Not a single 2023 New Year’s resolution was set, nor did I do any goal setting, planning, advanced scheduling of dedicated work time nor tracking of progress towards anything specific throughout the year, yet I achieved my BIGGEST bucket list item along with several other notable successes. Looking back I couldn’t help but think maybe I am better off NOT making New Year resolutions or setting specific goals because I accomplished so much without feeling the typical additional stress and pressure of predefined goals!
I hate running, but because I have high blood pressure, which I believe is due to gaining 10 pounds in 2022 when I was already 10 pounds over my ideal weight from increasing time and stress at work, I decided to increase my running. In December of 2022, I ran a 10K which was plenty long enough for me, but in 2023 I ran 2 half marathons! While I could have trained much better for both only running 1-2 times a week, I am happy to give myself credit for completing them regardless. There was a time not too long ago when I said, “No thank you! I will never do a half marathon!” You know how they say, “Never say never”, well look at me now with 2 half marathons under my belt and (spoiler alert for my upcoming Hello 2024 post) I am signed up for yet another half marathon. I did have a third half marathon planned for December 2023, but canceled that due to a few different reasons.
When it came to writing, according to my Hello 2023 blog post that I wrote in January 2023 (but didn’t publish until January 2024), I wanted to scale down on my blog so that I could spend more time writing fiction and launching a second podcast for it. While neither the writing or podcast happened, I can sadly claim accomplishing scaling down on my blog posts. I published a pitiful total of 3 posts in 2023, despite starting ~10 new drafts on top of the ~50 drafts I had sitting in my folder from previous years all yet to be finished. However, the remarkable writing achievement I can claim is having another one of my poems that was submitted in January, published in SEAF’s Anthology 2023 in April. I didn’t travel to the festival in Seattle this year because I was disappointed that none of my submitted stories ended up being selected, and I didn’t feel entirely proud of my short poem. I realize now that I shouldn’t discount it because I am grateful to have another book that I’ve been published in to add to my bookcase.
My other writing related accomplishment was an unexpected one. I completed a 4 month creative writing intensive through my local library. I am happy to include this in my list of noteworthy incidents because I was very close to not signing up for it at all. When I first learned about it, I remember thinking several negative thoughts such as: I can’t commit to 4 months, that is so long; I am probably going to be the worst writer in there; I will receive negative feedback on my writing, etc. Pushing all the negativity aside, I am so glad I focused on the few positive thoughts that came through my head, namely the opportunity to dedicate regular time to write and the possibility that I could gain something from the experience, that resulted in me signing up. Both of those benefits came to fruition. I not only enjoyed virtually meeting with many other writers in my home town, but learned several new techniques every other week for the duration of the course that will be incorporated in my future fiction works. Most importantly, I forced myself to read out many of my written works during the sessions with the instructor and group. Doing that enabled me to receive both positive reactions and helpful gentle feedback that improved my skills.
Self-improvement and spirituality was the main unanticipated cornerstone of 2023 for me and was THE ONE of my ‘smaller’ accomplishments that I am most proud of. I persevered with consistent effort on various aspects of this. As part of a book club that focused on self-introspective type books, I gained further insight on myself and developed better habits through the assigned readings, discussions with those members and doing “homework” between meetings. This included writing down dreams, journaling and even a video course we decided to complete instead of reading a book. Outside of the assigned reads, I completed a few other self-help/spiritually related books in my spare time which led to praying more often. I can confidently say I meditate and pray multiple times a day. This was something that I have struggled with for many many years. In addition to all this, I invested in various classes, healings, and clearings which I believe tipped the scales for the greatest benefit I realized. There was a remarkable shift in thinking more positively rather than my constant negative self-talk. While I have not by any means eliminated my negative mindset, I can feel the overall heaviness that is constantly with me is lighter and notice that on some occasions a bad thought is not the first to always arise. This is such a huge change that I am loving because I feel more at peace!
And finally, I saved the best for last, which is the single most wonderful reason why I didn’t have time to do many other things like write fiction, publish more than 3 blog posts or developing a second podcast. I found my dream home in early January and closed by the end of February. There were several things I was looking for in my ideal forever home. It needed to be new-ish built single story house located in a gated community surrounded by nearby conveniences such as stores/restaurants and obviously within my budget. I wanted the primary bedroom to be on the opposite side of the house from all other bedrooms with an ensuite bath that had a large soaking tub and spacious walk in closet. Open concept floorplan with a large kitchen island without a separate formal dining room was important for me also. But the most critical factor that was a non-negotiable, and made the search nearly impossible, was good Feng Shui energy based on the direction the house was facing in conjunction with the layout. Life is tough enough and I didn’t want to deal with additional energetic challenges influencing me in my home space since I not only sleep there, but work at home also. I still have moments of disbelief when I am doing random typical things around my home. I feel so blessed! The house was not in move-in ready condition, so renovations and much needed deep cleaning was done over the span of 3 months while slowly bringing belongings in. Full move in was completed by June and the remaining 6 months of 2023 was spent doing smaller projects, furnishing and decorating the home, all of which there is still more left to be done. I look forward to continuing the improvements over the next few years, since it will take time!
And the last, but by no means the least, thing that I have to mention is – because I bought my home, I was also ready to build my family. In November, I adopted my first fur baby, of hopefully many. With Grayson running around my dream house, my heart is so full! I finally feel at home which is a first for me since I never felt the way I do now in any other place I’ve lived at in the past.
If you are still with me this far, what follows are my 2023 highlights by month that I recall with the help of pictures taken and google calendar entries, as I have done in previous similar year in review posts. I didn’t do any standard tracking of anything in 2023 as I have in past years, so it is likely I missed some things. What stood out and surprised me, with documenting this, was seeing that I traveled more this year than last year, even with cancelling 3 different trips: 57 days (compared to 51 days) traveling in 2023, but no international travel destinations.
JANUARY
8 days traveling (Phoenix, AZ 1/13-16; Houston, TX 1/26-29)
1/7: Attended CES
1/15: Completed Phoenix Half Marathon (1st one ever!)
FEBRUARY
4 days traveling (New Mexico hot springs trip with my cousin and her husband 2/17-20)
2/24: Closed on my DREAM home
2/26: Completed Las Vegas Half Marathon (2nd one)
MARCH
6 days traveling (LA 3/15-19; Maui trip 3/27-31)
APRIL
6 days traveling (Maui Trip 4/1; Salt Lake City business trip 4/2-6)
4/15: Completed local scavenger hunt – CluedUpp Smurfs Great Escape
4/21: Published poem in SEAF Anthology
4/22: Sam Hunt Concert
4/29: Zac Brown Concert
MAY
3 days traveling (LA Trip 5/20-22)
Officially moved into my DREAM home
JUNE
No travel
6/12: Moved out of apartment and closing the door on rentals
JULY
5 days traveling (LA Trip 7/7-8; San Diego 7/19-21)
7/14-16: Full house of cousins weekend visit
7/20: Comic-Con
7/21-23 Housewarming party weekend
7/28-31: Staycation at Aria
7/29: Mayfair Supper Club
AUGUST
15 days traveling (BFAS trip 8/9-15; Louisville, KY Business trip 8/19-21;
Cisco Sales Conference in Vegas 8/27-31)
SEPTEMBER
7 days traveling (LA trip 9/22-24; BFAS trip 9/27-29; LA trip 9/30)
9/8-13: Cancelled Ed Sheeran concert, housewarming party and SLC business trip, due to COVID from Cisco conference
OCTOBER
3 days traveling (LA trip 10/1-3)
10/14: SW Steakhouse at Wynn
10/16: Echo & Rig special event
10/28: Ed Sheeran Concert
10/29: The Sphere Experience
NOVEMBER
No travel
11/3-7: Birthday celebration with friends in town
11/30: Hell’s Kitchen
DECEMBER
No travel – cancelled San Antonio TX, Bay Area CA and LA CA trips
12/27-29: Cousins holiday visit
And because I wanted to have a list of the books I read (or listened as audiobooks), I’m including the ones I remember here:
- Anatomy of the Spirit
- Remarkably Bright Creatures
- The Medici Manuscript
- Zero Limits
- At Zero
- The Artist’s Way
- The Four Agreements
- The Genius of Dogs
GGibberish 
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