"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man" Benjamin Franklin

It’s seems to be everyone is fed up of New Year’s Eve/Hogmanay. It’s become de rigueur to be a little blasé about the last night out of the year, with some people claiming to prefer not to celebrate at all.  I am almost fanatical about Christmas but a massive piece of my heart belongs to Hogmanay.  For the last 21 years my family has packed up and headed to Craigendarroch, a resort just outside Ballater.  I’ll do a separate post about our Hogmanay trip but I wanted to share the silent promises we all make to ourselves in the dawn of a new year, with 365 days stretched out before us.  I’m sharing them partly because I think it makes you more accountable, and also because I get ideas for my own resolutions by reading others.

Tiny little ones:

Lose weight/exercise more – these two obviously go hand in hand.  One of my best friends is getting married on the 24^th and I have a gorgeous (but unforgiving!) dress to slip into before then! But overall I’d like to be a bit healthier, weight loss aside. I have a massive sweet tooth and eat out/get takeaways far too often. I used to be able to crash diet for a week and lose half a stone but the closer I get to the big 3-0 the harder this seems to be!

Regular date nights – Scott and I leads ridiculously busy lives so as a result most of the time we spend together tends to be at home.  I love this however it’s very tempting to put your PJs on, and sit on the sofa in relative silence while browsing social media and watching TV.  I want us to have a fortnightly date night where we actually dress up and leave the house…

KEEP THIS BLOG UP TO DATE. Enough said.

The Big Ones:

Be more grateful.  I have a lovely, lovely life and it’s very easy to get dragged down by the negatives in positive situations.  For example, I always have loads of nights out/weddings/hen parties/engagement parties etc – instead of complaining about how busy I am and ticking these events off like a to-do list, I should be grateful that I am surrounded by such wonderful friends and family who want to include me in their plans.

Live in the present.  I am constantly planning the next holiday, our next weekend away, even what I’m going to have for dinner that night! I am going to try and enjoy the moment more.

Love more. Very simple but extremely necessary.

2015 is shaping up to be a very exciting year, two of my best friends are getting married, we’ve got a few holiday plans in the works including a wedding in NYC, Scott’s brother is getting married in Canada and MOST EXCITING, my niece of nephew is due in March! I’m hoping that a combination of sticking to my resolutions and all the fabulous plans we have will make for a truly spectacular year indeed.