012 // one whole year
things keeping my mind right, my body moving and my heart full this december
Wow! This is my 12th recap, which essentially marks the fact that I’ve been doing this for one whole year.
Last December, I challenged myself to bring more creativity into my life. I was feeling stagnant and nostalgic about the things I used to do, write, look at art, and create art, and I thought WTF is stopping me.
What started out as five minutes of journaling here and there turned into this Substack and screaming into the void. From the twelve whole months I’ve been doing this, I’ve learned a few things:
How to apply all the things I’ve been reading to become a better writer (pro tip: it helps when your MA candidate wife is your editor)
I love talking about books, and I can’t wait to do more of it (I’m still catching my stride, but I like it)
Talking about your feelings gets easier
It’s fun. I enjoy looking back at my own writing. I enjoy discussing Substack with my wife, and I love writing.
I’m proud of myself for keeping this going because it’s something I’ve built for myself, and if anyone is reading this, thank you to anyone who has stumbled upon this little corner of the internet. (Maybe it’s not a void, but even if it is, that’s okay too.)
December was a big reading month for me, and I break it all down in here, but this month, while there’s a lot on my mind, cough cough, Stranger Things, I wanted to share the books my wife kindly gifted me for Christmas and some of my chill-not-strict-at-all reading goals for next year.
Shout out to my bestie (yes, my wife) for stalking my Christmas wishlist and making sure that I got new reads for the new year. Books are some of my favorite gifts to get for Christmas because I absolutely devour them during that small break between Christmas and New Year's (RIP winter break, you’re dearly missed). I’m a big paperback girl, so I’m always waiting a year after my anticipated reads come out before I get to buy them. While this might be old picks for many people, it’s exactly what I wanted.
Let’s dive into what I want to hopefully read within the new year. My reading goal isn’t necessarily tied to the number of books I read. While I always set my reading goal to a cute 25, it’s not that serious for me. However, there are always a handful of authors and books that my heart yearns to read within the calendar year. And, I laid them out below:
As you know, each year I try to tackle a massive tome. While last year’s was East of Eden by John Steinbeck, I finally narrowed down what I want to read next year. It was tough. A toss-up between Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy or The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, but next year, I’m hoping to tackle The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
While this may not be my official “big book of the year,” I’m hoping to also dig into Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad and The Odyssey ahead of the movie.
After reading Virgil’s Aeneid this year, I also want to read Ovid’s Metamorphoses. (I know I’m all out of order, but alas, here we are.)
I’m going on a tropical trip next year, so it’s only right that I follow the footsteps of every IT girl and read Rachel Cusks’ Outline trilogy while I lie in the sand on an island.
Can I also get one new Baldwin and one Morrison, please? Until I finish their catalog, I’m continuing my journey of reading a Baldwin and a Morrison a year, so we’ll see which one finds me.
Last, but certainly not least, I’m hoping to tackle Octavia Butler’s The Parable (or Earthseed) series. I really wanted to read this last year, but given the fires (spooky), I opted to postpone because sometimes real life is enough.
In the same vein as the last section, I wanted to shout out some of the new “toys” I got for Christmas. Aside from books, I tend to ask for things in the realm of the fitness world, and I've got some awesome pickups.
First things first, for my running endeavors, I finally got another running hat, and my sister splurged on a Bandit Current Run Hat in the Empire color. (Fun fact, I’ve got it on right now, as I’m writing this because I’ve got an interval session after this.) It’s a different hat shape than I’m used to, but I like it so far.
While we’re on the subject of running, my aunt-in-law is iconic for picking up my copies of my favorite Lululemon Pacebreaker shorts in literally the same color. This might have been unintentional, but honestly, it was exactly what I needed.
Third banger pick-up is for all-around training! My brother-in-law was kind enough to send me the Beats Powerbeat Pro 2. While the shape also takes some getting used to, I literally use them every day. I love them, and they make me feel like a baller athlete.
Alright, and the last thing my mother-in-law gifted me was a new pair of tennis shoes. I’m so grateful for these because I desperately needed them. Since my ankle misshap, I found it super difficult to wear my brace with the shoes I currently had, so I asked for a pair of Asics Gel-Resolution X in Monument Blue. They didn’t have the wide version in my size, so I opted for a size 7 instead of a size 6.5. I also chose the Monument Blue because, although it says it’s blue, it’s actually a beautiful shade of sage.
These are my first Asics tennis shoes. Typically, I’m an Adidas girl, but I wanted to try something new. I took them out for a test drive, and I love them so far. They’re super plush with good ankle support. I can’t wait to see how I feel about them in the next few months.
I didn’t talk too much about December as a whole at first because I’m wrapping my head around how much happened this month. From a quick trip to Disneyland, the holidays, a reading retreat, little side quests, and coffee, lots of coffee, it’s incredible to reflect upon everything that happened this year.
And I can already tell you that the beginning of January is about to be so busy. While it’s fun, I’m hoping that isn’t necessarily the theme of 2026, because I'd like 2026 to be a bit more restful than last year. Only time will tell if that will be the case, but as I think ahead, it’s going to be pretty busy.
All I can hope for is that it’s filled with laughter, learnings, and with the people that I love. I’ve got my 2026 themes and goals in my forefront, and for now, I’m just excited to see what the new year brings.
Happy New Year! Chat soon!