Happy New Year!! (Resolutions)

Happy new year!! It always feels a bit surreal to me when it's a new year, but even more so this year because it's the start of a new decade. Talk about turning over a new leaf. Anyways, hope you guys are out partying and get to catch up on some sleep later. Cheers to a new year (decade?!) of happiness, excitement, reading, and blogging!

Here are my resolutions for 2010:

Blogging:

· Follow my 2010 changes

· Comment more! (why is this so hard?)

· Try to connect more with fellow bloggers - I'm shy. ♥

· Spend a little less time on blogging

· Buy more books, aka stop being so frugal

Life:

· When I get lemons, turn them into lemonade (Or a lemon orchard like in Beautiful Creatures. :D)

· Survive high school and all those standardized tests. I heard the IB program in eleventh grade is horrible.

· Get into a summer program (hopefully John Hopkins or UPenn), and get my driver's permit

· Be a better sister and daughter

· Use that time I cut from blogging to concentrate on schoolwork and losing that holiday weight-gain

· Be a better person all-around

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I seriously can't remember what. So I'm just going to end with a thank-you to all of you guys that have supported me this year. I started a book blog because, I admit it, I was bored and I wanted to share my love for books, but book blogging has literally become a huge part of my life - and I love it! So I'm sending out love to all of you guys, and feel free to share any resolutions you've made for this year! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Well, since I'm here, I'm all for wishing everyone (who celebrates it) a merry christmas! Hope it's filled with joy and many, many presents. :)

About me, yesterday my cousin, little sister, and I decorated cookies and we opened presents this morning. I'm super psyched because I got $25 to spend at Borders and $200 to spend anywhere else - though we all know that "anywhere else" is going to be a book store!! Do I hear some 2010 YA novels calling my name? I'll probably post some pics later (I think my aunt took some because we were too busy having fun), though that might be a few days. I also got some other cute stuff - a friendship bracelet, christmas earrings, etc. - that are definitely making me feel all festive right now. We spent all morning playing our new Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition, which is totally addicting, and I think I'm taking the two kids to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakel or Princess and the Frog tomorrow. Having an excuse to spend some family time is awesome.

Anyways, again, merry christmas, and I look forward to wishing everyone happy new year very, very soon!

Happy holidays!!

I'm currently in New York visiting my uncle and aunt, so I just wanted to make sure I wished everyone a very happy holiday season, even if it's sort of early. You might see random reviews popping up throughout the holidays, but I'm probably not going to do some serious reading until I get back on the 30th. I think I'll have my hands full handling skiing and trying to handle a 2-year-minus-3-days-old cousin. This right here is just me typing on my laptop using the snail-speed internet connection over here. Arrgh, slow internet connection makes me want to smack some things (not books, of course).

Anyways, I know I've only been blogging since the end of August, but it's totally addicting to be able to share my thoughts with everyone and know that people actually care about and read them. That feeling of yes, I actually mean something, which never fails to pick me up after a hard day. So thank you guys for all your support throughout the year, and hope your holidays are filled with joy, food, family, and awesome presents!

Share the love!! :)

And if you're wondering, my family's road trip to New York consisted of my sister and me sitting in the back seats singing along to all the Backstreet Boy songs, which we know by heart, and playing Pokemon, both activities that we save almost solely for road trips. Can you say "dorks awesome?!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

(BEGIN mushy, gushy feelings.) A HUGE "thank you!" to all of you guys, my wonderful, irreplaceable blog readers and friends!!! I definitely couldn't do all of this without your help and comments every step of the way. You make me feel like I can make a difference, and that's my sunshine after a particularly long and hard day. Really. And, for everyone, I'm so grateful because I just wouldn't be able to get anywhere without your unconditional love and support. THANK YOU!! :) (END gushy, mushy feelings.)

Anyways, hope you guys have a great thanksgiving and an even better turkey!

And here's some relaxing and uplifting music that I'm sure most, if not all, of you have heard. It's what all this thanking makes me think of:

You Raise Me Up by Westlife