Happy New Year

Another Christmas holiday over. Christmas really is one of my very favorite times of the year so I always feel so sad boxing up the pretty lights and decorations and hiding away the Christmas music and movies for another year. Everything seems to go back to normal too quickly leaving things looking and feeling very bare and boring.

I do, however, look forward to New Year resolutions .After 2 weeks of eating, drinking and minimal activity, I think everyone looks forward to giving their body a well deserved detox. Having had such a lovely Christmas and with a new job to think about, it seems like a great opportunity to make some changes.

Resolutions are a personal thing and I didn't share any of mine last year with anybody. I agree that accountability is important but I wondered if learning to hold ourselves accountable for our own actions is even more important? That being said, I would like to share my ideas for 2013 so here it goes:

• Books. I must find time to read more. There are all sorts of books I'd like to read and I buy some of them but they end up on a shelf unread and collecting dust. I'm starting with a huge book I got from Christmas all about the history and art of Walt Disney.

• Blogging. No more sporadic posts, with weeks or months in between. Or at least that's the plan. I feel great every time I blog but never get round to doing it. It's like exercising. Except I can blog in my pjs, in bed, with a bar of chocolate right next to me.

• Work-life balance. One of my biggest weaknesses is my inability to strike a healthy balance between my teaching/tutoring and everything else I enjoy. In my head, when it's term-time it's all about school, tutoring, early nights and preparing or marking anytime in between. Then I crash out the first chance I get, whether its a half-term, exceptional closure or Christmastime. It's why I feel burdened at the end of a holiday. I don't hate my job. Far from it. I just let it take up too much of my time. 

• Saving. Money, not people (although, becoming a super hero seems like a pretty awesome resolution!). I'm starting to save for my own house. Or apartment. I haven't decided. It might be a few years before I can take the step since it depends on jobs as well as finances but I'm still preparing. Foresight is important, but don't depend on it either because circumstances could change tomorrow.

• Faith. Church is important to me. Feeling like part of a community is important to me. Prayer and thanksgiving I couldn't live without. Yet somehow, I forget this during the year when life gets busy. This year I would like to change that. Keep it a priority. 

• Cooking for one. Lots of people include a fitness or diet regime in their resolutions that, for most, doesn't make it past January. I just need to learn how to cater for one! I always buy either too much food and waste it or not enough food and end up settling for mediocre meals because it's just me. Too much take-out and convenience food and not enough of the good stuff. 

• Travel. Last year I added Budapest, Vienna and Warsaw to my conquest of European cities and this year I hope to add to this. I'm considering Prague and Berlin at some point but who the hell knows.

This is just a glimpse of my hopes for 2013. As I have learned time and time again, there will be surprises along the way, good and bad but that's why life is fun.  And I look forward to sharing some of those surprises with you along the way. If there is anything in particular that you would like me to blog about, leave a comment or tweet me.