New Years Resolutions 2016

Blog

• Review all the books I’ve read.  I really enjoy writing reviews and I decided I can write either long or short reviews – whatever I feel like!  Part of the reason I got behind on my reviews was because I felt like I had to write long reviews for every book.
• SEO all of my book reviews.  I experimented with SEO on a few of my reviews to see if it would make a difference and it did! I’m going to go back and add SEO to all my reviews.  It’s a big project but I think it will be worth it.
• Write more discussion posts.  Just because I love reading and writing book reviews doesn’t mean everyone does.  I like writing discussion posts, too.  I just need to make more of an effort to brainstorm and write them.
• Have reading lists posts.  I had a lot of fun coming up with a few reading lists this year (58 Novellas and Regency Romance) and I would love to add some more.
• Reply to all comments.  I love comments on my blog and I need to make sure I’m taking the time to leave comments on other blogs as well.
• Find new blogs to follow.  
• Write new release posts.  I did a few Top 5 New books coming out last year, but not very many.  I went to the bookstore for Christmas shopping and I was surprised by how many books I hadn’t seen before and how sad that made me.  I like being in the know of what books are coming out.  I don’t get to go to the bookstore much and browse, so making the time to do it online is the next best thing that I’ve got.  Then you can see what’s coming out too!

Reading

• Read a 1000+ page book.  I have this goal every year.  I’ve done it since 2011.  I barely did it last year, so I’m going to make sure I do it in the summer this time to give me some breathing room.  Reading a 1000 page book during December and having a deadline to finish it was not the best thing for my stress. lol
• Read with a candle.  Maybe this will sound weird.  But I got a candle with my Owl Crate (<referral link. I get free boxes if you buy one with the link.  You should totally get one though. I love it!!!!).  The candle was made by Frostbeard Studio and it was called Reading at the Cafe.  I burned it while I was desperately trying to finish Don Quixote on time and I found that the coffee scented candle helped me stay awake.  One reason it was so hard to finish my reading goal last year was because I was very tired all the time.  It was hard to stay awake for longer than 10 minutes.  The scent kept me awake as well as the mild fear that if I did fall asleep, I’d burn my house down.  Plus it added a little fun and zest to my reading.  It was such a good experience that I’m going to do it every day if I can. :)
  
• Get back into the routine of reading a classic then a YA then a classic then a YA etc.  This might be the first year that I won’t do any reading challenges besides the 50 books a year.  I got in a huge reading slump in 2015 and my goal this year is to keep that from happening again.  I want to focus on reading a variety of books and having better balance.
• Read nutrition books.  I’m going to lose weight this year and I would like to know what I’m doing.  I’m treating this as learning a new skill and I’m actually pretty excited about it.

Physical

• Lost weight.  I know, the most cliche of all New Year’s resolutions, but my sister is a health coach and I’m doing her program.  I think it will go really well.  I started today!
• Get in the habit of exercising.  I have a good gym with babysitting.  I love listening to audiobooks while I work out.  I just need to schedule it in my planner which I intend to do :)

Spiritual

• Write in my journal every Sunday
• Be on time to church
• Go to the temple once a month

Kids

• Have a Harry Potter party.  When we finish Harry Potter #1, I want to watch the movie with them and have over the top food.  I did this with Star Wars with the goal of getting them as excited about it as I was and it worked :)
• Continue small holiday traditions.  I made a goal last year to have more traditions with the kids.  I found that it was a lot of fun.  Small things to look forward to and plan was more fun than I thought it would be.  For example, on St. Patricks Day, I had a scavenger hunt for them when they got home.  They found a treasure of Hershey’s nuggets and a few coins.  They loved it and so did I!
• Do chores and homework with them after dinner.  I hope this will help with the bouncing-off-the-walls, everyone-is-losing-their-mind craziness that starts around 7:30 every night.  On the dot.
• Family day every Saturday.  Whether its going somewhere, playing a board game, or having a movie night, I want to make sure we do something fun as a family every week.
• Give them space.  I don’t need to spend every waking moment with them to be a good mom.  As long as I’m present and responsive when they come to me with something then I think that’s just fine.

Personal

• Quiet time.  This goes with not spending every moment with my kids.  I need my own space and alone time, too.  Without it, I get cranky and mean.
• Get out of debt.  Yay for another cliche New Year’s resolution, but it will be so good for our family to get rid of all the debt we can.
• Try writing.  I’m in a writing group and I think I’ll give this whole making stuff up thing a shot.
• Date night every week.  Two at home, one at the temple, and one that costs money and involves going somewhere.

What New Year’s resolutions do you have this year?