Resolve.

I’m sitting in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at 5:30 AM. Starbucks isn’t open yet and I can’t find an internet hotspot anywhere. I've just gotten some of the worst sleep of my life, tossing and turning through a red eye flight. And strangely, for the first time in a very long while.. I can actually focus on some of the thoughts that have been bubbling in my head lately.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

I turn 25 next month. I don't have a steady job. I'm beyond single (and a half dozen of my best friends are getting married this year). My family and friends are strewn across the country. A quarter-life crisis seems like a completely reasonable turn for my life to take, right?

The truth is, I miss JMU. I miss being on the same page with all of my friends and not feeling inadequate because I didn't move to the big city they moved to or because I didn't go the traditional route with my career or because I haven't met "the one." I miss constant socialization. Salsa nights. Dhall dinners. Football games. And honestly, I miss studying. The library. Having books to read (even if I never finished most of them) and, better yet, papers to write (because I'm a dork like that).

But I'm not in college anymore. So I need to figure out how to rejoice in the life I have now.

So, since the new year is almost upon us, I've written up a list of resolutions. I have discovered this year that for me to reach my creative potential, I need structure, goals, and planning. I hope this is a start.

-Start every day by reading a psalm aloud.

-Set some "office hours" every week in which I get out of my bed, walk across the street to my neighborhood coffee shop, and write lesson plans, answer e-mails, read, and journal.

-Hit snooze 5 times instead of 10 (baby steps.)

-Read one new book a month. I will stop checking out multiple books at once, starting them all and never finishing them. I will read one book at a time. And when I am done, I'll write about it.

-Discover more music. Write about it.

-See more movies. Write about them.

-Blog weekly. Journal daily.

-Initiate at least one intentional coffee date/brunch/happy hour a week.

-Get people together more. Plan some social events.

-Cook one new recipe a month. Preferably with/for friends. I've only busted my crockpot out once since moving to my house. That is not ok.

-Stop letting facebook/twitter suck away my life. I will only log on once a day for no more than 15 minutes a day. Period.

-Stop watching trash tv. Friday Night Lights is obviously the exception. (but it's no trash, anyway).

-Join a gym.

-Do more Yoga.

-Hold all goals & resolutions with open hands. Give God room to change my plans.