2015 to-do list

Better late than never, right? Having my birthday right at the start of the year always gets me thinking about how many other things could change in the space of twelve months, and 2015 is going to be a big one for me! I've just turned 17 and it seems like this is going to be the year that I'm expected to start acting like a semi-adult, and making some lists is always a good way to de-stress. Here's some things I want to do this year!!!

Books

Reading has always been a big part of my life, so this year I've decided to set myself a Goodreads challenge of 50 books. (here's my profile) Right now I'm really into feminist literature and classics, so if you have any recommendations I'd love them!

A few I'm already planning to read:

• A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R R Martin (nearly 4 down already!!)
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garea Marquez

Music

This year I already have three gigs lined up: The Kooks, The Black Keys and The Wombats. I've wanted to see all of these bands for a long time so I'm so excited for all of them. I'm also going to my first festival T in the Park this summer and I'm still waiting impatiently for at least some of the lineup to be announced. I'm not exactly the biggest on camping but I'm hoping it'll be worth it! On the music side of things, I'm also hoping to keep up my hobby of violin - when I was younger it used to be a real chore, but after over 8 years of playing I genuinely enjoy it now, and I really hope leaving high school and my obligations of orchestras and ensembles won't change that.

Life

This is the scary part!!! I'm still waiting on a reply from one university until I can finally make a decision, but no matter what it looks like I'll be packing my bags and leaving my hometown in September. I feel way too young to be genuinely contemplating this kind of thing, but it's pretty exciting and I think some change is needed in my life. Some of the things I want to achieve:

• Learn how to cook some meals - I became a vegetarian in 2014 and it's been a really rewarding decision so far, but I really want that to continue when I move away even if I'm a disgustingly poor student. So I need to learn how to make more out of less, and that doesn't mean just pasta bake and omelettes.
• Approach new people myself. I'm in a really good place with all of my current friends, and I'm determined to maintain contact with everyone that's important to me. Saying that, I also can't wait to meet new friends, and that means being confident enough to initiate conversation first - something I desperately need to improve on.
• Keep a diary. A romantic at heart, I've always loved the idea of having some sort of life chronicle to look back on when I'm feeling nostalgic - this undoubtedly came from my pre-teen obsession with The Princess Diaries/Confessions of Georgia Nicolson books series. However I've always failed at maintaining a diary for more than a few months, because I never kept a proper structure. But I've been writing every day this year and I'm going to continue that for as long as possible. My life isn't half as dramatic as Mia's or Georgia's but I still feel accomplished.

So there you have it, along with watching the entirety of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there's some of the most important things I'm planning to do this year. I hope your new year has got off to a great start, and if it hasn't, don't lose faith - January is never the most exciting month. It's for breaking your unrealistic resolutions in the first week and spending the rest contemplating what you really want from the year.