New.

There's something so refreshing about a new year. So much opportunity, promise, and hope. My friend Cate and I always say we are excited about a new chapter, rather than a fresh start. There won't be as many huge changes in my life this year as there were last year, but I think this year is going to be a good one. The travel bug bit me so hard last week; currently trying to plan so many trips (with all the money I don't have). Nonetheless, I came up with some goals I want to try to accomplish this year.

For the past few years, I've nominated a word for the year. This year, I chose grace. Whenever I used to think of grace, I always would say it's being patient or calm with someone when I'm frustrated with them, see a graceful dancer, etc. But after reading Emily Ley's Grace, Not Perfection , I realized that grace needs to be extended to ourselves as well. We shouldn't be so hard on ourselves. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, God's grace is sufficient for us. His power is made perfect in our weakness!!! So let's let go of trying to achieve perfection and an image, and let God's grace shine through us.

My goals for the year:

Heart

1. Contentment. Focus more on using what I have instead of buying more.

• Do the 30 day contentment challenge. I read about this in a book the other day, but a woman started the challenge by not buying anything other than extreme necessities for 90 days. No shopping, no Amazon, nothing. Just basic food and hygiene products. I'm not sure to what extreme I'm going to do, it might just be no online shopping since I don't have a lot of time for shopping at school.

2. Journal more. I can't remember the last time I wrote through an entire notebook. One of my mentors mentioned to me that journaling through college was one of the most comforting and therapeutic things she did. I also ordered a gratitude journal. If you want a post on that, let me know!

3. Let my inner creative come through. As I wrote a few posts ago, I am not good with any kind of painting/crafting. But, I really want to try this year. Rather than watch Netflix in my free time, I could maybe paint a canvas for my little or watercolor.

4. Speaking of reading, I want to try to read one book a month. Stay tuned for an exciting project I hope to reveal soon!

5. Nurture friendships/embrace conversation. I didn't believe people in high school when they told me this, but you meet more people in college then you'll ever meet in your life. Small talk/first conversations reallllllly give me anxiety. I'm just really not a fan. #introvertprobs One of my goals for last year was to embrace conversation, but I want to continue it into this year. On the friendship level, I want to try to nurture all the new friendships I made last semester. It was so crazy and hectic most of the time that I didn't get actual hang out time outside of our dorm room very much. And who doesn't love coffee/ice cream with a friend??

Health

1. Find balance. At first I was going to make this the cliche "Be Healthy or Go on a Diet", but I was watching a video the other day that shared if your goal is to lose x amount of weight or become this certain size, you'll just regain all that weight after you go off your diet (most of the time). So, I'm going to try to find balance in my diet/exercise routine. I'm not going to tell myself I'm going to four times a week, because then I'll stress myself out trying to go to the gym all the time.

• One soda a week. This is one change in my diet that I am going to hardcore stick to. I almost gave up soda completely, but my body craves it. It's kinda sad. So, I'm only going to have one a week.
• Build up my strength. I also want to try to incorporate more strength workouts into my week. Last semester I would mainly focus on cardio and then be too tired to do strength, but I'm going to try to do weights/tabata at least one day a week. **I've heard that writing your workouts in your planner helps you stick to them!!

2. Go to bed with a clean desk. Living in a dorm doesn't leave me with a ton of space for things to go, but I am going to try to spend 5 minutes at night cleaning my desk.

3. Become a runner. If any of my friends are reading this, they're all probably laughing. I really hate running. Like a lot. But I have dreams of being this super fit twenty-something with her lulu leggings running 6 miles. Maybe one day. My roommate and I are going to try to run at a local park at least once a week. Update to come on that one.

Do you have any new goals??