15 Things for 2015

Hello, 2015!

This year, I make no resolutions. No promises, no bucket lists, no deadlines of things to do before the year is out. I certainly make no claim to be a better blogger this year, only to try and be a better blogger friend and get out more. Every year goes by so quickly and it’s all I can do to just keep up with the passing weeks and months, let alone try and keep up with self-imposed guidelines.

We spent the holidays here, just chilling with our last-minute, 50% off Christmas tree and a roaring fire when it finally got cold enough to build one. I spent the last week of 2014 sick, sick, sick with a cold because I got cocky and couldn’t help giving my sweet husband kisses even though I knew he had a cold. Even so, we cleaned the house, roasted some pig, and had a few friends over to ring in the new year. Except we kind of missed it because I ended up on the channel with Pitbull and his poorly-timed performance that kind of ran past midnight with no real countdown, so I switched to another channel that the DVR somehow let me rewind to before the ball drop and then we had a proper countdown a minute past midnight.

I have no amazing party recipe for you, or decorating tips, or cute puppy photos (although, you check out my Instagram feed where I’m pretty sure I scarred my pup for life as we wore matching Christmas tree headbands), but I WILL give you a random 15 Things I Learned About Myself Last Year:

1. Without fail, every cold I get starts with a sore throat, moves into wonky sinus issues, and ends with me losing my voice. Recovery involves a week of regaining my voice plus working my way through an entire box (or two) of Puffs Plus with Lotion.
2. Even though it only takes me 10 minutes to put away my laundry (I’ve timed it many times), I still find it to be the absolute worst household chore ever. Even worse than emptying the dishwasher. I’ve been known to pull clean clothes out of the dryer to wear while leaving the rest of it in the dryer for days.
3. I still hate raw onions. Actually, I hate raw onion breath. To the point that watching other people eat raw onions makes me shudder. Garlic breath is fine. And if I might kiss you later, I am totally picking raw onions out of your food so you don’t eat them.
4. Having a big, fat, lazy lump of cat on your lap is one of the cuddliest things I can think of. I will stay on the couch as long as I have a cat with me, even if I totally have to pee because I don’t want to scare him off. But, boy, when a dog gets too rambunctious and he scampers off, I am so outta there!
5. When watching post-disaster footage, it’s the shots of pets and animals left behind and stranded that make my heart hurt. One of my biggest worries is that I won’t be able to find the cats when an emergency strikes and might have to leave the house without them.
6. Ice cream always wins. I used to think it was cookies, but I have come to realize that ice cream (not gelato!) is the winner. You never know what you’re going to get with a cookie of unknown origin, but even mediocre, boring vanilla ice cream is extremely satisfying. I’ve eaten a lot of ice cream this winter.
7. I grew up with parents who walked very quickly; therefore, I walk quickly. It sometimes pains me to slow down and walk slower. Y’all should keep up!
8. I don’t like walking long distances, but I will if there are multiple snack stops. I’ve also been known to walk 2 miles to an ice cream shop, uphill, mainly because I didn’t really know where it was and by the time I figured it out we were nearly there. Plus, ice cream!
9. If you mention Korean bbq to me and don’t take me to Korean bbq, it’s all I’ll think about until I get my fill of meat, rice, and kimchi.
10. I have come to the realization that I don’t actually hate salad. I just don’t like making my own salad. I’ll eat salad that someone else made and I’ll happily buy salads for lunch and eat them, but heaven forbid a bag of lettuce enters my kitchen. If it’s lucky, it ends up as chicken food. If not, it becomes gross compost.
11. When presented with leftover meat and rice, I seriously don’t know what else to do with it other than turn it into fried rice. Like, just reheating meat and rice never seems like an option. It always has to become fried rice. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I just find it odd that this phenomenon occurs 100% of the time.
12. The best way to get me to do things around the house is to make a list and stick it to the counter. If it’s something I can cross off, I’m more likely to go do it… so I can cross it off the list. But, if the list is too long, I’m likely to ignore it altogether. It’s a tricky balance.
13. If I turn the channel to a movie and it’s ¾ of the way through, I have to watch it to the end, even if I already know exactly what’s going to happen. Even if I just watched the same movie the day before.
14. If I’m in charge of only feeding myself, I will totally eat a bowl of popcorn for dinner and call it good. And then have ice cream for dessert.
15. I am a very spoiled girl. I know this and acknowledge it fully, and am so grateful to live this life I have. This life that includes dogs and cats and ice cream, an incredibly patient and loving husband, generous parents, amazing friends and family, and a house that is a home. A girl really couldn’t ask for more.

So, Happy New Year to all of you! I hope to be all social-like and see more of you, with or without some great meals in front of us.