December 2020- the final monthly check in of what seemed like a forever year- plus my 2021 intentions

 

This is it, everyone; the final monthly check-in for this eventful year. I cannot believe we made through this year. It to me seemed like a lot (I'm sure many people agree with me on this one). But I'm going to share what I did for this month and what I want to bring in for 2021.

At the beginning of this month, I decided to go ahead and order my Christmas presents for my parents and sister (trying to find ideas for all of them seemed like a lot). We did holiday baking this year (even if we weren't seeing as much people) and I ended up making a few recipes- vegan gingerbread cookies, eggnog snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, etc. I even got out of my normal coffee drinks- made dairy free eggnog iced coffee, gingerbread cold brew coffee, and even a peppermint cold brew at one of my favorite coffee shops near where I live. It was nice to try different things. One weekend, I even did a christmas movie marathon (a mix of classics and modern ones)- it was a nice way to relax in this chaotic time of the year. 

Did a couple Advent calendars (one beauty one from Target which was a 12 day calendar + one I recieved for my birthday which was Nightmare Before Christmas themed), celebrated one of my doggies birthday (she just turned 12!) at home and even made pupcakes for her, too. Went away for the holidays to my grandparents house and it ended up being nice for most of it. Did a zoom call with extended relatives across the pond in England, had a Christmas Day that was surprisingly nice (recieved some unexpected things- the list would take me forever to type up- but one thing that was nice was the Golden Girls Monopoly board game). We also celebrate Boxing Day (have a little English heritage in me via my late Nana- miss her terribly!) and do a traditional English-ish dinner. Had a fun gift exchange that day, and we popped Christmas crackers (which is a traditional Boxing Day activity that is always fun to do). Around the time I was there, I decided to take a social media detox from Christmas Day until New Years Eve to just mentally + physically reset ahead of 2021. I plan to be back on the 1st of January 2021 (breaks from social media sometimes are fantastic for someone like me that is always go-go-go sometimes). 

This year was full of unexpectations and occurrences but we all got through it together even if we didn't think we would be able to do so. This was incredibly hard on those with mental health issues / disorders (especially me) and I'm thankful that this year is over (yes, I said it people!). I'm looking forward to whatever 2021 has to offer. 

Speaking of 2021, I'm going to share some of my intentions with you:

• No more sleeping in! This became a terrible habit for me in 2020 and I need to be awake when my alarm goes off.
• Practice mindful movement (ie yoga) and still stick with my daily meditation practice. Also rest more often, too! Don't always have to be busy all the time.
• Not giving myself a mile long to-do lists everyday- need to stick to less than 5 things and no more than that.
• Introduce more CBD into my wellness aspect of my life- I found this aspect in 2020 to be helpful with my anxiety / autism.
• Go back to doing therapy. I had set it for this year but this year took a turn of where everything went virtual (which I'm not a fan of)- so when person in person therapy is available again, I'd like to go- I found therapy helpful when I was going through my breakup in 2015. 
• Bring out my inner creative (ie painting); learn to play my black acoustic guitar I've been neglecting; cut back on refined sugars / chocolate before bed (I find this aggravates my sleep when I have the refined sugars / chocolate products before bed- causes me to toss and turn a lot).

I hope next year is full of magic, love, change and peace. Whatever you want to do with your life, I hope you find the courage to do whatever it is. Life is too short to not do what you want. Bring it, 2021! I'm ready for ya!

As per usual, here are some quotes I want to share with you:

I hope 2021 brings all that you want- I'm hoping to continue these posts for next year- let me know if you would like that. 

See you in a future post!

-Lauren-

November 2020 Monthly Check-In: What Happened? What's New? Anything Good?

Hello, everyone; this my second to last monthly check in blog post. I cannot believe I've been doing these posts since March of this year. These posts are a way of expressing how I've been doing during the pandemic. It has been physically and mentally a lot for me in this challenging year. But we've made it through and I do have a lot to look forward to for this last month of the year. Anyways, I'm going to share what November was like for me.

At the beginning of the month was the election and I was a bit anxious with who was going to win. I had such fearful things to come about within that week. But by the end of the week, I took a deep breath knowing I had nothing to worry about with this election. We had a movie night (watched Knives Out) and it ended up being good (love those murder mystery whodunit movies sometimes). That same night, I had a terrible headache and I found a DIY headache relief using essential oils (the only one I didn't have was rosemary but the main DIY was rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus, and peppermint; it helped tons) plus we had a mouse come into our house (that week in it's own hindsight felt "exhausting"). 

Had a couple life appointments (eye doctors'- got new lenses for my glasses + had a doctor's appointment too); decorated my room earlier than normal for Christmas (with this year, I think we all need some joy and happiness in our lives); wrote some more of "Chosen" for November too. Also a favorite band of mine (not as much as I love Fall Out Boy), All Time Low, did a virtual concert series called Basement Noise (in relation to song off of their new album Wake Up Sunshine) and Zack Merrick (one of the band members curated the setlist that November the 13th and it was great! It is worth the $15 and it made me excited for live music in 2021) Celebrated another trip around the sun (turned 28 on 11/17) and had a nice day of it. Recieved some lovely gifts (purple yoga pants- yes you read that right, Folklore by Taylor Swift, Love Goes by Sam Smith, Channel Kindness Lady Gaga book, a new purple water bottle with reminders when to refill on it, & a Dunkin Donuts e-gift card, a new Nightmare Before Christmas themed Advent calendar- plus a lovely card themed the same too). 

A week before we went to my grandparents for Thanksgiving, I was having some hestitation because of the family drama still lingering in my mind. I watched a great podcast episode via Kalyn Nicholson called "How to not deal with negative energy" and it was needed that week I actually went up for Thanksgiving. This trip to my grandparents was nice, and enjoyed seeing them as I always do. Thanksgiving was nice, and we celebrated my sister's birthday the same day as Thanksgiving (two celebrations in one! Whoo!). 

I wanted to mention one thing before I leave you with quotes; I did a charity via Facebook for my birthday that many people aren't familiar with. It's called To Write Love on Her Arms and they are a non-profit dedicated to helping those that are struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. I wanted to do this as someone who tried to attempt suicide back in 2016 when I was reeling from a breakup. And I wanted to do this for others that are struggling amid the pandemic being at home more. Because there are a lot people out there that may need that extra assistance with how this year has been as a whole. And to know that they aren't alone; I've got your back if you got mine. I was reaching for a total of $200 but I didn't reach to my goal of that. I was thankful to do something good for my 28th  trip around the sun. And for this year in general, we all needed to be taking care of ourselves and making sure we nurtured ourselves in the best ways possible. 

As I promised, here are some quotes to inspire you:

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post- I've got one left to end this challenging year sooner than later. Have a great day and take care of yourselves!

Sending love + light, 

Lauren