Half way mark....

Seeing as it is the last week in June - and therefore nearly the end of the first half of this year - it's time to recap my New Years Resolutions and see how far I have come to achieving them. I am afraid it's not going to be very positive - but maybe refreshing my memory of what I set out to achieve this year might spur me on to get my A into G!

1. Treat myself better (and others): Well, to be honest, I am not sure exactly where I stand on this one. I feel like I have been a lot easier on myself thus far and as a result have not had too many depressive, "down-time" episodes. I feel like I am a lot better at forgiving myself my mistakes and not taking too much to heart. That being said, I also feel like I am finally getting my head around letting go of negative, selfish people in my life - even people who have been around for a long time. Whilst that doesn't really bode well for "treating others better" - it does mean that my sanity and happiness has been pushed to the front of the queue, rather than worrying too much about what others think. So yeah, it's a little bit of what I was hoping for with this resolution, but I have a loooooong way to go (I WILL get to yoga classes this year, and sugar you are next on my hit list! eeek!)

2. Visit three new places: This is the one I was most looking forward to - being a bit of a gypsy at heart and having being "stuck" in Bowen since we moved back from London nearly 5 years ago (yep that's right - it's nearly been 5 years!!) Progress has definitely been made with this resolution (we visited Eungella and camped - I am not sure whether that counts though, because I have technically been to Eungella Dam before but I never camped actually at Eungella town before - and the fact that our camping trip revolved around only the camp site since the weather was so miserable and we couldn't go anywhere! Also J thinks we can count our Easter Trip to the Tablelands - although again, technically, I have been there before and Jon hadn't, but we did go to some spots that I had never seen before, so that counts yeah?) - I am looking forward to adding some more destinations to this resolution before year's end.

3. Make one day a week "tech free" and one night a week "date night": Fail. Miserably. I don't even think we have managed one HALF of a day being tech free (we both took our laptops camping and the thought of not being able to Wiki-search some random fact at any given moment on my phone sends me into a cold sweat! haha). I am determined tho - we WILL work harder at shutting off our electronic distractions more often - perhaps the one day a week was a little ambitious though. And as for the date nights, well, we spend a lot of time together at home - watching movies, cooking feasts and baking treats, sitting beside each other while we are on our laptops haha etc - but the out-and-about date nights have been few and far between. To be fair, there isn't a great deal to do in Bowen apart from go to the cinema or go to a pub for dinner. I think we are gonna have to put our heads together here and get a little more creative to sort out some quality time (outside of the house) together. Open to suggestions follks.....

4. Learn two new crafts: Ughhh this is becoming depressing. Ok, so, I have started accumulating the tools and reference materials required to start two new crafts but, being that I had a LONG period of non-craft/creative time - I haven't actually started anything yet. However, I am committed to trying each of these crafts out at least once before the next New Year's rolls around. Watch this space!

5. Do a photo-an-hour challenge at least once a month: I did manage to complete two months worth of these challenges (thanks for putting these ridiculous ideas in my head Instagram!) before I realised that all they were doing was highlighting how fricken boring my life is most of the time. I mean come on, who wants to look at pictures of J and I weeding the garden? Or walking the dog every afternoon? That shit wears thin pretty quickly! haha Maybe I will save the next photo-an-hour challenge up for the next time I actually have something planned on the weekend - and remember to bring my camera!

6. Try at least one new recipe a month: This one was never really going to be that difficult for J and I - we both LOVE to cook - with J being a little more adventurous than I - so we have tried a few different recipes out *with varying degrees of success* over the past 6 months. Some of it was not that difficult but still delicious (ie my Jewish penicillin recipe from this weekend *chicken soup with dumplings for those not in the know*- amazeballs) and some a little more tricky to master (slow roasted pork belly with apple cider and fennel - I am pleased to announce crispy crackle and juicy tender meat were a-plenty that day - it was touch and go for a while tho!). Needless to say, I will thoroughly enjoy continuing on with this resolution for the rest of the year - and hopefully get the chance to post some pics/recipes while I am at it.

7. Start some type of study: Oh hello indecision, my old friend. Thanks for showing up and sewing seeds of doubt in me for this resolution. I have spent many, many, many hours contemplating what is the right thing to do here. Battles of job security vs study costs, age vs desire to learn, head vs heart (and on and on) are still being waged in my head. Not to mention - once the decision to sign on for a course has been made, then the decision of exactly WHAT to study rears its ugly head. Shortlist or not - there are "smart" options and then there are things that are probably not as job secure to study but things I am really interested in...... If I could go back in time and slap some sense into 18 year old me, I sooooo would - and she would never have let herself drop out the first time she had a stab at university study (amongst other dumb decisions she made! haha). In the meanwhile - I will continue to write my "pros and cons" lists and hope that eventually a clear, right decision will make itself apparent to me.

So as you can see - not having a great run of success with these resolutions. But I didn't expect to actually achieve them all. Some are a bit nonsense, and some are a little more important. As long as I keep in the back of my mind the reasons why I thought these resolutions might serve to improve my life, I might actually make some more headway into the second half of this year.

Happy Half-Year y'all
Big love
S x