New Year's Resolutions

I've never been one to make resolutions. Sure, every now and then I'll get a wild hair and throw one out there. I've sworn off sodas before. I've even sworn off swearing (what can I say, my friends are bad influences). I guess I could give up chocolate or try to lose 10 pounds... but I really can't think of the last time I wasn't trying to lose 10 pounds.

The truth is, 2012 was such an amazing year that I can't think of a lot of things I'd want to change. I planned a wedding, earned a Master's degree, got married, moved into our first house, interviewed for "grown up jobs" and was even hired for one, finished my first semester in my dream job, and all the while woke up every morning next to my best friend (well, for the last 7 months anyway).

So it's been a pretty good year. Even so, I can't deny that there's some excitement in starting a new year. I don't necessarily need a clean slate, and I'm not especially anxious to say goodbye to 2012, but I can't help but get kind of energized thinking about the potential of a brand new year. So I guess I have some resolutions of sorts after all. Or just things I'm looking forward to.

First of all, Wedding Season 2012 has officially come to a close. Altogether, we celebrated 10 weddings in 2012. And that's just counting the ones we were able to go to, not the ones that overlapped. For almost every wedding, there was at least one wedding shower. Then there were a few rehearsal dinners. And about five bachelor/bachelorette parties. It comes up to about 20 events. Out of 52 weeks, that's almost half the weekends of the year. While I feel enormously blessed to have been able to celebrate with so many loved ones, I am very excited to just be BORED one weekend. To sit around in my pajamas and work on Pinterest projects. To watch a marathon on Netflix. To write a blog once in a while even.

I have some projects at work that I'm really pumped about. I'm starting an ambassador program for my 8th graders, and I have several classroom guidance lessons planned out (one includes a clip from Full House, and I'm entertaining the idea of rustling up some pictures of me in middle school...). I'm starting a Student of the Week program, complete with rewards and a spotlight bulletin board. And I finally get to start small groups. I have really high hopes for this semester now that I have one semester under my belt.

I want to start eating to live, not living to eat. For the longest time, my love of food has almost been comical. The office ladies at work joke about my sweet tooth, and I can sniff out a cream cheese dip a mile away. But at some point it's almost become a crippling addiction, a need for things that don't make me feel particularly good. Sure, the chicken fingers from the greasy spoon in Douglas are delicious, but the feeling of Crisco running through my veins and seeping out my pores is less than glamorous. I'm going to try to get away from the processed foods that keep me going during the week-- the Lean Cuisines and 100-calorie packs I live on. I can't even pretend that I'm suddenly going to be a strict "clean" eater, but I think with a little more intention and planning I can do much, much better.

Drink more. I need to move away from the chemical crap I put in my body every single day-- the diet soda. Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Ginger Ale, Cherry Coke Zero... my canned addiction. In its stead, I want to turn things a little more natural: tea, coffee, wine. (And water, of course). There's just something soothing about holding a warm mug in your hand, and nothing feels more sophisticated than a gorgeous glass of wine-- I've just got to start liking what's inside. I've turned to coffee once or twice when a meeting has been boring me to tears, but I think only filling half the cup with coffee and the other half with cream and sugar kind of defeats the purpose. I've started on what I consider "beginner tea": Earl Grey, and I've really come to love it. I've even found a white wine or two that I enjoy; one day I'll join the ranks of the red wine drinkers. One day.

I want to be more committed to my spiritual life. With so many weekend activities, it's become pretty easy to lay out of church on Sundays-- well, when you're out of town as much as we are, you really don't have a choice. We do still go when we're out of town, but visiting Briarwood or the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham doesn't do much for building relationships with our new church family. We want to get plugged in.

I want to take more pride in my appearance. I go through spells of laziness-- sweats and tees, leggings and pull overs, etc. I have several girlfriends that always look cute. Not just cute, but put-together. Maybe I just want to be more put-together. But honestly, I think I perform better when I'm dressed cuter. Even "Jean Fridays" at work decrease my productivity.

I guess the bottom line is, I want 2013 to be even better than 2012. And 2012 was pretty awesome. So it sounds like 2013 is going to take some effort from me in the self-improvement arena. A Better Me in Twenty-One-Three. Maybe that will be my motto. Or maybe I'll never say that again because mottos are kind of ridiculous...

Maybe I'll start my list by taking a bubble bath. I can't think of a better way to start bettering me.

Happy New Year's, everybody!