It’s my birthday, and today I turn thirty-four! I’ve always loved birthdays, including mine. You know my feelings on dessert, and I’ll take any chance to celebrate with the people I love! Birthdays are also the perfect opportunity to take a look back at the year that was. My thirty-third year has been a big one, and I am incredibly proud of the work that I’ve done to be the best version of myself.
This year, I lost 30 pounds! It required a pretty major shift in lifestyle and made me seriously reassess my relationship with food and exercise, but it’s been totally worth it. I reached my “goal weight” a few months ago, and I’ve been able to maintain it, which is really exciting. I’ve pushed myself, physically and mentally, way beyond my comfort zone…and it turns out that I was capable of a lot more than I was giving myself credit for all this time.
Less overall impactful, but still important, I started investing in skincare and really paying attention to how I’m taking care of my skin. For a long time, I would just buy the cheapest option to deal with whatever issue I was having at the moment. But, now that I’m older (and I suppose wiser), I realized that having a thoughtful skincare routine is really important. My skin is smoother, my pores less visible, my under eye bags lighter, and my fine lines less apparent. It’s been a bit of trial and error, but I’m in a pretty good place. I’ve shared some on Instagram, but I’m thinking of putting together step-by-step posts of my daytime and nighttime skincare routines. Is that something you would be interested in? Let me know!
Despite some major accomplishments, this year has still been challenging. In the year to come, I want to focus more on this platform and my social media presence…and figure out what my long-term plan is for all of it. I also want to work on coping with my anxiety. While I’ve learned to live with it, and it’s improved in some ways, I feel like I’ve taken a step backwards in others. Anxiety can be so limiting, and I don’t want to give it so much power.
Overall, I’m going into thirty-four feeling good about my life. I’m constantly surrounded by people (and dogs) who love and care for me. I’m healthy and my body still works pretty well. I live in one of the greatest cities in the world. I have a job that I like. There is so much to be grateful for as I close out my thirty-third year! Thank you for following along with my little corner of the Internet! I appreciate your support more than you know!
