Good Morning, 2015!

As I'm typing this out, it's only barely still morning.  By the time I post this, it will probably technically be afternoon.  But it's a holiday, which means sleeping in!  And I'm on winter break from school, which means not feeling guilty about it!  Therefore, whether it technically is or not, Good morning, 2015!  I welcomed you into my life last night with delicious food, sparkling cider, a wonderful roommate and her awesome friend!  (So please forgive me that I also welcomed you into my life while watching The Hobbit.  It was the first one, and I promise not to purchase the other two while in your presence or any time after!)

Speaking of which, 2014 marked the end of that dreadful abomination.  If you haven't seen The Battle of the Five Armies yet, don't.  And if you did, you can come over to my house and we can mourn the sacrilege together.  But it was fun to dress up with friends #OneLastTime at least!

There is so much more I could say on the matter, but I shall move on and spare you.

2014 also brought me eight credit hours closer to my degree!  Just in case anybody's joining me for the first time here (and also so I can remind myself one more time): I am working full time and putting myself through school part time as opposed to burying myself alive in student debt for a creative writing degree.  Taking a year to only get eight credits does not necessarily mean I'm an idiot.  I don't think.  I hope not.  Anyway...  18th Century British Lit during Spring semester wasn't bad, but I took that one solo.  I didn't pull a single all-nighter that semester.  It was beautiful.  Fall semester on the other hand... let's just say I explored the limits of my human capability.  I took two seminars (more intensive classes), and the only reason it wasn't as bad as the Semester from the Underworld was that I had a better attitude this time (not all progress is measured in credit hours!).  But I survived.  With an A and an A-.  Thank you very much.

 

 

I'm shooting for two more years.  Place your bets.  (All proceeds toward my tuition would be great!)

I switched jobs in 2014!  I still work in daycare with one-year-olds, but I'm a lead teacher in a Christian center now instead of an eternal assistant teacher watching a parade of lead teachers come and go over me in an accredited center with five thousand and seventy eight hoops to jump through.  Plus I get to pray with my kids and sing Jesus Loves Me now.  It's a pretty sweet deal!  I've been doing this for about three and a half years now, between the two centers I've had about 70 kids.  And I still can't see myself doing anything else!

Well, except for writing books :)  But 2015 might work with me on that one, as I will be attending ReWrite: The Ragged Edge in February!  It's a writing conference in Austin, Texas hosted by The Fedd Agency and one of my very favorite authors and writing role models, Ted Dekker (*tiny, shameless fan girl squeal*).  The goal is to have a complete manuscript and at least the beginnings of an Author Platform by then so that hopefully at least one of two things will happen: this conference teaches me how to navigate the perilous waters of the publishing industry and/or I happen to rub elbows with just the right person who falls in love with my work there on the spot!  Well, we all know which of the two is more likely, but even that will be worth it!

I'm also hoping that 2015 is kinder to my family than 2014 was.  We said goodbye to my Aunt Roxy in February and to my grandma in October, both on my dad's side.  If you are a prayer warrior, my grandpa especially could use it!  But while death is never an easy thing, I have hope that I will see both of them again, and on that side of Eternity Roxy doesn't have downs syndrome and Mema doesn't have dementia.  They are both much happier where they are now.

But along with an abundance of funerals, 2014 also brought an abundance of weddings!  I married off three friends this year, was a bridesmaid twice, and... 2015, can you PLEASE give this introvert a break from weddings?  Hooray for happy couples and stuff, but please, let's just talk Cupid into pulling back the reins a lil' bit.  That'd be great!  Seriously, 2015, I don't even want my own wedding right now!

That's right, still single.  And just fine with it at the moment.  Jadedness about the sensitivity of dudes my age aside, I'm not here in Iowa City to find my hubby (even though that was part of the plan when I came out here).  I'm here to love on daycare kids, become an author, and anything else that might pour out of a slowly growing faith in Christ.  Sometimes I can only see enough path in front of my feet for the next step, but an entire journey is ultimately made out of single steps, so that has to be enough.  I'll keep loving my kids.  I'll keep writing.  I'll do the grunt work required for establishing a writing career, like doing my best in school and preparing for the publishing world.  And with every child that learns to say my name, I'll be closer to the other side of this chapter of my story.

So, good afternoon, 2015!  Here's to eight more credit hours, here's to The Tales of Terralus and my trip to Texas, here's to friends new and not-as-new ones, and here's to another leg of this journey God has me on.  Hold on tight, 'cuz I'm on a wild ride!