Going out with a BANG!

Good Bye 2020...

This has been an interesting year. To start, I would like to take the time to review my new year's resolutions I made at the start of this year.  I'll show my new resolutions next post.

1. Read 30 books: This one was actually much easier than I thought. I've read over 40 books this year. I hope to read more since I have a kindle again. I over-read the old one I had at the start of the year. It lasted about 2 years I think. My favorite books were: 
2. Post on the blog once every month: I'm so glad I've succeeded at this.  I thought it was going to be harder than it was. I just thought about it as 12 blog posts every year. I might increase it to 14 or 15 next year. I plan to do many things. 
3. Increased Fluency in French and Spanish: I gave up French halfway into the year because I found no reason to learn it. I got better in Spanish though. I started using MemRise for learning, which really helped. It's free and worth it. 
4. Stay in Shape: Well...I dunno if I accomplished this as I should. Next time, I'll just put "Stay Active", because staying in shape is hard. 
5. Email my friends once a month at least: Now, this one didn't matter as much as I thought it did. There wasn't a month that I forgot to talk to somebody. 

How I changed

Reading my bible more

I found that having a devotional to study the Bible helps me so much. Opening the Bible and flipping to something random is not very efficient for me. Over the year, I've been more active in memorizing passages from the Bible. While I'm still young, I need to instill better values and fill my mind and heart with the Bible. I've memorized various verses, but I've also memorized Psalms 4 and 5, Proverbs 1 and 2, 1 Corinthians 13, and I plan to continue through Proverbs and brush up on Psalms 5. The best way for me to memorize passages is to read them aloud every morning and night. It also helps to memorize more than one verse so that I can remember the context and passage. 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1

Getting out

At the start of this year, I got into volunteering at a local ministry. It's really helped me learn about people and be less judgemental. While I still have a ways to go, It's helped me understand people more. I've made a couple of new friends and also have better relationships with old friends.  

My Handwriting

Over this year, I've been attempting to improve my handwriting. I finally found a practice I can do without all of the stress. I know my handwriting should be better than it is. The way I've originally been writing has hurt my hand, which makes writing harder for me. Thankfully, I finally have the motivation to try again. I might have less pressure on myself now that the year is almost over. It might be why I am more willing. I saw a change after the first day. I might be fooling myself; I hope not. How to Improve Handwriting.

Drawing

Ever since I'd started watching YouTube, my vision of my art has changed. Before I started watching the videos, I thought their views were the most absurd thing ever. I changed from, "I always fill up my sketchbook in less than one month" to, "I can barely fill half of my sketchbook in 2 months!!!". I found myself buying useless products like watercolor pens and micron brush pens because I saw them in videos. I found myself coveting the products that they used. In these last weeks, I am challenging myself to draw every day. My mom wanted me to draw for an hour a day. The first couple of days, I thought that was impossible. It's something I look forward to. I found that experimenting makes you want to do more. Lately, I've been redrawing older drawings with a brush pen, without guidelines. It's really fun!

Bullet Journaling

I really really like bullet journaling. It gives me a place to challenge myself, discipline myself, and test ideas out. I enjoy personalizing my journal. Because I have a lot of contacts on my email, I have a problem with contacting all of my friends. I have decided to add a page to it so that I can review who I've emailed and who I need to email. Also next year, instead of having a bookshelf for the whole year, I am going to have it for each month. I do enjoy the simpler journal planner though. This is all I'm going to say about bullet journaling because I'm going to make another post about it next year. 

Chocolate

Recently, I learned how to make hot cocoa bombs. They are fairly easy to make and I really enjoyed it. Also, earlier in November, I learned how to make filled chocolates. Unlike hot cocoa bombs, filled chocolates can be made all year long. Though I haven't mastered tempering chocolate, I still enjoy the process of making them using Almond bark, which is easier to use than tempered chocolate. Tempering is the process of ordering the cocoa butter crystals so that they align the right way; which makes the chocolate set properly. I think I might've done it one time, but I didn't notice it before I put it in the fridge.  I also found a way to sweeten unsweetened Baker's chocolate to make sugar free chocolate for my sister. My mom recently bought me a case so that I can store all my supplies for making chocolate. It is very essential for efficiency. 

Other Stuff

A way I have found to put myself into a habit is to start small. I've heard it so many times, but I finally tried it and it worked. I don't know why I was surprised that it did work because I had heard it so many times. I finally kinda started back journaling(not bullet journaling). First, every day I wrote down "Thank you Lord for...", sorta like gratitudes. Then it grew to actual sentences. Now, I'm actually writing a whole paragraph a day, along with a gratitude or two. It helps me remember what kept me present that day. 

What types of things have you learned in 2020?