2015: Cheers to a New Year!

I hadn't really thought much about setting goals or resolutions for 2015 until a friend asked me in an email. I'd formed some half-assed ideas, but mostly figured I'd strike forward on the path I set out on in 2012 and keep marching because I did really great that year to do really well by myself mentally and physically which led to everything else falling in place. I'm still in a great place, but it is time to dial in some finer tuning for 2015.

1. Happiness. I want to be happy within each thing I do. I want to be able to relax within my passions and not be so hard on myself. I want to be able to smile at the end of every day and be proud of what I've done be it large or small. I don't want to sit around dwelling on what "didn't" happen or be so hard on myself about every tiny thing.

2. Health - for me AND the critters. For me, this means maintaining my trips to the gym and once weekly yoga classes to supplement yoga/meditation I do at home. And, of course, maintaining my riding/climbing/skiing/adventure fitness habits; I'd really like to carve out a little more time for climbing this year! Health also means making a conscious effort to eat cleaner more of the time and resist making/buying meals that while quick and easy, are often lacking in nutritional value. For Kenai, it means getting the musculature and strength back into his hind end for good and kissing goodbye to this lameness issue that has been reoccurring for nearly 2 years. His knees are no longer the issue, his overall fitness as a result of me thinking we were done from rehab when we really weren't IS. For the horses, it means keeping them on supplements as needed to support the work they perform. It means not pushing them harder than necessary and providing them plenty of rest both mental and physical. For the cats, it means getting them off such a grain-induced diet and back to a high-protein diet with more structured meals as they should have. 

3. Budget. While I've been tracking my money flow for the past several years, my recent changes to precisely HOW I'm doing that will help me to really budget better. I need to find a better balance with my spending and saving than I had before. The organization of my spreadsheet pleases my anal-retentive side greatly lol

4. Slow down. While I've been doing more of this as the year has wound to an end, I want to be certain I continue to do more of it into the new year. This means more reading as I very much miss the amount I used to read and I don't know what happened to that! I have so many books just waiting to be read, I need to find my reading mojo again. I would also like to do more knitting, more crafting, and more cooking. For the knitting, I want to knit something that isn't a hat for once (my mother is grinning about this). The crafting? I've got a lot of ideas, I'd like to actually commit to doing a handful of them this year. Cooking? I'm doing more of this lately and I love it. Nothing super crazy, but flavorful, simple, and delicious. And finally, I'd like to slow down and get back to photography some. Nothing crazy, but I'd like to take a couple big dives this year and really learn some new skills within the field and have some fun.

5. The horses
     - Q: I want to get this mare to a better place mentally and into a better partnership with me. We seem to be on a very good track lately, so I think if I continue from here I will be good. Additionally I'd like a successful, happy, healthy competition season with this little girl. I am not going to give a specific number of rides that I hope to accomplish or a set distance I hope to accomplish. I just want to enjoy the trails with my mare this year. I plan to buckle down hard in the beginning of the year to really put a strong mental (focus on this primarily until mid-late February) and physical foundation on Q so we've got solid ground to depend on, and then ease back on our workouts and focus on weak points primarily while still maintaining her overall fitness throughout the rest of the year.
    - Griffin: I want to keep this guy sound, strong, and happy this year. I want to further develop his consistency and skill under saddle and pursue at least one competitive event on him. I don't know what discipline that competitive event will be, but I want to pursue at least one because it will provide a concrete goal to work toward in some capacity and will serve as a very good learning situation for both of us.
    - My Riding: I'd really like to buckle down and get at least a 1x month lesson this year. The only local instructor doesn't have an indoor area however, so I'll be waiting until the weather breaks most likely. I'd like to get several rides in with her on her stallion (or maybe he's been gelded now...) before I start taking lessons on my own horses so that I can focus on me for awhile. She told me her big boy won't let me get away with doing the wrong thing which I think would be great for me. I'll really have to learn to do things correctly! The one lesson I managed to take before life and weather spiraled out of control this past year was fabulous and I took SO MUCH away. Want. Need. More.

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30 before 30 goals I would like to work towards completing this year:

• Do a split
• Practice yoga consistently (will help with the split thing)
• Skydive
• Maybe begin to learn the mandolin?!

I chose the above because I believe they are very doable for the year. Other non-travel-related goals may occur, too, but all travel-related goals will have to wait until 2016 and later.

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Cheers to you and yours for a happy, healthy new year!