So I have not been a very good blogger...well ever really. One of the things I would like to start doing is something I have noticed several bloggers do and that is a monthly blog of 'What I'm Into' just talking about what they have been doing over that time period. So I decided to TRY to do that next year and to start it off I would do one BIG one for the year of 2015...I know, yikes right? Ha Ha. I will try to limit myself.
Well obviously I am pretty much ALWAYS into reading. This year my goal on Goodreads was 50. I think I am reading book 48 or 49 right now and there is 1 1/2 days left. I am not sure if I will finish or not. I have enjoyed reading a lot this year though. I am leading two book clubs at Trevecca and it is fun to read with the students and discuss the books as we go. You can check out what I have read (and in some cases re-read) this year HERE in my 2015 folder on Goodreads. It said I have only read 47 so...I am not sure. I decided not to get overly concerned about how many I read this year. One thing that I did decide this year is to stop apologizing for reading YA lit. In the past I have been almost embarrassed to admit that is all I read. I will not be that way anymore. I read it because I love it and because I believe in it. I believe it is important and good I am supporter. Heck I am even kind of a writer.
Writing:
Which leads me to, one of the main reasons I was not so concerned with my reading goals this year is that my WRITING goals became much more important to me! In 2015 I again participated in NaNoWriMo and....(drum roll please) this year I won!! Which only means I managed to write 50,000 words in one month. The truth of writing for this year is that I only wrote about 15,000 words in all the other months combined, which is not so exciting. Next year I am going for a little more balanced approach. I am very excited about my novel, though, which I think is coming close to an ending.
Movies/TV:
I am shocking myself right now because I can't think of much to say. I haven't been doing movies much lately and TV has been disappointing this year. Especially ON the TV. Netflix and other sources have been filling in. Recently I watched and loved both Jessica Jones and The Man in the High Castle (Netflix and Amazon Prime respectively). I also loved Mr. Robot and 12 Monkeys this year (both on cable channels) but my regular TV watching has gone way down. I began 2015 without a TV at all, though, and I think that had a lot to do with it. It was good for me and I am not quite as addicted as I have been in the past (don't worry, I still am!)
Moving:
This year was all about moving for me. I began the year, literally, by moving from my house into my parents home in Old Hickory that they wanted to sell. We sold that house and then I packed up again and moved into their home with them. The family renting my house during this time broke the lease and moved unexpectedly so I packed up a THIRD time and moved back into my house bringing my grand total to THREE moves in one calendar year, and a huge circle as I am back in my house where I started.
Cancer:
Mom's cancer came back this year in a scary way. A brain tumor. She had surgery though and has recovered very quickly. She did scans recently of both her brain and the rest of her, and as of now she is cancer free. We just have to scan often and keep watch.
Work:
The library,and my job at the library, went through a lot of changes this year. The IRC, as it was known, was moved from the bottom floor of the library into the School of Education building, and along with it my co-worker and the woman I have always considered a mentor, Judy Bivens. She is now in charge of the ELC (Education Learning Commons) with all of the education books, resources and materials that used to be in my area of the library. Downstairs we lost a portion of our space to another department that needed office space. Our area then went through renovations and now we have all of our media items, a study area for students, and a new area of YA lit books. That is my area now. It has been a huge change and at times I have been very sad and even angry about it. Overall, though, it has been a good change I think. Our space needed some renovations and looks much nicer now. The YA section is very popular and the study space is being used by many students. We also have a new coffee shop on the main floor of the library, which is very different for us as well. As I said...a lot of changes!
YALLFEST:
I never wrote about this so I decided it needed it's own paragraph. This year for part of my professional development I went to the Young Adult Literature Festival in Charleston SC. It was my second time attending and it was as inspirational and wonderful this time as it was the first. The festival is set up with numerous sessions that you can choose from throughout the day featuring YA lit authors (and some publishers, editors etc.). Most of them are free and open to the public although some you do have to buy tickets for. I love that they are focused on everyone - it is professional development for librarians (there were a ton of us there) but it is also encouragement to young people to write, to parents to keep their kids reading, to writers to not give up, to teachers to use literature more....I am sure there are many more ways it inspired but you get my point. The conference, both years, encouraged me as a librarian/teacher, as a writer, as a reader, but maybe most importantly just as a person. This was a community of people coming together over a shared love of reading and just...loving it together. I was in awe of the respect and the fun that was being had by attendees and speaker/authors alike. It was good for my soul. I went with my friend Karissa, and we are talking of making it a yearly or every-other-yearly event. It is that refreshing and important.
Word of the Year:
My word for 2015 was Simplicity. If you look above you will see that simple my year was not. However, I think it was a good word for me. It was a good thing for me to focus on and to try (even when I failed) to reach for in the midst of so much going on. Early on I did a lot of reading and thinking about simplicity and simplifying life and what it came down to - for me, was living moment to moment. Not worrying and focusing on yesterday and/or tomorrow all the time but just living the moment that is before you now. That was something I needed this year.
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