My 2022 Goals Year End Check In

This should have been posted last year but I am never good with time-sensitive blog posts lol. Despite my lack of punctuality though I feel like I did well with my goals from 2022.

Learn to Drive

I am actually making progress on this one! So I think the last time I wrote about my goals, I was trying to get an instructor and I am happy to report I found one! I have been taking lessons since the end of July last year and it’s actually going well, I’m not going to lie, some weeks it feels like it’s a bit shaky but I’ve definitely come a long way since I first started.

I also went on a few lessons with my boyfriend last year, though this turned out exactly how we thought it would. Disastrous lol I was just super nervous driving his car and so I was on edge the whole time. He also just got a new car so I doubt we’ll be doing many more driving lessons together.

So yeah I am feeling optimistic about it and will need to rebook my theory test again since mine has long expired lol. Don’t know whether to be excited or slightly scared about being out on the roads in 2023 but I’m glad I’m finally doing it.

Blog More

I think this one has been good this year, a bit hit or miss considering I think about blogging about stuff and then lots of time passes and I don’t do it lol. For example, my Comic Con posts were months later just because I was meaning to write them and never did.

I think I need to work on not putting so much pressure on what I’m writing. Which is easier said than done since I always think about this but I’ll work on it. I mean sometimes there genuinely isn’t anything to blog about but other times I know I can do it so I just need to make time for it.

I will continue to work on blogging this year, and for as long as I have a blog.

Read 22 books

Smashed this one. But I knew I would lol. I’m pretty sure I was close to reaching my goal when I did my mid-year check-in so something would have had to go seriously wrong for me not to reach it.

And as always I will continue on reading in 2023, I am excited to finish up PLL and dive into new things this year.

Learn a Language

I’d say I am doing okay at this. Mainly because I am just doing Duolingo. And my streak is going strong, almost at a full year now. That being said, there’s definitely been more than a few streak freezes used, and days when I was just doing a quick repeat lesson to keep the streak. So I can’t say I’ve been working my hardest at it.

Still, I have been learning a few things. Though as time goes on I know it’s not really sustainable for learning a language, especially when you only ever learn really specific phrases, and I’m never really challenged to do it myself. Like, yeah you have to write a phrase in Korean based on English but you see the phrases in Korean all the time because it’s always the same stuff. So am I really learning anything other than how to memorise very specific sentence structures?

I mean either way I’m not fussed about not learning how to speak a language. I had this as a goal because I thought my boyfriend and I would do it together but he ended up bailing lol. I will still keep up with the Duolingo though in the new year, as I think it’s a good thing to keep the brain active and working ya know? So we see how it goes.

Spend more time with friends and family

This one has been hit/miss as I feel like I have spent lots of time this year with friends like I’ve been out with my friends from school, work and pole. It’s been a busy year for me and socialising.

But in terms of family, I definitely have not been spending as much time with them and I think half of it is because I’ve been busy with other things lol. I filled 2022 with doing the most it seems so I feel like I need to take more time to rest, but also make time for family. I didn’t see most of them until Christmas in 2022 so it would be nice to see them more than once a year. I definitely think learning to drive will help though, because I’ll have more freedom to travel rather than being confined to public transport, which is becoming more and more annoying to me recently but we won’t get into that.

So yeah, not the worst but not the best.

Make progress on my house

We did make progress on the house but also feels like we currently just have another incomplete room lol.

Currently, the ensuite is tiled which it wasn’t before this year but the rest of the ensuite is not put in. And we have the basics of our new kitchen in which is exciting but the plastic is still on all of the doors because we still have the painting, tiling and other things to do.

So we are getting there, I am hoping after the kitchen and ensuite everything else magically falls into place but it’s a big undertaking, especially when doing it yourself. Still, looking forward to the day when it’s all done and we can just enjoy the space we have.

Exercise consistently

I think I did well with this, at least in terms of pole classes I was good. I went almost every single week and I’ve made a lot of progress which I am so proud of myself for.

Hoop classes kind of fell off for me in the second half of the year just because my Saturdays were taken up by other things but I am slowly getting back into it. That being said, it would be easier to do a class during the week if I could but the timings just never add up for me. So it’s a come-and-go thing which is fine.

There was also a period of time when I was doing pole practice, KPop Dance class and pole class for a few weeks and that was a lot lol. So I mean it’s about balance. I’m not too mad about not doing tons of exercise I think as long as I keep what I’m doing I’m doing all right.

Plus who knows? Maybe when my boyfriend and I get the house sorted we might actually make it to the gym again lol.

And so, those were all my goals from 2022 and what I achieved with them. I have to say I’m proud of myself for actually making progress with the goals. I mean usually, you have ideas about stuff you wanna do in the new year and never do them so I’m proud these were achievable and I was doing them.

Do I have goals for 2023? Yes and no. I mean I have a couple things I wanna do but I don’t really know if I’ll make a post talking about them. It’s mainly just keeping up the driving and get Invisalign but I have already started talking to someone about that so it’s happening lol.

But this was good and just like the start of last year I feel very motivated for this year and doing things so I am hoping to keep up the momentum and make the most of the year. And hopefully, I will keep up the blogging along the way!

Comic Con Liverpool!

I’m finally sharing my photos from Comic Con Liverpool! Almost two and a half months later but it’s fine. I tried to write this blog post a while ago but I didn’t like how it was going so I’m doing it again. I feel like sometimes I try too hard with my blog posts when they don’t even need that much to them. I’m not writing this for anyone but myself so does it really matter what they say?

Anyway yes, so I went to Comic Con Liverpool in November with my boyfriend and it already feels like a lifetime ago. But I have been waiting for this Comic Con for a long time and now it’s finally happened and it still doesn’t feel real. I mean, like Comic Con Northern Ireland all of the meet and greets were kind of a blur but I’ll share with you what I remember and how it all felt.

First off, this convention was about three times the size of Comic Con Northern Ireland and there were people EVERYWHERE. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised they brought both Salvatore brothers and the Cullens to the UK, not to mention Charlie Hunnam and some other big hitters so it was a busy time. Still, like most people I did have issues with some of the organisation of the events and the flow of things.

For example, there were no signs for things anywhere and so it was hard to navigate your way around. Thankfully, for the first day all of my meet and greets were in the one place so I just had to find that place and stay there but signage would have been helpful. Especially for Paul and Ian, they were in a separate area away from everyone but I had no idea where that was. I kind of went to an area and hoped for the best. Still, I got where I needed to go and met who I needed to so that’s what matters.

Another issue they had was congestion around the hallways. Mainly near the sky bridge and the Q&A hall. I mean I guess it didn’t help that when you left Paul and Ian’s room you were put into the hallway everyone was trying to pass through. Naturally, there were people standing about there trying to get a glimpse of whoever was hidden in the separate room, but you also had the lines for the Q&A and then people just trying to get to the other building. It was a mess.

Not to mention, one time we were on the sky bridge but the staff were trying to close it but weren’t letting us leave the bridge? They were closing the doors but we were all standing behind the doors trying to get through but they wouldn’t let us even though we were already there and more people were coming down so we couldn’t go back the way we came. It was not pleasant and there was no communication from staff about what was going on so yeah, not ideal and I can’t imagine how it would’ve felt if you were claustrophobic.

So those would have been the main downsides to the days, aside from that it was fine. I guess I was also annoyed I wasn’t able to make all the Q&As I wanted based on photo times and everything but that was mainly a ‘me’ problem since I bought all my photos for Saturday and the Q&As I wanted to go to were all on Saturday. So next time we balance things out for both days.

In terms of meet and greets, they were all similar, except when I was queuing for the Twilight meet and greet I got talking to some other people in line and it was amazing. Like to be around people who share that interest with you and who you can fangirl with is honestly the best feeling. My heart felt so full talking to them, it really made me feel like I’d found my place and where I was meant to be. It was such a highlight for me and I would definitely recommend going to Comic Con just for that. It’s one of the reasons why I joined Twitter when I was younger, to find people who loved Twilight as much as me because no one in my real life really understood, so meeting people like that in person really meant a lot to me and my younger self.

I didn’t really get talking to anyone else in the other lines I was queuing for, which is fine. I mean I was queuing by myself but I usually keep to myself unless other people talk to me first lol. I have become a lot more confident since I left school but striking up conversations with strangers has never been my strong suit. But I’m sure if I had tried I could have gotten into some good conversations about Vampire Diaries, considering half the convention goers were walking around in some form of Vampire Diaries t-shirt.

As for the photo-ops themselves, it was all in and out. When I got my photo with the Cullens, I didn’t say anything to anyone lol I think I was kind of star-struck, but also the photographer was taking a break or something and it was kind of awkward as I was just standing in the middle of all of them and they were talking amongst themselves. I can’t say I was disappointed because I didn’t have anything to say and I wasn’t expecting them to have much to say either but it was just a bit awkward because I was standing there longer than expected lol.

The Ian and Paul photo was not my favourite to queue for, it was the longest queuing and since I didn’t have anyone to talk with so it did drag for me. I also felt bad for Ian and Paul the whole weekend as their schedules were non-stop, but they showed up and showed out doing their best. I mean from my experience with them it wasn’t ideal, I don’t think Ian looked at me until I was halfway out the door but again, I’m not mad about it. A bit disappointed but I understand they were busy that day and I wasn’t there for conversation. It definitely would have been nice if they had been a bit more enthusiastic but by the time I got there I think they’d already been taking photos for hours so you can’t expect the world of them, they’re only human.

I also got a photo with Nathaniel Buzolic, though only just. I was the last person he met on Saturday I think lol I had to rush from Ian and Paul to get over to him because of how the timings worked out. He was really nice, I think if I had things to say to him he would have happily chatted with me but I genuinely didn’t have anything to say so we said hello, got our photo and off I went.

And finally, I got a photo at the end of the day with Chad Michael Murray, he was the most memorable to me. I guess because he actually looked at me lol. What I mean is he said hi, shook my hand and asked how I was doing. He seemed pretty laid back and in no rush, though it was the last photo op of the day and the line was short. It was a nice moment and again, if I had had more to say to him I’m sure he would have chatted with me but I’m not really one for making small talk with celebs. I mean it’s great if you have a story to tell them or you want to tell them how much their show/movie meant to you but that’s not who I am.

Then there were the two Q&As I was able to make it to. I went to the Originals Q&A panel and then I managed to get a ticket to the Paul and Ian one.

So the Originals one was pretty chill. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the actors as I didn’t know them outside the show but they were good fun. Nathaniel and Sebastian played off of each other and were having a good time. I do wish Riley had been able to speak more but I guess it’s the struggle when you’re co-stars are louder than you lol. Something I could relate to. Overall I enjoyed it and my boyfriend did too, despite him not knowing anything about the show or the actors lol.

The Paul and Ian Q&A I felt was good. I kind of wish the questions had been better but I mean I can’t control what other people are going to ask lol. I suppose if I wanted a good question I should have thought of one but then you never know if they’ll get to you in time etc. But yeah, they were entertaining, Ian being more vocal than Paul though how either of them managed to have any energy at the end of the weekend was beyond me. The panel was the very last thing of the weekend so they had spent the last two days meeting all the people with little downtime I appreciate the effort they put into the panel.

Last but not least I did decide on Sunday to get autographs from the Twilight cast, I wasn’t going to do it initially but I thought why not, I’m here I’m gonna do it. It was the kind of thing I was in and out with them all lol, didn’t have much to say and that’s all good.

I mean impressions up close I’d say Ashley is very professional, she had her handler person write out your name and everything before you got to her so she would copy it out and everything. She was also about to go for lunch so I feel like she was trying to get through as many people as possible.

Jackson was nice to meet, he was friendly and asked how I was. Kellan was okay though he needed to leave for the restroom so I can understand if he wasn’t super friendly when we met lol. Plus he was doing free selfies which was nice so I feel like his line was extra busy compared to others who were charging for selfies.

Peter Facinelli’s line took the longest, I guess because he was taking time to chat with everyone which is a positive, but at the same time when you have spent all weekend in queues, it was not the best. Still, I waited in line and he was nice enough. I feel like because I didn’t have anything to say though it was pretty quick and chill.

Overall I would say Comic Con is what you make it, like if you want to be there to talk to the celebrities and have time with them you can get that. Depending on scheduling and everything too, I saw on Facebook some people were disappointed they didn’t get their meet and greets or something due to timing. From my experience, I definitely could have taken longer at the signing tables if I wanted to, and at some of the photo ops I feel like the people would have been happy to chat. I guess it depends on the celebrity as well, but you can usually judge by being in front of them.

But it was definitely worth it for me, I got everything that I wanted and I met the people I wanted to meet. I can’t complain. Well, aside from the things mentioned at the start of the post lol. I didn’t expect it to be perfect though.

Will I go back for another Comic Con? Yes, I would, but probably not for a long time. I mean the only reason I went to this one and the last one was that they announced people I really wanted to meet. Now that I’ve met them, I don’t feel the need to see them again if they are announced again. Plus, it would be good to give my bank account a chance to recover lol.

But if they were to somehow get a hold of Robert Pattinson/Taylor Lautner I’d be there in a heartbeat. Though something tells me their convention days are behind them. And that’s fine, I mean it’s a little sad for the Twilight fangirl in me but it’s understandable.

I think if anything my next goal is to make it to RuPaul’s Drag Con UK but I definitely need to save some serious money for that because I know I’ll wanna see everything and everyone. And hopefully, find some friends to tag along because I know my boyfriend will not be in for that one lol.

In the meantime though, it’s time to hang the fangirl hat up for a while and return to doing regular life things. Not as fun but gotta be done.