four days until twenty-five

The day after I turned 24, I opened up the owl journal my sister had given me (my love for owls knows no bounds), and began to write my "25 before 25" list. Sadly, my list didn't even reach 25 items which made me question how much I actually wanted to do with my life. 

On it were things like "get your complete drivers' license" - which I did, first try, at the end of June! I also had goals for fitness and to run a race, and I have become more fit over the months and even did a Color Run! There were also failures, such as "study a language to fluency" - I practice Hungarian, but I'm nowhere near where I could be, or "bake on a weekly basis" which. And then there were ones that came out differently than I had planned, such as "visit my sister and family in B.C.", since they came out to visit us instead! Those three weeks of seeing my sister, realizing how mature and how mini-me my niece has become, and having baby fever after hugging and blowing kisses with my nephew were the best early birthday present. 

Now I'm coming to twenty-five and realizing how little of my 24th year I documented. Sure I have the photos and hopefully my memory won't fail me too early, but there's a lot of moments where I wish I would have just sat down and wrote out what happened at a certain moment. Celebrating 5 years with The Boy in Ithaca, showing two of my online friends what my city has to offer, park days with my niece ... 

The blogging world has fallen by the wayside, and it seems to be that way for a lot of bloggers. Instagram and twitter sums up everything in a photo or 140 characters, and it seems to be more convenient. So, even though there won't be a "26 before 26" list there a few things I'd like to do: a) redo this blog, and 'start over' in a sense; b) travel more this year; c) try to begin my teaching career; and d) ... 

currently...

READING and well, re-reading, all of your amazing comments from my last post (in 2012, what!). Every single comforting and warm wish sent my way definitely helped and I'm pretty much 98% back to normal from the insane month of illness (aka December). The left side of my face is still sensitive to the touch, but my smile is back to normal :) Thank you so much for all your amazing words -hugs- 

And I'm also reading The Passage by Justin Cronin; thanks to Kathy's amazing recommendation. I actually had to take a little break from reading it because it sucked me in to the point where I was reading it for two days straight; and now I'm back. 

GRATEFUL that the weather is going to return to semi-tolerable temperatures this week, which will make my walk from the bus stop to work more bearable. Speaking of gratitude, I am so thankful that I finally have a job! One of my best friends recommended me for a job that, while it might not be teaching, actually has to do with at least one of my degrees, and I get to spend my days editing!

LOVING that there's a Starbucks within ten minutes-walking distance from my work. And even though this is ancient in Internet-land, I recently rediscovered the hilarity of 'bad lip reading', and my favourite next to The Hunger Games one is definitely "Russian Unicorn" (a parody on Michael Bublé). My new jam? Possibly. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO having a February spending more time with The Boy (there's a picture of us from New Year's). And I also get to spend February catching up with friends I haven't seen in forever, one of whom has been in Taiwan and I haven't seen her in almost two years!! I am EXCITED! 

This month has just seemed to whiz by; whether it's due to the old adage "time flies by as you get older" or just having my days filled with work, I can't believe February is already starting this week! So, tell me...

what are you currently

reading, grateful for,
loving, and looking forward to?