Hello 34!

Yup, it’s my birthday today. Holy crap… 34.

And here is 35 things I hope to achieve before I turn 35 next year.

  01. Get another tattoo… or two
  02. Be able to do a handstand
  03. Do a photo a day on IG for a year
  04. Get my driver’s license
  05. Knit an infinity scarf
  06. Do the Body Boss program and complete it (including pre-training)
  07. Really learn how to read tarot cards
  08. Go camping
  09. Grow my hair past current record
  10. Adopt another cat
  11. Have 6+ house plants
  12. Be in four states at once
  13. Be an “interior decorator” for a friend
  14. Visit filming locations of The Goonies in and around Astoria, Washington
  15. Host a craft night
  16. Be a hair model
  17. Do an ASL music video
  18. Host a fondue dinner
  19. Create a non-profit website
  20. Have a vacation with an old friend or two
  21. Participate in the Zombie Walk
  22. Have $—- in my savings account for emergencies
  23. Lose 50 pounds
  24. Create two capsule wardrobes (spring/summer and cold rainy season)
  25. Build a snowman
  26. Find a boyfriend (Cheesy, I know but I want to have kid(s) eventually and there isn’t much time left!)
  27. Crochet a blanket
  28. Re-read the entire Harry Potter book series
  29. Go sky-diving
  30. Take a float plane to Vancouver
  31. Photograph a sunrise and a sunset in the same day
  32. Go in a sensory deprivation tank
  33. Go on a road trip
  34. Do 5 new 1000-piece puzzles
  35. Plan something for my 35th birthday

(I will come back to this post and update it whenever I achieve one.)

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All I can say about the past two months… ugh. Venting, begin.

– I ended up deciding to move back to Victoria after my summer job in Vancouver. I realized that it was just impossible to settle there on my own… it’s CRAZY expensive living there and the jobs I could find wouldn’t pay enough. Hopefully someday I’ll get a good opportunity. In the meantime, I’m okay living in Victoria, it’s much preferred anyway. Vancouver is too “city” for me. I sure will miss my Vancouver friends though!!

– I had an interview with Starbucks here in the spring in case my summer job didn’t hire me. Both ended up hiring me after all so the manager at Starbucks said I have a place if I end up returning to Victoria afterwards. Well, I returned so I emailed her twice, no reply.  Since I returned, I’ve applied to at least 10-15 places. No luck. Good thing I have occasional respite work and graphic design work to keep me afloat.

– I went off birth control, it was making me gain more than I should have. My hormones were CRAZY for a while too.

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It’s getting much better though. I also went through a really bad vertigo episode in August then I experienced dizziness with ringing ears at least every other day for quite a while. It is now down to once a week. This episode heightened my anxiety, I was almost always afraid it’d happen again and didn’t go out much. That has improved over time as well.

Venting, end.

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Clearly, I needed to find something to do to keep myself sane until I have a job and a stable routine. So I’m going to completely focus on improving myself and get myself healthy as I can be. I also hope to lose 50 pounds.

I’ve decided to start transitioning to a vegan diet. I already don’t eat dairy except for the occasional sprinkle of cheese (rare!) which is making this change easy. So far I’ve only ate meat (only chicken or turkey) once a week in three weeks. I cut out eggs completely for three weeks now too. Hoping for zero animal products in my diet by December.

I bought the Body Boss Fitness guide as a birthday gift to myself almost a year ago. It’s a 12-week step-by-step exercise program. I LOVE it even though I have yet been able to do the full 12 weeks. I’ve attempted it many times and things keep coming up which made me have to stop for a week or so each time! I am now going to attempt it once again, and hopefully this time nothing comes up to hinder it.

I also will be walking for an hour daily.

To document my process, I will be posting regularly on Instagram – @chipsandsmoothies – and posting a Youtube video every two months.