# Making 2015 a great year



## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Feeling inspired right now to make 2015 a great year. I've wasted so many years.

Some of the biggest factors limiting me are depression, social anxiety, and a bad back

Things that would make 2015 great are working hard on improving at art, becoming healthier, doing more with my girlfriend, and having outdoor adventures

Going to get things started early by having a little walk/rock hunt in a bit  I'll post more about my plans later


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## fractured (May 4, 2014)

Nice, i hope you find consistency and success. Going into a new year is like a fresh beginning, it's a great time to start something new. I have some goals too, i just want this year to be better than the past.


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## isuckatlife (Oct 20, 2008)

Good luck, slyfox!


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Thanks both of you  Yeah, I like how it feels like a fresh beginning. Wish you both good luck with the upcoming year as well.

Went rock hunting at a few places. Found a big chuck of quartz, petoskey stones, horn coral fossils, other coral fossils, and some of what I think might be small pieces of red jasper. I put on boot waders to look at one place. I did pretty good with anxiety despite having a guy ask what I was doing. He thought I was illegally clamming  Wish I knew more secluded spots. Had tons of back pain but am glad I got out.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Going to my favorite spot today  Hoping to bring back some agate, jasper, unakite, and fossils  Will be good exercise for me


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Didn't go. Lost my motivation. Justified it with that I was still sick and that I needed to do work around the house but ended up doing nothing. I'll probably go at the end of October. Starting tomorrow I have to wear a heart monitor for two weeks and I don't think it is a good idea to be fooling around near water.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Here is a list of things I want to do in 2015. I'll add to the list as I think of more

Fun/adventure

Go kayaking
Go kayaking down the Rifle River
Go metal detecting
Hunt fossils in the Alpena area

Trips with my girlfriend - She is new to the state but I haven't shown her around much

- Trip to the Upper Peninsula 
- Western Michigan
- Mackinac Island

Art

Make a glass/ceramic mosaic
Make pit fired pottery
Stone carve

Challenges for SA

- Having a garage sale/selling at flea market
- Selling art and crafts at a show

Health 

Weigh 240 lbs or less


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## cosmicslop (Nov 24, 2012)

I hope you get to manage your anxiety and depression and accomplish many other things and have a satisfying year. I love your fun/adventure to-do list. You can never go wrong with all-things outdoors.  Maybe if I make leaps in progress on working on my SA, I can join a hiking group around my area next year. Never been kayaking before but there's always people kayaking where I live. 

My depression social anxiety are also limiting me right now as well, but I've slowly started coming up again after a depressive episode. I've forced myself to jog and make some art this month, so that's good.


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## slowlyimproving (Jan 2, 2014)

Sounds great!


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## BreakMyFall (Aug 2, 2014)

Rooting for you all the way!


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

cosmicslop said:


> I hope you get to manage your anxiety and depression and accomplish many other things and have a satisfying year. I love your fun/adventure to-do list. You can never go wrong with all-things outdoors.  Maybe if I make leaps in progress on working on my SA, I can join a hiking group around my area next year. Never been kayaking before but there's always people kayaking where I live.
> 
> My depression social anxiety are also limiting me right now as well, but I've slowly started coming up again after a depressive episode. I've forced myself to jog and make some art this month, so that's good.


Thanks  Hope you are able to join that hiking group  Sounds fun. Good that you are recovering. I need to start doing more art wise.



slowlyimproving said:


> Sounds great!





BreakMyFall said:


> Rooting for you all the way!


Thanks for your support


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## 525826 (Aug 29, 2014)

You can do it slyfox!


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## Citrine (Oct 19, 2010)

Good luck!  The rock collecting club sounds pretty awesome. :b


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

nobutapower said:


> You can do it slyfox!





Citrine said:


> Good luck!  The rock collecting club sounds pretty awesome. :b


Thanks to both of you  Been feeling less motivated lately, but hopefully I can get motivated again. Think I would be too anxious to join a club but maybe I'll be able to try


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## Akuba (Oct 17, 2014)

I've wasted many years too! I know how that feels.

Anyways, good luck on your journey! Hopefully 2015 will be a better year for many of us.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Akuba said:


> I've wasted many years too! I know how that feels.
> 
> Anyways, good luck on your journey! Hopefully 2015 will be a better year for many of us.


Thanks  Hope 2015 is a good year for you

With support from so many people, I better give this a real try


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## Lifeofanartist (Nov 11, 2003)

Great idea and sounds like you have some good goals planned!


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

If I were over there I'd join you .


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## Magnatolia (Mar 15, 2009)

Sounds like a good list slyfox. Hope you tick them all off. I used to go fossicking years ago. Was pretty good fun. I also did lapidary where you take a rough piece of stone and turn it into something nice. Except my best piece I forgot to polish the back of it haha.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Lifeofanartist said:


> Great idea and sounds like you have some good goals planned!


Thanks, I need to add some more. Tempted to remove the rock club one because of anxiety



Grog said:


> If I were over there I'd join you .


That would be fun. I know from some of your posts that you are into the outdoors. Too bad about the distance.



Magnatolia said:


> Sounds like a good list slyfox. Hope you tick them all off. I used to go fossicking years ago. Was pretty good fun. I also did lapidary where you take a rough piece of stone and turn it into something nice. Except my best piece I forgot to polish the back of it haha.


Thanks, that's cool! Most of the fossils I find are coral ones like petoskey stones and horned coral. I've been interested in taking up lapidary but I can't justify spending the money atm. If I actually worked at my other hobbies maybe, but I worry the equipment would just sit around. I have a dremel with a flexshaft for light stone carving but I haven't done it in a long time.


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## Zalinsky (Jul 18, 2014)

This year isn't over yet. You can do some cool stuff now, if you'd like.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Zalinsky said:


> This year isn't over yet. You can do some cool stuff now, if you'd like.


I do have a problem with thinking of things too much in terms of a calendar year. I do have a few things I might do but the coming cold weather makes it difficult. For now am mostly going to work on things like losing weight and getting things in my life under control


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Was thinking of making weekly reports

Experimented two times with lampworking last week. I wasn't using proper equipment and was melting bottle glass to try to make things. Was fun but everything cracked on me from the thermal shock. Best thing I made was a couple hearts but they both got cracks and one broke. Not too bad for using simple equipment and having never taken a class though. If I stick to the diet I am on or work harder on art I plan to buy better equipment. Also at a thrift shop yesterday I bought a bunch of colored glass items. Not sure yet what pieces I'm going to keep and which ones are going to be for melting.

Weight 292.2 lbs

Because of high blood pressure, I'm trying to stick to a low sodium diet(1,500 mg or less). Today is the second day that I've been keeping track of all of my sodium, calories, and protein. Also walked two times last week for about a half hour each time. I've lost a pound or two but have a long way to go.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight 289.6 lbs

Walked a few times last week. Started out really good counting calories and sodium but cheated a few times. Not sure how accurate the weight loss is because I fluctuate a lot. Didn't work at all on art. Did go into a restaurant to order carryout despite it being extremely busy on a Friday night. Was one of the times I cheated on my diet but at least it gave me a social exposure challenge.


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## altghost (Jul 13, 2012)

hearts as in valentine or as in anatomical?


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## CWe (Mar 7, 2010)

Good luck


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

altghost said:


> hearts as in valentine or as in anatomical?


The simple Valentine's ones. I'm far from being able to make a anatomical looking heart out of glass lol



CWe said:


> Good luck


Thanks


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## altghost (Jul 13, 2012)

ah, thought you were talking about clay xD that would be a pretty crazy thing to see though, eh?


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## pnutbutterjellytime (Nov 10, 2014)

Congrats on the weight loss so far! Keep at it 

Glass artwork sounds so cool! You will have to link to some pictures once you make your first creation


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

altghost said:


> ah, thought you were talking about clay xD that would be a pretty crazy thing to see though, eh?


Yeah it would be pretty cool lol



pnutbutterjellytime said:


> Congrats on the weight loss so far! Keep at it
> 
> Glass artwork sounds so cool! You will have to link to some pictures once you make your first creation


Thanks, I need to get back on my diet this week. Have slipped up some.

Ok  Don't think I'll be doing much until spring, so I'm holding off on buying better equipment.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight: 287.2 lbs 

Didn't do much last week. Didn't stick to my diet at all. My weight is probably a dehydrated weight. I've been at this weight at random times in previous weeks.


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## Magnatolia (Mar 15, 2009)

Hey Slyfox, thats great! Do you mean rock hunt as in fossicking? I used to do tha years ago, head down to some outback creeks and dredge up some nice looking rocks.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Magnatolia said:


> Hey Slyfox, thats great! Do you mean rock hunt as in fossicking? I used to do tha years ago, head down to some outback creeks and dredge up some nice looking rocks.


Thanks! Had to look up fossicking. Glad I did, because at first I thought it was a term just for fossil hunting lol From the definition I read it sounds about right. I mostly look for agates, jasper, unakite, and fossils. Aside from unakite and fossils I usually don't have much luck and just end up keeping random nice looking stones. Michigan isn't that great because it seems to be mostly limestone and stones deposited by glaciers.

Sounds like that would be fun


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight: 286.6 lbs

Broke my diet a ton. Started the week out doing 40 mins a day of exercise but got off track


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## rosecolored (May 13, 2012)

Good luck


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

harajuku candy said:


> Good luck


Thank you


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight: 285.2 lbs

Haven't been sticking to my diet well at all. Guess I'm just getting lucky


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## Thedood (Nov 27, 2013)

Keep it up man! I'm going to go on a workout/running/diet regimen starting 2015 too. Going to try to lose 50 pounds.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Thedood said:


> Keep it up man! I'm going to go on a workout/running/diet regimen starting 2015 too. Going to try to lose 50 pounds.


Thanks! Good luck to you too


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## scooby (Jun 24, 2009)

Good job with the weight loss. Keep it up. It looks like you'll be heading into 2015 with a running start, which is a great thing to do.


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## nervousbat (Nov 16, 2014)

Yay!! Well done man.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

scooby said:


> Good job with the weight loss. Keep it up. It looks like you'll be heading into 2015 with a running start, which is a great thing to do.


Thanks, yeah I'm liking that I started earlier than 2015 



nervousbat said:


> Yay!! Well done man.


Thanks 

Weight: 283.8 lbs

Walked a couple times last week. Also searched for some wild edibles like wintergreen and dandelion leaves. Not sure if I'll keep my interest, but gathering wild edibles seems like a good way to exercise and eat healthier. Just worried about making mistakes with identification.

Also tried basket weaving a couple times. I used weeping willow branches that I gathered.


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## sarahsjourney (Jan 5, 2014)

Well done on the weight loss


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

sarahsjourney said:


> Well done on the weight loss


Thank you  Sorry about the delayed reply. Have been trying to reply to this on Sundays when I post an update.

Weight: 286.8 lbs

Have been working more on wicker. Worked on a wicker birdhouse. Still need to finish it. Also did some drawing practice yesterday. I mention these things because I would like to someday sell my arts and crafts and also because I usually just spend all my time online.


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## harry26 (Dec 4, 2014)

you just loss the depression when you have spent lots of your time watching a movies reading funny comics.you can also read some inspirational books.have a very good year 2015 go ahead.


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## visualkeirockstar (Aug 5, 2012)

thats what we say every year.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

harry26 said:


> you just loss the depression when you have spent lots of your time watching a movies reading funny comics.you can also read some inspirational books.have a very good year 2015 go ahead.


Thanks, I'll try to be positive. Hope your 2015 goes great as well!



visualkeirockstar said:


> thats what we say every year.


True for most years I've tried to have a great year. Usually end up wasting them. I did manage to make 2009 an epic year though by setting goals on SAS. Too bad I slacked off and things have gotten even worse in someways(quitting my job, etc).


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight: 291.4 lbs

Ugh on the weight. Definitely need to go back to eating healthier and exercising.

Worked a little more with crafts. Made a yarn coiled basket. Also made myself stick to going with my family and girlfriend on a ride to see Christmas lights. Glad we did it, but I just don't feel like doing anything outside of my house lately and would rather make excuses to get out of it if I can. Just always tired.

Also playing around inside with growing some garlic from cloves indoors and some green onion from cuttings. Things like this seem to make eating healthy funner. Too bad I don't have the money or space to setup an indoor growing operation with other vegetables.

About to make a long list of fun things I would like to do. Like a bucket list, but with really small things.

For this week I'm going to focus on trying to eat healthier, make things less of a mess, and doing art or crafts everyday.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight: Got 291.4 again

Last week tried to eat more fruits and vegetables. Need to start exercising again and taking losing weight more seriously.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Weight: 289 lbs

2015 is here I need to start focusing


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

I follow this guy 

doctor Michael Mosley. 

It's hard at first but it really really does work and has helped me a lot .


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## mind_games (Nov 30, 2008)

Good luck with 2015 sly!


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Grog said:


> I follow this guy
> 
> doctor Michael Mosley.
> 
> It's hard at first but it really really does work and has helped me a lot .


Thanks, I'll look more into it 



mind_games said:


> Good luck with 2015 sly!


Thanks! Have a great year Mind Games and Grog  Welcome back Mind Games! Looking at your posts I see you've been back since October, but I know you were gone from the site for awhile.


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## slyfox (Nov 18, 2007)

Have gained weight since last posted. I really should start walking again

So far this year
-Went to a city wide garage sale even and stopped at a lot of garage sales
-Have started doing more artwork and practice in recent weeks. Hoping to keep it up for the rest of the year. Just recently finished a week of averaging 3 hours a day of art related work.
-Have done a small amount of stone carving this week. A small simple face with diamond files. It isn't finished yet.
-Went fishing twice. One time was night fishing at a new place. Actually didn't catch any fish at either trip so I'll have to try to get out again
-Planted some plants outside(strawberries, tomatoes, banana peppers, raspberries, and blueberries)

Some things I would like to do
-Go kayaking
-Do more fishing
-Go on some trips with my girlfriend. Met her on SAS and She moved here. I need to show her more of the state
-Go rock collecting at my favorite spots
-Sell some of my crafts or artwork
-Sell at a flea market. Not sure if I'll get this one done. Really intimidating and everything is a mess since I moved to a new home.

I'll update this if I think of more


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