2016, You’re Done. 2017…Here I Come.

Last year I skipped the whole 2016 wrap-up + 2017 goals post. I love reading other people’s resolutions and it’s about time I did one of my own again. (Actually, I think I skipped only last year, so really it hasn’t been that long since I did this.)

So . . . did 2016 try to murder anyone else? I know I’m not the only one. I remember thinking in February, “Wow…this year is already one of the toughest years EVER.” And that was only two months in! Little did I know there were still 10 more months of wading through lava. *deep breath*

But today I’ll be focusing on the good stuff:

~2016 Wrap Up~

FAVORITE MOVIES FROM 2016:

Confession: I didn’t love 2016’s movies. (Just another thing about this great year. ? ) Usually I have a long string of favorite movies, but the only ones that made the list this year were:

• Risen (I give this movie an A-)
• Doctor Strange (This one gets a B+. I really enjoyed it, but didn’t feel drawn to watch it another 100 times. 😉 )
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (This movie was a B for me, and made the list mainly because I loved the music. And the baker. 😛 )

FAVORITE BOOKS I READ IN 2016:

• Unblemished, by Sara Ella — portal fantasy that inspires me to write every time I read it. I actually read this one twice this year. <3
• Passenger, by Alexandra Bracken — Time travel that will twist your mind and take you all over the world. *swoon* And book two releases next week!
• A Darker Shade of Magic, by V. E. Schwab — People. Read this. A fantasy book set in three parallel Londons. It is fascinating.
• Heartless, by Marissa Meyer — if you like Alice in Wonderland at all you must read this book NOW. I don’t like Alice in Wonderland. Not one bit. And I still loved this book.

THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF

I have a hard time believing people. I recently wrote a blog post about this and it’s been such a relief to pinpoint the problem and the solution. 🙂 Yay!

I enjoy doing dishes. If hubby is reading this, he may not believe me. But I do. I enjoy them when I do them. 😛 Which isn’t that often.

I can teach writers. I was invited to speak at the One Year Adventure Conference Summer Workshop this year, and I was biting my nails for months leading up to it. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stand in front of people and talk. A lot. About important stuff. Then I did it . . . and I loved it. I mean, the stage fright is still there . . . and the panic that I won’t be able to teach anything worthwhile, but God chips away at that. I’ll be teaching at the OYAN Winter Workshop this weekend!

I learned I think I’m a plotter. *gasp* I can see the pantsers fleeing my blog right now. But my friend, John Otte, told me about this magnificent book called Write Your Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson. I bought it. Read it. Bought another copy and threw it at a friend. Bought a third copy . . . for myself. Again. 😛 IT CHANGED MY WRITING LIFE. And I’m now currently obsessed with the success of plotting.

I learned I can’t survive off “halfsies” with God. Here’s what happened to hubby and me in the second part of 2016: Imagine that you’re drowning . . . and juggling at the same time. Yup. We became excellent dog-paddlers, but I was trying to juggle life, writing, book launching, and God. Then I realized that I was treating God as one of the four juggle balls instead of the air in which I was juggling. And putting God in a box (or ball, if you will) wasn’t enough for me. I had a couple weeks of being lukewarm and I’m ready to never do that again. I know that all of us have spiritual deserts, but I learned that I seriously cannot function if I short-change my time with my Jesus. I needed more of Him. And He’s always there. So I got my toosh in gear and am breathing again.

~2017~

MOVIES I CAN’T WAIT FOR IN 2017

• Beauty and the Beast (Can I get an amen?)
• Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (I need the new soundtrack now.)
• Star Wars Episode VIII

BOOKS I CAN’T WAIT FOR IN 2017 (aka: Books that I AM READY TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST. RIGHT NOW. YESTERDAY.)

• The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber
• Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
• Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
• Flame in the Mist by Renee Adieh

Goals

• Write a new book. 😀 I’ve already started on a couple ideas–it’s settling on the right one that’s taking so much time. But I’m hoping to get a rough draft of my new manuscript finished by May.
• Read through the Bibliotheca Bible. We just received our Bibliotheca version of the Bible (the Bible with no verses or chapters) for which we’ve been waiting for over 2 years! *happy swoon* I can’t wait to read through the whole thing. There will probably be a blog post on it.
• Only buy books I know I want to own. That means I know I want to re-read them or lend them out, etc. I’m tired of ending up with books on my shelves that I then want to go shove in a deep dirty hole somewhere. 😛
• Start a bullet journal. Katie Grace from A Writer’s Faith gave me a bullet journal this year and I’ve been dying to start it. I, of course, have been stalking all bullet journal posts on Pinterest and drooling non-stop. 😉
• Read 60 books. I’m trying to up my yearly reading number a bit each year. I think 60 would be a nice cap, but I barely made 52 this year. However, I’m hoping 2017 will allow for more reading time. *crosses fingers*

This wrap-up and goals are mainly book or writing related (what did you expect?) I had to limit myself to one area of focus otherwise you’d end up reading a novel-length blog post. I decided to be nice and spare you. (You’re welcome.)

What were some highs from your 2016?

What is one goal you’ve made (or one thing you’re looking forward to) in 2017?

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