I CANNOT BELIEVE IT'S 2012

Happy New Year! I know I'm a few days late, but I figure better late than never. I seriously cannot believe it's 2012. it makes me feel old, kinda like when 2000 came around and everyone was like, 'WE'RE STILL ALIVE!'. but seriously. it's weird.
So new year= new year's resolutions. I've always been dedicated to these, but for some reason, i didn't write them last year and i have no idea why. so this year (albeit a few days late) i'm writing my resolutions RIGHT NOW. When I was younger, I used to write out 20 million things i wanted to work on throughout the year, but it was incredibly discouraging and unrealistic. so now, i'm going to write out just a few things that i really want to become better about this year so i have a better shot at it.

1- be more dedicated to Church.
what this means: I want to go the temple each week, I want to be the best I can at my calling (get ready Nursery, it's gonna be good), I want to get to know more people in my ward and go to at least 1 ward activity each month, and I want to pay my tithing on a more regular basis.

2- be a better wife, daughter, sister, cousin, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.
what this means: I want to be better about keeping in touch with family, I want to tell family members regularly how much I love them and appreciate all that they do for me, and I want to make more time for family things.

3- be fit and healthy.
what this means: I want to exercise 2-4 times a week, I want to eat healthy, I want to stop drinking soda (except for on Fridays, Casey and I designated Friday as Soda Day... aka Dr. Pepper Day), I want to cook more and go out less, and I want to be happy with the body God gave me.

4- be a good student.
what this means: I want to do the best that I can in all my classes, I want to stop procrastinating papers/assignments (part of the reason finals week sucks so bad is because i put papers off), and I want to maintain a high GPA so i can keep my scholarship.

5- be a better friend.
what this means: I want to be better about seeing friends and keeping in touch, I want to hang out with friends more, I want to talk to friends on a regular basis so I know what's up in their lives, and I want to just be a better friend all around.


and that's where I'll stop. I've been thinking a lot about these goals and let's be honest, most of them came from things that happened in 2011 that I didn't like, things that I would go back and change had I been more aware that they were happening, or just things that I knew I needed to be better about but failed. But that's the point of this tradition- to be better and to live life as the best you.

I feel good :)



ps- this isn't entirely related, but I'm saying it anyways: THE WORLD IS NOT GOING TO END THIS YEAR. It bugs me to know end when people say that the Maya believe the world is going to end BECAUSE THEY DON'T.
How do I know this? remember that Maya art history class I took? As much as I cursed that class while taking it, it actually was one of my favourite classes and one that I've learned the most from. I admire and respect the professor who taught that class immensely because he was one of those professors who straight-up lived what he taught. He's spent many years down in Central America, translated the Popol Vuh (religious text of the Maya), participated in sacred religious ceremonies, speaks several dialects of Quiche, and prior to all of his studies, he was a dentist and spent his summer in Central and South America doing humanitarian work. The guy is amazing.
ANYWAYS, returning to my point, I learned in this class that the Maya don't believe the world is going to end; instead, they believe that it will be rebirthed. The Maya calendar system uses what is called a Long Count System, or the Tzolkin, and it's difficult to explain, but the point is that towards the end of this year, the calendar resets itself, starting at 13.0.0.0.0. The 13 represents a baktun, which is how many times the calendar has cycled since it was started in the 5th century BC, and the 0's represent the vigesimal system that counts the calendar days.

SO in conclusion, the world is not ending. it's rebirthing/recycling. pet peeve released.