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Whew. It has been a long long while since I actually blogged. August 2015, to be exact, and it was a recipe. In any case, I had loved my 2014 so much that my goals for 2015 have actually been whittled down to SIX.

Because I am running a video game development studio, I have no choice but to be social, haha. So that’s no longer one of my yearly goals. What remained are the following…

6. Travel at least twice a year. 
Preferably 1 local and 1 international destination.

HAHAHA! Because I did not fix my passport on time and let it expire (which failed goal #2 of 2014), I was not able to travel outside of the Philippines. Truthfully, I didn’t feel that there was a great need to. Except for the required academic and industry conferences. Anyway, I managed to visit Bulacan and Cebu this year. Yey! I didn’t like the ick that was the resort in Bulacan, but I was happy to attend my cousin Moenil’s ordination as a Catholic priest. (I’m not Catholic but I am super proud of him, nonetheless.)

5. Participate in a nation-wide competition.

It’s always a tradition. While the “professional” competition sort of had a little problem with our Song of Pisces submission, at least our edutainment game Adarna got Best Narrative. Our pre-alpha version of Brushstrokes also won Best Art. My thesis advisees, who created Hexscape, brought home three: Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, and Best Edutainment.

4. Maintain a healthy lifestyle.

HAH! Totes failed this one, especially since I moved back to Mandaluyong (everywhere you walk, there’s glorious carb-y and fatty food!). But I did start eating healthy at the start of 2016 and a friend recommended a very good app: MyFitnessPal. I will blog about that once I’ve lost the 20 pounds I gained in 2015.

3. Finish AT LEAST 2 major projects.
Options: conference paper, journal paper, art exhibit, game, book.
Note: Choosing conference paper, game or book will help fulfill the 5th goal.

I didn’t write any books or researches, but that’s because my studio was busy releasing 4 games for 2015: Adarna (PC), War Guardian Chronicles Book 1: Song of Pisces (PC), Zenaya (Android), and Anemone (Android). Aaaand I got totally burned out so I won’t work on that many projects again. Or at least, not at the same time. Guh.

2. Wrap up remaining legal stuff.

Succeeded. Finally renewed my expired passport and didn’t let my driver’s license expire this time. My NSO records also fixed itself. Wow. The irony of it all is that both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Land Transportation Office had a hard time processing passports and licenses in 2015. DFA was delayed in releasing passports for a few weeks while LTO was delayed in releasing driver’s licenses for a good 4 months. I was lucky. Some will be getting their licenses either this year or next year. Whew.

1. Manage my finances well.

I downloaded an app that practically changed the way I lived: AndroMoney. I’m going to blog more about this once I’ve settled all my financial obligations, including updating my insurance policies. I discovered this late in the year so I can’t exactly say that 2015 had been a smooth ride financially. (Running a startup from scratch — and a chockful of pride — actually drains you financially.)

Well, so far it’s down to 6. Next year, I’m hoping it will be down to 5, especially if #1 or #2 becomes a habit.

2015 had actually been a fun year for me. There were sweet friendships I mended, and emotionally harmful relationships I cut. There wasn’t any form of super stress, except for burnout due to excessive working, but all has been well and productive.

So…how did you spend your 2015?