The End of 2013 & The Beginning of 2014

Hello everyone from the beginning of 2014. Did you all have a nice New Year's celebration? Any closing thoughts on 2013 or new resolutions for 2014?

I can't believe that it's been two years now since I started this crazy life experiment blog. I sure have done a lot more than I thought I could or would. It's been a great growing experience and I think has molded me more into the person that I want to be. I'm involved in a lot more things and capable of way more than I thought I was. Although 2013 was not quite as crazy in terms of challenges as 2012 was, I still got a lot of things accomplished, just perhaps not what I originally set out to do.

On the negative side, I didn't finish my children's book or get anywhere on scrapbooking (oops), although I did get quite a bit of knitting and baking accomplished. But hey, in the big picture, getting a house isn't so bad ;) Things like that just kind of came up and I tried to roll with them and just do what I could do, and that theme will continue into 2014.

My husband has decided that my phrase of 2013 was "I'm busy", so my 2014 goal is to learn to relax a little bit and not be so hard on myself. One of the reasons I started this blog was because I found that I had a lot of free time and I didn't feel like I was filling it with very productive things. Now, after two years of solid productivity challenges, I think I've altered my habits enough that idleness will not be a problem anymore. At the same time, I do want to just be able to veg out and watch a movie if I want without feeling guilty about all of the self-imposed things that I have to do . . . it's time to find a more healthy balance :)

As for this blog, I will still keep it up for my faithful readers (you know who you are ;)) because I know how much I enjoy reading my friend's blogs, but I won't hold myself to one post a week. If I didn't do anything noteworthy, I don't have to write a blog about nothing . . . but if I have a very productive week, maybe there will be more than one post . . . who knows :)

I will also keep exercising because that's just a good idea for my health (especially if I want to keep baking ;)). My goal is still one hour a week, but one and a half would be more ideal, and seriously, that's really not that long.  

And of course I can't go a year without some sort of challenge, so when a friend posted this list on her Facebook, it seemed to be fitting for 2014: The United States of YA. Also, another friend did a "read at least 50 books in 2013" challenge and I was rather jealous of her, so they were both inspirations for my 2014 challenge: read all 50 books represented by the United States of YA map. I adore reading, and was a little surprised that I hadn't read a single book on this list. Granted, it's been a while since I was the YA target audience, but after reading some adult books, I'm more than happy to go back to YA literature . . . less graphic, gory, etc.

So, I'm going to aim for one book a week, but if I have more or less time, it's flexible, and if I don't finish, oh well (or so I'm trying to convince myself) ;) In addition to the reading, I do want to continue learning new knitting things, cooking and baking experiences (of course!), work harder at my job as my church's special music planner, and personally devote more time to my musical instruments (now that I don't have to worry about disturbing my apartment neighbors :)).

While I aim to relax more, I will not be idle, I promise :) Any one want to join me on any of my tasks? I look forward to a new year of adventures, thank God for all of the blessings He brought me in 2013, including all of you, and wish you all of the best today and for the rest of the year :) Talk to you soon :)