Better Me for a Better Year

If you know me well, you know 2013 wasn’t my best. The end got a little better, as I joined a gym and started doing better in my fitness. And I started seeing a chiropractor, which has helped my back and knee tremendously. But 2013 is never going down in the history books as a great year. So 2014 is GOING to be better! I have a huge, ambitious list, but honestly? I think it’s doable.

I wish I was as fantastic at posting on my blog as my husband is on his, but I don’t work on computers for a living, so that may explain a bit of my reluctance to learn. I am super motivated to learn better techniques and ideas for enrichment and training animals, and advancements in animal care! But if you are interested in seeing a fantastic blog with interesting posts and pretty pictures, I highly recommend Chris’ site- saobart.com. Maybe with enough of these, I’ll get as somewhat as creative and profound as him.

Anyways, onto my list:

Personal

Family and friends: I am continuing to send postcards/care packages each month, like last year. I have no idea if my family enjoyed or appreciated them, but I’m doing it again this year no matter, because I would appreciate it! Plus I have close to one trillion postcards, so I have to get rid of them somehow!
Spend at least 2 Sundays a month with Chris doing something unique. We wrote our “Bucket List for 2014” together, and I hope to blog about it soon (maybe when I’m done with this list), and it’s a doozy! If we succeed in attending ALL the items, we will have had a BUSY year!
Plan 3 weekend trips together with Chris. This means asking for a Saturday off work and going somewhere with the hubby to explore.
Writing: “Poach Eggs, Not Rhinos”- if you’re lucky, I’ll blog about this idea I have. It’s my campaign idea for the year.
10 blog posts this year. 2 less than my goal for last year, 9 more than I did last year…
Attend 6 writing groups. I guess I should FIND a writing group, but planning on one every other month seems achievable, right? Oh, and I count Norwescon as a writing group, if I go.
Submit 1 writing sample for critique.
Read at least 10 books, and no new books until I’ve cleared out some of my books now. I can’t even begin to describe how many fracking books I have on my shelves. I think I read way more than 10 books this past year, but most of them were library books, which I refuse to count towards my goal, because it doesn’t clear out my bookshelves.
How big my library SHOULD be to fit all my books…
Get new tattoo. I have my idea of what I want, it’s what I’ve wanted since I got the job at the Elephant Barn, but it’s really the design that is killing the motivation. One day I’ll get Chris to sit down and design it. It’s going to kick ass. That is all.
Finish one major craft project: 3 wreaths, stocking, or hair ties. Or pick up blacksmithing, or something! Knitting! I just need to finish ONE project!

Fitness

Burn 2000 calories a week. I did the calculations. This is going to be harder than it sounds, and if I am to accomplish this, I have to BUST ASS at the gym!
Bike 500 miles. This is the easiest one to achieve. With my bike fixed and my knee doing better, plus living further away and having an enjoyably long ride, I can see myself doubling this goal, but I’ll work small for now.
Pick up that G@DD&M# boomer ball! This is year 3 that item has been on my list. Yes, it irritates me to no end that I still can’t lift it over my head. But I CAN lift it by myself, and I set it down gently, also, which takes quite a bit of core strength, so I am off to a decent start. But boomer ball? This is the year you will be my BITCH!!!!
By August, I want to be waking up in time to get a more than just decent workout at the gym before work.
I want to wear my Harley Quinn costume for Halloween. And be comfortable. And confident.
Try 12 new recipes. That’s one a month, but I don’t have to do them only once a month. AndI want to ensure I’m cooking at least 3 healthy meals a week. COOKING. Not buying. HEALTHY. Not just yummy.
Workout on my own (without class or training session) once a week.
Create 20 power workouts.
Read 3 fitness books and REALLY try them out.
Write down EVERY meal. This is SOOOOOOOOO hard! Ugh, I dread doing this, but writing your meals down is the #1 most recommended and consistently proven way to eat less junky food and lose weight. If you know you have to write down that stupid little cookie from the meeting, you are less likely to eat it. So, writing it down is one of my stupid fitness goals! Grrrr….

Professional

Present at AAZK National. I have several ideas for presentations, so this should be an easy goal to achieve. But I’m trying not to count the Behavioral Husbandry Workshops I’ll be helping out with.
Publish an article in Ratel, JEMA, and/or AKF. Ratel is the top goal. I’ll be super happy if I get published in the UK’s animal keeping journal.
Attend 12 seminars from Fred Pryor, and watch 12 online classes on my own.
Train 2 new behaviors with each elephant, one husbandry and one enrichment/fun behavior.
Create and hold first meeting of WPZ’s Enrichment Committee. This is going to be a tough one to complete, because it’s not exactly up to solely me that I can create the committee. Hopefully, management will see the benefits and my persistence will pay off!