Ok… so I started writing this last year… and then Christmas, holidays, summer… you know the drill… but I didn’t want to not post it so here is the last bit of the 2019 list… it’s the last hoorah of November and December, and the bits that just didn’t happen… it’s probably going to be a long one… so lets get stuck in…

November

November was another great listing month… we crossed 7 things off the list. We started with a fun little family adventure on the long weekend… we went camping (no. 16, completed: 03/11)… but because it was our first time trying this as a family of three we just started small, opting to camp in the backyard… but it was complete with all the best things about George family camping… the tent, our adventure gear, and peachy keeny custard… and while Isaac wasn’t sure why we were all in the tent, he eventually fell asleep and we woke up with the sun… and despite Melbourne’s best efforts it didn’t pour and wash us away.

You may have noticed that I got my hands on a tea advent calendar… but if you somehow managed to miss this though and wanted to read my reviews on all the teas… you can click here (no. 83, completed: 06/11). What you may not have noticed is that I got a massage (no. 78, completed: 20/11)… and for at least a couple of hours afterwards, I was feeling more relaxed… man I love getting massages I am glad I popped this back on the list

Way back in September… yes a whole two months ago… I re-did a Rubik’s cube… but despite having the instructions right in front of me I couldn’t repeat it… now in November… I still need the instructions, but I can do it over and over and over again… I am not sure I will every just memorize the patterns, but just solving it feels like an accomplishment… plus according to the ‘Stuff You Should Know’ podcast, using the instructions is in no way a cop-out! (no. 02, completed: 21/11)

This month Dave and I also started the process of investigating our options (no. 48, completed: 24/11) for future family expansions… I honestly thought this would never be something that we would have to really really plan for… that it would just be more of a conversation of yes or no… not how or if… but I guess after two micro preemies that’s just what you have to think about before you rush into another child… and while I am still not sure I am ready we have started to ask questions and work out what it would look like, if and when we are ready.

Even though it was only November we also had our annual Christmas Movie Marathon Day for 2019 on the 30th of November… and also in tradition, I made a gingerbread house… and as outlined by the list this year (no. 32, completed: 29/11) I did it from scratch using a good old Donna Hay recipe and despite some early claims that this house was going together, the quickest yet… it was not, and the roof required some strong encouragement to stay where it was supposed to be. But as always it was delicious and a great way to kick off the Christmas eating.

Oh and wouldn’t you know it this blog is number 41… which means no. 31 is off the list (completed: 23/11)… but the great news is that even before I started out on my tea reviews I had written and published 15 blogs… No 15 was ‘List update… A little bit of Spring’. I have enjoyed have this as a push to blog regularly but also that is hasn’t felt forced… 15 feels like a good number to aim for… 1 a month and a bit…

December

This year December, as always, was a mad rush to cross things off… and it also contained my year-long endeavours, so there were lots of tasks completed, 21 to be precise. But let’s start with the regular list items. Dave and I spoilt ourselves with High Tea at the Langham for the last of our 6 date days (no. 77 & no. 3 both completed 03/12)… I know this sounds ridiculous but we have really struggled to actually do six dates… I think this is going to need to stay on the list just to make sure we remember to hang out with each other.

This month I also crossed off some of the nagging tasks I had from last year… I updated and completed Isaac’s Baby Book (no. 49, completed: 07/12), I made a decision about what to do with all the logs I kept while Isaac was in hospital (no. 57, completed 04/12) and I made some more progress on scanning our family photos in (no. 64, completed 02/12). There are still a lot of photos still to be scanned, I also have a five year booklet that I have for Isaac to keep up with and I have to actually format the logs and print them out somehow… but as annoying as I find it to make time to do these types of things I know that future me will really appreciate that I actually made the effort now…

Just before we snuck off to New Zealand for Christmas (no. 5, completed 16/12), Facebook of all things provided me with an opportunity to cross of no. 45, (completed 14/12) by giving me a friend quiz to complete on my friend Annie… thanks Facebook. My list wasn’t loaded up with holiday activities like I have in previous years as I wasn’t actually sure we would get there… but we did, for 16 days. Our little family of three explored some of the South Island for a week before meeting up with Dave’s extended family for a wonderful and relaxing Christmas in Whanganui. Despite not having specific NZ tasks on my list we still managed to cross a few things off. Isaac and I finished our barefoot texture experiment (no. 36, completed 29/12), making the most of the soft and green grass in Lower Hutt and some black sand. On Boxing Day we picked some strawberries (no. 71, completed: 26/12) and on the very last day of the year… I boiled some eggs (no. 93, completed 31/12).

Ok, so that’s all the stand-alone list items… here comes the end of year wrap up of all the year-long self and family improvement tasks… There were 20 list items that were year-long challenges of the 20… these are the ones I think I can safely cross off:

• No. 19. Cook dinner regularly – completed: 31/12… The hello fresh boxes from way back in April (no. 94 on the list too) really helped with this, I don’t mind cooking as long as I know ahead of time what I am cooking and that I have everything I need… I think it’s all about setting expectations for myself and then just getting on with it… I am hoping this will continue because I also like contributing to our family meals and Dave has been head chef for a long time… it’s time he had some help.
• No. 23. Keep my useless phone time under control – completed: 31/12… this is pretty subjective, but I have certainly been more mindful of it this year so I am crossing it off…
• No. 37. Read a book to Isaac every day – completed: 31/12… It may not have been EVERY day… but it would have been pretty darn close… and it wasn’t always me, there were grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends, childcare teachers and of course Dad.
• No. 54. Take a picture every day – completed: 31/12… Yep… you can see them on the blog already, above is November and December… January and Feb are in the first list update of the year, March, April and May are in the Autumn Edition, June, July and August are in the winter update and September and October are together in the Spring update.
• No. 58. Wear a non-black t-shirt outfit at least once a week – completed 31/12… again, it may not have been EVERY week… but I tried my darnedest to bring some colour into my wardrobe, and I think I am making good progress
• No. 60. Keep getting closer – completed: 31/12… my weight is something that I will probably have to work on for my whole life, but I am trying to change my mindset around this, it’s less about the numbers and more about my everyday choices and being a healthier version of me… and so far this seems to be paying off.. or it could be running after a toddler…
• No. 74. Use my gratitude diary and Isaac’s highlight book – completed: 31/12… this is another it wasn’t EVERY day… but I tried my best, I really like having this to reflect on… so it’s worth the struggle
• No. 87. Try meatless Monday – completed: 31/12… we were much better at this at the beginning of the year and less so the busier life became… but a meat-free meal is a pretty easy way to make less of an impact on the planet… I just need to get a little more creative with my vegetarian dishes.
• No. 97. Make the most of our weekends – completed: 31/12… I think we did a pretty good job of this, we did a lot of fun things and a lot of making the most of our time at home… we could certainly improve, but I was good to be intentional about how we spend our family time together.
• No. 98. Read for 10 mins a day – completed: 31/12… you guessed it… not every day, but more than in 2018… I love reading, I wish I read faster… and for longer before I fell asleep… but I will get better the more I make time for it…

Ok… so that’s the list… well almost… I forgot to blog about one from Feb… (no. 69. completed: 01/02)… I did actually attempt to find out what I was allergic to after my random hives in New Zealand on our 2018 trip… but it was a bit of a dead-end… It’s not mushrooms like I thought… it was probably just the stress of almost not getting on our flight… but even so, I think I will continue to give shiitake mushrooms a wide berth.

And these are the things that remain undone… some of them I am sad that I haven’t crossed of… like. No. 91… calling my grandparents… I have seen them more this past year and spoken to them more… but I haven’t made it a habit… so it stays un crossed… which is disappointing… mostly because I want to be better than that… but this is just how it is at the end of 2019… maybe I will be able to cross it off in 2020? Anyway, it wasn’t the only one… and for the rest you get no explanation just the rest of the list…

14. Don’t snooze – just get up
15. Plan at night
17. Walk Dex regularly
18. Plan our grocery shopping and meals at the same time – preferably weekly
20. Moisturise regularly
21. Finish the scrap books
35. Eat 5 new foods
40. Memorize a chapter of the bible
41. Take Isaac & Dexter to the dog beach.
43. 5 new cafes with 5 new people
56. Lights out by midnight
59. Update our budget
61. Wash my car at least 3 times
62. Sort out the photo storage and keep it up to date
63. Keep my desk at home clean
72. Get my step average up to 10000
76. Make an iTunes playlist for each season
85. Add a quick 10 minute clean to your night routine
89. Have a no spend day once a month
91. Call my grandparents regularly
99. Do my devotions 5 times a week

So that’s it… 2019’s list, the full review 79/100… a pretty good pass by me. Alright back to focusing on 2020’s list