The Old Year in Review

It's another year, again. I know it is cliche, but the years do seem to go by quicker and quicker. I don't think I achieved a lot of my resolutions. I had even forgotten that I made any. That doesn't bode well. So let's see which ones I actually managed to stick to.

Health

• Keep losing weight. Another 10 kilos this year would be great. I don't want to lose it fast, I want to keep it off, so slow and steady is great. Yeah, this did not happen. I actually put on a couple of kilos over the holidays. So I guess I will just have to get it together this year.
• Be more active. I started doing Zumba at home last year and it felt great to get fitter. I kinda dropped it the last two months because of holidays, sickness and more holidays. So the idea is to work out twice a week. One time Zumba and one time weights. Bf bought a set of weights and I have done training with him the last few days. It's hard but fun. I hope to keep that up. I stopped doing Zumba, but picked up running instead. Doing 2 runs a week, a short one during the week and a longer one on the weekend. So far this has been going really well and I would like to add another day of activity. Either some weights or some yoga, just to not only be running.
• Keep eating healthy. Except for the two weeks around Christmas I have been eating really healthy. I have actually enjoyed doing it. Had much more energy than before and overall felt better. I think I have done rather well. December was a bit of a screw up, but the rest of the year was pretty healthy. And I am planning to stick to healthy food. Actually got a couple of lunch boxes so I can control better what I eat. 
• Get more frequent haircuts. Try every two to three months. Hahaha, I think I didn't get one haircut this year. I should get a cut though. At least to get rid off the frizzy and dry bits. Meh, maybe next month.
• Dye my hair again! Nope. Kinda decided to let the hair dye grow out and see what I am left with. Is taking quiet a lot of time. I guess the not cutting the hair bit is not helping with getting rid off it ;-)

Japan

Since I completely failed at any of the goals I set last year I am trying to set a less ambitious goal (like, not working through a whole book). I basically want to stick to what is happening in the lessons. Do the homework/ review and find extra material in the books. Nothing extra. I figure if I can stick to these basics I will do a lot more than I did the last year. And if I really want to do anything extra, I guess I could always find something.

• Do the lesson reviews each week. This went well for a bit. However my class did not continue to the next year due to a lack of students. So I kinda have been slacking since May. Ups, need to find a study plan without attending classes now.
• Work on one grammar point per week, matching the one from the lesson or an earlier one. Same as above.
• Match that grammar point to JFBP and revise.

Fun things

I sometimes get caught up on the internet all day. Instead of doing something I like doing, I end up surfing the net and at the end of the day feel like I wasted my time. So I want to 'schedule' things I like to do in order to remember to do fun things. Yeah, sounds stupid. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the options there are for entertainment (TV, movies, books, games etc) and even though I really want to play or read something I don't start because I cannot decide what to do first and end up doing nothing. I am getting better at this. Less internet, more planned entertainment. I am reading more, watching specific TV shows that I actually like watching and not just random things. 

• Make an effort to go to the movies (6 times a year). I didn't really count, but it should be around that number, watched three in the last two month (The Hobbit, Skyfall, Twilight) so cannot be doing bad.
• Spend at least two evenings a week reading for an hour. Done! 
• Try to play a game at least once a week. I think so. Might be more on the weekend, but definitely enjoying more quality time with games.
• Blog once a week. Let's not discuss this one...
• Keep the book club running with meet-ups once a month. It was not once a month but close enough. Though thinking to not do it this year as I am not enjoying the books we have been reading.
• Try out new restaurants (4 times). Done, one of them was just across the street!
• Be more sociable. This is not a very concrete goal. But I do want to become more sociable, stay in touch with people, try to make new friends, keep old ones, etc. Maybe try to go out with people from work more often. Hm, I think I did improve on staying in touch with friends that don't live close by. But suck at meeting up with friends that are actually close. Need to work on that!

Overall a big fail. But I am not upset about it. I enjoyed the year overall. I have not made any resolutions for 2013. Of course, there are things I want to do and achieve, but they are not tied into the year specifically. Anybody else had resolutions for 2012, how did you do?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hey everyone, sorry for being quiet over the holidays. Hope you all enjoyed yours and were able to re-energise for the new year.

I really enjoyed mine. I was in Canada for two weeks at the bf's family. We met up with lots of his friends and family and also managed to squeeze in some lazy time. We did absolutely nothing touristy or note-worthy. All family and friends visits. A little party for New Year's Eve, some shopping (I love Old Navy), got me some jeans, sweatpants and a nice top. And by nice I mean comfy. Actually both of us bought so many clothes that we had to stuff some into our hand luggage as our suitcase was too heavy. Ups.

Flight home started very interesting. We left the gate. And about ten minutes later had an announcement that we would pull back to the gate to let off a sick passenger. Turns out he was sitting just five rows ahead of us. After he left one of the flight attendants cleaned up after him. I kid you not, she removed about six to seven of those little brown paper bags. Felt very sorry for the two people sitting next to him. The bf is now very worried that it was the noro virus and we will be sick too. Fingers crossed that he just had a bad stomach. 

But now we are back home and back to work tomorrow. Sigh. Wish holidays could last forever!!!!

Distant Worlds

Back in November I attended a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Distant Worlds - music from 25 years of Final Fantasy. I must admit that I did not play most of them. But I have fond memories of number 12. It turned out to be a brilliant concert. The Royal Albert Hall is so beautiful and they had these weird floaty mushroom things under the ceiling. Rather bizarre. Anyway, enjoy some of the pictures I took that night: