2010 Resolutions

I know it has become uncool to make resolutions, because most people realize that in all likelihood they will be broken. However, I believe that to not try at all is worse than trying but failing. With that in mind, here is what I hope to accomplish this year.

1- Read this list of books by the year's end. Some books are on the list because of recommendations, ten are books I want to re-read, and many are on the list because I almost feel unworthy as an English Literature graduate because I have not read them.

1-9 Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
10- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
11- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
12-Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
13- 1984 by George Orwell
14- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
15- These Is My Words by Nancy Turner
16- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
17- The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
18- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
19- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
20- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
21- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
22- Possession by A.S. Byatt
23-26 The Hobbit/ The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
27- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
28- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
29- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
30- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
32- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
33- The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha edited by E.A. Burtt
34- Bhagavad-Gita
35- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
36- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
37- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
38- We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
39- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenace by Robert M. Pirsig
40- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

And the last ten are books I want to re-read:
41- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
42- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
43- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
44- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
45- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
46- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
47- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
48- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
49- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
50- Animal Farm by George Orwell

2- Strive for physical health. I know this will be a day by day challenge. Some days I will fail miserably, I'm sure. But I know I need to try. If I lose weight, great. It's not just about that, though. I need to be more mindful of what I put into my body as a breastfeeding mother. I need to create better eating and activity habits so I am a better example for Brayden. This has been on my mind lately since we start him on "baby foods" tomorrow (which will have its own post with pictures I am sure). I need to follow the rule of sleeping when Brayden sleeps better, at least while his sleep is still so inconsistent (read: crappy). I joined a Healthy Lifestyles program through my work. My goal is to get the top amount of points available each month (and it isn't even hard so I should be able to do it). All I have to do is exercise 12 days of the month for a half hour amd eating 15 servings a week of fruits and vegetables.

3- Create something different each week. This includes, sewing and any other craft but recipes as well. I have so many crafty ideas and recipes stored in my favorites that I need to start doing something about it.

2009

And so winds down the best year of my life. Seriously, it will be hard to top. 2009 is the year I became a college graduate, a homeowner, and a mother (and all within 2 months of each other). This is the year I proved how strong I am and how much I could give of myself for someone else. I could keep going, but I think you all get the point. This was an awesome year.

I don't know why, but for some reason Adam and I have more original (you know, not from our families of origin) traditions linked to New Year's than any other holiday. We may have missed a year or so on them, but for the most part we: have chinese food, drink sparkling cider at midnight, and I make a year in review book. I think I'm adding one this year: to watch Up. I watched it tonight with my parents and Jackson (Adam's at work for another hour) and I was so inspired with its message and it being New Year's Eve. One of the things I do in my year in review book is my favorite books and movies of the year. So without further ado,

Books- I gave 9 books (out of the 104 I read this year) 5 stars. These books are:

The Hunger Games (and its sequel Catching Fire) by Suzanne Collins
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Movies

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Up
The Hangover
I Love You, Man
The Proposal
Sunshine Cleaning

And I'm pretty sure these would have made the list had I gotten around to seeing them: Where the Wild Things Are, Sherlock Holmes, Whip It, Precious, and Star Trek.