Greetings, 2010.

When I started this entry yesterday afternoon, I thought I would write out a list of things I'd like to accomplish during the new year. Since it's now officially 2010 and this post has taken me way too long to write, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Anyway as to these goals, they're not listed by priority or anything, just as they come to me.

1. Find a new job. I've been unemployed for two years now while I focus on school. Now that my years as an undergrad are ending, I want to get back out there and find a good job for my early 20's. Which leads to the next goal...
2. Put together my resume. Sorry, my laptop doesn't do accent marks. Anyway, I need to sit down and build a good resume in the next couple of months. I didn't need one for either of my previous jobs so never really had to put it together.
3. Make a special purchase for myself. I don't know what in the world this will be yet. But I feel like since this is a big year for me, getting my BA and all, I should treat myself to something special. It won't be anything too extravagant like buying a new car or anything, and I'm sure that I'll know it when the opportunity arises. Maybe a small trip? A new laptop? Who knows! Although hopefully in the next couple of years I can save up enough money to go on The Anne Boleyn Experience if they continue offering it. Maybe 2011, if I'm lucky?
4. Knit my birthday/graduation blanket. I've already started looking at patterns to determine how I want this to look. It will definitely be a royal blue color and I've already got some yarn to get started whenever I find the right pattern.
5. Spend plenty of time by myself. This isn't a new idea in my life by any means. I'm one of those people who really appreciates time to themselves and enjoys it a lot. So it's basically just a goal to keep making time to just be alone and enjoy something on my own. One of my favorite ways to spend this time is in the cafe at Barnes & Noble reading magazines and having a snack.
6. Complain less. As covered in my last blog entry, I'm a very patient and optimistic person by nature. But I do tend to complain frequently about things that later seem very unimportant and definitely not worth the energy it takes to be upset over them. So I'm going to focus on not letting these things get to me and therefore not complain as much as I generally do. Hopefully this means that slightly larger problems won't stress me out as much or bring un-needed negativity into my life!
7. Drink more water. I almost never get as much water as I should, so I'm dehydrated most of the time.
8. Read more. This specifically applies to reading for fun more often. Most of the time my schoolwork makes me tired of reading so I never get to the other books that I want to enjoy. But I'm going to try and set aside more time to turn off the laptop and curl up with a book.
9. Graduate in May. This one is pretty self-explanatory.
10. Complete my senior thesis this semester. Again, self-explanatory.
11. Eat more vegetables. Yup.
12. Watch films from my Netflix queue more frequently. I'm not a very quick Netflix-er, and I need to get cracking! I hadn't anticipated keeping it after May, but who knows if I will. But there are so many films that I want to watch already that I'm going to try and use the service more often than I do. Often I'll get a DVD and keep it for way too long without realizing it. So I'll try to get new DVDs more often and send them back more quickly to get the most out of it. I definitely get my money's worth out of the "Watch Instantly" section, though.
13. Look people in the eyes more. I'm not a very confident person, and it's showing in my conversation skills (or lack of them). Lately I don't seem to make eye contact with anyone while talking with them, and I need to change this!
14. Generally gain more confidence. Stemmed off of #13.
15. Learn to crochet. I really love knitting, and crocheting looks like a fun craft to learn as well.
16. Continue setting realistic goals. There will definitely be more things I'd like to accomplish as the year stretches on.

Hope that everyone has a safe and fantastic new year in 2010!