Hi, it’s me again. It’s crazy how time flies and how quickly things change. I read through some of my latest “life update” posts and it’s interesting to see the progression of my life and emotions. Sometimes when I feel like I haven’t made much progress in my life, reading old posts can be a great reminder of what has changed.
This Year’s Achievements
Here’s a recap of my progress since I’ve moved back with my parents to California:
- Got my first car! I’ve had cars in the past, but they always felt more like my parents’ cars. But this one is mine!
- Got Invisalign. Finally fixed a small gap in between my top and bottom teeth that has bothered me for years. My treatment isn’t done yet, but I’m so happy with the results so far.
- Began myofunctional therapy. Turns out I had improper tongue position and my tongue was pushing my top teeth forward. I learned proper tongue placement and naturally place my tongue in the correct position now! Still working on lip exercises for my mentalis strain.
- Fixed my tongue-tie. Had a lingual frenuloplasty to snip the tissue that connects my tongue to the bottom of my mouth. My tongue-tie was Type III and I never knew I had one until the orthodontist mentioned it.
- Started nasal treatments. I thought my breathing was fine until I realized I was chronically congested, which was affecting my quality of sleep. Began some chemical cauterization sessions and started using Flonase nightly, both of which helped. I still have some congestion and snore a lot, so will need to look into it further.
- Got chin liposuction. Controversial, I know. But hey, I’m happy with the results and that’s what matters! I do miss Alinda the Hutt sometimes though. 😩
- Started microneedling with PRP treatments. I don’t have the best skin and this is supposed to help with my acne scars. It takes multiple treatments to see results, but I think I’m noticing a bit of improvement. Don’t pick your acne, kiddos.
- Began music lessons and bought a piano! I wanted to learn piano since I was five years old. Only took 26 years to achieve that dream. 🙃 I’ve tried learning piano on-and-off since my late teens, both through self-learning and classes. It was only now that I was able to afford to consistently take classes. One-on-one classes help a ton!
- Began going to the gym weekly. Still not super routine with this, but going with a buddy helps a ton. 🙂 We’ll at least try to go for a walk if we miss the gym. Happy that I’m at least getting more routine exercise than I normally do!
- Got LASIK. I can see! Probably one of the best investments in myself. I’d worn glasses for nearly 20 years, starting from when I was a teenager. Now I’m at 20/20 without glasses!
- Interested in cooking again! I used to be pretty big into cooking, but felt like it was such a time sink that I couldn’t keep up with it. Only found joy in cooking again maybe a month or so ago, so I hope I can stick with it. Aiming to find healthier, home-cooked options over eating out or bringing home fast food. Still a big work in progress!
Pretty decent list I think! My main goal this year was to work on myself, mostly from a physical aspect. I figured I’d take advantage of the fact that I live with my family and don’t really have to pay rent for now to get these expensive procedures out of the way. I would say this year was pretty successful in that sense!
Next Year’s Goals
Still a lot I want to get done, of course! Next year, I want to focus on working more on health, up-skilling, improving my financial situation, and saving for life goals.
- Begin therapy. I know there are still a lot of negative mindsets and behaviors I can improve on. I had a poor experience with therapy in the past, but going to give it another go. I’m optimistic that I’ll have a better experience this time around!
- Make progress towards car loans. Still haven’t paid off my car loans to my mom yet. Funny thing is I tried to pay her earlier and she told me to keep the money in my bank account until she needs it, but I ended up needed it myself! There were so many expenses, both expected and unexpected, this year. I’m so grateful for my mom for being supportive and not expecting me to pay interest.
- Publish a book. I’ve had an idea for a novelty book since a few months ago. The writing is maybe half-finished, so I still need to get working on the rest of it plus illustrate it. Then I’ll have to figure out how to self-publish it through Amazon or something.
- Create a mobile app. I know… this was my goal last year and I still haven’t done it. What can I say, life gets busy! I put some work on learning Flutter, but it’s been put on hold currently.
- Develop with AI. AI is the future. There are so many applications for it, but honestly, I mostly just want to make video games that leverage AI in some way. Not the most life-changing, but it sounds fun. 🙂
- Learn React. I finished setting up new website just today through AWS! It’s currently displaying a mostly empty page, but planning to use it as my playground to figure out React. I also want to write a tutorial post on how to set up a website via AWS at some point.
- Go to the gym more. If I’m somewhat consistent with exercising once a week, perhaps I can up it to twice a week?
- Get my sleep situation sorted out. This is another one I’m currently in the midst of working on. Plan is to visit an allergist, consider additional treatments with my ENT for my snoring, and work on going to sleep at a consistent time. I’ve gotten better at not using my computer past 8-9 PM, but I still have a huge phone addiction past that time.
- Save for egg freezing. It’s weird. I was adamantly childfree when I was younger, but a switch flipped since a few years ago. It seems to be more common once a woman is nearing or turns 30. A former roommate told me about how she started wanting kids when she turned 30, and I was worried I’d feel the same way when I did too! Now that I’m older, I learned to embrace my change in taste. I’m still unsure about kids or if I’ll even find the right person to raise them with, but buying time is still cheaper than rushing into it.
- Focus more on investing. I still haven’t maxed out my investment profiles for this year. I need to hustle and get that going! Future me will thank me.
How many of these goals will I complete? We’ll find out next season of Alinda’s Life Updates!
Happy holidays and enjoy the rest of your year! 😊