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.