Winter bucket list is slow moving as is always the case. I like having the list here to motivate me, but it’s just so hard to get things done in winter. Outdoor things are a bust, it gets dark so early, and honestly we’ve just been super busy. I think in the second half I’l be able to cross off a little more of this list – but here’s your reminder that even when you set goals it’s OKAY not to meet them.
Move to New Hampshire!
Learn to play guitar
Go to the gym 3x a week
Text my friends at least once a week
Go to a concert
Read 5 books
Be more productive after work
Start journaling again
Keep my blog stats up
Go on a weekend trip
7,500 Instagram followers
650 Facebook likes
2,000 Twitter followers
Make at least one snow angel!
Get a new piercing
Finish my photo album
Send “we moved!” cards to friends and family
Explore one new town in New England
What’s one goal you set recently that you don’t think you’ll accomplish?
February has been so. much. fun. My boyfriend finally moved up to New Hampshire and we’ve done so much exploring on top of me really getting things done at my new job. I’m happy with the move so far and happy with how everything has been going! Here’s a quick glimpse into my February.
When I moved, I knew my number one struggle would be making friends. Even when I lived in New Jersey, I could have afforded to have a couple more local gal pals. But I resisted making new friends.
Everyone lived at least an hour from me which meant no one to do happy hour with or no one to do spontaneous movie nights with. Everything had to be planned weeks in advance. And while this was inconvenient, it wasn’t enough to push me to make some new friends. I settled with hanging out with coworkers every so often and mostly just making plans with my boyfriend and the dog. And then I’d see my best friends once or twice a month.
Now that I moved, I don’t think that’s going to be enough. I’m not the kind of person who can be BFF’s with my coworkers. I can be friendly and we can get drinks once in a while, but I have a hard time wanting a close friendship with them. Here, I’ll only be seeing my best friends once every couple of months. And while I love hanging out with my boyfriend, sometimes you just need girl time.
So I joined Bumble BFF and put some feelers out in my alumni groups. The problem is creating relationships from scratch. I ran into this issue when I dated too. I find it hard to create a meaningful friendship or relationship with a stranger. You didn’t know me during my hardest times, how could you possibly understand me now?
Anyway, I’m giving it a shot no matter what. I’ll attempt to go on some Bumble BFF dates and report back to you all on how it goes. At least I have my internet friends, right? 😉
I became a vegetarian in middle school. I dabbled in it for a while, then gave up, then going into my freshman year of high school I tried it again. I have been a “pescatarian” for the past 10+ years. Vegetarians don’t eat fish or meat, but they do eat cheese, milk, eggs, etc. As a pescatarian, I don’t eat meat, but I do eat fish, cheese, milk, eggs, etc.
I side a lot with being a vegetarian because I don’t eat that much fish. Some days I even border vegan because I’ve switched milk for almond milk for most of my diet. But in technical terms, I’m a pescatarian.
When I started this journey, I did it alllll for the baby animals. I have a huge heart for animals, I love them more than people, and I just wanted to do my part to help.
It was that way for a long time, but in recent years my mindset has changed a lot. I don’t just skip the meat for the animals, I do it for my health. Red meat isn’t great for you anyway, but even chicken or turkey isn’t great because of the way it’s raised. Most affordable meat options aren’t raised in healthy environments and tend to be injected with hormones. There is just something off to me about eating a chicken that grew in a cage of its own poop, never being let out.
I don’t like to preach about being vegetarian, I don’t think it does any good for me to show you videos of cows being slaughtered. Maybe when you’re young it’ll make an impact on you like it did on me, but once people are set in their ways a video they can’t relate to won’t make a difference.
I do urge people to know where they’re buying from, know what’s in your products. And that goes for everything you eat. Where were your veggies grown? What is actually in that processed crap? I’m not perfect, I don’t eat ethically or healthy all the time, but I do make an effort to be informed. I’ve always said that if I could really know that the chicken I was eating lived its years on a farm being able to grow naturally and live naturally, then I would probably start eating meat again.
When birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays roll around, I’m often not thinking about what to get my boyfriend. We have just never really celebrated milestones like that with gifts.
Our first Christmas together we exchanged very small gifts. I gave him a candle, he gave me chocolate covered strawberries. And since then it’s always been that way. There have been no expectations of gifts on holidays, it’s just not really our thing.
In my past relationships, it was huge. I would be crafting, spending tons of money, racking my brain to find something my significant other liked.
But my relationship now is just easier. We don’t need things. If we are celebrating something, we’re usually going out and doing something together. Whether it’s travelling or trying something new, we prefer experiences over gifts. Even then, we don’t usually buy those things for each other. We plan and decide together what we want to do – after all, if it’s our anniversary or your birthday, why should I have all the say?
We also tend to sporadically buy each other things. I saw this on Amazon and thought of you. I thought this would really look good in our home and you would love it.
It works well for us and takes a lot of pressure off of our relationship. Giving gifts makes me more anxious than it does excited, so we have taken a different approach with showing each other how much we care.
Looking for some good reads on dating? Look no further, here are some great posts I wrote in the past! Leave a comment on one of the original posts so I know that you’re liking it 🙂
I’ve never made a big hub bub about Valentine’s Day, but I don’t see a reason to hate on it. I’d rather just embrace another day to show the people I love that I love them.
That being said, I don’t like to go out on Valentine’s Day, it’s just terrible. I don’t want the overpriced meals, the crowded restaurants, and just the overreaction to the day to have to rush out and do something with your significant other. I’m a homebody and have always preferred to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home or on a different day. If you’re like me, here are 14 ways to celebrate instead.
Make some fun cocktails together
Rent a movie and stop by the movie theater to buy a tub of popcorn (I’ve done this, it’s great and CHEAP!)
Turn off the electronics and tackle a board game or puzzle
Create a scavenger hunt that keeps you away from the busy V Day buzz
Try out a meal subscription service and cook together (FYI they always have deals to get $$ off your first meal and then you can cancel after…I’ve done like 5 services like this)
Do the thing you always say you’re going to do together whether it’s just going to a yoga class, booking a trip, or taking a nap.
Host a game-night for couples, you get to stay in your house and have fun!
Do Valentine’s Day on a different, less busy day.
Better yet, do Valentine’s Day on a weekend and make a trip of it where you can be a homebody in a hotel room!
Create a self-care day. You would be surprised how much guys who don’t often soak in a tub or take care of their nails actually enjoy when you take time to do these things with them.
Do you have any Valentine’s Day tips for broke, introverts like me? Leave em below!
