Welcome, 2012! It's about time you got here.
I've been toying around with my new year's resolutions for a couple days. I'm never one to think about them before around 10pm on new year's eve, and only when, inevitably, someone turns to me and asks, "So, what are your resolutions?" It's an innocent enough question, but I always feel a little put on the spot. What are my resolutions? I totally forgot we even made resolutions! Crap!
Being that this year is a lot like 2008 for me, I decided to look at my resolutions from that year. Let me explain - You might remember that in 2008, I graduated from high school. Things that really scared me about that was that I didn't know what my life would be like in college, what my schedule would be, I wasn't sure what I would be doing, what classes I would be taking, who I would remain friends with... so my resolutions reflected that. They included: 1) Be not afraid of venturing out by myself. 2) Turn in my college apps. 3) Exude confidence. (My favorite one was #2... because I remember I achieved that one within 24 hours of the new year!)
Numbers 1 and 3 are things that I still struggle with. While they aren't exactly worded like that in my resolutions this year, I think they're still in there in spirit.
So, without further ado, my 2012 New Year's Resolutions:
1) Don't freak out so much.
2) Drink more smoothies.
3) Get a job.
Everyone laughs when I tell them my first resolution. But seriously, it's a pretty important one. Every few weeks I have a regularly scheduled mental breakdown of some kind; they can be little (I didn't read for class, I am running late, I have three exams on Friday and I'm going to fail all of them, etc.), they can be big (I'm going to be single forever, my degree is totally useless, etc.) Usually I allow myself some good, self-pitying, wallowing time (an hour or two) during which I watch terrible tv or read some kind of trashy novel and then I get up, dust myself off, and move onto tackling the problem. I can't say that I won't have these moments (there are a lot of stressful times ahead while I look for and apply for jobs) but I don't think it's healthy to freak out so much. My roommate says that she has a similar resolution, and we'll be helping each other!
My second resolution is a thinly veiled "lose weight" resolution. My resolution isn't exactly to lose weight - it's to be healthy. Smoothies are delicious, and I have found my new favorite one: Bananas, blueberries, and almond butter. Don't question it - just drink it. DELICIOUS. (In this resolution should be something like "Less macaroni and cheese", but I don't think I'm strong enough for that. It's an excellent fallback for dinner when I haven't gone grocery shopping.)
My last resolution is to get a job. Topical, to the point. Something that is acceptable for a college graduate. I'll leave that up to the universe's interpretation.
Another thing I've been thinking about are things I'd like to do in 2012. Stuff that isn't necessarily resolution-worthy, but more like a bit of a bucket list.
1) Write book reviews. I've enjoyed writing them for my Breakathon Readathon. Often I finish a book and am not entirely sure how I feel about it (other than "I loved it!" or "I want to run this book over with my car and kill it dead!") but I feel like I could explore my reading material more.
2) Spend twenty or thirty minutes reading books for pleasure every day. Even though my reading list for school is pretty hardcore this semester, I know I spend more than thirty minutes on facebook every day. It's entirely possible to replace that time with books I want to read.
3) Be more proactive with editing and edit more thoroughly. I am always looking to improve my editing skills. I love to do it, but sometimes it feels like a bit of a chore.
4) Along similar lines, be more proactive with my writing. I love to write, and I am very proud of it... I have stories I want to start and stories I want to finish. My creative writing class taught me a lot about writing and reading my own stuff with an audience in mind - I'd like to apply it.
5) Cook from cookbooks more often and be more adventurous with recipes and food. I have a little collection of cookbooks and more often than not I surf the web for my recipes.
6) Knock a few more books off of the BBC Booklist. I have it saved to my phone and consult it every once and a while if I'm looking for a read. They propose that most people have only read 6. Well, I've read 22 of them. It's not that it's a list of the greatest 100 books, but it seems to be a list of good books that many people know and often make reference to.
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At the end of this post, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to little Lily Grace, Miss Emma's little sister. She was born yesterday, January 2nd, and everyone is happy and healthy. From what I hear, Emma is thrilled to be a big sister, and I can't wait to meet Lily!
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