Pick Up a Good Book

 

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The first thing that I do when I sit down to eat my breakfast in the morning, is open up my laptop and do some reading. I check out theSkimm that is sitting in my inbox that morning (during the week!) and I check out the features on The Everygirl. This morning, the first thing that I read was a piece about finding more time to read in 2016. One of my resolutions for the year was to read more - so far so good.

As I was reading, I thought about all of the times that I have complained about not being able to find time to read. I always say that school gets in the way with all of the paper writing and academic reading. However, that's not the best excuse. I do have the time to read a little every day; that time just gets filled with Netflix binges or wasted hours taking Buzzfeed quizzes.

I know I am not the only one who is guilty of this - all of my roommates and friends have shared the same sentiment. After a day of classes or work, there is so much allure to turning the brain off and tuning in to the television for entertainment. Over the holiday break I started my efforts to bring casual reading back into my routine. I'm currently reading Flappers and Philosophers, a collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, so what I do is I will read a section or two of whatever story I am on every morning and before I go to bed. Reading in the morning means that I have also resolved to wake up a bit earlier than I would typically so that I can get a good thirty minutes of reading in before I start the rest of my routine.

So far I have been doing a good job of keeping up with this plan. Hopefully it doesn't start fading out!

<3 Ashley

How to do you find time to keep up with your reading list?

New Year, New Resolutions

 

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Get ready everybody - tonight we turn the page from 2015 onto 2016. This past year has been a good one for me. I managed to land a summer internship, worked myself hard both semesters by taking the max amount of class credits, and also made being more active a priority. 2015 was possibly the first year that I really did succeed with my resolutions.

With the new year just hours away, I think I have finally settled on some solid resolutions for the next 366 days - it's a leap year! I had not thought about it too much until my mother told me about her plans to go all-organic this year. I liked the sound of this and decided that maybe I could pursue an all-organic diet as well. In order to do this, I'm going to have to do a lot of research and commit more to meal planning during the week. Additionally, considering that this is my senior year and I am coming up on my final semester as a student, I would like to work toward getting a job. The real goal is to have a job for graduation - but that's everyone's goal, right? I do have a lighter schedule this semester though, so the hunt is certainly on!

<3 Ashley

What is your resolution? How do you plan on executing it?

2015 Resolutions

This year, I promise to....

...work on my confidence

...be more outgoing

...go out of my way to meet others

...organize my life a little better

<3 Ashley

What are your 2015 resolutions?