15 Things in The Year of the Sheep

It's a brilliant tradition I've started here, isn't it? Writing a list of stuff that I want to do each year, and then not quite doing it. But I really love it. Because a) lists and b) life.

Lists because I'm an organiser and a writer and it just makes things feel better when it's all written down. And life because when I don't quite get things done it's normally because other awesome stuff has happened instead. Last year I wanted to assist on some photo shoots, and I didn't. But instead Olympus and Kidspot knocked on my door and said "hey, do you want a camera?". And I said hell yes I do. And I also didn't hit my goal of six blog posts a month, but I did go on two of the most amazing holidays ever.

So, yeah. Lists are good, but sometimes life is better. With that in mind, here's my 15 things to do in the Year of the Sheep. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

1. Read more. Specifically, read at least fourteen books in twelve months. Which is hilarious as last year's goal was twelve books in twelve months and I didn't hit that. Lets call this one a s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal shall we?

2. Read more blogs. Hands up if you don't read blogs like you used to? I know I don't, and I miss it. I miss the discoveries and the different voices, all the pretty things and thoughtful things and all the connections.

I want to get back into the habit of reading blogs regularly, and commenting on them too. And because I'm an ex-corporate type who knows that goals should always be measurable, I'm going to randomly quantify this one. Let's say - three thoughtful comments a week. (I've just done this weeks! Hurrah!)

3. Blog more. Specifically, blog at least six times per month. (Anyone getting déjà vu?)

4. Write more. About everything. Specifically, write a My... post every, single month in 2015. 

5. Related, pitch at least five stories to magazines. This may not sound like a lot, but it's the right number for me right now.

6. Finish my 365 project on Instagram. (You can follow along at #jorpins365.) And continue to grow my followers in the process. (No, I'm not telling you what my goal is on that one!)

7. Hit fifty sales in my Etsy shop, Jorpins Vintage. 

8. Finish three walking events. I'm looking at one medium length trail walk (22km), one fast paced short walk (10km), and one long and steady walk (50km). The trail walk is coming up in two months. Eeep!

9. Walk 1500 kilometres by the end of December. That's only 30km a week. Easy.

10. Sort my health out. Living overseas it's easy to neglect things, to put off the visits to the dentist and the pap smears and the skin checks. It's time to sort all that out. Find a good women's health GP. Actually go to a physio and a chiro like I've been saying I would for, oh, at least three years. Stick with the plan my awesome dentist has put in place. (I can't believe I just called a dentist awesome. You have no idea how huge that is for me. Dentists normally make me cry. A lot.)

11. Cook at least one new meal for the family each month. We've been in such a terrible cooking rut of late, time to haul ourselves out of it.

12. Related, attend two cooking classes. I've booked in for the Kenkō Kitchen one, any ideas on the second one gratefully accepted!

13. Watch twelve movies. And blog about them.

14. Organise my office, and keep it organised. I'm half way there, but the final push has been somewhat delayed for lack of motivation. I want a place for everything, so I can keep everything in its place.

15. Do more road trips! When we lived in Asia I travelled all the time. Back home to Australia, meeting up with the husband when he was off on business trips, taking advantage of being so much closer to the rest of the world. In Hong Kong, we'd travel to Singapore and Macau. In Korea we'd drive to national parks, historic towns and ski fields all over the country, and occasionally I'd pop over to Tokyo. We really did travel a lot. One time we even flew to Amsterdam for a weekend! Crazy!

Anyway, I adore my life in Sydney but I do miss the travel. So I'm going to do more road trips, more getaways. Just a night here and there, maybe on my own, maybe with the hounds. Most definitely with loads of country op shops and photo stops along the way. I'm a bit excited about this one!

14 Things in the Year Of The Horse : A Final Update

Remember 12 months or so ago when I wrote a list of things I wanted to do in the Year of the Horse? And then remember a few months ago I gave you a slightly depressing update on those goals? Well, the lunar new year is nearly upon us so it's time for a final update. And yes,  that does mean it's also nearly time for a new list of things to do which I probably won't do but I'll write the list anyway. Stay tuned, it's gripping stuff.

1. Read more. Specifically, read at least twelve books in twelve months. C+. I've read nine books. Close but not quite. But I'm feeling positive about continuing with a reading goal, and about achieving it.

I'm generally a systems orientated, list writing, organiser type. I've finally realised this is the approach I need to apply to reading too. So I've been making sure I have dedicated reading time every day. I also have two books on the go - one by my bed and one in my handbag / backpack, so lately instead of reaching for my phone whenever I'm caught in life's dull moments, I reach for my book.

2. Blog more. Specifically, blog at least six times per month. C-. Things were looking grim, but I said I'd finish strongly and I did. Hit this goal for the last three months. Yay me!

3. Make Typography Tuesday a monthly thing. F. Five out of twelve. Not even half way there...

4. Do something with my 500px account. D-. Well, I did something with it. I've uploaded some shots, and even added some to the marketplace. And then kind of sort of ignored the whole thing.

5. Assist on at least two photography shoots. F. Nope.

6. Enter more photography competitions. D+. Again, things were looking grim. But I just submitted three photos to Head On (in the mobile category) so yay me!

7. Make a little book or zine. And sell it. F. Nope.

8. Develop some Instagram projects. B. As you may know, I freaking adore Instagram. I've got a few projects on the go - #morningwalkswithferdiandelfi and #jorpins365 are the two big ones right now. I've also re-embraced the square, and I'm loving it!

9. Send more snail mail. F. Nope.

10. Send cards to family and friends for every, single birthday. D-. Completely fell apart at the end there. I'll get back on the horse though. Next month. 

11. Corral my clutter. C+. After concerted efforts early in the game it started to slide a little with the madness of the festive season, but I feel like I'm back on track. My office / study / attic hidey-hole is looking vaguely organised (just one more set of IKEA drawers to assemble...) and I'm sticking to my one in / one out policy on clothing and shoes. I've stopped buying CDs and DVDs, which are just unnecessary when everything is online, and I only buy magazines if they're really, really beautiful. Yep, I'll never be a minimalist but I don't feel owned by my clutter anymore.

12. See more movies at the cinema. Specifically, see at least eight movies on the big screen. D-. Nope, not even close. Although we have been watching a lot more movies at home, which has been most enjoyable.

13. Proofread more. B+. Yep.

14. Eat better. And yes, there will be blog posts! B (for eating better), F (for blogging about it). Although truthfully it should really be a C- for eating better - the husband and step-sons have been around a lot over the past few months, which means way more red meat and deep fried deliciousness in my diet. But I still start the day with fruit and yogurt and nuts, and have a salad almost everyday, so I guess I'm still doing okay!

Good Things To Do in 2015

How's your 2015 going so far? Mine's been pretty damn good. A bit too good actually, as I'm now finding it hard to get out of the holiday mindset and start being productive again (which is a bit funny considering my phrase for 2015...). I'd really like to stay with the beach going, book reading, bbq-ing vibe for awhile longer but unfortunately the world and my to do list have other ideas. 

One thing I have managed to do - in between the drinking and eating and lazing - is sign up for a few challenges to set the tone for the year. And I thought you might want to sign up for one too? Here's a list if you do. 

Photography 

Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day : If you don't know about this you clearly haven't been near the internet in a few years. Daily prompts, take a snap and post it on Instagram, your blog, Facebook, wherever. This year it's switching from monthly to weekly lists, which I think is awesome - much easier to dip in and out of as you please. 

365 Photo Challenge : Basically commit to taking one photo a day for a year. You can follow the prompts set by accounts like @my_365 on Instagram or you can just keep it simple with no prompts and no themes, just one photo each day, like I'm doing. 

Shake Creative Photo A Day : A photo a day challenge hosted by Zoey Martin, who you might know from Operation Move or The Shake. The prompts often have a fitness bent and also cover all kinds of emotions, good and bad and inspirational. A good one for those looking to push their creativity a bit. (With thanks to Dannielle for bringing this one to my attention!). 

Canon Light Awards : If you shoot with a Canon you might want to consider playing along with these awards. Challenging monthly briefs and the chance to get feedback from some amazing photographers - sounds pretty good to me!

Health + Fitness 

Operation Move's How Many Kms in 2015 : If you're looking to get fit and healthy in 2015 and you haven't checked out Operation Move yet, go do it now. They have a brilliant back story, offer a bunch of great services, and continually motivate and inspire me. Plus they've built a community of really wonderful lovely people. This year they've created a Facebook event asking how many kilometres you can move (run, walk, cycle, roller blade, whatever!) in 2015. It's a great place to make a public commitment, see what others are up to and check in. I've put my hand up for 1000kms (as of writing this I'm 18 down, 982 to go!). 

Run Down Under : I'm so excited about this one! Basically it's a virtual race around Australia. Log the number of kilometres you've covered on a regular basis and Run Down Under maps your progress, starting from Canberra (if you use Strava it's super easy to sync your kms). Apparently I've got 72.34kms until my next town, Goulburn... 

Books + Reading 

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge : My lovely friend Cat (who has exquisite taste in books, by the way!) put me on to this. I know lots of people who have 'read more' on their 2015 list and this seems like a fun way to tackle it with things like "A book your mom loves", "A banned book", and "A book with bad reviews" on the checklist. It's a bit like a treasure hunt, and I love that, so although I know I won't finish the checklist (I'm a slow reader!) I'm going to have a crack anyway! 

Set your own goal : I've recently switched from Shelfari to Good Reads to track my reading, mainly because of the iPhone app. But both sites are great, and both sites let you set a reading goal for the year and will track your progress towards that goal. 

A Year of Australian Writing : The gorgeous Pip is hosting a year of reading aussie stories - what an awesome idea! Although I'm not committing to this one I will be following along with great interest (and no doubt adding to my 'to read' pile along the way too).

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge : Okay so with 339 books on the list it'd be near impossible to get through this challenge in a year (unless you devoted all your waking hours to it, which doesn't sound like a bad way to pass 365 days actually...), but as a fan of Gilmore Girls this had to get a mention! (I've only read 34 of them, by the way.)

Fashion 

Fox in Flats' Style Dares : Not really a year long thing, but fun nonetheless! Andrea runs regular style challenges on her blog. I've never taken part, but I've watched in admiration as others have, and I think maybe it would do me good to get involved. Fingers crossed there's one soon! 

Jewellery Everyday with Megan Auman : Have a ton of jewellery but hardly ever wear it? Yep, me too. Which is why I really like this Instagram based challenge aimed at getting us to wear more jewellery. I think it only runs for a month, but maybe it'll inspire you to stick with it for a year?

Life 

Happiness Jar : This is all over the internets in various forms, and seems to be an idea attributed to Elizabeth Gilbert. Basically every day you write down something that's made you happy, something you're grateful for or that you've accomplished. Then at the end of the year you read back through all your notes and feel ace. Nice. Have a jar for each member of the family, even the furry ones, if you like! 

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I'll be updating this list over the next week, so if you know of a challenge or something fun to do in 2015 that's not on here do let me know. Maybe you are participating in one? Or hosting one? I'd love to hear about it!