This year I will ...

I've never been much into resolutions. They seemed so pretentious to me. I would say something like "This year, I will start exercising." or "This year, I will actually learn for the exams and remember their dates." (borrowed this one from schoolgirl-me) and know that I wouldn't stick to it. I'd be nice to, but I wouldn't.
This year I really feel the desire to change certain things in my life and I feel determined to go through with it. Of course you don't need a new year to start changing what you feel needs to be changed, but it's a nice occasion for it. Like a new start and a new chance to be a better me.
Here are my resolutions for 2015. What are your's?


1. EAT HEALTHY AND FRESH
2013 was a super healthy and fresh year for us. I reacted very badly on histamines and since that includes basically everything that is somehow preserved or contains flavor enhancers, we had to cook fresh every day. I also had to cut back on meat, dairy, gluten, coffee, chocolate and alcohol, so I'd say that's pretty healthy, too.
2014 got a lot better with the histamine. I could eat many things that made me nauseous before. I can even tolerate a whole espresso now and then (and I love coffee!). Or eat pizza. And tomatoes. And cheese. And while I'm thankful for the improvements, I'd like to get back to some of the habits of 2013. Bake my own bread. Buy organic. Avoid sweets and sugar (says the girl who got a whole IKEA bag full of sweets for Christmas). Try to stay away from processed foods and make more from scratch. Try out new fruits and vegetables. Reduce the number of pizza orders on weekends (we do that a lot).

2. REDUCE WASTE
The truth is: I feel bad when I end up with a mountain of plastic packaging after cooking a fancy dinner or when I see the amount of plastic bags from grocery shopping trips that we store in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. I'm no ecofreak. I think I just got more aware of the amount of unrecyclable waste that has no more use than to contain stuff and that will end up in landfills to take hundreds of years to decompose. I don't want to start about the risks of untested chemicals in plastics in direct contact with our food, but that's something I've been thinking about, too.
In 2015 I want to try to avoid plastic packaging, only drink water from glass bottles, cut back on disposable items, stock up on wooden tools and glass containers in our kitchen and bathroom and learn how to DIY cosmetic products like soap or lotion.

3. SIMPLIFY
In 2015 I want to declutter my whole apartment - closet, kitchen, bathroom, craft supplies, everything. I'm no-one with a strong emotional attachments to a lot of things, so that's a good thing when it comes to getting rid of stuff. I already started to clean out my closet and donated 4 large bags of clothes, shoes and bags to charity and didn't regret it for a second. Sorting through the craft supplies will be the real challenge. I'm more of a hoarder in that department and totally attached to every bead and every piece of pretty paper, but I'm determined to simplify.

4. QUALITY BEFORE QUANTITY
This goes along with my goal to simplify.  I want to try to buy less, especially clothing, but invest in a small number of timeless high quality pieces that I adore, that fit well and that will last for a long time.

5. GET ENOUGH SLEEP
Some people need a lot of sleep. I'm one of them. The boyfriend isn't. Our habit of going to bed and getting up at the same time means that one of us doesn't get the optimal amount of sleep and usually that's me. Coffee helps, but I can only tolerate as much as half an espresso per day and that's not enough to get me through the day after 5 hours of sleep. This year I'll make an effort to go to bed early and get enough sleep every night. Maybe create a little sleep schedule to help me stick to my goal.

6. LESS SCREENS
At work, I spend 99% of the time in front of a Computer, like many people do, I guess. When I come home I still have to catch up with orders from my shop or do blog stuff. Maybe we'll eat dinner in front of the TV and maybe I'll finish up some cross stitch portraits after that while watching a silly movie. And that's  not even counting smart phone screens. To be honest, you would be really lucky if you catch me not staring at a screen and I do want to change that. I like the idea of no screens after dinner or similar ideas, but since that's really not doable without neglecting the shop and the blog (I'm a busy person) I'd like to start somewhat smaller. I want to start with no smart phones in bed, no smart phones during meals. I want to go outside more, have more meals at the kitchen table, and turn the TV off whenever I'm not actively and interestedly watching.

7. SAVE MONEY
After years of being a full time student I'm now finally in a place where I can say that I earn money, meaning that the times where I lived on a student loan only are over and I actually have money left on my bank account at the end of the month (Hooray!). And while it's a great feeling to be able to afford a slightly better lifestyle than before, my goal in 2015 is to save money for travel and other bigger investments. I think putting 20€ into a money bank every week might be a fun idea as well but otherwise I have no specific plans so far.

8. READ MORE BOOKS
This is an old one. This resolution is on the list every single year. Why? Because there's just not enough time  to read all the books I'd like to read. Ever.
You won't get a 'read one book every week' challenge from me here, because I'm a 2000-pages-fantasy-series kind of girl who loves Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and everything Tad Williams does. My books will range between 400 and 1000 pages each and while I easily read those in a week when I was still in school, I need much longer now. To keep things realistic my goal for 2015 is to keep reading on public transport on my way to/from work, but take more time for reading at home.

9. TAKE MORE PICTURES
There are so many situations in the past that I wish  I had taken (more) pictures from. I have a disposable camera in my bag everywhere I go and I have my phone, obviously. Still I often forget to take pictures and regret it afterwards. This year I want to challenge myself to take pictures every day, in every situation, everywhere. There's no better way to keep the memories alive than through photographs!

10. DOODLE EVERY DAY
I want to work on my drawing skills in 2015. I believe that anyone can draw and I believe that I can draw, too, only my drawings never turn out on paper how they looked in my mind, which is totally frustrating. I'd like to practice this year and see if anything cute comes out of it.