2019 Quarterly Update
Hello all! How is your 2019 going so far? Is it currently blizzarding down on the last day of April for you? No?? How odd. The weather around here would have me believe that is a totally normal thing! *laughs hysterically*
You may have noticed that things are a little different on my blog this year. Whereas I used to try and post once a week and had a monthly update, I've scaled things back to posting at least once per month and doing quarterly updates instead.
It's crazy to think that it will be May tomorrow already (especially considering all the snow currently sitting outside, rip me).
This year I've been trying to stick on some semblance of a schedule, and so far been doing alright. I've been working on the second half of The Wandering, which is the second installment of my fantasy series (you can read more about it under my Upcoming Projects header). I'm finishing up chapter 6 today and will hopefully hit chapter 15 by June (fingers crossed). It's been a little up and down so far, but there have definitely been days where the words are just flowing and I remember what it is I love so much about this epic, wordy, behemoth of a project. At the beginning of the year, I finished up the 30 chapter outline, which was a feat in and of itself. Sorting out so many characters and sub-plots is slightly exhausting and more than a little overwhelming. Especially since I've been working on this story for over ten years and am prone to forgetting bits of information over time.
I also sent my 4th draft of Faithless away to the lovely Abigayle Clare for some critique and edits at the beginning of February. I really enjoyed her feedback and it has certainly been nice to step away from that project and let someone come at it with fresh, new eyes. She had a TON of good pointers and plot ideas that I'm super excited to get into and incorporate when I can. And, I'm excited to say, Faithless is becoming MUCH less of a mess than it was before. I can almost be actually proud of it, lol.
I was supposed to be working on The Snow Dragon WIP the last few months but in the general busyness of life, that has very much fallen by the wayside. If I can get myself together enough for May, I might be able to get through some of it before summer comes, but we'll see if that's an attainable goal.
So far I'm mostly sticking to my overall year plan, and hopefully I can continue to do so. Ideally, I'll get some of The Snow Dragon done, finish to chapter 15 of The Wandering, and maybe get through Abi's Faithless edits by mid-June. Maybe? Wish me luck, lol. I have some more writing plans for fall and I'd like to be free to pursue them as much as possible.
This year I have decided to read the Harry Potter series, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it actually. I think I would have liked them more when I was younger, but I'm still really engrossed and they have definitely gripped me. I'm part-way into the final book now, and I'm really looking forward to what I'm sure will be an epic conclusion. My favorites so far were, I think, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix. I'm also kind of amazed I've managed to avoid pretty much all the major spoilers of this series so far? Without actually trying? I've been pulled along on many twists and turns which is awesome.
I just watched Avengers: Endgame last night and I was pretty blown away. I'm still sorting through the movie in my head. It was long, it was intense, it caught me by surprise in a lot of ways and I'm still chewing on it. I definitely enjoyed it, but it's a little bittersweet, seeing the loss and change and the end of so many beloved characters. I'm curious to see how the MCU moves forward from here (particularly in terms of the 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy movie), and I will certainly miss a few faces, but all-in-all, I think they did a pretty good job.
SPOILER WARNING: I have to say, I disagree with the way they handled Thor's character in some major aspects. He is suffering trauma, depression, PTSD - very REAL things in the aftermath, and it was played off as more of a joke rather than being treated with the right, raw honesty. There were moments of his character that showed someone genuinely broken and afraid, but the audience (and other characters) brushed them off due to his general portrayal. I didn't like that very much at all. But I think that's the biggest and probably only complaint I can make so far.
A couple other new films I've seen in the past months: Lego Movie 2, Alita: Battle Angel, and Captain Marvel were all pretty interesting and enjoyable. I think that I preferred the second Lego Movie to the first actually, the self-aware joke humor was better done in my opinion, and the storyline was actually not bad. I disliked Alita a bit, it was interesting but the main character didn't grab me and her personality and romance storyline in particular really turned me off. I enjoyed Captain Marvel but I think that they could have significantly improved the story by setting up a better narrative dichotomy between Yon-Rogg and Nick Fury as Carol's sort of "mentor figures." Obviously, Mar-Vell was also an important mentor in her life, but since she was not alive during the film, I think casting a clear difference between Yon-Rogg, who sought to keep Carol down, held her back from her potential, manipulated and used her gifts vs. Nick Fury who saw her potential and encouraged and helped her to reach it, and wasn't jealous or bitter or possessive of her strengths.
Anyway, that's a bit of a nerdy rant for me. XD
General everyday life has been pretty general and everyday so far this year. Not tons of special activities, no cool travels unfortunately, no getaways, or anything like that. However, it has been busy.
I've been working as an assistant horse trainer 3-4 days per week usually. I have honestly learned so much working these last four months than I could ever have dreamed and I can't believe the horseman I'm becoming. I love being able to take my new skills and experiences to the camp horse program as well, as now that the weather has/was turned, we were able to start working with some of the horses there that need extra time. Honestly, what I've learned this year has been phenomenal in that department. My own horses are coming along nicely. I was able to take Phoebe to work for tweo weeks in March which was really good for her. Two Bits and I have been doing pretty well together overall but she's come up lame this month and has been off and on sound. Indie is chilling and Cody is actually doing pretty good for my sister. The camp horses have all been superb this season and I've been working a lot with friend's horses as well that have been so interesting and fun.
I also helped my parents by feeding cows for most of the winter, until last month anyway, which was not exactly enjoyable but not awful overall. My family went on vacation leaving me to watch the farm with a friend, which was kind of a nice, relaxing couple of weeks alone but also very cold and a little stressful.
We've also been involved in church/camp programs like youth and floor hockey, which has been a great chance to hang out with younger girls and boys and enjoy each other's company and dodgeball skills (or lack thereof, lol). There have been a few rental weekends at camp and we had a youth retreat there as well. Now that spring has sprung I have been trying to clean up and organize our house, which is happening none too quickly. :P We have only gotten the chance to go on a couple of hikes this year so far, and they weren't the most enjoyable due to snowy/icy conditions, but getting out to the mountains is always nice. All in all, everything has been fairly straight-forward and normal around here, while still managing to be hectic. I guess that's part of normal now.
Well, that about sums up my first quarter of 2019. I can't believe I can say that already, time is such a weird, wild thing that so easily escapes us! How has your year been so far? Any great project achievements? Finishing up studies? Right sick of winter? Let me know in the comments below!
You may have noticed that things are a little different on my blog this year. Whereas I used to try and post once a week and had a monthly update, I've scaled things back to posting at least once per month and doing quarterly updates instead.
It's crazy to think that it will be May tomorrow already (especially considering all the snow currently sitting outside, rip me).
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| This was taken this Sunday |
WRITING
This year I've been trying to stick on some semblance of a schedule, and so far been doing alright. I've been working on the second half of The Wandering, which is the second installment of my fantasy series (you can read more about it under my Upcoming Projects header). I'm finishing up chapter 6 today and will hopefully hit chapter 15 by June (fingers crossed). It's been a little up and down so far, but there have definitely been days where the words are just flowing and I remember what it is I love so much about this epic, wordy, behemoth of a project. At the beginning of the year, I finished up the 30 chapter outline, which was a feat in and of itself. Sorting out so many characters and sub-plots is slightly exhausting and more than a little overwhelming. Especially since I've been working on this story for over ten years and am prone to forgetting bits of information over time.
I also sent my 4th draft of Faithless away to the lovely Abigayle Clare for some critique and edits at the beginning of February. I really enjoyed her feedback and it has certainly been nice to step away from that project and let someone come at it with fresh, new eyes. She had a TON of good pointers and plot ideas that I'm super excited to get into and incorporate when I can. And, I'm excited to say, Faithless is becoming MUCH less of a mess than it was before. I can almost be actually proud of it, lol.
I was supposed to be working on The Snow Dragon WIP the last few months but in the general busyness of life, that has very much fallen by the wayside. If I can get myself together enough for May, I might be able to get through some of it before summer comes, but we'll see if that's an attainable goal.
So far I'm mostly sticking to my overall year plan, and hopefully I can continue to do so. Ideally, I'll get some of The Snow Dragon done, finish to chapter 15 of The Wandering, and maybe get through Abi's Faithless edits by mid-June. Maybe? Wish me luck, lol. I have some more writing plans for fall and I'd like to be free to pursue them as much as possible.
MEDIA
This year I have decided to read the Harry Potter series, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it actually. I think I would have liked them more when I was younger, but I'm still really engrossed and they have definitely gripped me. I'm part-way into the final book now, and I'm really looking forward to what I'm sure will be an epic conclusion. My favorites so far were, I think, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix. I'm also kind of amazed I've managed to avoid pretty much all the major spoilers of this series so far? Without actually trying? I've been pulled along on many twists and turns which is awesome.
I just watched Avengers: Endgame last night and I was pretty blown away. I'm still sorting through the movie in my head. It was long, it was intense, it caught me by surprise in a lot of ways and I'm still chewing on it. I definitely enjoyed it, but it's a little bittersweet, seeing the loss and change and the end of so many beloved characters. I'm curious to see how the MCU moves forward from here (particularly in terms of the 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy movie), and I will certainly miss a few faces, but all-in-all, I think they did a pretty good job.
SPOILER WARNING: I have to say, I disagree with the way they handled Thor's character in some major aspects. He is suffering trauma, depression, PTSD - very REAL things in the aftermath, and it was played off as more of a joke rather than being treated with the right, raw honesty. There were moments of his character that showed someone genuinely broken and afraid, but the audience (and other characters) brushed them off due to his general portrayal. I didn't like that very much at all. But I think that's the biggest and probably only complaint I can make so far.
A couple other new films I've seen in the past months: Lego Movie 2, Alita: Battle Angel, and Captain Marvel were all pretty interesting and enjoyable. I think that I preferred the second Lego Movie to the first actually, the self-aware joke humor was better done in my opinion, and the storyline was actually not bad. I disliked Alita a bit, it was interesting but the main character didn't grab me and her personality and romance storyline in particular really turned me off. I enjoyed Captain Marvel but I think that they could have significantly improved the story by setting up a better narrative dichotomy between Yon-Rogg and Nick Fury as Carol's sort of "mentor figures." Obviously, Mar-Vell was also an important mentor in her life, but since she was not alive during the film, I think casting a clear difference between Yon-Rogg, who sought to keep Carol down, held her back from her potential, manipulated and used her gifts vs. Nick Fury who saw her potential and encouraged and helped her to reach it, and wasn't jealous or bitter or possessive of her strengths.
Anyway, that's a bit of a nerdy rant for me. XD
LIFE
General everyday life has been pretty general and everyday so far this year. Not tons of special activities, no cool travels unfortunately, no getaways, or anything like that. However, it has been busy.
I've been working as an assistant horse trainer 3-4 days per week usually. I have honestly learned so much working these last four months than I could ever have dreamed and I can't believe the horseman I'm becoming. I love being able to take my new skills and experiences to the camp horse program as well, as now that the weather has/was turned, we were able to start working with some of the horses there that need extra time. Honestly, what I've learned this year has been phenomenal in that department. My own horses are coming along nicely. I was able to take Phoebe to work for tweo weeks in March which was really good for her. Two Bits and I have been doing pretty well together overall but she's come up lame this month and has been off and on sound. Indie is chilling and Cody is actually doing pretty good for my sister. The camp horses have all been superb this season and I've been working a lot with friend's horses as well that have been so interesting and fun.
I also helped my parents by feeding cows for most of the winter, until last month anyway, which was not exactly enjoyable but not awful overall. My family went on vacation leaving me to watch the farm with a friend, which was kind of a nice, relaxing couple of weeks alone but also very cold and a little stressful.
We've also been involved in church/camp programs like youth and floor hockey, which has been a great chance to hang out with younger girls and boys and enjoy each other's company and dodgeball skills (or lack thereof, lol). There have been a few rental weekends at camp and we had a youth retreat there as well. Now that spring has sprung I have been trying to clean up and organize our house, which is happening none too quickly. :P We have only gotten the chance to go on a couple of hikes this year so far, and they weren't the most enjoyable due to snowy/icy conditions, but getting out to the mountains is always nice. All in all, everything has been fairly straight-forward and normal around here, while still managing to be hectic. I guess that's part of normal now.
Well, that about sums up my first quarter of 2019. I can't believe I can say that already, time is such a weird, wild thing that so easily escapes us! How has your year been so far? Any great project achievements? Finishing up studies? Right sick of winter? Let me know in the comments below!
I'm reading through HP for the first time as well, but the going is slower for me, since I keep getting distracted by other books, haha. The last book I finished was book 3!
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the 3rd one is one of my favorites! The Sirius storyline is great. The next two are my other favorites. :DD
DeleteOh, that's so fun you get to work with horses ... I used to do so a lot more when I was younger. I was raised to think Harry Potter books were bad, but I'm kinda wanting to give them a try sometime here soon.
ReplyDeleteketurahskorner.blogspot.com
Horses are definitely one of my biggest passions for sure and I love my job! That's so cool that you used to spend time with them as well, I haven't met many horsey people on the blogosphere, haha.
DeleteI too, was raised to be against Harry Potter, but as I've gotten older I've come to see that really, it's just another way to tell a good fighting against the forces of evil story, which can be boring and cliche sometimes, but it's a format near and dear to my heart. I highly recommend Harry Potter though, I've really, really enjoyed reading them.