Past New Year’s Resolutions

I do not always make New Year’s resolutions, but I have tried in the past several years and have found that they help keep me on track.

Sometime early this century, I resolved to leave the country at least once a year. In 2000 I was living in Spain, and I traveled to the Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal and Japan. I started 2001 in Japan and also went to Venezuela and Canada. In 2002 I failed to go anywhere. I believe that is the reason that my 2003 resolution was to never let that happen again. In 2003 I went to Costa Rica for a month, to Nicaragua and Panama, and to Venezuela twice. I started 2004 in Venezuela. In 2005 I went to Germany, Austria and Italy. In 2006 I did not leave the country and was thoroughly disappointed in myself. In 2007 I returned to Venezuela in January and again in August, as well as a short trip to Colombia. In 2008, I went to Spain and the Bahamas. I started out 2009 in the Bahamas and went back again in December. I also traveled to Jamaica for my sister’s wedding and to South Korea to visit a former student in 2009. 2010 also began in the Bahamas and took me to Aruba and Venezuela as well. In 2011 I went to Senegal and Spain. In 2012 I traveled to Ireland and Venezuela. The trip for 2013 was to Costa Rica. Despite a few lapses, I believe that I have lived up to that resolution!

 The next resolution that I can remember making was in 2010, I determined to read a book a week. I might not have done exactly that, as some books took me longer than a week and others I read faster. I did finish over 52 books that year, including the entire Harry Potter series.

In 2011, I realized that I had been to 38 of the 50 states that make up the U.S. of A. I decided that I needed to get to the last 12. I did not make it to all of those states that year, but Douglas and I did take a trip through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and back to New York. I had already visited and/or lived in many of those states, but I was able to check off Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. My rule is that I either have to spend the night, eat a meal, participate in an activity and/or visit a significant attraction in order to be able to count a state. I have never counted a state as visited if I only drove through it. Since then, I have been to New Hampshire in 2012 and Montana in 2013, making a total of 44 states. I have yet to visit Maine, Utah, Washington State, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. Here is a map of all the roads I have traveled in the United States.

In 2012 I made a promise to myself to start writing regularly, and this blog was the result. I am proud to have been blogging faithfully for a year and a half now.

In 2013 I made a long list of projects that I wanted to accomplish at the Cape of Dreams. I knew at the time that we would never be able to finish in one year, but we did cross a number of items off the list. You can read my post about the Top Ten finished projects of 2013.

So, what will be my goal for 2014? I am thinking of doing another Top Ten list, although this one will have some personal goals as well as house projects. I have not yet finalized the list but check back to see what it will be. Here is a hint of the next big project. Can you guess what it is?

Happy Homemaking!