the resolution will not be televised

...but it will be blogged.

i bet you hope my first resolution is to stop using ridiculous puns and other such nonsense for blog titles. too bad, so sad. my blog, my rules. and i love puns and nonsense.

so. 2010. here we are. a new decade. coming up on nine years since i graduated from high school and five since college. wow. i still feel like a kid. i can't believe that i'm a grown-up. married. with a house. and two dogs. and friends who have children. several children. legitimately.

time sure flies.

2009 was a big year for me, namely because of that whole till-death-do-us-part marriage commitment wedding-planning bit.

(www.jmalahy.com)

i've also learned a lot about myself - what i enjoy and what i do not enjoy, what i want and what i do not want, what i'm good at doing and what i struggle with doing. quarter-life-crisis and all, you see. i hope 2010 will be a year where i make great strides from THINKING to ACTING, from DREAMING to DOING. and what better way to create accountability for mylazyself than by proclaiming my new year's resolutions for all the interwebs to hear? none. none better way.

and so, without further ado, my 2010 resolutions:

* exercise more. slash at all. let's start off with the requisite american resolution, shall we? the summer of my freshman year of college, i up and ran down my parents' street. and didn't die. since then, i have had an on-again-off-again relationship with running, the peak of which was during the summer of 2007 when i was running three miles per day...and stress fractured my hip...which derailed my running for about a year. the best laid plans, you know. i also ran considerably in the fall of 2008, until i decided that wedding planning counted as exercise (it does). 2009 saw barely so much as a brisk walk, and that's a shame. therefore, in 2010, i shall run again. let's set the bar low here and say twice a week. i'll bump it up for 2010.5 if all goes well.

(me & the captain - sweatbands, front row - the night we met at the first annual chug-n-run)

* create. often. nothing on this planet gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than arts and crafts. i love drawing, painting, coloring, doodling, sewing, decoupaging, writing, photographing, and generally creating beautiful things with my own two hands. always have, always will. from the simplest klutz pre-assembled craft project to the most skillful paintings of the louvre, i love it all. i always wanted to be an artist, and i'm ashamed to admit that i let one college professor's opinion derail my life's main passion. i admit it to you, internet, and my tens of blog readers: i want to be an artist. in 2010, i'm reigniting the flame.

* worry less. this one is tricksy, but very important. less second-guessing myself, my abilities, my choices. less paralyzing visions of fiery car crashes and brain aneurysms. less headaches and irritable bowels. less hyperventilating over rumpled duvet covers and burned french toast. more seeing things as they are and dealing with challenges as they arise instead of freaking out over things that have yet to occur. in 2010, i'll learn to keep my worries in perspective.

* make more decisions. be confident in them. did the world come to an end when i bought a non-returnable rug for the living room and ended up wanting a different one? spoiler alert: it did not. i just moved that rug to another room, where it happens to look awesome. so enough of my perfectionist wishy-washing. let me introduce you to lauren 5.0 (we've been through several upgrades of late, kinda like windows, but with the cooler skinny-jeans-vibe of mac) - now with new decision-making capabilities! in 2010, i will obsess less and enjoy more.

(source unknown)

* DO more. organize the house, including the storage areas. keep it organized. put things away when finished with them. (hint: this would be an excellent resolution for the entire household, ifyoucatchmydrift). fold laundry right from the dryer, every time, even if it's almost bedtime. call friends and family, just to chat. get together with my girls more often. take the dogs to the park. sign up for art classes. read. learn to take better pictures. post more regularly on this blog. actually DO the projects i DREAM. and for chrissakes, turn OFF the tv. in 2010, i will live less in my head and more with my heart.

(my high school besties, new year's eve 2005 - our last one all together, five years ago!!! everyone hates this picture, heh.)

in summary, 2010 will be a year of action, a year of accomplishing, a year of enjoying. this year, i plan to put my creativity to good use, to turn ideas into realities, to live the life i wish to live.

BIG PLANS.

you feel me?