Welcome 2026

 

Happy New Year y'all!

I have always been a person who loves a new year and a time to reset. I'm a list maker to my core and when the new year rolls around, I get so excited to make a list of the new goals and visions for the new year. 

Even though I already started the year a little....delayed (I slept most of the day. Thanks chronic fatigue!) I still have high hopes for the year overall!

So with no further ado, here are my goals for the new year!

1. Read 100 books

This was probably my lowest reading year in recent history and I only read 40 books for the whole year. Obviously, reading any amount is a great accomplishment, however, I know I spent a lot of time procrastinating this year and didn't get a lot of the books read that I planned on reading. So this year, I plan to aim for 100 books and prioritize my library and currently owned books! I'll discuss more about this in an upcoming post ;) but overall, I think I can do it!

2. Plan my wedding!

One of the biggest priorities this year will be planning my wedding. Our tentative plans are to get married in early January 2027 so this year will be our time to plan like crazy. I've obviously never planned a wedding and this is a very daunting task but I'm just reminding myself that no matter what happens, at the end of the day, I get to marry my best friend! But expect a lot of wedding planning updates this year.

3. Get fitter

I know, I know. It's the ever evasive resolution, but this past year has really definitely shown me I need to get fitter and in better shape. Between the daunting task of clothes shopping, general discomfort in public spaces, and my body developing new fun aches and pains, I know that once I prioritize my body, I will be happier. I want to take care of myself to feel more comfortable, not only because of physical changes, but because I shouldn't feel this old this early in my life. 

4. Increase my fluency in Spanish and Tagalog

Ever since I moved, I've been able to really immerse myself in both my Mexican and Filipino heritage due to having more opportunities to surround myself in both cultures. I've always had a basic knowledge of Spanish, grew up in a Spanglish household with family members who only spoke Spanish, but over that last year, my Spanish has grown significantly.  I want to continue that this year and improve both my Spanish and Tagalog, which is rudimentary at best.

5. Get out of my comfort zone

One of the biggest things I've struggled with my entire life has been my anxiety and this past year I pushed myself to leave a job I was very comfortable at for a job that was more beneficial financially and pushed me out of my comfort zone and after seeing how much that has helped me, I wanted to continue that momentum and push myself to do things that help me become more independent and more of the person that I want to be. Whether it's driving more, saying yes to more opportunities, or doing things that I tend to overthink, I want to push myself.

6. Stop Doom-Procrastinating

I know that a lot of this year, I spent a lot of my time procrastinating. I would often spend my free time wanting to read a book or play a game or watch a show and spending all my time trying to decide what to do instead of actually doing anything. So this year, I'm going to try to make myself just DO IT. I want to stop overthinking "what should I do" and just actually do something. There's so many things I want to read, games I want to play, stories I want to write, movies I want to watch, and the constant overthinking and indecisiveness robs me of my little free time and makes any time off seem like not enough.

7. Romanticize my life

One thing I love is watching people who find beauty in simplicity. In a calm morning, a cup of coffee, and a simple meal. I want to spend more time romanticizing the little things, the simple acts of having a morning routine, of cleaning my space, and making my home a happy place to be. In that same vein...

8. Reducing unproductive screen time

Since deleting Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, and Facebook, you would think that my screen time would go waaaay down. But I replaced that with youtube shorts, reddit posts, and just general mind numbing on my phone. So i want to spend more time living in the simple silence. Obviously, I love to read a lot on my phone or iPad so I'm not counting that as screen time or counting the games or movies/television that I have on my never ending backlog, but more of the just....useless nonsense that I use to fill the silence, especially during moments where I can just....be.

9. CREATE MORE

One of the biggest things I want to do this year is create. Whether it's blog posts, short stories, journal entries, videos, vlogs, drawings, paintings, crafts...I just want to create. I want to make things from my own brain, from my own hands, and do something. I have so many crafts that are undone, hobbies I want to try, drawing supplies I never use...and I want to spend this year using them!

10. Save money

Of course, with the wedding coming up, I will be having to be a lot tighter with my money, but I also want to be more conscious with my spending (especially as I see the amount of stuff I have to put in storage just because it's taking up so much space) and use my money for more productive things like a new running car or an actual home, where I don't have to use a mini washing machine that sits in my bathtub.

What are some of your goals for the new year? I'd love to hear them!

Always, Raineedayze

March Goals Update

I decided to change things up a little bit this month because things were getting a little too redundant having two goals posts every month. So I think I am going to condense all my goals into one post instead. 

1. Write 2 Book Reviews - SUCCESS

I wrote 3 book reviews this month and I loved it. I planned on writing a few more, but because the content of the majority of my books was a little....risque, I stuck to only reviewing a select few. However, I remembered how much I loved it and I'm super stoked to write more in the coming months.


2. Deep Clean the House - Kind of?

I didn't really hit the house hard this month, but I did clean out my wardrobe and got rid of a TON of clothes that were just taking up space. I'm not gonna lie, I may have cleaned up just to make room for more clothes, but whatever works right?


3. MCU Movie Marathon - FAIL

I honestly forgot about this goal. Life kind of got in the way and I haven't been in the movie mood lately. However, I won't say I never will do this. Hopefully, I can catch up before Infinity War.  

All in all, I think I did a pretty decent job this month. I may not have completed all my goals, but I did enjoy what I was able to accomplish.

1.  Play More Games - FAIL

Is it really a surprise at the moment that I keep failing at this goal? I just haven't been in that mood. I dunno. Maybe things will change next month. Though, I don't feel too bad since I am enjoying my free time.


2.  Get Out More - SUCCESS

I'm super excited that I continue to do more for this goal each month. This month we headed to Six Flags and Sea World, and we got membership passes! So I can definitely see this becoming a usual thing! I also went out of my way to head to the movies instead of staying in with Netflix and junk food.


3. Create - SUCCESS

I bought a sticker machine this month, and I am so excited to use it. I also spent time taking photos and sketching when I could. I'm pretty stoked to do more next month and I have a few ideas. 


4. Treat Yo' Self (Better) - SUCCESS

Okay, so this one was a big one. I finally started working with my doctor and managing my depression with meds and I am so stoked. If you've been a follower on here for a while, you might remember how I was pretty happy to be off meds for years. However, I realized I couldn't deal with it alone and I needed help to get back to myself. It was truly the best decision for me and I am super excited about that. I feel this is best to treat myself and I am very happy.


Overall, this month was pretty good for goals and I am super stoked to continue on in April.

What do you think of the new post format? How have your goals been achieved this month? Let's chat!



Always, Raineedayze

Yearly Goals Check In: February

I talked about my monthly mini-goals last week, but for my yearly goals, I feel like I've done a bit better.

1. Play More Games - FAIL

I talked about this a bit before, but this month was not the month for me doing anything, including playing video games. I still have barely made a dent in my pile of shame, but I know once spring break comes in March, I will be able to finally sit down and enjoy myself.


2. Get Out More - Success 

Jonathan and I have been spending way more time out of the house instead of in front of the TV every weekend.  We actually found a few places we love to go and it's been really nice to not be cooped up in this house 7 days a week. 


 3. Create - Success

I've been steadily working on switching between traditional and digital media and I am loving how much more natural it is becoming. I'm also loving how much I can see myself improving.


4. Treat Yo' Self (Better) - Success

 Between drinking more water, eating less carbs, and cooking at home more, I've been feeling so good. I feel more energized and my skin and hair are feeling great. Mentally, I finally started some progress on getting myself back in therapy, and that's gonna be really good for my soul. SO this is definitely a win.


February was actually pretty good to me in this journey. Let's hope March allows for more goodness.


 Always, Raineedayze

2018 Yearly Goals

Fun fact about me.

I love setting goals. 

I love vision boards, planners, goal lists, lists in general, personal spreadsheets....I'm like an organization nerd goddess.

However, this can tend to get me a little overwhelmed and I will set 500 goals that have to be done RIGHT THIS SECOND. I then fail miserably, and drown my failure in a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream.

So this year, I decided to keep it pretty simple. I set monthly small goals, goals I can accomplish and that will keep me motivated to continue. I also modified my yearly goals to be a little less stressful but also something that would require work.

Each month I have a section in my planner titled "How Did You Work Towards?" with my list of yearly goals and space for me to write down how I worked towards achieving them. I hope to see some progress and be able to look at the little actions that helped me overall become a better me. 

So without any further ado, here are my goals for 2018.

1. Play More Games

In 2017, I was asked to help co-admin a female-based gaming community. I was so honored to be asked because it let me connect with so many gamers on a personal level and helping foster an awesome community. Plus, being an admin of anything is just so much fun. This year, I really want to amp up that and play more games that I've left in my Steam Library of Shame or in my Xbox Cabinet of the Forgotten (great names, right?). I really want to be more well-versed in a variety of games than my typical walking sims. 

2. Get Out More

It's no secret that I am a homebody. I have my special DragonWarm blanket (it's Skrim themed...get it?) and my sweatpants and I'm more than happy to spend a day in front of my computer or in bed with a book. However, I've been thinking about how much of the outside world I've been missing. I'm 22 and I would like to see it while I'm still healthy and not blind. Jonathan and I went for a walk in the park the other day and just talking outside while sitting by the lake was so calming and just felt so much more personal than sitting in front of one of our screens, talking over our headsets. 

3. Create

Obviously, this would be on here as Create is my word of the year (post coming soon). I want to create more content whether it be videos, art, blog posts, or personal journaling. I love creating new things and I have the time. I really want this to be the year I create more content not just for the internet, but for myself and my own happiness.

4. Treat Yo' Self (Better)

I am REALLY bad at treating myself too good *gestures wildly to the zillion books and makeup products cluttering my life* . So I modified this one a little bit (Sorry, Tom and Donna). In 2018, I want to do things that make me happy, stop doing things that don't, enjoy myself, and overall make myself a better version of me. Health, spiritually, general fulfillment. I want to just feel better about myself and about where my life is at this time. 

These are my yearly goals. What are some of yours?

Always, Raineedayze