• Holidays,  Life,  Lists

    Hello, 2018

    I’m really no different than anyone else when it comes to having a, well, not-so-great track record when it comes to sticking to New Years Resolutions. And yet, here we find ourselves, year after year after year after year… making more goals, and not always keeping them. But while I’m definitely one of those people who isn’t good at keeping to the letter of the resolutions, I still see a lot of value in making them anyway. For me, making resolutions provides a concrete goal to aim for. Even if you miss the target, any forward movement towards it is still valuable. This year, my goals are all about small,…

  • Life,  Lists,  Making Do

    My 2017 Goals

    So it’s January, and of course, that means it’s resolution time. I’ve spent a lot of time these last two weeks really putting thought into what this year’s goals should be, because I feel like I’m very much at a crossroads of sorts. I’m turning the big 3-0 this May, and there’s a lot of things in my life that I feel like I need to address before I cross officially into the realm of “Thirty-something.” The resulting list is a lot more conceptual than my goals have been in the past. More overall lifestyle changes than specific, quantifiable goals. And while that made coming up with photos to break…

  • Life,  Lists

    2016 New Years Resolution Postmortem

    Another year, another set of goals not fully met. I know that sounds really pessimistic, but that’s just how these things go – I’m not a resolution maker who actually expects to fully complete each. Instead, I make resolutions with the goal of making progress, and using those goals, however unattainable, to improve myself or particular aspects of myself. So I never really expect to fully fulfill them. If I do? AWESOME. If not? Oh well – the real question is did I TRY? So let’s see how I did this year, shall we? 1) Learn Brush Calligraphy Success Level: High. I think I did pretty well on this one.…

  • Book Love,  Holidays,  Life,  Lists,  Pet Related Posts

    Happy New Year Everyone!

    Well, it’s that time again, blogosphere. It’s a new year. And of course, inevitably that means it’s RESOLUTION TIME. Yes. Once again, as I always do, I’m going to come up with a list of things I want to accomplish/work at in 2016. I haven’t been terribly successful with this kind of goal making in the past, and last year was no different (I’ll have a post next week assessing my successes and not-so-successes from 2015), but I don’t really feel like that’s a huge problem. My general attitude about these things is that it doesn’t hurt to try. I’m a big believer in the process – the idea that…

  • Book Love,  Holidays,  Lists

    12 Books for 2015

    As I said in my New Year’s Goals post, I read a ton throughout the year – but rarely get the opportunity to read a whole book solely for myself. I’ve just slipped out of the habit of using my free time for pleasure reading. And I miss it. So this year I made it a goal to read at least 12 books that I don’t NEED to read. Specifically: The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers by Thomas Fleming I picked this book up several years ago when Borders went out of business, and like most of the stuff I picked up during that sale, it’s just kind of…

  • Life,  Lists,  Making Do

    Mid-year New Years’ Resolution Check-in

    Well, we’re officially in July. Six months have passed; I’m not really sure where the time went. It feels like it was only yesterday when I was making my New Years’ Resolutions, and already we’re halfway to new ones. So I guess it’s about time to check in and see how I’ve been doing. Let’s start with #1: (I’m going to do this from least successful to most, so ignore the numbers in the images.) So far, not so good. I did a great job in January, but as soon as the semester hit, that was the end of that. That said, I’ve decided to be realistic and just accept…