Hello, 2017!!

Well.

I haven't blogged in a year and one day. In fact, at first it took several tries to access my blog to write anything, because logins and passwords.

I'm not going to do a whole recap of 2016. Instead, I'm going to being on a very Pollyanna-esque note and list the ten things that I am grateful for from 2016:

1. The health of my family
2. The beginning of a writing center at my school, something I have wanted to see for quite some time
3. A great vacation with my parents to Yellowstone for their 50th wedding anniversary
4. Everything Hamilton
5. LaLa Land (If you haven't seen it, DO. And if you see it and don't like it, we probably can't be friends. Just kidding. Maybe.)
6. A fun trip to Baton Rouge this summer -- just me and Amelia -- to surprise her best friend on her birthday
7. A pretty good group of students this school year
8. Wonderful times spent with friends who often feel like family
9. Our school system's value of fine arts
10. FINALLY finishing the Harry Potter book series (I thought Book 5, The Order of the Phoenix, was never going to end, but Books 6 and 7 made up for it. And the chapter "The Prince's Tale" in Book 7? Gah.)

Personally, 2016 was a pretty good year for us. In terms of politics and, oh my word, the loss of some celebrity icons, FAREWELL, 2016.

Now, onward to 2017. I would be remiss if I didn't include a few resolutions, right? Here we go...

1. Read 25 books for fun. (I set this goal for myself in 2016 and made it through 17 books. Not too shabby, but I could do better. I blame part of my "coming up short" on The Order of the Phoenix.)
2. Lose 20 pounds. (It wouldn't be a proper set of resolutions without one devoted to weight loss.)
3. Cook at home more -- dare I shoot for 4 nights a week? (If you think that's ridiculous...eating out or picking up food on the way home is a weakness of ours.)
4. Spend less time on my phone / social media. (I'm going to try to limit my social media "check-in" to one time a day. Morning? Evening? I just finished Lauren Graham's memoir, and her chapter called "Look Up" about our society's cell phone obsession has inspired me to, in fact, look up.)
5. Spend more time doing creative things, whether it be playing the piano again, writing more (maybe on this blog?), trying new recipes, scrapbooking...I want to spend more time doing those things.

Here we go...