Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. I also hope that Santa brought a lot of great presents! But let's not forget that Christmas is about the Gift that God gave us in the form of his own son. And now that Christmas is over, is everyone else as sad about taking down their trees as I am? I would leave them all up all year! I keep procrastinating because I don't want to take them down yet. It's such a sad event. 

But now, the new year is coming and now is the time for resolutions. I feel like I was just making a resolution for 2012, but it's already over. Honestly, I couldn't be happier that this year is over. 2012 wasn't all bad, but it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. 2012 was supposed to be my year, but now I'm thinking that no one actually has years. You might have a great day or a week or maybe even a month, but you can never have a great year. I do, in fact, believe that I kept last years resolution. I have learned not to take things so seriously and also to have fun more that anything else. This year I've decided to do something different. Instead of just coming up with one resolution, I came up with 13. Some are kind of common sense, but it can't hurt to remind myself. So here is my list of resolutions for 2013.

13 Resolutions for 2013

1.      Cherish your real friends. Realize that you have eight of them and make sure that they know how much they mean to you.

2.     Don’t dwell on the past. It’s okay to have memories, but try to think about the bad things less. Remember all the god time you had with the people who mean the most to you and forget the bad times you had with the people who don’t mean anything anymore.

3.    Make more memories. It doesn’t matter what you do, but have fun doing it. Make sure to make memories with the people who matter most. Do things that you’ll never want to forget.

4.    Dress up. Dress down. Be the way you want to be, because it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you. Make sure to remember that you are beautiful person. Inside and out. Love who you are because you’re great and you don’t need anyone else to tell you that.

5.     Read more. Get a book journal so you can remember all of the stories that you love so much. Don’t wish for a love like Ky and Cassia, and don’t wish for a friendship like Jace and Alec. You shouldn’t model your life after a story someone wrote, but you should appreciate the story either way. Read more and create your very own library.

6.    Make better study habits. Keep your grades as high as your standards. Make sure to study before every test, read the whole chapter instead of just the bold words, and ace every test and assignment. Be a scholastic force.

7.    Spend more time with your family. Remember that you wouldn’t be here without them. Remember that they do love you, even if they have a hard time showing it. Sometimes you’ll just want them to go away and leave you alone, but remember that they need you as much as you need them. Spend the night with your cousins and go to Cracker Barrel with you Mawmaw.

8.     Grow up. Become more mature than you were last year. Be smarter with your decisions. Be smarter when it comes to anything that could harm you.

9.    Get healthy. Go for walks, eat healthier, and drink less Mtn. Dew. You owe it to yourself to take care of your body the way it takes care of you.

10.    Keep yourself clean in every way. Don’t do drugs and shower regularly. Keep your room clean. Remember that your roommate wants you to keep your side of the room clean. Also, never wear dirty clothes or let your hair be greasy. Don’t shame yourself.

11.     Don’t take life too seriously. When someone is making fun of you (because you know they will) laugh with them. Laugh more than you cry. Don’t get so upset when things don’t go the way you plan. Make sure that at least one thing goes with way you want it to, if not for you - for your future.

12.    Fall in love. Real love. Find someone who makes you as happy as you want to make them. Don’t ever settle for anything less than butterflies. Find a guy who never lets you feel like you’re inferior and never makes himself seem superior. Make sure you don’t take him for granted. “Maybe you should learn to love him like you want to be loved.”

13.  Make 2013 your year. You’re going to graduate and go off to college. Leave a lasting impression on high school and make an entrance at university. 2013 can be your best year yet as long as you let it. Remember to let yourself have fun this year. It’s going to be great!

Some of these may be hard to keep, but I'm determined to have a good year. So this year is

going to start off right. I'm going to spend New Years Eve with my best friends! Who will

you spend New Years Eve with?

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope 2013 is the best year yet!