Month: February 2019

2018 ACCOMPLISHMENTS LIST

Ashlee

2018 was an EFFING EXCEPTIONAL year, beyond any expectations I had of it, & beyond measure. I began the year feeling hopeful, but also really struggling with depression & anxiety. But due to me taking positive actions to improve my life, my life itself went from “barely getting by”, “surviving”, to me actively creating & shaping the kind of world I wanted to live in, & then beginning to live there. My essay MAGIC HOURS sums these feelings up best, but here is a VERY BIG & comprehensive list of all the things & actions I took & progress I made that took those feelings & made them REAL.

CREATIVITY & BUSINESS

CONCERTS

I saw a whopping 67 BANDS IN CONCERT IN 2018!!! (List in chronological order!)

  1. AJR (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  2. Al Stewart (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  3. Alan Parsons Project (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  4. Alice Merton (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  5. Andrew McMahon & The Wilderness (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  6. Ann Wilson (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  7. The Association (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  8. Bastille (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  9. The Beach Boys (With Special Guest John Stamos) (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  10. Beat Root Revival (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  11. Billy Joel (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  12. Blackfoot (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  13. Bob Dylan (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  14. Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  15. Brian Wilson (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  16. Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  17. Chicago (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  18. Chuck Negron (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  19. Chvrches (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  20. The Cowsills (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  21. Daryl Hall & John Oates (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  22. Dawes (Pepsi Center – Denver, CO)
  23. Deborah Bonham (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  24. The Doobie Brothers (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  25. The Eagles (Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL)
  26. Elle King (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  27. Firefall (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  28. Foreigner (With Rock Symphony Orchestra) (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  29. Foster the People (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  30. Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  31. Greg Kihn (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  32. Jeff Beck (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  33. Jeff Lynne’s ELO/Electric Light Orchestra (Pepsi Center – Denver, CO)
  34. Jimmie Vaughn Trio (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  35. Jimmy Buffet (with special guest Caroline Jones) (Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL)
  36. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  37. John Fogerty (Coachman Park – Clearwater, FL)
  38. Julian Frampton (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  39. Kandance Springs (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  40. KC & The Sunshine Band (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  41. LANY (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  42. Lords of 52nd Street (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  43. Lynyrd Skynyrd (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  44. Mark Lindsay (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  45. Michael Tolcher (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  46. Nathanial Racliffe & The Night Sweats (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  47. Panic! At the Disco (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  48. Paul Dowers (Elfers Community Center – Elfers, FL)
  49. Paul Rodgers (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  50. Paul Simon (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  51. Queensryche (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  52. REO Speedwagon (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  53. Rick Springfield (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  54. Roy Orbison (HOLOGRAPHIC CONCERT – Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  55. Ryan Kinder (Coachman Park – Clearwater, FL)
  56. Scorpions (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  57. Steely Dan (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  58. Styx (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  59. Tesla (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  60. The Turtles (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  61. Three Dog Night (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  62. Todd Rundgren (The Capitol Theatre – Clearwater, FL)
  63. Tommy Tutone (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  64. Toto (Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL)
  65. Train (Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL)
  66. Young the Giant (MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL)
  67. ZZ Top (Coachman Park – Clearwater)

FOODS

  • Went the whole month of October without eating any sweets as part of my self-directed NO SWEETS OCTOBER CHALLENGE!
  • Ate five servings of veggies & fruits every day for a month, as part of a FRUITS & VEGGIES challenge I did in August.
  • Tried macarons for the FIRST TIME EVER! Got a pistachio one from a local grocery store.
  • Went to Le Macaron for the first time & tried some AMAZING rose & coffee flavored macarons.
  • DRANK BOBA TEA FOR THE FIRST TIME, at the very wonderful Buttermilk Provisions in Wesley Chapel, FL.
  • Ate my first vegan doughnut ever at the aforementioned Buttermilk Provisions.
  • Made my first smoothie bowl ever (those acai-bowl looking things) & they are AMAZING so I make them a lot now.
  • Ate fried pickles for the first time ever (from Sam’s Beach Bar in Hudson, FL!). Ate them while sitting on the beach in the middle of break from jury duty.
  • Ate a mincemeat pie for the first time (from That Little Bakery Cafe in Elfers, FL!)
  • I have a screened in back porch now, & it’s lovely to sit out there on a warm morning & drink a cup of tea.
  • Got really good frozen yogurt at Sweet Frog.
  • Amazing combo I tried: vanilla white balsamic reduction over vanilla Haagen-Daaz ice cream with organic ribbon-sliced basil (thanks to the back description on the Alessi balsamic reduction for this recommendation!)
  • Tried a cherry mash candy for the first time.
  • Ate raw snap peas for the first time. I also really like to mix them with raw wild tomatoes.
  • Tried tostones for the first time (the lime ones are AMAZING).
  • Tried szechuan for the first time!
  • One of the best products I discovered was the Fat Toad Farm caramel, which is OUT OF THIS WORLD.
  • Decided I liked sparkling water after spending like a decade hating it. Favorite brands? Perrier (obviously), any La Croix in the slim cans (especially the blackberry cucumber one), & Icelandic.

PERSONAL

  • 2018 IS THE YEAR I BEAT MY DEPRESSION. It was clinical, it was scary, I discovered the tools I needed to teach myself how to be happy, I reinvented myself, learned how to be happy, & for the first time in nearly a decade, I AM DEPRESSION FREE. You can read more about that here.
  • Was part of writer & personal development expert Benjamin Hardy’s outstanding AMP Program (originally called 52 Weeks of Momentum) for the entire year. Thanks to this course & the people in it & the things I learned from it & the books I read because of it, I was able to TOTALLY TRANSFORM my life throughout the course of 2018.
  • Although I am usually amazed by & impressed by how much progress I am able to make in a year, 2018 is one for the books when it comes to reinventing myself. I started the year as a depressed & anxious person struggling to survive, & I ended the year as a confident, happy person with so many exceptional & exciting things in the works.
  • Quit the job that was a huge source of unhappiness & stress in my life so I could do a job I enjoyed more, even if the job I enjoy more still isn’t what I ultimately want to do. This was one of the biggest ways I upgraded this year.
  • Donated a HUGE amount of stuff to Goodwill, the Veteran’s Administration, Kidney Foundation, etc, & donated a bicycle to the amazing Eileen’s Place bike shop in Hudson, FL.
  • Got my hair cut short for the first time in a decade, & I love it so much more than having long hair! That was in February, & in September I got it cut even shorter. I LOVE IT.
  • Participated in Lake Jovita’s 5k Reindeer Run with my mom (it was her first 5k!) & won third place for my age category (by default, because I was one of three people in my category)!!! You were encouraged to wear a festive costume, so I dressed as “Indiana Jones, Christmas Tree Wrangler”. Did not win any costume prizes, but EVERYONE knows I had the best costume 🙂
  • Started listening to vinyl albums! We got a record player last Christmas, & I EFFING LOVE THE SOUND OF VINYL. Bought myself a few used vinyl albums, & I have listened to a good number of albums now on vinyl. And there are a whole bunch more of my favorites I’ve never heard on vinyl that I’m super-looking-forward to hearing on vinyl in the upcoming year. It just sounds so warm & wonderful.
  • Best things I discovered this year: Edgar Wright films, Chris Fleming, Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard/A True Star, Melissa Strype, The Mighty Boosh, Noel Fielding, Shrek Retold, Mission Impossible: Fallout, the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, the new-ish Star Trek movies, & watching musicals live.
  • Began investing, more officially, in the stock market & building a portfolio that I’m proud of!
  • Began listening to audiobooks frequently thanks to Hoopla, where I can listen to books for free using my library card! I highly recommend it, & they also have movies, ebooks, & albums!
  • Moved across town to a nice new house!
  • Improved my wealth mindset.
  • Connected with so many amazing, creative, kind, & intelligent people out in the world & by networking with people online.
  • For Halloween, dressed as an owl with flamingos!
  • Bought an AMAZING polka dot jumpsuit so I can be covered head to toe in polka dots. AND I also got a rainbow feather boa, which is so funky & is pretty much the funkiest thing ever when I wear it with my polka dot jumpsuit.
  • Participated in the Hillsborough River Half Marathon, hosted by Endeavor Racing! This was the first marathon event I participated in, I walked it rather than running because I don’t like running, & I had a marvelous time!
  • Bought some more plants, including a really great parlor palm. I’m setting up a mini makeshift plant room in my bedroom!
  • Got a lot more adorable plush animals, including some Geico gecko plush, more plush owls, & a whole bunch of funky plush reptiles & dinosaurs, among other critters!
  • BOUGHT MYSELF A CHICKEN SUIT & A RUBBER CHICKEN, which I have made good use of in my comedy so far 🙂
  • Colored my hair a caramel auburn color, purplish black, dark brown, & probably some other colors I can’t think of right now.
  • FIRST TIMES:
    • Drove a moving truck for the first time! It was a 15′ U-Haul truck, which obviously isn’t big for a truck but the biggest thing I had ever driven prior to that was a Kia minivan, & I my car now is a Smart Car. My mom, who followed behind me in the moving truck (as I drove it by myself, nonetheless) said that I “drove it like I had been born in it”. The first thing I had to do as soon as I started driving it was do a u-turn on the highway, & I swung out enough not to run over the median strip AND managed to also not hit the other side of the road. I got the truck back in one piece & was very proud of myself.
    • Went to a skate park for the first time! Went down some ramps (I still couldn’t do an ollie) which freaked me out & I had a good time.
    • Used my weed eater as an edger in my yard to edge my sidewalks for the first time! I had been using one of these.
    • Got my first root canal! Not something to be proud of, but still an experience in itself. Video coming soon. The dentists all thought I did really well, especially considering I have never even had a cavity filled before.
    • Bought some wigs for the first time, which I use in my comedy videos.
    • Used a drill by myself for the first time to build a bin for my discoid roaches that I breed for my reptiles to live in!
    • Used a Hoover Floormate mop vacuum for the first time.
    • Used regular latex paint (from the paint section of Home Depot) for the first time ever! Got them to mix me up a really gorgeous shade of amethyst purple to paint my gemstone shelf/altar with.
    • Tried on a dress (one I can’t yet afford!) at Nordstorm. It was my first time doing something like this (trying on something really nice). I tried on the INCREDIBLY GORGEOUS Galvan London Clara dress, which was covered in hand-sewn gold sequins. So much fun to think big & think ahead!
    • Went to an At Home store for the first time! They have so much great stuff.
    • Changed the brake pads on my Smart Car for the first time that I’ve done it entirely by myself! (I’ve only ever done it one other time, & I did most of the work then but my dad did help direct me & this time I did it totally alone, & successfully too!)
    • Calculated my net worth for the first time.
    • Began making something I call “mind dump lists” to help organize my thoughts & keep my always-on mind working its best. Article coming soon!

PETS

  • Got my first pet reptiles ever!
  • Went to Repticon (the big reptile expo) for the first time ever!
  • Got 3 crested geckos – Toe Bean, Pinwheel Shark, & Baby Pineapple!
  • Got a pet leopard gecko – Squiggles!
  • Got a pet albino Pac-Man Frog, Frogecoin!
  • GOT A PET MILLIPEDE, which I’ve wanted since I was 10.
  • Got a pet Texas Gold Millipede & 5 pet bumblebee millipedes.
  • Got pet/feeder superworms & have been caring for them for the past 6+ months.
  • Raised a dermastid beetle larvae to an adult.
  • Bought & began raising & breeding discoid roaches to feed to my reptiles & my frog once their colony gets going.
  • Got dwarf isopods (pillbug-looking things) & other things I need for setting up bioactive vivariums.
  • Bought & began raising mealworms to feed to my reptiles.
  • Finally bought a one of those plastic poop scoops for my dog Sparky, which makes cleaning up the yard so much easier & I wonder why I didn’t get one sooner.
  • Bought my guinea pigs an EFFING ADORABLE bumblebee costume (video coming soon!)
  • Switched Moose, Olive, & Oreo (my guinea pigs) & Starlight (my/my sister’s rabbit) to Aspen shaving bedding, which is more cost effective & seems to work as well as the paper CareFresh-style bedding I had been using.
  • Upgraded my betta tank from a 1-gallon with no filter that I had been using for years to a 5-gallon with a nice filter & a heater, & again, it’s another thing that I should have gotten a lot sooner.
  • Upgraded my guinea pigs to eating Oxbow premium guinea pig food instead of the old cheaper brand they had been eating.

READING

  • Read a total of 61 books, up from 57 in 2017.

TRAVEL & EXPERIENCES

  • Traveled to Denver, CO for the first time ever!!! I specifically went there to see Jeff Lynne’s ELO in concert (like how I traveled to Houston, TX in 2017 to see Queen in concert) & had an absolute BLAST, even though I was only there for less than 20 hours in total.
  • Visited Rocky Mountain National Park & drove the entire Trail Ridge Road! This was one of the highlights of my year. The Rocky Mountains are GORGEOUS. I drove through the Arapaho National Forest as I drove from Denver to the Rockies & drove back through Estes Park. The whole area was beautiful, & at the highest point along Trail Ridge Road, I experienced an altitude of more than 11,000 feet! Jogged back to my car at this altitude & felt like I’d run a marathon (that altitude is a lot anyways, especially when you hail from Florida & had only been in Colorado for less than a day, like me!)
  • Tried rocky mountain “oysters” for the first time while I was in Denver, from the Buckhorn Exchange! They were delicious!
  • Toured Alpaca Magic, an alpaca farm & got to pet & feed alpacas for the first time ever! It was my first time seeing an alpaca in real life too. I also got to make a piece of wool out of alpaca fiber, as part of the alpaca farm tour experience & it was SO AWESOME.
  • HELD AN OWL FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! At Tampa Repticon in February of 2018. (Thanks, Friends of Largo Nature Parks!)
  • Picked blackberries for the first time at a farm with my mom (Bob’s Blueberry/Blackberry Farm in Hudson, FL)! We had such a good time & the blackberries were delicious.
  • Toured the awesome Wildlife Survival Sanctuary in Spring Hill, FL & saw tigers, lemurs, mountain lions, tortoises, leopards, & more!
  • Went to a movie theater to watch a film for the first time since I was a young teenager, so probably the first time in 7+ years or so! Went to see Bohemian Rhapsody on its opening night, & it was fantastic!
  • Went to a wind chime making class & made a funky beaded wind chime.
  • Went to Jury Duty for the first time & turned it into something awesome by TOTALLY SEIZING THE MOMENT. Will write an article about this soon!
  • Took the world’s most satisfying nap in my hammock on my screened back porch, after getting up early for an audition. The weather was PERFECT, it was warm & slightly breezy & birds were chirping but the air was quiet like a weekend afternoon.
  • Visited Citrus Mall in Citrus Park, FL for the first time. They’ve got some great shops there!

JANUARY 2019 AT A GLANCE

Ashlee

Highlights: Published my first Udemy course ever, walked a marathon, started learning Spanish, published 1 book, visited the Tampa Museum of Art & got to experience an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama (one of my favorite artists), began releasing 4th album & released two songs from it, released 1 short film, interviewed 1 person for my blog, sat in the front row at a concert for the first time ever thanks to some amazing serendipity, saw 4 concerts, read 7 books, set up my first biactive vivarium for my pet frog, got a new pet betta, designed a new logo for my company, & more!

CREATIVITY & BUSINESS

  • BOOKS: Published Flowers, 3 (a zine, this one of flowers I photographed at the Mercer Botanical Gardens in Humble, TX in 2017).
  • SHORT FILMS: Released “Birth of a Rock Star“, an awesome stop motion/silent animated film with a killer soundtrack by yours truly about an alien creature that crash lands in a strange world.
  • INTERVIEWS: Interviewed guitarist virtuoso Paul Bielactowicz!
  • MUSIC: Began releasing fourth album, “Down Past the Fountains“, which is a previously unreleased album I recorded when I was 16 & really into folk music & Bob Dylan. It was the predecessor to “Fields of Destiny”. I recently rediscovered the album & realized how much I liked it, so I’m putting it out there one song at a time over the span of the next few months! Released two songs from it – “You Can Try, But You’ll Never Own Me” & “Hard Road Blues” (which IMO really really sounds something Bob Dylan would have done, even down to the Dylan-esque harmonica solos). This makes me proud.
  • ART: Released two designs I’m especially proud of, “Valentine Owls” & “I AM EVERYTHING I NEED“. Made a lot of small art projects too & did a lot of things that I felt expressed my creativity in awesome ways.
  • RELEASED MY FIRST UDEMY COURSE EVER!!! “How to Make 3 Styles of Plush Bumbleebees”.
  • Designed a new logo for SHOP Ashlee Craft! It’s never really had an official logo before, & the one I designed is so fun & funky.
  • Helped my mom set up her first Etsy shop, “Amy Craft Studios“. She makes some amazing macrame, which you can check out here!
  • Researched hiring independent contractors, marketing ideas, vaudeville, & circuses, among other things.
  • Working on a really really cool short film! Downloaded the awesome 8mm Film app (for iPhone & possibly other platforms) to use for it, which is so amazing.
  • Did standup comedy at The Improv Comedy Club in Tampa, FL!
  • Made the first one I’ve made since I was a kid of an epic new product I’m launching soon! Also made some more art I will be listing in the near future!
  • Made a handmade pom-pom from scratch (aka without a pom-pom kit) for the first time since I was a kid!
  • Published the first Benjamin the Chicken video on my comedy channel!
  • Conceived & began planning a one-person show.
  • Did my first livestream ever on Instagram – a comedy livestream where I did a short standup set!

CONCERTS

  • Saw Diana Ross at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL.
  • Saw Gladys Knight at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL.
  • Saw Air Supply at the Capitol Theater in Clearwater, FL. Had a seat in the middle of the audience, but through a stroke of completely random good fortune & the kindness of a stranger, ended up sitting in the center of the SECOND ROW. Got to stand up against the stage, got to shake hands with both Russell & Graham, & got two souvenir guitar picks from the two of them. IT WAS OUTSTANDING!!! First front-row seats EVER!
  • Saw America at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL.

 

FOODS

  • TOP 3 FOODS: Sparkling water (especially Blackberry Cucumber La Croix in the slim cans), blue cheese (I wanna put it on almost EVERYTHING), & dark chocolate. Oh, & I’m also going through a yogurt phase.
  • Favorite invention of the month was a “brie burrito”. Recipe coming soon.
  • Ate at Panera for the first time ever! Had a good bacon tomato toasted cheese & a cappuccino 🙂
  • Used a tea pot to make tea for the first time & it tastes SO AMAZINGLY BETTER than just microwaving the water for a bit.

MEDIA

  • STARTED READING: (* means a re-read; everything else is new to me) Free Prize Inside (Seth Godin), Relentless* (Tim S. Grover), Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (T. Harv Eker), If You’re Not First, You’re Last (Grant Cardone), The 10x Rule* (Grant Cardone), Level Up Your Life (Steve Kamb), Show Your Work (Austin Kleon), Girl, Wash Your Face (Rachel Hollis), The 4-Hour Workweek (Tim Ferris).
  • FINISHED READING: (* means a re-read; everything else is new to me) The Whole30 (Melissa & Dan Hartwig), Mindfrick: Master Your Inner World & Succeed at Anything (T. Harv Eker), Free Prize Inside (Seth Godin), Relentless* (Tim S. Grover), Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (T. Harv Eker), If You’re Not First, You’re Last (Grant Cardone), The 10x Rule* (Grant Cardone). TOTAL: 7
  • WATCHED: (episodes in parenthesis for shows; all others are films; * means rewatches, all others are things I’ve never seen) Pee Wee’s Playhouse (Now You See Me, Now You Don’t), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Diaper (3, 4, & 5), The Big Lebowski, Shaun of the Dead, Imaginaria*, Austin Power in Goldmember, The Mighty Boosh (Electro), & 555 (Mom). TOTAL: 11
  • ALBUMS I LISTENED TO: (*First time listening to this album!) Listened to Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles), A Wizard/A True Star (Todd Rundgren), Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys), Highway 61 Revisited (Bob Dylan), Blonde on Blonde (Bob Dylan), Pray for the Wicked* (Panic! At the Disco, & The Hermit of Mink Hollow (Todd Rundgren). TOTAL: 7.
  • First song I listened to in 2019 was my FAVORITE (which has been my favorite for a few months now) – Todd Rundgren’s Just One Victory.
  • But the favorite music video I discovered this month is Mint Royale’s “Blue Song“, featuring one of my favorite comedians ever (Noel Fielding), plus Julian Barratt AND NICK FROST AND IT WAS DIRECTED BY EDGAR WRIGHT.
  • Also, rediscovered the songs Paper Birds by Parachutes & I Want Your Wonderwall, both of which together were a vital song combination for me when I was 18.
  • I also really love the song Feel it Still by Portugal. The Man.

PETS

  • Got a new betta (the first female one I’ve owned!) who I named Amethyst! My sister & I are sharing her. The betta we had before lived for close to three years but passed away at the end of 2018, so we were ready for another betta again.
  • Set up my first bioactive vivarium ever – for Frogecoin, my Pac-Man frog! A bioactive vivarium is a self-sustaining mini-ecosystem involving the use of isopods & other small invertebrates to keep the cage clean & they have a lot of benefits for pet reptiles & amphibians.
  • Got & began using this critter playpen so guinea pigs & rabbit can have more safe time out of their cages, even when I’m not able to supervise them.
  • Sparky, my Boston Terrier/Shih Tzu/Chihuahua mix, turned 9 years old!
  • Got a free aquarium that’s somewhere between 15 & 25 gallons I think that someone was giving away!

PERSONAL

  • WALKED A MARATHON without any training. First marathon I’ve both attempted & completed. Super proud of myself for this one, & a video & some blog posts on this topic are coming soon!
  • Began learning Spanish (again; I learned some last year but then fell off the bandwagon; this month I got back on!)
  • The first person I paid this year was myself, & the first person I worked for this year was myself.
  • I’m part of Benjamin Hardy’s AMP mastermind group this year too!
  • Began using the gamified to-do list app Habitica & it has been seriously been a productivity & organization game-changer, & it is seriously SO FUN.
  • Got rid of a good number of clothes & some knickknacks that I did not enjoy owning! Also worked more on sorting & organizing photos from my phone. Also improved (by embellishing or painting or changing in some way) several other “belongings of conflict” that it always bothered me that I owned because I thought they were bland even though they had cute, redeeming qualities about them. More on “belongings of conflict” coming soon!
  • Made my amazing dream trash can for my bedroom, which can be described as “yellow round trash can with sharks & rainbow gemstones”.
  • Painted & put adorable stickers on my new custom light switch plate cover, which I installed in my bedroom!
  • Told my mom I wanted to see Les Miserables live this year. Ended up seeing billboard for Les Miserables while out & about, just a few hours later!
  • Finally cleaned up one half of my bedroom, put stuffed animals on top shelf of closet, & decorated room more!
  • Began using a daily exfoliating facial cleanser, which I think has improved my skin!
  • Put my entire enamel pin collection up on the pin bulletin board I decorated!
  • Experimenting with taking the brain health supplement GABA to compliment the L-Theanine I’ve been taking for a long time.

THINGS I PURCHASED

  • Power-scented dog fragrance for Sparky
  • Lots of SUPER ADORABLE clearance Christmas ornaments
  • A GIANT YELLOW POM POM (like 6″ diameter)
  • A pink blown glass stegosaurus ornament
  • A winter TY Beanie Baby owl plush (one I don’t have for my collection of TY owls!), which I was prepared to pay $7 for but when it got run up it was on clearance for $1.74!
  • Mini burgers & sausages meant for dogs, for Sparky (for his 9th birthday!)
  • Bought so many effing adorable sloth/dinosaur/alligator & more themed Valentines things in that amazing cheap colorful front section at Target!
  • A FLUFFY RAINBOW ALPACA.
  • Valentines reusable bags which read “Peas be my Valentine. I carrot lot about you.” with effing adorable peas & carrots on them 🙂
  • FINALLY purchased one of artist CatRabbit’s INCREDIBLY PRECIOUS egg breakfast plate pins. Check them out here.
  • Got two more dinosaur Pez dispensers for my collection that I didn’t have yet!
  • A GIANT YELLOW POM POM PILLOW to match my other “GIANT POM POM”.

TRAVEL & EXPERIENCES

  • Went to the Tampa Museum of Art for the first time & saw the outstanding YAYOI KUSAMA (!!!!!!!!) exhibit – “Love is Calling“, which is one of her famed “infinity rooms”, which was SO SO SO EFFING GREAT. I LOVE immersive art, multimedia, & hyper-realities. Yayoi Kusama has been one of my favorite artists for years, & this was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to see her work in person. Of course I wore my polka dot jumpsuit there! 😀 Also saw an exhibit from Robert Indiana & got to stand in front of one of the iconic “LOVE” sculptures.
  • Saw the play “Spamalot” at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater for the first time. I had never seen Spamalot before but I EFFING LOVE IT. It’s such a hilarious play. I love me some British comedy & Monty Python is just brilliant. There was no one on either side of me for 5+ seats & no one directly in front of me (I was in the very back row!) so I was just chillin’ & enjoying the show. My favorite scene ever is the “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” scene & I loved the “Find Your Grail” song.
  • Went to a new Goodwill store for the first time & bought an awesome electric yellow blouse.
  • Sat on the back porch with my dog & my sister on a trampoline on a breezy day & we just talked & it was great.
  • Saw a truck that said “POPCORN REMOVAL” on the side of it & I LOVE that idea.
  • Saw three cows with standing with their foreheads together in a field alongside the road, like friends.
  • Went to the Container Store for the first time! THEY HAVE SO MUCH COOL COLORFUL STUFF! Bought 20 yellow hangers, which is what I went there for because I need more hangers for my closet & I have standards so I would only accept YELLOW hangers. Yellow hangers were super hard to find & The Container Store was one of the few places with any decent price I could find them at.