One thing that I love, love, love about the new year is how fresh it feels. It’s a clean slate. A redo. After a year like 2016, we need a fresh start.

While I’m not a fan of the tired cliché “new year, new me” – I get it.  I understand wanting to make resolutions to improve yourself in some way.

I’m not making any resolutions this year. Instead, I am making promises to myself. I think resolutions are associated with fixing something, or solving an issue. While 2016 wasn’t the best year, I’m saying goodbye to this year knowing that all things that needed “fixing” indeed were.

So the following are promises that I’m making to myself to make my 2017 amazing.

1. I promise to spend time each day reading the Bible. I’m excited about spending time in God’s word.  I made a resolution last year to read the Bible in a year, and I failed miserably.  However, I did spend more time in the Bible last year and it gave me a sense of love and peace that I know I need. By promising myself to spend time each day in His word is a phenomenal feeling. *Also, I’m not waiting til January 1st to do this one!
2. I promise to spend more time with my friends this year.  I am beyond thankful for the amazing friends that I have in my life.  I just really want to invest more time in them this year.  I want our time together to be intentional and I want them to know how much I love them.  So, this year, I want to spend more time with them, hearing their stories, enjoying their successes and being there for them.
3. I plan to cook more adventurous food this year. I spend way.too.much money on going out to eat and it’s always the same thing.  This year, I want to explore my cookbooks and be more adventurous! Tonight, for example, I made this awesome pear and prosciutto crostini! It was easy, delicious, and I can’t wait to keep it up.  My awesome parents gave me a fancy pants stand mixer for my Masters graduation gift and I want to put this bad boy to use.
4. As I was thinking about being more adventurous with my mad cooking skillz  (yes, skillz), it made me realize that I just want to choose adventure this year.  I want to go hiking. I want to do a random, spontaneous road trip. I just wanna keep livin, Matthew McConaughey style.

 

So…

So long 2016! You were ok, but I’m looking at you, 2017! We’re going to have fun!