2017 in Review

I think that I needed to post the whole "we're having a baby" thing before I could properly post a year-in-review post from 2017. It was like the final pin in the year and now I can close the book on 2017.

2017 was a weird year. It was almost, like, the worst, but I really can't hate it. It was just a huge lesson in how we don't KNOW what's coming next, even if we assume we do.

So, I'm doing my review of 2017 quite late, but I figured I'd go with this theme that Rachel used because it's more compelling that just a list of things.

Things that were new to me in 2017, in chronological order.


1. Interviewed for 4 jobs in 6 weeks and I got none of them.


2. Went through a cycle of IVF that didn't work and the doctors couldn't tell us why.


3. Boarded the dogs at a kennel. Jett, who was vaccinated, got kennel cough.


4. Drove through Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, and New Mexico. The only state I'd been to previously, of those, was California.

5. Spent a week in San Diego.

6. Bought a house in Wyoming.

7. Decided that my teaching career can be halted for awhile and that's okay. I actually decided this months before I posted it on here. Had to be sure.

8. Flew out of Denver to go to Pennsylvania. In the 4 years we've been here, I've never flown out of Denver.

9.  Got a positive pregnancy test.

10. Drove from Colorado to Pennsylvania and back again.


What new thing, good or bad, did you do in 2017? Have you already done something new to you in 2018?

Best Books of 2017 and I did not hit my goal.

In 2017, thus far (and we'll cut it off today), I've read 60 books. I don't count the Didn't Finish (DNF) books so likely, with those added in, I probably got to my goal of 75. Last year, I read 70, so I think 60 is a perfectly respectable number. However, I don't feel like it was a great year, book-wise.

I had set a goal last December, saying that I was going to read 75 books and I...did not. In fact, shortly after I said I was going to do that, my professional life s.l.o.w.l.y started to slide downhill and then there was an emergency deployment and all that emotional trauma that goes with a failed cycle of IVF and then we were trying to buy a second house and...honestly? As I've said before, I don't read to escape. It's not comforting to me. So I just stopped reading for awhile. In 2015 and 2016, a lot of my reads were through audiobooks but I stopped doing that this past summer because something about it became the opposite of comforting and pleasant. I canceled my Audible subscription this past fall and I don't even miss it.

---------------------------------------------------

Here are the best books I read this year. Maybe they weren't the best books available in the last year, but they were the best ones I happened to pick up (I read a LOT of C-rated books this year). It's so strange the way 2016 was an amazing year for books and 2017 just wasn't. Hopefully I can change that in 2018.

Fiction

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

Non-Fiction

Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersley

Unshakeable: 20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day...No Matter What by Angela Watson

What was the best book you read this year?

Linking up with a special edition of SUYB with Jana and Steph!

February Recap and March Goals.

Well, that went by quickly.

Looking back at what I wanted to do in January/February, I feel okay about things. This is an odd time of year I guess, so there wasn't a lot of accomplishment in general. It was more just doing what needs to be done. Lots of army stuff, lots of schoolwork, lots of maintaining.

1. Have I finished all of the Star Wars movies? No. I haven't. I need to finish Return of the Jedi and then I need to get The Force Awakens.
2. Do I practice chess? Yeah, I do most days. I don't think I'm actually getting better though.
3. Have I read 50 pages of a book every day? EFF NO. But I have been reading a lot. Keeping track of pages is overrated. That was just something I put in place because I had a few hardcovers I was desperately trying to get through.

In March, we have spring break (plans still undecided), so maybe I'll have a chance to slow down? Maybe. That week off for Thanksgiving and that week off in the spring never give me enough time to catch up. Christmas always gives the perfect amount of time to catch up and relax at the same time.

1. Get all winter/Christmas decor stowed away in the shed. Find a few new springy house decor items. Fun fact: I hate spring. Which is why I never buy spring/summer decorations. I don't even try to make sense of this in my head anymore.

2. Design/order bridal shower invitations for future SIL. Indeed.

3. Mail birthday gifts for March on time this year. There are 3 family members with March birthdays. Must prioritize this.

4. Complete the Warrior Dog Dash 5K on base this month.  With the dogs.

5. Complete the 21 Days of Pilates.  The challenge kicks off on March 6th. It's FREE!

6. Read at least 6 books. I'm at 6 for January and February, so I need to keep the momentum going.

Alright, that's enough for now. No need to over-achieve.

What about you? Any springtime goals?

January Books 2017

I thought about numbering my books this year, because I do have a goal. There's nothing like going back through and counting every single book you've read in every single monthly book post to make you question your decisions. However, that might be to my detriment; it will make me push harder to get through more books and I don't need that stress. So, no numbering.

This is my favorite cover of the recent past.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys A+
This is everything that YA historical fiction should be. I loved it. I can't believe more people aren't talking about it. There was a lot of buzz about Salt to the Sea by the same author in the last few book link-ups, but this book was so good and it was about history without (gasp) being about WWII. (Does such a thing exist? Yes, it does. Historical fiction does not always equal WWII.)

The first line will pull you in, and the first few pages had me reading for at least an hour when I hadn't planned to sit down and read.

Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson B+
More YA. This is the third book in the Seeds of America trilogy. I really have been waiting for it since 2011, when I read Chains and Forge. I haven't re-read them though so I can't remember what was my favorite. I do know I devoured them. Ashes was good too. Not as good, but a satisfying ending that coincided with the end of the Revolution.
Really, I would just recommend anything written by Anderson. She's one of my very favorites.

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
This is a middle-grade book, so I won't rate it. I picked it up because DiCamillo has quite a few medals under her belt and I thought it might be a good read-aloud for school. I wasn't entirely impressed. I saw value in it, but I think I interpreted it as an adult would and got the nuances and hidden meanings and overall nonliteralness of it that way. A ten-year-old isn't going to get that, in my opinion...which is why kids generally don't pick up potential medal winners of their own accord. Kids pick up Captain Underpants.
Anyway, Raymie seemed to have a lot of out-of-body experiences to which I was thinking What is she on?. And there's an odd cast of characters. I'll put it on my shelf at school, but I won't push it.

Family Jewels: A Rose Gardner Mystery by Denise Grover Swank B
I'm going to start a drinking game and the rule will be that every time the text says "Fenton County criminal underworld", you take a shot.
If you haven't read these books, you won't get it. If you have read the books, you're probably thinking about how drunk you'll be soon. Also, you should read these books.
This wasn't the best of the books, but it was nice to read another installment.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett B+ for writing/ C- for story
This has come recommended from different sources. I grabbed the audio this month and I will say that the story is extremely well-crafted and put together. Like, I know Bennett is young, but she either has training as an editor or she has a fabulous one. The writing was visually and audibly pleasing. Go for it on that alone.
I will also say that I didn't like the story. It was oddly predictable and not that different than a typical love triangle or coming of age tale (for all the buzz it's gotten, I think I was expecting brilliance). It left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't like the characters. With 56 minutes left, I almost quit and then thought it was only 56 minutes so I might as well. The whole thing was just tinged with regret and wholly depressing and maybe that's what she was going for. But I basically hated everyone and I don't think I was supposed to. You know how sometimes an author writes unlikeable characters on purpose? I don't think this was that.

What She Knew by Gilly McMacMillan B-
This was a good book. I wasn't overly impressed and I wasn't underwhelmed. It was a mystery and I didn't really find myself able to predict too much, so that was good. If you're looking for a comparison, it's like The Girl on the Train meets I Let You Go meets In the Woods.
I will say that my true concern, like with I Let You Go, was with the dog.


Linking up with Jana and Steph!

January/February Goals/Results

I decided to group goals into two months this year instead of one. Sometimes one month isn't long enough and a season is too long for me. Here's what worked and didn't work. So far.

1. Yoga challenge.


2. Watch all the Star Wars movies. 1 1/2 more to go. I got to multi-tasking during Return of the Jedi the other day.


3. Play chess every day. This is a long story but Scott is really good at chess, and he won't play me until I "get better". So I play several games a day on my phone.


4. Read 50 pages a day. This is hard to measure on a Kindle. I originally set this because I was plowing through a stack of library books. My overall goal for the year is 75 books and I did 7 in January, so I'm on track.


5. Track spending in January. December is always a bit of a hemorrhage. I haven't been buying much in January, other than necessities. It's not always about saving money; it's more about knowing where money is going so I can realize my habits. Obviously, the Kindle book-buying got a little out of hand, but that's okay. Note: I haven't actually read any of these books I bought but it makes me happy just knowing they're there.

Key:
Unnecessary things
Kind of unnecessary things
Food
Necessities

Teachers Pay Teachers $5
Groceries $150
Safeway $13
Gas $20
Starbucks $9 (it was a gift)
Chewy $50
Rodan and Fields $80
Audible $14
Safeway $11
Target $25 (book that was a gift gift + headbands for ball)
Printer ink $42
Panda Express $14
Commissary $99
Safeway $31 (included buying a gift card)
Car wash $9
Gas $20
Books $6
Post Office $2.26
Safeway $10.98
Dick's Sporting Goods $132 (birthday money)
Dentist $19 (oral cancer screening; the regular check/cleaning is free with our insurance but the screening was extra)
Gas $20
Payless $23 (clutch for ball)
Panda Express $13
Commissary $125
Mardel's $14 (new lesson plan book in hopes of motivating myself to do...anything)
Walgreen's $14 (cold medicine)
Commissary $132
PX $25 (HDMI cable)
Gas $20
Chewy $50
Book $3
Safeway for dog food (because this is me we're talking about and I didn't order from Chewy in time) $13
Vet $53 (Because this list wouldn't be complete without a vet visit)

Notes: I realize it looks like I spend a lot on food/groceries. I buy paper products, toiletries, etc all at same place, so it all gets wrapped up into the grocery bill. So vitamins (I buy a lot of vitamins) go into that too. Just the other day I bought new razors ($9) and something else and thought, Wow, that makes the grocery bill seem really high, when in fact, it's all necessities that get clumped together. Plus, I buy $12-18 worth of dental bones for the dogs every two weeks, so that adds onto the bill. Pets aren't cheap.
"Chewy" is the dog food company. It's about $45ish every 3 1/2-4 weeks for a bag of food, but if you spend $50, shipping is free. So I usually throw in a toy or treats to get total up to $50. I'm either going to pay $5 for shipping or get something for that $5.
Filling up my gas tank always costs around $20 so I round to that.

Also, I feel like I may be missing something. I was trying to keep track really well, but being sick last week threw me off for a couple of days.

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I may or may not add onto this goal list before the end of February. I think of things every day that could/should be on the list, but I always ask myself if it's something I actually want to do or can do to begin with. This also goes back to maintaining my perspective of things and how I perceive situations. This is also my solution to New Year's resolutions. You'll see no "Eat healthy!", "Exercise!", or "Read more!" on this blog. Vagueness is not the friend of success.

How about you? Goals? Resolutions? Progress?

Perspective and Perception in 2017

Maintain perspective. Perceive carefully. 

That's my mantra for this year. 

Maintain the perspective of where I am versus where others are, both in the effort to cut down comparison and to realize how fortunate I am. 

Perception is tricky because things are rarely as they appear. By treading carefully in what I'm assuming (because perceive and assume are pretty much the same thing), I'm not going to be making up a story in my head. 

After all, things are rarely as they seem, right?

A lot of people have been recapping 2016; highs, lows, victories, disappointments, etc. I read a post that said something about the year having "deep heartache" but the details about the year were all good things...confusing, right? This is where perspective could come in. I don't know that person's story and maybe they are choosing to make it more tragic in title or less tragic in details; I don't actually know. 

I find it very hard to recap or judge a year if it's a deployment year, and 2016 was a deployment year. Scott left in February and came home in November. The year, therefore, exists kind of on the outside of the continuum of good/bad year. It's an outlier. 2012 was an outlier too, for this reason. They're difficult to place in the grand scheme of things.

In thinking about it, the years in my adult life go like this:

2009-good and wrought with change

2010-good

2011-good

2012-difficult but amazing in terms of personal growth

2013-good and wrought with change

2014-ugh (I hated this year so much...I can't even give definitive reasons, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.)

2015-slight step up from "ugh" but not really (blech)

2016-not that bad in comparison to the last couple of years

It's oddly telling, as I told Scott, that a deployment year ranks higher on the likability list than the last two years.

In the end, I know 2016 was hard on many of us for different reasons. I'd never belittle anyone's reasons for liking or disliking a year, but this is where I put on my perspective hat and zoom out a bit. While we may not all be well and good with some things that happened throughout the year, we made it through and I don't think it's "literally" been the worst year "ever". 

Do you have a word for the year? Or a mantra? Something to focus/center yourself on?