My Non-New Year Resolutions of 2014

2014. Here we go. To be honest, the whole New Year's Eve, let's make a ton of resolutions things isn't really my bag. I'm going to explain a bit more below and really get into it but overall, I don't do resolutions. However, I have been wanting to reflect on some upcoming changes that will be going on in my life and things I've wanted to change with the blog, so I guess the fact that it is a brand new year is pretty good timing.  

Blog Life

This Is Me. If any of y'all know me through Twitter, I think it's safe to say you know how I am as a person. But for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter or don't have one and only have my blog as a source of who I am, I apologize. I've realized that not a lot of ME goes into the blog content overall. I love writing reviews and I love being snarky so if you read them I think you get my personality but I want my little corner of the internet to reflect more of me personally and not just my (fabulous) taste in books. I think I can do that by writing more personal posts or updates about what's going on and even if none of you read or like them, I think it will be a really great thing for me to do mentally. I started this blog as an outlet for all the feels I get while reading, now I think I want to delve out a little more and let out all my feels as a person. I don't think I'm particularly interesting but I've got a lot of changes coming up in my life so I might need a place to verbalize my emotions. I really want to try and get away from posting a ton of reviews and more emphasis on discussion or unique features where I can highlight the books I read. RSVP Early To and Fashionably Late To have helped break up the constant reviews I think. 

Comment on This. We all know how excited we get when people comment on our posts. And while there are a good amount of blogs that I follow and love, I am HORRIBLE at commenting! I read them! I read so many amazing reviews and posts but I always read them on my phone so commenting is such a pain in the ass via mobile. Then I forget. But know that if we are blogging friends, I read your reviews. I read your posts. I love them all. But I don't comment...I will get better. 

Quote by Mary Oliver, photo not my own

Real Life

Travel. This will always be something I strive to do throughout my life and 2014 will be no exception. I love adventure. I am restless. I have an incurable case of wanderlust and I have this intense need to see everything! I'm going to Africa next week Thursday (EEEP!!!) and I cannot wait! I have wanted to go to Africa since I was a teenager and I am finally making it happen. So Africa 2014 will be resolved quickly as far as resolutions go. Other places I have plans to go are Scotland (& London again, my sister wants to go in summer). A place I don't have a solid plan to go yet but would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be able to is Australia and New Zealand. I have friends in both that I would love to see. I want the Gold Coast. I want the Sydney Opera House. I want the Outback. I want it all. I want to continue to challenge myself and put myself out of my comfort zone and grab life by the balls and all it has to offer.

Travel Nursing. I am in the process of becoming a travel nurse and crossing all my fingers and toes that by mid-February I will be living in a whole different state and working there. I feel really restless in life right now. I am blessed with so many fantastic things but I feel stagnant where I am in my life right now. I need to get out of Milwaukee, live and work some place else, meet new people, experience different places and food and culture. I have such a passion for life that I cannot stay here any longer.

Fall in Love. This is only partly my control. Let's see if the Lord has found it in His infinite wisdom to send me my husband this year...stay tuned... 

I believe in book karma. With that said, here comes my emo moments. Books come to me (or you if you believe haha) at certain times when you need them most. Golden by Jessi Kirby was such a book for me and inspired me to do travel nursing and go after my goals. Just One Day by Gayle Forman inspired me to go back to Europe. Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer gave me the push to actually commit and go to Sicily where my family came from. Most recently, the quote from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes about is being your duty to live your life to the fullest really resonated with me. I truly believe and try to live my life by all these quotes I mentioned. I believe fully in going after what you want and not caring what anybody else says. Y'all have no idea how many people in my real life get on me for my choice of traveling. I can't tell you how angry I get when people hear about another trip I've planned and say things like, "Oh, I'd love to do that, it must be really nice you can do that." Um...yeah, it is actually. If you want to do something, go do it. Stop talking about it. I cannot STAND people saying things like that to me like the traveling just fell into my lap. I save my money, I don't spend on stupid things, I actively plan a trip. It isn't that hard. Is it a luxury? YES. I never for even a second take for granted the opportunities I have had of seeing the world. But I also am not going to feel bad about it either. I don't have a husband. I don't have kids. Would I LOVE to have those things? Of course. I want nothing more than to find the love of my life and be saddled down with tiny humans biting my ankles. But that is not my life right now. I cannot sit back and mope about the things the Lord has not blessed me with, instead I need to take advantage of what He has given me. While my life status remains as a single loser, I am going to go out and have crazy adventures because that is my choice. (I think I'm done venting now...see? This is why I need more personal posts. I can't keep all this angry energy inside. I need to coat tail Betty's Random Rantings I think.)

Where am I going with this? I thought we were talking about resolutions, right? I think this is part of the reason I don't usually do the whole New Year, New Me, New Resolution thing. I think every day is a gift and if you are able to, go out and live it. The New Year might be a catalyst for you (and that is great! Whatever gets your motivation going) but there is a part of me that believes that every day should have a piece of the New Year mentality in it. I guess what my emo moment is trying to say is that I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, I believe in lifestyle changes. It's like those crazy fad diets that people think are a cure-all for their body and they will never be overweight again. Those things last, like, 2 weeks and you go back to feeling bad about yourself. I have the same connotation with New Year's Resolutions. They aren't quick fixes. They require time and effort and commitment. You can't change your life in one day but you can make the effort to be who you want to be every single day. 

Life Resolutions. So. Here's to 2014, my non-new year resolutions, traveling, love, being a better blogger, and getting to know me and you. Yay for life.