2014 Resolutions

I know some people aren't big fans of New Years Resolutions, but I like them! I love new beginnings and I'll take any excuse I can to try and better myself. And trust me, there's a lot of bettering that I should be doing, haha.

Last year, I chose several resolutions to stick to. I think I did alright with them, though I certainly wasn't perfect in 2013. It's taken me a few days to decide what my resolutions for this year would be, but I'm really happy with the ones I picked!

• Find a church in Concord

This has been a goal I've had since I moved to Concord, but that got swept to the side once law school started. During school, I'm constantly exhausted, and it's hard to convince myself to get up early on Sunday morning. I also majored in religion in college, so it's difficult for me not to judge a service while I'm experiencing it. I also am very biased against contemporary services, so finding a liberal, theologically-sound church with a traditional service tends to be a difficult task. Despite all that, it felt SO good to go to my home church with my family and J this break, and I know I need to make an effort to find a church home in New Hampshire.

• Read 12 new books for fun

This is the goal that I am most excited about this year! Last year, I probably read 3 books for fun. I am so embarrassed about this, but between working full time and then going to law school, my brain was too fried to deal with adding literature on top of that. I also tend to re-read books rather than reading new ones, because I get attached to the stories and characters. This year, I want to make a huge effort to read instead of just turning on Netflix or watching a movie. I also want to read books that I haven't read before - I have tons of them, so I'm excited to choose those books once I get back to school!

• Be encouraging towards J and myself about getting fit

J and I decided that we both wanted to work harder on getting (and keeping) fit this year. This is definitely an easier task for J than it is for me, but we will be encouraging each other to work out more often. He wants to start running more often, and I want to make time each week to workout using my workout videos. I also want to do a 5K in April, so I'll have to start running again!

• Say "Yes" to social occasions more often

I am a self-described homebody and nothing is quite as appealing to me as a night in bed, watching movies, drinking wine, and hangout out with friends. However, this doesn't happen very often. A lot of my law school friends go out downtown on the weekends, but I hardly ever go with because I'm always tired. I've also wanted to go to "meetings" for the music group on campus but never gone. I'm going to start going this semester, and hopefully I'll get some of this musical rage out of me one way or another!

• Get rid of 200 things

I did this last year and absolutely loved it. We accumulate so much junk and unnecessary stuff over the year. I plan on going through my closet, bathroom, and room and donating (or throwing away) things that I don't need or want anymore. I have the whole year to do this, though I did it last year in less than a week!

• Do at least one craft a month

I'm not a particularly "crafty" person, but I am very creative. However, especially when I'm stressed or overwhelmed, the creative stuff gets put on the back-burner. I'm going to try to do one "craft" a month, whether that's a recipe, sewing, or doing a Pinterest craft. I need to do fun little things for me more often, and what better way than doing crafts?

• Try to live more in the moment

I'm a planner and I like knowing that everything is in its place before I make a move. Not that I'm not spontaneous or relaxed, because I totally am… but I'm the kind of person who worries about the logistics of how something will work before I've even done something. I've been worrying about what I'm going to do this summer since almost the first week of law school, which was not helpful or useful in the slightest when I was supposed to be worrying about the classes I was taking. So, this year, I am going to live in the moment more and try to avoid worrying about the future or how things will work themselves out before I have to worry about those things!

What are your new years resolutions? Do you believe in making resolutions? Do you think mine are do-able? :)