18 Things I Learned in 2018

Most years I sit down on December 31st and reflect on the year in my rearview mirror. I usually think about all the things I wish I could have changed or how this or that or the other thing just didn’t go my way. And while there are a few of those things, they’re mostly disguised as life lessons I’ve learned. Without further ado…

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1. I am not a wedding planner. Not only am I not a wedding planner, I am the furthest thing from one that you have ever seen. While I’m very excited to marry the love of my life. the fact that my wedding is currently in 20 days is giving me so much anxiety I just have to not think about it. God forbid I ever get married again, it will be in a courthouse.
2. Being a mom is more fun than I ever imagined Don’t get me wrong here…I was never like man, being a mom sure stinks…but the beginning is really tough. It feels like so much work because it is. However as Clara has gotten older and learned to be a little (read wayyy) more independent, we have so much fun together. She has so much personality and is basically fearless. I love being her mom so much.
3. If your job sucks find a new one. This should be obvious right? It isn’t. It’s hard to just up and leave a job after you’ve been there for a while. Especially when you feel like you’ve done pretty well thus far and you don’t want to make any waves that could hurt that. Well I’m here to tell you, if you hate your job, find a new one. It’s not worth dreading going to work every day. You spend more time at work than you do anywhere else. Don’t stay miserable. Update your resume, fight for a new position or a raise, seek new opportunities. Don’t lay there stagnant because you think it’s your only option. News flash: It’s not.
4. Just because it’s good for you, doesn’t mean it’s good for me. I read about this concept in Amy Poehler’s book Yes Please but it didn’t really sink in for me until this year. Basically Amy looks at what another person is doing or some advice that some gave her and evaluates if it’s a good fit for her. If it isn’t a good fit, she used the phrase “good for you, not for me”. And it’s so true. I’ve never heard a truer thing as a parent, an almost-wife, a daughter, a sister and basically every role I play in life. We are all so different. Our personalities are different and what works for you may not work for me and that is okay. 
5. Missing out isn’t all that bad sometimes. Have you heard of FOMO (Fear of missing out)? It can be so real. You want to say yes to every invitation because you don’t want to be the blitz. You would have to be saying “Ah man!” as everyone explains the epic moments of the event you skipped. But listen…It’s going to be okay. If you miss out on one night out or one party or one trip out to lunch to finish up a big project at work, or maybe you decide to skip an even or a class or whatever it is because your plate is a little full. It’s going to be okay. Its true, you could miss out on something fun, but if it’s better for you, your family, your mental health to sit this one out, then do it. I promise you, the world will not end.
6. Personality types matter. I learned this from Rachel Hollis. While I have done several personality tests, I’d never really put a lot of stock in them. That was until I took the Enneagram Test . If you’ve never taken this test (or any personality test) I highly recommend you take it and DON’T read the possible outcomes. It will help you to answer more honestly and avoid any skewing of the results. I’ve found that is I desire to be one personality type over another my results might not match my true personality. Be honest and take a test. The reason I like the Enneagram test is because it shares about how you deal with others as well as how you deal with yourself. It really helped me get to know who I am as a person and why I am the way I am.
7. Moving sucks. My mom, my sister, and I all bought new houses and moved in the summer and fall of 2018. Each transaction was stressful. Boxing everything and moving it was labor intensive. It was also very emotionally exhausting. My parents moved out of my childhood home which was also my mom’s childhood home. As much as we love the new place it’s tough knowing the place I became who I am is getting torn down to make room for a highway.
8. Taking on more than you can handle doesn’t make you a superstar it makes you a stressed mess. I tried to work full time, run my household, be a parent and a partner, buy a house, help my mom move, take 3 college courses, and start a business. Oh, and “plan” a wedding. All this has done for me is make my life so hard. I put so much pressure on myself it was nearly impossible to feel successful. In the end things have worked out okay but it was really hard. I am doing things much differently this year because of this lesson I had to learn the hard way in classic Katie fashion.
9. Podcasts are life. I have learned more from Podcasts than basically any other medium in my life. I can’t even believe I didn’t know Podcasts existed before 2017. Okay so I did know that they existed, but I did not understand what kind of amazing content they might contain. I have learned so much, had my perspective changed on so many things, and have also been very entertained over the last year of Podcast listening.
10. I am a bad housekeeper. Just kidding. I always knew that. This is definitely NOT something new to me.
11. Baking isn’t actually that hard. I always thought I wasn’t a good baker and that I shouldn’t bake because I didn’t know all the tricks. As it happens, you actually have to bake to learn the tricks. Over the last year, and even more in the last few months I’ve been baking a ton and things tend to turn out okay.
12. A Brazilian wax will never not hurt. I’m not going to explain this…
13. I’m not my 18 year old self. I have been in denial for a while now…thinking that I’m really just my 18 year old self. That I can eat whatever I want and stay up all night and everything will be fine. No. I’m wrong. I can’t. I’m 25, almost 26 and I cannot in fact do those things anymore without consequence.
14. Amazon Echos are actually really cool. When these things first came out I was like…”Are you serious? This is a real thing? Why on earth does any person need a little speaker that adds to your grocery list?” And then I got one. I use it literally every day. I even have a dot that has replaced my alarm clock. I love it and I take back everything bad I ever said about them.
15. Meditation actually does not suck. When I meditated for the first time I didn’t get it. I thought it was dumb. It did nothing for me. But then I started doing it and wouldn’t you know, it doesn’t suck. It actually helps a whole lot.
16. Personal finance is no joke. I decided to go back to school, as mentioned before, and personal finance is a part of my degree…It’s tough for me! It’s especially hard because it has been quite some time since I’ve taken a math class, but it’s crazy how important it is, and how little people (myself included) know about it.
17. An empty sink is overrated.
18. Sometimes people let you down and that doesn’t say anything about you, but it says a whole lot about them.