Twelve in ’12 RECAP!

Happy New Year Pumpkins!!! I totally hadn’t had a chance to say that yet to you guys, but I truly hope this first week has gone well for you and will be an indicator of great days to come.

And since I also hadn’t given you all an update on my progress from last year’s 12 goals, I’ll do that before we continue forward in the new year.

If you recall, my friends and I have taken to coming up with goals each year that correspond with the last 2 digits of that year. So there was Nine in ’09, Eleven in ’11, and then Twelve in ’12. For some reason, we skipped 2010. Oh wells. Anyway, here’s a recap on how well I did or didn’t do:

1.       Find another hobby outside of writing: Right. So this one didn’t go so well. I dabbled in a couple things, like hgtv-ing (meaning doing some home improvements, sewing, etc…) and even kind of got into taking some photos (for my job), but nothing really stuck. I have enjoyed the photography part, but I still think that’s a little too close to writing for my liking… I want to find something outside of the journalism/communications range. So I still have some work to do on this one. I also never made it to that painting class, so maybe there’s still some luck on that one.

2.       Do something for fun on my own at least once a month: COMPLETED! Some months were much harder than others, but somehow I managed to actually do this every month. Unfortunately, sometimes it kind of felt like a chore. I’d get to the 25th day of the month and remember I had to do something for myself and try to cram something in at the last minute. So you know, there’s still work to be done lol.

3.       Finish the decorative ideas I haven’t completed in my apt, such as covering the floor pillows, putting up more photos, etc…:
Not quite completed, but I did a lot more than I’d done before. I covered the pillows in my bedroom, started covering some of the pillows in my living room, and put up shelves in my dining room. I still need to cover the floor pillows and put up curtains in my bedroom, but I’d say I’m about half way there to making my place feel more like home. Now, I just need to get rid of some stuff…

4.       Lose another 20-25 lbs: Yea, so this one didn’t go so well. I lost about 13 at one point, and then unfortunately gained it all back. Le sigh.

5.       Complete the next step of the book process – find an agent: Not completed yet, but I’m getting closer. I can feel it y’all. I’ve revamped my book proposal and sent it off to some folks for feedback and I’ve gotten back to working on the book after getting discouraged a bit last year.

6.       Make a point to attend church at least once a month: Okay, so I didn’t make it EVERY month, but I made it like 90% of the time, and some months, I went a couple times, so I’m going to give myself a COMPLETED on this one.

7.       Increase savings by $3000: HA! Massive failure… one day y’all. One day.

8.       Learn French to the point that I can hold at least a beginning conversation: Well, I’d gotten really good at this earlier in the year. In fact, I did hold some conversations in French when I went to Paris, albeit very very short conversations. But since then, I haven’t taken the time to study as much as I should. Still, I’m getting there… so I’m going to say PARTIALLY COMPLETED on this one.

9.       Take at least 2 trips that are not for someone else: COMPLETED! I went to Atlantic City and London and Paris (just because I wanted to, not because I had to do something when I got there). I’m trying to continue this one this year with plans to go to Chicago and do a road trip through Cali that ends in Vegas (but I also have SEVERAL obligation trips this year, so we’ll see what happens.)

10.   Do a bi-monthly podcast for the blog: Massively COMPLETED! I even managed to do more than a bi-monthly podcast; it came out almost every month once I got it started. I may scale it back to a bi-monthly for 2013, but this has been a huge success.

11.   With dating especially, work towards just enjoying the moment and not over-analyzing everything (except for blog purposes):
COMPLETED! This was one of the more important goals for me and I think, largely, I managed to make it work. There were, of course, times when it was harder to not over-analyze, but I always had this goal in the back of my mind and it pretty much set me straight throughout the year. It felt really good by the end of the year to begin making decisions that I was at peace with and also noticed that I wasn’t beating myself up over things that didn’t work out.

12. Each month, watch one movie about the black experience or with a black cast made before 2000s: OMG! This was so hard!!! You can’t begin to imagine how depressing so many black experience movies are. Le sigh. Anyway, I missed October, but I watched Shaka Zulu in December and that should count for 3 months. COMPLETED!

Looks like I didn’t do too badly. How was your 2012? And what are you looking forward to in 2013?

For a more detailed report, feel free to read Twelve in ’12 at your leisure.