Don’t worry– I’m not going to talk about every single thing that happened in 2012, because a lot of things happened. I was in a show. I broke my foot. I went to New York for the second time ever in my life. I lost my job. I became a for-real writer. Not a run-of-the-mill year!

But I do want to talk about how I did on last year’s resolutions: be weird, live with less, and know what I want.

On being weird, I’m gonna give myself an A+. You have no idea how weird, crazy, and scary it was for me to venture out and be a blogger. I have never done anything even close to freelance before, and always worked at a steady job with a regular income (even in college), so this was a big step for me! My blog also helped me work through writing outside my comfort zone. (Yeah, believe it or not, dropping f-bombs was not in my comfort zone in January of 2012.) I let go of the fear of offending a few people and wrote with my own voice and humor, and it paid off big-time. Weird is the word, guys.

Photo credit: Jessica Arden Photography

Living with less made a huge difference when I lost my job in July. We’d already cut back on a lot of things, but cutting back on a few more to make ends meet without a steady paycheck from me really didn’t seem that painful after the paring down we’d already done. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that my biggest gain in this area has been setting up a housekeeping routine for myself, and living without my maid service. I know, I know– that’s not a big deal for most people, and I was extremely blessed to have ever been able to afford a maid service, but I was totally used to it. It’s not my favorite thing to do without, but now at least I know I can!

I’m still working on that whole knowing what I want thing. Like most people, I’m very good at verbalizing what I don’t want, but knowing and verbalizing what I do want is harder– maybe because once it’s out there, I have no excuse not to go after it! More verbalizing, fewer excuses will continue to be a goal in 2013 (and the rest of my life, I’m sure).

How’d you do on your 2012 resolutions?

Here’s what else has been going on this week:

Continue reading →

I came across this today on Facebook, and I immediately started thinking about all the ways this applies to professional bloggers, too. (I am a professional blogger, lest you stick your foot in your mouth.)

Click to enlarge.

And so I do now humbly submit my version, Five Things Not to Say to a Professional Blogger:

Here’s what’s been going on in my bloggy little life this week:

Continue reading →

I didn’t really mean to, but in the past few weeks, I’ve given up face-wash/soap and shampoo & conditioner. That probably gives you a mental image of a be-zitted greasy-haired hippie chick, and that added in with my Project 333 may make you think I look like a homeless person, but I promise I don’t.

I’m working toward a minimalist lifestyle, and trying to get rid of the things I don’t really need. I don’t really need a crammed-full closet (hence Project 333). And, as it turns out, I don’t need expensive shampoos or face washes, either. My skin and hair are happier without.

Why I Don’t Need Face Wash

I started using the Oil Cleansing Method. I won’t go into a whole bunch of detail here since you can Google it and find out anything you want to know. I will say, however, that my face immediately loved this and I didn’t have a weird, awkward transition period like some of the posts talked about. The zits I had dried up without that weird flakiness that happens with benzyl peroxide or whatever else you can put on them, and my pores look slightly smaller to me (although I admit that might be just wishful thinking).

Continue reading →