In A Year & A Year To Come

  It's really amazing how much can change over a year. If you had told me this time last year that over the span of a few months my best friends would be the most distant people from me, my then boyfriend would hate me, I'd have people almost constantly in and out of my life, and I'd lose my job and not find one until almost a year later.....I would have looked at you like you had sprouted another head.
  But it's true. Over the span of a year I've broken up with a boyfriend who I thought I'd be with forever (oh, young love :P), Lost my two best friends to their new friends...or...in some cases, "friends", gained many new friends (it hasn't all been bad), switched jobs, lost and gained weight, had two more romantic interests, had some other close people slip out of my life, but also have some new dear friends enter. I don't think we really realize just how much can change in a year. Or maybe it's just me, personally. I never expected this much change. I'm not the same person I was last year. I'm stronger, braver, more secure with myself, and I think I've actually grown up a lot. I realize that this nowhere near compares to what waits in my college years ahead, but I'm considering this the appetizer.

  This year, I've learned to stand up for myself. I've learned to let things, as well as people, go. I've learned that you can't change people who don't want to change. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. While I have lost people, I've gained so many fantastic ones. My only complaint is that a lot of them are so far away. When I say "gain" people, I don't mean just new people. There are people that have been around most of my life that I'm..."rediscovering", I guess. People who have been there, but I never really knew. I think these are the most fun people to befriend, because they will always surprise you. You know you've made judgements or assumptions over the years about these people, and then you get to laugh either to, or at yourself when you realize whether or not you were right. I really hope to get to know these people even more with the new year.

  Speaking of the rapidly approaching new year, aren't there resolutions to be made? Obviously everyone makes these resolutions, but never really stick to them. Well, this year is going to be different! Progress trackers usually help a lot with these kinds of things. So here are my new years resolutions:
1. Get back down to a healthy weight (already working on this one)
2. Be more active (no more long days on the internet!)
3. (this one might just be until the next school year) Save, save, save!! (college ain't cheap)
4. Develop a strong backbone (no more door mats!)
5. Blog more often :P
6. Become stronger religiously (I've been a lazy Christian....time to fix that)
7. Put more effort into grades (I'm also a lazy student...oops)

  I'll find some way to keep track of how I'm doing on these 7 things, some will be easier than others. And I hope you'll make a list that's meaningful to yourself too and find a way to stick to it. This isn't just picking at what's wrong with ourselves. It's improving ourselves in a way that makes US happy. And with that, I bid you good night.