Another year has gone by, and what a crazy year it's been! I've switched jobs, moved across the country again, and even sold my car! With all that happening, sadly, this is my FIRST post since last year's resolution post. To be fair, I rebuilt my website this year, and for a good portion of 2016 I didn't even have a system for writing posts. This post is about a week late due to the fact that I spent the last two weeks building out support for my blog on this version of the website. So...excuses out of the way, let's get on to the reflection on last year's goals.

Last Year's Resolutions

1. Write at least 6 posts or videos - Giant Fail

This is really no surprise to me. My excuse for the blog is in the opening paragraph, but that doesn't explain my lack of videoing too. I've seen comments on my YouTube channel marking two years time since my last video. My priorities have been elsewhere, what with the move and getting situated here in Boston. I don't know that any videos will happen again until I leave this apartment for a larger space. We'll see though.

2. Make measurable progress on R2-D2 - Success

Admittedly, my statement in the paragraph following this goal was to have frame, dome, and legs in place. However, I learned how unreasonable that goal was after I got started. I'd have had to put a lot of money and time in to get the dome and legs done. However, I DO have a complete frame, which is definitely measureable progress. All things considered, it's a lot of progress given the disruption in my life this year. You can see photos of my R2 frame here.

3. Do something physically active at least twice a week - Mixed

Some weeks have been better than others with this. When I was in Iowa, I was very regularly doing HEMA at least once a week. Sometimes I was doing home workouts. Then I moved. Now, while I'm a member of a HEMA school here, which is supposed to be twice a week, I'm not always going twice a week. I'd say it's more often once a week than anything. I am, however, walking a lot every day now that I don't have a car. According to my smartwatch, I'm meeting my heart activity goal every workday. Still, I'm not quite sure I can say I'm active enough. So definitely mixed.

4. Take at least 2 trips somewhere for myself - Mixed

I've actually traveled a lot this past year. I went to San Francisco for a week in May. I went back for two days in June. I moved to Boston. I traveled to Norwalk, Connecticut and Rochester, New York for work. I went back to Wisconsin twice and Des Moines once. Some of these trips were for work. Some of them were for professional development. Some were for visiting family, but only one of them was really because I truly just wanted to go somewhere.

5. Create a healthier food plan and follow it - Another Giant Fail

Why is food so hard? Two years in a row now I've said this, and I've failed miserably. I am so damned lazy when it comes to food planning. Seriously, if I planned for food, I'd save so much money! Such a waste.

6. Drink more water - Fail

What can I say? I like soda. I like water too, at certain times like after a workout, later at night, when I'm outside in the hot sun, and when I'm dehydrated. Unfortunately when I'm not in those scenarios, I go for the sweet stuff instead. Bad Jess! Bad!

7. Pick up new hobbies / re-learn old ones: aka sewing - Fail

I did not do this. I have no excuse. There was time. I just... didn't.

8. Improve my makeup skills - Resounding Success

Thank you, Sephora free makeup classes! I got really good at the smokey eye technique in the third quarter of the year. I'm actually really proud of it. I still have things to learn. My next goal is liquid eyeliner. I tried it out for the first time today, and holy hell was it bad. I need lots of practice before I can be seen even in private with that stuff on. Regardless though, I'm enjoying learning more. It's fun and makes me feel good about myself.

9. Do something creative for myself - Success

My easy example is this website. I built the beginnings of it back in May / June, and I've been ever so slowly improving it since. Yes, some of it is technical, but the design elements are entirely my own. I'm really proud of how it's turned out so far.

10. Stay emotionally healthy - Mixed

With all the change happening in my life this year, my emotional health has been fluctuating a lot. It's been especially challenging with being alone and so far away from all the people I love so much. I am making new friends, but even with that, my emotional stability has had some extreme highs and extreme lows this year.

Summary Judgement of 2016

We have 4 fails, 3 successes, and 3 mixed results. That's actually exactly the same results I had in 2015. So at least I'm consistent! Shooting for 60/40 was definitely aiming for over acheiving. What a crazy year 2016 was though! It feels a bit like I've been swept into a maelstrom and I'm trying to find my way to smooth water. I know people call it a dumpster fire of a year. It wasn't quite that for me, but it was all over the place. I hope 2017 is smoother, though I expect it probably won't be.

2017 Goals

Goals, you say? Why not resolutions, Jess? Isn't that what they're called? New Year's Resolutions? Well, person reading this post, in reality that's not what these have become for me. I came to the realization this year that I'm really just setting goals for myself for the year. So why not just call them that? Furthermore, I'm going to divide them up into categories just to make it more complicated. So here goes:

Professional:

1. Learn at least 3 new programming languages

Continual learning is really important in my field, and plus, I just want to keep getting better at what I do. So I want to find at least three languages and learn them reasonably well. Right now I'm learning TypeScript. So that's one, I guess. Though it is a bit cheating since it's an extended version of JavaScript.

2. Learn at least 3 front end frameworks I don't already know

I'm very comfortable in Angular 1 and 2. This site is built with Angular. I'd like to learn React, Ember, and Vue. They're all very popular frameworks, and I think learning each one gives me much better insight into the front end as a whole. I think this goal flows into the next professional goal as well.

3. Follow through on at least 2 personal coding projects not including this website

Lately I've found coding at home to be addicting, which is a drastic change for me. In the past I've found it has burned me out. Now I'm just eating it up. I've been staying up way too late some nights coding on this website. Whole weekends have vanished into this project. It's been a lot of fun seeing it grow, and I'd like to see that happen with other project ideas I have too.

Personal:

4. Get out of my house / comfort zone more

Seriously, I stay in too much. I have always been perfectly comfortable staying in my apartment for an entire weekend lost in a video game, working on a project, binging a show, or what have you. While I know there's nothing wrong with that, I feel like I've been such a hermit over the past year. I know it contributes to my emotional health fluctuations. I need to get out there and be social. I'm not going to grow as an individual if I stay in my comfortable places and bubbles. I need to go out when I don't feel like it. I need to go to places I wouldn't normally. I feel like I'm not really living, and well...cliche but you only live once.

5. Don't settle anymore

I've done a lot of settling in my life. I do things because they are seemingly the best thing at the time regardless of whether they are the thing I want or not. This is bad. This is not acceptable. I need to change this behavior. I need to start saying no to things I don't want and yes to the things I do. If the things I do want are not there yet, I need to wait and / or work harder to get them. If there is any goal for me in 2017, this is it.

6. Stop thinking and start acting / doing

I have a LOT of ideas. Some of these ideas are creative writing. Some are web projects. Some are start up ideas. Some are just weekend projects. What do I do? I think about them a lot. What don't I do? I don't make them a real thing. This is another thing that needs to change. I think my motivation at the beginning of this year has been great. I just need to keep up the momentum.

7. Get my retirement plan in order

I've been actively avoiding this, to be honest. It's one of those things that I know is really important, but I just don't want to think about it. I need to though. I have retirement plans at several different former jobs that I need to get rolled over, and I'd like to have a solid financial direction other than "save a bunch". I've been doing that last part, but I need to figure out how real adults do this.

8. Learn to not hate cardio

Yes, this is the obligatory "I need to get in shape" post. In truth though, this is less about getting in shape than it is about how much I really hate cardio. Cardio hates me too. We're not on speaking terms. I have no trouble with strength exercises. I just hate that high heart rate, no air in my lungs, need lots of water feeling. I know it really needs to change, though. That's what keeps a heart and body healthy. Stupid body and it's stupid needs... *grumble grumble*

9. Make use of my passport

Now that I finally have my passport, I need to make good use of it. Right now there is the potential for 2 overseas trips this year. I need to follow through on at least one of them.

10. Visit friends as often as possible

If I've been feeling lonely, there are ways to solve that. I have friends all over the country. I need to visit them more. I know without a doubt that I will feel better about life after seeing people I care about. I need to make this happen. There are 12 months in a year. Let's see if I can visit friends in different parts of the country at least 4 times. If that number is greater than 4, it's a giant success.

Closing Thoughts

As I mentioned, 2016 was all over the place for me. I hope 2017 is smooth, easy going, and fun. I really hope for the fun part. I hope you have a great 2017 too.