Overall success rate: 84%

But how did it break down by category?

Qualify for AEC’s – Yep! Qualified, went, even got ribbons and won stuff. That made my whole year, with just this one goal met.

Score below 35 in dressage AND finish on that score – Did this more than once, but that 28.3 totally rocked my world.

Get an actual, honest to god stretchy trot circle from Henry – He does this all the time now, it’s his new favorite.

Score a 7 or above on our free walk – this happened 3 times!

Stop being such a pansy about the down banks – Neither of us care anymore.

Be more fit – I went up and down with this but ultimately at this moment I’m not more fit than I was at this time last year so I can’t call it a win.

Keep Henry happy and healthy – He’s looking and feeling pretty great this days. A little TOO great.

Improve my attitude toward dressage – I still don’t love it, but I feel like we’ve come to have mutual respect and understanding.

Get a 4-legged bun in the oven – This got pushed to 2016.

Horse Goals success rate: 78%

 

Be more appreciative of my awesome SO – I think I’m better about this.

Be less selfish – I feel like I was better about this too.

Continue to always be as honest and transparent as possible while still being as kind as possible – I know I sometimes come across as brutally honest, but for the most part I at least tried to take off the sharpest edges.

Travel more – I’m in love with Belgium now. Trip of a lifetime.

Get at least one more tattoo – This is on the docket for sometime in the next few months but didn’t happen this year.

Compete in at least 2 triathlons and place in the top 3 – Ok, I feel like I should get a 1/2 point for effort here. I tried to enter a triathlon and it got cancelled, then the other two I wanted to do conflicted with horse show dates.

Personal Goals success rate: 75%

 

Move to my own domain name – Boom.

Roll out a more polished, clean look – Definitely an improvement over the old format.

Keep staying true to my original intentions – This is what I wrote for this goal:

Be as forthright as possible, be reliable, and always speak what’s on my mind even if it’s a tough subject. People won’t always agree with you, and it’s just not possible for everyone to like you, but as long as you have integrity people will always respect you. I think one of the worst things we can do as bloggers is to censor ourselves to the point of becoming automatons. We have the luxury of a built in audience – something most people do not. I think we should use it as an opportunity to speak up when the situation arises. I want to do that more.

I can say 100% that I did that. There were a couple of tough subjects and people definitely did not always agree, or like what I said, or like ME at all (to put it lightly), but I said what I felt needed to be said and I would do it all again without hesitation.

This year was both one of my best ever and one of my worst ever. My AEC experience was one of the best moments of my entire life, but the loss of my mom is still a deep, fresh wound. As time goes on I miss her more, not less. She was the first person I wanted to call after AEC when I was at cloud nine level euphoria. She was also the first person I wanted to call after Greenwood when I felt so utterly defeated. But I know what she would have said to me both times, so I said those things to myself instead and thanked her for the wisdom.

While the numbers and percentages are fun and neat to look at, the parameters have changed. My new measure of success is: would my mom be proud of me for what I did? For HOW I did it? If the answer is yes, then I’ve done the right thing, the right way. And I know she would have been proud of me this year.

Personal Goals success rate: 100%