Photo blogging challenge host PJ, of A ‘lil HooHaa, is kicking off 2025 with the theme New Year, New Me! This is a common aspiration. In fact, I heard a visitor to my parents’ house use exactly that saying around the middle of the month. The phrase encapsulates the idea of making resolutions / setting goals to improve oneself in various aspects of life.

However, this is not a theme that had me jumping up and down with excitement. I’ve always taken then approach that if there’s something I want to change about how I live my life, I’ll implement that change now! So I’ve come up with a bit of a different approach to the theme: New Year, New Me*. Here goes:

1. New Year, New MEchanical Build

I received a vintage Lego pickup truck for Christmas (set 10290). It’s fairly complex, rated for ages 18+. I started the build Christmas Day, but didn’t finish until the New Year. I really struggled with one of the early parts of this build. I just couldn’t get some of the gears to mesh properly. Specifically, the mechanical part of the build that connects the steering wheel to the front wheels just wasnt’ meshing. Fortunately, our 25 yo was visiting for Christmas. K pointed out that I was using a gear in the the wrong shade of gray, which was slightly different in size to the other shade of gray!! I finally finished the build around January 10th and this beauty now parks beside my Lego VW bug, VW minibus and Mini Cooper.

2. New Year, New MEmories

Mid-month I headed to BC to spend several days with my parents. One evening, I surprised them with a video chat with K. Then another evening, a video chat with C and A. I’m not sure which video chat they were on when I took this photo, but they really enjoyed the virtual visits with their grandkids!

Bonus memories = two photos from the half day Mr GeoK and I spent in Banff, checking out some snow sculptures and then a couple of excellent photography exhibits at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. Mr GeoK created a Relive video recap that includes photos of the snow sculptures, which you can view here.

3. New Year, New MErchandise

I’m always happy to find a new option for easy-to-prepare meals from the freezer than aren’t full of all kinds of salt and other additives I’d rather avoid. Recently, we’ve found a brand of frozen bao buns and dumplings that we’ve been enjoying. But cooked in the microwave, they’re not that great. When I tried to pick up a bamboo steamer basket in December, they were all sold out. So I was pretty happy they were back in stock when I checked in mid-January. I also picked up a few bags of smoked, shaved, dried skipjack tuna that I using when making homemade dashi (a Japanese broth) for miso and udon soups.

4. New Year, New MEnu Item

Mr GeoK and I went out for lunch when we were in Banff. The restaurant we chose had a new veggie burger on the menu, which I really enjoyed.

As for menu items prepared and served at home, our local higher-end grocery store (kind of a Canadian, regional version of Trader Joe’s) has introduced some really good soups that come in quart glass jars. To promote this new menu item, they offered a free loaf of artisanal bread with each jar of soup purchased in January. We took advantage of the offer just once, picking up some very tasty tomato-basil bisque and a loaf of San Francisco-style sourdough. It’s not something I’d buy every week, but every six weeks or so it’ll be nice to pick up a jar of one of their soups on a day when I’d appreciate being able to put a “no effort” supper on the table.

5. New Year, New MEntal Health Challenges

Wow! So many executive orders, so much chaos in the world. I don’t know about you, but I’m finding I have to shut off / ignore the news most of the time. Otherwise, I’d really be struggling with my mental health. I can only try to imagine how tough it is for immigrants, members of the queer community or anyone caught up in the anti-DEI movement to cope these days. I’m determined to practice kindness, patience and inclusiveness in my own quiet rebellion against the madness. Will you join me?

I hope you enjoyed my personal take on New Year, New Me* and I invite you to check out how other participants translated that phase into photographs. Check out the link-up at the bottom of host PJ’s post. And please, won’t you join us for February’s challenge? The theme is Free for all! In other words, come up with your own theme. You’ll need 5 photos and a blogging platform. You definitely don’t need as much text as I tend to include. Hope to see your post next month!