Thanks to Max Lucado and his book It's Not About Me, I've learned some pretty awesome stuff over the past few days:

God is good! And you want to know something amazingly refreshing? His goodness, faithfulness, love, grace, holiness...has NOTHING to do with me. Not that I'm not benefited and blessed by all of those things, that's not what I mean to say at all. But the character of God does not depend on me, nor does it revolve around me. I know we all trick ourselves into believing that we're really not selfish individuals, that we have come to the realization that life isn't just about us but it's about helping others. But my goodness...when you are able to come to a place where you understand that absolutely nothing about you or your circumstances have any significance other than to reflect God's glory, it will be life-changing. Because here's the thing: living out our one and only purpose of promoting God and His goodness is not a demotion from where we thought we should dwell. By demanding that all of our attention remain focused on Him, God is not promoting Himself simply for the sake of self-promotion but rather to drown us in Light, to show us His ways so that He can rescue us. And when we reflect Him, our hearts are tuned to His, and we are changed. Our words turn from complaints and worries to praise and adoration. His Word says that He inhabits the praises of His people. When our focus shifts from us to Him and we find ourselves blessing His name, we grow closer to the Father. Pretty cool, huh?

Useful Stuff

Just a couple of sites I've found that might just help me achieve some of these New Year's resolutions:

I've decided to try using the food diary again to make me more aware of what I'm putting into my mouth every day...

Heather introduced me to this extremely user-friendly website that helps you set up and track goals.

And finally, my newest adventure is this website stickK that allows you to set up commitment contracts with yourself (weight loss, procrastination, exercise, you name it) and then set up penalties if you do not progress toward that goal each week. For example, let's pretend your goal is to exercise more. You can create a contract with yourself saying that you must exercise 5 times a week or else you will have to donate money (you specify the amount) to a charity that you strongly oppose. There's some motivation for you. For those of you who may be tempted to give yourself a little extra padding and fluff the numbers on the day that you record your results, the website encourages you to invite someone to referee your commitment. You can set up your account so that a friend or family member must log in and verify that you did indeed meet the goal for the week. Pretty cool, huh?

One more thing...not sure how long this will last, but I found a link to a website that is having a holiday sale, offering year-long subscriptions to popular magazines for only $5. It's pretty sweet...I've subscribed to 2 of them already. You can click here to browse the selection.

Resolutions

I realize that this is probably a pointless exercise in which I'm setting myself up for failure (seriously, I've never known anyone to actually achieve any of their New Year's resolutions...we just set our goals impossibly high), but what can I say? I'm a sucker for lists, so here goes.

1) Create a budget and stick to it

2) Eat out (fast food included) no more than twice a week

3) Drastically reduce intake of carbonated drinks (goodbye diet coke...)

4) PLAN AHEAD--menus, finances, lesson plans, jobs, etc.

5) Exercise at least three times a week...walks? gym? yoga? something...ANYTHING.

6) Create hard-copy photo albums...too many pictures stored online where I don't see them as often.

7) Start the day off right. AKA: Jesus

8) Use time more efficiently

9) Consistently get more than 3 hours of sleep per night

10) Love more, laugh more, dance more, sing more, give more...you get the picture :)

It's a pretty hefty one, I'll admit. But it's a new year, and it's basically human nature to see today as a turning point...a chance to start fresh with new goals in mind.

Now here is where I will get slightly sappy. Taking a look back, 2009 held some extremely significant experiences and lessons. So here's another list...the highest (and sometimes scariest) moments that made this past year stand out from all the rest.

• Traveled to Paris.
• Spent the summer in Indiana with Heather and Doug.
• Worked as a nanny for the Wanchic family, which allowed me to go on tour with John Mellencamp and band, traveling quite a bit
• Had my first real teaching/classroom experience and realized just how near it is to my heart
• Purchased an awful car that the previous owners must have absolutely cursed before selling...now I know to buy from a dealer with a warranty!
• Spent a semester (with one more still ahead!) with 2 of the most amazing roommates and friends I could possibly ask for
• Realized just how much those friendships mean to me
• Attended another NCTE convention in Philadelphia
• Significantly expanded my book collection
• Met a famous YA author
• Finally hung pictures on the walls of my apartment
• Turned 21!

I guess I'll stop there, but I would say that's a pretty substantial list! I thank God for all of the experiences and growth that He has sent my way!