Crimson Reflections

There are a number of things that I have realized that I don’t do the way I want to and would like to change this upcoming year.

Firstly, I would really like to blog more regularly. I started the 52 week topic challenge, but didn’t exactly post one post per week. I also have a ton of WIP posts that I never made. I’m probably going to try to finish those and push them out; some of them will be belated event posts, which feels a little weird, but at the same time, I really do want to recap some of those events. I also meant to review a lot of things and didn’t.

Second, I don’t know how many people follow Lolibrary on Facebook, but I’ve been posting the Tag Tuesday and Throwback Thursday posts. What some of you might have noticed is that there weren’t any between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just didn’t have time to posts them, which is silly because now FB offers a write-it-ahead-and-pick-a-post-date/time feature, so I want to make sure that from now on, I have multiple weeks of posts queued up in there, ready to go.

Third, I would like to make a massive sales post and get rid of about 1/3 of my “closet”. For those of you who’s ears just perked up because you know I have a dress you want, that’s probably not going to be what I’m selling. 1/3 of the lolita I own I don’t really even consider part of my closet; it’s the wrong size, color, style… whatever. I own it, never wore it, more than half of it is new… it just needs to go. It’s taking up so much space. I need more room. I need it to get out of my house. Like seriously need to clear out to the point where I’m starting to have anxiety over my lack of space. Likewise, I need to organize what I have and throw out a lot of stuff in my room in general. And mend / cull my work clothing, and possibly cull my book collection and craft supplies. Basically, I just need to throw away a lot of stuff because my room is not cute right now.

Fourth, I would like to make more valentines. I make them sometimes, but not consistently, and I’d like to spend more time recognizing the people I admire.

Fifth, I intend to get up to date on my assigned brand(s) for lolibrary and keep up to date on them. I’ve just recently been assigned Putumayo, which we never have been up-to-date on, so almost everything they have has to be added. It will be easier once I get the current stuff in. Which sort of backs up into keeping the PutumayoLovers tumblr stocked with content.

Sixth, I would like to post at least one discussion topic to EGL each month.

Seventh, I would like to pursue better health habits. Mostly making healthier eating choices because adding extra exercise would be difficult for me right now. I was being really good about what I ate for a while and lost some weight, but then I got busy and tired and sort of fell back into eating whatever. Granted, my eating habits aren’t horrible; I’m not overweight and I don’t tend to over eat… but I also sometimes don’t make the best choices. Toast breakfast, pasta lunch and tacos for dinner isn’t exactly the most balanced diet. (I like starches and many of them are faster and easier than adding more fruits and veggies)

Eighth, I would like to draw up a much smaller budget for my clothing purchases (maybe even not allocate anything other than profit from sales to motivate me to sell stuff?). I’ve been spending more than I probably should on lolita recently. I still have a few thousand dollars in outstanding student loans and while I’m well ahead on payments, it would make far more sense for me to cut my lolita budget down, and pay off the rest of the loans. I’ve just been sort of lazy about paying as much ahead lately because my student loan company changed their online payment system and I can’t actually log in and pay online anymore, so I have to mail them checks, which is tedious, so I’ve been doing it every couple months instead of every pay check like I used to. Which is just silly, because I could have paid this off by now if I sat down and did it. Now, keep in mind, I’m not behind; I’m still paid forwards by like a year. I also want to put more money aside for a car. I had a enough saved up for an ok used car, but I had an unforeseen expense which used a lot of it.

Ninth, I would like to participate more in my local community, including hosting contests / discussion topics.

Tenth, I will obtain a driver’s license before the summer’s end. This is not a “I would like”. This is an “I will”. Because I will. I must. I cannot go on like this. I spend 4-5 hours a DAY on my commute. I have been doing this for three years. That is a 15 minute ride to a bus station, waiting at a bus stop for up to 30 min in the morning, an hour 10 minutes on a bus, and 15 min walk. Then I work, then it’s a 15min walk to a bus stop, where I wait for anywhere between an hour and two hours, then a 50 minute bus ride and another 15min ride home. The time I waste daily is ridiculous, and tiring, and I’m sick of drunks on the bus, and being hit on, and getting in minor accidents because the drivers can’t drive. I only live 30-40 min from my work; I could regain 2-3 hours easily. Also, I’m sick of leaving my house 2-3 hours early to go to meetups or having to carpool, and missing events in the evening.

Eleventh, I would like to plan meetups for my local comm, aided by the fact that I will be able to drive and thus should have a much easier time attending them.

Twelfth, I would like to become better at doing my own makeup. I do it pretty basic most of the time, and I’d like to get better at contouring, eyeliner, and putting eyelashes on myself instead of begging my very kind and patient girlfriend to do it for me.