2022 Goals

Historically, I've been super bad at goal setting. Mostly because it feels like when I put things out into the universe, I jinx myself, but also I'm not great at following up on them... lol. Oh well. That's just who I am as a person and I don't think that's going to change, but I am at least going to TRY to put some 2022 goals down on paper (errrr, html?)! I browsed January posts on the blog looking for any other goal posts, and the only one I found was from 2017... and ironically enough, most of those goals track with my 2022 goals (so clearly I didn't achieve them in 2017 hahahaha). 

Personal

- lose 15 more pounds. I really let things spiral in 2020-2021 (pandemic bread baking was not kind to my weight) and was the heaviest I've ever been last summer when I started lessons. I'm down 20 pounds since then and feel so much better, but I could definitely stand to lose more. I want to fit back into that ballllller Annie's coat I bought at Rolex in 2017 and then never wore and then got too fat for. I can button it now but it ain't pretty 😂 

A bit in denial that this was (almost) FIVE YEARS AGO. 

- continue to prioritize movement in whatever way I can (walking on breaks at work, taking the stairs exclusively instead of the elevator, riding as much as I can when the weather is cooperating, etc). It's hard for me to stick with workout programs and we cancelled our Y membership in 2021, but over the last 6 months I've consistently averaged 15-17k steps a day and decreased my resting heart rate significantly (also has helped with the weight loss/maintenance).

- make a doctor's appointment and see if we can do something about my fucking insomnia. I'm doing dry(ish) January and that seems to be helping (according to my Garmin) so I probably need to keep the alcohol dialed back, but medication is probably also necessary for long-term maintenance.

Enjoy a stretchy sleepy puppy break. 

Horses

- keep everyone happy and healthy and as comfortable as possible: Jack is 27 this year and Trigger is 26, and they're both noticeably slowing down. I definitely touch base about quality of life with my vet at every annual visit. We seem to be on a good trend with their weight over winter and they are LOVING the big bales of alf I got last fall, so even though it's sort of a PITA to feed, what they want, they get, lol. 

Living his best life and wearing his beet pulp dinner mash lol. 

- maintain a 2x-3x a month lesson schedule. In the winter this can be affected by weather and during spring-fall it will also be affected by my trainer's clinic/show schedule, but I've been doing pretty well at hitting this mark monthly since last August, so I want to keep it up! Probably Ruby for most of the lessons, but I definitely plan to take Cinna a few times.

- take Cinna off property more - definitely for some lessons and also for trail rides/whatever other adventures we can scrounge up. She's definitely getting off the property more now than she used to, but I need to keep doing it. 

Currently our best rides are "drendurance" style, in a partially assembled dressage bridle and my endurance saddle. Can't wait to show up for a lesson like this lol. 

Showing

- This is really small potatoes compared to the next two bullet points, but I'd like to aim for some GMO year-end awards again. This leads to a whole 'nother quandary because my GMO didn't do year-end awards last year (and possibly the year before as well, I can't remember?) and the vibe I'm getting from meetings is that they want to prioritize educational events over shows this year, which is totally fine, just... not the direction that I personally want to go. So I may need to join my trainer's GMO if I want to aim for year-end awards. 

I miss big ribbons and prizes. 

- It's time. This is the year. RECOGNIZED SHOWS. I'm serious about it in a way I definitely wasn't back in 2017 the last time I halfass put it on a goal list. I shelled out the $600 to get all our memberships sorted out the first week of January, suffered through 5+ hours of useless safe sport training, and bought a better stock tie (now I just need white breeches!). I'll be using the Gifted Grant to spend a week in boot camp at my trainer's this spring to be ready and have already sketched out my rough show plans (finances willing). 

- Super stretch goals would be to get some scores towards my bronze, qualify for Regionals (which is in LSTL this year, so that would be convenient!), and/or win an All Breeds award :) 

Whew. Okay. That made my internal pessimist cringe a little, but here we go, my goals are out in the universe!