{TTT} 2016 Resolutions

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s list is the Top Ten 2016 Resolutions. About half of these are bookish/bloggy, I’ll list them first. The rest are more personal.

1. Write More Discussion Posts

I seriously want to work on posting more than just reviews and memes. If you take a look at my archives, that is basically all that I post. I want to change that in 2016.

2. Read More Classics

I have a multitude of classics sitting on bookshelf. Seriously, they take up over a whole shelf. I really need to get to them. Quite a few will be rereads but I don’t care. It have been so long since I read the classics.

3. Read Books I Have Purchased

With the Christmas money from my grandmother, I purchased a four month gift subscription to Uppercase Box. Other than those books, I won’t be buying any more books until after my birthday in April. I really need to read the books that are on my shelf and have been sitting there for some time. Putting myself under a book buying ban may not sound like the nicest way to start the new year, but it is happening.

4. Stop Putting Off Writing Reviews

I want to work on writing my reviews shortly after finishing a book instead of putting them off until I feel like writing reviews. To be honest, I don’t often feel like writing reviews. I write reviews because I remember the books I read better when I do. I write reviews because I hope they can help just one other person find their next read. I write reviews because I like to get all my thoughts about a book on paper… even if it isn’t on paper paper and I can’t really talk about the endings. I might not like that I have to take the time to write a review instead of jumping right into the next book but I do want to write my reviews at least closer to when I read the book rather than a week later. I am better at this now that I used to be, I just want to be even better.

5. Get Better at Twitter (and Instagram and Pinterest)

Basically, I don’t know what I’m doing half of the time of social media. My Instagram tends to be filled with landscapes and pictures of my cat. Well, recently it has also included my sister’s two cats which I was kitty-sitting from Christmas to New Year’s. My Twitter is usually very random. Every now and again I actually remember to schedule tweets with my posts. I also, recently, have remembered to put updates for some of the important feast days in the Catholic Church. My Pinterest is just pathetic. So, yeah, I need to improve this.

6. Write More Letters

I enjoy writing letters, physical letters that are sent via the post office. I have been sadly lacking in sending letters this past year and I hope to do better in 2016. Since I live near exactly zero of my friends, I like to write letters to stay in touch. We deal so much in the virtual, online realm that I love being able to send touches of reality to each of them.

7. Travel More

It makes me laugh when I am reading travel blogs about how you should go somewhere every weekend, like you can’t have seen everything there is to see in a 100km radius of your house. Let me tell you something about Montana. Yes, I have seen everything and done everything in a 100km radius that I can. In fact, the nearest city of any size that has something more than a grocery store is 200km away (120 miles for those of us in the USA). I regularly, at least once a month, make a day trip to the city. This, however, does not count as traveling when you live in Montana. This is merely life. I want to travel farther than that. I do have a jump on that for 2016 since I will be going to the East Coast for my friend’s wedding in January. Possibly to the West Coast for another friend’s wedding in June. Then in July/August, I will be going to Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany for WYD (World Youth Day) 2016. I am kinda sorta really excited.

8. Stop Being So Afraid of Food

This is going to be a very, very hard one for me. I am terrified of food sometimes all the time. I have celiac disease as well as other food allergies. A little bit of the wrong thing can make me super, super sick. I am so afraid of getting sick via cross-contamination that I very rarely eat anywhere that isn’t my house. It isn’t just the food I can put into my mouth but every single thing it could have touched that freaks me out. For me, a single gluten-containing crumb can make me very, very sick. I am super scared about food in Europe this summer because I don’t know what I’m going to be able to eat. It is terrifying but I don’t want it to be so scary. I need to find a way to stop being afraid of food. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

9. Figure Out More Than Salads for Lunch

On the food note, I am getting VERY sick of taking salads to lunch every single day. You would think I could come up with something a little more creative than that but, alas, it has been salads almost every single day this year (and the year before and so on). My mom would be all “Peanut butter sandwiches are easy!” to which I would just go, “Bread.” And then I am back to the I-have-no-idea club. So, yes, I need to make my lunches more exciting.

10. Devote More Time to Prayer

Some people would probably tell you that I pray enough as it is. However, I want to set a little more time aside for prayer since my faith is so important in my life. If you want to know more, seriously, just ask. Maybe someday I’ll do a post about my faith and prayer life.

These are my Top Ten 2016 Resolutions. Feel free to share yours as well and check out the rest of them at The Broke and the Bookish.