Happy New Year!! Looking back on 2015 and Goals for 2016 and Such :)

So, I'll start with my usual of HI! It's been a while... I don't know why this keeps happening, but I also keep coming back to blogging, cause I do love it.
But it's a whole new year and I wish everyone lots of love, health and only good things and amazing reads for 2016!

Looking Back on 2015

Bloggingwise: Yep, I kinda totally failed again. I did REALLY well up until June, and then we went on vacation and my brain never went out of vacation mode and everything just sort of... stopped happening on the blog. My goal was to get the number of review I had to write back into the single digits and instead it's gone into the triple digits... Yeah... I suck.

I've done a teensy bit better on the requesting things on NetGalley and Edelweiss goal, but let's face it, I could still really do with some cutting back in that department. 

Reading: So I actually read 159 books this year (it sort of irks me that it's not a nice rounded number), which I'm pretty proud of! I've dipped my toes in the world of manga and graphic novels and I really like it so far, so I'm looking forward to read more of them in 2016! If it wasn't for book club, I probably wouldn't have read some of the books I read this year, including The Casual Vacancy and Anne of Green Gables. Some are bigger successes than others, but you can't have it all ;) I've been trying to get more backlist reading in, but the shiny new releases keep being shiny and distracting. 

TV wise: I've been watching a lot of series this year and I LOVE it, it's interfering with my reading time a bit, but hey, with 159 books read, I'm not all that worried. I've started watching Nashville, Downton Abbey, Awkward and White Collar. Sadly, one of my favourite series, Hart of Dixie, ended and I was filled with all the sads. And also due to some deaths on TV series. Can all the TV show writers just stop killing off my favourite male characters? KTHANXBAI.

Personal life: I haven't been sharing all that much on the blog about what's going on with me personally, but 2015 has mostly been a good year for me!

-I cut back on the hours I work and now work 80%, which means a full day off each week and it's heaven. I have a lot more energy to actually do stuff on the weekends and I get things done and it's just bliss. It also helps that we got someone to clean our house for us, I used to put a lot of energy into procrastinating about cleaning and now I don't have to anymore!

-I finished my ER rotation in August, I totally loved it! It was hard at times with all the night shift and I had some experiences there that I could honestly say that I could have done without because it was just horrible, but I learned a lot and the people were awesome. It's also made me more into the person that says yes to things, mostly work-related, but still. I'm more confident and I know I can hold my own in a tough situation, which is really worth a lot to me.

-I also did a psych rotation. Yeah. Let's just say that while I do appreciate the things I learned there, it wasn't really my thing and I'm glad it's over. I was so stressed from not enjoying my work there! I didn't even fully realise this until it was over and I started work somewhere else and I was just HAPPY.

-In December I started my final year of residency as a GP and it's AMAZING so far. I get real enjoyment out of working again, the people are lovely and it's just a good place for me. So I'm very thankful for that!

-The boyfriend and I went on vacation to Thailand and Berlin this year. Thailand is just this beautiful place with so much amazing nature and very friendly people and yummy food! We went on a group holiday and met some wonderful people on it. 

Berlin was fun as well, the Christmas markets had just opened and everything was decorated festively and there was gluhwein and chocolate covered strawberries and we also did some cultural stuff ;) Oh, and we stayed in an apartment that came with a cat, so that was awesome. I love visiting different places, but I'm always happy to go home again as well!

-Obviously book club keeps being awesome. They are my people, I love how we've done the 24 hour readathon together and I always look forward to our monthly meet-ups! I love how we manage to always pick the restaurants with the worst service ever (except for last time, that was a fancy nancy place and they were very friendly!) and we still have a good time and flail over books and generally spook the other customers. I regret nothing. <3 p="">

Goals for 2016

-Get back to blogging. I know this was my #1 goal last year, but I failed spectacularly in the second half of 2016 and I really want to fix this. I'm gonna try and crank out mini-reviews for all the books that are on my need-review shelf and hopefully get the number down a lot soonish.

-The requesting less on NetGalley and Edelweiss thing still stands. I'm SO bad at this! I've gotten a little better, but then there'll be a lot of shiny looking new additions to the catalog and I'll just be like YES NEED TO HAVE IT!! 

-Hand in hand with requesting less goes reading more of my own books. I've gotten a little better at this in 2015, but I still have a LOT of unread books on my shelves, so this needs to happen.

-Now that I don't need to clean my house anymore, I should really get a bit better about tidying it, more specifically: folding the laundry. I really, really, really do not like folding laundry and putting it in my closet and it piles up. Like a lot. Like it's on a chair in the attic and you can't see the chair anymore. 

-The last couple of months I haven't been buying as many books. The thing is, I've been buying a lot of clothes and such. And mugs. And while I don't really have a problem with this, it might be nice to save a bit more money, so I'm just gonna think my purchases through a bit more before buying something. 

-Continue working out. Starting in July, I decided I needed to start working out regularly again and since then I've been working out 2-3 times a week and I think it's really good for me. I'm generally trying to be a bit more healthy, trying to balance the not so healthy meals out with some healthier ones and basically trying new recipes and I really like it! So I'm gonna try to keep these new habits up :)

So those are my goals, I've actually started trying to be better about all those things over the last couple of months, so they may not really be new year's resolutions, but perhaps they'll be stronger for it? 

What do you hope to accomplish this year?

A Belated Happy New Year and Goals for 2015 and Such

Hi guys! It's been a while. I guess that's kinda been my standard opening for about 6 months now, I've seriously been slacking on blogging.

But: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know it's a bit late, but not any less heartfelt because of that. I hope all your dreams and goals will be realised this year and just lots of happiness for everyone!

Lookng Back on 2014

Bloggingwise: I completely failed. Especially during the last couple of months. And I would like to blame this on having zero time for blogging, but actually, I've had more time, but just every time I opened up a window to start a post, I was like 'meh' and drawing a blank and then I just got back to either watching one of my series on TV or reading or whatever I'd rather be doing at the moment. So I'm pretty behind on reviews, I have the impressive number of 78 books that still need a review that I've read in the last year. Go big or go home right? ;)
So I have been reading lots of review copies, but failing to post a review still doesn't really make it a success.
Also, I've been failing at commenting on other people's blogs.

Reading: I did pretty well as far as reading goes, I read 142 books in 2014, which is exactly the same number as in 2013 and considering I had 2 whole months off in 2013, I think I did pretty well this year. I've been trying to read more new-to-me authors and I've been looking into somewhat older fantasy books instead of the shiny new releases, because I want to know my favourite genre better and the books that have shaped it. Book club has forced me to step out of my comfort zone a bit at times, which was fun.

Personal Life: 2014 wasn't always an easy year for me, but it was full of good changes.
-We moved to a pretty new house which actually has room for my books and I am now the proud owner of a library, which is AMAZING and I can just sit on the floor of that room for hours and stare at my shelves. It also has a garden, which is just the best thing in the summer. And FLOOR HEATING, which is the best invention EVER as I'm not so cold all the time anymore. I'm just very thankful for my beautiful new home and while moving and selling the apartment we used to live in was pretty stressful, we're very happy with were we are now.

-I decided in February that I wanted to cut back on the hours I work, when it was time for the weekend, I was exhausted and didn't feel like doing stuff other than sit on the couch and I just felt like I didn't have time to do all the other things I love and would generally be a happier person if I worked a day less. And starting in September, I did just that and it's been wonderful. For 3 months, I had every Friday off and it just felt like a mini-vacation every week. I'm now working in the ER and my schedule is crazy, some weeks I work 8-16 hours and other weeks over 70 hours, with night shifts and weekend shifts and just no routine whatsoever in my schedule. But as I sometimes have 5 days in a row off now, I think I can figure it out.

-The boyfriend and I went to Morocco and Rome on vacation and both were amazing in their own way! It was also just nice to get away from everything for a while and just be together and enjoy life.

-I love how blogging has brought me my book club ladies and I'm so thankful to have Daphne, Debby and Mel in my life! These meet-ups once a month are one of my favourite nights of the month and they're just my kind of people. It's wonderful to have fellow book lovers in my life that I get to meet and geek out with and eat yummy food with and at times make a lot of noise with and scare the other restaurant patrons (a Secret Santa gift exchange will do this to you). Love you ladies!

-We got a cat! Our pretty kitty Zoë has been with us since August and she just makes our house a home. I love having her around and cuddling with her and just being a crazy cat mom taking ALL the pictures:

So while I was pretty stressed out a lot of times in 2014, mostly due to stuff related to my residency and the move and things with my family, a lot of good stuff happened and know I'm very blessed to have amazing people in my life and a wonderful home and a job that I love, sometimes it's just hard to actually feel all of that, but I'm getting to the point where I'm more relaxed and can just enjoy it.

Goals for 2015

-Get back to blogging. I've been slacking so much lately and this needs to change. I want to bring my need-review shelf back to below 10 books at all times, so I'll be trying to clear out the ones I still have on it with mini-reviews soon.

-Be a better blogger friend. I've also been failing at reading and commenting on other people's posts and I need to devote more time to being part of the blogosphere again!

-Request less on NetGalley and Edelweiss. I am so bad at control when it comes to hitting that request button on shiny books! But I really need to cut back on these, because of my next goal:

-Read the books I bought myself or received as gifts. I feel guilty when I take the time to read my own books because I have so many review copies and I really shouldn't, because I bought those with my own money or other people bought them for me and also I just want to read them because I was excited enough about them to shove money at a bookseller to get them and how else can I justify having them in my home and buying even more?

-Read some backlisted books besides all the shiny new releases. There's a reason there's so much love for some of those fantasy books that were published years ago and I want in on this.

-Continue/finish series. I'm so bad at actually sticking with a series once I've started it and I have an irrational fear of reading the last book in a series and I want to conquer this.

-Cut a teensy bit back on my book-hoarding tendencies. I have over 600 books that I haven't read that are sitting on my shelves, I think I need to cut back a little on buying them (completely is just not a realistic goal) and especially because I have 25 series that I haven't started the first book from, but I do own the whole series.

-Really live in the moment and not constantly worry about things I need to do or what could go wrong, but really just enjoy the good things while they're happening.

-Read a couple of books that have been turned into series/movies, so I can watch those and get in on the awesome. Also: start watching Downton Abbey. I think this will be a new addiction once I've started it.

For a girl who isn't really into making New Year's resolutions, I think this is a pretty big list ;) What are some of your goals for this year?

Daisy Discussion: Collector or Reader?

Guys, I'm just going to throw this out there: sometimes I wonder if I'm more of a book collector than a reader. I mean, I have this compulsion to just buy ALL THE BOOKS and then I hardly ever read them because most of the time I feel guilt over the review books I still need to read.

As of this moment I have 264 unread physical copies on my shelves. That's a scary number. At least 3 books are making their way to me as we speak and I've pre-ordered another 25.
I think I might have a book buying problem.

And while the fact that I buy this many books doesn't bother me in the slightest, I am bothered by all these pretty books staying unread and knowing that even if I just read my own books for a year and not buy any new ones, I'd STILL not have read them all.

I'm very much aware this falls firmly into the first world problems category.

And I know that with 143 books read this year so far I can definitely call myself a reader and not just a collector, but sometimes even I wonder when I'll find the time to read them all.

So I'm going to challenge myself to read more of my own books, I mean, I bought them, I shouldn't feel all this guilt over reading them! I've dedicated a shelf on Goodreads towards my failure when it comes to reading the next book in a series and I REALLY want the number of unread sequels to go down from the embarassing 24 it's at now.

How about you guys? Ever feel like you're just collecting books instead of actually reading the ones you have? Feel guilt over reading your own books instead of review books? How big is your TBR pile at the moment?

Bout of Books read-a-thon 5.0 Goals!

From the Bout of Books blog:
"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 13th and runs through Sunday, August 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 5.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.
-From the Bout of Books 5.0 team"

So I had SO MUCH FUN in May with the Bout of Books read-a-thon! I also had a lot more time to participate then, but this will not stop me from trying my best this time around!
I'm working all week, except for Wednesday and the weekend, so I'm going to keep my goals casual and not stress myself out too much about it.

My goals:
-Read as much as I can given the 40 hours of work I do in 4 days.
-Participate in the chats when I can
-HAVE ALL THE FUN!

That's it.

Are you participating as well? Link me and I'll check out your goal post :)