Updated 2018 Goals

Meet Milo, the newest furry addition to our house.  If you follow me on other social media, you've definitely already seen him at least a time or two....or probably more!

Hey everyone!

So, I'm setting a few new goals for myself.  I haven't really checked in with my goals for 2018 for a while, so I was just looking over those and have some updates!

Here's what I had said in January (the last time I posted - ugh.  I actually had a few drafts from various other times this year that never got posted....but I'll touch on those later on!):



Work on my Etsy shop and selling some more stuff through there.

This honestly hasn't happened.  I've had a lot of other things going on, but after Christmas, I didn't get any requests other than a few blankets I made for a friend.  I really didn't work too much on advertising anything because I was quite honestly pretty burnt out from all of the things I made around Christmas time.  I'm thinking about picking up on trying to make some things to sell as we go into fall, but we'll see.  It's possible that I'll just take down the Etsy shop altogether and just make things if people request them.  Nothing is for sure yet!

Try to start saving money for the long term (literally have never had enough to have a savings account - might not make this goal this year, but I want to at least try again)

I really haven't been able to put any money back, as expected at this point, since my expenses and income both are the same, and my budget is already as pared back as it usually gets.  I am thinking about doing a "no spend month" where you don't spend money on anything other than bills and necessities, just to see how that goes.  I already know I go over budget on ordering out and picking up random snacks on the road, so that is the only stuff I can think that I'd have to cut out for a no spend month, but I think it could be eye-opening.

Work with Orion more - includes looking into some new and different things for us to try from the ground.

Again, I haven't gotten into this yet.  I had planned to a few months ago, as I got some exciting/nerve-wracking news from his vet in April, but there just hasn't been time recently.  I'm looking at laying out a schedule of certain days a week that I think I might be able to set aside an hour or two to go do things at the barn so that I can really dive in.  I've also gathered materials to start reading up on some things I can do with him to at least get us started, if not things to carry us further than that.  There is a lot of work that will have to go into us both in order to do the things I'm aspiring to do.

Keep refining my budget and meal planning.

This sort of goes hand in hand with starting a savings account/padding my checking account.  I have worked on my budget a lot.  I'm normally on it almost every day anyway, and that's the way it's been for the past few years since I've been on my own and not living with family.  I've re-designed my spreadsheet a bit so that I can more easily keep track of what money I'm "saving".  As for the meal-planning part, I've slacked on that recently, which is exactly why I've been spending too much on eating out or ordering delivery.  I've started to plan that a bit better the past week or so, and if I do the no spend month I mentioned above, I'll have to get back into that hard-core since I won't be "allowed" to order out.

Make more time for family.

Another one I need to work on more.  I've attempted to put together dinner plans for some family members to come over, but it's so hard to get everyone on the same page!  Plus, since the budget is fairly strict, it's difficult to plan to buy enough food to have more than a couple people over at a time.  I've been thinking more about doing a pot luck kind of thing sometime in the near future for friends and family so that I can just make a few things and everyone else can provide the rest.  I did reconnect with some family members at a family reunion a few weeks ago that made me really happy - I had missed them, but I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed them until we were all hanging out together.

Pay off most, if not all, of my credit card debt.

This is definitely still a work-in-progress.  Not being able to save money also means not being able to put a whole lot of extra onto my credit card payments, but one thing I've successfully done for most of the year is not use my credit cards for much of anything, so at least nothing other than interest is being added on each month.  That part in my mind is a success, and the rest will come eventually.

Now, for the additional things I've thought of:

I want to write on the blog at least once a week.  It's going to take some effort, and I'm not sure how successful it'll be....I'm completely out of the habit of writing.  But I've been reading some of the blogs I used to read, and its starting to inspire me.  (The one I'm working on right now is one I've been saving up the email notifications for, and I haven't read it since December last year, so I have plenty of reading material...

That leads me to the next goal...

I want to read more (in general: blogs, books, articles, etc.).  If you follow me on Goodreads and go look at my profile, I think I have like 5 books I'm currently reading. *insert eye roll emoji here*  I've been pretty ADD when it comes to books lately.  I don't spend enough time reading to really get into things, and then I lose interest and start something else, but I've been keeping the ones I'm working on listed on there because I really do want to get back into them and finish them at some point, so that's how I'm trying to stay on track.  That's something I'm going to try to have done by the end of the year.  I actually set a goal on Goodreads earlier in the year to read 20 books in 2018.  I think I've currently only finished two; so, that's something to work on too.

Last....

I want to do more fun things locally.  Or at least, somewhat locally.  Darryl and I recently took a week off work together.  I'll write more about it later, but basically, we knew we wouldn't have the money to take a big vacation, so we did a bunch of simple day stuff that didn't cost too much - we went to the game farm one day, a WV Black Bears game in Morgantown another day, and took a tour of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (the old Weston State Hospital for those unaware of what that is) another day.  I've been trying to keep up on other things going on around our town in neighboring counties and towns, and there are things coming up that have become a tradition for us to go to, and it's just hit me recently just how much our little area has to offer.  There's tons!  I could honestly dedicate a whole post just to that, so that might be something to come later too.  But I'd like to focus on diving into some more local events since we typically don't travel very much.

Looking at my list of goals from the beginning of the year, I realize how caught up I've been in day-to-day problems and have really lost sight of some of the bigger picture...not all of it, mind you, but I need to get re-focused on some things I had wanted to accomplish.  I also think that while setting money-related goals is great and is definitely necessary, I didn't set enough goals to do things that I just simply enjoy - this is where the new goals come in.  I'm not always great at balancing work, finances, and play.  Usually the play part is what suffers.  Maybe by the end of the year if I focus on these goals, I'll have gotten a little better at that balance!

Happy 2018!

It is officially the second day of 2018.  Hope everyone had a good time ringing in the New Year!

Mine was spend with a few good friends eating good food and just hanging out playing darts and watching trivia game shows before watching the ball drop.  It was a tame but awesome time.  lol

I didn't really do a goals post for 2017, but here are some of the major things I had wanted to work on and my progress with them:

1. Save money.    Didn't really develop a savings but was able to save enough to be able to afford what I needed to - at a stretch - but still pretty successfully.
2. Cook more.    I haven't done quite as much as I wanted to, but this was successful too.  I tried and came up with a lot of different things to add to our menu.  Most things were winners.  Some weren't.
3. Build up an inventory for my Etsy shop so that I can have stuff pre-made and not always have to scramble to make things ordered through the website.    I did get to some of this, but most of what I've sold this Christmas (didn't sell much of anything the rest of the year) was still made to order.  Though it was ordered in advance so I wasn't entirely scrambling to have it done by Christmas, so that was nice.
4. Pay off my credit card.    I haven't paid it off, but I've done a good job at not relying on it thanks to budgeting better, so I've been able to mostly just pay on it without adding too much to the balance.

I've thought a little about my goals for this year, and so far this is what I've come up with, long term and in no particular order:

1. Work on my Etsy shop and selling some more stuff through there.
2. Try to start saving money for the long term (literally have never had enough to have a savings account - might not make this goal this year, but I want to at least try again)
3. Work with Orion more - includes looking into some new and different things for us to try from the ground.
4. Keep refining my budget and meal planning.
5. Make more time for family.
6. Pay off most, if not all, of my credit card debt.

I'm sure I'll think of more as the year goes on, but these are things already in the works that I want to continue and make more progress on in the new year.

What goals do you have for 2018?

Happy December

Happy December! I can’t believe it’s already almost halfway through December and 2017 is almost over! This year has absolutely flown by!

I’m not really sure if I’m going to do a traditional year in review this year.  If I do, I’ll post it on January 1st, but let me just say, that while this year hasn’t had a lot of milestones, per se, I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot. 

Darryl and I have worked pretty hard to get more work done on our house.  When it comes to manual labor, it’s mainly him, and he’s pretty awesome at tackling things.  I help more with the brainstorming and planning parts of things, and I do a lot of designing how our rooms are set up/decorated. 

You’d think that this long after buying the house (we’re at a year and 8 months already!) we’d have everything just so, but that’s soooooo not the case. Most of the big furniture stays pretty stationary, but we tinker with moving other stuff around all the time. I think I’ve rearranged my half of our home office 3 times this year. I think I’ve FINALLY (literally, today) got it the way it’s going to stay.  The only room that really needs work now is our spare bedroom.  It’s usable but also is kind of our catch all room for things until we get around to find permanent places for them.  Out of sight, out of mind!

I’ve worked pretty hard this year to cut down on our money spent eating out. I’ve really worked on meal planning for the pay period and making sure we get everything for those meals and whatever household or pet items we need on one big shopping trip after we get paid, so we’re at the store less and therefore less likely to buy a bunch of little things that we don’t really need. 

I made it one of my goals for 2017 to cook more and try to save money by cooking at home, and I try to focus on simple things that don’t have a ton of ingredients (less money spent and more likely to be eaten by Darryl, who is the absolute pickiest eater I’ve ever met!).  I’ve started using my crockpot a little more, and I actually ended up using ALL of them (I went from having one to having 3 when I asked for another one at Christmas last year, then we won a tiny one at Darryl’s family reunion a few months ago) during Forest Festival this year.  

All in all, the meal planning and limited shopping trips plan has seemed to work pretty well.  I know after we go to the store that I have enough food to cook for us for two weeks (I just freeze whatever won’t keep in the fridge for that long). We don’t always follow the meal plan exactly, but the stuff is there whether we make it in the right order or not, and if we don’t use it all, it’s less we have to buy next time!

So, yeah...to some, this stuff might not seem like much, but honestly, it’s been kind of huge for us. We were wasting so much money ordering in or going out to eat, and doing it this way, we split our shopping total down the middle, he pays for half and I pay for half, and we usually don’t pay more than around $65 each (and that would be on a big trip when we need more stuff than usual!). Do that twice a month and compare the numbers to what we spend on restaurants and it’s a big deal, especially on a limited budget. 

I’m thinking of writing a bit more about it later, because my whole method is slightly more complex and could probably be fodder for its own post!

How has everyone else been doing with their 2017 goals?

Orion's Happy New Year!

Well, this was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I never got around to actually publishing it.  So here you go!

Orion is doing well right now.

This year, my goal is mainly just to keep him sound.  No big riding or groundwork goals.  I'm sure I will do more with him this year, but it will be different kinds of stuff.  If I ride him at all, it will only be for short little jaunts here and there.  I had ruled out riding him at all, but I've been thinking about it lately...if I do, it just won't be often and will be easy rides without a lot of hills and no faster than a walk.  But my main focus isn't on that.  It's simply going to be about messing with his diet and feet and finding alternative ways to exercise him that don't include riding or other things that might be too strenuous.  Keeping him healthy.  That's all I'm really hoping for this year.  Once we find the magic lifestyle combo that works for him, I'll know what to keep doing to keep him healthy and happy for as long as I can.  A lot of things we do already work..his feet (which need some work right now because I haven't had time to get out there and trim him lately - something that's going to change within the next week - namely the next 2 days, when I don't have to work) and his turnout regimen (I can actually say his turnout regimen now - he's in the barn part time and in the pasture part time rather than being in the pasture 24/7.  That's a big change from his past lifestyle.).  His diet isn't bad, but I'm definitely going to experiment with it to make it even better.  It will become much more hands on for me starting within the next month or less, when I'm able to be out there more.  So with that time, I can do more with his diet so that he's not getting strictly grain and hay all the time.

So that's the goal for Orion for right now.  Dude's doing well but could be doing even better, and considering that he had a DSLD flare up not too long ago - which I honestly think was caused more from the added strain of wading through muddy areas of his field because we had had a shit ton of rain for a week or two - I really want to make even more of an effort to make sure he has absolutely every tool available to keep him sound and pain free.

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.

"Mom, I'm moving?"

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.

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.

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.

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?

Happy New Year!

Orion Goals, Part 1

With the upcoming move (2 days! Squeeee!!), I've been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish with Orion. I think I mentioned before that a lot of the things I have always wanted to do with him require consistency, and until now, we haven't had that, so it's been pointless to try. Now that I know I will have the option of going to him pretty much anytime I want, the possibilities are spinning through my mind like mad. I know that I need to take things one step at a time though, so I'm prioritizing and selecting two that seem to me to be some of the most pressing at the moment. One is a long-term goal, and one is a short-term goal.

1. Healthier feet
2. Taking the damn BIT!

Orion's feet have never been stellar since I bought him. They have improved dramatically, but I would still like to see them get even better.  His frogs are still kind of puny, and his heels could stand to be a bit lower, which could beef his frogs up by giving them more contact with the ground and fix the problem entirely. I'm realistic, and I know that a lot of his problem is that it's been hard to keep him on a regular trim schedule. That will improve with him being closer. We're lucky that his normal farrier, who does some of the best work I've seen with Orion, is still going to be working with him. I'm SO thankful for that! He's offered to show me a thing or two as well the next time he's out, so that I can better help Orion with his feet between trims in the way of maintenance trimming.

I've been studying hoof anatomy, what a healthy hoof should look like, and some trimming techniques, and I'm planning on starting to teach myself to trim so that I can eventually take over Orion's trimming entirely on my own. I started to teach myself last summer, but I was also living and working in Philippi at that time, so again, without consistency, I gave up on it. Now I can really get the practice and experience that I need.

So that's a long-term goal. Getting his feet to where I want them and learning to totally care for them on my own is going to take a while.

Our short-term goal is going to once again be encouraging him to willingly take his bit. On Sunday, we went on our first ride in 6 months (and our last ride at Orion's home of the past 3 years), and he's once again decided that the bit is an unwelcome visitor to his mouth. It took 45 minutes to get him to take it. 45 minutes!!

This horse has never had a bad experience with his bit in the entire time that I have owned him. To my knowledge, he didn't have any bad experiences with them before I owned him either. He's had this problem before, and with a little time and help from Liz over at In Omnia Paratus, he got over it last summer. He went for months with almost no issue, and when he would start to backtrack, it didn't take much to fix it.

As I mentioned, it had been 6 months since we last rode. Now he's acting up with the bit again. I know that has a lot to do with it. He's used to lounging and playing around the pasture all day, and he knew that if he was bratty about his bit, he could delay the ride. He can be a brat, but he's smart. He knew exactly what he was doing. He persevered over every method that has ever worked in the past. Eventually the BO came down and helped out. She mixed a handful of grain with some sunflower oil, put the bit with it, and quickly slid the bit into his mouth while he was trying to lip the grain from her hand. He was too busy enjoying the grain to worry about it anymore.

Once he's settled in to the new place for a couple days, I'm going to spend a day or two just working on that bit problem. Usually once he's over it, he's good, and with the ability to ride more often, I don't think this problem will reoccur too much. I just need to take the time to get rid of it now so that we can explore his new home more in the coming weeks. Miles and miles of new trails. I can't wait. :)

Here's to 2014!

Hello all!

As I write today, I am actively putting off packing to go back to my grandpa's and resume working.  Though I am done with undergrad now, I am still working as manager and soon-to-be supervisor with my school's dining hall and restaurant, which are run by Sodexo.  I start my training tomorrow, so instead of remaining at home, chilling with the family and catching up on my TV shows (some of which I was nearly 2 years behind on - ugh, school!), I'll be going back this evening to get settled back in there and resume work tomorrow morning.

Right now, I'm also trying to hash out a tentative plan for life after this school semester.  I'm only working, not taking classes for the next five months, and I'm saving up as much money as I possibly can so that I can move back to my hometown and get a place of my own here.  I wanted to do that now, but when offered the promotion with Sodexo, I decided to stay there until the spring semester is over.  After that, I want to move back and start over here.  I want to get a job here, an apartment, and start taking my online classes for my master's certificate in GIS.  Over these next few months I'll be actively looking for a car (still don't have one) and looking into apartments here at home.

So, in the spirit of looking forward, over the past week or so, I've been putting together a list of 10 goals that I have for 2014.

1. Get my license. (I've lost count of how many times I've had my permit now, and it always expires before there's time to take the damn driving test.)
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 work on earning my master's certificate in GIS.
10. Work with Orion more and stop being afraid to go faster than a trot.

So yeah, there are big things and small things on that list.  Important life-changing things, and fun, entertaining things.  I want this year to be about growth and enjoying life to the fullest and getting out there in the "real world" more.  I feel like I've grown a lot in the past year, for various reasons, and I want to keep that going.

So here's to 2014!

What are some of your goals for this year?