2018 Highlights & Goals

Let's get straight to it: 2018 hasn't been my favourite. It's been probably one of the most difficult years of my life and I don't think I've ever been happier to see the end of it. This year, a lot happened and unfortunately, it isn't all the sort of things I wanted to happen. I fell upon some very difficult times but at the same time, I achieved a lifetime goal. So what did I do in 2018? And how did I do with my goals?

In 2018 I...

Bought a House

This year, John and I bought our very own house. It is the absolute highlight of my year and I couldn't be happier to be able to call myself a home owner. We first started looking for our place in February and put in our offer the same day we saw our place. In July we finalised everything and moved into our home. I couldn't have been happier to have our place and 5 months on, it finally feels like home. I'm so proud of us for finally achieving our goal and working hard to get to where we are now.

Made new friends

This year I'm made a handful of really good friends, two of which I would consider best friends. I'm not one to let a lot of people into my circle due to a lack of trust and things in common, but this year I've found a friends who I have a lot in common with and I can truly trust. I cannot express how happy I am to have them in my life and I can't wait to continue our adventures into the new year.

Got a hamster

I am a huge animal lover and after getting the house the only other thing I truly wanted was a pet. Knowing the amount of time John and I are home, the times of day we're home and the amount of commitment we can put towards a pet, a hamster fit the bill and I didn't realise how much I'd love our little Cracker. We bought him on the 1st December as an early birthday present for me and I have turned into a fully dedicated hamster mum. He gets all the things he needs and I feel like I'm treating him like a first child. We've already got an adorable bond and I feel like our little family is complete (for now).

I'm really thinking back and actually, those are my only highlights of the year. In 2018, I had struggles in all areas of my life that have really affected me in many ways. My confidence was shaken, I lost belief in myself and I became demotivated and lost. It affected everything including my personality and in turn my blog, happiness... everything you could think of. In 2019, I vow to turn it all around and undo the doings of 2018. Become myself again, find my motivation, find what drives me, be happy again. I've already started working on it over the past few months and I'm already a lot more confident, but I need to continue to work at it so that I can feel like myself again.

This year I achieved my goal to:

Buy a house and be creative.

This year, I truly lost sight of my goals from all the things that happened but I have managed to reach my main goal (buying the house) and also my goal to be more creative. I've continued my bullet journal all year and even managed to move onto my second journal. I also bought a bunch of crafts that I've been getting on with, especially over the Christmas period. I've even just bought a wood burning tool so that I can explore something new.

This year I didn't quite tick off any of my blogging goals, my goal to be happier in my own body or to read more. I think as I move into 2019, these goals will be a little more realistic but there was no hope for me to even think about reaching them in 2018. It's a shame, but it's the truth. And for the first time, I don't feel disappointed that I couldn't reach them because there wasn't really a chance for me to focus on them at any point. I'll be setting new goals for 2019 and I'm pretty sure I'll have a good enough chance to achieve them next year.

I'm really looking forwards to 2019. It's looking good already and I'm hopeful that it'll be an amazing year to come. I'll be sharing my 2019 goals tomorrow for my first post of 2019 and I'm looking forward to a better year. Bring on the adventure, friends, better blogging and a year of happiness.

To all my readers, I wish you a happy and amazing 2019. Love, Cat