I have to remember to write the date correctly now. 
My New Year’s Eve wasn’t super exciting, but it was fun. Steven’s girlfriend came over, and then I had a couple of friends that came over as well, including Andrew. Steven’s girlfriend doesn’t come over often, so it was fun to hang out with her. We started the evening off by watching Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a movie I hadn’t seen before but really enjoyed. And then we played our annual tradition of The Farming Game, despite the naysayers. For the first time in about five years… I lost. 
To win, you have to accumulate $250,000 in assets and Steven ended up winning, though by the end we were all donating him money for him to win, haha. It’s a great game.
Andrew and my friend, Emily, and I headed out to a chain diner for a late night snack at about 2:00 AM and got some shakes and fries. It was really fun because I haven’t seen Emily in such a long time, since I’m off at college and she got a part-time job, so she works a lot. It’s the first time I’ve seen her all break, actually. But I hope to grab a bite with her again before we leave to go back.
It had snowed quite a bit over night, so the cars were all covered with snow and ice. Andrew’s such a gentlemen; he scraped Emily’s car for her. <3
Looking back at last year, I had three goals: to read more, to write more, and to remember what was important. I did read more books in 2012 than 2011, thought I didn’t meet my specific goal of reading all of the books that I own, but let’s face it; I didn’t even think that goal was really plausible because I just keep buying books. I didn’t write as many posts in 2012 as in 2011, but I did do better in NaNoWriMo this year, so I think that is about the same. As for remembering what’s important, it’s impossible to forget all the friends and family that I love. <3
This year, I can only really think of three goals:
- Read 52 books this year. I’ve not done it before, but I know I can do it if I make time. I love reading, and by making this goal, hopefully I’ll just force myself to make room for it!
- Have a 3.5+ GPA this semester. I got all my grades in for last semester and I got all A’s and an A-! Woot! I was pretty proud, considering my French class was hell; I’m not really sure how I pulled that off. My overall GPA was a 3.9, so I think that having a 3.5+ is very plausible as long as I just keep focused and work hard.
- To blog more. It’s not a big issue if I fail this one, I would just like to keep my blog a more active. I tend to disappear and then sporadically update with five new posts in one week. So I suppose consistency would fall in there, too. I was pretty all over in 2012, so let’s hope this year’s a bit better with 2013. (Though, I’m still trying to get my time management all figured out with college, so we’ll see how this goes, haha.)
If you haven’t noticed already, I’ve given the site a bit of a revamp, to celebrate bringing in the new year. I’ve cleaned the site up a bit by deleting useless pages and I have a new simple and clean theme which I really love. I really liked my last one, but I was getting tired of it and needed a change of scenery. I just like the crisp, organized, cleanliness of it. Amidst my life of chaos, haha.
Aaaand I’ve finally gotten around to doing something I’ve been meaning to do forever: I’ve added the first and second journal of my trip to France and Italy!! You can find them under the visitor section (or I will be linking to them). My travelblog that I had intended to create just fell through; I just didn’t have enough time for it and for this site. So I’m going to be uploading them bit by bit, and hopefully will have them all up by this summer! I’ve added a bit of an introduction for those that aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about, or for those who’ve forgotten. I already shared Journal #1 with you all summer of 2011, but that was quite a bit ago, so I’ve re-uploaded that one. I added Journal #2, which is completely new and exciting! 
I hope you all enjoy them and I’ve love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to leave comments on them! I think that in the future I’ll do some kind of journal type things with my trip to Greece/Turkey/London, or maybe favorite memories. I haven’t decided yet; no one may even read these journals, so we’ll just see when the time comes!
I feel great after getting all of this done today. Tomorrow I work in the morning with my mom, and then I’m hoping to catch up on some blogs and catch some tweaks on here that I may have missed. And lots of reading. :love: I’ve finished the book Graceling by Kristin Cashore (which I would highly recommend) and I’ve started the sequel, Bitterblue, so I’m excited to read and finish that tomorrow!
Happy new year. It sounds like you really had a great one already!
I like your goals, I think you’re able to finish them this year. 
I like the idea that you’re sharing your stories from your trip. You should do it more often! ^_^
Thanks for that; it was encouraging to hear. I wasn’t so sure that people would be all that interested, but at least I’ll have one reader!
Wow, to read 52 books? That’s alot. Where do you find the time (and money to buy all those books)? Even tho New Years Eve wasn’t super exciting, you had fun and that’s important
Well, I think it’s important.
I’ve been to your blog a few times but I can’t remember the old one. But I love the new one
It’s simple and clear.
It is a lot, which is the point, haha. I don’t always buy my books; I borrow some from family members and friends, or long series I’ll get from the library. And when I do buy my books (which is kind of more often than I need to…) they’re usually on sale. Plus, I own a lot of books that I just haven’t read yet and all the books I read aren’t always new; I reread books too and include them in my count of 52 books. I think that one I get into the habit of reading everyday, it won’t be hard to do.
I love the simpleness of the layout and the blue. Lol The blue!
Yeah, I need to read more myself because I too, have a love/passion for reading. I just didn’t read as much as I wanted to. Anyhow good job on your grades!
On New Year’s I went ice skating with a bunch of friends, it was fun. Took lots of photos.
I hope I get the chance to travel abroad one day.
I think I remember that 2012 post of yours.
I think a 3.5 GPA is definitely in your reach. You’ll probably soar pass that mark.
You saw the Eiffel tower and in the dark too? Super jealous right now.
Happy New Year Becca.
52 books in one year?
Wow! That’s too much, I guess. 
Good luck in reaching 3.5 (or higher) as your GPA! I know you can do it. Haha. 
Have a good year ahead. 
I’m glad for you. It sounds like you had a blast with friends this New Year. I spent New Year all alone. *sobs*
Good luck with your goals ~ I actually love books too..and it pains me to say that I only read 5 books last 2012 (I wonder if fanfiction counts? LOL) =n= I was thinking of doing some sort of book challenge this year too :3
I wish I could visit France and Italy one day too ~
I think FanFiction should count!
It’s still reading, just not by published authors. I’d totally suggest a book challenge, because even if you don’t reach it, you’re still winning because you’re reading more. Last year I made a goal to read more, and then mentally I shot for a book a week. I failed, but I still read 37 (or 38?) books, which was so much more reading than before.
I’ve never heard of The Farming Game before, but it sounds like a lot of fun! :p I love board games, but I don’t really play them all that much. I also love Monopoly, but since it takes too long, I don’t really get to play it. …ever. .-.
52 books! That’s like one book a week!
Good luck on your other goals. :3 I really like the new look of Jovers.
You finish books fast. o.o I hope working with your mom goes well.
If you love Monopoly, you’d love the Farming Game since they’re pretty similar!
Happy New Year! Congratulations on that GPA! That shows a TON of hard work and dedication…not many people can pull that off.
What were your favorite books that you read in 2012? I am such a lazy reader that all I read during the school year are textbooks. I hope that I read more in 2013 as well. Congratulations on your GPA! I want to clean up my site a bit more as well since one of my goals of 2013 is to code a wordpress layout by hand.
Oh man, haha. I read a lot of repeat series last year, so there was really only one stand out book to me. I loved The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which I think everyone on this planet should read. I also loved The Hunger Games, which I’ve read before, and Scott Westerfeld’s new series, Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath.
Happy new year! And congrats on your GPA! I wish my GPA was that high! I think I might take French my sophomore year. Hopefully I’ll get a good professor.
I’m sorry that you ended up with a bad professor. There are probably better French professors, you just have to find out. Do you know what you want to be? You mentioned psychology and business but there are so many different things you could be under those majors.
Good luck on reading 52 books a year! I managed only to read 18 books last year…I thought I could read more. Most of them were classics I had to read for school though.
I’m not really sure what I want to do with my business degree – there’s a lot of optioins, I just haven’t picked one yet. I just want to sit in a comfy chair and get paid a lot, really LOL. But in all seriousness, it’s just something I’m going to have to figure out hopefully by taking different classes and finding something specific I like.
You’ll probably love the French class! All of the people that I knew that was in a foreign language course loved it. So it was just that I had a crappy professor (or maybe it’s ME, haha).