2014 New Year Resolutions

In the last couple years, I have been serious about creating New Year Resolutions. I look at them as personal goals for the year and future.

Health

Of course the most popular resolution in the States is to lose weight or exercise more. I hate to go along with that, but I am afraid that I must this time. I put on some weight in my first year of marriage and did not do much to diminish that during 2013. I am not at an unhealthy weight but would like to not have to buy a whole new wardrobe, because I can’t fit into things. (1) I would like to lose 20 pounds and 4 inches from my waist. To do this and relieve some of the stress that I may feel both consciously and unconsciously, I plan to actually make an effort to exercise. I always think about it being a good idea to run along the Lucchese walls or to learn some yoga. Now I have to force myself to actually do it. (2) I would like to put aside at least 1 hour a day at least 3 days a week to exercise. I already started drinking more juice and water instead of soda and have started to minimize my chocolate intake. (3) I will also go to the eye doctor and get new glasses.

Try New Things

(4) Go ice skating. (5) Write a story or article while keeping up with (6) 2-3 blog posts a month. (7) Try baking in Italy. I would bake all the time in the States, but it is a bit more complicated here in Italy, and our oven frightens me. (8) Buy a blank canvas and paint something. (9) Continue to learn Italian with a proficiency of at least a moderate level, studying & practicing at least 5-10 hours a week. (10) Take a Tuscan cooking class. (11) Learn photography – primarily lighting and shutter speed. I have this amazing DSLR camera and sometimes I feel like its brilliance is wasted on me. I live in a gorgeous place. My pictures should capture at least a fraction of that beauty. (12) Find new ways to save money and earn money while in Italy. One of the things that I am most interested in is finding new ways to earn travel rewards.

Travel

In 2013, after moving to Italy, my husband and I put together a bucket list of places we would like to visit and things we would like to do during our time living abroad. It is a lengthy list and highly unrealistic. However, I do feel that (13) we can accomplish at least 5 items on that list.

Books

I love to read. I normally read quite a lot in a year. This year, (14) I would like to read 50 books. That is more than I think I have ever read, but I found Italy a much more relaxing environment with fewer distractions from good literature. (15) I would also like one of those books to be more than 1,000 pages. I tend to shy away from books that are more than 400 pages long. It is hard to keep my attention going on one story. Example: I have picked up Don Quixote at least 3 times now and never made more than 300 pages. It was entertaining at first, but then it just kept feeling like the same crazy things were happening just in a different way, and I got bored. (16) I would also like half of my reading goal to be books from the 1001beforeyoudie List. I found this list a couple of years ago. I felt that my reading had become predictable, and I wanted to try new things. This list has helped me venture into different styles of literature that I would have never thought twice about earlier and enjoy now.

I believe that these are all reasonable goals to have for 2014 and have high expectations for accomplishing them.

What are some of your 2014 Resolutions?

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