Reflections?

For the second year in a row, Mack and I are heading on a roadtrip over Christmas and New Year, so I am rounding out the year with a final blog post before we go.  This trip is not such a huge trip this time, but I think it's going to be great!  There will certainly be no breaking down in Broken Hill or changing the car radiator on the side of the road of Boxing Day, which is definitely not a bad thing - that is a long story for another time :)

As I do every year, I grabbed my goals I made at the start of the year, and went through the goals I achieved, the goals I didn't, and the ones I forgot about completely.  I set 18 goals for 2017, and I managed to achieve 10 of them, which I am pretty proud of!

Most of them were small things, like visit my best friend's new house in Melbourne, and go camping, and see Green Day live with my dad.  Some were slightly bigger, like pay off my credit card debt (which is a fabulous feeling by the way).

Goals I didn't manage to achieve include blog fortnightly (clearly didn't manage this), hoop/spin more (that just didn't happen) and read 1 book per month (I did manage 8!).

After going through the goals for 2017, I also then wrote down the things I did achieve that I hadn't even imagined for this year.

2017, I have found, has either been an amazing year for some people, or a really awful year.  For me, I have to say it has been wonderful.  I have been the busiest I have ever been, and certainly the happiest as well.   There are so many highlights (and of course some lowlights... but I am that annoying person that manages to find the silver lining and create a positive experience).

We made it to Uluru for real (only we could manage to get rain in a desert for 2 weeks... but we saw waterfalls on the rock, which was amazing).
I checked Tetsuya's and Vue de Monde off my restaurant bucket list.
I volunteered at Vivid Sydney for the first time.
I kept up the meal prep system I have going.
My best friend got married (which really wasn't on the cards)
I fell head over heels in love with yoga (and had the honour of practicing with Patrick Beach, who is an amazing Yogi).
I had an amazing whirlwind trip to the UK (not for great reasons, but it was a lot of fun).

There are so many more, but I don't need to bore you with them all.

The final step is, of course, to set the new goals for 2018.  There are 18 of them again for next year, and they are already tucked away, waiting for another 365 days to go by so I can see how much I achieved and how much I have changed in 2018.  This is a tradition I accidentally started without thinking about it back in 2012, and I really do love it.

Christmas this year is going to be spent at a hotel in Bowral; we've never done a hotel Christmas before, so that will be interesting, but I'm excited.  We are then camping from Christmas Day onwards until the 3rd January, in Victoria, which is going to be so much fun.

I love welcoming in the new year in the bush, away from civilisation with a close group of friends.  So special.  I can't wait.

Whatever you are doing over the holiday period - ENJOY!
Have the best time, relax and recharge, and get inspired and get ready for 2018 - it is going to be even more amazing than 2017!

See you on the other side.
Hx

So let's talk about.... blogging.

One of my many goals for 2017 was to start blogging again.  I used to blog all of my recipes, which was a lot of fun (and is coming in handy now when I need to find one of my favourite dessert recipes!), but I haven't really done it since 2014.

Clearly, it is December, and 2017 ran away with me a little bit, and I didn't blog as much as I intended to.  But 4 posts is better than no posts at all!

Now that 2018 is almost upon us (how fast did this year go?!), it's time to revisit this year's goals, and then create new ones. In case you missed it, you can find my post on resolutions and goals here.

I find it fascinating to look back on what 2016 Hannah had planned for 2017 Hannah, and compare it to what actually happened this year, and why.  I haven't actually looked at the goals for this year yet - I plan to do that sometime this week or next week - but I know I have achieved some of them, and not others, and some I can't even remember what they are.  

In the meantime, I am setting my first goal for 2018: blog more!  And I mean it this time.

I think I am going to be a little more specific with this goal this time around - telling myself I want to blog more isn't really working, and certainly isn't a plan.

There will be random posts, with a photo I like, or a quote, or perhaps a roadtrip Mack and I have taken etc. which will be as they come.  I might also do some that are flashbacks to 2017, because it's been a pretty amazing year, and I have lots of things to talk about!

I will then have a fortnightly series, 'so let's talk about...', where I will talk about something specific.  This blog is the first in that series! :)

2018 for me is going to be all about happiness and positivity; it is something I have been working on this year, and I feel so much healthier and happier and confident because of it!  I hope to share some of that here moving forward.

Until next time.

Hx