The Compulsive Ramblings Of A Philotherian: Here's to new beginnings...

Wow, another year gone, another 365 days of memories. I don't know if I'm alone here, but the recent years just seem to fly by. It could be because I'm getting older, but I think the days are just getting shorter. If you blink more than once, you miss an entire season it seems.

But I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here for another... recap! You know you love them just as much as I love talking about them, so here goes...

Probably one of the most memorable (and heartbreaking) times of 2014 was the loss of one of our sugar glider joeys, David. He was rejected by his mom and gravely injured by his mom. We stayed with him around the clock, but he soon met his fate on Sunday evening just after 7PM. The little baby died in my hands. I've never been so heartbroken over a joey in all my years of owning gliders.

Getting our new laptops isn't really blog worthy, but what we had to endure in the process sure was! Around the same time we put over $500 on two pre-paid cards to get them, a feud had been started via Paypal by an irate cage set customer. After all that was settled, our damn laptops still had a flaw -- a Spanish keyboard. I swear, we could not get a break that week.

Another depressing part of 2014 was when Lucy went missing. She very pregnant and about to pop, so the fact that she was along, pregnant, and abandoned really took a toll on me. I still, to this day, suspect foul play.

Driving all the way to Bloomfied, IL definitely makes it onto the list of most memorable. Not only did we get super close to Chicago, but we met two new glider people that very same day! We met Lynsie in Festus, then Jennifer in Bloomfield. Since the drive was so incredibly long, we found it safest to just spend the night and head back the next day.

That brings me to my next memory of 2014, shipping! This required absolutely no help from friends, it was 100% on us. I honestly don't think I've ever been so stressed in my life! It seriously makes me reevaluate wanting to ship at all!

Next up on the list would have to be my mom's heart surgery. Talk about a stress-filled week! She was 100% fine with the fact that she had to have surgery, but the closer it got, the more she started worrying. My aunt stayed with her every single day, which I knew she would. It helped, because there was no way I could, which I hated. She had a very rapid recover, which eased tense feelings even more!

I knew Sally would make the list this year, and while she's still with us, I know her time is short. She had such a miserable 2014, I can hardly stand to talk about it. She was diagnosed with a Zymbol's Gland Tumor, she had a mammary removed, and on top of that she's had a recurring abscess on her face next to her ZGT. She's only getting worse, which is killing me. Every time I look at her, I see a part of her slip away. She's take a part of me with her each time.

Some good actually came out of 2014. For the very first time I was able to get my very own DSLR camera!! This will stay with me for the rest of my life. Anyone who follows my blog knows how badly I've wanted an SLR. It's all I've talked about since the beginning. Not only did I get the model I wanted (D3300), but I got the color I wanted too... red! It was just a major blessing that I couldn't be more thankful for.

I know this isn't like a life event, but I have to comment on how awesome Christmas was this year. Mainly the shopping aspect and how successful we were at getting everyone what they wanted. Last year was good -- any year we can buy a lot of gifts is good -- but this year we were lucky enough to have extra money around the holidays and was able to get everyone a lot of things, plus tablets! It was just great.

My conclusion... there was definitely a lot of good, a little too much bad, and the rest was teetering on the fence of okay. Not the best year, definitely not the worst, and most assuredly one for the books.

Now it's time to talk about my to-do list, or bucket list, as I called it last year. I wrote out a few things that I wished to accomplish in 2014. So here goes...

What I accomplished:

Traveling! No, I didn't get to go to Louisiana like I had planned, but I did get to go to Bloomfield, IL. Traveling is traveling, I'm not going to be picky.

Purchasing a DSLR. I know, I'm still astounded and in shock. This is something I honestly didn't think I would accomplish.

Taking more photos, which I more definitely accomplished. I broke a record when I took 1700 in December alone!

What I didn't accomplish:

Music! Yes, I did make the plunge and buy a violin, but I sold it less than 48 hours after receiving it. I'm going to wait until I have time to take lessons and buy a violin that costs more than $70. I also didn't play the piano like I wanted. Boo!

Project 365. I didn't even remotely make it this year. I took pictures for over a month, but only posted like 10. HUGE disappointment, I'm very ashamed.

I'm going to combine this last one into one failure. Mainly because I want to break even on the accomplish/didn't accomplish list. Blogging, which I did plenty of, I still didn't beat last years posts. I had 210 posts last year and only 191 this year. Close, but no enchilada. This next one is a yes and no. Did I update Sugar Exotics? Yes! Did I update it a lot? No. Take that as you will, it's a yes and no answer.

All in all it was good and bad for my 2014 to-do list. They were realistic goals, which makes it even more depressing to not accomplish them all. But hey, at least I got half!

Now, the part I know you've all been waiting for. Just what DO I wish to accomplish this year?

First and foremost, photography! I think I have the quantity of pictures taken at a comfortable level, so not that. What I want -- and have dreamed of doing -- is to start my own photography business! Since I have a nice starter SLR, I think I'm almost ready. I mean, if ever there was a career path for me, photography is it.

Which brings me to the next thing on my list, purchasing a prime lens! I already have one picked out, so I don't have to worry about finding the right one.

While we're on the subject of photography, one more thing I would like to accomplish (photography wise) is using my camera on FULL manual! I already rarely use auto anymore, I even find auto to wash out some pictures, so that's something I really, really want to do, but not just do it, understand it!

Next up is a repeat of last year... Project 365. I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it! I know I sound like a broken record, but I honestly want to at least try and accomplish it this year. I've taken a photo every single day since I got my new camera, so why stop there.

I still want to travel, but I'm setting my sights low as of now. Travel wise this year, the Zoo. That's simple enough, right? After all, it's less than 3 hours away. I could set unrealistic goals, such as New Zealand or Ukraine, but I'm not going to aim for something so high that I would need a 500 ft ladder for.

I think I can accomplish those 5 things, don't you? As of right now, I can't think of anything else that I want to do. So lets just leave it at that and be done, shall we? I hope that everyone had a stellar New Year and was able to rid themselves of 2014 and all it's nastiness. I know of a few people that couldn't wait to get last year behind them.

Love & Peace
... and Happy New Year!

-Megan

Time to remissness with the last photos taken in 2014...

All our goodies from the 75% off sale at Walmart: