Happy New Year

Happy New Year's everyone (all three of you!)

So my New Year's celebration was really boring: I drank a bottle of Martinelli's and stayed up till two in the morning watching the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth (watching P&P and reading Jane Eyre has a strange effect on the way I think; instead of "that stinks", I think, "that is terribly inconvenient"; or when another driver bothers me, I think "insufferable!" or "hateful man!"). Not that that is a bad thing; I love that movie, I just didn't party or even watch any celebration on TV.

I think New Year's resolutions are old and washed-out ideas that never get done, but I have some goals anyway. They're not resolutions. They're goals. And they are:

1. Live a healthier lifestyle. My last visit to the doctor produced evidence of high cholesterol, and I wouldn't mind shedding a few extra pounds anyway, since I'd feel better, look better, like my clothes more, be happier in general, you get the drift. So my goal includes working up to eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day (not 5 each--5 total; right now I average 0-2 daily), drinking all 8 stupid recommended glasses of water a day (which will include carbonated water, Propel, and KoolAid mixes), and exercising for at least 30 minutes a day at least 5 days of the week. Usually that 30 minutes is on a treadmill or elliptical machine, since I'm lucky enough to have free subscription to the university gym, but I got a Balanceball set for Christmas so I'll give myself some leeway. The Balanceball workouts are only about 20 minutes, but toning is a lot harder than walking on a treadmill (run? me? are you serious?).

2. Come to know Christ. I feel like I don't know him very well. I know of him, I know most of the stories, but I don't feel like I could testify of him and his power right now. And I'm Christian, I ought to be able to do that much. So I'm reading the Gospels right now; I think I'll sign up for an LDS Institute Book of Mormon class this semester; I'd like to study on my own how Christ is the Master Teacher, since every calling in the Church requires a teacher and someday my children will need me as a teacher of Christ, and teaching is just an all-around good skill to have anyway; and I'll probably try to work my way through Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. I am convinced this will add greatly to my happiness.

3. Ain't this a blog about books and movies? I'm going to try to step away from the tried and true this year. Instead of wasting money on junk food from the Quickstop on campus, I want to invest in my personal entertainment and see more movies that are currently coming out, instead of watching the old ones that I know I like (A&E Pride and Prejudice, anyone?). The only problem is that someone has to go with me (my mother taught me never to go to the moviehouse alone), so if there's a movie you really want to see, let me know. I also would like to read more books that deserve to be read. Some of these will be classics like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; some of them I'd like to be contemporary, but I don't quite know how to decide what's worth my time. I'll have to figure out current bestseller lists, I guess. If you know of any books I should read, or if you have any ideas about how to find books I should read, please share them in the comments section below.

This post wasn't supposed to be so long. Oh well. Happy 2009!