Top 10 Things I Am Looking Forward To In 2016

Yea! We finally have a Top 10 subject I can do now that the holidays are almost over with! Make sure to check out Kate's and Tiff's blogs because they actually have lives and probably have some worthy goals for 2016, whereas mine are typical me...weird and silly.

#1: DISNEY WORLD
Financially, one of the most destructive things I can do is take a Disney World trip, especially so soon after Disneyland, which was probably the most expensive trip I've ever taken in my entire life, but I just can't help myself, especially when I'm getting a paid ride (as least as far as transportation, parks, food, and lodging are concerned...it's my shopping habits that get me into trouble). Despite the problems this trip is probably going to cause me, I absolutely can't wait because I've never been to Disney World in the spring and I've always wanted to go to Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival (if for no other reason than a new pin set). Besides, it's way past time for just a trip with me and my sissy!

Plus, I'll be able to check yet another Disney Resort off my "never stayed at before" list and I will have officially stayed at every single moderate resort.

#2: STITCHING
I used to be a one project at a time person. It's probably the reason why I would stitch for months and then not touch it for months or even years...boredom. I started having a couple of WIPs at a time, but once I started HAEDs, my stitching took on a whole new life. I tried to restrict myself to three...one HAED, one kit, and one Disney, but the ease in which HAEDs stitch, make any other project pale in comparison. Even though they changed their charting method (don't worry, I'm not going to go into a 20 minute diatribe about dithering) and I rarely buy one now, I still have enough in my stash to last more than a lifetime. I do still buy kits or projects from other designers (usually on Etsy), but the odds of me ever getting around to them is next to nil thanks to my HAED stash.

Plus, I really want to make time-lapse videos of all my pictures of my stitching projects. There has to be a reason why I take pictures every single night, especially since I only typically post a before and after post weekly. I just haven't found a way to center the picture enough to make the video not seem jumpy. Once I figure that out, I'll have time-lapses coming out of my...well, you know.

Come January 1, I will be adding three new HAEDs to my non-patterned rotation, so the current kits and "other" projects will probably take a backseat, at least for a while. The good thing about these three new ones is that I actually have a chance to finish at least one or two of them in the upcoming year, whereas the two HAEDs I have active now will take a few more years to finish.

I'm also going to try to stop buying stash. Like I said, I have more than I can ever do, so unless it's just a complete stunner and I can't live without it, I'm not buying anymore. I had already decided this months ago, which is probably why I've been browsing stash like crazy the past couple of months. I have managed to control myself and have only made a couple of purchases, including this one last night:

(thanks for the heads up on these Tiffany!)

#3: BILL PAYING
After I "fall off the wagon" and hit Disney World in March, hopefully I will have significant time during the year to finally get some credit cards paid down. I've let them get WAY out of control and I've got to stop myself before it gets really bad. Everytime I get a "wild hair", I just need to tame it back down instead of running with it and going nuts.

#4: SPRING CLEANING
OK, this may sound like a weird thing to look forward to, but I've managed to let my Disney collection get completely out of control and it's cluttering up my entire house. I need to find a way to restrict it to one or two rooms of my tiny little trailer. I don't mean getting rid of anything (my OCD wouldn't let me and I just don't want to), but I think if I organize things better, I could have more room. It's time to get creative with Wal-Mart furniture! Heck, even my ink pens are out of control:


#5: NEWS FROM NASA
I've always been into Astronomy, but not to the level that I have been in the past year (thanks to our trip to Pluto), so I'm really excited to see what's in store for 2016. The final New Horizons data will be coming down mid year (although it could take them years to sort through all the data) and we should find out if they got approved to actually visit the new Kuiper Belt object they are already heading towards (2014 MU69, as of now).

photo via the NASA website - Pluto and it's moon Charon (although I still contend that they are a binary planetary system)

The setback of the cancellation of InSight (another rover destined for Mars, this one to study geology), at least until the next launch window of 2018, was a huge bummer for me, especially since I had registered my name to be one of many that will get embedded on a chip that will be sent on InSight, which was going to land on the red planet in the month of my birthday. I still have high hopes that they will be able to fix the equipment leak causing the delay, but at least NASA's budget did get a massive boost this year, so there are good things on the space horizon! Plus, with the influx of skill from the likes of Space X and others in the private sector, NASA can only grow and get better every day!


#6: ROAD TRIPS
Back in the day, I used to drive around...a lot. Now, I barely ever leave the house. It's time to change that because I do enjoy getting out there and seeing things I've never seen before (as long as I can do it safely from the car window). If nothing else, I'd like to resume at least a once a month day-trip to Biloxi like I used to do. Plus, I really want to get Bam used to travelling...I miss pup trips! Zander and I, and then Zander, Zach, and I used to do it all the time. Heck, Zander went to more places than most humans get to go to in their entire lifetime. I really miss that little guy and this view:


#7: PERSONAL GROWTH
About every decade, I go through a major "remodel" of my personality and a huge chunk of my 30's were spent on the biggest "remodel" of them all, but by the time I hit 40, I was tired of changing, so I just kind of skipped it. Since I am now 45, my ticks and issues are really getting old and there are a lot of things I just don't like about myself right now, so it's time to go back into the proper mode and try to fix what's wrong. I'm not the nicest person when I go through this phase, although I'm going to try to make more of an effort to change that too. It may sound like a strange thing to do, but it's just one of those things I have to go through as an Asper to be able to function in a "normal" world.

#8: WORK SATISFACTION
#7 always helps with this problem area, but lately I've been more and more dissatisfied with work and it's probably all my own fault. I've done nothing to hone my skills and typically make it through a day by the skin of my teeth. I've always said that work isn't the most important thing...home is, but my home life is quite happy right now (even if my personal is not), but I've noticed that I'm starting to take my work dissatisfaction home with me and stewing in it...something I've never really done before. Stitching for me is like Xanax and the worse things get, the more I stitch (as obviously observed of late), but every other thing on this list I want to do can't be done if I'm stitching every non-working waking moment of my life.

#9: UK TRIP PLANNING (HOPEFULLY)
This might be a bit of a long-shot, but if all goes well with #3, I fully intend to start planning and saving for a trip to the UK for 2017 sometime during next year. It's been one of my oldest dreams, so hopefully (with a little help from my bestie Kate), I'll be able to plan the best trip ever!

#10: DISNEY WORLD...AGAIN
I started this list with Disney World and I get to end it that way too because I've got another free-ride trip coming up in September/October (this time thanks to my sister's husband). This one is still a bit up in the air since no official plans have been made (yet), but I've got big personal plans for the trip, including hopefully a side trip to Cape Canaveral and yet another tick off my "never stayed at before" resort list. Time will tell about the details, but I'm just happy to be going "home" during my favorite time of year, Halloween season! Plus, it will be nice to see a Haunted Mansion in its natural state again without a Christmas overlay (I just can't let that go, can I?). But honestly, who doesn't want to see ghostly things at Halloween time?


And that's it! The final Top 10 for 2015!