It's a new year, which means it's time for all those resolutions I'll have forgotten about by next week!!

So we made it to 2013.  It's amazing how fast time goes.  Was it really ten years ago that I spent New Year's Eve in El Salvador??  Was it really almost a decade since I finished high school?? Was the first Christmas Dinner that Kasia and I hosted really twelve years ago?!?!

Wow.  I feel like all this time has gone by and I haven't noticed.

Regardless, in the spirit of it being a new year, I figured I'd be cliched and come up with some goals for the year.  I don't want to call them resolutions, since that title is just begging for me to break them ASAP, so goals works for me.

Anyways, here they are, in no particular order:

1. Get a real job.  Not a temporary, for now, or in the meantime type of job, an actual full-time, permanent position.  With benefits.  The whole temp thing just isn't working out for me.  I need something with a little more security and longevity.

2. Move out.  I'd love to have my own place, and it'll have to happen this year.  Currently, I live at my mom's, but she'll move in with her boyfriend soon, which means I'll definitely have to find somewhere.  Somewhere in Sauga, I think, not downtown.  And I don't want to look for a roommate, I'd rather have my own place. As for moving in with Matt, well, I have no idea.  I like the idea of seeing him every day and sleeping next to him every night and waking up to him every morning, but I also like the idea of having my own space and decorating how I want to and getting the chance to live on my own.  Plus, I have no idea how he feels about moving out with me anymore, since I tossed us aside.  Twice.

3. Go on vacation.  Not camping, but somewhere that I can lay on the beach, drink lots, and not have to worry about a goddamned thing.  Cuba, maybe??  Or somewhere different, like St Maarten??  Just somewhere that if I wanted to do nothing for a week, I could.  Even El Salvador would be good, although that would be much more heartbreaking to leave than anywhere else.

4. Go somewhere new.  Similar to the vacation one, but with more doing.  Maybe sightseeing or a tour or hiking or whatever.  Machu Picchu??  Thailand?? Somewhere new and interesting and awesome.  Honestly, I'd even settle for somewhere closer and less exotic, but till new.  New Orleans??

5. Learn a new language.  Or possibly work on the two half languages I know (Spanish and French).  Maybe learn some new Polish words??  The last few I learned were a few years ago.  Time to add something to my mental translator!!

6. Finish a story.  I've been stuck for the last while and haven't been able to write too much, even tough I have an incredible amount of ideas.  Maybe I can work on getting them out??  I've still got some up on my FanFiction profile, and I've got maybe 20 pages of another. I've also got like 35 pages of an original story, and a bunch of stories left anywhere from 2 to 5 pages.  I really should work on those.

7. Find a new hobby.  I keep saying photography or painting, but I do neither.  So I need to give them my all or get off the pot and find some new ones.  I can't imagine me knitting or anything.  Cooking??  Maybe more event planning??  I do love me some planning.  I could definitely make that into something fun!!

8. Pay off debts.  Honestly, I need to do this.  If I'm smart about it, and I find a job soon, I should technically be able to pay off all the people I owe money to, and fix quite a bit of my credit, this year.  I obviously can't finish OSAP this year, but I could do almost everything else.  Or, quite possibly, everything else.  Let's aim for as much as possible and hope it goes well, okay??

9. Lose weight.  I have to find a way to get rid of at least 60 lbs.  HAVE TO.  I can't use any machines or go crazy (stupid back), so I've gotta take up swimming and an aerobics class. Maybe I'll join Kasia in  Zumba, as much as I don't like it.  I've also gotta do yoga or something to help stretch out my back.

10. Relax.  Be healthy.  Smile.  Honestly, I need to just learn to enjoy life and laugh it off when it goes wrong.  I need to not blow everything out of proportion and I need to not over think everything and stress myself out to the point I get panic attacks.  I need to be on the offensive much less and not bite everyone's head off.  I need to think less for me and more for others, and sometimes, I need to think the opposite.

Wow, that's more than I planned to set for myself.  I don't think they're hard, though.  At least, most of them aren't, so I should be able to find ways to get them done, right??  Or possibly, and maybe even more realistically, I'll forget all about them until the end of the year.

Blogging Challenge: Things that make me happy

4. What are five things that make you happy right now?

Huh.  Well....I don't know.  I guess this means five different things, so I can't just list five songs. 'Cause five songs would be easy.  Listening to me sing might not make most of you too happy, but that's what earplugs are for!!  I guess that means I can't just make a list of five people either??

I'm sure I can come up with something...hopefully.

1.  Music.  There are bunch of songs right now that make me super happy.  If I was looking to cheer up, or I was in a good mood and wanted to sing along, I'd turn on almost anything from Ke$ha's latest CD, Warrior, or Fun.'s "Some Nights".  Both make me happy.  And if I was looking for older songs that always make me happy, I'd go for some nostalgia: maybe some BSB, some Spice Girls, maybe some Big Shiny Tunes song.  Or maybe I'll put on some Rise Against and some Linkin Park and rock out.  That makes me happy too.

2. Planing an event.  I don't know why, but this makes me so freaking happy.  I love planning everything about an event: invites, music, food, decor.  I love coordinating everything and planning out all the logistical things most people consider a nightmare.  I just finished two awesome events (a Confused Christmas dinner and Burlesque New Year's Eve) and pretty soon I'll be planning something for my bday.  I have no idea as of yet what to do, but I'm sure I'll think of something epic!!  And if anyone has any events they want help planning, or maybe you just want to have a party but don't want to plan, then let me know!!  I'm totally up for planning anything!!

3. Driving.  I've always loved to drive.  Even before I had a car, I'd always be the one driving Kasia's car.  Since I've gotten my car, I get a lot more alone driving time.  Which I didn't like at first.  But now, I love it!!  I try to drive with the windows down, regardless of the temperature, and with the music as loud as I can get it.

4. Apple TV and Netflix. For Christmas, Matt was awesome and got me Apple TV, which we'd figured out (thanks to Robin) how to change so we'd be able to access American Netflix.  I was iffy Apple TV at first, but once I saw the difference between Canadian Netflix (which sucks) and American Netflix (which is freaking awesome!!), I was sold!!  I haven't been an avid TV watcher lately, since I only watch one show, but that's totally changing.  Currently, I'm watching Supernatural, which is totally a me show (hot guys, ghosts and other supernatural things, scary and cheesy scenes), and Doctor Who, which is awesome and full of accents!!  I've also been watching a lot of documentaries, mainly National Geographic ones, which are incredibly good.  You'd be surprised at the different topics they have!!  Right now I'm watching one all about zombies and where the idea comes form and if it really is possible to have a zombie apocalypse.  It's super interesting!!

5. Reading.  As always, reading is my main escape and makes me incredibly happy.  The last two book series (serieses??) I read were The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare, which I loved to death, and the Divergent & Insurgent books by Veronica Roth, which are also really freaking awesome!!  Both are being made into movies, although Mortal Instruments is coming out this year, while Divergent hasn't even been filmed yet.  I'm super excited about Mortal Instruments, though, you have no idea.  I plan to be there on opening night!!  Writing usually makes me happy too, but in the last few weeks I've hit a block. I have ideas, but I just can't find the words to get the out.  It's weird, but hopefully it'll get better soon.

And there you have it!!  It actually made me feel better to list things that make me happy.  I'm totally gonna watch more documentaries and try to write more.  And I guess I should attempt to write more blog posts, too, while I'm at it??