2016 Wishings

Last year I had six goals for the year. I was able to pay off my student loans, I cooked and baked more, John and I went to New Orleans, and I got more blog followers. So I think I did pretty good.

I always like to keep my goals simple and general. Makes it easier to say I accomplished something at the end of year. This year, I have many of the same general wishings and goals.

Budget

Once again, things happened that meant we weren't able to save as much as we like. I would like to have a little nest egg.

Cook at Home More

This kind of ties in to the budgeting thing. But if we cook at home more, we'll be able to save money by not going out. Plus, cooking at home is always more healthy. I cooked quite a bit last year and I would like to continue that trend.

Work on the House

We've fixed up our house a little bit since we've been here but I would really like to do bigger projects to make the house look a little better.

Read More

I didn't read half as many books as I wanted to last year. I know that a lot of that had to do with my school readings but I hope I can read at least A LITTLE more than I did this year. I feel like there were a lot of good books I missed out on.

Exercise & Eat Better

Sitting at a desk all day isn't the best way to achieve a slim figure. Hell, not even a healthy one. This year I really want to start working on getting into a regular exercise regime. Along with that I would like to eat better. Overall, I just want to be healthier.




What are some of your resolutions and goals for the new year?

2015 Blog Goals - How Did I Do?

At the beginning of this year, I made some blog goals that I thought would be pretty easy to achieve. Now that it's the end of the year, I think it's time to look back and see what I did and didn't quite get around to.


1.) Get More Followers - I can honestly say that I was able to accomplish this! I'm so happy. I still don't have thousands and thousands of loyal (or hell even occasional) readers but I do have more followers over all my social media accounts. So yay!

2.) Make a Sitemap - Nope. This one did not get done. At all.

3.) Do a Guest Post - Yes! I did this one. I actually did a few guest posts this year and I totally loved it.

4.) Post More Recipes - I did this one also. I cooked a lot more in the beginning of the year but I was able to post more than I did last year. Win!

5.) Get Personal - I'm not too sure how to judge this one. I feel like there isn't much in my life to discuss but at the same time I did feel that I got a little more personal. Maybe this one will roll over onto next year's goals too.

6.) Amazon Associates - I did become a member of Amazon Associates but didn't receive any money from it. Still, I consider it a win.


There were a few things I accomplished this year (blogging-wise) that I never set out to do so I thought I'd update you on those as well.

• Sponsored Posts - I did about six of them in all and I really loved it. It helped me tie in products that I actually use to anecdotes that fit on the blog. It was a lot of fun and I was able to try out some really neat products. 
• Media Kit - I did my first media kit this year. I don't have a lot to put on it yet, but I like the way it turned out. Hopefully in this next year I'll be able to work on it more and send it out. 

There were a few things I need to work on in the next year. Most notably the amount of posts I wrote. I was doing really well in the beginning of the year but after leaving my job(s) blogging kind of fell to the wayside. It probably would have been the best time to focus on the blog but that's not the way my mind works. So hopefully this year with a job, and a routine, and more planning and organization I'll have more posts to share.


What were your goals for the year? Blogging or otherwise? How did you feel you did on those goals? What are some of your goals for next year?

2015 - In Movies & TV

January

• Detachment - Tony Kaye
• Maleficent - Robert Stromberg
• The Maze Runner - Wes Ball

• Supernatural - Season 8 
• Peaky Blinders - Season 1 

February 

• 10 Things I Hate About You - Gil Junger 
• She's All That - Robert Iscove 
• 8 Mile - Curtis Hanson 

• Supernatural - Season 9
• Transparent - Season 1 
• Awkward - Season 1, 2
• Great British Baking Show - US Season 1 
• Broadchurch - Series
• Downton Abbey - Season 5 
• Switched at Birth - Season 3 

March

• Gone Girl - David Fincher
• The Boxtrolls - Graham Annable  & Anthony Stacchi 
• Juno - Jason Reitman 
• Lucy - Luc Besson 

• Awkward - Season 3 
• Hannibal - Season 1 
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - Season 1

April 

• The Fast and the Furious - Rob Cohen 
• 2 Fast 2 Furious - John Singleton 
• Tokyo Drift - Justin Lin 
• Fast & Furious - Justin Lin 
• Fast Five - Justin Lin 
• Fast & Furious 6 - Justin Lin 
• The Imitation Game - Morten Tyldum 

• Parenthood - Season 1, 2
  

May

• Interstellar - Christopher Nolan
• We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lynne Ramsay 

• Call the Midwife - Season 4
• Mr. Selfridge - Season 3 
• Parenthood - Season 3, 4, 5 

June 

• Project Almanac - Dean Israelite 
• Serena - Susanne Bier 

• Switched at Birth - Season 2

July

• My Neighbor Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki 
• Howl's Moving Castle - Hayao Miyazaki
• Jurassic World - Colin Trevorrow
• Unbroken - Angelina Jolie
• Ex Machina - Alex Garland

• Orphan Black - Season 1, 2 
• Sense8 - Season 1 

August

• True Story - Rupert Goold
• Leap Year - Anand Tucker

• Rectify - Season 2
• The Newsroom - Season 1, 2
• Under the Dome - Season 1, 2
• Parks &  Rec - Season 1, 2

September

• The Age of Adaline - Lee Toland Krieger

• Parks & Rec - Season 3, 4, 5, 6
• The Fosters - Season 3.1

October

• Straight Outta Compton - F. Gary Gray
• Cinderella - Robert Stromberg
• Ride Along - Tim Story
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Lorene Scafaria
• Homeward Bound - Duwayne Dunham 
• Back to the Future - Robert Zemeckis
• Back to the Future II - Robert Zemeckis
• Back to the Future III - Robert Zemeckis
• Big Eyes - Tim Burton 
• Get Hard - Etan Cohen 
• The Road Within - Gren Wells
• Tomorrowland - Brad Bird
•  Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Alfonso Gomez-Rejon 

• Gotham - Season 1
• Gilmore Girls - Season 1 

November 

• Max - Boaz Yakin
• Southpaw - Antoine Fuqua 
• Inside Out - Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
• Pride and Prejudice Miniseries 

• Gilmore Girls - Season 2, 3, 4, 5
• The Returned (French) - Season 1
• The Blacklist - Season 2
• Master of None - Season 1 

December 

• Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials - Wes Ball
• Mulan - Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook
• The Incredibles -  Brad Bird 

• Gilmore Girls - Season 6, 7
• Black Books - Series 1, 2 
• The Detectorists - Series 1
• Supernatural - Season 10 
• Mercy Street - Season 1
• Making a Murderer - Season 1 

MOVIES 

New Favorite: Maze Runner (I & II) 
Old Favorite: Mulan
Surprise Like:  Maze Runner, Straight Outta Compton 
Surprise Hate: Serena, Max 
Favorite Documentary: Making a Murderer? 
Overrated: Mad Max (didn't finish) Serena
Underrated: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Ex Machina 
Made You Laugh: Get Hard
Made You Cry: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl 
Good Weird: Ex Machina, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Bad Weird: Mad Max (didn't finish) 

TV SHOWS

New Favorite: The Detectorists, Master of None  
Old Favorite: Gilmore Girls, Mr. Selfridge 
Surprise Like: Making a Murderer
Surprise Hate: Jessica Jones (didn't finish the season) 
Worst Ending: Making a Murderer
Best Ending: Parks & Rec
Overrated: Supernatural 
Underrated: The Detectorists 
Made You Laugh: Master of None, Awkward
Made You Cry: Making a Murderer
Good Weird: Black Books 
Bad Weird: Under the Dome