Happy belated new year everyone! I hope 2012 was a good year for you all and that 2013 is filled with wonderful times!
At this time of year I usually write some new years resolutions which tend to repeat themselves every year. They are things like lose weight, write a best seller and become more tidy and organised. The problem I have with new years resolutions is that every year, they make me feel bad about the things I haven't achieved. So I think that actually I would rather reflect this year on what I have enjoyed and achieved during the previous year. Happily since I have been blogging all year, all I have to do is look back through the blog to see what I can feel good about from last year!
The highlights of my 2012 included:
1. Out of the office!
- Quittting my job - I'm so happy I did it. Now I can focus on being the me I really want to be!
2. Changes to my health and beauty regime!
- Attempting to give up shampoo - my family may not agree that this is a highlight, but I went without shampoo, conditioner and shower gel for 6 months! I think that is quite an achievement. Unfortunately I was plagued by greasy hair and dandruff the whole way through it and I finally caved and used normal shampoo and conditioner the other day. The greasy hair and dandruff was gone with one wash and I was so happy to see the back of it! I'm not fully giving up though and will continue to experiment with more natural ways of cleaning my hair this year.
- I did successfully give up lipsalve and am really pleased that I overcame that wasteful addiction!
- I also swapped shower gel for home grown aloe vera and that is working out well.
- I ditched the sanitary towels in favour of a menstrual cup and although it took me a little time to get used to it, I love it - so much less waste and I barely notice it's there!
- I have been giving myself a massage whenever I can for a while and continued that throughout 2012.
3. Baking, making and cleaning in the kitchen:
- These days I make all my yoghurt - no more yucky yoghurt pots clogging up my rubbish bin!
- I have been making a lot of bread as well, but strangely haven't blogged about it much.
- I have been trying to waste as little food as possible using up leftovers in recipes like the best banana tea bread ever, scrumptious butternut squash tea bread, delicious homemade rosemary and garlic challa croutons as well as learning how to get portion sizes right and getting the right balance to my meals.
- I have been baking like crazy and finding ways to reduce the cost such as how to bake it cheaper! With my oldest son starting school I have been making lunchbox fillers such as oat and raisin squares and chocolate brownies (which I haven't yet blogged about).
- We have moved over fully to a life of chemical free cleaning and I will be providing updates soon on how that has been going!
4. Outside and in the garden!
- We learned that in our first year the way we went about things it wasn't cost effective to grow our own organic vegetables but I'm hoping we will do better this year!
- We also worked out that egg shells definitely do not keep slugs at bay and briefly contemplated eating the copious amount of slugs invading the veg patch, but stuck to pouring salt on them you will be glad (or sad) to know!
- My husband is no longer allowed to buy me flowers and when we go out we give homegrown daffodils and fill our home with flower arrangements from our back garden.
- We also enjoyed picking berries in the summer and making homemade foraged blackberry jam
5. Changing the future of gift giving!
- I decided to change the future of gift giving (in my household at least), by giving the gifts of help, good feelings and good times and homemade and homegrown gifts! All the gifts I did give, got wrapped up in fabric!
6. Learning how to get the most out of my unwanted stuff!
- I wrote posts on 7 reasons to declutter, barriers to decluttering and how to overcome them and how to get the most out of your unwanted stuff! This January I will be looking back through these posts and applying them to the one room in my house which seems to have become an absolute junk magnet!
It's been a busy year, I've changed the way I live my life in small ways and large ways and I will continue to try and be as eco-friendly and thrifty as I can through 2013!
What do you think - new years resolutions or new years reflections? I'd love to hear your thoughts and your highlights from 2012!
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