December goals

I hope all y'all had a great Thanksgiving- Johnny and I had a super time hanging out with his extended family. Highlights of the weekend included:

• 44 rounds of charades, which included Johnny's 80 year old grandmother trying to act out "rat", but getting everyone to gleefully guess "fart" because she was trying to make a gesture for a tail.
• Several hilarious stories from a great aunt regarding her younger days as a student at the University of Tulsa, most notably those about greeting one date at the front door while another date exited from the back and skinny dipping in a pond in the rural part of town.
• 20 or so people invading the barn to visit Moe and Gina, who (relatively) happily provided pony rides for most of those people.

Truth from NickerDoodles

Needless to say, it was a very busy weekend! I took some time yesterday to relax and think about what I want to accomplish in December. I'm usually not one for goals (monthly or otherwise), but I'm kind of into the idea of them lately.

So here's my goals for December: 

• Ride 4x/week
• Focus on prepping Gina for the rescheduled hunter pace and spring show season
• Ride Moe at least 1x/week to help maintain his fitness (he's ridden by lesson kids 1-2x/week)
• Jump Gina at least 1x/week
• Out of the saddle exercise every other day: I've definitely fallen off the exercise wagon over the last couple of months. When I get busy, exercise is one of the first things I remove from my schedule. (Especially now that it's dark and cold when I get home.) This month, I'm making it a priority to do something every other day- walking, jogging, strength training, yoga- anything except sitting around.
• Log my food every day: I don't obsess about food, truly. But I find that I'm more aware of what I'm putting into my body when I'm tracking it. Seeing just how many calories are in that delicious, delicious honey barbecue chicken strip sandwich or how many carbs in are that much-needed bourbon and Diet Coke is enough to make me ask myself, "Do I really want this? Do I need this?" before I go whole hog on a Whataburger and Jim Beam bender. If the answer is "YES", then that's fine. But most of the time, the answer is "Ehhh, not really." Plus, when I eat better, I feel better. When I feel better, I ride better! Duh.
• Send Christmas presents and cards on time. (Not horse-related, unless you're counting sending my gifts for the Fly On Over Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange!)

I'm excited about December! The hunter pace is coming up, Christmas is nearly here, and pretty soon the days will start getting the tiniest bit longer. Hooray!