Here we are two weeks into a brand new year and I can hardly believe it. I was just getting used to 2014 and now its over. It has completely sped by me before I was ready for it to leave. Now I have no choice but to say, “Welcome 2015!”

On New Year’s Eve, we did just like everyone else…rang out the old and rang in the new. Although, we certainly didn’t do it like we did pre-kids! I am lucky if I am awake at midnight. I do remember how fun it is to be out at a party on New Year’s Eve. And at midnight to watch the ball drop, maybe enjoy some fireworks, and toast in the new year with your beverage of choice. I wonder if anyone even sings Auld Lang Syne anymore. We never did.

Back in the day when I did enjoy New Year’s Eve properly, it was the morning after that was always so hard. But once fully functional, I definitely celebrated New Year’s Day. It has become one of my favorite holidays. It reminds me of Thanksgiving. There is always a gathering with a good meal, family and friends. Growing up in the South, we really did it right and followed tradition with our menu.  Certain foods, when eaten on New Year’s Day, are supposed to bring you prosperity for the coming year. And why not try to get yourself a little good fortune at the start of a brand new year.

The Southern New Year’s Day cuisine includes pork, cooked greens (like cabbage or collards), and black-eyed peas. The greens represent folded money, the peas are for good luck and money (coins), and the pork is for wealth and prosperity. I can’t remember a New Year’s Day without these foods. I have always managed to keep up the tradition no matter what happened the night before. And we still do to this day. I do feel like I have been very lucky in my life so maybe the black-eyed peas are working. I’m still waiting to see if the greens and pork will send some of that hard, cold cash my way.

The other traditional part of the New Year is to make resolutions. I’ve always make at least one resolution but it hasn’t been easy. In the past, I have made them so complicated and really hard to keep. I am not sure why I felt the need to make it difficult. I guess I thought that these resolutions had to be painful and really challenging or it wouldn’t count. Of course I rarely kept them.

I think by making it so trying that you miss the whole point of making resolutions. For me, resolutions should be more attainable and why not make them fun? The whole point is to make yourself accomplish some goals. I’m not against putting in some challenges for the new year. But I need to be sure to make some of these resolutions feasible. Once reached, you feel like you have really accomplished something and can tackle the harder ones.

In the past few years, my husband and I decided to change it up and do a family resolution. The one we started last year was a great success and lots of fun. In fact, we are going to do it again this year. Our resolution was to go on a monthly family mini-adventure. It can be something big like a trip or something around town. The only stipulations were that we had to do it together and it had to be something that at least one of us had not done before. Some of the fun things we did last year were sand dune exploring, snow tubing, concerts, plays, nature hiking, beach camping and whale watching. The best part of it all was that we did it together. We are all looking forward to it again this year. In fact, we need to figure out what we are going to do for this month before it is over!

As for my own personal resolutions, I have made one and might make a few more. But this time they won’t quite so difficult as the ones in the past. I may even take a cue from our family one and make some time to have an adventure on my own.

What New Year’s Resolutions did you make if any? We would love to hear all about them.