New Year Wishes/Resolutions/Things

Just like last year, I decided to leave all my resolutions for a few days after the first of January. To be honest, I don’t normally make resolutions. I am wary of long term planning as they have a tendency of running awry. However, I went back to the post I wrote last year around this time to see if any of the things I had wished for became true.

This is what has happened (resolutions for 2013 are in bold):  

1. Get my Spanish driver's license. I passed my written test a few days after Christmas, so now all that's left is for me to actually learn to drive. *scary shiver* 

I did get my driver’s license. It was an uphill battle which as you might remember from Facebook and here on blogger, I moaned and cried and got very depressed about. Fortunately, in July I passed the exam and can now legally drive in Spain. However, thus far I am not fond of driving and take the car reluctantly. The thing I hate most?  Parking. I get extremely stressed just thinking about having to park. *sigh* Maybe this time next year, I will be able to say that I now drive without a care in the world.  


2. Write, write, and write some more. I have three immediate projects that I want to finish:

         ·  Edit my Nanowrimo and submit it. I'm half way through with editing, so I should hopefully be done with this soon. 

I did finish editing my Nano and submitted it too. A Dragon’s Heart, A Demon’s Blood was my Nano in 2012 and it was published by Evernight Publishing. Not only that, but it was runner up in the Evernight Readers’ Choice Awards and garnered 4 and 5 star reviews.

Once again, for 2014 I’m hoping to finish editing my Nanowrimo (Lone Wolf) and submitting it. So far, the prospects are not looking good. Something about the story doesn’t feel right and I’m stuck, but things can change.

        · Write the fourth story in the Mercenary Tales series. 

Unfortunately, I did not do this. I have the plot in mind, but other projects got in the way. It is in my TO DO list.

         ·  Finish that Free Read I began writing back in November.

And to be honest with you, I don’t remember what this was.

3. Related with writing is the idea of learning some more about certain periods in history such as the Medieval Era.

This I did do. *smiles*

4. Blog more- not only write more but also interact more.

I think I managed to do some of this, but not as much as I would have liked.   

5. Keep up my Portuguese and French studies.

  

I finished my Portuguese studies and passed my French exam in September. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to sign up to either languages again.

6. Finally, what's probably going to be the hardest goal for this 2013: finding a media/communication job. If it were up to me I'd dedicate myself fully to writing but the economy is harsh and writing isn't bringing in enough money to survive and neither is my part time job-with no possibility of advancement. 

This did not work out. In April I started an online internship at a firm and that was the closest I got to a media job. For several reasons which I won’t state here, it was highly unsatisfactory and soon became more of a sporadic collaboration than an actual internship.

For 2014, I’m changing career paths. In just a few days I will be doing a CELTA course to become an English teacher and though I am very scared, I am also quite excited at the prospect of starting something new.  

Finally, my last goal was spending time with friends and family and I think I did accomplish that (more with family than friends, I must admit).

All in all, I believe, not a bad year.

 Now, allow me to sum up my 2014 wishes:

v  Write, write, write. Among the projects I want to do before summer:

Finish editing my Nanowrimo

Write book 3 and 4 in the Witches’ Mischief series

Write my story in a super secret anthology which I can’t tell you about just yet.

Find a home for my Christmas story

v  Do a year 2013 and concert scrapbook (I’ve never done one and I think it will be fun)

v  Learn and research more. (historical periods, music, baking...)

v  Keep blogging and attempting to interact more with everyone.

v  Pass my CELTA and start a new career path as an English teacher.

v  Spend time with family, pets and friends and cherish the moments. 

v  Learn more about myself. 

What are your goals? Are you fond of making resolutions?