a year without a real job (and 10 other things ive stopped doing).

its the middle of april now, and if youve been following around here for a while, you know that the middle of april is also the one year anniversary of me quitting my job(s) at joanns. quitting joanns was definitesly a hard decision, but ultimately, it was absolutely neccesary. we did need the money, but we also needed me to be home more, less stressed out and to be able to pursue the schooling and self employment opportunities that would actually help us acheive the kind of life that we want. and looking back over the past year, cutting out that one really big source of stress/tension/anxiety/problems really served as a catalyst for a whole bunch of other, albiet smaller, changes that, all together, have added up to HUGE changes around here. i mean, im still the same super annoying-uptight-no-fun-at-all victoria i always was, but i promise, i used to be way worse. 

so aside from quitting my job, what else have i stopped doing this year? 

1. drinking soda. 

2. playing phone/ipad games. 

3. buying things just to buy things. 

4. clipping coupons. 

5. going to two grocery stores. 

6. treating our apartment as temporary. 

7. letting my diet ruin my life. 

8. chasing freebies. 

9. keeping things for stupid reasons. 

10. being "friends" with people that make me feel bad. 

i wont bother going into detail about what went into/resulted from each, since really they all kind of overlap, but together all these small changes added up to make huge changes in how i live my life: im way less stressed out, i have way more free time, i have more spending money, im less anxious and for the first time in my life, im actually able to focus on making long-term goals and changes. 

case in point: right now were elbow-deep in some major home projects. the kind of thing that a year ago, i wasnt even able to mentally process because of how busy and cluttered my life was. 

did quitting my terrible job instantly fix everything? no. did i instantly jump into 100% dream-following mode? no. do i even know exactly where were headed from here? no. but was it absolutely life changing? yes. not in the big, dramatic ways that one usually associates with quitting their day job, but in lots and lots of small ways that have added up to givign me the space and freedom to dedicate time and energy to making life better for all of us, in a way that i really wasnt able to before. yeah, i dont have a real job. yeah i dont really have a satisfactory answer for any of the people who ask me what it is i do. but thanks to taking the leap and quitting joanns, I'm a better wife, a better mom, and all around a better person with a better life then we ever had when i was working. 

so happy unemployent-aversary to me.