Smell ya later, 2020!

Exorcising 2020 has been so very productive and helpful. I am going to make this a yearly tradition, I think. It's so great just attacking the year and getting everything done that you can before the new year begins! It's especially nice for those goals you've had in progress forever or have just been meaning to do for months. Thanks to all my hard work (and because some of them have been in progress all year), I proudly present EIGHT! completed items (bringing me to a total of 36!):

Completed:

18. try 20 new ice creams (local companies)

• Pretty great that I'm finishing up ice cream in winter, huh? But we were so close to finishing, I just had to! Though, while typing this up, I realized I had counted one flavor twice! So we hurried out to the store and got one last flavor: Umpqua Huckleberry Cheesecake. This has been so fun. Lots of delicious Tillamook and Snoqualmie, but also a few wonderful local shops when we've been able to travel. I also really loved Umpqua's garishly colored Cotton Candy, haha. Yay ice cream!

31. a year of (silly) holiday celebration

• This month we did Giving Tuesday, Repeal Day, Ambrosia Day, Ice Cream Day, International Tea Day, Wear Your Pearls Day, Eggnog Day, Thank You Note Day, Call a Friend Day, Still Need to Do Day, and Make Up Your Mind Day. This was a blast and it ended up being a good year for it. Next year we are going to look at more religious holidays and see what we can take from those celebrations. It's fun to have little things to look forward to and learn from!

47. go through the Coverville backlog

• All caught up! It's fun to go through these. The podcast is a little hit or miss for me, as far as the actual cover songs, but when it's a hit, it's a hit. It's worth it for those. I'll keep staying up with it!

49. read the apocrypha

• I started the apocrypha back in October and I didn't think I could finish it this month, but the exorcising spirit really helped with this one, and I breezed through it in a solid week or two. I really enjoyed the book of Judith, but otherwise it was kinda meh. Glad to say I've read it, I guess!

58. see 30 new documentaries

• Got the last three this month! My Octopus Teacher, Little Miss Sumo, and Jasper Mall. I liked them all very much. So many good ones on this list, but my favorites have to be Spelling the Dream, Frozen II: Into the Unknown, The Imagineering Story, Love on the Spectrum, Most Likely to Succeed, Boys State, and 63 Up. 

60. r/52weeksofcooking - year-long cooking challenge

• I can't believe this one is all done, but here we are! This was so fun. I would do it again if I didn't have other cooking challenges to do. Maybe in the future!

30 minutes: Curried Couscous

Sage: Pork Scallopini with lemon and capers (and sage!)

Jewish - Very Sad Challah (ask me for the dramatic story and Reddit's reaction, haha)

Garnish: Japanese Christmas Cake (Strawberry Shortcake)

63. [redacted]

• Last one, I promise! I'm all done with redacted goals now.

79. try 30 new salad/side dish recipes

• We are terrible at eating vegetables along with dinner, haha. If it's part of the dish, that's great, but we're not so good when the main is only meat or grains. So this goal has definitely helped us eat more and I love it. I hope we can keep it up! 

Updates:

15. Wilkes Weekly newsletter

• This is really finally happening this year, so let me know if you'd like to be on the list!

40. knit a year-long line-a-day scarf

• Thank you for your ideas! I think I'm going to actually make two scarves, because it's just as easy to make another when I'm already doing one, right? And it's just one line of stitches a day. I'm going to the fries scarf because I think it will be delightful. And then, Friend of the Blog Emily recommended an adventuring scarf - something that shows how far from home you went. Which I love, and I am hoping will show our return to normalcy this next year. I'll post more next month!

55. ultimate lucky New Year's meal

• The meals have been planned and we'll have 2 today and 3 tomorrow! I guess I can't count it complete yet, so tune in next month for photos, etc.!

59. publish a yearly best of list

• It was nice to have Procreate to put this together this year - I think it made it a lot easier to create it and print it easily. And as always, it's so fun to look back at our year and see what our favorites were.

72. complete 12 30-day projects

• Exorcising was just so good. I got so much done! That being said, I am exhausted and may take a break from 30-day projects for the next bit here. I've spent so much time checking things off that I'm ready to be chill for a bit.

I have big goals for 2021, so I'll take my little break and get back to it! Happy New Year!! May 2021 be so much better than this year!!