Hey all! Yes, I've been quiet for months. Rest assured, this is not a bad thing. No news is good news with me. My quiet on my blog essentially means that I haven't had any emotional disturbances that had me turn to my blog to vent and cope. While my blog used to be a chronicle of my life, now it's become a method for me to move forward after tough times. Granted, it's not always that, but it is often what I use this platform for now. That's something I've learned about myself in the past year.

Speaking of past years, it's time to analyze my previous year and previous year's resolutions, as well as make some new ones. Let's see how we did.

Last year's resolutions

1. Be feeling more emotionally healthy in six months - Fail...but success

I wouldn't say this happened. It was a lofty goal, and that was good. It really took me almost a full year before I really felt back to normal, but I DID get back to normal. And that's the big reason why this is still a success despite it not happening in the time I specified. I do feel like my proactive approach of going to see someone to deal with all the emotional turmoil of the fall of 2013 was wise. Big thanks to everyone that was there for me while I was at my lowest point. You know who you are, and you're all amazing people. I really couldn't have done it without you.

2. Replace my car - Success

Success! See February 2014 for that news.

3. Take a trip or three - Fail

I'd have to say this was a fail. I wanted to go so many places, but ultimately I only made it home to visit family, to Eau Claire a couple times, and that's about it. This goal still needs to happen though.

4. Get out of my comfort zone - Success

A year ago, I was still pretty new to Des Moines. I had a lot of new acquaintances, but nothing solid yet. I did a lot of sitting around. I can easily say I got out there and did a lot of socializing. Despite my introvert nature, I made a lot of new friends and found a great core group...or two actually. I tried out new things, and really came in to my own here in Des Moines. I think it was a great year in that regard.

5. Be more physically active - Success

As cliche as this resolution was, I actually succeeded. It took a while though. Over the summer, I did a few bike rides that were great. Eventually the weather changed, and it got harder to get out there and bike. In November, I hired a personal trainer. Since then, I've moved on to a group fitness gym membership. So I'd say I really nailed this one despite it taking a while to achieve.

6. Save, Save, Save - Moderate Success

I didn't save as much as I'd like. I did set up automatic transfers again. However, there were a lot of expense changes with the new vehicle, the new place to live, and some frivolous purchases. Still, I have more saved than I did a year ago, and I'm proud of that.

7. Take on new challenges and hobbies - Fail

This really didn't happen. Don't get me wrong, I'd still like to do so, but I really didn't put much effort into it this past year.

8. Continue to write regularly - Fail

I do really enjoy writing, but when it comes to this blog, as I mentioned earlier, it's more of a place of self examination now than anything else. I write when I am feeling down and need to vent. But you know what, that's totally ok. Even with that, I had some great successes this year with writing. So I'm happy.

9. Do something creative - Moderate Success

Jessica the Nerd happened for a while. After my former roommate moved in, I stopped making the videos. I was really enjoying them, and now that I'm living alone again, I think I need to get back to being a content creator. It was fun, and it really felt like a great way to express myself.

10. Change my routine wardrobe - Success

Much like the being more physically active resolution, this took a while. But I did eventually change things up. I think it took a while due to my depressive state throughout a good portion of 2014. Once the depression lifted, I found myself really eager to change things up. I actually decided to join StitchFix to try new things too. It's been great so far. I feel good about the changes I've made.

Overall Verdict of 2014

Not too bad. I had some successes and some failures. All in all, I'm proud of my journey through the year. I came out of 2014 much better than I came in to 2014. That's saying a lot. I'm healthy now, both emotionally and physically. I have a great support group and a lot of great friends. I'm doing new things. I'm working out. It's all been a great step in the right direction for me.

I think another big positive for me is that I've moved on from all the turmoil I struggled with a year ago. That's huge. If there's anything I am most proud and happy about, it's that.

2015 Resolutions

Now that I've looked at my previous year, let's look to the future. Here are my resolutions for this year:

1. Stay active

I'm really happy with how I've been with my physical fitness and my health. My goal is to maintain that level of fitness and health throughout the year. I like how working out makes me feel afterwards (despite the fact that during the workout is torture). I really hope that this year is the year that has me focused on a future path of health.

2. Eat better

Great Hera, do I ever eat terrible! Despite the physical fitness, I still get pizza a lot. I have thankfully cut the soda again, but I really wish I could get myself to be interested in cooking again. It's so hard to cook for one person. Still, I really would like to change this bad habit and cook for myself more.

3. Spend less time on social media

I'm really terrible about use of Facebook and Google+. I know you don't see a lot of posts from me, but I will spend a lot of home time staring at a screen, and I need to change that. I will have to plan on taking hiatuses from social media for chunks because I think I waste a lot of time on there.

4. Follow through on personal projects

I've been meaning to develop jessicathenerd.com for how long now? Almost a year? Yeah, that needs to happen. I need to jump on some other projects too, like making an inebriator, or learning to sew the rest of my jedi costume. Time to set some goals and make them happen.

5. Less frivolous spending

I really need to be smart about how I spend money. I could be saving so much more, and instead I do things like buy new tech or some other stupid thing. I need to budget a bit more on how much free money I have to spend in a month, and that should help.

6. Less screen time overall

I spend a good portion of my life in front of a screen, be it a monitor, a phone, a tablet, or a TV. Sometimes I'm on more than one at once. I just would like to have less of it and do other stuff sometimes.

7. Read More

I've already started down this path with an Audible account, but I'd still like to read more anyway. When I was younger, I read a lot. When I got out of college, that stopped. Audible has really helped me enjoy literature again, though listening is different than reading. I would like to get my head back into a book.

8. Have fun

I like to have fun in everything I do, but I think I'd like to make it a goal this year. I want to have more fun of all types. Last year was a lot of wallowing that changed into something much more positive towards the end. I want this 2015 to be a super fun year.

9. Learn a new skill

This skill has to be unrelated to what I do for work. It can be technology related though. It just has to be something new.

10. Stay Happy

Depression is not fun. Now that I've dug myself out, I'd like to stay here in the happy, healthy land. :)

Closing Thoughts

2014 was a recovery year. I think 2015 will be a growth year. Things are moving in the right direction, and I'd like to keep things headed that way. I have a good feeling about this year. As I said in my introduction, typically when I'm silent on my blog for a lengthy period of time, that's probably good news. It means nothing tumultuous has been happening in my life. So here's hoping my blog will be fairly quiet this year. That said, it's overdue for a life update. I plan on getting to that in the next few days. So stay tuned.

Thanks again to all of you that helped make 2014 become the positive year it ended up being. I wish all of you a great 2015!