New Years Resolutions...

...can start anytime right?? Who says they have to start on Jan. 1? Oh wait. Nevermind. Well Jan. 1 was on a Wednesday, logically you can't start something new in the middle of the week! So you start on Monday, Jan. 6, unless you wake up with a migraine from hell and it's freezing cold. So then you start on Tuesday, oh wait, nope you can't because it never gets above 30 degrees all day, your pipes freeze so you have no hot water for half the day, and your office has no power for the majority of the day. So that brings you back to Wednesday and again you can't start something new in the middle of the week, SO I'll start new years resolutions on Monday, Jan. 13th... although it's the 13th. Not a very lucky number! ;)

Oh who am I kidding, other than myself! I guess I'll start them this weekend and gradually ease into them full force. I was planning on posting about my resolutions earlier this month or even before Dec. 31, but that didn't happen because I LOST the piece of paper I wrote them on! Fantastic. So from what I can remember these are my 2014 most likely to not achieve resolutions/goals.

• Lose weight. Well duh. This is an annual goal. I even tried the Whole30 diet in November to kick start my resolution. Eh.. not so much. I did learn a lot during that 30 days, but I think I will go with a diet that is a little less extreme. I mean, cheese isn't all bad for you. Lean proteins, veggies, fruits, minimal amounts of dairy and no sugar sounds good to me. My 10 year high school reunion is in August, so I have a motivator. I CAN. NOT. go the way I am right now... so I best be hitting the gym come Monday!

• Keep a cleaner house. Once upon a time I thought of myself as an organized person, now not so much. Somewhere along the way laziness began to creep in. I let mail pile up on the counter, I let laundry linger for days in baskets, my closet is in a constant state of explosion, and there is normally clutter from the front door to the back. I could NEVER have friends just stop by without shoving things here, there and yonder. Well, in 2014 I resolve to throw stuff away, clean junk out, donate, and overall have a "clean sweep" and keep a constant smell of PineSol. I have too much stuff and I don't even use it all. I am taking on a minimalist mind. Less is More. #purge

• Dive into Devotion. In previous years I haven't been one to do much of a daily bible study. I know I deserve a slap on the wrist for that, but I felt like I was "getting enough" from worship and Sunday School. WRONG. I was given "Calling Jesus" last year around my birthday/graduation and I didn't want to start it in the middle of the year. (I'm a classic procrastinator.) So I am going to read that daily as well as a devotion book that is distributed monthly in our Sunday School class. Also, we are getting more involved in our Sunday school class and look forward to opportunities for us to be involved in that Christian community.

• Be more organized. At home and at work. I need to be more diligent with keeping up with bills/finances and important adult (tax) information. For example in 2013 I let my car insurance lapse because I'm an idiot. That won't happen again because I have insurance drafted now, but I can not afford another costly blunder such as that. At work I need to do a better job of organizing electronic files, emails and anything I do with our accounting department. Make copies, copies, copies!

• Read. Traditionally I am not a reader. In 2013 I read a lot for graduate school, but had NO time for pleasure reading. This year I want to read a book a month, but that is setting a really high goal, so I'm going to go with 6 books for the year. 3 of which can be chick-lit, but 3 must be non-fiction/self-help/or on a subject of which I am interested. I need to relocate my library card.

• Cook. This kind of goes along with the first one, to lose weight, but I have GOT to stop eating out so much and just grabbing something quick after work. For Christmas I got an electric fry pan, two new cooking pans, an electric veggie chopper and a potato masher. Now I just need to get to cooking some veggies and meat! Less eating out, more eating in. We even have a grill, so really beyond laziness I have no excuse. 

• Blog more. Let's face it sometimes I'm not a regular around these parts. I really want to be a better blogger, ie. figure out some HTML stuff/improve my writing abilities. I really would like to acquire a few more readers. But I promise to make more appearances on here.

•  Professional goal: I am presenting a webinar in March with my manager on "Employability Skills." I want to also write an article on that topic for our magazine and possibly present an ed session on it at a regional conference in the fall. Lofty goal, but on a topic that is becoming more relevant as more millennials enter the work force.

I'm sure there are more items I could add to this list.. and maybe I will once I find that stupid piece of paper I originally wrote them on. At least blogging the list will hold me accountable, or at least it should! Stay lovely...