Happy New Year, my dear readers and friends! I hope your first week of the year has been great so far!

As 2022 begins, I find myself thinking about the goals I want to achieve this year and reflect what I did the past year. We spent most of our time at home since the pandemic started. And because of that, it became hard for me to see progress in what I’ve become. That’s why I need to have the time to sit down and look back at all I have achieved for me to see where I’ve come from and to fully appreciate my progress no matter how big or small.

So with that, I am sharing you what I’ve accomplished the past year

Learned New Skills

It’s really fun to do something outside of your career. I remember 2 years ago, writing on a blog entry that I want to study baking. During the first quarter of 2021, I finally started doing it! I really enjoyed baking from mixing to decorating. Baking was my way of relaxing my mind. It became one of my stress relievers at home. In addition, I love the compliments I get from family and friends anytime I bake something extraordinary!

Baking requires exact measurements. Unfortunately, you can’t simply mix of this, a pinch of that, a handful of flour, and a few eggs, and expect to get the perfect cookie! So having an ingredient conversion tool really helps me when I was starting. You can convert between any of the units using this calculator. Alternatively, you can check more granular calculators for spoons, cups & ounces, alcohol-related measurements, gallons & liters, or units of weight.

Aside from baking, I also learned to make handcrafted beverages, and recreate my favorite Starbucks coffee at home when I decided to buy an espresso machine. I save $$ from buying expensive coffee, plus it’s fun!

Worked with big brands

In 2021, I’ve also achieved some collaborations with some pretty big brands. Working with different brands has been fun and a great experience. As part of these collaborations, I’ve managed to secure some pretty exclusive discount codes for you guys. I will be sharing them on my exclusive discount codes page to get some money off your next haul!

Feel good about my body

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with my body. Sometimes I look back on the way my body changed and try to pinpoint where things went wrong. You know, being healthy hasn’t always come easily to me. For years, I keep promising myself to focus on my health but I really can’t maintain it. However, I did learn new ways to love myself. I’m not striving for perfection, but I think being healthy and feeling good go hand in hand. When the confidence comes, I savor everything moment I have of it. I take pictures, I go out, and live my life as a happy me. 

Yes! I can wear swimsuits now! 

More Minimal

In the past year, I’ve started to appreciate that less is more. I know it will be hard for me to become a complete minimalist but I’m slowly taking a small step to become one. I stop consuming so much and learned to live a more simple life. I value experience more than material things. 

So thank you 2021 for being so kind. I only pray that 2022 will be better not just for me, but for everyone especially those who are struggling to survive. This year, I will do my best to improve my lifestyle so I can achieve my goals. My 2 realistic goals for this year is to:

Travel more. Traveling is something I enjoy and want to do more of this year. I already have a few trips planned, but would love to explore more of the Philippines this year. There are endless places on my list, so I want to cross a few of those off in 2022!

Another goal is to finish 12 books (or more). I miss my teen self who can finish a book in less than a week. So this year, I plan to put more time into reading. On top of that, I hope to expand the genres that I read.