Here's Looking At You, 2010.

So with the New Year already blasted into being in most parts of the Southern Hemisphere, and with only a few hours until we celebrate* here in London, it's time to look ahead to the future. Mainly for myself, but also to share with anyone who is still here reading the ramblings - you can be my conscience!

Without further ado, here are my resolutions epic plans for 2010.

Blog

I've definitely let my blogging slide this year, which is a bit disappointing. To go from being a daily blogger for a number of years with quite a few followers and blog friends - to the occasional post when I remember, is incredibly slack. I'm not saying that I'll be returning to blogging daily next year, because, let's face it, I won't be but I will be more regular. That's a promise.

2010 will also likely see me return to my old wordpress account, as I just can't justify the money involved in self hosting at the moment. And seeing as I'll be saving for other things (... see below!) I think it's a sacrifice that makes sense. It won't be any time soon, but when my hosting is up for renewal, I'll let you know so you can adjust your feeds once more.

And lastly, I will definitely be making more an effort to get back into commenting this year. I've turned into a super lurker - I have a habit of letting my blogreader get the better of me, and then end up reading without chatting, which I hate doing. If you haven't heard from me in a while, I hope that will change soon.

Travel

Work has been the big priority for both Jase and I last year, and having Oscar has made it trickier to drop everything and go! This year, there are a few things in the works - and while it involves quite a lot of cash and forward planning, it potentially covers quite a few countries I've been meaning to visit in the last few years.

High hopes at the moment are to head back to Europe, maybe a little more of Scandinavia, revisiting Scotland, checking out Ireland/Wales and maybe even popping across to Canada, if we're lucky. I already have a two week visit back to Sydney, Australia, booked and paid off for April, so that's a start. I'm so excited!

Health

It's pretty cliche, but I'm determined to get on with it this year. I've ended up at around the same weight, if not a little squishier, than this time last year. I wish I had something to blame it on that would justify that, but unfortunately I don't. It's just laziness. I joined a great gym, have been involved in some great classes that I do pretty regularly on a weekly basis (Aqua & Spin!) but I just haven't had the drive.

Seeing as the goal for setting a wedding date is going to likely be in 2011, that leaves me with a whole year to get myself into shape. No, it's not just for the future wedding, but that's as good as an incentive as any to get my arse into gear and shed what I need to shed. Before I moved to the UK I lost a good deal of weight by recording what I was eating and starting a running program, though I developed pretty severe shin splints in the process that still haunt me now.

This time around, I'll do the food journals mixed with other regular exercise at my gym, and stick with it. That's the goal. I'm not going to count calories, per say, although I may end up doing that if it becomes a habit. And I'm not going to set up any extreme exercise goals, because I'll just set myself up to fail and give up (again). Instead, I want to aim for 2-3 times a week at the gym, supplemented with whatever else I feel like doing after that. The most important thing that I've learned about myself is the ability to self sabotage my efforts. This year, if I have an off day, I intend to just write it all down (yes, all of it!) and keep chugging along.

Of course, it's always positive to have something to work towards - so I have my own little personal achievement I want to hit. The first is to have some progress by April, which is when I'm heading home to Sydney. Thanks to our new Wii Fit, I have a rough idea of my weight & (dreadful) BMI, so I'll be using this to keep a track. I don't have a set number or figure. I just want to see a difference from the beginning. Pretty broad goal, I know, but that's what I'm starting with.

Read

I'm a big reader at the best of times, but in the latter part of 2009, I found myself flying through books at a crazy pace! To combat this, my new favourite resource are Oxfam, Hospice & Charity Stores, where I can rehome secondhand books at a fraction of the price - and can then give them a new home once I'm done.

This year, I really want to keep on reading at that frantic pace. I have at least a dozen unread books sitting on my bookshelf ready and raring to go, as well as a few old faithful's (why hello, Harry Potter) that I'm itching to start over with. Can't wait!

This will be my last blog post for 2009. I hope there will be many more to come!

*celebrate = try to stay awake until midnight, but will most likely fail.