I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions because, well, I make resolutions all the time. That being said, I sort of unintentionally started some daily tasks with the beginning of the New Year that have turned into resolutions, and I have really been enjoying myself!
1. Daily Art Journaling– You may remember that on my last Autumn Bucket List, one of my goals was to get back into art journaling. When we moved back to Japan, I thought it might be really hard to get started again without most of my supplies from back home, but I started using the book No Excuses Art Journaling by Gina Rossi Armfield, and it’s been really easy to do a little every day!
The concept is really cool: you basically use a planner for an art journal and spend about 10 minutes (or more or less depending on what you want!) on an entry a day that includes the color of the day, the weather of the day, the image of the day, and the word of the day. Then you do a more detailed “peek card” each week, as well as a more involved monthly page. I love it so far because it’s been helping me record things in a fun way while practicing some basic illustration and/or watercolor work.
2. Yoga Practice– I have been doing yoga almost every day since we arrived in Japan. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s more challenging, but either way, it feels pretty nice to incorporate into my daily routine. I have been enjoying alternating between Adriene’s 30-Day Yoga Challenge, Erin Motz’s 30-Day Yoga Challenge (recommended by Ariel!), and Jillian Michaels’ Yoga Meltdown.
Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens
3. Walking EVERYWHERE! – We have been walking for an average of one to two hours a day, with the very least amount of time being about twenty minutes. I love that you naturally walk more in Japan–even just to get from the station to work if you’re commuting by train. Today we went to Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens. It was really relaxing, and will be so beautiful come spring!
This is called the Full Moon Bridge because the reflection in the water
looks like a moon. Something about that seems romantic to me ❤
I have been having a great time adding these things to my daily life, especially because they’re all very reasonable habits to incorporate that all make me feel happy. Do you make resolutions each New Year? What are some things you do on a daily basis for yourself?
Take care friends! xx Caitlyn
Little Snail 
How brilliant is your art journaling! Oh my goodness, it’s so cool and all your goals sound great! Have a beautiful day, lovely.
Thank you so much! I’ve been having a lot of fun with it ❤
Nice blog or your life in Japan. Maybe one of my “resolutions” is to try one myself.
Thank you! You’ll have to let me know if you do! 🙂
Wow. That art journal is incredible. It must be so fun to look through after a few weeks and see so many pages of color!
Haha, thank you! I wanted to get better at cartooning, but the weekly and monthly prompts will give me a chance to do more “artsy” stuff, too 🙂
Though I’m not surprised, I’m really pleased to see you’re settling back into life in Japan. Enjoying your lovely photos too. You should consider picking up some kind of little photo printer, or maybe just stop by a photo shop every few weeks, print a stack out and do some photo collage pages. Miss you guys a lot and often. xx J
I would love to start printing! Right now we’re living in temporary housing, but I think as soon as we move into our long-term place, I’ll start figuring things out like that. We miss you a lot too! Really looking forward to meeting up when you head out our way again 🙂