My Wish for 2013

I'm not usually one for New Year's Resolutions. I had a small, unofficial list of tasks I wanted to get done this year, and I did some of them (e.g. read at least 25 books, wrote more snail mail) and didn't do some of them (e.g. run a race with my sister, finish writing a novel). But I do have one big resolution that I've made every year since I can remember. It's the one thing I pray for every single night before I go to bed (replacing "year" with "day," of course). I even addressed it in my high school commencement speech. And best of all, it's pretty simple:

Summer Book Challenge Winner: Hannah G.

The second Semi-Charmed Winter Book Challenge check-in will be up on Tuesday, so I wanted to spotlight yet another summer winner to encourage all the winter participants and prove that yes—it is possible to finish! :) Today I'm featuring Hannah G., who finished the summer challenge in 14 weeks, making her the fifth overall finisher. Read more about Hannah after the jump.

The Book Chat: Merry Christmas to Me!

Follow me on Instagram at @mcstroup! :)

I didn't get a single book for Christmas this year. Amazing, right? Instead, my siblings and I all got each other cute little trinkets (like the above mug!) from various Christmas markets during our European holiday, and our mother graciously paid for us to take this European holiday. However, that doesn't mean I didn't buy myself a few Christmas presents on my Kindle. :) Here are my three most recent purchases:

Photo a Day: November

Woot! I'm posting my November Photo A Day challenge recap just before the December challenge ends. Thumbs up to me. I'm also linking up this post with Taingamala's last-ever InstaTuesday. (Sniff sniff.) Does anyone know of another good Instagram link-up I can join next year?

A Semester in Review: Life as an LC

And that's only the beginning—only the most quantifiable things I could think of at this moment. I took this job because I knew it would offer me opportunities I wouldn't be able to find in any other line of work, at any other time in my life. I took this job even though I had been fortunate to find an internship at a great magazine: an open door into the career I had been preparing for since becoming my high school's newspaper editor in 2005. I took this job even though many people (friends and family included) didn't understand why I wanted to work for a sorority. But that story is for another day—maybe next summer when I'm searching for journalism jobs and wondering why I did leave the industry for a year.

For now, however, I wanted to share with you some of things I've learned on the road this semester as an Alpha Delta Pi Leadership Consultant:

Winter Book Challenge: Month 1

Source: megancstroup.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

It's time for the first Semi-Charmed Winter 2012 Book Challenge check in! Please leave a comment on this post letting me know what you've read so far, in the following format:

30: Read three books from three different genres. — Between the Lines, Samantha van Leer & Jodi Picoult (young adult/fantasy) (358 pages); Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys (historical fiction) (338 pages); and Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen (drama/literary fiction) (335 pages)

PREVIOUS POINTS: 0
TOTAL POINTS: 30

If you're new to the challenge or just want to review the rules, check out the original post here. I'll post the scoreboard with the next check-in on January 1. Please record your progress on this post by December 10, as I will be traveling for the holidays and want to ensure the next check-in will be up on time. If you don't check in by December 10, please wait until the January post and record all your progress there.