And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been

I’ve always liked the idea of making resolutions to start off the new year. It’s a way of turning the page and starting anew. But I don’t think January 1 is the only time of year to make plans and set goals for ourselves. I’m a big fan of starting fresh when you say you’re ready to, whether that’s on January 1 or June 21.

Usually my New Year’s Resolutions are pretty vague and very general and generally unattainable. This year I wanted to be sure to make resolutions I would actually stick to, ones that would actually make me happy and proud of myself. I also made a promise to myself to revisit my resolutions on the first of every month to check in and see how I’m doing with each of them. March 1 is here, and it’s time to sit down and evaluate where I’m at with my resolutions, now two months into 2019.

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell. And for once it might be grand to have someone understand, I want so much more than they've got planned

I absolutely loved Beauty and the Beast growing up. I still do. Belle is my absolute favorite Disney princess, and I hold this story in such a special place in my heart. When I heard that they were remaking Beauty and the Beast as a live-action movie, I was excited but a little weary. But then they cast Emma Watson as Belle, and I was ecstatic. Add in the rest of the amazingly perfect cast, and I was simply thrilled, though disappointed that I had to wait two years for the movie to be released.

Well, two years have passed, and I finally saw the new Beauty and the Beast last night. I've tried to think of the perfect word or phrase to describe just how amazing the movie was, but nothing really seems to suffice. So I'll say simply what I said when I "checked in" at the movie on Facebook after the credits finished rolling: Wow.

This movie was everything I wanted it to be and more.

Look after my heart—I've left it with you.

Happy Valentine's Day! Ah, the day of love. I love love, don't you? Love in any form just makes me so happy. Today is such a beautiful day: the sun is shining, I'm done with classes by noon, and it's a day to celebrate love! While it's important to celebrate love every day, many people take the opportunity to do it even more today, so why not join them? I want to celebrate my valentines—yes, all of them because a girl can't have just one valentine! There are so many things in my life that I love, and I want to recognize those things today.

{Now Playing: Spotify's Valentine's Day Love playlist—When did they add Ariana Grande and John Legend's version of "Beauty and the Beast" to Spotify?!}

Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

2016 was...interesting, to say the least. Many people hated 2016; granted, a lot of negative things did happen this year. A large number of influencers and artists passed away, an election divided our country, and violence and hate continued to tear our world apart. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat it: it was a tough year for a lot of people. But I've never been one to focus on the negative. I always try to see the positive, especially in difficult situations, so I'm looking back at the positive highlights of my own 2016.

—To start 2016, I started this blog! It's been so much fun to do, and I have some great projects in the works for the new year.

—My nephew and godson turned one, and I got to spend another incredible year watching him grow and learn. He also said my name for the first time this year (both as "Rah-Rah" and as "Sarah")!

—I got to go on two amazing trips to New York City. The first was in April with Ed on Campus during which we visited a number of magazines and got to visit with editors. The second was in July for Her Conference, which featured great speakers and workshops. During this trip I also bonded with three Her Campus Iowa girls, and they are now some of my best friends.

Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

I've been spending a lot of time trying to decide what I want this post to be. My love of Harry Potter is so great, and the number of things I could write about related to Harry Potter is so large. But with the recent release of the script of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," I knew I wanted to write something about Harry Potter this week.

I just finished reading the script; in fact, I read it in a matter of a couple of hours on Thursday. I have so many thoughts and feelings about the story. It may sound silly, but it's been so emotional to dive back into a story I thought was finished, a story that was such a big part of my childhood, a story that is a huge part of my life.

Last fall I was lucky enough to be in a class all about "Harry Potter." It was an Honors class and a gen ed, so it was a no brainer that I would take it. {Heck, I would have taken any class about "Harry Potter," even if it was offered in the Engineering department.} It was such a great experience to read the series and discuss in a room full of other "Harry Potter" nerds for an entire semester. And it helped to learn and realize so many things about my favorite series.

"Harry Potter" has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I don’t remember that moment I first picked up the books or even the first time I watched the first movie. All I know is that it’s a part of my life and perhaps even a part of me. I’ve gotten used to answering the question of who my favorite character is. “Obviously it’s Hermione,” is my typical answer. It’s a cliché answer that I’m sure thousands of others share. But as I've grown up and reread the series and taken the class with other Potterheads and immersed myself even more into J.K. Rowling's world, I've realized that my love for the "Harry Potter" series goes beyond my love for Hermione. I've learned so much from these books.

Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?

The first read for my summer book club is Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes!

It's summer break, which means it's time for my annual summer book club! This is the third year that I have held my book club, and every year it just seems to get better and better.

I first decided to form my book club the summer after my senior year of high school as a sort of last hurrah for me and my friends before we all left for college that fall. I've always loved to read, so I thought book club would be a fun way to connect with my friends before we all went our separate ways.

The world was hers for the reading.

I have loved to read since the day I first learned how. I fell in love with the excitement of meeting new people, traveling to new places, experiencing new things, all through the words on the pages of the books I picked up.

I didn’t read as many books as I would have liked to last year, but I did read a few fantastic ones. Take a look at what I read in 2015.