Time for new resolutions

I'm going traditional with resolutions this year. It's two-fold; to lose pounds, and to gain pounds. That is, to lose weight and to save money. Both things took a hit last year, due entirely to me stuffing my face and spending too much money. This year it changes, but before I go onto that...

flashes in your eyes
gunpowder in bright colours
explosions deafen

The last thing of last year was to stay up and watch the fireworks. Ordinarily on new years eve I go to bed quite early, mainly because I work the next day, but with the new job I actually get bank holidays off. Admittedly I did not actually go out, so I didn't see them in Newquay, but I watched the London ones on the telly. They were quite nice. I did think at the time that the soundtrack was overly feminine, but I didn't realise at the time that this year is the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote.

Last year was on the whole successful, although my interest waned later in the year. Still, I was very happy with some of the things I had done; the Segway, the boat ride in Mevagissey (which now holds special memories for me), giving blood, making a cake from scratch, going to an escape room with my entire family, having afternoon tea at the Headland, and most importantly, starting to learn to drive. I'm going to continue with the driving lessons this year, and hope to pass my test. The biggest thing for me last year was obviously changing my job, which I am so glad I did.

I wasn't going to leave this post picture free, so to start with here are the presents I got for Christmas.

Narwhal slippers. Best thing about these is you can plug them in and keep your feet toasty warm!

Speaking of toasty warm....This is a heated pillow.

A Lindy Bop dress. This reminds me of patronuses.

On the left is the Chip I got for Christmas. On the right is the one I bought from the Disney store. Is it me, or is the one on the left so much better? Poor show Disney store.

A couple more Prima waxes. I wasn't going to get these because I opened my current tins the other day and it looked like they had gone mouldy. However, after speaking to the company that makes them I have been told that it is merely the wax and the colour separating. A quick mix and they will be fine.

Tea tree night mask from the Body Shop. I chose this myself after reading some reviews. Hopefully it'll clear my skin up a little.

I also went a little nuts on the spending this month. Blame Country View Crafts for having an advent event! These are only some of the things I got, but these are definitely my favourite. As well as the Christmas paper pad, Christmas paper dolls, and the kraft resist pad, I managed to get the basic village dwelling die, the bell tower, the bungalow, the winter village and the one I have been craving for ages, the village manor die. And they were so much cheaper than I have seen them anywhere else! It was the price that put me off before, so I was ecstatic on the day that I saw these on the special offer list. I've got another parcel from them on the way, which is some more Prima goodies.

I know I have bought a load of stuff, but I haven't had the chance to use it yet. I have still been working hard on the cross stitch, and am making my way steadily through the 3rd page. I have a target date to get this done by, as well as the frame it is going in, so I need to work hard. However, I also have other things to do (finish the tiger stitch for one), so there will be other crafts on here soon.

As I have said before, this year is about losing weight and saving money. I wont be weighing myself, as that would mean buying a set of scales, but I have bought myself a stepper and a fitbit flex 2 (still waiting for that to be delivered) in the hope it will spur me on to move more, and I am cutting down drastically on the amount of snacking I do, as well as cutting out Ben and Jerry's pretty much entirely. I've got a little bullet journal in the back of one of my books. They are just little drawings really; one for No Spending Days, one for drinking eight glasses of water, one for 10,000 steps or 250 calories on my stepper, one for other exercise, one for completing my to do list, and a little jar for my total savings for each month. At the end of the month, I will take a picture of my progress in the journal, and post it on here so that my progress can be clearly seen. The to do lists are daily, and have six items on them. I am not sure why I settled on six, but I think it is because the quote 'I've believed as many as six possible things before breakfast.' I have set myself a target of 50% of the year to be No Spending Days. I'm not sure what is going to be harder, the losing weight or the saving money (although stopping buying fast food at work would be a great way of doing both). Today was day one, and as with everyone's resolution, the enthusiasm is there to hit targets. I have spent money, but all of it essential. I will be spending money tomorrow as well because I am having a driving lesson. I've not only done exercise, but done the 250 calories on the stepper plus 8000 steps.

Anyway, enough blathering on Happy New Year everyone, and here is to a successful, happy and healthy 2018.