Both a Farewell and a Welcome: 2016 Reflections

Don't look at me like that. I know this post is rediculously late. HOWEVER. Due to a nagging feeling of duty, I decided to still write one last post about the year of life I spent during 2016. After all, it's never coming back. There is only one 2016 (A.D.) in all of time. I think it deserves some reflection. So here I am. :) 

For me, 2016 was a year of milestones. Despite not reaching some of my goals (to be completely honest, I forgot all about my goals about half-way through the year) I accomplished some things that were very unexpected. Here are just a few of the biggest ones that made 2016 go by so fast for me.

-My older sister began courting (because he didn't live in our state, this meant a lot of traveling for different people in our family...and, coincidentally, babysitting jobs for me. ;)

-I preformed in a Senior Recotal with my bestie (this took a LOT of piano, flute, and voice practice. Both by myself and getting together with her for certain songs we did together.) 

-I completed and graduated from high school at the top of my class. B-) #homeschoolingisawesome (My parents handed me my diploma at our church as part of a homeschool graduation ceremony.)

-I participated in Camp NaNo and wrote almost 40,000 words in one month. (Don't laugh all ye who participated in NaNoWriMo. That was a big deal for me.)

-I completed my first novel-length book at over 75,000 words (and it keeps growing, thanks to my editors!! :) 

-I finished the writing part of two complete stories ("The Princess & I" and "Ocean Mist")

-I had my 18th birthday in August (WHAAAT?? I'm an ADULT?? How did that happen?) 

-My sister got married (!!!) and moved to Georgia with her new husband :( 

-I got my driver's license (FINALLY. Although, I still seem have trouble typing the word "license" correctly. XD) 

-I voted for the first time as a citizen of the United States (which gave me both a scary and excited [?] feeling)

-My blog reached its third birthday, I wrote a grand total of ONE HUNDRED POSTS LAST YEAR, and I have almost 50 fabulous followers O.O  (I'm not counting email followers) Which is utterly EPIC. I don't deserve your fabulousness.

-I strengthened my old friendships and made a ton more friends, both online and "real" (You all are awesome. Just saying. <3) 

-I became a deaconess at my church (this sounds a lot more important than it actually is. XD) as well as being the substitute secretary for a week. 

-And last, but CERTAINLY not least, I have grown closer to my beloved God and Savior. 

So, as you can see, 2016 was pretty fantastic for me. ;) I'm not going to bother giving you the goals I wrote for 2016 in this post because I've already mentioned the important goals as part of my list of milestones. :) 

However, because no New Years Day post (even the ones that are embarrassingly late) are complete without new goals, I'll make a list. *gulps* 

Goals for 2017: 
-Read through the Bible 
-Read 100 books
-Make new friends who help me grow closer to God
-Have stronger relationships with siblings
-Finish writing "A New Name", "Alone", and "Beyond the Galaxy"
-Publish "The Princess & I" and "Alice & Alyssa"
-Complete a year of college
-Have a closer relationship with God

I know, adult goals, right? ;P I'm slowly learning how to do this adult thing. Well, *cough* we'll see if I can manage to complete any of these. 

To end this post, I'm going to give you my absolute favorite fiction and non-fiction book of ALL OF 2016. (To be honest, deciding this was what took me so long to get this post up. I mean, I'm terrible at deciding favorites. TERRIBLE. But, for you, I spent a good hour looking through the books I read last year and slowly bringing the numbers down to a single favorite. Be impressed. I was. ;) 

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FICTION BOOK OF 2016: 




MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE NON-FICTION BOOK OF 2016:




A note from the Editor:
On a more serious note, you may or may not have heard a prayer request circling my social media, so I'm also posting it here:

On Thursday, one-year-old Lemuel Houston (part of a pastor's family we're very close to), while being babysat by some older siblings, fell into a five gallon bucket of water and was later found not breathing. One of the older kids applied CPR right away and they called 911.
His dad was away on a missions trip with another one of his older siblings and booked a flight home as soon as possible.  
My parents went to the hospital where he's being kept right now yesterday afternoon between church services. Lemuel is doing surprisingly well after what happened, but is still in a comatose state and has to have help to be able to breathe. His 
heart rate was elevated, but calmed down when his daddy held 
him and talked to him. <3 He stared at my dad the entire time he was praying for him there.  
Thank you all again for your support. This means a lot to our family, the Houston family, and everyone who knows and loves this little guy. <3