'22 (Arda's Version)

🎵 I don't know about you, but I'm feeling '22 🎵 

Happy New Year, friends! Stopping by for my favorite blog post of the whole year.

Last year's resolutions:

Read seven books
Did! Sort of. It was close. 5 of the books were long though (including 2 Jane Austens), and I am proud of that!

Do hobbies
Could be getting back into singing, chant, writing, or something new, like embroidery or making paper flowers.
Well, I joined a choir that does a great deal of chant and learned a lot I couldn't have on my own! Did some writing (would like to do more). Ah shoot, I did want to make paper flowers and did not. I have practiced embroidery a bit and am still interested in it!

Write fanfiction
I have done some! Not as much as I'd like and did not complete anything, but started a fun project and tried to focus on writing fun (to me) things even if they seem ""cringe.""

Regular holy hours
Pretty consistent on this one! Got out of the habit a couple months when my work schedule conflicted with my parish's holy hour, but once it changed it is a normal part of my week! Have not gone much beyond that though.

Make friends???
I said I'd settle for a few people at my new parish knowing my name and face, and it has happened! Also met people through choir, work, and recently young adult groups. Continuing to work on it!

And now may I just flex, because I actually did great on the previous year's resolutions! These are the things I had planned for 2020 before things got a little crazy.

Last last year's resolutions:

Read parts of six books
2020 - sort of, mostly short books and long fanfiction
2021 - sure did!

Reread The Fellowship of the Ring
2020 - nope
2021 - yes!! I finished it recently and really enjoyed it

Learn Latin prayers and songs
2020 - a little, a few songs and a couple phrases from Mass
2021 - I joined an EF/Latin Mass choir and learned so many songs, Mass parts, and more about chant and Latin!

Regular Mass/adoration during the week
2020 - what Mass and adoration?
2021 - back to weekly for both! which was baseline in the before times so could try expanding this again

Get a solid wardrobe together
2020 - only added a few pieces
2021 - I now have a solid wardrobe! There's a great thrift store in my town and after I got a job(!!) I got several pieces there very inexpensively and am pretty happy with them! Could use a few more things but definitely doing well here

Improve at cooking
2020 - did this!
2021 - did more!

This year's resolutions:

I was going to do serious things like ~*~ budgeting ~*~ but it seemed boring and I think I need short term goals with small steps rather than "do this big project sometime in the next 365 days," so I'm going to do fun, easy things instead.

Finish rereading LotR
I enjoyed FotR so much this year and definitely want to read more!

Go to the lake
There's a lake not far from where I live now and have not yet been there.

Go to my favorite coffee shop
I often have this as a possible outing but don't take the time, and it's such a lovely little place.

Get a winter coat maybe lol
This is my second Midwest winter and I am still wearing Mom's old jacket.

Decorate my room
I have one (1) thing on the wall (plus something in my closet) and would like to add some vintage photos I printed!

Watch some movies
Another thing I don't often make time for - it'd be fun to watch some Disney movies I've missed or haven't seen in a while.

Use stickers
I have a bunch of stickers from when I was little and want to use them at last! Though I am worried they are loosing their stickiness.

Cook or bake something new
I've been using budgetbytes.com for recipes and there are several I want to try!


I wish you all a wonderful 2022!

(speaking of disney movies, my current status and why this post is late:)

Hindsight is 2020

🎵Long story short, I survived 🎵

This year I actually checked my resolutions list a few times, noticed I hadn't done some things, and decided not to do them. Just in a this year is going nothing like I thought and there's other stuff I'd rather do right now way.

Apart from the obvious unexpected things that we all endured this year, I also moved halfway across the country from a warm climate to a cool one and spent a few weeks on my own, all for the first time. It was really good, but I didn't expect that to happen for a year or two at least!

So this year was really unexpected and I'm not holding myself to last year's resolutions, nor making firm ones for this year. Life circumstances are changing, interests could change, opportunities could change - I no longer have 2020 vision after all!

Last year's resolutions:

Read parts of six books
Didn't do the parts of books or audiobooks that I planned, but I read maybe 11 books, most of them short, and a really long fanfiction series during lockdown (I cannot overstate how long it was). So basically did it!

Reread The Fellowship of the Ring
Nope lol BUT I just got my own copies of the books!! I really hope to do this soon.

Learn Latin prayers and songs
Prayers to work on - The Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, possibly Mass/LotH responses
Songs to work on - Ave Maris Stella, Ave Regina Coelorum, Dies Irae, Sanctus (Mass VIII), Ubi Caritas
Songs to have down - Adoro Te, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Attende Domine, Rorate Caeli, Veni Creator Spiritus
Last year I said I'd like to "become acquainted some common prayers in Latin so I can recognize them and keep up if the need should arise (unlikely but who knows!)." And then I went to an Extrodinary Form Latin Mass a number of times this year! I knew little about the liturgy but could recognize the Gloria/Our Father/Creed/when things would end with a Glory Be, and I learned "The Lord be with you, and with your spirit" and "let us pray" through the context (and the fact that we/the priest said them a million times lol). It was cool but I didn't do much Latin or chant work beyond that, though now I notice above that I did learn Ave Regina Coelorum and Ubi Caritas during Lent and got Alma Redemptoris Mater down during Christmas last year!

Regular Mass/adoration during the week
Joke's on me, there was no Mass for several weeks and I only had an opportunity for weekly adoration post-lockdown in October! Sooo didn't do this at all but it mostly wasn't my fault!

Get a solid wardrobe together
Also didn't get a chance to go clothes shopping until maybe November lol. So no, but I've been able to integrate long sleeve shirts into my rotation so it feels like I have more clothes now.

Improve at cooking
I actually did this!! Most proud of my white sauce and gravy. Still keeping to very simple things but learning a lot and pinning a bunch of recipes. If you have simple meal suggestions you like to cook, let me know!


This year's resolutions:

Read seven books
Might as well keep going up I guess! I'd rather just read regularly but I seem to go in bursts.

Do hobbies
Could be getting back into singing (haven't since lockdown basically), chant, writing, or something new, like embroidery or making paper flowers. Leaving this vague in case my interests or resources change.

Write fanfiction
Okay I am going to put this down though, because I've been wanting to a lot lately and know I have to do a lot of practice to get more comfortable with putting words down.

Regular holy hours
As of right now I have the ability to pray in a church most of the time, so although I'm still just getting back to doing a weekly holy hour, I'd like to do more.

Make friends???
Maybe?? I'd settle for a few people at my new parish knowing my name and face (or what’s visible above my mask)! This is one where if the pandemic stops it, it's not my fault lol.


You know, I think I'm going to leave it there. There are so many things I want to work on that it's probably going to be another interesting year of learning and trying a lot of new things and working to increase my functioning and peace. I very much wish peace and joy in 2021 for anyone reading this! Good has and will be brought out of the trials of this past year, even when we can't see it. God is in control.

If you have goals for the new year, tell me in the comments!

Happy Yew Near!

Guess who's back

Back again

Arda's back

Tell a friend

Wow, I haven't posted all decade. How are you? I hope you are well! Let's take a look at last year's resolutions and see how I did (a check-in a month or so ago indicated poorly).

Last year's resolutions:

Read five books
I read 14 according to Goodreads (some very short), and 5 were full-length adult novels so got this one!

Reread The Fellowship of the Ring
Only the prologue and part of the first chapter, but I don't think I've read the prologue before but it's quite good for a reread! I'd skip it the first time though.

Finish a dang fanfic already
Would you even believe it, I posted 5 fics this year. Don't know when I wrote some of them, but they were all edited and shared this year! Got more comfortable with posting content in general too, silly or no, so that was fun.

Be more intentional with physical/mental health
A little bit sometimes haha.

Make at least one video
I think I did some tv show edits, but none of me doing music stuff. 

Go to daily Mass on a semi-regular basis
Music ministry kept me doing this through the summer, but less this fall. Though I have also gone of my own accord like...twice! So that's something lol.

Punch social anxiety in the face
I'm trying! I'm volunteering with people some but still struggling with this quite a lot.

Learn to cook

Well, I got okay at making mac and cheese for myself (which I'm going to have to relearn because of ingredient changes)! And I made a list of things I can make and the details of them, so that's a start. Didn't learn anything new or fancy though. 

This year's resolutions: (difficult to make as I do not have 2020 vision)

Read parts of six books

New idea - maybe I don't have to finish books? Maybe I'd get more reading done if I didn't put that pressure on myself and just went for sections of books that I found interesting, or read one for a while and then switched it up? Don't know! But may as well try something new. Also audiobooks are now valid as I listened to half of one and liked it.

Reread The Fellowship of the Ring
Take two!

Learn Latin prayers and songs

Prayers to work on - The Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, possibly Mass/LotH responses

Songs to work on - Ave Maris Stella, Ave Regina Coelorum, Dies Irae, Sanctus (Mass VIII), Ubi Caritas

Songs to have down - Adoro Te, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Attende Domine, Rorate Caeli, Veni Creator Spiritus

My new hobby this year was learning Latin chant and it has been a real joy, and actually came in handy a couple times at church! I got fairly acquainted with pronunciation and a bit with reading chant notation, though I have much to learn! Some of my favorite pieces still trip me up with the words, so I'd like to get those down, learn more, and become acquainted some common prayers in Latin so I can recognize them and keep up if the need should arise (unlikely but who knows!).

Regular Mass/adoration during the week

Maybe I can't do morning Mass all the time, but would like to stretch to going to another Mass or hour of adoration a week. Lately I've had a couple weeks of 1 Mass and 1 hour of adoration made up of many short visits haha.

Get a solid wardrobe together

I'd like to take stock of things and maybe go for that capsule wardrobe. Doesn't have to be completely solid colors. That's partly a joke and also a reminder to myself that I can wear things other than solid navy and black.

Improve at cooking
A few good meals would be helpful to have down!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas to you all! For those who have better vision than I - what are your plans or hopes for 2020?

Happy New Year!

Happy 2019, friends! It's time for the annual return to this blog to talk about last year and next!


Last year's resolutions:

Graduate from college
Done! Please keep reminding me to not go to grad school. But dang with the spring semester about to start I'm feeling this weird draw to take classes again but it's probably just the wanting the familiar. If I did more school it would probably be for a certificate or something.

Get a job
Not done. Been struggling with this a lot (feeling afraid/not knowing what I'm doing) so prayers are greatly appreciated!

Read 4 books
GUYS. You know how I've been struggling to read much the past few years and reading six books would be a big accomplishment? According to Goodreads, I read 52 books this year! Now the vast majority of them were thin Star Wars books (and some comics) for young readers, but 7 were adult fiction/non-fiction so definitely hit this goal!

Get at least one fanfic close to completion
I wouldn't say so, but I did a lot of writing (for me) this year (at least 17k words between two writing challenges plus stuff outside of that) and even some editing, so I don't feel too bad about not getting this done exactly.

Create other things
Hmmmm......I'm trying to think of things. Not coming up with much, sadly. With figuring out life and the feelings that go along with it, it's been kind of hard to "do" "things" and I'm only just getting a little better at it.

Take care of myself (body, mind, and soul)
Hmm....I'd say kind of! Mental stimulation is still a bit tough to figure out but sometimes!

Love myself
(Which is a more catchy phrase than "learn how much God loves me so I can love Him, others, and myself more.")
God has done amazing things for me this year! It was a slow progression from "self help" to, really days ago, "I am His beloved." Not that I'm done with this (far from it) and I'm sure I will continue to struggle with it but man. He is so good!
Don't get your hopes up, but maybe I'll make another post about with book recs in this area.

Dress well
Uhhh didn't really make any changes in this area this year haha. I have thought about it at least!


This year's resolutions: 

Read five books
Like the past couple years, just moving the number up until I miss it! I may not have as many short SW books to boost my number this year but I keep remembering some so we shall see.

Reread The Fellowship of the Ring
Or the whole trilogy (or six books depending on how you count) but let's at least get this started. I actually haven't reread LotR since becoming an adult, so I'm excited to see what they look like from a new perspective! And I got a companion devotional/journal for Christmas that has a page for each chapter so I must use it - check it out here! 

Finish a dang fanfic already
I'm not holding my breath on this one lol but going to shoot for it again! 

Be more intentional with physical/mental health
Uhh I guess I'm basically in the "mid-20s" age range so probably need to keep up on things a bit more. Also a good goal would be to acknowledge that feelings are a thing that exist. That's a first step at least lol.

Make at least one video
I had so much fun with this a couple years ago and then did almost nothing, but recently I learned how to do some things with my editing program and want to try them out! 

Go to daily Mass on a semi-regular basis
It's tough because I am definitely a night person and we only have morning Masses nearby, but I've ended up at daily Mass several times this year because of music ministry and it was so good so let's keep doing that on occasion.

Punch social anxiety in the face
Or you know. Something like that. It may not be social anxiety exactly, but it's definitely very uncomfortable! I've been home a lot this year which probably made "people-ing" harder, and I'd like to get back to that "outgrowing shyness" that adults promised me would happen when I was a kid.

Kind of want to come up with one more new/crazy resolution but no ideas as of yet!

EDIT Jan 2nd: Okay I thought of something I should definitely do:

Learn to cook

I generally find cooking Stressful so I’d like to get some practice and have a few meals (simple is fine, but ones I can’t already do easily) down that I can do from start to finish. That are also allergy-friendly and somewhat healthy. 

Thanks for stopping by this year! How have you been, how was your 2018, and what are you looking forward to or hoping to do in 2019?

New Year, Overdue

Hello 3-5 people that may see this! I am aware that I have not blogged since last New Years, and it is now the 5th of January, but even if this blog stays inactive I wanted to do this post for my own record.

Last year's resolutions:

Read three books
I read six from start to finish, plus some nonfiction that I either didn't finish (stuff I wanted to read) or I read for school (so I may have finished it but can't say I took in every word).

Keep making videos
Sadly this stagnated this year. I made one though, and I'd like to try this again.

Write fanfiction
Actually did more than I have in a while! Posted a fic I wrote before, did a daily writing challenge in October, and other bits here and there. Still need to work on writing a lot, but at least it's some progress!

Talk more
I'm not sure, I might have talked less in some scenarios. Sometimes that seems the better option, though I need to express myself sometimes.

Reduce stress and address tension headaches
Not sure this really happened either haha. Though if they came from driving to school or attending class, those should be much lessened now. Just have to try and reduce stress in other situations.

Try yoga, dance, and weight training (at least once)
And here I thought this would be the easiest, yet I did none of these. But! I've been doing little walks, so that's better than nothing. Still would enjoy trying dance and some other things. Got to figure this out.

Have a life outside of school
Wow, a string of failure! ;) I tried a bit and had bits of success, but nothing long term. Maybe it's just the way it needed to be for now.

Watch a new show
I watched a lot of bits and pieces of Mitchell and Webb's various shows, but more notably Star Wars Rebels. Started it a couple months ago and I am smitten. Kind of wish I had watched it sooner so I could do the episode reviews, but it would have been harder to enjoy if I was still mourning the loss of The Clone Wars.


This year's resolutions: 

Graduate from college
If this somehow doesn't happen, it's either going to be the worst or the best year ever.

Get a job
Dear life, please give me a sense of purpose.

Read 4 books
Going to keep increasing the number until I miss it haha.

Get at least one fanfic close to completion
Done would be ideal, but mostly edited and needing fresh eyes is also good.

Create other things
Music/videos/fanfiction/other writing, shareable or not.

Take care of myself (body, mind, and soul)
Cause dang I know you have to exercise your body but if my mind doesn't get stimulated once in a while it melts, and homework usually doesn't help.

Love myself
Which is a more catchy phrase than "learn how much God loves me so I can love Him, others, and myself more."

Dress well
Maybe start on a capsule wardrobe, though that may not happen until I have a job/other reason to leave the house.


Thanks for stopping by, and many blessings to you this year. <3

Happy New Year

 
Happy new year, friends! I hope you have a blessed year full of joy, peace, growth, and love.

I return for my annual new year's post, this time skipping the year highlights and going straight into the resolutions, since they talk a bit about my year anyway.

Last year's resolutions:

Post another fanfic (in addition to the one mentioned above which will hopefully be this week)
Welll I didn't end up posting that week, but I did later. I posted some more fanfiction to tumblr that hasn't made it onto AO3 yet, but I'm going to say this is basically fulfilled.

Do at least 3 song "collabs" (whether with another person or me recording multiple parts)
Done! Did two videos on my own and the last one with Misty just before Christmas. Had a lot of fun on these, especially using costumes and editing tricks.

Read two books to the end (let's set the bar low)
I read seven!! I started with The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet and then read six Agatha Christie books, which I enjoyed immensely. Technically I have read more than this because of friends' books, but I haven't kept track.

Keep working on Spanish
Not so much. I may have done some early in the year, but I can't remember the last time I went on duolingo. Going to say unfulfilled.

Learn something new or improve something I'm new to (creation-wise, like ukulele or video editing)
I learned a lot in video editing this year and made a ukulele cover of a song, so basically did that. 


This year's resolutions:

Read three books
Still setting the bar low in case I don't have another Christie-obsessed summer, but I'm hopeful I can read more like I did this past year.

Keep making videos
This was a big source of enjoyment and life this year, and something I would like to continue and see what I can do with.

Write fanfiction
It would be nice to post some too, but I at least want to try writing more. Even if it's self-indulgent trash that never sees the light of day, I think it would be good to try.

Talk more
In some friendships and on social media (my main source of interaction outside my family), I don't say much, and I think trying to talk more in some settings could be beneficial in multiple ways. Or at least experimenting and seeing how it goes.

Reduce stress and address tension headaches
Headaches have always been a thing for me, but the tension headaches were pretty consistent this year (with long school days and some social situations being the common culprits). I'd like to try a few things to manage stress better and find ways to reduce stress in headache-inducing circumstances so I can function better and, well, have less pain.

Try yoga, dance, and weight training (at least once)
Also aiming quite low here, but at least trying each of these would be a step. I'm in my 20s, my body is at its best right now, and it's a good time to strengthen bones, so bring on those youtube tutorials. 

Have a life outside of school
Yep. Stress relief for one, knowing something good is out there, and to be honest, it would be helpful to have something to talk about beside school.

Watch a new show
I've been wanting to try Grantchester, or The Sarah Jane Adventures since I've only seen season 1, or one of those WWII dramas I have saved on netflix. 


That's kind of a lot of resolutions, but maybe I can focus on one or a few at a time. I'm hoping that even if some of these are kind of little things, they could make a big positive difference in my life.

Thanks for reading, guys. What are you hoping to do in the new year?

Simple Things for Summer

Day 30 - Anything you want to post about

(Hey, the whole point of this challenge was so I didn't have to think of something!)

School has been done for a week and now that I'm through, I'm trying to settle into summer now, so-

Here are a few small things I want (specifically want, not the productive things I need) to do this summer:

• Make a pizza crust
• Read a book
• Record a song
• Write
• Go to the library (to read/write)
• Re-watch the rest of Lewis before the new series
• Go swimming
• Other things yet to be determined

Thank you for hanging around the last month, and hope you all have a good summer!

Unless you are in the southern hemisphere in which case have a good winter!