Happy New Year

As the New Year begins I have found myself wondering what the future might hold for me.This year, more so than in the past, the possibilities seem endless. One of the few things I for certain is 2014 will be a year filled with many choices and numerous changes. With such a busy year ahead one can easily forget to actually live and grow. So, like thousands of other people I have composed a list of New Year’s resolutions to hopefully help prevent another year from just passing by. 1) Graduate College-After five long years, three schools, three official majors, and countless undeclared majors I will finally receive that college diploma. 2) Receive straight A’s- After all this time I have yet to make straight A’s; this year will finally be my year. 3) Read every bookassigned- As an English major it is assumed that I spend every second of my free time reading. However, this is not the case, in fact I am not sure if I have ever finished any of the assigned books since I became an English major. 4) Have better time management- Anyone who knows me knows that I run on my own personal time zone. I am anywhere from five minutes to two hours late everything. It is a terrible habit and with a little luck and a great deal of hard work I hope to kick it this year. 5) Be more organized- I often have random cleaning fits yet somehow everything always seems to be cluttered. This year I want to actually be organized not this organized chaos that I have become far too comfortable with. 6) Start a budget and stick to it- I have no idea where any of my money goes. Well that’s a lie, every time I open my closet I am reminded of where my money is. This year I want to save money instead of throwing it away on shoes and dresses I will only wear a handful of times. 7) Document my life- One day I am going to want to look back on all the memories I made and I want to actually be physically able to. This year I am going to journal and take more pictures. 8) Start my nieces’ and nephews’ scrapbooks- On each of their 18th birthdays I want to give them a scrapbook of their lives. With a two year old nephew, a one year old niece, and number three on the way I better get started now. 9) Get my gun permit- For the past few years I have said I was going to get my permit and this year I actually am. 10) Finish a quilt- Over the years I have started countless quilts, this year I plan to finish at least one of them. 11) Learn to make jelly and other family recipes- I like to think that my momma will always be minutes away from me to make all my favorite foods; unfortunately, I know this will not always be true. It’s time I learn to make these for myself. 12) Yoga- I want to start doing yoga. It interests me and its good for me, so why not. 13) Relearn to play the violin or the piano- Eventually I want to relearn both but for now I think one at a time might be best. 14) Travel more- On my tight schedule and limited income travelling doesn’t get to happen as much as I would like but this year I want to travel more,even if it just means new but not far off places. 15) Feed my sense of adventure- “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.”This year I want to take more chances with everything from food to rock climbing and sky diving. 16) Give working out a chance- When you date a gym rat you can expect for them to eventually want you to work out too. So for a minimum of three days a week for no less than a month I will accompany Adam to the gym and work out with a good attitude. 17) Get to know myself better- I have always been fascinated with knowing what makes a person who they are, myself included. I want to continue to finding and learning about myself. Last but definitely not least, 18) Be a better person- “Live in such a way that if anyone speaks badly of you no one would believe it.” I want to be an overall better person. I want to be more positive, build people up instead of tearing them down, and build and maintain friendships, both old and new. I know it is cliché but basically, I want to become the type of person I would want to have in my life.  

I know this year is going to change everything including myself. I only hope that in 365 days I am proud of the things I have accomplished, the choices I made, and the person I have become.