༺ Year End, Year Anew ༻

I found this series of fun questions on A Collection of Madcap Escapades, which is an equestrian blog I follow. I thought they looked interesting, so after I amended them to suit, I got stuck into writing down the answers. As always, if you wish post these questions for yourself, please do! This was a great way to look back over the year.

Here’s my version of how 2014 went down. ♡

1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before?

I learned to quilt… Sort of.  I haven’t finished learning the very basics of quilting yet, nor have I finished my first quilt {yes, this is the baby’s quilt}.  But it is something I’ve never tried before. And I like it.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

In a word ~ yes!  I did!  Wow, that’s kind of cool.  (ง •̀_•́)ง ☆  So I blogged about my 2014 New Years Resolutions, and I’ll probably write about my 2015 New Years Resolutions ~ when I get to figuring out what they are that is!

3. What countries did you visit?

None. There was no international travel for us this year sadly, but we do have plans for a trip to South East Asia for a couple of weeks around September/October this year.  I must say, I am super excited about this. I haven’t been travelling since 2008 and I miss it a lot.

4. How many different places did you travel to in 2014?

Let’s see.  We went to:

- Ulladulla
- Sydney
- Khancoban

Three places then. Not many, but we were very busy selling our house!

5. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?

An interesting query. I don’t feel like I “lacked” anything particularly… Except maybe a healthier dose of self-discipline! I really need to work on that, so that is something I would like work towards this year. It is a work in progress though ~ not something so easily obtained.

6. What date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I can’t say it’s etched upon my memory, because I had to look it up in my diary{!}, but probably the 23rd of April, 2014.  That’s when The Mister and I decided to sell our first home. 

We knew we want to make that step at some point ~ we just weren’t thinking about doing it so soon!  That launched us into a whole pile of changes that took the rest of our year to settle into. They have been good changes however.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Publishing the first novel that I co-authored with my sister!  Gamenian is a Science Fiction/Fantasy Space Opera that has lots of adventure, a smackerel of romance, and a heaping of questions about humanity.

 
“Freedom is a lie.

It’s been four years since Tori escaped the desert planet of Esandira and her life as a drug-mule and assassin for a dictator named Craik, but she is as enslaved as she ever was. While she is physically free, inside her mind, the past blurs with the present, and she’s desperate for a cure from the faces that only she can see, and the voices that only she can hear.

On the run from an assassin and a bounty hunter, she crosses paths with Spencer, a seventeen-year-old who isn’t sure where he’s going. Spencer doesn’t want anything to do with her, and while she shares the sentiment, their lives are twisted together by the death of a mutual loved one.

With her enemies drawing closer, Tori is getting tired of running. And she sees only one way out. Craik must die. It’s a dangerous cat and mouse game, but the closer she gets to Craik the more her dark secrets begin to surface and the more she begins to question the path she has chosen.”

Find your own copy of Gamenian on Amazon, or you can visit A&B Novels to find out more about my partnership with my little sister and how we wrote this book together.

*end shameless plug*   ….. (~￣▽￣)~

8. What was your biggest failure?

I didn’t do hardly any sewing at all.  I think I started one blouse ~ or may be that was last year? Anyway, I got stuck on attaching the sleeve cuff to the sleeve, and haven’t really touched my machine since.

Oh, I did sew an 6 gore 1940’s skirt in grey wool, but hardly wore it because it was super scratchy when I put it on. I need to line it now, or wear a petticoat with it forever more. I didn’t even notice this while I was sewing the fabric up, so you might call that a fail too!  : P

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes. I sprained my right ankle badly on Mother’s Day {in May ~ Happy Mother’s Day to me!} and it has been a bit problematic for the last six months. I kept re-spraining it and injuring it slightly.  It does seem to be better now, but it’s still tight and not in the best state, so I’d say it’s still recovering from that.

And illness? The list is too long ~ we had the worst cold and influenza season that Canberra has ever had this last winter and I was sick for six months of the year because of it.  Yuck.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

My DIY gel polish manicure kit. Seriously, that thing is the bomb-diggity and I love it. Gel polish for the win!!

11. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Snowboarding! I hadn’t been the year before {2013} because I broke my elbow in four places when my horse decided to turn me into a lawn dart, so it worked out that I couldn’t make that season.  Which meant I was really, really, really excited to go this year!

12. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? Just as happy as before. ‘ ‘٩(⁎＾ᴗ＾⁎)۶’’

ii. thinner or fatter?  Pregnanter…  Lol.

iii. richer or poorer? Richer. I have a wealth of friends and family that I am grateful for more and more every day. I have faith in a friend who will never let me down ~ the closer I draw to Jesus, the more He grants me joy.

13. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Exercise. I didn’t keep myself very fit at all this year, and it’s been hard on my body because of that.  

14. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Wasting time derping around on the internet looking at endless stuff that I don’t really care about, and can’t even remember in the end. A truly pointless time suck that would keep me up late, or from getting on with things I really wanted to do.  Silly.  I don’t want to do that this year…  Hey!  First 2015 resolution found!

15. What was your favourite tv show?

Dragons: Riders of Burk

16. What was your favourite film of this year?

How to Train Your Dragon 2    (¬ ᴗ ¬)

17. Where were you when 2014 began?

At Ulladulla, in a tent, fast asleep...

18. Where were you when 2014 ended?

Khancoban Lakeside Caravan Resort, in a tent, fast asleep…. (─‿‿─)  I’m sensing a theme here.

19. Who were you with when 2015 started?

My little family, and extended family on my side.

20. What was the best book you read?

“The Pocket Measure” by Isabella Arden {Pansy} because it really made me think hard and make some good decisions to support my husband more as I ought too.

21. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Erm, how about my favourite song?  I don’t think I made any particular “discoveries”. 
(◕  . ◕) ...  “Counting Stars” by One Republic

22. What did you want and get?

I thought I would like a Surface Pro 3, but didn’t think that I’d be getting it any time soon…. Surprise! The Mister secured one for me, and it’s been total awesomeness! I ❤ it so much!

23. What did you want and not get?

New agistment for Copper {my horse} with an arena to ride in for winter.  It wasn’t the best thing for him though, so I didn’t end up moving him.

24. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I looked after my little ones, crocheted Isabelle’s baby blanket and watched Cupcake Wars! It was a very pleasant day, and I turned 29. 

25. What kept you sane?

My Mister, cups of tea, horse riding and prayer.

26. Whom did you miss?

My sisters. Busy university students that they were this last year, I didn’t get to spend as much time with any of them as I would have liked to.

27. Who were the best new people you met?

A lovely couple from the States. He was a childhood friend of The Mister, and though they hadn’t seen each other in over nine years, when we met up all together we got on like a house on fire and had loads of fun. I wish we had the chance to spend more time with them, but sadly they were only able to stay for a short while before moving on. 

28. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014:

I learned so many I don’t know how pin-point just one! I guess one of my favourites was about de-junking and de-cluttering. I hadn’t realized how much cleaner and neater your home can feel when you get rid of those odd piles and stacks of stuff that seem to just… grow! 

After throwing my first garage sale, however, I was so surprised at how much nicer the house felt without all the extra stuff everywhere. So now I like to try to keep things to a minimal ~ although that’s difficult with my collector tendencies.  (> - <)   

29. What are your plans for 2015?

Have a baby, settle into looking after three little ones{yikes!}, run my household smoothly, travel to South East Asia with the family, and compete at a dressage show or two with Copper.  Beyond that?  I guess we’ll find out!

 

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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