New Year, New Me?

I love a New Year.  I also love, that due to my birthday being on the 4th, that I extend all New Years Resolutions until right about now.

As of right now, I feel icky and full.  I've been eating for 4 days straight and not depriving myself one bit.  It's easy to immediately jump on the "workout more" bandwagon, but I find that every year I do that, I just fail.

I will continue to work out and keep active but it's not a resolution, it just needs to stay part of my life.

I do have a few resolutions, however.  I figured that if I posted them online I would feel more inclined to follow through on them.  Some are vague, some are specific.  So here goes...

1.) Talk to my family more.  I talk to my family often, but not often enough. We text, we email.  But I sometimes fall off the face of the earth for a few days.  I also need to be the one picking up the phone first.

2.) Drink more water.  You guys, I love Diet Coke.  It's in my blood, I can't help it.  But, I need to balance that Diet Coke (I'm already down to 1-2 cans a day) with lots and lots and lots of water.  My skin is dull, this will help!

3.) Be conscious about my health. Last year I made it a point to get my dental health all in check since being a broke 20-something (with insurance) I still didn't go to the dentist for like four years.  Now that I have that situation all under control, I need to focus on my whole body health.  I will be going to the doctor and getting regular check-up's.  Basically, all the fun stuff I finally am financially able to do.  Speaking of finances...

4.) Save money.  I am the worst at this.  I live paycheck to paycheck and have some debt.  My goal is to break that vicious cycle and start saving money while paying down my credit cards.  Student loans are still out there too! After a particularly enlightening discussion with my boyfriend about my retirement plan, I realized how irresponsible I've been. 

5.) Be a better friend.  Sometimes I get so caught up with my personal life that I neglect to  pay much attention to my friends.  This year I won't text back, I'll call.  I won't shoot you an email, I'll meet you for drinks.  Basically, I need to stop being lazy about this.  I'm lucky to have friends, why am I not hanging out with them?

6.) Speak up.  Every single year I tell myself that I am going to stick up for myself more.  It's not that I'm constantly bullied, but I hate conflict.  I hate conflict like Cleveland hates Lebron.  What I'm saying is, it runs deep.  I will avoid a potential awkward situation the only way I know how, by plastering a big, fake smile across my face and pushing through it.  "I'm fine" and "it's okay" come out of my mouth more times a day than I care to admit. So once again, it's on the list. 

7.) Have more fun.  This seems so ridiculous, right?  I should clarify that I do have fun, a lot.  But I also do things that I don't want to do and struggle to make the best out of them.  Rather than begrudgingly going to something and being a poor sport, I need to change my attitude.  I'm given lots of opportunities, I need to make the best out of them and stop squandering them.  Complaining and being semi-miserable never got anybody anywhere.  This year, that smile on my face better be genuine.

I like having 7 because that seems like a totally reasonable number.  Hopefully, I can at least stick to half of these! What are your New Years Resolutions?  Do you always stick to them?