New Year Ressie Rage

Here we are on the third day of the New Year! I have a feeling that this year is going to be a good one... Even if I have to force it to be! Around this time of year, it's normal for people to set out goals for the upcoming year. You've got your standard resolutions to help kick things in the right direction. Y'all know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that last a week before complacency sets in. Quitting smoking and/or drinking, losing weight, being healthier/less fast food, spending less/saving money etc....

This year, my main resolution is a little broader than that. My "priority" goal of 2011 is to be happy. I'm usually the type that gets bent out of shape as someone counts out the every penny at the cash register, even though there's 6 people waiting in line behind them. Or flies into a tizzy over stupid drivers... Or let little things, that will be forgotten about the next day, settle me into a "mood". (And, generally, not a good one.) So, 2011 will be my year to "not sweat the small stuff". People aren't perfect, myself very much included, so it's time I cut people some slack. The big things, I'm still going to rampage about. What can I say? I'm a red head with a short fuse! But you'll be safe as long as you don't do anything major... Like screw with me or any one of my family members.

Granted, the rest of my resolutions directly interlinked to my happiness. For example, the phrase "money doesn't buy happiness" is a load of crap in my world. Try being happy without it.... So, I need to kick sh!t into high gear to get myself employed. I've applied for jobs in this one horse town, but it's the wrong time of year for it... Once I am employed, it'll make things a whole lot better. I'm not materialistic by any means, but I'm turning 30 in September and its time I start thinking like an adult. I love my parents, but I don't want to live with them by any means. I don't want to pay rent either. I'd rather own my home than pay down someone else's mortgage. I'd also like to be able to afford to have a life rather than just supporting myself. Can't spend money if you don't have it. So, money doesn't buy happiness, but it makes options and life a whole lot easier!

The Kindlifresser

I've got a Passport, that took me six months to acquire, that's sitting in my "treasure chest" collecting dust as I write this... It's sad, and pathetic really, that I'm into my 30th year on the planet and been basically nowhere! I was born and raised in BC and have been all over my home province... I've lived in Alberta and been a few places there... But that's as far east as I've made it.... I've been to Washington State and Idaho... But that's as far south as I've been... Other than that, I'm very embarrassed to say I've been no where else.... I haven't seen the whole country that I've called home for my entire life. I'm dying to see Montreal... I want to see Dryden, Ontario and Goose Bay, Labrador - as these are the places my parents were born. I've been in love with Boston since I was 15, and I've never even been there! I haven't left the North American Continent ever. I'm a Heinz 57 family history wise, so I've got quite the list of European destinations that I want to see. I've got cousins in Norway to visit - where my Grandpa's family hails from. I want to see the Kindlifresser in Switzerland - where my Grandma was born. (The Kindlifresser is a statue/fountain of an Ogre that eats bad children... Both my Mum and Grandma threatened to feed me to him on occasion.) I want to see the Highlands of Scotland - where both my Gramps and Nana's families are from. I'd love to see Germany, Wales, Ireland, England as well - as there are family ties to these countries as well. As someone once told me "Honey, you're two scoops of white, now aren't you?" I've got a list of other places I'd love to see as well - Italy, Greece, Mexico, Cuba and the list goes on. I realize I probably won't make it to any of these places this year... But I'd like to start saving so I can plan something for 2012.

Being unemployed has helped with my quit smoking resolution. I had quit shortly before my 29th birthday... Life stress and my weak will power let me fall off the wagon. (I guess having a cigarette and killing myself a little smoking it was better than an assault charge though.) The same can be said about my junk food/fast food/Tim Horton's coffee issues as well. If you don't have the money, you've gotta make cuts some where... I just paid off credit cards and am not about to charge cigarettes or junk food. Being out in the sticks helps this as well... I'm not about to drive half an hour for a greasy Rotten Ronnie's burger and a pack of smokes.

No more junk food/fast food will help me in my weight loss resolution of the year. My goal is to lose about 40 pounds, which I know is do-able. To put that in perspective, I weighed 123 lbs when I graduated from high school. Four years later, when I moved to Edmonton I weighed over 210 lbs... (On a 5'5" frame, 210 lbs meant I was a little mozza ball.) In the seven years I lived in Edmonton, I managed to drop between 40 and 60 pounds. (My weight has always fluctuated.) If I can get down to about 125-135 lbs, I'll be a happy girl... No one wants to see a fatty in a bikini on the tropical beaches of the world. (No offense to my fellow chubs out there... I'm a chub-nic, too!)

To replace the things I'm trying to quit, I've got a few ideas how I'll fill the voids in my routine. I'll have a whole lot more free time to blog.... I've always been curious to trace and track my family tree and heritage. (I've managed to get back to my great-grandparents... That's where I've kind of stalled out though. With family members getting older, I'd better start before those family members are no longer with us.) I'll have free time to exercise and plot my "evil revenge" on unemployment. (Simply meaning I'm kicking things into high gear in the job search section of life... So don't read anything Terrorist-y into that statement.)

2011 will be my year to make things happen. By hook or by crook, I'm going to do everything in my power to make things happen in the way I want them too. I don't want to wake up when I'm 50 and realize my life has passed me by! I hope I'm not alone in my quest for Happiness, and I know I'm not alone in any of my resolutions.

It's not always about me; but I hope there is less of me that is more happy than 2010!