Volunteer time!

Today, I volunteered at C.A.N.T.E.R. and I’m going to start going every Monday (the image above is CANTER’s logo).   CANTER is a NARHA member with certified NARHA instructors. I had a lot of fun today! I’ve done therapeutic riding before, but never with NARHA instructors, who to me seemed much safer than the Certified Horsemanship Association versions I have dealt with before.  Part of me has always loved therapeutic riding and thought about becoming an instructor myself.  Maybe one day. I’d like to get some other riding instructor accreditations first and then maybe move in that direction one day. 

  Photo from CANTER’s website.

The kids that rode today really enjoyed it!  At one point I was handling a horse named Snowy who is near 30 and wanted nothing more than to trot and go fast.  It was funny.  The boy who was riding him was very independent and didn’t require any sidewalkers, just me to control Snowy in case of emergencies (or more likely, Snowy not stopping). 

Anyway, I had a good time and recommend therapeutic riding as a great volunteer activity for anyone who enjoys horses and kids (and adults too!).

 

In other news, I rode both my boys today and worked with the baby.  Needless to say, it was a horsey day and I’m tired!  Thunder is still somewhat sore on the front feet.  He’s just outside right now tied up with hay and ice boots on his front legs and hooves.  I took Titan through both the barrel pattern and the pole pattern today.  He did pretty well at each of them, and we’ve almost fixed the problem of him changing the lead in the hind end and crossfiring around the turns.  He does it maybe 40% of the time now, but that’s far better than 100%!  Part of it is that I have to lift the rein higher than I have ever needed to for Thunder as we turn.  Keeping it lifted seems to keep his front end better elevated and doesn’t give him as much opportunity to swing his butt out of alignment and change leads.  So, what I’ve been doing is working on my rein being in the right position, but when that doesn’t work and he still changes, we break to a trot and go back around that pole or barrel a couple times on the correct lead and move on.  It’s tedious and involves so much repetition.  However, it seems that Titan likes repetition.  In fact, the more repetitive I make his workouts, the better he seems to do. 

I got Orion out and we did lots and lots of rubbing with my training stick and whipping it in the air and getting him used to the sound and sight of that.  He did pretty well at that part. Then we did some giving to pressure exercises.  I ended with practice leading around obstacles.  He still has a hard time not speeding up and getting way in front of me if I turn toward him.  He also crowds, so we’re working on that too!  He did scare me a bit, and I got really lucky.  Being a brat-like baby, he suddenly struck out and managed to snatch the leadrope right out of my hand with his hoof.  I felt the bottom of his hoof scrape across my hand, ever so lightly!  All I can say, is good thing my hand was where it was!  Goodness.  Of course we did a little reprimand after that.  Oh, and he didn’t go anywhere after snatching the leadrope, he just looked at me dumbfounded as if he was lost. 

Anyway, enough horse talk for one entry!  I need to save something to talk about tomorrow, since I’m going to try to post everyday this month!

I’m building a webpage!

 

I’m working on building a webpage  and here is the main page I made.  Thanks to Microsoft FrontPage.  I used to know HTML really well, but I forgot, alas.

 

 

 

 

You can check it out here, but its definitely under construction.  So far the links page and the main page are the only pages that are up.  I will probably ad more stuff too down the road.  Perhaps tutorials and training tips and what not.  There will also be info about my lessons when I start giving them again.  I used to have a huge wealth of information on an old website, some of it may still be accessible.  I had lists of poisonous plants with pictures, if I had them, and useful lists of items to bring to shows or on trail rides.  I had information about vices and health care of horses, a lot of it was like I wrote little reports on the subjects based on all the books and articles I have read on the subjects.  Anyway, hopefully, the page will kind of grow into that again.   

 

In other news, I’m giving Project Wonderful a try.  Both as a publisher and to place ads for my Etsy and Artfire shops.  I need to get on my husband’s computer to use his Photoshop, since I don’t have it on my computer anymore :(.  Anyway, I’ll make a few ads and see how it goes.  I was going to put some on the blog perhaps, and maybe on the website when it grows up a bit and gets more hits.

I’m also giving this blog a makeover.  I kind of want to move it back to one column of widgets and such as I don’t like how cramped it looks.  Although, I saw someone with three columns and hers was wider. I’m not sure how to get that to work, but if I do, then I will keep all three.  Do you have any suggestions for my new layout?  I’m going to go more with a western look probably, but, I would love to get your input on what you think would look nice!

The other thing about building the website is, I’ll move a lot of my links and stuff off of the blog and on the website.  That will declutter my sidebars quite a bit.

Blog Giveaway Winners

Alright, the winners have been chosen and I am going to blog about it now, and try to contact them all later. Each winner will have 48 hours from the moment I attempt to contact them via email or blog, etc to respond. If they do not then someone else will get their prize!
Also, to thank ALL of you that participated you may take 20% off in my Etsy or Artfire shops up until 2/28/09. Just send me a convo or put "blog giveaway" in the notes to seller. This only applies to people who participated in the giveaway, and I know who participated and who didn't. i will also offer 10% off to all followers until 2/28/09. Just put "blog follower" in notes to seller.

OK, now lets get down to business.

Grand Prize horse shoe dreamcatcher goes to Angie.

Runner up gets any keychain of their choice - Twilight Knits

Second Runner up also gets any keychain of their choice - Mel

and the last prize of an amigurumi owl in their choice of color and expression - Digital Misfit

There will be more blog giveaways to come. If you're a winner and youread this before I contact you (because I'm going to have a nap!) feel free to comment about what you want. All items can be custom or already in my shops. It is up to you!

Apollo and horses and dogs, oh my!

Here are some photos, as promised!

This is Apollo. I just named him last night, thanks to a suggestion by a friend! He is 5 1/2 weeks old and so cute!

I also thought I’d include some photos of my other animals. The kitties and the snake are the only ones I didn’t get.

Orion had his face in the camera so I tried to push his head away, and I snapped a photo. He tried to lip me!

Of course, this is what he looked like BEFORE I pushed him away.

You can really see how much he’s growing up in this picture. He is 10 months, working on 11, so he’s starting to get that yearling physique.

My Sid-dog! She’s put on some weight and looks so much more filled out. We got her from the shelter in November 2007 and it has taken us quite a while to really get her to not look greyhound thin in the flanks.

Dakota, impatiently waiting for me to catch up with her.

I love the look on Thunder’s face right here! He looks like he’s asking, “Oh, really?” I believe the shadow that looks pregnant is Titan behind him!

And finally,

my Titan looks pretty darn handsome in this picture. It isn’t often I get one of him with his ears forward!

Also, on an unrelated note, Windows Live Writer is the best little program for blog writing ever! I love the effects and stuff I can do wit it. So fun!

I will post the winners of my blog giveaway tomorrow or maybe later tonight (if you’re lucky), for the time being, let me rest after another tortuous day of work! I have tomorrow off and will be catching up on my internet duties but I also need to ride. Yesterday I only rode Titan, I hope to ride tonight, but we’ll see. I feel drained after work, it is hard to get up the gumption to ride. Plus, getting up at 4 am doesn’t help…anyone.

By the way, yesterday, someone totally trespassed up and down my property and had the dogs freaking out. It woke me out of a sound sleep (it was about 9am I was sleeping in)! I was so afraid to feed horses, I came out with a gun in hand and let the dogs go with me. The person was gone but their tracks went from my driveway all the way to the pasture and the dog runs, and then back toward the front of my property again. I’m definitely fencing in my property when I have some more money to spend on it! In the meantime, I’ll be nervous that they were scouting out the horses to steal them or something. I probably sound paranoid, but I don’t like when strange people trespass and walk right up to the dog run and horse pasture. They walked pretty much right by the house.

Animals Galore!

Sorry I've been kind of MIA. I like to try to post 6 days a week at least, but this week has been a rough one. On top of the animals requiring my time, I started working again this week.

My job sort of has large breaks, like the one we've been on since November. I worked a 12 hour day yesterday and was pretty exhausted (and emotional) by the time I got home. Then of course I had to feed horses, the bird, and the dogs. And during work I backed a rental car into a pole and had lots and lots of sarcastic fun.

Now, I work again tomorrow, and I'm determined to post pictures of the baby bird, but don't be completely assured that it will happen. I will post one way or another, as I know tomorrow will not be anywhere close to a 12 hour day.

Anyway, about the bird. We're hand feeding him (don't worry the pet store owner and the veterinarian showed us how to do it right and we haven't had any problems). He's already grown up a bit since we got him! And he's adorable! I need to name him (or her really) but I'm drawing a blank. It took me so long to name Orion! However, he should have a name soon so he can start to learn it as he ages.

All the other animals are well, and I have little to speak of in regards to the horses, dogs, cats, or the snake. I haven't made any crafts either in the past few days. I'm rather boring as of late, but I'm trying to fix that!

Pictures to come, I promise!!

By the way my blog giveaway closes today! It is your last chance to enter for a dreamcatcher, keychains, or a amigurumi owl! Go Here to Enter!

More rambling and goals

The dogs are driving me nuts. We got a sun conure on Friday, and Dakota won't stop searching for the bird and staring at him intently. The cats are better than her!

I rode Thunder today with a neighbor and it was a great relaxing ride. Thunder's feet were less sore than normal (I don't think I mentioned that here before but Thunder's front feet have been incredibly sore lately).

I'm going to take pictures of the baby and such tomorrow, I promise! I've been so busy financing a motorcycle for my husband and grocery shopping and tending to animals.

101 things in 1001 goals plans for February-
Go to the gym everyday for a month, that will be fun to attempt.
Participate in NaBloPoMo! I will try to post every day!
AND
Volunteer 1 day a week for 3 months.

It will be fun to make some major progress on my list! Wooo!

Welcome to all my new followers! I love comments so feel free to introduce yourself if you haven't!

Meshing personalities

I learned something, that I probably already knew, but I guess I only really learned the lesson recently.

Anxious people + Anxious horses = BAD

You see, my horse Titan, is highly fearful and anxious. I've never wanted to give him up because I trained him and I love him to death, but when we go to a barrel race together it is unpleasant. Now, this year I am going to try my hardest to work on relaxation at the shows and not being too nervous, however, I don't see myself improving 100%. This may mean that really, the best thing to do would be to sell him to a rider that is much more confident. I don't want this to be the outcome, as like I said, I love him and he's definitely got potential to be an amazing barrel horse. I'm going to try to figure out how, perhaps, I can decrease both of our anxieties at shows, we'll give it a whirl, but honestly, if I can't run him, then he will need to find a new home. I can't afford to feed a horse that I can't use for much of anything. Unfortunately, he is horrible on the trails, being spooky and anxious you know, and he doesn't much care for dressage (even though he looks beautiful doing it). I'm going to take him team penning, but we'll see how that goes, he's currently scared of cows. I hope to get him over that.

Anyway, it is another gloomy day in the desert. I didn't ride yesterday, but I guess I'm going to brave the wetness to ride today. I hate going too many days without riding, it can be like torture. When I broke my collarbone in March 2006 and had to wait until the end of April to ride, I went a little stir crazy (the vicodin didn't help). You know, speaking of Titan, he's the one that broke my collarbone! Although I blame myself. You see, he had a rib out of alignment and it was causing him some pain and I ignored the signs. When I was brushing the girth area he acted out and tried to nip me. Right there he was saying, "yes, that is what hurts, fix it!" However, my brain just thought, "Oh, he's being a brat today I see." duh. What ended up happening was I got off of him out on the trail and when I went to get back on the girth put some pressure on that rib and he shot forward. I, having only one foot in the stirrup, didn't stick with him and flung around and landed on my shoulder.

I did learn to pay attention to little things like that when grooming and saddling. I just learned the hard way.

So, I don't have much else to say today. I'm going to go to town with the husband and maybe get him a motorcycle. I also signed up to volunteer with the local therapeutic riding center (C.A.N.T.E.R.) on Tuesday morning.

The sun needs to come out so I can get some nice pictures of the horses! Oh, and they need to not be so wet and filthy. haha.

So, an idea given to me in the last post was to make specific days to blog about specific things. I think that I will do that for sure! I also think I'm going to close the other blog, I don't know what I was thinking really. I'm going to talk about horses here, how can I not talk about something that makes me happy and motivates me? The crafts obviously will still be here too, maybe not the leather if I decide to sell off my supplies (which is looking more and more necessary as I need ice hock boots for the horses, hoof boots for Thunder's front feet, and preferably some more therapy machine and accessories to keep them sound). As I told my husband, I like decorating the leather, but cutting it out, sewing it, all that jazz, is tedious and I'm not fond of it. I have far more fun making dreamcatchers. I might try more jewelry making, which I know probably isn't the smartest thing since there are thousands of jewelry makers on Etsy and Artfire and at all the craft shows. Oh well, if I like it, it doesn't matter! I also like photography, so I might try to focus on that more. I have a nice camera, but I'd love to get a macro lense, and a telephoto lense!

Speaking of the horseshoe dreamcatchers, I finished two!


They will be available in my Etsy and Artfire in the next day or two.

I love rainy days in the desert. Its cloudy and gloomy out, which I'm not fond of, but the smell of rain on the desert soil is the best smell next to horses, ever! OK, maybe I'm just weird, but that's what I think. Hopefully, I can at least get Titan out and work him out, since Thunder is still really sore on his front feet. I need to get him those boots and pronto. I've been thinking about trying magnetic bell boots also. I've heard lots of people say they work wonders. I believe in the science of magnetic therapy, but most of the magnets sold for it are too low in strength to be any good. The ones in the bell boots I'm looking at are supposed to be pretty high, and they have great ratings. Have any of you tried magnetic therapy on your horse or yourself? Any results?

Oh, and one more thing! From now on, Mondays will be horse talk days and Tuesdays will be craft talk days. Wednesdays might be animal talk and my 101 things list combined. The rest of the days will be a crazy mixture. I will try to get some newer pictures of Orion up so people can see him! His tail is getting so long!

I'm a conundrum

So I started that new blog about barrel racing and horses and I'm not sure I'm going to keep it. I keep thinking I'd rather stay here with that content as well. However, I'm not sure what the masses of my readers are here for, so there is a little poll off to the left, if you wouldn't mind taking it for me.

Essentially, I might start blogging much more often about the horses here, and mostly showing photos of my crafts when they are completed. I'm thinking about backing off a bit in the crafting department anyway. I want to spend more time with the horses. I want to take eventing lessons and take Titan to team penning as well as more barrel races. And, I have a baby to train! I've always loved horses, more than anything. All I've ever wanted to do is ride horses and train and give lessons. I started doing more crafting to pay for my hobbies. However, if I go to school soon and end up in a career, I'm not sure between the horses and the crafting that I'll have any time at all to relax! Honestly, I need to weigh what is most important in my life. Immediately, it is horses, and having fun with them. Needless to say, my craft volume is about to decrease dramatically (and it already has decreased dramatically). I'm starting to think more and more about closing the Etsy store, but I don't know what I want to do.

Essentially I have more hobbies than anyone should have time for and I feel stressed out, because of things I'm supposed to enjoy. This makes me want to declutter my life. And honestly, the leather is one thing that is going to go.

Anyway, if you could comment here as well as take the poll and tell me what you're here for and what you like to read. Let me know if you think this blog can be a catch all for my crazy life, or if I'm going to have to stay branched into two like I am trying out.

My first Artfire Sale!

I made my first sale on my Artfire! I haven't got a payment yet, I think they elected to send a money order, but I'm not sure if Artfire is supposed to notify me of that (I didn't get a notification) or not, so I contacted the buyer to make sure. I know Artfire is beta and is buggy, I have patience and am convinced it will be an amazing site when it is fully grown.

Anyway, I have two horseshoe dreamcatchers pretty much finished up and ready to get photographed, but its cloudy and gloomy today, I will probably need to photograph them tomorrow. Then they will be listed. One will go on Artfire, one will go on both Artfire and Etsy. I have a few more shoes ready to paint up and decorate. I will get to that sometime soon. I want to get some different paint colors so I can have some different color shoes, not that I've even used all the colors I have laying around.

By the way, there is a wonderful yahoo group about trying to save the children's handmade community from the CPSIA, I wanted to recommend joining for anyone that makes anything that can be 'construed' as for 12 year olds and younger.

As far as application to grad school is going, everything is in except ONE reference letter, and I'm so nervous that the professor I asked to write it will not get it in on time. I asked him back in November, I've been reminding him pretty often too. He has already written me reference letters, so really he just needs to tweak one and send it. I asked him to please send it by yesterday at the latest so it had a week to get to the University of Arizona. However, things can take 7-10 business days in the mail so this is pushing it. If its not there by the day before the due date (the 28th) I'm going to have to ask if I can have him fax it to her.

I will be SO mad if I don't get into this program because he was too lazy to send the reference letter he said he would send. So, I'm nervous about that not showing up.

Also, we got the check from our insurance company deposited. We're using it to get a new dishwasher, since our old one broke. Most of the rest is going to our pole barn, although there are a few bills we might need it for.

Between working on planning a wedding, money, and trying to get into school, I'm kind of stressed. I need to go do some yoga or something!

Progress on 101 goals

Alright, updates on my 101 goals for 1001 days. The original list can be found here.

Goal # 7 Knit a pair of socks. I have almost 2.5 inches of one started. It has taken me a while to get the hang of knitting with the double pointed needles. So far though, I'm rather liking it. So far I have just been doing 1k1p ribbing and I am excited to start the pattern stitches. Its a kind of lacey sock, but not very complicated (hopefully!).

Goal #15 Identify 100 Things that make me happy. I have identified three! My husband, my kitties, and my horses!

Goal #17 Learn a new word every month and use it. 'Vermiculate' is my word this month. It means 'wormlike.'

Goal #26 Make and send a post card to Postsecret. I have started to write down my ideas of what to send and I have my cardstock ready! I'm excited about this!

Goal #33 Read the Chronicles of Narnia. I have read the first book, The Magician's Nephew, and it was so helpful to understanding a bit more of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, which I have read before, and seen the movie. I have started to reread the second one.

Goal #81. Give one million grains of rice on FreeRice.com. I have currently given 53,03o! I changed the goal to 1 million because they have now changed from 20 grains of rice per right answer to 10.

There are many other goals that are partially in progress, but I feel they will take so long that I do not want to italicize them yet as I'm afraid I'll focus too much on them for the time being.

I have also decided that my goals are slightly changeable. If I lose interest in a goal then I am going to change it, why keep outdated goals? They are for me, not for anyone else, so I will manipulate them if I choose. However, I will not do this lightly and I certainly won't do it just to make the list easier.

The next goal I will definitely work on is going to the gym everyday for a month (excluding if the gym is closed). I have realized that if I get into school in May, doing this may be problematic during that time, and afterward I hope to be employed, so now is the best time to get that one done!

I have 989 days left to go!

Google Analytics.

OK, this is kind of a PSA, but honestly, I can't recommend using Google Analytics enough!















You can plug Google Analytics into your blog, your Artfire, and now, even your Etsy! It is so useful to see how long people stay on your blog or shop, where they came from, what they click on, and more. It is pretty easy to set up and once you figure out what everything means, it is great and helpful! Etsy has an article in the Storque that explains how to set it up on their website. Artfire is easy to set up as well and you can find it under your stats section.

A WIP, A WIP! And more

I had to go grocery shopping today, which is of course, loads of fun. I was up too late last night and up too early this morning. I'm exhausted and think I'm going to take a nap, but first, I figured I'd update both blogs, as it is my MISSION.

I have cleaned up several of the shoes and these two are painted and ready to be adorned with beads and such.
Also, I started cutting out a leather purse, I'm thinking I'm going to at least use up the tooling leather I have and if I decide to quit after that, so be it. For now, I'll at least make something!

Maybe I should make that breastcollar that is on my 101 Things list.
I might try that.

Anyway, I am tired, so this is just a short entry with a photo of pink shoes!

Horses and leather.

So, I'm thinking of getting out of leather craft. As much fun as I used to have with it, I've lost a lot of the enjoyment now. I will still keep my Etsy and Artfire shops if I decide to do this, but they will be crochet and knit focused. I would like to learn to cold process soap, maybe I'll get into that and sell those down the road, all I know is I'm rather burned out with leather.

If I stop the leather I will shift my focus to making way more dreamcatchers and horseshoe related stuff. I will also probably knit and crochet more.

I feel like I shouldn't stop doing the leather, because lots of people love it, but then again, I haven't had the best luck selling it, and its a lot to invest in if it doesn't sell. I got into leather to make horse equipment, and I'm not sure I'll have time to do that either, although I think I'm going to give it a whirl before giving up entirely.

In other news, I'm starting a new blog all about horses and barrel racing and training. Find it here. There will still be horse and animal pictures here, of course, but the new blog will give me a chance to blog about all things horse related.

the giveaway continued, and horseshoes!

Crafting ruts are never fun.

I am working on knitting a pair of socks for me, but I'd like to make some stuff for the shops. I just got 8 horseshoes to make new dreamcatchers. I figure I'll make 7 and then the winner of my blog giveaway can pick a previously made one or request a custom one (within reason). So I guess that is something to do. I really need to work with my leather more but I'm not really sure what to make, I have a purse in progress that is all wrong and it makes it hard to want to start a new purse, I'd rather finish the messed up one. Except, I'm not sure how to fix the problems. Hmmm.

As for the giveaway, I will close it to entries on January 28th and you will know the winners no later than January 31st. There are currently 12 entries, so, if you haven't entered, enter the giveaway!

I think I will go to prep a few horseshoes. By prep, I mean clean them up. My farrier this time knocked all the nails out for me, which was very nice of him. He also said that if he comes back he will give me all his horseshoes, but since I was first and only on the list today, he didn't have any. My normal farrier got hurt, so I have a substitute from Oregon that worked with my normal farrier and his stepson. He also told me how I can get rusted on nails out!

Blog Giveaway

Who doesn't like free stuff?

I will be giving away a horseshoe dreamcatcher in your choice of colors and style as a grand prize.
I will also give away two keychains that are currently in my Etsy and Artfire shops as runner up prizes and a amigurumi owl with your choice of color (that is available) and whatever expression you want.


You can enter up to 3 times, but you will only be able to win one prize.

How to enter:
1. Follow this blog and comment here to let me know you're now following and want to enter the contest.
2. Write about this blog giveaway in your blog, link it to me in a comment on this entry.
3. Visit my Etsy and Artfire shop and write what you like the most in the shops.
4. Purchase something in either of my shops.


Good luck and feel free to leave any feedback as well!

More things that make me happy.

When I mentioned that my cats were on here as something that made me happy, my husband was quite upset that he wasn't first. I explained that they were in no particular order but I can see where he is coming from. I feel strange talking about my husband on my blog so I'm making this one include two things that make me happy for good measure.

1-My husband, oh my! My husband has brought more sci fi into my life than I could imagine. He is a bit of a nerd for it. He's currently in the Army but will be out around March. My husband is so much calmer about little things in life than I am and it helps me learn to be calm as well. He's helpful with the horses, and honestly, I can't believe anyone would agree to marry me knowing that I came with college debt, two horses, a cat, and not the most employable degree.

Now you may be wondering why I'm saying husband when I said earlier I was getting married in May. Well, we are married in the eloping sort of way right now and we're having an actual ceremony and reception for our families and friends (and so I can have an actual wedding because I am still female and want one).

2- My horses. I'm adding older photos of both of them, ones I haven't put on this blog yet. Which unfortunately means I have no more of Orion (Deek) to show you, but there are plenty of Thunder and Titan.
The one with her hind end way in the air is Shasta, my mom's appy.

Doing this spam of pictures makes me miss one particular horse I've never mentioned on this blog. My very first horse, Blue. He's still around and he lives at my parents house. I didn't want to risk trailering a 25-30 y.o. horse to Arizona from Michigan and I couldn't afford to move him. He's a great old horse. He's probably Morgan x Quarter Horse cross.
He's so filthy in this picture! I'll show more of him later.And the whole horse family back in Michigan. Clockwise from back left to about 9 o'clock: Shasta (bay with star), Titan (Bay with T blaze), Thunder (sorrel), and Blue (grey).

Identifying things that make me happy!

So, the first thing that made me happy (these are in no particular order by the way, just the order they come to mind) sort of just showed itself to me right after I published the list. My kitties! Banjo, the gray was cuddling with me and then he moved over and cuddle Ava. These are my shelter kitties and I love them so much!

In other news, that shed that blew over ( a few posts back ) is getting us $6000 from the insurance company. We're going to put it towards building a pole barn rather than putting that shed back up (it will just blow over again). I'm going to use the carport part of it without the walls as a shade for the horses when we build the 2nd pasture for them. It will be fenced on the sides with the support beams so they can't get themselves hurt somehow.

Caly's 101 Things in 1001 days

This was such a difficult thing to do! Coming up with 101 goals seems quite daunting until you set into it and realize that 2.75 years is a long time.

From the 101 Thing in 1001 Days site:

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.


I divided my list into several categories and will continue to edit this list as well as post about each goal as it is completed.

italics indicate a goal in progress
Strikeout indicates a goal that is completed. I will place the date next to the goal and link to the post in which I talk about that goal.
All other goals are incomplete.

On to my list!

Arts & Crafts & Business

1. Learn a new weave for dreamcatchers (crazy new pattern)
   
2. Knit or crochet a blanket
3. Make a new item and list it in Etsy or Artfire once a week for a two months (0/9)
4. Spend at least 30 minutes advertising Etsy and Artfire shops 3 days a week for a month (0/12)
5. Draw once a week for a month (0/4)
6. Knit a pair of gloves
7. Knit a pair of socks
8. Sew my own skirt
9. Try drop spindle spinning my own yarn
10. Take a photograph everyday for a month (0/30)
11. Crochet an amigurumi horse
12. Organize all my craft supplies and keep them that way for 3 months (0/90)

Personal Betterment & Career

13. Develop confidence in making phone calls
14. Get a full time job
15. Identify 100 things that make me happy (3/100)
16. Meditate every morning once a month (0/30)
17. Learn a new word once a month a use it! (1/33)
18. Spend 15-30 minutes a day learning and practicing Spanish for 3 months (0/90)
19. Spend 3 days a week working on Polish for 3 months (0/32)
20. Practice guitar 1 hour a day, 3 days a week, for 2 months (0/24)
21. Get rid of 25 things I don't need in my life (0/25)
22. Make a new friend
23. Take flower's to my grandma's grave
24. Stop chewing on my cuticles/fingers
25. Stop cracking my knuckles
26. Make and send a postcard to PostSecret
27. Do karaoke in a public place
28. Talk to 10 strangers (1/10) (1. Talked to a lady at Walmart about jeans)

Finances
29. Save $10-25 per paycheck depending on size (0/?)
30. Pay Credit Card down to $2000 or less, don't allow it to go above $3000 for remainder of 1001 days.
31. Put $10.01 in savings for each goal completed. (1/101)
32. Don't eat out for an entire month (0/30)

For Fun
33. Read the Chronicles of Narnia (3/7)
34. Go Skydiving
35. Get certified to scuba dive
36. Read War and Peace
37. Read 100 books from my goodreads list of to-reads (including Narnia and War and Peace) (3/100)
38. Travel to 3 states I've never been to before (0/3)
39. See a Broadway Musical (on or off Broadway)
40. Go rock climbing at Cochise Stronghold
41. Go to Mexico
42. Camp in the Grand Canyon
43. Participate in NaBloPoMo (1/28)
44. write a novel (with me, this will probably be a young adult novel)
45. Go to Canada
46. Learn to play 3 new songs on the guitar
47. Tour Kartchner Caverns
48. Go kayaking on Patagonia Lake
49. Take a Cruise!!
50. Go to Vegas
51. Be a SeaWorld Dolphin Trainer for a day.
52. Ride on a train
53. Try a Mudslide (what? I've never had one!)

Exercise & Health
54. Practice Yoga 30 minutes a day 3 times a week for 2 months (0/48)
55. Use my WiiFit to do body tests every morning for a month (0/30)
56. Maintain a food log everyday for a month (0/30)
57. Eat fish once a week for a month (0/4)
58. Go to the gym everyday for a month (0/30)
59. Work out everyday for a month (home or gym and not the same month as gym only) (0/30).
60. Reach 145lbs
61. Maintain 145 lbs or less for remainder of 1001 days
62. Do 10 push ups at once
63. Do 10 pull ups
64. Get a massage
65. Have a spa day once a month for a year (0/12)
66. Drink at least 4 glasses of water a day for 21 days (0/21)
67. Go jogging outdoors once a week for a month

Horses
68. Get Titan to run a consistent 1d to 2d time
69. Go out of state to a barrel race or rodeo
70. Ride in a Charmayne James clinic
71. Build an arena with good ground
72. Trail ride once a week for 3 months (0/12)
73. Saddle train Orion
74. Ride Orions
75. Get Orion to lead well and lunge well.
76. Save up for a barrel saddle that fits Titan (and get it!)
77. Ride everyday for a month (0/30)
78. Buy a truck so I can go to shows!

For Others (and my happiness)
79. Send out 101 cards/post cards (1/101)
80. Volunteer at least one day a week for 3 months (0/12).
81. Give one million grains of rice on FreeRice.com (57,180/1,000,000)
82. Visit Click-to-Give sites at least 4 days a week for a month (0/16)
83. Donate Blood
84. Knit or Crochet something for charity

House Renovations
85.Redecorate the master bathroom (new toilet, fix floor, tile floor, medicine cabinets etc)
86. Redecorate main bathroom
87. Redecorate kitchen
88. Create retaining wall and landscape front yard
89. Paint House Exterior
90. Add shutters to house windows
91. Add solar lighting to front yard and driveway
92. Paint other rooms of house
93. Replace or fix all fans in the house
94. Replace ugly mirror in living room
95. Replace front and back doors of house
96. Sew curtains for the windows (0/8)
97. New linoleum in laundry room

Ecofriendly Stuff

98. Unplug chargers when not in use for 3 months (0/90)
99. Recycle for 3 months (0/90)
100. No plastic bags for 3 months (0/90)
101. Go to the Farmer's Market for produce for two months



And there you have it! I'm working on the 100 things that make me happy and I have the first one, I will post about it later or tomorrow! I am starting today instead of Friday because I'm just so excited to do a couple of these things!
So my dates are:
January 8th 2009 until October 6th 2011

Those horseshoes I talked about

These are both available in my Artfire shop.

I'm going to post a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days tomorrow. It officially starts for me on the 9th, so I'm going to post about the 101 things and then post what ones I -plan- on tackling first.

You'll see me tomorrow!

A new year for change.

I hope everyone had a happy New Years and a great holiday!

Its 2009! YAY!

Here are some updates on my crafting. I have two horseshoe dreamcatchers made and I need to post them in the next day or two. I have also mostly finished a knitted scarflette for my Artfire shop. I just need to add a button! I'm currently also working on crocheted bags with leather pins. I have one crocheted bag done but need to add the leather pin. Luckily, I'm feeling much more ready to craft.

I am currently applying to grad school to get a teacher certification and teach high school. Once the application is all done, I'll have less to worry about. However, if I get into the program, it starts in May, which is also the time of my wedding. So, all I know is that it will be a busy year for me (hopefully).

2008 was an ok year, but it was tough. Good things were,
a)Graduating from college!
b)Moving from Michigan to Arizona

However, there were many things that were frustrating, like not having a truck and not being able to go to any barrel races at all.

2009 will be better, well, I'm going to make it better.
a)We're getting a truck! This will allow me to go to barrel races!
b)I'm getting married...guh!
c)If all goes as planned, I'll be going to grad school and actually investing in a career I LIKE!

Hopefully though, there will be a lot in store for my Etsy and Artfire shops. I tend to craft more when I'm busier, oddly enough. I guess I feel more inspired.

Pictures of the new items will come soon!