20 for 2020
01.5.2020
I started this post last year with "I usually hate New Years, but...". This year I'm going to come right out and say it: I hate New Years. All of January, really. It's cold, wet, and dark, without the joy and lights of Christmas. Bah, humbug.
Luckily I've given myself a lot to look forward to this winter. We're visiting my uncle and cousins in Napa at the end of January then jetting off to Cancun for my birthday, both of which I'm so excited for. Wedding planning has also given me a lot to do and look forward to, which takes my mind off of winter. I'm lucky that our families don't have a lot of expectations or requests, so our wedding is basically a big party I get to throw for all our friends and family with a huge budget. I get to make it exactly what I want, which makes planning...honestly a joy. It's also been great to plan with my mom - she's really hyped about the wedding, and it's been so fun to spend more time with her trying on dresses, tasting cakes, and picking out earrings. I think having a project we both work on is great, and I mostly wish I could have another wedding after this one!
Speaking of post-wedding life, one thing on my mind for 2020 is how there are a finite number of these big 'life changes' you can have: graduate from high school, graduate from university, move, travel, get married, get a dog, have babies, start a new job. We're starting to run low on exciting life changes, particularly given we don't want to have kids for at least a few more years, and I worry that our life will settle into a rut in the meantime. While 2020 will be 'The Year of the Wedding' (and hopefully 'The Year Elizabeth Warren Becomes President'), it'll also be the start of our lives post-wedding. I don't have a resolution for this, but I hope I can find things to be meaningful and memorable after the wedding. I want to have a life in between getting married and having kids, and there isn't really an example I've seen of what that might look like. Just working and occasionally travelling? If that's what I want to do, great! I only want to avoid putting my life in cruise-control, and live out these last kid-less years as much as I can.
On that note....the things I want to do in 2020:
- Get married! HA I thought this would be a gimme. August 14, 2021!
- Train myself to sleep on my back. I'm currently a side-sleeper, and I can feel how it's starting to affect my posture and shoulders. I visited a chiropractor who told me that just as many back-sleepers experience back pain as side-sleepers! I've started checking in with my posture while sitting and standing more instead.
- Submit a crossword to the NYT
- Go to at least 5 spanish meetups one strike:two three four five
- Run a sub-7 minute mile On January 17, I ran a 6:59 mile! Barely made it.
- Sign up for my own health insurance
- Get a new bike
- Host board games with friends at least 3 times one two three
- Take 2 hikes in Portland that I've never done a. one Powell Butte b. two Holman Lane in Forest Park
- Fill up a notebook with notes from work
- Figure out what to do after the wedding Even though we didn't get married, I'm excited about so many things: gardening, practicing piano, spending more time with family and friends, DnD, etc.
- Volunteer at least 3 times one two three
- Meditate before bed 5 days per week I listen to books instead
- Go camping for the first time We visited Fort Stevens near Astoria, Detroit Lake, and Tumalo. I LOVED camping and can't wait to give backpacking a try next year.
- Start composting
- Zero plastic to-go utensils or containers We don't use a lot of plastic utensils to begin with, but I definitely used them at a few points this year
- Read a science fiction book I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and Fledgling and loved both
- Send a letter in the mail
- Buy an ornament on our international trips Woops, completely forgot to do this. I got a great mug though!
- Go to a concert Did not realize this would be so difficult ðŸ˜
