It's finally 2013 and like many others, I have a few resolutions that I'll plan to attempt in the new year. It always seems a bit silly, why wait until the start of the year? I guess there is something a little magical about the start of the year and it's bolstering to think that other people around the world are at the start of their new endeavors. Sure, a lot of people will quit, but I'm not a pessimist. I also don't spend a lot of time worrying about those other people or waste time with statistics. I either do it or I don't, bottom line.

So here are a few things that I want to do in 2013.

1. Cleaning out a minimum of one storage box a week. I promised Dan that I would do this when I quit my job, but it hasn't happened. Those boxes need to be cleared out and the garage reclaimed.

2. Eliminate Soda.

3. Limit red meat (once or twice a week)

4. Go to the gym a minimum of eight days a month, or cancel membership. I've had this one before and didn't follow through with canceling the membership. It's a waste if I don't go.

5. Read the books on my TBR shelf, before buying new ones. The exception will be a few Kindle books for my vacation. I really want to get rid of a majority of my physical books and clean up the clutter.

6. Return emails and phone calls promptly and in turn, proactively keep in better touch with friends. I totally fell off the grid for much of 2012, sorry friends. I will start to make a much bigger effort. 

7. Travel to Europe (booked!) and one new state. My goal is to do all fifty, with at least one new state a year. 2012 was Utah. 

8. Stop and think twice before buying anything. This includes the grocery store, where I often over spend and justify it, because it's food. We need to eat! However, nobody actually needs cake mix or fancy cheese. Budget, Budget, Budget!

9. A huge project that I need to start, although it may carry beyond 2012, is scanning all of my family pictures and putting them on Flickr. I hope to have at least 1/2 of them done within the year, I am nervous having the only copies in albums and boxes. This has been on the resolution list since 2008 with zero progress.

10. Finally finish turning my short story into a novel. I started in 2012, but didn't get far. I have a good idea and need to bring it to fruition in 2013.

11. One blog post a day. I want to try to have them posted by 8am as much as possible. This blog is growing a bit each day and I want to see where I can take it. It's been an exciting highlight of 2012. I also want to add more youtube videos..I may have received a cool toy for Christmas, that will be blogged about very soon!

12. I need to start volunteering at 826LA. I've completed the training course in October, but have not moved on volunteering. This needs to be remedied ASAP., as I need to help kids channel their Vampire/JustinBeiber/Shark ideas into real stories.

Finally, I am declaring 2013 to be The Year of Organize Living in the Germain-Hansen household. Dan already made me the happiest girl in the world through buying a bunch of organizational tools at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Yesterday, I even declined going to a movie, because I was so excited to get home and work on the kitchen. Our kitchen is beginning to shape up!  

I plan to attack every room in the house, getting rid of unnecessary clutter and making sure that everything is put away in a logical, organized manner. This is my mom in me. I really love an organized house, but have felt overwhelmed by the project. I am pulverizing the overwhelmed feelings and turning them into motivation. Stay tuned for organization tips and pictures of a beautiful home in the new year.

Here is to heading into 2014, even better than how I am starting 2013!