2016 Challenges

Hey, guys!

It has been a WHILE, huh? I could look up exactly how long, but let's just say a while. And then you can all internally sing "it's been a while." GUESS! WHAT? I'm going to be writing on here ONCE A MONTH! Potentially even MORE than that, but PROBABLY NOT! What a fun treat for you!

"But why has Abby spontaneously decided to write more on her blog, at least once a month?" you MIGHT be asking yourselves. Well, my dear reader. It's because I have chosen to challenge myself each month a la my friend, Esther. This morning after ringing in the New Year I talked with Esther about how much I would like to challenge myself in 2016. See, in 2015 she did a new challenge each month. And I've decided to follow in her footsteps because she's basically an inspiration.

"But what are Abby's challenges?" you're probably asking yourselves now. You certainly are a CURIOUS bunch, aren't you? Well. I will list them for you... in a moment. First I must explain that some of these challenges are meant to last the whole year through. But some of them are only for the month. I'm also going to list two extra challenges. These are meant to be swapped out if I don't think I'll be able to complete a challenge during a certain month. Or maybe if I want to UP THE ANTE and do a double challenge. I will (hopefully) label the different challenges clearly.

Yearlong Challenges:
1. Read 50 books in a year. This is a challenge that I've been trying to complete for about four years? I started it because I learned that if you read 50 books in a year you're a Bibliophile. I've been striving for that title ever since.
2. Have monthly board meetings. I'm hoping to start a non-profit organization this year. And part of that is having board meetings with the Board of Directors. The main hope for these meetings is to become an official 501(c)3 by the end of the year.
3. Vlog every day for a year. I just think it'll be really cool to have an entire year of my life documented. Esther said that she loved having done a picture a day for a year. She said it was cool too see so many different opportunities documented. And while I'm not the best photographer, I do know how to edit videos. I'm not guaranteeing that they will be top notch vlogs, but I hope to post something every day!

Monthly Challenges:
January - Finish a scarf. A few days ago Nancy and Emily actually challenged me to finish a scarf in January. It only made sense to make it part of the challenge. You might find this easy. But follow through has never been a strong suit of mine. So this is actually quite tricky for me. I'll be chuffed if I finish one scarf, but I might push myself to finish TWO! (I say finish because I've definitely STARTED a number of scarves. It's the pesky finishing bit that I can't complete)

February - Four winter activities. This year I want to push myself to enjoy winter instead of simply endure it. My activities right now include: ice skating, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, and building a snow man. These are subject to change depending on availability of friends (Esther) who have the equipment necessary.

March - Four new craft projects. I'm not the most craft-y person. I admit it and I'm okay with it. Which is why this month is the perfect opportunity to try some new ones. I only have two ideas right now, so feel free to suggest something new for me. My crafts to try right now are: painting and cross stitching.

April - File taxes, get a Roth IRA, and make a comprehensive budget. Seeing as April is tax month it felt fitting to focus this month on financial goals.

May - Walk every day. I hope to walk at least 20-60 minutes a day. I think it'll be good to push myself to get outside every day, even if I'm going solo. Ideally I could find friends to join me.

June - Eat no sweets. I was supposed to try this for the month of January, or even all year long. But I unintentionally broke this when I had a mini donut with my toast for breakfast at Esther's house this morning. Hopefully I'll still be walking from May and will want to embrace a healthier lifestyle. Probably not.

July - Drink 3 Nalgenes every day. I do not drink as much water as I should. 1 Nalgene is 32 oz. of water. Esther drank 4 of them every day for a month, which is a GALLON a day. I originally said 64 oz., but compromised with her on 3 Nalgenes a day. I'm going to have to pee so much.

August - No TV or YouTube. I called this "no screen time" and Esther assumed I meant literally no looking at a screen. But I will still have to edit my videos and I'll still use social media. I just won't watch TV or YouTube videos. I gave myself a break and said I could watch one movie a week. However, watching movies in August must be a social activity and not something I do by myself.

September - Try a new cocktail each week. I enjoy an adult beverage. So I thought I should try to expand my horizons and become the cocktail connoisseur I've always wanted to be. The catch for this challenge is that each drink must include more than two ingredients.

October - Make a costume by hand. I've never made my own Halloween costume. In fact, I've hardly ever put thought into a costume. I don't need to sew something together. But I would love to at least put effort into it. More often than not I just scramble at the last minute until I've found something that might work. This past October I was 1. A cat out of the bag (I had cat ears and carried a small paper bag around all night) and 2. a Basic white girl (I wore jeans with boots, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a vest that I already owned. My mom had also just bought be Starbucks a few hours before. The cup and my iPhone were props to complete my costume).

November - NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. Look it up at nanowrimo.org. I've tried multiple years in the past. This year I hope I can make it happen. I might not vlog every day this month, but instead I might film a little bit each day.  I'll be focused on writing at least 1,6667 words a day so I can make my goal of 50,000 words for the month. So you can see how vlogging, editing, and uploading a vlog every day this month might get a bit exhausting.

December - Commit to an advent calendar. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I have a bit of an issue with follow through and commitment. I've always wanted to buy an advent calendar, whether it be chocolate or something else, and actually open each day on time. This might seem like a light challenge for this month, but I think it might be appropriate considering how hard I've worked all year. And I will remind you again of my inability to follow through and commit.

Extra Challenges JIC:
1. Donate 2 articles of clothing and one thing each week. Esther spent a month or two doing similar challenges and I think it's very admirable. While I don't think minimalism is the key to happiness, I do think it can help in focusing yourself on the important things in life. Life is not about what you have, but about what or Whom you serve (you knew I had to bring this to God at some point, right?)
2. Read one book a week. One of my favorite YouTubers (italktosnakes) has done quite a few readathons. Whether the list is her own creation or one that's circulating online, she will select a certain number of books and decide to read them within a certain time limit. I'll probably come up with the books the month of, but I've only got that month to read them.

January Challenge: Tonight I knitted a few lines of a scarf I started two years ago.
50 Book Challenge: Not even reading a book right now.
Monthly Board meetings: Still haven't put together all of my board of directors. Working on it!
VEDFAY: I've already filmed the day. I just need to get the ball rolling. WAHOO!

2015 Book Challenge: 1-5

In the hopes to motivate myself to get through my annual 50 Book Challenge, I'm doing a book challenge by Pop Sugar. Feel free to follow along!

Here's the books I've read so far:

This was my "Book Turned into a Movie." I saw the movie with a friend when it came out and was intrigued enough to read the story. I enjoy Hillenbrand's style so I might be biased. She writes in an engaging manner that makes me care for things I would normally brush off. This guy has had about seven different lives. He was a punk kid turned All Star high school athlete turned Olympic runner turned World War II bombardier turned life raft survivor turned prisoner of war. If you want to read incredibly hard facts about the war and especially POWs, but also be inspired, you should read this.

This was my "Book Written by a Female Author."  I read the Princess Diaries series as a kid and her novels are pretty much the same standard. They're not meant to be anything thought provoking or serious. And this book certainly delivers. She falls for her neighbor's nephew. Only it's actually the nephew's FRIEND who he asks to PRETEND to be him so he could sleep with a supermodel. You can pretty much fill in the gaps. It's pretty funny because that's kind of Cabot's style. If you want to not think about anything and lose yourself in a predictable story that fills you with warm fuzzies, you should read this.

This was my "Book with a Number in the Title." It's the last installment of a trilogy. It's essentially a YA version of the bachelor, but like slightly more political because whoever wins gets to become a PRINCESS in the royal family. It's set in the future where America has divided its citizens into castes. I think you can tell what happens to the protagonist. As I was reading this, I kind of realized how poorly written it was. But I needed a quick read because I was getting behind!

This was my "Book that Scares You." I read it because my co-worker recommended it, but I told her it'd be too creepy. But then I saw the book challenge and figured I'd kill two birds. Just like Carrie probably would. Only instead of birds she'd kill people. This book was incredibly well-written and had multiple perspectives, which I appreciate. It's a book that I should never have read without the sun as a companion, but I'm glad I challenged myself. If you want to read a GOOD, but scary book, you should read this. 

This was my "Book Based on the Cover." I spotted on a blue book display at my library. Then I looked at the summary and it's about a graduate student who starts working at a halfway house and feels so out of place. 1. I love fish out of water plots. 2. I felt like this was kind of a parallel to my work at the youth house. If you want to know how it feels to overanalyze almost every decision you make to an almost painful extent for fear that you'll be irreparably damaging someone in the house, you should read this.
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I'm hoping to keep you guys up to date with the books I've been reading. Hopefully, writing these will help me hold myself accountable!