I know, y'all have got to be sick of wrap-ups by now (it's not like it's the last day of the year or anything....)

But, since I put out my 2018 goals at the beginning of the year, I'm rather obligated to tell you how those goals went and what my goals are for next year. Actually, the latter part is an added bonus. You're welcome :).

Since we are still in the old year, I shall start with.....




1. Complete my first Goodreads Challenge

At the start of the year, due to my really strong start of 12 books in January, I set my first Goodreads Challenge at 100 books. I really thought that with my constant search for free books and some trips to the library, that my book consumption would be about the same for the rest of the year.

Then in February, I decided to cut out romance for Lent.

While it did help in other areas in my life, it halted the momentum by limiting my fiction choices. And, I ended up with a full-time job for half of the year, which killed said momentum completely. I couldn't get to the library as often as I wanted - and it turned out my library's selection of good books has dwindled quite a bit.

All in all, I've only read 53 books - not counting re-reads - and only 2/3rds of them have reviews attached to them.

So it was a disappointment, but....a good experience. In humility, as well as other things.


2. Read at least 10 books off my TBR list.

Foolishly, I never recorded which books from my TBR I wound up reading....so I made a fast search through Goodreads and my faulty memory banks, which yield the following results:

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery
The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielson
The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielson
Treasure of Hope by Cecily Wolfe
The Similliaron by J.R.R. Tolkien
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskill

Turns out - it's exactly 10!! I was so afraid that it was only going to be only 5 or 6, so I'm really happy that I achieved this goal!


3. Write 50 words a day.

This was a miserable failure. Life just kept getting into my way. *grouses*

Come to think about it - this was supposed to be attached to a Goodreads group that I've since rather abandoned.....oh dear.


4.  Enter both Camp NaNos and do a proper NaNoWriMo

This was a success! I had two wonderful experiences during April and July (even with all the stress with July and not achieving my goal in April). And I even participated in NaNo and had a great time there too (in spite of again not achieving the goal. Notice a pattern here?)


5. Actually enter my writing into something other than my blog or RW

I did enter one guest post into Project Canvas in January 2018, and have now started to contribute to another team blog regularly.....but other than that, my writing has pretty much stayed put. No Wattpad stories have been updated, no short stories, no anthologies. I simply have not had the time, motivation, or desire to....


6. FINISH ONE WIP

*cries*

Man, I wish I had been able to do this.

All 8 WIPs have had some more development this year (due to July's Camp) but nothing actually got finished.

The closest WIP to finishing is actually The White Rose. It's the biggest in terms of the word count and the most developed. Because of this, I plan on finishing this WIP first before tackling the rest of them.


7. Cross off at least 10 movies off the To-Watch list.

Foolishly again, I forgot to record which movies I watched too....in a worse way, because instead of using a strike-through, I erased the movie title.

*bangs head against wall*

Now I really have to search through the memory banks.....oh wait....there is a draft history in Google Docs!! *GASP* I"M SAVED.

From The List, I watched:

Black Panther
Infinity War 1
Thor: Ragnarok
Spiderman: Homecoming
WCTH: Season 4 (shhhh, it's on the To-Watch List, it's fine)


And it seems to have been dominated by Marvel this year.....LOL. That's okay, I was behind anyway.



8. Get The Greatest Showman and Rogue One on DVD.

I never got this done. But I did purchase other DVDs:

The Agony and the Ecstasy - a movie with Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison, which is about Michaelango and the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Quite fun to see the banter between these two veteran actors.


9. Watch Seasons 4 and 5 of When Calls the Heart. 

I did watch Season 4 of When Calls the Heart when I was out in Ohio, but unfortunately, Season 5 was not on Netflix. So I'm stuck waiting. *sigh*



Frankly, I'm disappointed in how little I was able to accomplish this year. I believe I have found the problem though. When I was in college, I had a strict schedule with specific deadlines. I did very well under this system, and then ended up ditching it after college - after all, who has a schedule when they are at home?

So, keeping that in mind, I decided to take on some smaller goals with more defined deadlines. Shall we take a peek? 





1. Finish The White Rose - and have it ready for betas by May at the earliest.

Maybe if I stick with one WIP instead of trying to tackle the whole mountain at once, I'll actually get somewhere....

Quite honestly, this story has my heart - and the one that I want to send out to to the world first.


2. Finish Project Blueprint

This was my July Camp NaNo project - yes, the one that I failed around like a dead fish on. I am determined to finish this project before I lose all the notes.


3. Get more print books.

Because of Operation Vintage Makeover, my bookshelf is being opened up. And frankly, most of my books are either middle-grade fiction or non-fiction books. Not a very pretty hoard.

And now, my Kindle is on life support....and am not planning to replace it anytime soon as I don't have the need of it that I did a few years ago. Which means, that I need to build my own library.


4. Eliminate another 10 movies from the To-Watch list.

While I didn't achieve this goal the last time, I have a full year yet! I know that I plan to visit Ohio at least twice, which will help :).



5. Watch Season 5 of WCTH and possibly get a season on DVD.

Netflix gypped me this December, so I still haven't seen Season 5 yet. And even though it promises nothing but drama and tragedy, I really really want to see it.....



6. Finish the draft posts - including old tags and linkups

I was actually hoping to finish this before the end of 2018, but apparently that is not happening (as well as a few other things). Right now, I have 18 draft posts that either have to be written out, thrown away, or transferred to another blog.


I'm also going to try doing monthly goals on here, in hopes that maybe breaking it down will help keep me on track.

January's Goals:

1. Finish the Super Secret Project that I started with Lia

2. Finish one or two draft posts - which ones, well, that will depend on a few things.


Let us hope that I can attain better success with these goals than I did with the previous set, eh?



All in all, for a variety of reasons, I'm glad to see 2018 go. It has not been a very easy year for me or my family. We've had illness, job struggles, emotional roller coasters, and a gazillion car repairs to deal with, among other things.

But the new year brings a promise of renewal, of forward progress. I have lots of hopes for the new year, and I believe with new tactics and the Grace of God....success will follow. 

In the meantime, I shall go and fetch a wee bit of drink to ring in the new year!

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine <3