I know it’s late to be doing a new year’s post because it’s now the end of January. However, I can’t help but write one so indulge me.

The year 2011 started off quite negatively for me. There are people who would see that as an indication of things to come but I beg to differ. The year, despite the horrible beginnings, is turning out to be wonderful.

New Me. Or at least that’s how I feel after a change of BC pills. I already wrote about it in my tumblr so I’ll just copy that here.

I’ve been on Yaz for about two years. When I got on it, I felt like some crazy person took over my body. There were so many crazy, jealous, paranoid thoughts going through my head. I couldn’t control my emotions or reactions. I mean, I tried to but I felt like it was so hard. I’ve always been a private person so I never really let anyone see into my mind. When I was on Yaz, it was like I was on transparent mode. All my anger, jealousy, sadness, all my emotions were on display. I was a nervous wreck and I could feel my heart racing every single moment I was awake. It was such a bad year.

Just this month, with the encouragement of my therapist, I decided to switch to Diane 35. It’s only been a couple of weeks but I feel my old self returning. I’m more calm even if I’m in my manic episode. I’m not all nervous and jittery. When I start thinking negative thoughts (that’s always been a problem of mine), I always expect a really really awful sinking feeling in my chest and stomach. But no, it’s just the usual negative emotions. Nothing amplified by hormones.

I’m feeling happy with my decision so I hope it doesn’t bite me in the ass in the months to come. I hope this goes on because I hate not having control over myself.

New Love. Last year was such a bummer because I totally ignored myself. I forgot my hobbies, ignored books that were begging to be read, and I even stopped my marathon training. I attribute that weird behavior to Yaz because it made me totally crazy and so not myself. This year, even if I didn’t write about it here on my blog, I made a promise to love myself more. I’m going to do that by surrounding myself with people who truly love me, doing things I enjoy and love, stop apologizing for what I do, what I believe in, and what I am, and basically staying true to what makes me… ME.

New Hobbies. Staying true to my new year’s resolution, I decided to take up new hobbies that are related to crafting. I started cross stitching and I’m almost done with a hibiscus (or gumamela for Filipinos) flower pattern. I chose that pattern because the colors (reds and greens) make me smile and because I love how a gumamela looks.

I’ve also started learning how to knit. I’ve been meaning to learn this craft for quite some time now but never got around to it. Last Sunday, while at the craft store buying embroidery thread, I decided to get a knitting kit. It came with two balls of bright green yarn (love it!) and a pair of metal knitting needles. The kit also came with a knitting guide which is actually rather useless. I had to resort to YouTube videos to learn how to cast and how to do a knit stitch. I never thought I would be able to knit but it’s actually quite easy. It is definitely waaay easier than crocheting, which is like hell on earth for your hands.

I’m quite excited and really ecstatic (love how the word just seems to convey total, absolute happiness) to be doing crafts again. Someone on PostSecret emailed or tweeted (or something) this: I’d rather spend twenty dollars on craft supplies than thousands on a therapist. (Or something to that effect.) I totally feel that person. Crafting is such effective therapy!

New Books. Now that I’m crafting again, I bought some books on crafting and knitting. I also bought a fiction book about a girl who is best described as a slacker. Anyway, on to the books…..

The first book I bought is Knit Couture: 20 Hand-Knit Designs from Runway to Reality by Gail Downey & Henry Conway. The pieces featured are really stylish and can be worn by the everyday girl.

The second book is a crafting one with many different projects. It’s called Wild With a Glue Gun: Getting Together With Crafty Friends. The projects chosen can be done by craft groups and is meant to encourage people to craft together. I love how quirky the projects were. I can’t wait to try their Book Lamp project where you use a stack of books as a stand for the lamp.

The last book is Slacker Girl by Alexandra Koslow.  From the book synopsis, the girl and I seem to have the same personality. I can’t wait to read about her story. Even if she is just fictional.

New Tasks. Lastly, this month I was given an additional task for the site I work for: moderating and responding to comments. I’m very honored that the owners trust me with this responsibility. I’m glad for the break in monotony that sometimes comes from writing posts.

Okay, so I guess this is it for now. I’m so excited for this new year and I think it shows. I’m trying to keep a nice pace in all my endeavors so I don’t lose steam along the way.

I hope your new year is going as great as mine!