Resolutions

I think I've got to post my New Year's resolutions before it gets too late. According to an NPR story I heard a few years ago, women are more likely to keep their resolutions if they tell people about them (but apparently this rule doesn't apply to men). 

So here are my resolutions: 

1. Write down one good memory from every day. This resolution will hopefully be made easier by the fact that my sister gave me a cute little French notebook that's designed specifically for this purpose. 
2. Start tracking my spending more carefully and keep within a budget. I hope some kind of miracle app on my new iPhone will help with this goal. Anyone have good recommendations? 
3. Commit more seriously to volunteering. Ideally volunteer at an animal shelter. 
4. Try to be more patient. This is something I have gotten especially bad at since living in New York City. 
5. Make more of an effort to keep in touch with and spend time with friends and family. 

And before I close out this post, a quick mention of big things that happened in my life in 2013 (off the top of my head):

• I lived in Indonesia; and returned home from Indonesia after being away for over 10 months. I also traveled to Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong this year. 
• I moved back to New York City to start a part-time teaching job at Pace University and rented an apartment with Ari. 
• My grandmother on my dad's side passed away on December 20th. Her death was not unexpected; she had been doing poorly for quite a few years and had recently taken a turn for the worse. My family remembers her as a compassionate and giving woman who loved to laugh. We all miss her.