New Year’s resolutions. How many of us keep them? Not me–I don’t think I’ve even tried all that hard to be diligent.

Until this year! I am making something out of 2013–it’s the last year in my 20s, the last (almost entire) year I’m single, and the beginning of a new way of living life.

Now that we’re half-way through 2013, I’ve taken stock, and I’m officially more than halfway through my resolutions. I think that’s saying something since I had some pretty big items on the list!

Here’s a look at some of the successes, which I’ve tried to blog about thus far:

2013 New Year Resolutions

• Take part in at least two volunteer/philanthropic opportunities (Initial thoughts: Playhouse Square Partners, Cleveland International Film Festival, Cuyahoga Valley National Parks Adopt-A-Trail) (Completed: Playhouse Square Partners, Cleveland International Film Festival)

• Participate in at least two new local events/activities/programs related to the arts and culture (Initial thoughts: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo membership, Dublin Irish Festival) (Completed: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo membership; Kent Art and Wine Festival)

• Learn at least two new skills (Initial thoughts: Dance lessons with the fiance, Camera class for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT my mom gave us, German Rosetta Stone program the fiance bought us) (Completed: Camera class for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT; Registered for ballroom dance lessons at the Riverfront Ballroom and Latin Dance Center.)

• Improve my health by losing weight, establishing a fitness routine and running a 5k (Initial thoughts: Lose 15 lbs., exercise four times a week and run the Bowman Cup 5k in Kent, Ohio, in October) (Completed: Lost 17 lbs. (and counting!), exercise four times a week; Registered for the Race to the Taste 5k in Hudson on Sept. 2!)

• Go on four local adventures, visiting places within 2-3 hours of home I’ve never been (Initial thoughts: Cleveland’s West Side; Erie, Pa.; Detroit/Windsor; Wheeling, W. Va.; local state parks/sites such as Towner’s Woods or Brandywine Falls) (Completed: Millersburg, Ohio; Brandywine Falls, Ohio; Towner’s Woods, Ohio; Cleveland’s West Side; Ohio)

• Enroll in the Kent State University Master of Arts in Communications Studies degree program (Initial thoughts: Complete enrollment/application by Nov. 15, 2013, deadline in order to hopefully begin classes in spring 2014)

I guess I’ve saved the best for last–applying for my master’s degree. I’m hoping to get everything submitted soon so I don’t have to worry about that in addition to all the wedding planning and honeymooning this fall.

Pretty proud of my accomplishments thus far. Are you still working on your resolutions or did you throw them by the wayside months ago (believe me, I will not judge. 2013 is my new leaf!)