35 Before 35 – How did I do?

Another year has ticked by, another birthday celebrated and another year begun. I’m still not really ready for this new year to start I don’t think. I haven’t set up my new calendar or dug out my new diary. I am slowly starting to get my head around it but it’s taking a while.

This time of year is normally when I look back and see how my year shaped up against the goals that I set myself. For the past couple of years, I’ve decided not to set myself new year’s resolution as such but put together a list of things I want to try and complete before my next birthday. To be honest, I struggled a bit with putting my 35 before 35 list together last year. Thirty-five is a lot of things to try and think of! How am I so old now? *cry*

So, let’s take a look at that list and see how I did…

1. Visit Bristol – Nope never made it. I did visit Cambridge which was something I had added to my 34 list and didn’t achieve.
2. Lose two stone – yeah, I definitely didn’t do that and as of about August, all thoughts of weight loss went straight out the window when I discovered that I’m pregnant again.
3. Bake at least once a month – This started well. I even baked in a tent at The Big London Bake. But it quickly tailed off and I’ve hardly baked a thing all year.
4. Get a new tattoo – I was all ready to get this one ticked off. I was starting to look at artists and get an idea of what I want and then I got pregnant and it got popped on the back burner again.
5. Go on the London Eye – Nope, still not been on it. *sad face*
6. Go on a spa weekend/day – Another one that I didn’t manage. Hopefully, Tom is reading this and will treat me once the baby has arrived!
7. Get some event experience – This is something I got close to completing but things came up on the weekends I was going for. It’s still something I want to do in future though.
8. No fast food for a month – I was so bad with this one. In fact, I think my fast food consumption shot up instead of decreasing. Oops.
9. Read 12 books – According to my Goodreads, I only actually read five books last year. Must try harder.
10. Visit Hampton Court – Still, haven’t given that maze a try.
11. Visit Kew Gardens – I keep looking at pictures of it but still haven’t been.
12. Go to the cinema four times – I managed twice. Tom and I went to see Black Panther and then we took Cece for her first cinema visit to see The Grinch.
13. Take more photos – My intention was to take more photos on my camera instead of my phone. I haven’t done that. I’ve taken quite a lot on my phone though.
14. Go to the zoo – Yay, finally something I can tick off. I actually went to two zoos this year. Once to Chester Zoo with my parents and Cece and once to Whipsnade on Cece’s birthday with her and Tom. They were both great.
15. Eat at ten new to me places – I ticked quite a few off but I’m not entirely sure I made it to ten. Although, I stopped really making a note of it so I may have. I’m going to take this as a win. Some notable places were The Piano Works, Dans Le Noir, Bad Egg and Wood St Coffee.
16. Make a video – I did film some videos but never found the time to edit or upload them.
17. Run 5K – Yeah… that never happened. I can’t even run to the corner shop.
18. Have a make up lesson – I intended to buy this for myself as a Christmas/birthday present but being pregnant plays havoc with my skin so I’m hoping to pick it up after that.
19. Stop bedsharing – I’m taking this one as a win. She, mostly, goes to bed in her own bed and although she has a tendency to wake up a few times in the night and wander into our room she has been going back to bed.
20. Bake something that isn’t cake – I made a custard tart in the Big London Bake. Does that count? Not exactly what I had in mind when I wrote the goal but still a win.
21. Get downstairs finished – Another big fat nope. Hopefully, this year eh?
22. Play more roller derby – I was awful at this. I had a bit of a wobble and couldn’t get my head into it and then I’ve had to sign myself off skates for a few months.
23. Go ice skating – This is another fail. When I signed myself off skates it meant all skates sadly.
24. Go to Disney – Another one that had to be put on the backburner for a little while.
25. Pay off my credit card – I did this. I have since started using it again though.
26. Get new glasses – I got two pairs of new glasses from Select Specs. They’re so good and super cheap. I was really impressed with them.
27. No fizzy pop for a month – Yeah, I didn’t do well on this one.
28. Go to twelve gigs – I think I managed four. Not nearly as many as I’d have liked.
29. Give vegetarianism a go – I was vegetarian for quite some time at the beginning of the year. I actually enjoyed eating veggie. I’ve gone back on the meat eating train since becoming pregnant. I was really poorly for the first 4 months or so of this pregnancy and it came down to eating what I could keep down or what I fancied rather than those choices.
30. No drinking for a month – I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since August so I can say this was a win.
31. Go vegan for a month – When I’m my normal self I drink a lot of tea. I’m still trying to find a dairy free milk that I enjoy the taste of in tea. When I’ve found that (I know it has to be out there) I’m going to try again with this.
32. Buy flowers once a month – This one I stuck to really well… until about September. The last few months of the year I never bought myself any flowers.
33. Have six dates with Tom – I think we managed four in total. We went out to see Black Panther, we went to Hackney for brunch at The Breakfast Club, we went to see Flight of The Conchords and we went to Cambridge for a night away.
34. No buying clothes for a month – Oops. That’s all I can really say about that. I’m buckling down on that this year though. I’m going to do a few months of it I’m sure.
35. Learn something new – I learnt how to make a terarrium with The Botanical Boys in Victoria Park. I loved every mnute of it.I’d love to go and do one of their more in depth courses.

Hmmm, I didn’t really do very well did I? I wasn’t sure about putting together a list for this year especially as I’m a month in already but going through this actually makes me want to. Let’s see how I do!

In the meantime, here’s a photo of us from Christmas Eve. Last year ended pretty well to be fair.