2014 Resolutions

It's that time of year again.  First let me follow up on my resolutions from 2013.  If I didn't complete it fully, then I will continue to work on it the following year.

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.  I periodically put something in my good thoughts jar, but not as often as I would like.  I will try this again for the next year.

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  I got behind again, but I'm planning on getting caught up at least to where I should be now.  I should finish my one year plan in April.  I do have a resolution for the next year that will be similar.

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  I think that I did a good job getting on the right track.  I still have quite a bit to go before I hit my goal weight (about 40 more pounds), but hopefully this next year I'll be able to lose it.

4.)  Be more creative.  I think I've been successful with this resolution.  I have done several craft projects and I even started sewing!  I have so many projects to do, it's crazy!

5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  So this one was more difficult as the year went by, simply because of time, patience, and money.  I'll have a resolution for the next year that will be similar.

6.)  Save some money. So I may not have saved as much money as I hoped, but I got started and I have a plan.  Hopefully in the upcoming year, I can cross off a few items on the "To Save For" list, especially after my tax refund!

7.)  Drink more water. This one was a home run.  Thanks to using my water bottles at the beginning of the year, I've learned to drink at least the  minimum recommended amount of water each day.  Often I drink a lot more because of work outs.  I consider this a habit now.  :)

8.)  Be more appreciative.   I think that I've done a good job (please do correct me if I'm wrong on this!).  I've made a conscious effort to make sure that I tell people thank you or that I appreciate what they do.

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.   Epic fail again.  I've posted a few things on Instagram, but not enough to consider this resolution a success.  I have another resolution for the next year similar to this one that is a little more measurable.

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month. I did awesome here!  Last month, I even blogged once a day!  ;)

Now, for the upcoming year, I've tried to get some inspiration from my previous resolutions that weren't 100% successful and from Pinterest.  (FYI: Readers, you may have noticed that I have typically have links in my posts.  I have links in posts for a reason, so click on them!)  Anyway, these resolutions are SMART resolutions, primarily that they are more measurable. 

1.)  Good Thoughts Jar This year, I'm hoping that I will have a "good thought" note in my jar at least once a week.  So at the end of the year, I should have at least 52 "good thoughts" in my jar!

2.)  Photo Challenge  This one is going to be fun and hopefully will finally help me with this resolution!  Anyway this is a two part resolution.  The first part is to take at least two pictures off of this list each month.  The second part is to complete this challenge sometime during the year.  Now, I'll need some help from my readers.  First, follow me on Instagram.  I always have my phone, so I'll probably take a lot of pictures using my phone instead of my camera.  I will most likely post them on Instagram.  Anyway, secondly, help me pick a month to do the second part of my resolution!  (Please don't pick January.)  Leave them in the comments.

3.)  Writing Challenge  Here is another resolution that I found on Pinterest.  Last month, I found it very challenging, but rewarding, to write a blog post every single day!  I want to try this again.  I would like to complete at least this one writing challenge during the year.  Readers, again, I'll need your help here.  Pick a month for me to do this (again, not January please)!  Also, if you find any more writing challenges, post the link in the comments section.

4.)  Fitness Challenge every quarter  This resolution will help me finish losing the weight that I want to lose.  I've seen these Fitness Challenges on Pinterest and I want to try it.  My resolution is to compete these monthly fitness challenge at least once every quarter.  (If I'm feeling confident, then I may even post before and after pictures.)  Anyway, my first fitness challenge will be in January, hence the "don't pick January" in the resolutions above.  If you see one that you think I should try, send it to me!

5.)  Yoga Challenge  One of my yogi friends told me about a Yoga Challenge that someone was doing on Instagram where they take a photo of themselves doing a yoga pose (some were super hard).  I want to complete one of these (I haven't found it yet).  But another part of this is that I would like to expand my yoga practice to more than just two or three times a week.  I know that setting a daily yoga practice is a lofty goal, so I want to set a resolution to do some sort of yoga practice (either at the gym or at home) at least 5 times a week.  I have reaped so many of the benefits and I know that increasing my practice will just continue to make me feel better.

6.)  Healthy Recipe once a month  So last year, I sought out to try at least one new recipe a month.  That got a little harder as the year progressed because I was eating pretty much sandwiches and protein shakes.  This year, I'm changing my eating habits a bit (shout out to Chica for helping me find out a good eating plan) so I should have more opportunities to try new recipes.  My goal is to try at least one healthy recipes each month.  I will probably pick some from here.

7.) Completed craft project once a month  Last year, I said that I wanted to be more creative and I feel like I was very successful at this.  However, it wasn't very measurable.  This year, I want to complete at least one craft project each month whether it be knitting, sewing, painting, etc..  This may be difficult, but I just have to keep in mind that a craft project can be small too!  I already have a couple of ideas.  Again, refer to my Pinterest for all of my ideas!

8.)  Cards  I've had a similar resolution to this one.  I didn't do too well either.  This year, I would like to send at least 5 cards through snail mail to someone.  This can be a birthday card, thank you card, thinking of you card, whatever.

9.)  Bible plan daily  So I started the One Year Bible plan in YouVersion this year, but I got a little behind, so I plan to finish this plan in April.  Even though I got behind, I found it very rewarding to read several stories that I've never read before.  I know that I asked Ryan a billion questions just in the first few books.  I find myself wanting to study more!  This year, my plan is not only to finish my resolution from last year, but to dive into more reading plans where I get a more in-depth study of the text.  I want to read something every day.  That is my goal for this year.

10.) Donate monthly  This one is a new one that most people probably don't put on a resolution list.  Let me tell you a little back story.  Toward the beginning of the year, ETSU launched a fundraising campaign called "Now Seating" to assist in funding a new arts performing center.  I signed up immediately because of my background in music.  I remember being able to perform at the Blair School of Music for competitions and recitals, so I found this project to be of interest.  Anyway, I donated $250 over the last ten months to this cause.  Now that I have paid my part, that's $25 per month that I have back now.  However, I want to pay it forward again.  I didn't miss that $25, so I want to donate it. This year, I would like to donate $25 each month to a cause.  Already, I can think of a few that I will donate to (Mission of Hope, the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi, the Phi Sigma Pi Foundation).  I'm sure I will find other causes that I would like to donate to throughout the year.  If you think of anything, please let me know.

11.)  Blog at least twice a month  I think I have mastered the art of blogging once a month.  I'm going to up the frequency this year.  I want to blog at least twice a month (obviously one month I'm going to be blogging every day).  One of these will include a resolution update because several of my resolutions require some sort of monthly action.  I will include more links, more pictures, and just more in general!

Well, that's a recap and an update for the upcoming year.  I hope to see everyone making their own resolutions!  I would love to add you to my Blog roll -->;  so if you have a blog, let me know!

Happy New Year!

It's so hard to say goodbye...

Every year, really every semester, I find myself having to say goodbye to someone.  Usually it's a Brother who is graduating and moving on to bigger better things outside of Johnson City.  However, this month, I've already had to say goodbye to several people in the past week (one includes a wonderful instructor from the Chemistry department who will be greatly missed).  I will also have to say goodbye to my brother (not fraternity brother), Alex, at the end of the month for when he leaves for the Philippines to be rejoined with his lovely fiancee and to begin his Ph.D. program .

I wanted to post about how I feel about goodbyes.  I hate goodbyes, yes, hate.  When this song played at the end of my 8th grade year of middle school, I cried.  When I left for college, I cried.  I hate saying goodbye.  So, being the introverted self that I am, I tend to try to not say goodbye anymore...if that makes any sense.  For example, when graduate students leave for their next graduate school or to start their career, I typically just do the usually check-out paperwork and get their keys from them.  Never do I really say, "It was nice working with you" or "Good luck with you life".  It seems too final for me!  I often will say, "See you later" or "Have a good day" like I normally would.  It may come across a little cold, but it's just my way of dealing with the fact that I don't want to say goodbye.  

Anyway, so if I had to say goodbye recently or if I'm going to say goodbye to you soon, please don't take my nonchalant conversation and tone as being cold.  I just simply don't want to say goodbye!  I will definitely give hugs (if you move first though, again, I really hate goodbyes) and I will keep in touch if you would like!  I know that all of you are going off to do awesome things!  :)