2017's New Year's Resolutions

New Year, New Resolutions

Here we are on day 1 of Bloggin' New Year and I'm excited to tell you guys about my resolutions and goals for this year, as well as how I held up on last year's resolutions and goals. I think that when I write down my goals and post them out here in the World Wide Web for my readers to see, it holds me more accountable to keep up with them! 

2016's Resolutions and Goals

Last year, my biggest New Year's Resolution was to stop drinking sodas and... I did it! I have not had a soda in a whole year! This may sound like no big feat for some of you, but I used to drink two to three sodas a day. Little did I know, this amount of caffeine and sugar intake was actually causing a lot of my migraines rather than helping them. When I cut sodas out cold-turkey, I immediately saw the amount of headaches I was having reduce. It was practically a miracle! Every now and then I still crave one, but I just remind myself of how gross they make me feel and that craving goes away. That was really my only resolution but I did have a few minor goals. The first of those was to work on making more friends. Part of that was because I'm really shy when it comes to starting conversations with people I don't know and another part is because we lose touch with a lot of our friends from high school once we go to college. That's not anyone in particular's fault, it's just that college throws you into a whole new world (lol, catch my Aladdin reference?) and your schedules become so different. I definitely got out of my comfort zone and made a lot of new friends this past year at Ouachita. These are the type of people who I know will be lifelong friends because of the experiences we've had together, the memories we've made, and the times ahead that we will continue to have! Another one of my small goals was to get rid of some of my clothes because I am a serious clothes hoarder. I definitely got rid of a bunch of clothes, but I think I have gotten just as many new clothes as the ones I donated/put on the yard sale. I guess getting new clothes is better than hoarding clothes that are 5+ years old and I have been keeping just because "I might need this for a costume" or "There might be a party I could wear this to! (psht, I should get real with myself and remember that I don't ever go to parties.)" My style has changed so much in the last 5 years as well that I should definitely remind myself that things aren't worth keeping. My third small goal was to get more tattoos and I succeeded at that! I got tattoos number 2,3, and 4 in 2016. Tattoo addiction is very real and I absolutely love getting to express myself through the artwork on my body. I have lots of plans for more tattoos but right now I am saving up money for potentially getting to go to the Pacific Sociological Association Conference and a research trip to California this summer, so I probably won't be getting any new ones for a while. The small goal that probably was the most successful at was going to more concerts! I saw Judah and the Lion and X Ambassadors at River Fest this past summer, Panic! at the Disco and Weezer in July, TwentyOne Pilots in August, and Know Hamilton in October! Concert going has become one of my new favorite hobbies and I had an absolute blast going to three of these four concerts with my sister, A. The one goal that I did not do so hot at was doing more yoga. I definitely did some yoga but nothing like I did my senior year of high school when I went to yoga class at the Fitness Center. I'll talk more about that one when I talk about my resolutions for 2017. I think that if I was only mildly unsuccessful at one of my six goals this past year, then I did pretty darn good. I am really proud of myself for accomplishing these things, ESPECIALLY not drinking sodas anymore. 

2017's Resolutions and Goals

This year I am starting off with a realization. I have gotten lazy. I absolutely hate to admit this but it is 100% true. Last year I was still pretty good about making myself go to the gym or even do workout in my living room at school, but as they year went on, especially after this past summer, I have gotten super lazy. Probably the only thing that has saved my butt is not eating dairy, because that has helped keep some of the weight off but I know that I need to do something active. That's why one of my big resolutions is to do yoga at least three times a week. Yoga is one of my favorite ways to be active and the reason why I didn't stick with doing it last semester was because I kept complaining about having to find YouTube videos of yoga workouts. I'm going to look past that and just make myself schedule ahead better. Not only will I be gaining physical benefits from adding yoga back into my life, but also mental and emotional benefits from the stress relief. My other big resolution is to do better at not eating dairy. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It is inconvenient, especially on a tight budget and especially with so many other people around me who do eat dairy. If I am going to stop eating dairy completely, I'm going to have to be better at saying no, especially to foods that only have a little bit of dairy in them. I've done really good at not eating straight dairy products like sour cream, yogurt, cheese, milk, and butter, but it's the things that have cream and butter and milk cooked into them already. I've just got to be strong-willed with this! One of my goals this year is to embody the idea that I need to make decisions that will please God and not myself/others. Today's sermon at church was about doing what God compels us to do. I am such a people-pleaser and I am so bad at telling people no, so this year, I am going to aim to make uncomfortable decisions if that's what God calls me to do and to make decisions for my life based on what God would want me to do. I know that ultimately, God is in control of my life, and if I just listen to what he has in store for me, I will be happier and prepared for what life has to bring me. Another small goal is to be better at saving money. One of my professors has invited me to potentially go to the Pacific Sociological Association Conference in Oregon this April and on a research trip to California this summer. Our school does not do a lot to help us fund these kinds of trips and so we are going to have to raise a lot of money on our own. I am going to have up for my plane tickets to Oregon and probably save up some more for the research trip. This (sadly) means that I won't be getting any tattoos and doing extra spending for the next few months. I think that I'm going to try a challenge and save every five dollar bill that comes into my hands. Of course I'm going to be saving more in my bank accounts, but I have seen great results from people who put back their five dollar bills. My final small goal for this year is to do more pleasure reading. There is so much assigned reading that I have to do for school that I just don't have time for pleasure reading when school is in session. However, I am going to aim to MAKE time for myself because reading is one of my favorite things to do. I have so many books to read that I got when Hastings went out of business and I am looking forward to indulging in them! 

Well guys, these are my plans for 2017 and I am so excited to make these changes in my life or better these aspects of my life. I'm also excited for the rest of my Bloggin' New Year posts for January! Look forward to learning more about me, hearing funny stories, and much much more! ~Em