Resolutions

Revisiting last year's resolutions:

Improve my German – check! It took a while but I took a course, learned a lot of grammar I was never taught, and became much more comfortable in my second language. After a few months, speaking came much more naturally and I didn't have to think of ways to rephrase what I wanted to say. I really noticed it when I visited Heidelberg and old friends and had no problem having conversations with them.

I also rode my bike to school quite a bit – or at least the first 10km. That way I still had 10 min on the tram to do my homework from the night before...

I ran the Hannover half marathon in less than 2 hours, which was my goal. I started running with a couple people from the English speaking group in Hannover, and we had a pretty good group going every week. I even convinced a couple of them to run it too! I considered them all friends by the end.

Eat less sugar: well, the kids were not eating sugar for 2 months, which helped a lot (them and me). But then we went right back. The summer was filled with lots of birthdays and desserts and ice cream. But YOLO, right?

2014 Resolutions:

Just like the last couple of years, I'm going into 2014 uncertain of what the year will hold. Which makes it hard to make resolutions!

I am going to do a different challenge every month, depending on where I am. I'm starting out by committing to only eat real food for 10 days. This is the definition I'm using

I am going to stick to a grocery budget of $20-$25 a week. I plan on documenting that on this blog to help me keep track of what I'm spending and eating.

Save some money every month. I had a certain amount in mind, but recent unexpected expenses have thrown me off a bit. I'm going to do what I can, because I'm hoping to take a trip to Southeast Asia in the not so distant future.

Make my emotional health a priority. This could change over the course of the year, so part of this is decided what exactly it is I need and making sure it happens. I've started journaling again, and I would like to keep it up as close to every day as I can.

Here's to 2014, the year I enter my mid twenties (yikes)!