Merry Mondays is a monthly meme hosted here @ Mom With a Reading Problem on the first Monday of the month to celebrate the holiday season year round. Each month a different topic centered around the holidays will be discussed.
Happy New Year! I know it’s been a week already but thought I’d say it again 😉 2016 had some real highs and some lows, but for the most part it was a good year. We had a lot of transition in our family life. My husband finished residency and accepted a job in our home town. We went from struggling to pay our bills and buy groceries each month to having an abundance. I feel so blessed in our life. We’ve started fertility treatments again in the hopes that our family will grow and we’ve also began looking into adoption. We are buying a house! 2017 is going to be a good year…I feel it 😀
For our first Merry Mondays of the year, the topic is “It’s a new year! What are your new year’s resolutions for 2017?” The last two years I’ve made a large list of resolutions and shared them here on the blog for accountability. I figured I keep with the tradition this year. I’ll split them up into three categories: bookish, blogging, and personal.
Bookish Resolutions
1. Read 100 new-to-me books in 2017.
According to Goodreads, I read 157 books (not including rereads) in 2016. So 100 new-to-me books is a reasonable goal 😉 It’s less than last year’s goal of 125 simply because there are a few books that I plan to reread this year and I want to have time to enjoy those.
2. Finish The Mortal Instruments series and begin Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
I FINALLY started TMI last year and made it through the first three books. I cannot believe I waited so long to read them. I love the series. I plan to make time to finish it this year. My next series that’s been on my TBR is Percy Jackson. I’ve heard amazing things and can’t believe I’ve never read them. I picked up a paperback box set on clearance a few months back so I’m all set…now to just find the time.
3. Make half my reads books from my TBR pile….aka my one-click buys.
I struggle with this goal every year. I usually wind up reading new books and my TBR pile just continues to grow. I’m hoping to not do that this year. It’s one of the reasons I’ve joined so many different challenges.
4. End 2017 with no carry-over ARCs
Those of you that have been with me a while know that 2015 was a bad year. It’s taken me most of 2016 to catch up and I’m still sadly behind with books from 2014 still to read. I’m going to focus my attention on this massive pile of ARCs and hopefully end 2017 with no ARCs left on the pile (unless it’s a book being released in 2018 that is).
Bloggish Resolutions
5. Post every day.
In 2016, I did pretty good with this goal. I averaged 6-8 posts a week….until we moved. Then I was lucky to get 5 posts up. I’m working on getting back on top of the blog this year and my first goal is to post daily.
6. Blog AHEAD.
This goal goes hand in hand with the previous goal. If I want to post every day, blogging ahead will help me do so. Right now I’m roughly a week ahead. My goal is get a month ahead and stay that way. I’d also like to write up some reviews/discussion posts and have in reserve for when life happens and I need something to post fast.
7. Participate in Reading Challenges and be more social in general 😉
If you missed my sign-ups for reading challenges this year, you can click here: Part 1 & Part 2. I’m participating in 8 challenges this year. I decided to continue with the 4 from 2016 and added 4 new ones. 2016 was so busy that I missed commenting and hanging out with other bloggers and all of you on the blog and on my social sites. My goal this year is to get back to meeting and socializing with all of you lovelies.
Personal Resolutions
8. Be happy.
2015 was a terrible year. We lost are angel baby and then my grandfather. 2016 wasn’t much better. We had so many changes in our lives and things that were out of our control. It’s been hard to stay positive and be happy with the life we’ve been blessed with. My goal this year is to focus on the positive blessings God has given me and simply be happy in the moment.
9. Stress Less.
With everything that has happened over the last two years, I’ve been stressed. I’ve stressed over things that are out of my control and stressed over things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. My goal for 2017 is to focus less on the negative and more on the positive. If I can’t fix it, then I’m going to just go with the flow instead of stress over it….at least that’s the plan 😉
10. Find some me-time.
As a stay-at-home mom you’d think I have lots of free time, but really I don’t. If I’m at home while little man is at school, there is always something that needs to be done. And then after school keeps us busy with homework, doctor’s appointments, projects. Before I know it, it’s bedtime and I start the day all over again. Half the time I can’t even remember what kept me so busy. In 2017, I’m going to set aside time each day just for me and doing what I love: reading and crafting. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a new adventure in 2017 😀
Your Turn! What are your 2017 resolutions? Share below
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Ooops. I did mine last week! Oh, well, it’s done. 🙂
A job in the hometown? That sounds so nice! Some folks you know to help out if need be. So many good things coming your way in 2017. What a great year for your family! Perhaps another little good thing will come before the year is out as well.
The one-buy clicks are hard! I only ever take the free ones. (I’m “that” person that doesn’t believe in paying close to the same price as the physical book. #confession)
I want to blog ahead so bad…I need a change in jobs for that to happen. There’s only so much time in the day.
One of my goals is to stress and worry less, too. I am exactly like you – I stress over a lot of things I can’t control, and it’s hard to get past and over that. I think it’s worse because I try to be a problem solver, but when I don’t have the piece I need to fix the problem, that’s when I spiral.
I hope you have a fabulous 2017!