2014 Year in Review
I haven't done one of these for a long time, so I'm sitting down and reading through everything I've written this year (which isn't as much as in previous years, unfortunately) and reflecting on all that has changed - which thankfully is mostly good so far!
January
I started off the year at my mom's house, where I spent the better part of the Christmas holiday break. Even though I wasn't in school, I still had a bit of break from work since I work on a college campus. I put together a list of goals for 2014 (in all actuality though, I haven't reflected on this list much throughout the year).
Goals for 2014:
1. Get my license.
2. Buy a car.
3. Read 5 of the classics.
4. Blog more.
5. Try at least 10 new recipes.
6. Lose 15 pounds.
7. Get an apartment.
8. Take the GRE.
9. Start working on earning my master's certificate in GIS.
10. Work with Orion more and start being afraid to go faster than a trot.
Looking at these goals now, some of them became null and void at different points throughout the year (i.e. #9 and #10). A lot of the ones that I can't mark off yet weren't complete failures, not yet anyway. Some of them are in the works. I am pretty proud of the 15 pounds and apartment though. I've wanted to get an apartment for a long time now and finally have one that I can afford with roommates that are awesome. And even though those other goals aren't at the point where they can be marked off yet, I do not under any circumstances consider this year a failure. Quite the opposite actually. I feel like I've had a lot of self-discovery this year.
February
I had a lot of self-discovery going on in this month, as I realized that I was finally happy again and continued moving forward.
March
I didn't write this month, but I was still dealing with quite a bit personally (aftermath of a bad break up in which I kinda lost myself) and settling into the new role I took on at work as supervisor and safety manager. By this point I was doing it on my own and teaching myself as I went along because the person who had those roles before me didn't teach me very much about it when I took it on.
April
This month I reflected on how I was coping with the changes happening in my life, I journaled a lot (btw, that journal is almost completely full now; I'll probably have to start another one for 2015), I realized that I really wanted to do something with physical therapy. I figured this out when I was going to PT for a rotator cuff strain that I obtained back in October of 2013. In that same post, I also decided to start blogging more (a constant struggle this past year, lol).
I also started doing the FMS Photo a Day challege. Check out the tag "FMSphotoaday" to see those. I want to do more of those next year since I've failed to do anymore this year.
I also made up a sort of cheat sheet for myself and any other bloggers interested and created a 20 Things to Blog About post.
May
I revealed that I had been working on a book that I wrote in high school. That is not finished at this date, but I did make a lot of progress on it and do still plan to publish. Mostly what is left is formatting for Kindle. I have the cover photo picked out (spoiler: It's Orion). This was also when I started thinking about and eventually did get into proofreading on Fiverr. I did that for a few months before getting too busy with work in the fall and quitting. Perks of being self-employed with that. lol. I am thinking about getting back into it on a smaller scale sometime soon.
In that same post there were also KITTENS! Cute little furry gray babies that are now pretty much feral thanks to their momma being scared of her own shadow.
I also talked about some TV shows here and here.
June
I made the official announcement that Orion was coming to live in the town that I now reside in, for a price comparable to what I was paying before and with much more in the way of facilities, albeit slightly neglected facilities that needed a bit of work.
Fiverr gigs started rolling in and kept me busy, but I started pulling together what I would need for Orion's move and asked for advice. I took my last ride at the old place and came up with goals for Orion. The main goals were to get his feet in better shape and to get him to take his bit. His feet are something I've had to keep up with, because it's just generally good for his well-being and also especially important because of his DSLD. Bitting, not as much since I'm no longer riding him.
Orion moved to his new home not even ten minutes from where I now reside. He made some new buddies and loved it. He also was diagnosed with DSLD, a condition that is not fun for either of us to deal with. Before I knew he had it, and what prompted me to have him checked for it, he bucked me over his head, and I broke my collarbone. I went home with my mom to recuperate for a few weeks after that.
January
I started off the year at my mom's house, where I spent the better part of the Christmas holiday break. Even though I wasn't in school, I still had a bit of break from work since I work on a college campus. I put together a list of goals for 2014 (in all actuality though, I haven't reflected on this list much throughout the year).
Goals for 2014:
1. Get my license.
2. Buy a car.
3. Read 5 of the classics.
4. Blog more.
5. Try at least 10 new recipes.
8. Take the GRE.
9. Start working on earning my master's certificate in GIS.
10. Work with Orion more and start being afraid to go faster than a trot.
Looking at these goals now, some of them became null and void at different points throughout the year (i.e. #9 and #10). A lot of the ones that I can't mark off yet weren't complete failures, not yet anyway. Some of them are in the works. I am pretty proud of the 15 pounds and apartment though. I've wanted to get an apartment for a long time now and finally have one that I can afford with roommates that are awesome. And even though those other goals aren't at the point where they can be marked off yet, I do not under any circumstances consider this year a failure. Quite the opposite actually. I feel like I've had a lot of self-discovery this year.
February
I had a lot of self-discovery going on in this month, as I realized that I was finally happy again and continued moving forward.
March
I didn't write this month, but I was still dealing with quite a bit personally (aftermath of a bad break up in which I kinda lost myself) and settling into the new role I took on at work as supervisor and safety manager. By this point I was doing it on my own and teaching myself as I went along because the person who had those roles before me didn't teach me very much about it when I took it on.
April
This month I reflected on how I was coping with the changes happening in my life, I journaled a lot (btw, that journal is almost completely full now; I'll probably have to start another one for 2015), I realized that I really wanted to do something with physical therapy. I figured this out when I was going to PT for a rotator cuff strain that I obtained back in October of 2013. In that same post, I also decided to start blogging more (a constant struggle this past year, lol).
I also started doing the FMS Photo a Day challege. Check out the tag "FMSphotoaday" to see those. I want to do more of those next year since I've failed to do anymore this year.
I also made up a sort of cheat sheet for myself and any other bloggers interested and created a 20 Things to Blog About post.
May
I revealed that I had been working on a book that I wrote in high school. That is not finished at this date, but I did make a lot of progress on it and do still plan to publish. Mostly what is left is formatting for Kindle. I have the cover photo picked out (spoiler: It's Orion). This was also when I started thinking about and eventually did get into proofreading on Fiverr. I did that for a few months before getting too busy with work in the fall and quitting. Perks of being self-employed with that. lol. I am thinking about getting back into it on a smaller scale sometime soon.
In that same post there were also KITTENS! Cute little furry gray babies that are now pretty much feral thanks to their momma being scared of her own shadow.
I also talked about some TV shows here and here.
June
I made the official announcement that Orion was coming to live in the town that I now reside in, for a price comparable to what I was paying before and with much more in the way of facilities, albeit slightly neglected facilities that needed a bit of work.
 |
| "Mom, I'm moving?" |
Before I moved Orion, I spent a day with one of the boarders at the new barn, someone I'm friends with from college. We rode and swam and got horribly sunburnt in the process. I rode the barn owner's little Paint mare, Vanna, who has since been sold. Such a good little girl. I miss her.
 |
| Vanna is the little girl on the left, Merrill is the big boy in the middle, and then of course is Orion on the right. |
 |
| Oh, and I found out there are snakes at the barn. Black snakes. Huge ass black snakes. |
 |
| And huge ass spiders. |
July 2014
This month (I'm getting lazy with my links here because there were a lot of posts from July) I talked about my Fiverr business, posted a lot of pictures, discussed some ideas about conditioning Orion in my handicapped, broken collarbone state, and bought a lot of books.
I also finally opened up and talked about what had happened with Orion. I had to sit on it and do a lot of processing (and overcome to wooziness that the concussion I had and pain pills I was taking at the time were causing). But I finally wrote about it and posted it on here - with a lot of pictures. This was before the diagnosis. Eventually I wrote about that, too. That also took a bit of processing, and I contemplated whether or not I was willing to risk riding him again, for his safety and mine.
Went to a river with a friend. :) Always fun times. Reflected on life a bit more. Jumped on a blog hop band wagon and had fun with it (I should do more of those this year. Hmm...). Continued to visit with my boy, who was as sweet as he's ever been and seemed to know to be careful around my injury. I shared some inspirational pictures/quotes that inspired me and talked about some of the things I'm thankful for in my life right now, namely Orion and the bond that I have built with him regardless of the issues that we've dealt with.
August - December 2014
There wasn't a lot of blogging during these months because I went back to work and had less time and also because I went back to live with my grandpa and had no internet again.
In September, I wrote a blog post that was kind of a rant/vent session about a sort-of friend's attitude toward the world, but it ended up being kind of therapeutic for me in the process.
In October, I turned 24 (good God, life is going by fast...). I had a lot of visits with Orion, and he was the world's biggest sweetheart. I also found out about an apartment available with some people that I knew from college, and the price of rent/utilities/everything seemed almost too good to be true, so I looked into it...and I loved it. It was an apartment with guys, and I've never lived with guys, so I was a little nervous about that - and some of my family was REALLY uncomfortable with that. But I knew them and knew they were good people, so I gave it some serious thought and finally decided to go for it!
On November 1st, I got some of my stuff moved into the apartment and stayed my first night there. Chels helped me move what I had available to me to move at the time, and we went to a Halloween concert back home that some friends of ours were playing at. Awesome times. It was a great night and one I'm not likely to forget, made even better by the fact that when I went home that night I was going home to a place of my own for the very first time.
I finally got a new laptop during a Black Friday sale on Amazon. My huge old HP that is still awesome will be retired as a desktop computer once my desk actually comes to live at my apartment and relinquishes it's spot in my old room at my mom's house. It's issues just cause it to have to stay in one place at all times. So a desktop is the perfect job for it.
December hasn't seen much writing, but there's been a fair bit going on.
For example. Meet this goofball.
This is Tank. He's an English bulldog puppy born on October 1st, and I've been watching him for a little while now. He was my brothers' Christmas gift, but since my family's landlord doesn't allow pets, I've been taking care of him until some factor in that situation changes. I can't say I really mind. He's adorable and a really good puppy. Ornery as all get out, but really laid back and easy going too. He likes to flop down on my kitchen floor and snooze the day away while I do stuff around the apartment - this is if he isn't following me everywhere or chasing my roommates feet/shoes or playing with the big dog, Milton, who is a 10 month (I think?) old lab mix and roughly about 4x the size of Tank, if not bigger.
Other news from December is that my laptop arrived. I love it. I put up my first very own Christmas tree in my first apartment with my roommates. And my new cat, Leo, promptly tore it down within the first day. He gets locked in his bathroom at night and when we all have to leave now because he's pulled the tree down three times since we put it up after Thanksgiving and has broken who knows how many ornaments and pulled off and lost who knows how many more. Turdface. But we love him anyway.
So that's it! My 2014. How was yours?
This month (I'm getting lazy with my links here because there were a lot of posts from July) I talked about my Fiverr business, posted a lot of pictures, discussed some ideas about conditioning Orion in my handicapped, broken collarbone state, and bought a lot of books.
I also finally opened up and talked about what had happened with Orion. I had to sit on it and do a lot of processing (and overcome to wooziness that the concussion I had and pain pills I was taking at the time were causing). But I finally wrote about it and posted it on here - with a lot of pictures. This was before the diagnosis. Eventually I wrote about that, too. That also took a bit of processing, and I contemplated whether or not I was willing to risk riding him again, for his safety and mine.
Went to a river with a friend. :) Always fun times. Reflected on life a bit more. Jumped on a blog hop band wagon and had fun with it (I should do more of those this year. Hmm...). Continued to visit with my boy, who was as sweet as he's ever been and seemed to know to be careful around my injury. I shared some inspirational pictures/quotes that inspired me and talked about some of the things I'm thankful for in my life right now, namely Orion and the bond that I have built with him regardless of the issues that we've dealt with.
August - December 2014
There wasn't a lot of blogging during these months because I went back to work and had less time and also because I went back to live with my grandpa and had no internet again.
In September, I wrote a blog post that was kind of a rant/vent session about a sort-of friend's attitude toward the world, but it ended up being kind of therapeutic for me in the process.
In October, I turned 24 (good God, life is going by fast...). I had a lot of visits with Orion, and he was the world's biggest sweetheart. I also found out about an apartment available with some people that I knew from college, and the price of rent/utilities/everything seemed almost too good to be true, so I looked into it...and I loved it. It was an apartment with guys, and I've never lived with guys, so I was a little nervous about that - and some of my family was REALLY uncomfortable with that. But I knew them and knew they were good people, so I gave it some serious thought and finally decided to go for it!
On November 1st, I got some of my stuff moved into the apartment and stayed my first night there. Chels helped me move what I had available to me to move at the time, and we went to a Halloween concert back home that some friends of ours were playing at. Awesome times. It was a great night and one I'm not likely to forget, made even better by the fact that when I went home that night I was going home to a place of my own for the very first time.
I finally got a new laptop during a Black Friday sale on Amazon. My huge old HP that is still awesome will be retired as a desktop computer once my desk actually comes to live at my apartment and relinquishes it's spot in my old room at my mom's house. It's issues just cause it to have to stay in one place at all times. So a desktop is the perfect job for it.
December hasn't seen much writing, but there's been a fair bit going on.
For example. Meet this goofball.
This is Tank. He's an English bulldog puppy born on October 1st, and I've been watching him for a little while now. He was my brothers' Christmas gift, but since my family's landlord doesn't allow pets, I've been taking care of him until some factor in that situation changes. I can't say I really mind. He's adorable and a really good puppy. Ornery as all get out, but really laid back and easy going too. He likes to flop down on my kitchen floor and snooze the day away while I do stuff around the apartment - this is if he isn't following me everywhere or chasing my roommates feet/shoes or playing with the big dog, Milton, who is a 10 month (I think?) old lab mix and roughly about 4x the size of Tank, if not bigger.
Other news from December is that my laptop arrived. I love it. I put up my first very own Christmas tree in my first apartment with my roommates. And my new cat, Leo, promptly tore it down within the first day. He gets locked in his bathroom at night and when we all have to leave now because he's pulled the tree down three times since we put it up after Thanksgiving and has broken who knows how many ornaments and pulled off and lost who knows how many more. Turdface. But we love him anyway.
So that's it! My 2014. How was yours?
Happy New Year!
Great recap! That puppy is adorable!!!!!! It will be so hard to give him back!
ReplyDeleteI have to ask and I hope this doesn't make me look like a total idiot.... but why do you not have a diver's license?? Do you live in a city with public transportation? I live out in the middle of nowhere so I got my license at sixteen. The only other choice would be to walk to ride my bike ten miles just to get anywhere lol. Anyway I'm just curious, because I thought everyone got their license in school these days. I guess unless you live in New York or some huge city like that. Weird (and probably dumb) question I know, but I'm just too curious not to ask hehe. :D
Happy New Year!! I can't wait to see what all fun and exciting things happen in 2015!
Ha! No, not an idiotic question at all. I should have my license by now. It's a frustration I've dealt with for years and something that everyone gets onto me about, for good reason. I wasn't allowed (by family, not law) to try to get my learner's permit until I was 17, and even once I did that, the people I wanted to teach me to drive never had enough time to log all the hours I needed to practice. Almost everyone lies on those hour logs, but I just wanted to get to where I was actually comfortable enough to know I'd pass the test, and that never happened. Since then I've had my permit a bunch of times, but it always ends up expiring (once you're 21 it's only good for 3 months - or 4, if you use the 1 month extension in time) before I'm able to take the test, whether it's because of my own time constraints or someone else's. But I have a couple of people close to me who are as determined as I am to get it for me who are going to make sure that when I can do it, it happens without question. So, soon, it will finally happen.
DeleteOh wow I did not know that about it expiring after only three months when you're over the age of twenty one!! Learn something new every day hehe. I hope you get it all sorted out so you can take the test. :D I had my learner's permit for a year because I didn't have someone to practice with me either. My dad finally let me take the truck out and drive circles in the pasture without someone supervising, but we'll keep that quiet hehe. Although technically if you're on your own property I don't think it's illegal. :)
DeleteBig year of change for you! Cheers to a bigger and better 2015.
ReplyDelete