2014 Reflection & 2015 Resolutions

It took me a few days, but I'm coming around to my reflections on the past year, and am ready to state my intentions for 2015. They've been swimming around in my head for many weeks already, but I think it would be good for me to put them in organized print, so I can come back to them later. This year especially.

Looking back on 2014, Goodreads tells me I only read 9 books. Disconcerting. But some reading is better than none, I suppose. In 2014 I read:

• Winter World, by Bernd Heinrich
• Red-Tails in Love, by Marie Winn
• The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
• The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
• Saving Cee-Cee Honeycutt, by Beth Hoffman
• Wish You Happy Forever, by Jenny Bowen
• The Orchards, by Margery Wolf
• Desert Soliatire, by Edward Abbey
• Better-Off, by Eric Brende

I revisited my blog entry from the end of last year, where I put forth my 2014 Intentions.  On the positive side, I did complete the Master Conservationist program, which is easily my proudest and most fun accomplishment of 2014. Kept reading, kept gardening, did institute the new ticket discipline/reward system for the kids. On the less positive side, I still don't have a will. Did not get any of the scanning/photo book projects started or finished. Didn't start running again, although I did try some new physical activities that didn't stick, yet were still accomplished. Still in major need of working on my affection level and relationship with Jack. So that's the year in terms of resolutions. 

2015.....  Here are my intentions. 

1. Revisit, rework & update my old CV. Meet with Drake Career Center for a consultation on how to turn my volunteering over the past several years into a workable resume as I enter the job market mid-way through 2015. {Gulp.} 
2. Find a new form of exercise. I considered yoga....although minor past attempts with it lead me to believe it's not for me. In some ways I think I need a class setting to really push myself to show up and do the work. In other ways, I much prefer the self-propelled component of jogging. My 3-week boot camp showed me I could do really well with a more intense class setting, but finding one that fits into my neat schedule of meeting between 9 and 11 AM makes that tricky. So I'm on the search for something active for 2015. I wish, oh so wish, we lived somewhere with nearby, accessible hiking trails. I greatly prefer having active walking mixed in to daily live over designated "exercise" times. The most fit times of my life have been when I've lived in places or contexts without a car, where I walked miles every day just to get around. I miss that a lot. 
3. Get a will. It seems silly to keep saying it, but I think that once it's on the list, it has to continue on the list until it gets done. If anyone wants to volunteer to be designated guardians of our children in the unlikely event that Mike and I perish tragically together, please speak up and we'll crank that will out licketly split....

I think I've picked back up on free reading enough again in life that it need not make a resolutions list. #1 this year is the biggest intention. It entails a lot of thought, a lot of searching (both soul & legwork), & the end of a major era. I am not pushing myself on a timeline, but hoping that as I work through the process, the right answers will come.