In 2014, I Hereby Resolve To:

2014 resolutions

1. Keep My Need-To-Review Shelf In The Single Digits. Last year I got to the point where my books that need to have reviews written shelf went up to over 40. That was insane and way too much pressure and stress for me. And you know, I am not going to be that person who makes “time management” a goal because that’s way too vague. What this means is that I am going to be on top of writing my reviews NO MORE PROCRASTINATING.

2. Cull 100 Books From My Collection. Note: This is totally cheating, because I include ARCs. What’s different though is that I am going to be culling ARCs I haven’t read and have little interest in. I have always kept those books on my pile in the hope that someday I will want to read them. This usually never ever holds true, so it’s time to exit those books from the house and put them on my check out from the library someday-maybe list.

3. Cut Down To One Cup Of Coffee Per Day. I have actually been doing this since the day after Christmas (when I got my electric tea kettle). I am trying to switch out the three cups of coffee for one cup of coffee and one cup of tea. I feel like this will be good for me because it’ll lower my sugar intake — I like my coffee white LOL and I never add milk or sugar to tea, just hot water and the bag or the leaves.

4. Lose One Inch From My Upper Arms. Here’s where I get real and honest with you. One thing I have always, always been self conscious about is my arm fat and I know people are like psh girl shut up you aren’t fat. I KNOW THAT. Seriously, I do. But that being said, I still hate the way I look in pictures and how my arms aren’t slender and I want them to be. Also, I would like to have a stronger upper body. So, this means more of the blogilates arm videos.

5. Respond To Comments On My Reviews. Okay, so this is a resolution from last year, but I failed miserably at commenting in 2013. Like, I just stopped replying to comments in July and then stopped reading blogs via a reader in August and well became a very poor participant in the book blogging community. In my defense, I started a job with an internet filter and actual tasks to do during the day, so when I got home I would just be too wiped out to even look at the computer. I think my new routine will include replying to comments in the morning or after work.

6. Eat Breakfast At Least 4 Days A Week. I never ever eat breakfast. Usually I get into work and am all grouchy by lunch time. You guys, I usually am up 2 hours before I have to leave the house. What the hell am I doing in those 2 hours? NOT EATING BREAKFAST THAT IS WHAT. Usually, I am browsing facebook and twitter. I need to stop doing that and start eating some goddamn food or here is a novel though, eat some food AS I BROWSE. Whoa, multitasking.

7. Read The Books That I Am Excited About, Instead Of Delaying My Gratification. If you look through my 2013 books read, you will see that while I had a lot of five and four star reads, I also had a TON of three star reads. I also read a lot of books because their publication date was coming up. I ended up never getting to certain books that I was SOOOOO excited about and well, I am done with that. When an exciting book comes in the mail, I want to read that book within a few weeks rather than waiting until months after it’s publication date. Like, with Cress, I am going to read that book soon because I am so excited for it, instead of waiting until like March to read it.

8. Wake Up Every Day With An Empty SinkBasically this one means that Tony and I need to stop leaving our dishes in the sink for the next day. It is gross and annoying to have to maneuver around a full sink in order to get our morning coffees. Time to do some goddamn dishes, y’all.

9. Learn To Cook 12 New Recipes.  2013 was actually a pretty good year for cooking, I got a Crockpot and learned how to use it. I learned to make pulled pork and chili and chicken parmesan. In 2014, I want to add more to my diet than the staples of frozen pizza and spaghetti, thus it’s time to learn a new recipe per month.

10. Eat At Least One Serving Of Fruits Or Vegetables Per Day. I know so many of you are looking at me with disappointment right now. Honestly though, my diet looks like this: coffee, carbs, meat, and cheese. I just don’t eat fruits or vegetables like I should and well, I kind of wonder if I would feel healthier and more energetic if I actually made an effort to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet.

11. Obtain At Least 2,000 Likes For Good Books And Good Wine on Facebook. Well, our goal last year was 1,000 and we ended up gaining 502 likes (198 to get to 1000 and then 304 after that). I think that I need to make our Facebook page more interesting and share more dynamic things — like videos and pretty pictures and such. So, yeah, we just need an additional 696 likes. That’s doable for someone whose been at this for almost 5 years, right?

12. Speaking of being at this for over 4 years, I resolve to NOT forget my blogoversary. Last year, I did nothing to mark my 4 years of blogging. This year is going to be 5 years! OMG 5 years! I really need to make an effort to be less lazy and more proactive.

13. Earn At Least $1,000 from Good Books And Good Wine. I know a lot of you will think this is a gauche sort of goal — but let me reason with you. I look at this job as a part time job. I currently do not make enough money in my full time job. My job stresses me out enough as it is, I do not want to get a part time job doing something that I hate. So, I want to earn part time money from doing something that I love. You know, I like being transparent with you all and well, this is me at my most transparent. I have a goal to earn money from my blog so I don’t have to work part time at a gas station or a restaurant or doing child care (pretty much the ONLY options around here outside of the 9-5 timeframe that I currently work).

14. Read A Wider Variety Of Books. I think quite a few bloggers have this resolution. While I did read some non-fiction, some romance, and some adult books in 2013, the overwhelming majority was young adult. I am fine with young adult books, but I get burned out on them and I think that variety truly is the spice of life. I guess my goal is to read at least one non-YA book per month. Do you have any good recommendations for me?

15. Exercise For At Least 15 Minutes EVERY DAY Unless I Am Sick Or Out On Calls For Work All Day And Night. I feel like this is really doable, and I mean, while it sounds like an insignificant amount of time, I truly believe that it will make some difference, considering that most days I work out for zero minutes. I am thinking this will also be the year when I do all 30 Days In A Row of the 30 Day Shred. However, I am noting that sometimes I am on call and being on call means getting called out for the whole day and some of the night. Hence why I am giving myself an out.

16. Make Progress In My Go To Graduate School Long Term Goal. Last year my goal was to take the GRE and apply for grad school. I accomplished about 2/3 of this goal. I took the GRE and I completed the application most of the way. All I have left to do is get a letter of recommendation. When I go into work tomorrow, I am going to try to get there a little early and email my person to do the letter. I think it’s important to write down long term goals — and my long term goal is to be a Youth Services Librarian. I know how to program. I am current in books. I can handle crisis. I’ve worked with all sorts of socioeconomic classes. I need to learn about collection development and information access. This is something that I think I would be really, really good at and actually passionate about. Also, I want to leave the on-call life behind. Call me crazy, but I think it will be so much less stressful to not get called out at 2 am and 4 am anymore.

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April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Comments

  1. I’m terrible about delaying gratification and then, by the time I actually pick up the book, I’m not so excited about it anymore! A Catch-22, for sure. Love your resolutions — and they sound doable! I’ve been super-lazy with the blog this year, though I kept up pretty well with commenting. That’s one thing I did well. Keeping up with reviews? Hell no. I had over 40 at one point. Ridiculous. Expanding my reader base? Nope. Didn’t even try. Redesign? Eh, it worked for one year, it was fine for another. But I hope to be less lazy this year!

    Happy New Year and here’s to a great 2014 in reading, health and life!

    • Thanks Mary! I am glad to know I am not the only one who is awful about delaying the gratification. I have to say — OMG OMG OMG yessss to the not wanting to read by the time you get to it.

      I hope you are able to accomplish your goals as well. 🙂

  2. Great goals! I have a lot of similar goals health and reading wise. And I think you will make an awesome youth services librarian!

  3. Good luck with all your resolutions! I hope you get them done.

  4. Dying over here about your comment on completing all 30 days of 30 Day Shred. Back before my wedding (2 years ago) I picked up a copy and couldn’t make it past day three. I think the repetition was what killed it for me. I would recommend Insanity if you are looking for that kind of workout. Its more like 30/45 minutes, but it isn’t as hard to complete because it is a different workout each day of the week that rotates throughout the month.

    Lovely goals – I hope you are able to accomplish everything you want this year, bookish or not. 🙂

    • Haha yeah, I actually made it up to level 3 previously — but I never did the days all in a row. I am thinking that for me, personally, I would not mind the repetition and because it’s like 20 minutes long, I am going to try it during one of my busy months.

      I might have to give Insanity a chance! My sister’s roommates were into it for awhile, I think.

      Thanks so much! Happy New Year!

  5. This post is so inspiring to me. I’m never one to really write down yearly goals or resolutions. I might have a few ideas festering in my brain, but they never make it to paper – or a computer screen. Now I kind of want to write them down, and develop them a bit more. And maybe even post about them.

    Anyway, I’ll stop talking about me, now, and talk about your goals. First, I think these are great goals. I like how to are very specific. I find when I’m not specific, it’s too easy to let things go. For example, keeping your need-to-review bookshelf in the single digits instead of saying better time management.

    Also, heck yeah to making $1000 from Good Books and Good Wine. I’m sure you put so much time and effort into this blog, and it is like a second job. Whenever I’m not doing something blog related (or work related) I’m always thinking about how this will effect my blog.

    Oh, and you would make a wonderful librarian! Like you said, you’re already passionate and knowledgeable about YA and kid’s books. And collection development really isn’t difficult at all. It’s actually really fun. The only hard part about collection development is if you have limited funds. I don’t get to order materials anymore at my library, which makes me so sad, but it was never very difficult.

    Anyway, good luck on your goals!

    • Quinn, I used to never do resolutions or write down goals or anything, but with this whole blogging thing it has become a yearly tradition, and well, I seem to like sticking to the whole 16 goals, so if I accomplish a few of them, I feel good.

      Yay for specific things! It does help in accomplishing things.

      Yes, this blog is my side hustle, so it’s paramount to make money so I can pay my bills and not have to get a second job.

      Omg, how much would I love to just order stuff for a library. Well, I know it is a lot more than that. I am sure there are pain in the ass purchase orders and justifying your purchase and budgetary concerns, but it sounds no different than purchasing things for my current non-profit.

  6. Hehe, I read the image as your resolution list and then was confused when the text had different things *someone’s a little hungover still >.>*

    Ugh, I hear you on the arm fat thing. I gained 20 pounds suddenly in 2013 due to medication side effects and now have stretch marks on my arms and they are driving me nuts! I used to be a rock climber so I had awesome arms, and now they are all… gah. I’m with you on this goal!

    I am generally not a fruits and veggies fan, so I drink green smoothies daily (or try to, or will in 2014…) where I just blend up some spinach/lettuce and whatever fruit I want (blueberries right now!) and just drink it. I make a bargain with myself that if I drink my green smoothie, I can eat whatever I want afterward 😉

    Awesome goals, here’s to a great 2014 😀

    • LOL. That’s a hoot.

      Oh man, medications suck when they do that. I am a bit afraid of birth control because I don’t want to gain weight. Hmmm, what does that say about me that I’m afraid of weight gain.

      Anyways, we can totally whip our arms into shape — I heard that they are one of the easier body parts to spot target.

      I used to be into green smoothies, but I don’t know, cleaning the blender is a lot of work, hahahaha.

  7. Good luck with your goals! And oh, I hear you on the dishes one….I am vowing to try harder too. Or possibly just try harder to make the children help….or possibly FINALLY get a dishwasher this year.

    • Thanks, Charlotte!

      Yeah, dishes are so hard to tame. If we weren’t in an apartment complex, I think I would be all over the dishwasher thing. Alas, it’s the manual method for me.

  8. I really love your goals/resolutions! I have a more goal focused post going up next week, but we have a lot of the same types of things! I LOVE your idea of learning twelve recipes because I have cook more as one of my goals and I think that’s a fantastic way to learn something new and tasty. I tend to always cook the same things when I do it, and that gets boring fast. I’m also hoping to be better at commenting. I did really well up until like…September? And then I kind of fell of the radar and I hated that because I blog to socialize, not just to write something and send it off to empty space.

    • YES, I cook the same things too over and over and over, and while I like what I cook, like you said it gets old and you know, sometimes cooking is really fun. And it’s empowering to make something delicious and that other people like.

      Commenting is hard once you fall off the wagon and get out of the habit. I feel you on this whole empty space thing — it’s so true.

      Happy New Year!

  9. Very good goals for all aspects of life! I missed my 4 year blog anniversary last year too (my excuse is that it was a couple of weeks for my wedding). I need to go big for my 5 year one this September!

    Good luck with all of these!

  10. I love your resolutions. I’m a big fan of resolution/goal setting (most of the time I’m a big loser who uses the SMART method. Can I offer some completely unsolicited advice? Re: toning upper arms: this has been a goal of mine my entire life and after years of boxing, doing pushups, and lifting 2-5lb weights I am FINALLY starting to see results lifting heavy, like 10-15lb weights. I know lots of people think women should lift lighter and different things work for different people’s bodies, but if this isn’t something you’ve tried and you’re looking to change it up I highly recommend it.

    Re: breakfast. If I skipped breakfast I would crash my car/be fired from my job/have no friends because I get super hangry without food, but I’ve found that the easiest way to eat a well rounded breakfast for me is to prepare it in advance. I’m a big fan of overnight oats, I use this recipe, and also breakfast cookies.

    That’s my two cents. Good luck with everything in 2014! Especially grad school. I’m finishing up my grad school applications now so I know how crazy it is!

    • I like unsolicited advice. I haven’t really tried to lift heavy, in all honesty. I mean, I think that I am going to try some videos targeted at arms, because I essentially give it a go and then give up, because I am the worst at follow through. this time though, I will keep at it.

      Hmmmm, I should try those oats! They look delicious.

      Thanks so much!

  11. Love your list, I definitely relate! One of my goals this year is to cook more and learn new recipes- I got married a couple months ago and just moved to a new apt. so now I have all the tools and time, and no excuses! (Frozen pizza is so good though… and I’m eating spaghetti right now LOL).

    I also have a stack of books I was dyingggggg for, seriously so excited about that I haven’t gotten around to. I always get seduced by library books and then feel pressured to read them before their due date (and before I use up all my renewals). No more library til I read the books I have!

    As far as adult books, I LOVE A Discovery of Witches and its sequel Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. Desperately awaiting Book 3 this summer. The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig is really fun historical romance and I also love the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. My absolute favorites though are Kate Morton’s four books- all standalones chock full of gorgeous writing, family secrets, and dual timelines. They’re VERY well done. My favorite is The Forgotten Garden. And of course the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon if you haven’t read it- at least read the first book before the new tv series starts this summer! I can’t waaaait!! If you like thrillers at all, Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series makes for excellent beach reads- smart, fast paced thrillers with an Israeli spy/art restorer for the main character. Tense and fun.

    Happy New Year, good luck with your goals! (Sorry for the uber long comment!)

    • Hah, I am not married, but I am also in a new apartment with tools time and resources! I can’t resist frozen pizza, especially when I’ve had a very long day of work and the last thing I want to do is cook.

      Man, library books have that effect, I have to admit. However, you can always check them out again.

      OH MAN, I should read A Discover Of Witches because witches are cool. I’ve read the first Pink Carnation and really liked it. Same with Outlander. AND YES I’ve also read The Forgotten Garden, but not her other books.

      Thanks for all the book recs — they are definitely needed!

      Happy New Year to you as well 🙂

  12. This is a great list of goals! I know what you mean about skipping breakfast – I’m notorious for forgetting to eat food. It’s kind of a problem. I think you’d be a brilliant youth services librarian, and I really hope that you make more progress on your career goal this year. Looking forward to more of your fabulous content. You’re one of my favourite bloggers.

  13. I wish you the best of luck in your 2014 endeavors! And I am super excited that you want to attend graduate school to be a Youth Services Librarian! I am getting ready to graduate this spring with my MLIS and I KNOW I’ve made the right decision. You’d be a wonderful librarian, April. I can already see it now!

    Jayla