2014 Hopes: How I Went

This is how I went:

1.  Get fit.  A friend of mine is the local Zumba instructor.  I've always swore I'd never do Zumba.  I'm the most unco-ordinated person on the planet, and anything that involves dancing, I look like I have too many legs all tripping over each other.  But I've decided to eat my words and give it a go.  There's no other high impact aerobic exercise available locally, and I like to exercise with others as it gives me the motivation to give it my all.  Netball is out of the question because there is no team at my level and it hurts my back.  So, there....I'm go to be Zumba-ing it up on Monday nights this year.  Duncan has promised to be home from work in time to look after Rory.
I started off well, going to Zumba most Mondays and really enjoying it.  Then the Zumba instructor (my friend Asha, whose husband works with Duncan) decided to not run it during winter because of low numbers.  At the start of May, Asha had a terrible horseriding accident, fracturing three vertebrae in her back.  It hasn't healed properly so Zumba is on hold for a while yet.  I did start going to ladies' tennis again more regularly (while Rory was at daycare) and now Sunday afternoon tennis has resumed as well.  But I'm far from fit.

2.  Read the Bible regularly.  Whether I can be a part of a Bible study or not, I need to really feast on God's Word.  I'm not interested in set plans, so I'm going to continue on with the devotional I'm doing, read a Psalm a day, and keep up with the verses and discussion we receive from our pastor via an iphone app.
Epic fail!  I'm so thankful for a God that loves me, regardless.  I will keep trying.

3.  Finish editing my book!  Surely this has got to be the year! 
So close, yet STILL no cigar.  I finished the second major edit, so that was good.  Now I'm just doing a quick read through (and finding MORE mistakes, unfortunately).  Then I just have to write the synopsis and cover letter and it's off to the literary agent.

4.  Shop ethically.  Recently, I've been evaluating how my faith in Christ impacts my grocery and clothes shopping.  Expect a post on this very soon.
This was the post I did and I really did give this a go.  It's hard in a country town, where some 'ethical' brands are just not available, and you have to pick the best out of a bad lot.  Sometimes I got lazy and couldn't be bothered checking the app before making a purchase.  Sometimes I was too tempted by what was on special.  I'm aiming to keep on with this this year.

5.  Take Rory to playgroup.  I've been putting off trying the local playgroup because friends of mine told me they found it very cliquey.  Now I've decided that I should give it a go and make up my own mind about people instead of listening to hearsay.  A former workmate told me she is planning to go with her new baby so at least I'll know someone.  It's hard at the moment because it's on from 9:30-11:30 and that clashes with Rory's morning sleep.  When he drops to one sleep a day, then we'll go.
I just squeezed in with this one...we didn't get to playgroup until December due to playgroup being on Thursdays and the ladies' fellowship at church being every second Thursday.  It took me a long time to get the guts to go.  It IS a bit cliquey, but I'm persevering and SLOWLY getting to know more mums...when Rory's not wanting me to help him climb the fort, that is, and I can actually sit down and talk to people.  Sometimes I feel like a real idiot because I have nothing interesting to say - I suck at small talk.  We went to Storytime at our local library a fair bit, and also to 'Play in the Park' a few times, but building relationships when you're an adult is slow, hard work.

Stay tuned for my 2015 hopes next week.