Holidays are seasoned with tradition. Although most traditions are steeped around Thanksgiving and Christmas, New Years also has its traditions in my family. Before every year my mom makes her signature dish, hoppin’ John, on New Years. And every year, even though my mom’s dish was delish,  my sister and I would go out with friends or eat something else. Which lead to my mama, bless her heart, fussing about all her effort and  food that got wasted.

As an adult, I’ve started my own traditions.  I’ve welcomed the New Year by fasting and praying and getting into my Bible for some direction. The quiet days away from class and work are the perfect time for reflection on the past year and planning for the next.  Since college graduation I’ve spent my New Year’s in some pretty exciting towns: Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta, and last year in Paris.  This year I’ll be spending “Sylvester” as the German’s call it, with a dear cousin, at the biggest party spot in Europe, Berlin!

In 2012 I vowed to do more and I have to say in comparison to 2011, I succeeded. I wanted to:

1.  Run More – I ran a 10K dressed like super hero, Storm.
2. Be more health conscious – I competed in a team obstacle course, started training for a fitness competition which requires weight lifting and a clean diet.
3. Write more –  I’ve published 50 blog posts this year.
4. Travel more – I traveled to 15 different countries and spent 67 days traveling and exploring Europe.
5. Be more proactive in learning a language – When it came to learning a language, I took 12 hours of German language lessons, 12 hours of Spanish language classes, and 72 hours of French language lessons.  I can get directions and order food in four languages.
6. Complete more of my Master’s program – I have one class left before I can call myself An International Affairs Master.
7. Patron the arts more – I started the year by watching a ballet in Vienna. I’ve been to Monet’s home, visited the Louvre three times, and been to enough art museums across Europe to establish the standard that if a museum costs more than the Louvre, it’s not worth seeing (take that Switzerland!)
8.  And paint more.  I have completed one ceramic and one canvas all year.

Now it’s time for me to start honing in on the goals I want to accomplish for myself for 2013.  I need to go for quality, not quantity. Pick one language and really master it. Take longer, more relaxing trips instead of trying to cover too much ground in a short time.  This year will be the year to eliminate. Eliminate distractions, clutter, commitments. Then I won’t be stretched out too thinly and I can produce better projects and better results. And after being completely finished with my degree, I just want to relax as much as I can and enjoy being young and in Europe.