In celebration of Girl Named Fiddy's (almost) 1st birthday and the end of 2013, here's a list of my 25 favorite posts from this year!
+ Kindness
Which were your favorite posts from Girl Named Fiddy this year? :)
Thursday, December 26
Friday, December 20
My 2013 Resolutions
For my very first post on Girl Named Fiddy, I wrote about my goals for 2013! To recap, they were:
This was not done. Not even close, haha. I think J and I did yoga every day for about the first week of January… and I got into exercising almost every day for about two months this summer. Since I've been in law school, I think I've maybe exercised three times since I realized I could maintain my weight (and lose weight - I've lost over 15 pounds!) by just eating right. I'm attempting to do a squat challenge now that I'm in the last week of finals, and I've gotta say, it's good to feel sore again! Hopefully I'll be more active again over Christmas break with J to cheer me on.
Eat healthier
I would give myself a "✓" for this, but I've been eating a a heck of a lot of speghetti-o's and meatballs and ramen these last two months! Overall, I do think that I've eaten healthier this year - I've learned how to incorporate a lot more veggies into my diet and make delicious and healthy meals. But (maybe this has to do more with moderation than health) this girl loves unhealthy food as well. It's not like I ate the gross stuff every day, but I certainly wouldn't say I've been eating super healthy these last few months either.
Use moderation whenever I can ✓
As I mentioned with the last goal, as far as my health is concerned, I think I've done a pretty good job at using moderation. I didn't punish myself for my lack of exercise, but I did adjust by trying to eat healthier. Here's a little piece of truth: It's really hard to use moderation in law school. It's hard not to spend all your time studying, because you really DO need to study! Thankfully, as well as hanging out with friends, I'm easily satisfied with watching shows on Netflix and taking breaks throughout the day. Did I do a perfect job balancing things? Of course not. But I made a solid effort to use moderation!
Love fearlessly ✓
This was especially hard the last part of this year. It was hard to be fearless when I was so scared of being alone and forgotten in the northeast. Thankfully, those fearful moments were short and went away rather quickly. I've learned a lot about trust and my own strength this year!
Blog 3-4 times a week
I tried so hard on this one, but failed! I feel like I did a good job of this, especially during the beginning of the year! But once I got into the midst of law school, it became SO hard to plan blog posts when I was swimming in 30-90 pages of reading for each class! There was a month where I hardly posted at all because I was so swamped!
Gossip less
I don't know if I really deserve a "✓" on this one… It's not that I "gossiped" a lot, but this was a year of drama and I needed more advise and support this year than I anticipated. I think I did cut out a lot of "vindictive" talk, but it's something I still want to work on.
Forgive more ✓
I'm really proud of myself on this one. This has been a very hard goal to keep, but I think I've made really great strides here. I wrote about some sensative things this year, which brought up a lot of rough memories and some bitterness that I didn't even realize was there. Once I realized this, I had to learn to move past these feelings and forgive all over again. I can honestly say that I feel 100 times better after forgiving, even if those people never know I've forgiven them. It's a huge weight off my shoulders and I'm so much happier for it!
Get into law school ✓
WELL, if you couldn't tell, this goal absolutely happened in 2013! I was accepted into several law schools and decided on the University of New Hampshire School of Law in Concord, New Hampshire! Moving myself and James cross-country with J and my dad was certainly an adventure, and law school hasn't been a walk in the park, but it's been such a glorious adventure. I can't imagine going to school with more amazing people. I have the best Torts group known to man and the most supportive, sweet friends I could ask for. :)
Get rid of 200 things ✓
I would give myself a "✓" for this, but I've been eating a a heck of a lot of speghetti-o's and meatballs and ramen these last two months! Overall, I do think that I've eaten healthier this year - I've learned how to incorporate a lot more veggies into my diet and make delicious and healthy meals. But (maybe this has to do more with moderation than health) this girl loves unhealthy food as well. It's not like I ate the gross stuff every day, but I certainly wouldn't say I've been eating super healthy these last few months either.
Use moderation whenever I can ✓
As I mentioned with the last goal, as far as my health is concerned, I think I've done a pretty good job at using moderation. I didn't punish myself for my lack of exercise, but I did adjust by trying to eat healthier. Here's a little piece of truth: It's really hard to use moderation in law school. It's hard not to spend all your time studying, because you really DO need to study! Thankfully, as well as hanging out with friends, I'm easily satisfied with watching shows on Netflix and taking breaks throughout the day. Did I do a perfect job balancing things? Of course not. But I made a solid effort to use moderation!
Love fearlessly ✓
This was especially hard the last part of this year. It was hard to be fearless when I was so scared of being alone and forgotten in the northeast. Thankfully, those fearful moments were short and went away rather quickly. I've learned a lot about trust and my own strength this year!
Blog 3-4 times a week
I tried so hard on this one, but failed! I feel like I did a good job of this, especially during the beginning of the year! But once I got into the midst of law school, it became SO hard to plan blog posts when I was swimming in 30-90 pages of reading for each class! There was a month where I hardly posted at all because I was so swamped!
Gossip less
I don't know if I really deserve a "✓" on this one… It's not that I "gossiped" a lot, but this was a year of drama and I needed more advise and support this year than I anticipated. I think I did cut out a lot of "vindictive" talk, but it's something I still want to work on.
Forgive more ✓
I'm really proud of myself on this one. This has been a very hard goal to keep, but I think I've made really great strides here. I wrote about some sensative things this year, which brought up a lot of rough memories and some bitterness that I didn't even realize was there. Once I realized this, I had to learn to move past these feelings and forgive all over again. I can honestly say that I feel 100 times better after forgiving, even if those people never know I've forgiven them. It's a huge weight off my shoulders and I'm so much happier for it!
Get into law school ✓
WELL, if you couldn't tell, this goal absolutely happened in 2013! I was accepted into several law schools and decided on the University of New Hampshire School of Law in Concord, New Hampshire! Moving myself and James cross-country with J and my dad was certainly an adventure, and law school hasn't been a walk in the park, but it's been such a glorious adventure. I can't imagine going to school with more amazing people. I have the best Torts group known to man and the most supportive, sweet friends I could ask for. :)
Get rid of 200 things ✓
I actually forgot about this goal until I was looking back earlier today at my original post! This goal was the first one to happen - I ended up getting rid of over 400 things before I lost count! I donated almost everything, except the things that were too used/torn up and had to be thrown out. It felt SO good to get rid of all that stuff, and to be honest, this is a goal I could easily do over and over again every year. I'd love to do it again for 2014!
Do you remember your 2013 resolutions? How did you do? :)
Thursday, December 19
2013 {post 2 of 3}
This year, I…
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- Learned how to make Parm-Roasted Edemame
- Celebrated the 4th of July with J and his mom down by the lake
- Watched "The Shining" for the first time
- Found J's old Game Boy and Red Version
- Spent time with my family in Des Moines
- Saw "The Conjuring" with J
- Had lunch with the family at the Machine Shed
- Watched my mom on "20/20"
- Packed to road trip to Concord with my dad and J
- Took James to the vet, where he was a demon child
- CONCORD ROAD TRIP 2013
- Explored Concord with my Dad and J
- Ate an embarassing amount of Speghetti-O's with Meatballs
- Law school homework, all day, err' day
- Bought James a cat tree
- Enjoyed my first day of law school
- Started drinking coffee every day
- Colored my hair Atomic Turquoise
- Took full advantage of the Orange Leaf in town
- Watched Insideous with Abby and Andrew, and fell in love with their dogs
- Went to Insidious 2 with my friend John
- "Created" my new favorite soup in the entire world
- Went to the Women's Bar Association of New Hampshire
- Went apple-picking with some law school friends
- Got a care package from my family
- Spent Colombus Day weekend with my family in Hilton Head
- Got super sick, like the rest of my law school section
- Spent a weekend with my grandparents in Concord & Salem, Massachusetts
Tuesday, December 17
2013 {part 1 of 3}
This year, I…
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- Started growing out my hair
- Drank a lot of margaritas with J, Kelsey, and Jeanna
- Played with many a puppy at Petland
- Applied to law schools across the East Coast
- Moved out of our apartment in Coralville
- Moved in with J's family in Iowa City
- Went to the Harry Potter themepark in Orlando with my family
- Got my first VoxBox
- Celebrated St. Paddy's day in Chicago
- Celebrated my friend Alex's marriage
- Probably got mercury poisoning from eating so much sushi
- Came to Des Moines to celebrate my friend Lauren's birthday
- Ran just over 5 miles for the Boston Solidarity Run
- Discovered Thai Ginger Soups
- Helped J and his mom clean the flooded basement
- Learned how to make Coconut Oil Chocolate
- Spent an entire day with my friend Erin in Des Moines and Indianola
- Visited UNH Law for the first time for an Open House
- Discovered Tapatio Doritos
- Hung out in Des Moines with Kendra and Taylor
- Rejoiced in the deliciousness that is Peking Buffet
- Went out with Madison and Katie in Downtown Iowa City
- Got my first StitchFix box in the mail
- Met the neighbor cat, Charley
- Saw Cursive in concert with J
- Colored my hair coral
- Flew to Arizona to see J's family, friends, and drive his car back to Iowa
I got to live with my best friend and then live thousands of miles away from him. I started law school. Being so far away from anyone I grew up with made me appreciate my family and friends so much more. It made me realize that I could not be strong all the time, but also that I couldn't afford to be weak all the time either. I learned that it was okay to be lonely and sad, and that those feelings are always temporary.
It hasn't been a walk in the park, but I do feel that I've gotten stronger everyday… And part of that strength came from breaking down so much this year, because each time I fell down, I got up and I'm better for it.
I hope you've had a wonderful year! Keep checking for part 2 of 3 & part 3 of 3!
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 10
Life Lately {vol. 14}
This past week or so after Thanksgiving in Iowa has been a whirlwind… I had my last week of law school this semester, did a lot of cooking, studying, and coffee-drinking!
Since classes ended, I've been studying every day (except for Sunday, which I took off to relax). Hopefully all this hard work pays off, because this'll be my first time taking law school finals. Naturally, some classes I feel more prepared for than others. I have my Legal Research final due on Thursday and a Contracts final on Thursday. Next week, I have my Civil Procedure final on Monday and my Torts final on Friday!
This last Friday, I finally got my hair colored at The Beauty Lounge in Concord! My roots were pretty ridiculous, but they grew out enough that I could tell that I'm still blonde!
I was at the hair salon for… 5 HOURS. We had to lighten the blue out, which had been particularly stubborn over the past week as I tried to lighten it through showering and hair masks. Thankfully, all the blue came out beautifully and my hair was platinum blonde. She had to fill it, and then color it, which was a long process. She also added a strip of hot pink underneath for fun!
I'm so in love with my new red hair, but to be honest, I'm still not used to it. It feels like I have an identity crisis each time I change my hair color. It's definitely different, but I think it looks so beautiful. And hopefully it's something I'll stick with for the long-term!
I got to put up my Christmas lights in the apartment this week, which was so much fun! Even though it's just two small strands in two different rooms, there's nothing that thrills me like those lights shining in a dark room. It's one of my favorite things about Christmas!
How was your week? Do you have finals to do these next few weeks? How do you like red? :)