Welcome to my first monthly recap! One of my goals is to hold myself more accountable this year in all areas of my life, and making sure I’m staying focused with blogging is a big part of that. I’m hoping to do a round-up  at the end of every month for 2013.

I published two posts on Red Lips & Academics. I was hoping for one more, but it’s currently sitting in WordPress draft purgatory right now. I’m determined to release it to the world and publish it next week.

In an effort of taking the focus off of me and onto helping others, I started with the Four resources to jumpstart your new year for free! I’m pretty personal growth obsessed and had been collecting resources for awhile. And since caring is sharing, I included four of my favorite free ones in this post. Still planning a great 2013? These resources will help you get there.

At the beginning of the year, a lot of life coaches and the like will tell you to pick one word and only one word to define your year. Well, that’s a lot of pressure. I wrote about my experience about finding my word in Finding your Chris Hemsworth of words and declaring it your imperfect year. In addition to figuring out my word for 2013, I also need to find more reasons write about Chris Hemsworth!

I didn’t get another post done on my blog liked I planned, but I did guest post for Krystle of Paperfort Studio. She has this great guest series where writers disclose their fears. Originally  I wanted to choose something really hairy, scary, but I decided to go with something a little smaller. Grasshoppers. Yes, I’m afraid of grasshoppers. For a really big reason, actually. To find out why, check out my guest post here. I’m sure many other freaks and geeks can relate.

And that’s what happened on Red Lips & Academics this month. But I didn’t want to just include my stuff in these recaps. Since I basically read all of the internet everyday, I wanted to share a few other things I found interesting this month.

I’m still fizzy over the new year, and am still busy dreaming and scheming my 2013. In addition to the four (free!) resources to jumpstart your goals that I wrote about, I’ve found two more that I really love from two incredibly inspiring women.

Rosetta Thurman, personal development queen and owner of one of the best smiles ever, has 10 journaling questions to help you envision your ideal life next year. Oh, and they’re good. Another one of my favorites, Jenny Blake, from Life After College has 13 more questions, too. Juicy stuff.

Did you know that a college professor is the easiest job in America? According to Career Cast, it is. I’m sure all academics are with me when my response to this is siiiiigggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh. Teaching is hard, people! Not only do you have to help students learn, you get letters like this. A letter from a student that starts with “I wish to write you about the biggest thing I carry.” Read this, tear up, and give thanks that this student was cared for by a teacher as compassionate as this one.

Must be the sociology minor in me, but I’m really interested in the construction of gender and how it influences our society. I loved reading One Dad’s Ill-Fated Battle Against the Princesses from a father of twin girls who tried to resist letting his daughters feed into the Disney princess culture of tulle dresses, plastic tiaras, and classic, passive femininity. Makes me realize how hard it is to raise a daughter right in our crazy, mixed-up culture. I love the comments too, especially one from another father who wrote about how his daughter plastered her microscope with sparkly stickers and wants to grow up to be a “magical scientist.” Maybe there’s hope for these kids yet.

And to end of a fun note, Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen is probably my favorite song ever. Emotion just slithers from the lyrics and grips you cold. So good. I’m partial to the renditions by Rufus Wainwright and Kate Voegele, but this unknown NYC bartender, Joe Ardizzone, just kills it. Spine, meet tingles. Watch the video of his crazy/amazing performance here.