Kicking off 2013 with a Mega Flirt Squad Challenge

I don't think I've ever really done New Year's resolutions because I don't really believe in them. For me, I either forget about them or I don't achieve them.

What I generally tend to say is, "this year, I want to get such and such... done" as more of a to-do list sort of thing. I've never blogged about it before (never been bothered) BUT as part of Rachel Harris' 2013 Mega #FlirtSquad (my post about what the Flirt Squad is) Challenge, I'm gonna write about what I have on my to-do list this year.

Firstly, the Flirt Squad is Rachel Harris (author or My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century; as mentioned in my 2012 End of Year Book Survey, MSSSC was one of my favourite books) "street team". We (I have recently joined :D) spread the word about her books and increase the hype around release time.

For the 2013 Mega Flirt Squad Challenge, Rachel has even more swag in addition to what she usually includes with the Flirt Squad...

The challenge entails tweeting different resolutions (refer to link below to Rachel's site for these tweets) from different books that have been included in the challenge. Each tweet earns 1 point and at the end of the challenge (February 1st 2013) winners can receive the following prizes (woot prizes!):

One Grand Prize Winner wins a Super Sized ebook pack featuring:

• My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris (the host)
• Gravity by Melissa West
• All The Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen
• Inbetween by Tara Fuller
• Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs
• Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein
• Conjure by Lea Nolan
• Love All by Kelly Hashway 
• Spectral from Shannon Duffy
• Almost and Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot
• YOUR CHOICE of any one of Nyrae Dawn's books!
• Signed swag from The Collector: A Dante Walker Novel from Victoria Scott
• Signed Paperback of Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe 
• AND a brilliant, hand-designed Angel Academy bracelet from Cecily White!

TWO Additional Winners Win Signed Swag from:

• My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century
• Spectral and Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta from Shannon Duffy
• Love All and Touch of Death from Kelly Hashway
• Destiny's Fire from Trisha Wolfe
• Conjure swag pack including a magnet, signed bookmark, and silicone bracelet
• What a Boy Wants bookmarks and Charade postcards from Nyrae Dawn

Now that I've got your attention, if you want to join in the fun, click here to be taken to Rachel's page with the full details on the challenge!

SO... what are my "resolutions" (aka my to-do list) for 2013?

1. To get into book blogging - writing proper reviews more frequently and also keeping this blog up to date; revamp the blog and make it presentable with a rating scheme!
2. Spend less money on useless things - in 2012 I wasted so much money on things I didn't really need. So for 2013 I'm going to cut down on the kpop (only buying CDs for the artists I really support/my absolute biases) and buy books from the Book Depository more (LOL 1 book from Kino is 2 from tBD)
3. Up my technical skills; learn as much as I can about the technical aspects of information systems especially regarding IS security during ITE2 (my 2nd Industry Training Experience aka internship)
4. Maintain my term WAM (this might be harder but I can still try)

Despite me wanting to say my resolutions are the most similar to Cat's tweet "in 2013, I vow to be as bold as Cat, and give in to my artistic side." because MSSSC is the only book I've read out of all those books and I can understand Cat, I realised this only encompassed reso #1 and not the rest! Upon further reflection and reading through the tweets multiple times I realised the most relevant tweet for me is:

"In 2013 I vow to be as brave as Jewel and embrace what makes me unique." from Spectral and Gabriel Stone by Shannon Duffy.

I chose this because, even though I do want to give in to my artistic side so that this blog progresses, my artistic side is also what makes me unique. And while on ITE2, being artistic and non-techy is what sets me aside from the other employees. I want to be brave and think outside the box, bringing my love of design into my learning experience so I can love my ITE2 experience even more. I also need to be brave and set out of my comfort zone so that I CAN become more technical as I chose this and want to get the most out of ITE!

Wew what a post D: let's hope these get ticked off by the end of the year!