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Happy new year and welcome to your thirties! Where canceling plans to socialise with friends and family in order to stay at home singing karaoke and watching twitch streams until three in the morning is the new norm. Honestly, it sounds way worse than it is, but it’s still a little bleak.

So it’s been a while! A lot has changed since I last wrote a journal entry on here. I’m going to attempt to sum up a bunch of the things that have happened since 2018 so let’s go.

2019

In May of 2019, Alex and I bought a house in Crawley. We moved out of our little one bedroom village flat and into a three bedroom mid-terrace home in a proper town. It has a garden and everything!! Moving and adjusting to a new environment took a little time but we really love where we live.

A few months after moving in, we adopted two baby boy Norwegian forest cats. Initially we thought they were girls, so we named them Margot and Rosemary. When we found out they’re actually boys, we decided their names suited their characters so well that it would be silly to change them. Dolores loved the boybies straight away, but Ichabod took a little time to warm up to them. Nowadays they’re all very good pals.

Rosemary is extremely cuddly with all of the other cats, but he’s terribly shy to strangers. He used to not be able to meow or jump very confidently, too! Fortunately now he’s found his voice and he’s gotten very bold and confident at jumping up onto surfaces.

Margot, on the other hand, is the epitome of a curious cat. Whenever there is a closed door, Margot is trying to pry it open. For a little while when we were keeping the cats separated for one reason or another, Margot would claw up the carpet by the doors on the landing in an attempt to get in to the rooms. He is always interested in whatever we’re doing, even if we’re in the bathroom!

2020

The whole of 2020 was a bit of a blurry mess from the pandemic, but before COVID hit the UK we did manage to see Carly Rae Jepsen perform in London. During 2020 we did a whole lot and a whole bunch of nothing at the same time. Lots of worrying. Lots of waiting. Lots of handwashing.

2021

By the time 2021 came around things were feeling a little more optimistic, even more so when we were finally eligible for the vaccine. We were fortunate enough to attend Alex’s sister’s wedding in June with a handful of family members, and by the time my birthday came around in September we felt comfortable enough to go to London for a club night and then have a karaoke birthday party with friends and family.

BTS

One thing that really stood out as a beacon of joy and hope for me last year was falling in love with BTS. If you haven’t heard of BTS by now, you must be living under a rock because they’re truly global icons. I never thought that I could be so in awe of a Korean boy band. BTS has opened me up to a whole new group of friends, too. The community that is ARMY is so multi-faceted that anyone and everyone can find their people. BTS has shown me the power and strength of community and I’ve really grown to appreciate a whole new genre of music, as well as an entirely new culture.

GOALS FOR 2022

Now that it’s 2022, I’m looking forward to the future. What do I want to accomplish during this calendar year? What steps will I take to bring me closer to my longer-term goals? How do I want to express myself?

Well, this year I want to approach my resolutions a little differently than I have in the past.

  • Embrace my style
  • Increase my flexibility and physicality
  • Continue dancing
  • Drink 8 glasses of water a day
  • Study Korean daily
  • Sell my candles at three markets
  • Renovate the bathroom and/or kitchen

Embrace my style

One good thing that came out of the pandemic was discovering Lucy & Yak dungarees. For those of you in America wondering what the hell a “dungaree” is, it’s just the British word for overalls. I practically live in dungarees and boilersuits from Lucy & Yak now. They’re so comfortable and come in endlessly cool colours and patterns. To embrace my style, I want to continue championing independent and sustainable fashion brands that speak to my soul and make my heart smile. Colourful, comfortable, conscious, cute.

Increase my flexibility and physicality

Since the pandemic I’ve really struggled to do any physical activity. This year I want to prioritise my flexibility and physicality by actually using my gym membership. I would like to go to the gym at least once a week this year.

Continue dancing

I’ve really gotten into dancing, so I want to keep doing it! It’s a great mood lifter and it feels so good to groove along to music.

Drink 8 glasses of water a day

Cliche, I know, but according to the body analysis I had last year, I actually am quite dehydrated. I used to be able to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, so I want to do it again!

Study Korean daily

I’ve been learning Korean on duolingo for almost 200 days now so I want to continue with that streak all year long. I would like to be able to read BTS’ twitter and weverse posts without hitting “translate” straight away.

Sell my candles at three markets

If you didn’t know, I own and operate a small candle business called Bit by Bit by Sienna! I took 2020 off because of the pandemic, and then in 2021 I moved my business from the bottom of my in-law’s garden over to a little studio in East Grinstead. Getting my business back up and running has been amazing (and challenging because it’s all up to me!) but in 2022 I want to have a stall at three different markets.

Renovate the bathroom and/or kitchen

Since we bought our house we knew the bathroom would be the main thing we needed to renovate. We’ve done all of the cosmetic improvements (changing taps, light fixtures, fitting new vinyl flooring, adding storage, tiling a new bath panel) but we’ve definitely hit the limit on the DIY front. Our bathroom needs a top to toe renovation, so that’s what I’m hoping we’ll be able to save up for this year. It’s always so difficult to estimate just how much money a project will need, especially one where we want to hire a builder to do for us!! The new fixtures alone are already priced at about £2000 so anything more than that will go to labor costs. Fingers crossed we can get the bathroom renovation done this year!!

Right, I think that’s all I have to say at the moment. It was nice to do a little recap and talk through my goals for 2022. I’ve got a good mix of personal and professional goals to work on this year! I think it’s a nice change of pace to what I usually would resolve to do. Here’s to another year around the sun.