What worked for me last year

As I start a new year, I have some expectations for 2016. In the past, I've chosen a 'word of the year,' but there are two reasons I'm skipping that this year 1- it is too much pressure 2- I usually forget about the word by March or April, leaving 2/3 of the year when I don't even think of it.

For 2016, I'd like to reflect on two questions Anne wrote about. Their simplicity resonates with me.

What worked for me last year?

What didn't?

1. Black coffee. About a year ago, my husband and I embarked on the Whole30 challenge (read more here and here) and I had to learn to drink my coffee black. Making the switch was easier than I thought it would be and it's stuck.
2. Audiobooks. I have never really liked reading, but listening to books while I drive to work or clean the house has become a good way to read more. I use the Scribd app that has a monthly subscription of $9 (a bit more affordable than Audible). I also learned I much prefer audiobooks read by the author. Three of my favorite reads listens include Surprised by Motherhood, Love Does, and For the Love.
3. Short hair. I've had my hair short for about a year and a half and seriously considered growing it out, but it's just so much easier to have short hair at this stage of my life. I've always been a low-maintenance kind of hair girl. I don't like to have to wash it often and it doesn't really hold curl, so having it short cuts down on the fuss of long locks.
4. Making my own hand soap. I use this recipe (scroll to the bottom where it says DIY Handsoap) and it really couldn't be easier. I re-purposed two Method foam pump bottles about a year ago and I still refill them with the combo for foaming hand soap. Sometimes I omit the essential oil since the first time I bought Castile soap I picked up the peppermint without realizing it. 
5. Leather earrings. I never thought of myself as a big earring kind of gal (despite wearing large hoops in middle school since that was the trend), but I heard about Nickel and Suede's leather earrings via Instagram last spring and just had to have a pair. I currently own four pairs and don't see my collection getting smaller anytime soon. In fact, I find myself wearing less jewelry when I wear these.

And a short list of what did not work for me in 2015:

1. Blogging. Perhaps this is too obvious, but I did take a huge blogging break in 2015. I simply needed to have some downtime in the evenings (when I usually write) and perhaps the bigger thing was that I needed some space. I felt pressure to keep writing just to keep it up and that was not necessary.
2. Sticking with the Whole30 Diet (especially while pregnant). I have a lot of good things to say about doing Whole30, but I couldn't do it permanently. Personally, there were some benefits to cutting out white flour, dairy and sugar (among other things).  However, I will agree to a future Whole30 once this pregnancy ends ;-)
3. Grocery shopping. My husband does the cooking and has been doing to major grocery shopping for well over a year. Please don't hate me.
4. Carrying essential oils with me. I could probably try a little harder, but I have not gotten into keeping EO's with me, either when I travel or am just out and about. To be honest, I tried a few times, but forgot to use them. So, I just stick to diffusing EO's at home and using them in some cleaning.

Have you considered these questions before? I'd love to know what worked for you and what didn't in 2015.