• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Know-it-all Nikki
  • Knit
  • My Heart
  • Read
  • Explore
    • Alaska
    • Depression and Anxiety
    • Life
    • Monday Motivation
    • Nikki’s Notes
    • Recipes
You are here: Home / Personal thoughts / My plan making involves monkeys but it’s better than nothing

My plan making involves monkeys but it’s better than nothing

By Know-it-All Nikki Leave a Comment

January is always a busy month for me; two boys, two birthdays, 20 days apart so I tend to let those “new year, new you” posts slip by the wayside until I get past the calamity that is January. It’s really a month of recovery and introspection and I use it to the fullest.

This year I’ve decided to combine that “this year is a blank slate” stuff into one post. I know other people don’t believe in reinvention or affirmation of goals (or even making goals) but I do. I believe it’s important to look back on where you’ve been and figure out where you’re going, even if your plan making is better left to monkeys in the circus, it’s better to have a some plan of where to go and what to do than none at all.

I also decided to really hone in on what those “words of the year” mean. There are three this year that I’m focusing on; faith, perseverance, and bravery. Last year was difficult and full of change, I’ve set in motion changes for this year – these words, if I focus on, believe in, and practice what they mean to me, will get me through.

On the goal front, I’m choosing myself over everything else.

Become more involved with my interests – knitting is an interest, obviously and it keeps me sane. It calms me and helps me focus. Knitting absolutely brought down my dangerously high blood pressure while I was sitting in the emergency room panicking about how I was going to get to the hospital in Anchorage and who would care for the kids. But I want to take my interest to a new level. I’ve toyed with ideas from starting a new blog entirely focused on the yarn and my love of it, to selling small items for a rainy day fund.

Fill a journal – At the end of 2015 I all but came out and said I need to fall in love with my journals. I have a stack of empty or near empty ones and that has become unacceptable to me. The three wise asses (who you may or may not know, may or may not be) sent me journals for Christmas. They know my heart and the best way to repay them is to fill them. It may not be ones they sent, but filling a journal is huge step on my mission in 2016 for a more complete and cared for, me.

journal stack

Make it home for a visit – This goes without saying. My heart misses home in ways I never expected. I never much cared for Ohio’s flat farm land but when you don’t see those golden fields of wheat or corn stalks (knee high by the fourth of July), you miss what you took for granted. It took me leaving to realizing that I had everything I could’ve wanted or needed in the Buckeye state. I can’t reconcile within myself that I don’t fully belong here, as much as I’d like to. I need to reconnect somehow with the hole being gone has created inside me.

Read all the books – Ugh. I failed so miserably on my reading goals for last year. I got overly excited and borrowed a ton of books on my Kindle but never read them all (or any of them really). In fact the only thing I did read was an audio book (so it’s not reading, it’s driving and listening or knitting and listening) and one other book that I devoured in one night. That was it. I know I read magazine articles and blog posts but those don’t count when you love (with an unhealthy passion,) books. So. Books. I will read them. And I will tell you about them.

library haul

This year need not be complicated to be amazing. I may combine a bit of both though to keep it, interesting.

Filed Under: Personal thoughts Tagged With: 2016, goals, hobbies, passions, reading, special interests

Affiliate Disclosure

Know-it-All Nikki is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

*Posts containing affiliate links will always be disclosed.

Previous Post: « Non Compliance and Conversation Pieces
Next Post: Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Anderson »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi there!

I’m Nikki and I’m thrilled to have you here. I’m powered by a good chai latte, loads of chocolate, and humor. Here at Know-it-all Nikki, I dish up honest conversations about self-care and mental health. I also share living with a congenital heart defect, my love of books, knitting, midlife, and life as a Buckeye exploring The Last Frontier. So, pull up a seat, grab your tea, and let’s spill some tea, have a lot of laughs, and a few good cries. To learn more about what makes me tick, CLICK HERE

knowitallnikki

I will never not be amazed or awestruck at the sig I will never not be amazed or awestruck at the sight of a rainbow. 
.
.
.
.
.

#therainbowconnection #rainbowsaftertherain🌈 #naturelovers #naturelovers #rainbowcolors #roygbiv #alaskaliving #alaskalife #rainbowsunset
Some people would see this and say, "my God what a Some people would see this and say, "my God what a mess!" But I know the truth; it's September 2nd and I am one day late to making new batches of chai latte and hot chocolate mixes.
Why? Because #itsfallyall 
I know it may be sweltering where you are but for me, this is the unofficial start to my favorite season. Does that make me a basic bitch? Maybe, but I don't care.

.
.
.
.
.
#autumn #fallvibes #hotchocolate #cozylife #hallmarkmovies, #chailatte #fallcolors #autumnvibes
Hey guys... the books are inside. No? Ok, carry on Hey guys... the books are inside. No? Ok, carry on then.
.
.
.
.
#alaskaliving #alaskawildlife #cranes #sandhillcrane #sandhillcranes #birds #birdsofinstagram
That's right! There's a new post on the blog! I've That's right! There's a new post on the blog! I've wanted to write this one for awhile but wasn't quite sure how I felt. Then a conversation with a friend on Monday turned on the light bulb in my head and it was... EUREKA 💡. Has this ever happened to you?

.
.
.
.
#instareels #reelsofinstagram #gettingoldsucks #achd #ACHDAdventuresWithNikki #adultchdsurvivor #chdvoice #1in100
When you're trying to find something to eat for lu When you're trying to find something to eat for lunch and didn't bring the big bag in to carry your wallet and phone, you decide you want a plastic basket like the one(s) @heatherspinsayarn and your daughter from another mother has. And once you have said basket, you get your lunch and checkout...

But THEN you decide the basket oils perfect for taking only the essentials into the library so you fill it with your WIP, the jerky your bought, pens, your journal, phone, wallet, and keys. And now you feel all minimalist even though the big bag is still in the car with everything else. 🤣
I decided today to clean out my bag. And by "bag", I decided today to clean out my bag. And by "bag", I mean the giant @landsend tote bag I received when I went to the last ever GOOD Type-A Mom conference in 2017.
.
.
Here are some of the items I found...
2 pairs if wired earbuds
3 pairs of wireless earbuds
2 disposable masks
1 reusable mask
4 types of loose leaf herbal tea packets
- A more than comfortable stack of receipts for someone who doesn't work anymore
- An even more than comfortable stack of garbage
1 pen bag
1 small makeup bag courtesy @ipsy 
- a plastic closable case for bobby pins and hair ties
Saline solution
Flonase
2 rolls of washi tape
1 bobby pin
5 hair ties
5 scrunchies 
3 small notebooks
1 phone charger adapter that you plug in🔌 
1 phone stand
1 tablet or book stand
1 gauge swatch for the temperature blanket @heatherspinsayarn and I never started 🤣🤣
1 medicine bottle with extra strength Tylenol
2 moist towelettes (packaged)
3 kinds of hand lotion
1 lip balm
1 office clamp
1 small paper clip
1 really awesome microfiber eyeglass cleaner (I can share a link if you want it)
1 pair of very dirty clip-on sunglasses 
1 travel size pack of kleenex
1 notepad I made out of the library's recycling paper
A pair of fingerless gloves (not knitted)
A business card for the Alaska state troopers
1 knitting needle sizer
2 stitch markers
 A complete set ofstitch markers
A Travel size tooth bush, toothpaste, and flosadeck of tarot cards
4 fabric headbands
1 sports headband
Passport
Wallet
5 pens
1 mechanical pencil
- Too much Alaska sand in the bottom
- A combination crochet hook / knitting needle
.
.
And do you know what wasn't in there? The one thing I can't find... my driver's license
.
.
.
My office has no door. If I'm in the middle of wor My office has no door. If I'm in the middle of work, a phone call, or the @stitchingthemilestogether podcast there are extreme measures I need to take in order to get some privacy. 
.
.
The curtain is held closed by office binder clips (not just for files and potato chip bags anymore!) On the other side if the curtain is a baby gate because dogs are like moose and they will not be held back by binder clips. 
.
.
This works so well that I'm considering just leaving it like this permanently!
.
.
.
.
#officelife #homeofficedecor #homeofficelife #amwriting #freelancewriter #freelancelife
Not the most flattering picture I've ever taken so Not the most flattering picture I've ever taken so you MUST know how much I love and miss Nickles Maple Twist Sweet Rolls. These were a staple growing up in Ohio and my kids love them too.
.
Now, of course I can't find them here in Alaska so when @heatherspinsayarn talked about ordering them for the station, I may have let out the saddest, lowest sigh on the planet. Heather pitied me so much she sent me a maple twist sweet roll package.
.
She requested a picture and this is probably the best evidence I can provide. I promise the moment I began chewing, I was smiling like a fool (with my mouth closed of course). .
.
.
.
.
#nicklesbakery #stitchingthemilestogether #carepackage # fiberbffs
After an abysmal birthday month, it's time to rese After an abysmal birthday month, it's time to reset some things and get myself into a better headspace. 
.
But it isn't easy and I believe the words we use have the power to influence our mental health. Notice I use the words "Good choices"? That's because the word HABIT has negative connotations for me. 
.
It's doing something that I have chosen to do, over a habit I am enforcing on myself. I will be writing about this next week so be sure to check out the blog!
.
.
.
.
.
#goodchoices #passionplanner #PashFam #passionplannerambassador #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #selfcarefirst #smallvictories #passionplannerweekly #mayismentalhealthawarenessmonth
Load More Follow on Instagram

Footer

  • About this site
  • Advertising
    • Request a book review
  • Privacy Policy
  • Hire Me

Copyright 2006-2023 NLS Creative Privacy Policy