The Belle's 2010 Resolutions.

I believe it is time for my first non-sports related blog post. There probably won't be many of these... so just humor me (the blog title does actually say "life, love, and sports").

I hate New Years... well really just the hype that leads up to the whole New Year's eve thing. But despite my abhorrence for the holiday I am making a resolution list for the year. I made one last year and put it on my fridge... I think I managed to accomplish one of the things on my list, so here's hoping this year goes better. However, my plan is that by putting my resolution list up on this blog that my readers can hold me more accountable about my list.


So here it goes... my 2010 resolution list.

1. I am in a wedding in June so the Bridesmaid Diet starts tomorrow! I am not setting a quantity of pounds that I want to lose, I just want to feel good in my dress.

2. I will finally become conversational in French. My lovely mother and step-father bought me the Rosetta Stone as a college graduation gift. This was on my 2009 resolution list... there is no option for failure here.

3. I want to learn more about hockey. It wasn't popular where I grew up, but I have been to a few games and think its great... I just know absolutely nothing about it. I will enlist of my friend Paul Galati for this.

4. I want to go on a vacation. A real one. Not that I don't love going to visit my family in Missouri (and now Texas), but I would much rather go somewhere with them. I am thinking maybe New Orleans, South Carolina, Denver, Washington DC, Boston, or Alaska.

5. I want to hate cooking less. I don't really enjoy it. I am not patient and I hate cleaning up because I don't have a dishwasher. So after watching the movie "Julie and Julia" last night I have decided to branch out and try to hate cooking less.

6. Complete my reading list... I LOVE to buy books. I cant go into a Border's or Barnes and Noble without purchasing something. This creates a problem because I am buying books faster than I am reading them. Also, in high school I was not a fan of people forcing me to read so I usually just read the Cliff Notes on the classics, however this summer I finally buckled down and read Pride and Prejudice and now it is one of my favorites... so I have decided to re-read some of the ones from high school. There are also a lot of other classics on here that I feel I need to read to be a well rounded person. So here is the list of books that I have assigned myself to read in 2010. Most of them I already own.

• Wuthering Heights Actually, I got a head start on this one and finished it last week... so check this one off of the list
• Cant Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America This one I bought because I love the Beatles and just haven't gotten around to finishing it
• Gone With the Wind This is my all time favorite movie of all time... so I feel that it is only fitting to read the book.
  
• To Kill A Mockingbird this is one of the books I skipped over in high school. I bought an edition with beautiful cover art... but haven't gotten around to reading it.
• A Farewell to Arms I haven't read any Hemingway... so this falls into two categories-the "well rounded person" and the"bought and haven't read yet" category. This is my current read.
• Little Women Again, like the movie, feel I need to read the book. Plus I bought it over a year ago... so It's about time I got around to reading it.
• The Great Gatsby this is another book I skipped over in high school... so I bought it (are you seeing a pattern here?).
• The Kite Runner I bought this at a library book sale for $2 and have heard a ton about it... so I figured I better read it.
• 1776 I read David McCullough's "John Adams" last summer and loved it. I think the American revolution is fascinating. I bought this two years ago and also received it as a gift... so I am actually going to get around to reading it this year... hopefully.
• Anna Karenina Finally one I don't already own! This falls into the "well rounded person" category.
• Lolita (See Anna Karenina)
• Madame Bovary (See Anna Karenina)
• In Cold Blood I read Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" because I love the movie... however I wasn't a fan, and almost everyone knows that the book is always better than the movie. I think this chilling book is more true Capote than B. at T. This is also one I have yet to purchase (see... I do have some self control).
• Jane Eyre (see Anna Karenina)
• Emma I loved "Pride and Prejudice" and my ultimate goal is read all of Austen's books. Plus... Border's Classics make a lovely edition of this book for only $6.95 :) This is one of my most recent purchases.
• Sense and Sensibility Penguin books has published new editions of this and several other classic books in beautiful new hardcover editions. So naturally I bought it because I wanted to read it anyways... and it was pretty.
• Alice in Wonderland I am very excited for the new Tim Burton film about the classic children's tale, so I.... being me... went out and bought the book so I can read it before the movie comes out in March. I want to compare the book to the new film as well as the Disney animated classic.
• Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution My best friend Michelle bought this for me for Christmas and I cannot wait to read it! My favorite college class was my "Theory and History of Fashion" course. So this is right up my alley!
• American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White. The Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century My wonderful mother gave this to me as a Christmas gift. I have read "Devil in the White City" and loved it... and apparently this is a great read for those who liked "Devil". I am very excited about this one!

7. Take the GRE. I bought tons of materials and had every intention of taking this test this last fall. But things happened and it fell by the wayside. Unfortunately for me... all of the Graduate programs that I want to be admitted into had January cutoff dates. So I am planning on taking the test in the summer of 2010, so that I can apply in the winter of 2010... so that I can start Graduate School in the Fall of 2011. Ugh.

Well there you have it. My personal resolution list. Make sure I am sticking to it.