lifestyle

2015 Resolutions

I’m not the most enthusiastic about New Year’s Resolutions, but seeing other bloggers’ posts has really motivated me. I’m making some pretty realistic ones here, and I’m going to try to remember to make an update post in June to hold myself accountable towards these goals!!

READING RESOLUTIONS:

1. Finish 90 books in 2015: Eeep, I’m so excited about this! For the past three years, I’ve set my goal for 75 books and I have always met that goal and exceed by 1 or 2 books. However, in 2014, I read 84 books, and I really want to amp it up this year! I know I’ll be able to do it because I’LL BE DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL. That means less homework and a completely free summer!

2. Branch out of YA: I’m actually doing quite well with this overall–I read a few adult books this year! As I’m transitioning into my adult years (omg, I’m no longer a teen!!), I definitely want to try books that my peers are reading (like CLASSICS). Especially classics!! I’ve read practically zero.

3. Read at least 1 book I own every month: I just looked at all of the books I read in 2014, and 62% of the books I read were review books, and only 12% were books I owned. The rest were all books I borrowed from the library. I may have a tiny bookshelf with not a lot of books on it, but I have a HUGE Kindle Library. I buy pretty frequently too, because books are so cheap!! I really need to start reading books that I own.

4. Request only 3 review books per month: This ties into Goal #3, but obviously, I read so many review books because I request so many!! You guys, Edelweiss Harper dumps are the DEATH of me. I practically download all of them, I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL. I have set new standards from now on: I will read EVERY synopsis of every galley they put up, and from there, I will MAXIMUM allow myself to download 3 titles. That means I can only request 3 total titles from Edelweiss/Netgalley per month. This might be my most difficult goal.

5. Continue listening to audiobooks: I recently started listening to audiobooks again, and I remember why I love them so much! I don’t have Audible which makes it kinda hard, but I DO have an online library I use. Since I’ll be starting college this year (eep!), I’ll be walking from building to building, which I think is the PERFECT time to listen to audiobooks.

BLOGGING RESOLUTIONS:

1. Keep up posting 3 times every 10 days: On average, I post about 10 times a month, and I’d definitely like to keep that up. I think it’s reasonable and that way I can put up really thoughtful posts.

2. Participate in memes: Somewhere along the road, I stopped participating in Waiting on Wednesday and Top Ten Tuesday! I’d really like to bring that back. It’s a great way to connect with new readers every week.

3. Comment on at least 5 blogs every week: I lost my commenting game this past 2014 year, and I miss it so much. I love fangirling!! I’ve mostly just been scrolling and reading other bloggers’ posts on my Bloglovin’ app when I blow-dry my hair. No time to comment! I’M GONNA MAKE TIME THIS YEAR. Maybe like 4-5pm on Friday nights.

4. Schedule posts at least 2 weeks in advance: I used to be SO GOOD about scheduling posts! I had a Google Calendar for it and everything. I’m not sure what happened. Probably school. (it’s always school). I feel so much more organized and satisfied with my posts when they’re scheduled!!

5. Start Booktube??: I REALLY WANT THIS TO HAPPEN. Maybe in college. Maybe.

PERSONAL RESOLUTIONS:

1. Eat healthier/exercise more: If you know me, you know that I love Hot Cheetos. I tweet about Hot Cheetos constantly. I’m pretty addicted actually. THEY ARE SO BAD FOR YOU. I’ve noticed that I’ve gained  weight (I pretty much never weigh myself on the scale because I’m not obsessed with my weight. I physically noticed myself getting a tiny bit chubbier). Not only is it unappealing to be out of shape, but I’ve personally felt sluggish more often and less motivated to do things. I HATE IT. I’m banning myself from them this year (of course, it doesn’t help that my twin sister is ALSO addicted.) Along those lines, I want to exercise MORE. I dance 8 hours a week, but that doesn’t feel like enough. I’d like to try running more! My twin is a cross-country runner so maybe she can help.

2. Sleep: As you all know, I’m a senior in high school at the moment so I don’t really get much sleep, but you don’t understand. When I have a four-day weekend (or winter break, for example), I DON’T SLEEP. I go to sleep at 2am or 3am and wake up at 12pm the next day. WHY? Why not take advantage of having no homework and catch up on sleep? Going to sleep at 3am and waking up 12pm doesn’t really count–I notice I have a raging headache whenever I go to bed too late, especially if I was watching TV or on the computer before that. I’m confident that in college I’ll go to bed earlier from what my older sister has told me!

3. Be happy where I end up going to college: This seems kind of obvious, but I want to be happy wherever I’m going to college come fall 2015! I’m still waiting for my admission decisions from 6 other schools, but I don’t want to be sad if I don’t get accepted into one. As I like to remember from a famous someone, “Every rejection is a re-direction.”

4. Put a smile on someone’s face everyday: I’m a positive person, I really am. That’s where I’m different from my twin: I smile a lot more than she does. Not because she’s sad, or because I’m happy ALL THE TIME, but I just… enjoy life. I’d like to radiate that to others, too.

5. Get more organized: I’m a pretty organized person, but I recently read Grace’s post about Blogging and Organization, and I LOVED IT. I even went out and got a prettier looking planner that would motivate me to write in it, finish my tasks, and cross them off. And while I used to only write down school homework assignments, I’m planning on scheduling everything everyday.


There you have it! My reading, blogging, and personal resolutions for 2015. What are yours?

  1. Mel@thedailyprophecy

    January 7, 2015 at 10:40 am

    Edelweiss is always SO tempting, I’m also cutting down on my downloading sprees, because I need to get a better balance. START BOOKTUBE. YES. DO IT 😀

  2. Aneeqah @ My Not So Real Life

    January 7, 2015 at 7:55 pm

    Ahhh, I am SO GLAD that you decided to set resolutions, Jen! I’m actually a REALLY big fan of goals- I think it’s just because I’m a goal-oriented person. So I’m super excited that you’ve set some goals for yourself!! I will definitely be poking you on Twitter once in a while to see how you’re doing with these. =)

    90 books is such an awesome goal, girl!! I bet you can even hit 100 this year. =) I think it’s fantastic you’re really pushing yourself. I should totally adopt that Edelweiss goal, because I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to those Harper titles, so I definitely feel you. I also totally want to get my commenting mojo back!! I’ve been pretty decent about reading blogs on the Feedly app, but I never comment which is just sucky. I’m thinking about spending lunch in the library in a nice corner and commenting for a solid 45 minutes everyday (there’s soo much drama at lunch anyways =P). Scheduling ahead is also something I intend to keep up with this year!! It WILL happen.

    I love your personal resolutions. <33 I love that you enjoy life so much. I think I'm going to steal your goal about making someone smile everyday. It's amazing to be able to spread that much positivity. Honestly, I haven't been a fan of my personality these days because it's been so hard dealing with all the drama (plus I'm such an awkward panda oof). I'd like to be happier and more optimisitic. I actually feel like I am, I just suck at acting that way at school, if that makes sense.

    YES to your college goal. I can't wait to see where you end up and I'm sure you'll love it. <3 Also I totally need to exercise more. I eat terribley as well and I really feel it affecting my health. I always feel KILLER when I work out, so I want that feeling more. I normally do videos from Blogilates because it's crazy cold oustide and we don't have a treadmill, and those videos are so aweosme.

    ALSO YOUR PLANNER IS SO CUTE. Grace's post inspired me SO. MUCH. and I've found myself doing more and more scheduling. I love it.

    OMG I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU: YOU INSPIRED ME TO TRY AN AUDIOBOOK!! And I'm ADDICTED. I'm listening to The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and it's amazing. It's shocking how those tedious chores are almost fun now, because I can just plug in my phone to my armband and listen while I work. I love love love it. My bus rides are also 209384023984 times better. (Although my audiobook from the library is about to expire and I still have 9 chapters left of my book… oops.)

    Lovely, lovely post, Jen. I'm SO excited for you and I hope we can work on some of these goals together!!

    1. Aneeqah @ My Not So Real Life

      January 7, 2015 at 7:55 pm

      *facepalm* WHY DO MY COMMENTS END UP SO LONG THIS IS LIKE A POST. Sorry girl I got a little too excited. =P

      1. Jen

        January 8, 2015 at 6:47 pm

        HAHA Aneeqah, I LOOVE your fantastically long comments! And yes, we WILL hold each other accountable. 😉

        YAYAYAY I’m happy you tried and LOVED your first audiobook!! The thing about those is that they kind of read at their own pace, so you can’t read faster if you want to, which sucks bc yes, the due dates seem too soon!! What I end up doing sometimes is just listening to the audiobook and finishing it in physical format.

        Love you gurl! Thanks for stopping by <3

  3. Katie Michelle

    January 7, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    I don’t think I could ever limit myself to 3 review requests a month! I never request more than I can read, but 3 seems like such a small number LOL. I always get denied on Edelweiss though – I have only ever been approved one book!

    1. Jen

      January 8, 2015 at 6:45 pm

      3 does seem really little, but I’m going to try my best! And aww, just keep requesting and blogging, I’m sure they’ll approve you more after a longer period time!

  4. Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings

    January 10, 2015 at 11:55 am

    Jen, I looove how detailed your goals are! I think I need to make more specific goals so I can read at least one book I own every month or limit my ARC requested to three or four books a month–that’s so smart! I always think twice about requesting ARCs now, but I haven’t tried limiting myself by a quantitative amount but I think that’s a really impressive decision. I need to try it ASAP! 🙂

    I also can’t wait to hear where you wind up going to college. As someone who went through the process just last year, I can tell you that colleges REALLY know what they’re doing. I thought I wanted to go to so many of the colleges I applied to and after interviews, by the time March/April rolled around, I knew I wasn’t the type of person who could be happy there. And they knew that too. Even colleges I felt confident were a perfect fit for me aren’t as right as the college I’m currently enrolled in, so it’ll all work out. I promise. <3

    2015 is going to be an amazing year for you, Jen, and high school is almost over! WOO! Can't wait to hear all about it. 😀

    1. Jen

      January 10, 2015 at 5:43 pm

      Thanks SO MUCH for the advice, Keertana. I’m honestly really scared, but I’ll definitely come to you if I have any questions about college and the like. I’m glad you picked the right one!

  5. Willa

    January 11, 2015 at 10:27 am

    HEY YOU I LOVE THIS POST. I’m so pumped about your desire to read classics (hit me up if you need suggestions) and I can’t wait to see where you end up for college next year. It’s so crazy you and Vy are heading off to college. STOP GROWING UP GODDAMIT.

    And the planner! BEAUTIFUL. those colors are so you lol 🙂 I think you can meet your blogging goals, as you’ve been awesome about it up until now, and I believe in your for that planning ahead. Me and you, girl. We can do this.

    Huggles! oxoxo

    1. Jen

      January 11, 2015 at 6:28 pm

      THAANKS WILLA!! I will definitely start reading Classics this summer. I’m so excited to share 2015 with you, gurl! xoxo

  6. Aylee (@AyleeArgh)

    January 12, 2015 at 9:44 am

    Right on, these are some great goals, Jen!! I would also like to branch out in my reading and read more of the books I already own this year. Oooh I would SO watch you on Booktube!! You should definitely give it a go 😀 Good luck on these goals and your schooling!

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