New Year's Resolutions

This year has been a whirlwind for me. In the spring, I ended the school year by saying goodbye to two of the best roommates I have ever had as they moved out. One graduated and now works for a local newstation. The other is student teaching in a nearby city. I have only seen them a handful of times since April and everytime was like Christmas!

Over the summer, I stayed in Provo over the summer for the first time instead of going home. It was just Danielle and I in the house we rent. I kind of liked it. Danielle is my best friend and a wonderful roommate and we had some very peaceful evenings. I also biked up and down the Provo River numerous times--I came to love Provo in the spring/summer. I was also an EFY counselor for the first time ever. The best job I have ever had.

The fall came with some bumps. Danielle and I got 3 new roommates, some of which we clash terribly with. Just different personalities than we have. We have some fun times though. I had decided not to date anyone or go looking for boys, but I found myself in a wonderful relationship nonetheless. I lagged a lot with my habits--sleeping, procrastinating, eating, working out, etc.

Here are last year's resolutions:
- As always, I will keep a GPA higher than 3.7
This I succeeded in. I ended the semester with my highest GPA yet: 3.93, giving me an overall GPA of 3.78!
- As always, I will work out 5 days a week and keep my ideal weight.
I did wel until the summer, then going back and forth from EFY, I kind of failed and definitely failed in the fall.
- I will do more charity and service this year.
I began indexing and love doing it--an easy way to do temple work and civil service at the same time.
- I will BE the right person - the kind of friend I want, the kind of homemaker I should be, etc.
I think I have done well with this.
- I will continue stepping out of my box socially.
I definitely stepped out of my box in the summer--not only within my apartment complex, but as an EFY counselor as well.
- I will study Welsh for at least 1 hour a week.
Eh, I did join a Welsh reading and translation class for the fall.

So, I did ok on my resolutions. However, I think that this year, I will try something different because this year will be full of changes to my life anyway:

I will not have New Year's Resolutions.

Instead, I will have New Year's Goals. You see, the reason we never keep our New Year's Resolutions is because we aren't held accountable for them. But goals are SMART.

S - specific, significant, stretching
M - measurable, meaningful, motivational
A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented
T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

So, here are my 2012 Goals:

Socially
~ Attend all FHE's on Monday nights.
~ Do 100% Visiting Teaching for the whole year.

Academically
~ Study and do my best as to keep a GPA of 3.7 or higher
~ Study Welsh for at least 30 min each week.
~ Read for myself at least 20 min each day.
~ Blog at least once a week.
~ Work on my novel for at least 45 min a week.

Physically
~ Workout/run 5 days a week.
~ Maintain my goal weight (sorry, you don't get to hear that!)
~ Cook 1 new meal a month using a new recipe

Spiritually
~ Read my scriptures every morning.
~ Go to the temple at least once a month.

So, I know it seems like a lot, but they're all little things. Wish me luck!