New Year, New Me? Yeah Right. – My Year In Review

Well, 2018 is officially over.

Owing to the fact that it’s currently forty-five degrees and raining outside, it really doesn’t seem like January to me. But since it undoubtedly is, lets do a little recap, shall we?

Stats

Views: 1,154

Visitors: 562

Likes: 174

Comments: 86

Followers: 211

Countries Viewed In: 34

A bit lackluster compared to last years stats, but considering I was on hiatus most of the year, I don’t think it’s that bad! I still gained followers while I was gone, and some people still read my posts. So overall, it wasn’t a bad year stat-wise. (And a thank you to my newest follower, Autumn!)

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\\\The Liebster Award///

In With The New Year! /// 2017 Recap \\\

Highlights

• I was chosen for four roles in my dance company’s performance of the Nutcracker this year! I was a party dancer, as usual, a soldier, a Reed Pipe dancer, and a snowflake. I was also promoted to apprentice company member, so I have class five days a week!
• TRENCH. That is all. TRENCH is one of my favorite albums, and I got tickets to see the boys on the Bandito tour in June, so that’s pretty awesome. (Also, for the benefit of the fellow clikkies, Josh and Debby’s engagement made my life. 😍)
• I went to St. Augustine, Florida! Our annual family reunion on my dad’s side was in Florida this year, and we actually went! We took a plane, which I’ve never done before. We spent a week there, and I had a great time!
• I went to my freshman formal, which a local co-op puts on for all the homeschoolers in the area! I went with a group of friends (no date for me, thank you!) and we had an amazing time! There may have been a Hugh Jackman a la Greatest Showman impression, and a Dirty Dancing lift. All involving my friend group, of course. 😉
• I went to my first official concert! I went to a Winter Jam performance in January, and I got to see Skillet, Jordan Feliz, Building 429, and some other amazing bands!

Favorites

Books

Not all of these were published in 2018, these are just my favorites from the year.

• Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
• Caraval by Stephanie Garber
• All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
• Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
• Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Anything by Marie Lu
• Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Music

These are bands or artists I started listening to more this year, and also some of my favorite individual songs.

Bands/Artists

• Panic! At The Disco
• Shawn Mendes (I blame Charis for this one.)
• I seriously joined the clique early 2018. I’d listened to twenty øne piløts before, but I really started resonating with the lyrics late 2017/ early 2018.
• Owl City
• Imagine Dragons

Songs

• I’ll Be Good – Jaymes Young
• One Day – Tate McRae
• Dynasty – MIIA
• when the party’s over – Billie Eilish
• Never Be The Same – Camila Cabello
• Leave The City – twenty øne piløts
• Neon Gravestones – twenty øne piløts
• Chlorine – twenty øne piløts
• Kitchen Sink – twenty øne piløts
• Forest – twenty øne piløts
• This is Gospel – Panic! At The Disco
• Northern Downpour – Panic! At The Disco
• Roaring 20’s – Panic! At The Disco
• Dying in LA – Panic! At The Disco
• Cancer – twenty øne piløts cover of My Chemical Romance
• Nicotine – Panic! At The Disco (Clean Version)

Goals

Let’s see how I did with my 2018 goals! A check means I completed it, a X means I failed it, and a circle means I sort of did it.

Writing

Finish rewriting the first draft of When The Phoenix Calls and complete the sequel, When The Clouds Lift. ❌

Edit and get Beta readers for WTPC. ❌

Receive critique from a published author for WTPC. ❌

Write at least five days a week. ❌

2018 was a really bad writing year for me. I had no motivation, and whenever I tried to write, it seemed to discourage me even more. Hopefully 2019 will turn out better.

Blogging

Reach 250 followers. ❌ I’m currently at 211, but that’s taking hiatus into consideration. Overall, not bad.

Grow my platform, and possibly progress to a paid platform. ❌ I didn’t grow a lot, but I’m hoping to change that this year.

Get social media for my blog, and grow my audience to increase traffic. 🔵 I made an Instagram for my blog, but I haven’t started using it yet. I’ll be posting on it the same days as I post here, starting Saturday. There’s a link in the sidebar if you want to check it out.

Learn graphic design, and start using featured images and handmade graphics. ✔️ I’m still learning graphic design, but I’ve started using featured images made with my own pictures, so I’d say this one is a win.

Dance

Stretch every day. ❌ I didn’t do a very good job of this one, but I do stretch pretty frequently.

Take more classes, if possible. ✔️ I went from having two of my own classes and a class wth the older group, to being added to the older class. I take three of my own classes, help with some of the younger groups, and demonstrate for the class below me in both of their classes.

Get cast in our spring ballet as a higher role, and also in The Nutcracker. ✔️ I was cast as a gypsy in our spring performance of Rapunzel, and my aforementioned Nutcracker roles. I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out!

Get a ballet barre, and use it to improve. 🔵 I got a barre for my birthday, but I currently don’t have enough space to set it up and have it operational. So I have it, but it’s not useable.

Overall, there’s a lot of places where I can improve. But I’m hoping I can do that over the next year. I’m not going to set any new goals as of right now, so I can focus on last years list. If I complete enough of those to suit me, I’ll make some new challenges.

What are some of your goals for 2019? Let me know in the comments!

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