December 30 Ad. What advertisement made you think this year?
Hmmm. It’s honestly been a pretty ad-free year for me. We don’t have cable, So for the most part the only television ads I’ve seen are those inserted into the Thursday-night NBC shows I watch on Hulu. I can’t think of any web ads I’ve seen this year that have been spectacular, either. I consider this a victory. One ad I have seen this year, however, and which I found delightful, is one that Jessi showed me: Goat Tears.
December 31 Resolution you wish you’d stuck with.
I know I made a few resolutions last year, nothing too significant. I wish I could find a definitive list of what they were (I know I had one somewhere, but apparently it wasn’t web-based — so much for accountability, eh?). All of them were based on trends I saw in myself in 2008, didn’t like, and wanted to correct. What I can recall are these:
1. Eat healthier. Weight loss wasn’t my goal; a balanced diet with more energy was, and I think I’m more or less there. Two things, I think, helped with this — I have been exercising more this year, which makes me crave exciting things like salads and fresh fruit. Also, i’ve been trying to buy more groceries lately, and to make those groceries primarily fresh produce, juices, and dairy (yogurt / eggs).
2. Stress less. I feel sometimes that it’s an ongoing internal battle with me, fighting my tendency to be anxious, overwhelmed, irritated by things outside of my control, and difficult in general. I can’t say I’ve made leaps and bounds in this area, but I think I’m finding it much easier to relax and stop worrying about things than I did this time last year.
3. Stop eating out so much. This is the one — the one that I would say, out of all of these, I “failed.” There were a couple of months where I made it home for lunch at least two or three times a week, and a couple of other months where I tried to cook dinner every night, but what an obnoxiously well-ingrained habit! It’s just too easy at work — my dad and I go out to lunch somewhere, and I always feel sort of like I’m abandoning him if I go home to heat up leftovers instead. And then after work, when I’m both hungry and craving social stimulation, dinner with friends just seems obvious. That being said, I did manage at least to bring the budget down a couple of notches (the primary incentive for eating-out-less has been financial), leaning much more heavily towards Subway and eliminating The Village Grill almost entirely (this is depressing, actually). But I could have done better, really.
4. Stop buying clothes. This was more of a commitment than it was a resolution. I started working full-time in 2008, which led to somewhat of a need for a new “professional” wardrobe, and also led to a bit of discretionary spending money. But by the end of 2008, buying new clothes had turned from necessary to a fun thing to do when I was bored, and I felt convicted about it. It wasn’t that I was a shopaholic, or that I was spending half of my paycheck on clothing, but I felt like financially, I wasn’t being a good steward. When I would buy something new that I didn’t necessarily need, I couldn’t help but to think of how much good that money could do in the right places. So for 2009, with a couple of minor and truly-deemed-necessary exceptions (hiking gear back when the Grand Canyon was a thing, and some charity-shop used purchases for good causes), I didn’t buy new clothes. Turns out that everything that I already had, along with some borrowed pieces from a beloved roommate (sorry, Abby), got me through the year just fine. I took the money I would have spent on clothing (based on some 2008 average spending figures — thanks again, mint.com! and sent some donations to Atlanta Union Mission, a great homeless shelter / recovery program in Atlanta. It wasn’t as painful of a sacrifice as I thought it would be, for the most part, and it was actually a relief when I would go shopping with other people. Not once this year did I have the internal “I-love-this-but-do-I-need-it” debate that chronically indecisive people like myself struggle with. It was a year of window-shopping. I can love it or hate it, but I know I can’t buy it, so no worries. And Atlanta Union Mission is truly a great Christian-based, fiscally-responsible organization that is doing amazing things for Atlanta’s homeless population. I’m hoping I can continue to support them in 2010, if there’s enough left over after the massively excessive shopping-spree I’m planning in January (only kidding, folks). I didn’t advertise this resolution much, save a couple of close friends for accountability, and I debated even mentioning it here, because I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging, or like I’m looking down on anybody who spends their extra money on things they don’t “need.” For me, it was based solely on a personal conviction. But it’s probably the 2009 “resolution” I’m most proud of myself for seeing through until the end. And besides, this blog is about me. (See my name up there at the top? In the url bar? mmm-hmm.)
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Aaaaand (drumroll, please!) this concludes Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 Blog Challenge!I enjoyed the prompts, and remembered that I actually enjoy blogging, rather than putting it off and making a chore of it. I can say that I’ve never felt so narcissistic in my life as I have this past month, writing exclusively about myself every couple of days for an hour, so that’s been kind of a downer. Maybe one of my 2010 resolutions could be “blog more relevant and interesting stuff?” We’ll see. I am making resolutions this year — something I was undecided about for a while, but all of this reflecting on 2009 has convinced me that there are still changes I want to make. I think I’m saving it for a future post, though, if I decide to post them at all.
So for those of you who have been reading through December, thanks — seriously. I know I ramble a lot. (2010 — “blog more concise stuff?” so many options.) Happy New Year!
listening to: Bush – Glycerine (found 16 Stone for 99 cents at Salvation Army. Bought it, of course. 90’s flashbacks are the best.)
