Hi everyone, something I always struggle with are new years resolutions. Everyone always makes them, follows them for a week, and then make the same resolution the year after. When I used to go to the gym right by my house, my dad and I would go the weekend on New Years and there would be so many people you couldn’t get a machine. January 5th came, and the gym was basically empty again. However, I do have a few goals for not only myself but my blog in 2017 and I thought I would share them with you all. Let’s get started.

1. Blog consistently: Last year started out rough, there were some months that I had 16 posts and other that I had only 1. Hopefully after doing NaBloPoMo AND Blogmas, the art of consistency will stay with me.
2. End the year with at least double the amount of posts I have now. As of me righting this post I have 143 blog posts in 2016. I would like to end the year with writing at least 143 more, maybe even more than that. I know it will be easy for the first half of the year with no school and such, but I will persevere to the end of the year. Maybe I’ll start writing 2017’s Blogmas posts now 😉
3. Connect with more Bloggers: I always go through my Reader and read and like people’s posts but I really want to comment on more and connect with more of the people I follow.
4. Take quality pictures: I always talk about things while I’m writing but am running behind on posting (last night for example and my 11:13pm post time) so I forget to take pictures. I just got an iPhone 7 (hello fab camera quality) so I’m going to work on taking all my own pictures and posting them mainly because it’s nice to have your own content on your website, but also because it probably takes more time finding a photo in good lighting, good background, etc than it does to get my item and take it.
5. Read: I have so many books just waiting from to read them in my room and I have so many books I want to read and have yet to buy
6. Learn something new: I don’t know what and I don’t know when; but I want to learn how to do something
7. Move into the basement: I was supposed to move into the basement in August but my basement is a mess so I tentatively will be moving into the basement in January but I’m not sure.
8. Volunteer: Something I really want to do is volunteer abroad. I am trying to go to Lima, Peru for 4 or 5 weeks. I am totally going to fund it myself… I just have to convince my dad. Since I want to teach English abroad when I’m older,  I really want to test it out by going abroad and seeing if I like it  before I devote my life to something. Because if for some reason I hat traveling abroad or something I would like to know before I major in it.
9. Create a budget for myself: If I want to go to Peru, and I also want to visit some of my college friends, I need to stop spending money on lipsticks and food and create a monthly or weekly budget for spending so I can do the things I really want to.
10. Choose a college: Obvious reasons for this haha
11. Get a job: I need money and to get that, I need a job. Depending on if/when I volunteer will dictate what sort of job I get, so we’ll see.
12. Clean: Since I am home daily, I sometimes spend the day sleeping or watching TV, when I could be cleaning all the dishes i don’t use. I also need to keep my bedroom clean. Right now it’s a mess because I am going through everything I own in preparation for moving to the basement but once I get a new and bigger room, I will maintain a clean room.
13. Get on a solid sleep schedule: Nighttime is when I spend my time writing blog posts, reading blog posts, etc. So, when it’s all of a sudden 3 am… oops. Just because I’m home doesn’t mean I can be nocturnal. I need to develop a solid sleep schedule and put my electronics down, which is a lot easier said than done.
14. Exercise: I am planning on starting Insanity when I get home from Wisconsin. Something to keep me active and exercising does help maintain a solid sleep schedule.
15. Create a skincare routine: I have had eczema my whole life, and sensitive skin to top that off, so my skin hates me. I need to develop a skincare routine so my skin can love me again. Also one that isn’t uber expensive and easy(ish) to maintain.
16. Be one of ‘those vegans’: I drink a solid one kale smoothie a week. When I have a mid life crisis at 2 am and decide I need to get my life together, which lasts about 2 days until my next one the following Sunday. I am trying to be one of those vegans who drinks kale smoothies and posts acai bowl photos on Tumblr… Okay not that extreme but I don’t want to be a vegan who eats a row of Oreos and a bag of popcorn for dinner.
17. Drink more water: water is literally the holy grail of our body. We are over 75% water and how much we drink makes or breaks us. I have a 40 oz water bottle and some days I drink 2 of them but also some days I fall behind on my water consumption and I really can’t do that.I’m being very hopeful with these resolutions and I know some of them might not come true, but here are my aspirations for the year 2017, I’ll check back in 6 months.

    Alicia