It seems pretty crazy to be entering January again. It feels like it was only October yesterday.
It's been a big year for me, I've done a lot, though I still feel like I haven't done anything.
I did however, keep a diary/colouring calender this year. So be prepared for a detailed post.
January:
Also known as: The Month of Pain. I got braces. It wasn't great. However, I've now become an expect in picking nice colours for my bands (blue's a favourite).
The books of January were lots of Adrian Plass and the Maze Runner books (super weird and badly written :( ). I also read Smiley's People by John le Carre, excellent if a little on the adult side.
Big highlight however, was watching the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time. I seriously love that movie. I could never have realised how awesome and hilarious it was.
February:
A fun month, with lots of costume planning for a big party coming up next month.
Nothing exciting book wise, but I went to see Hidden Figures at the cinema, which let me tell you, is a really good movie.
We had a pleasant holiday down in Forster, with regular beach walks and plenty of photography.
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| This one's mine :) |
March:
Had Mum's birthday, followed by a majestic dress-up party a couple weeks later. I went as Rey in a pretty awesome costume if I do say so myself.
We also watched Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, it was quite accurate and it's style was perfect. I'm looking forward to watching the next season this year.
The cinema movie of the month was Beauty and the Beast.
Book wise I read one of the best books ever! My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. I re-read that so many times. It's so good. Everyone needs to read it right now!
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| Mum's Party with me (right) as Rey |
April started off in Sydney with a Bill Johnson and Grahame Cooke conference. As any of you who know the two would imagine, it was pretty epic.
An exciting point for me was getting a phone. It's got pretty much no space, but it's cool anyway. I like to rotate Skyrim and Tardis backgrounds ;).
Movie wise, I watched the rest of the Pirates of the Caribbean (Loved 'em), Guardians of the Galaxy 2 near the end of the month (another awesome movie) and the The Crown on Netflix.
For books I read A Man Called Ove (Fredrik Backman strikes again) and downloaded a sample of A Game of Throne which covered at least a third of the book, and made me have to immediately go borrow the actual thing. It was... an interesting book, I'd read it again but I could never recommend it to anyone because of the content.
May:
My favourite month of the year, surprise, surprise.
Had Dad's birthday and my own, for which I hosted a fairy tale murder (Who bumped off Goldilocks? It wasn't me).
We had a pleasant Mother's day, with a peaceful train trip down to Sydney in which I read more of the Song of Ice and Fire series (They're pretty big books let me tell you.)
And of course, being 15, I immediately starting watching some things I'd been waiting for for a while. A.K.A. Sherlock. I watched the first episode on my birthday and then one a week afterwards. Finished all four seasons pretty quickly, though not quickly enough for my liking :).
Me and Dad added to the monthly cinema streak with Dead Men Tell No Tales, which I quite enjoyed, though it wasn't quite as good as the others.
On the last day of the month I began a Certificate 4 in Screen and Media through TAFE online. It's been pretty intense since then trying to get assignments in on time, but I'm proud to say I've passed them all so far.
June:
Was the month I went to the Supernova Comic Con. It was awesome, we saw Chris Hemsworth and I met Brandon Sanderson, bought some Tolkien daggers. You can read my post about it here.
Wonder Woman. One of the best movies ever. We went to see it as a family, and I will never regret it. It was wonderful in all possible ways.
On the way back from the Comic Con however, I borrowed a tv series from my uncle. It introduced me to a heckin long show that I absolutely adore now. Doctor Who. From June to now, I've made it through 7 series and a 50th anniversary in record time. I'm hoping to catch up before the lady Doctor begins airing. Best show ever.
For books I finished a Song of Ice and Fire (didn't realise the author hadn't written all that much... apparently he writes a book every five years, so I'm not really hopeful about the release date of the next one..) and a lot of Sherlock.
I also Beta read Lightporter by C.B.Cook, a fun superhero novel coming out in March.
The last thing in an epic month was our family getting a new car. It's pretty cool, a seven-seater so we can have friends over with ease.
July:
Two more birthdays this month, and another awesome trip to Sydney. This time it was the International Sherlock Holmes exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum. It had a mystery to solve (and I did) and props from the various Sherlock Holmes films (mostly the RDJ movies - still awesome - but some from the show too.)
The movie of the month was definitely Spiderman, I went to see it with a friend and we both loved it. The acting is awesome, and the plot took me by surprise.
I also discovered a wonderful series, The Two Monarchies - first book Spindle by W.R.Gingell. They are an extremely fun series that I will read again and again.
August:
A big month for fun books, first and foremost Murder on the Orient Express (take a guess why I was reading that one.) followed by watching said book in the cinemas (stunning movie with amazing actors and epic cinematography).
I also bought myself Time Lord Fairy Tales, a fun collection of rather short sci-fi retellings of fairy tales - some of the quite obscure actually - with the occasional appearance of my favourite blue box.
More books to add to the list where The Dire King (been highly anticipating that one for a while :), more W.R.Gingell, The Night Manager by John le Carre, and the discovery of another new series called The Hawk and His Boy (first one's free, buy it.)
For movies there was Murder on the Orient Express as I mentioned earlier, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - which I enjoyed, but was disappointed with the changes they made to one of my favourite characters (Peter Gwillam), the Netflix series Anne with an 'E', and A Man Called Ove.
One of the best things that happened that month was Shine Women's Conference, with fun speakers and empowering messages.
However, on a different note, I also lost my Granddad, a wonderful calm man, who will be sorely missed.
September:
In September I got one of my cousins to introduce me to Dungeons and Dragons (which is not evil by the way, it's just a genre of game), and I spent lots of time making hundred of characters and reading through the rather confusing rule books.
But the biggest thing for the month was a trip up to the Gold Coast. We stayed at the Gold Coast for a week, and spent nearly every day visiting the various theme parks. I had my first rollercoaster ride, and then several more 'cause they're quite fun. The parks we visited were Movie World with lots of rollercoasters, Wet'n'Wild, and Sea World - where we saw dolphins and patted hilarious sting rays.
The only new book that stood out for me was Wonder. It was a very sweet book, and very well written. I'd recommend it to people of all ages.
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| This photo's also mine :) |
October:
In October I got involved in our local production of the musical Annie. I was part of the backstage crew, and I spent many late nights behind the curtain, watching the musical over and over again. It was tiring, but I'd do it again for sure.
Another big thing that month was getting glasses. I have yet to wear them for very long or remember them at all most days, but I also got sunnies, so it's all good.
Speaking of props and costumes, I also discovered an easy and awesome looking prop idea: sanding back and painting Nerf guns. I made several, and they look amazing and Steampunk-y.
For books and movies, in that order, Dracula was an amazing read, I would never have guessed how well written and interesting it was. I always thought it would just be some Gothic weird book. It wasn't. Then there was Thor Ragnarok. Hilarious is the best word for it really, favourite Thor movie so far :D.
November:
Was the month I got a job. I am now a paid employee of a major retail store. I wouldn't say the work is fascinating, but the people are nice, and the pay's pretty good. I bought a laptop in a couple of weeks, it's what I'm writing this post on now.
Work and assignments pretty much took up most of my time, other than that not much really happened that month.
December:
Christmas season! Play all the carols! Set up the Christmas tree! Work...
I found a new writing program that month, 4TheWords. It's pretty fun, I wrote one and a half novels it was so fun.
The Last Jedi was a great movie, crazy plot twist and a really good story. And that last battle on the mineral planet... stunning.
In regards to books, I read the Court of Thorns and Roses series because. They're all right. Kind of. Quite gross actually. I preferred a Song of Ice and Fire - same level of grossness, but better writing and characters.
We had lots of time with relatives, with a cousin down for a week, a mini Christmas with one side of the family, and then off to Sydney with the rest of the family.
Christmas was fantastic as usual, and it was followed by a trip down to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains, where we all spent the rest of the year, meeting up with some friends we hadn't seen for four years. We went on bush walks across the mountains, went bobsledding at high speeds, and all enjoyed a concert on New Year's Eve. It was sad to say goodbye to our friends, but hopefully it won't be as long this time round.
Altogether, I'm quite happy with this year, it had its highs and lows, but I learnt a lot, and I had a lot of fun.
I'm looking forward to the next year.
What about you? How's your year been?
Thanks for reading, and have a Happy New Year.
