are just so many things I’ve wanted to do and just never got down to doing. So many resolutions broken. There is always something more important and these little things I want to do just slip through and get forgotten until one day the sheer weight of all that is not done bends me over.

This year I figured things would be different and done different too. This year is about ME.

About all I want to do, be, see, and gee, I hope that will take some things off the bucket list. This year instead of resolutions I am going to make a bucket list for the year – things I’d like to achieve before I get a year older. Nothing that has to be done, today or everyday but rather before 31st December 2015.

1. Weigh between 53 and 55 kgs. [I so need to put on and keep some weight]
2. Learn to whistle. [I’m embarrassed to admit that]
3. Run a half marathon. [This one’s been on the list a long time]
4. Watch 100 movies. [Ooh! and those cheap masala films too]
5. Swim for 45 min. at a stretch.
6. Revamp my blog and find my blogging sweet spot.
7. Read a 100 books. [And actually do it this time!]
8. Get the kitchen garden up and running.
9. Learn at least one new craft.
10. Shave the head and don’t shave the legs. (or eyebrows) 😀 [The Hairy is Beautiful Campaign]

I’m hoping to achieve all of this by the end of 2015 in-spite of all of life’s googlies. Wish me luck. 😀

Have you made resolutions for 2015? Do you manage to not break your resolutions? How? 😀

It seems like yesterday that it was New Year and here we are with a new year starting again. The years seem to be flying past as life slips by me and I watch it all unfold in slow motion. Ok, enough moroseness; switching topics – Happy New Year to you. May 2013 bring exciting times in your life. 🙂

This is the only 13th year in our lifetimes. 2013 for those who are triskaidekaphobic, must not be something to look forward to but I think 13’s lucky for me so, bring it on 🙂 But before I start the new year I thought I’d look back at what I had planned for 2012, and just what came of all my grand plans.

So here’s some of what I’d listed out on January 1st, 2012. Warning: the following may get introspecty and boring, so skip to the end if you like 🙂

Learn to use the Mac well – I did try to do this and succeeded to a comfort level but not maybe an expert level. However as things turned out the Mac become more Che’s travel computer and I got the iPad that I seem to be using more and more these days. (I’m typing this post on the iPad. 😀 )

Learn a new craft – I didn’t get started on this for a long time but in the last quarter I put it together and bought three potted plants. I’ve learnt a lot already and I still have a lot of learning ahead but plants are still alive right now. 🙂 I did a bit baking through the year though and tried a new recipe every time. Most of it turned out well, but my breads still need some rising 😕

Blog regularly – I wasn’t very regular but I did write the highest number of blog posts ever this year, 103! And there were a couple of cool high-points for my blog this year – a few authors got in touch with me for reviews (I’m still smiling about that one); I’m not all that bad a book reviewer after all. 🙂 I also got to blog the Tour of Nilgiris as their official blogger – TfN is this cool hip must-do tour in cycling circles and having seen it I heartily agree.

Mission Cuckoo – I didn’t get much done on this front. I had hoped to teach Cuckoo some new tricks but I just didn’t get down it. I did experiment with new toys though and surprise of surprises I found a toy that Buddha finally showed an interest in.

Read 50 books and watch 50 movies – This is one section where I excelled. I read 70 books and I’ve definitely watched over 50 movies though I can’t remember all of them. I really wish someone would make a GoodReads kindof site for movies.

In retrospect its been a good year. I didn’t really follow the plan but I did get most of what I had planned done, or at least somewhat done 🙂 I hadn’t thought of 2012 as a gret year but it was, with lots of travel packed in too. 😀

Looks like this plan and review thing works, well it did make me feel good this year. So, here’s a few things I’d like to do in 2013.

• I’d like to spend more interactive time with Cuckoo. Senti needs more exercise and so do I so, that’s on my list too. Then there’s Buddha who’s getting older and needs more attention and care. And last but not least is William and Max, the new additions to my brood, who will take a while to settle in.
• I need to learn a lot more about gardening, and set up a small veggies garden. I also intend to start composting at home.
• Last year I tried my hand at baking and came away fairly successful. This year I want to learn some of the finer nuances. I want to try my hand at icing and fondant.
• Start cycling. Yeah, yeah, ok, ok, TfN did inspire me. Not to cycle TfN 😯 but to take up cycling and explore the area I live in. 😉
• I have a jigsaw that has been incomplete for a while now, I intend to complete it and start a new one.
• Last year I set a target of 50, this year I think I’ll up it to a 100 books.
• And of course it goes without saying – more blog posts than last year. 😛

Phew! that seems like a long list. Wonder how much I’ll get done. Well, either ways looking back next year will be fun.
Have you done this? Does this review thing work for you?

First up – Happy New Year! Hope this year exceeds all your expectations 🙂

For me this year started on a great note. After a very long time (or maybe never) I slept before midnight on 31st and woke up early morning on the 1st. It’s my first new year without a hangover in many many years 😀

The 1st was a packed day with family, friends, movies and planning – a good day and good start to the year. There are a lot of things I’d like to do this year and that’s where resolutions come in.

New Year Resolutions, I’ve made them every year and broken them too. Like I’ve been saying for years resolutions are meant to be broken. But are they really? What if they weren’t hard and fast and were just a guideline for the year.

I’d like to plan what I would like to do in the year and at the end look back to see if it worked out to plan.

So here’s a few things I plan to do.

Learn to use the Mac well
My Christmas, New Year and a lot of other days combined present was a Mac Book Air. I’ve been a Linux and Windows user until now and the Mac is an all-new ball game. This year I want to spend time learning to use the Mac effectively and productively. I hope to learn tips and tricks to using the Mac and hope to be comfortable with the system by the end of the year.

Learn a new craft
I love to learn new things and haven’t learned something new in a while. This year a want to learn to do something new. I haven’t made up my mind yet on what it will be but I intend to learn something new. Maybe woodwork, gardening, or a new paper craft. I know a few things like knitting, crochet, quilling, glass painting, etc. Do you have any recommendations?

Blog regularly
I intend to make this blog more regular. There is so much I’d like to talk about and share. This year I hope to do that, I want to review the books I read, the movies I watch, share new things I have learned and of course voice my opinions and rants.

Mission Cuckoo
I have three dogs and they are a handful. This year I hope to spend time with Cuckoo (my first). Give her a lot of exercise both in mind and body. Spend time understanding her and teaching her new tricks. My two small boys need a lot of exercise and love. They don’t like playing so much so the challenge is to see if I can find a game they like to play.

Read 50 books and watch 50 movies
2011 saw me read 65 books. I hadn’t planned to read so many and I’m thrilled that I did. This years target is to read at least 50 books through the year and share them my views about them on the blog. I also want to catch up on movies (I have a huge backlog) and watch at least 50 that I really enjoy.

G Reader subscriptions
I followed a lot of blogs in 2011, so many that I’ve got overwhelmed by the sheer number of them I have to read. This year I’d like to start again from starch. Find blogs that I love to read and redo my Google Reader subscriptions.

Calendars
Calendars have helped me remember and get work done but these again over time have multiplied and just got very clogged. This year I intend to spend time sorting them out and making them productive and useful.

Get more tech savvy
I have a lot of technology around me and use it too but my knowledge is quite limited. This year I will spend time learning to use all electronic devices in my life more effectively. Like this post – I started writing it on the Android phone and now I’m finishing it on the Mac 🙂

There’s a lot more I’d like to do and I’d like to see what the year looks like in review in 2013. This but just a start…

What are your resolutions for the year? Do you have a to-do list too?