Happy New Year! 

I hope you said goodbye to 2013 and rang in the New Year having fun with the best people in your life.

Russ and I spent the last day of 2013 laying low.  We really didn’t do much of anything except run five miles (!!!) and just chill out.  We made our way to West Chester in the early evening to meet up with Christine, Justin and Bobby.  Before the festivities, Christine and I made dinner for the boys and ourselves.  Essentially we just heated food up for them 🙂

The rest of the night was whirlwind, and I suppose it can only go up from there, right?!

Wow, 2014.  Sounds weird, right?!  2013 flew by in the blink of an eye.  Really- it was literally just yesterday that I was in Cuba, not too long ago that I was shadowing in the Plastic Surgery Service, a few months ago that I was in Harpers Ferry with the family, and literally just yesterday that I was in NYC for the third year in a row.

I’ve gotta say, looking back on my 2012-2013 post, it’s strange to see how very similar the year was last year to this year.  I feel very blessed to be able to say that 2013 has continued to provide incredible opportunities, my friends and family have been healthy and happy, and I have been on new adventures, had lots of new experiences, and am currently looking forward to an exciting upcoming year.  When I look back on 2013, I see a whole lot of good things, which is one of my favorite reasons for writing this blog.  If nothing else, I love being able to look back and see what I did over the last year, so I want to say thank you to all of you (ANONYMOUS) readers.  I know you’re out there because I can see my stats, I just can’t see you 😉

Since this year is rapidly coming to a close as a new year begins, I want to make a few…”things to work on/ keep in mind”.  I don’t like resolutions because I will go ahead and say that it ain’t going to happen.  Things to work on in a general sense sounds a lot more attainable.

1. Be in the moment more.  I have a bad tendency to over think the past, and- even more often- worry about another day, another time, another moment.  I want to focus on enjoying the here and now and really try to appreciate what I am doing in each moment.

2. Floss more often.  Maybe this is TMI, but I am so bad at flossing as often as I need to.  I know…disgusting, but I’m human.  It’s not like I never do it, but I sure don’t do it every night.  Here’s to making it a nightly priority.

3.  Get rid of a lot of my stuff.  Ah, I loathe useless and unused STUFF.  It’s everywhere.  My room looks great right now.  I’m in love with the calm, but bright color.  The cleanliness and the organization.  But, oh yeah- I have an entire room’s worth of STUFF at school that will be moving home with me in five months.  Time to get rid of most of it.

4.  Stop bringing my iPhone into bed with me.  This is a huge one and definitely something I need to work on.  I have an awful habit of “unwinding” with my phone- catching up on blogs and this and that.  I get in bed at 10:30 and before I realize, it’s 11;15.  No more.  I’ve actually already started on this- NO phone in bed.  Ever.  Period.  I even plugged it in far away from my bed.  This will not only help me get to bed earlier, but will also help me get up in the morning since I will need to get up and turn the alarm off…and then get back in bed 😉

5.  Be more mindful of my eating.  I know that I am generally fairly mindful of my eating habits, but I have gotten into a habit of having dessert very often and having little bites of this and that.  I would like to focus on more veggies, less sweets, more whole foods, less refined products.

6.  Work hard, play hard.  This is my last semester at college, EVER.  I know that doesn’t automatically mean that the fun just ends, but it ends in the sense of…I live on a collage campus with friends and bars and restaurants and minimal responsibility so close to me.  I need to remember to work hard to finish out my college career on a good note, but also play hard and make some memories.

7.  Keep track of my money and spending.  I think that I’m pretty good at saving my money, but I would like to keep better track of all the little purchases that add up to a lot of money that  seems to have just disappeared.

I think that just about wraps it up!  It’s been a good year, 2013, but I’m ready to say adios/ sayanara/ farewell.  HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO, 2014!