2015 New Year's Resolutions

I accomplished all of my 2014 resolutions. They were to continue experimenting with acrylic painting, to beat my dailymile.com mileage from 2013 (which was 1300 miles), and to read more books and pages than 2013 (50 books and 16,863 pages). In 2014, I painted nine new acrylic canvases; I completed 1370 miles, and read 59 books and 17,445 pages.

In 2014, I based my "resolutions" on ways I wanted to improve my life. This year (2015), my resolutions are set-up to truly challenge myself on things I already love and enjoy. If you glance at my 2015 list, my hobbies and life consists of drinking coffee, reading books, cooking, and hiking. Each year, I go back and reread my blog entries, almost as one may do with a journal. I have been able to see my personal growth and new hobbies emerging and remaining since I moved from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest. I started my blog in 2011 while I was working towards my doctorate, and at the time, would never had predicted that in four years I would have a goal that included to summit Mount St. Helens.

Here are my 2015 resolutions:

• To summit Mount St. Helens.
• To finish cooking through my favorite cookbook, Smitten Kitchen.
• To do more hiking in Eastern Washington; about 90% of the trails I accomplish are in Western and Central Washington.
• To accomplish five more trails in my hiking book, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Seattle. 
• To try 10 new coffeehouses in Seattle. 
• To read all of the 2014 Goodreads book winners.