2014: A New Beginning

Yesterday (although, technically, two days ago), I talked about the past. Today, I would like to talk about the future.

I'm starting the year off with a job, a boyfriend, and good friends, which is something to be grateful for in and of itself, especially after the year that I had in 2013. I don't have any room to argue about anything, although I would like to still have Jake around.

However, I do have five areas of my life that I would like to work on this year:

1. Standing up for myself (and others). This is a big one, because a lot of the time, I'm just content to stand by and watch people as they go about their lives. I don't speak up about things very often, because I'm shy and I don't like confrontation. I'm going to try and remedy that this year, though: if I'm wronged, then I'll say something about it. If I see someone else who's being harassed, I'll step in. This has happened around me a lot, and I really need to start doing this. 
2. Keeping things organized. At the moment, my room is a certified disaster area. I don't even know how this happens, because I'm barely in my room - I mean, I live 27 miles away during the week, for goodness sakes! I don't know what's going on! Yet somehow, it always gets horrendously messy and takes me hours to clean. This also happens with my desk at my dorm, and my closet, and my bathroom. Basically, this year I'm vowing to be more organized so I can not only find things easier, but also keep my mother off my back.
3. Updating my style. I've looked the same way for the past three years or so. Medium-length hair, t-shirts, and jeans. I'm past due for a style change. I started things off with getting a second piercing the other day (although it's a small start, it's a start, at least!), and I'm hoping to get the underside of my hair dyed dark blue sometime in the upcoming months. I've bought a lot of clothes that are different than what I usually wear (I now own five pairs of skinny jeans and five above-the-knee skirts! What is this?), and I'm looking to incorporate those more into my wardrobe. I also want to learn how to do fun things with my hair because, let's face it, wearing it the same way every day is getting boring.
4. Money. That's it. Just...money. I've got to learn how to better budget things, because I've nearly run out of money twice since I've been working, just not paying attention. I also need to start tithing regularly, something that always slipped my mind in 2013. I have $150 that I'm going to put in the offering plate on Sunday, and then I'm going to start back to $10 - $20 a week (depending on the paycheck). Also, I need to keep up with my money jar this year, because what's the use of a money jar (and a cool bank that you got for Christmas) if you don't use it?
5.  Books - both reading and writing. 2013 was a terrible year for me. I didn't read very much at all, but I did start back in October/November. I got a LOT of books for Christmas (including the entire "Game of Thrones" series) so I have so much waiting for me. I also have a ton of comic books from Matt's collection that I'm working my way through, so I can be all caught up to him and be able to talk to him about more things. I did get a bit more work done on my two novels, but I need to be more organized and focused on finishing them. I at least need to finish the first book, because I don't think I can finish the second without seeing where Drake and Mira go in the first one. I'm going to have to sit down and sketch out an outline sometime, because at the moment, I'm just wandering from plot point to plot point and it's not working out very well.

So there you have it: my five goals to make 2014 a better year than 2013. What are you goals for 2014? Is there anything on my list that you've done before, and you have some advice for me? Talk to me in the comments!