As the new Field Trip and Observing Chairman for 2013, I see my main responsibility as organizing events and activities that will enable all our club members to observe more and better. So as your first New Year's resolution, I want to encourage you to pick at least one AL observing program to do in 2013. http://www.astroleague.org/observing.html
I started on the Messier list in February last year, and it was really, really hard at the beginning; but it revolutionized my observing and it's been one of the most fun things I've done in years. One year ago, the only deep-space objects I could find were the Great Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and the Ring Nebula. I couldn't star hop and had an old non-GOTO scope, so that was about all I could find. But several club members generously showed me what I needed to know and answered my questions. While I'm far from an expert, I did finish the Messier list in December. So if you need something to help you get started and to keep you going, I strongly recommend an AL program.
I would like to start a thread on each of the AL observing programs where you can ask questions and give advice. Tell us which objects you enjoyed most and what one has you stumped. Maybe we can keep a running tally of how many objects on the list we've observed as a friendly competition.
If you don't know which one to pick, Messier, Double Star, and Solar System are all good ones to start with. All three can be completely or mostly done from within Houston, although you might need to go to a dark place like Bear Creek Park to do some of the Messier objects. Most or all of the objects can be found with a small scope too.
Steve