Wrapping Up 2018-Welcoming 2019...

Greetings, all!

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL 2019!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? 

It seems like only a few months ago that I was writing a wrap-up post for 2017. Strange how time flies the older you get. What will it be like when we’re grandparents, I wonder? We’ll blink, and it will be the new year. 

I had a challenging year, I will admit. Not my hardest, certainly; but it was a tough one. I was told we were moving at the end of last year; then in June we put our house on the market and had moved into our new house by August. Then my dad quit his job and started seminary, and I entered my junior year in high school. All of those changes happened within four months. It was crazy, but good kind of crazy. XD

And now it’s time to reminisce about the past… 

Big Events of 2018

Braces-Yup, joined the ranks of teenagers with braces. It’s been great fun so far. *nods seriously*

Sweet Sixteen-I turned 16 this year! Funny, though…doesn’t feel much different than being 15…or 14, for that matter. XD

Moving-Already talked about this one. XP I must say though, I do like our new house. It’s only a five-minute walk (or less, if you speed walk) to the library. :-D 

Family Camping Trip-Which you can read about here, if you didn’t already. We took our first big camping trip as a family this year and hit places like the Grand Canyon, Salt Lake City, and Mesa Verde. It was AWESOME.  

Kung Fu-At the beginning of this year my brother and I were yellow belts in Kung Fu. Now, we are green belt stripe. Which, if you don’t know what that means, is half-way to a black belt!!! I am hoping to be a black belt by the time I’m 18. Let’s see what happens!!!

Stories Discovered in 2018

I read a whopping total of 79 books this year, and am very unhappy that I couldn’t make it to 80. Well, I have two days left; we’ll see if I can make it through another before midnight on the 31^st. XD

This year I was introduced to some amazing books and movies, including (but not limited to)

M. Night Shyamalan Movies

(The Sixth Sense, The Village, Signs, Lady in the Water, After Earth, The Last Airbender)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (books and movies) 

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

BBC’s SHERLOCK

Fawkes by Nadine Brandes 

H.G. Wells Science Fiction

(War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau, When the Sleeper Wakes)

The Rithamist by Brandon Sanderson

Dracula by Bram Stoker

(not a story but still amazing) Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Solo: A Star Wars Story

AND, we must not forget to give a eulogy to the movie that broke Marvel fan’s hearts. 

Music Listened to in 2018

Here is the link to my end of the year Spotify playlist. It has a good smattering of songs from some of the genres and artists I listened to. 

Your Top Songs 2018

There were a couple of songs that really resonated with me this year; and I listened to them a lot.

Brave covered by Peter Hollens

My Immortal by Evanescence

We Will Not Go Quietly by Epic Score

Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons

Wanderer’s Lullaby by Adriana Figueroa

Star Sky by Two Steps from Hell

Rewrite the Stars, This is Me, and The Greatest Show from the Greatest Showman Soundtrack

Friend, Please by Twenty-One Pilots

Burn the Ships by for King and Country

Lost Boy by Ruth B.

You could say those songs made up my personal playlist for 2018. :-D

Written in 2018

The most exciting thing with writing that happened this year was that I finished my dystopian novella, Mission: Metal! I also started my pirate novel, Of Seas, Silver, and Shipmates, and began brainstorming my sci-fi novel…the name of which will be revealed in April of 2019…*winks* 

I participated in Camp Nano in July and NaNoWriMo in November (which I failed in devastatingly but it was fun anyway XD). I think I’m sort of getting the hang of this writing thing. Maybe…XD It’s been an awesome ride though.

Dreams for 2019

I’m desperately hoping to go One Year Adventure Novel’s Summer Workshop Writing Conference in June of 2019. I have about half of the funds necessary, and I already have a family member willing to go with me. We’ll see!!! 

Also, I’m hoping to have three novels written and ready to edit by the end of the year. Mission: Metal, OSSS, and the unnamed sci-fi novel. Now I have to go write this goal down somewhere and tape it to my computer screen so I’ll remember. XD

And lastly (this is kind of a stupid goal but whatever XD) I am determined to be able to do the full splits by the end of the year. We’ll see how that goes. XD

Now it’s your turn! What amazing stories did you discover this year? Did anything earth shattering happen to you in 2018? And what are some of your hopes and plans for 2019?

I honestly can’t wait for 2019. A fresh new year in which to dream, write, plan, hope, and possibly…have an adventure.

But isn’t life in itself an adventure? 

Happy New Year!!!