Guess what???

I'M DONE WITH NANOWRIMO THIS YEAR!!! WHOHOO!!! I GOT IT DONE A DAY EARLIER THAN I THOUGHT!!! WHOHOOOOOO!!!! I'M FINALLY DOOONE AND FREEEE!!!!

It was hard, and I don't know if I'd like to write a 50,000-worded novel again in 30 days, but I don't regret doing it at all. Nope. It gave me the kind of motivation I need - it pushed me to make a goal and stick to it, no matter how hard it may be. It's inspired me to give myself a more in-depth goal in my writing so that I actually get something done. So yeah, I'm glad I did it :)

So what's been going on since my month-long hiatus?

Not much, really, but who ever says a lot has been going on in their life excluding those rare occasions? Once Upon A Time will probably go on hiatus soon (I'll rant about that later ;) and so will Agents of Shield, I think. My Little Pony's going to return for a fifth season next year (Eep! I'm so excited) and I want to watch Mockingjay Part I with some of my friends during the holiday season. I may try to get back into dance, too, and do more volunteering at the library to kind of get a feel for the work there to see if it's anything I want to do.

A sort of big change is happening, though. I'm in my senior year of high school :O (cue dramatic music - DUM-DUM-DUM-DUUUM!) So, you know, as soon as you turn 18 you have to know what you want to do with your life, right? xD Lol, jk. But it feels that way sometimes...I'm going to try and relax, though. Some of the stuff I went through this year has really taught me to stop stressing so much and take time to enjoy life. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to look at my adulthood at what it truly is - the next chapter in my life. It's exciting, just like a book - what adventure will I encounter next? I'm excited to find out myself. Life is an exciting journey; it'd seriously make a great, engaging book :)

I've been looking at universities I may be interested in going to next year in the fall...I really don't like how it seems like you have to go to college to get a "good" job, but whatever...other people have proven that you don't have to (Bill Gates, anyone? A lot of those famous actors and actresses?) But honestly, I kind of feel like I want to go to college. It's the first time I've ever actually gotten excited about school xD I suppose compulsory education, being mandatory, makes you kind of not like it since you're forced to do it :P But anyway, I feel like I want to get a higher education, and plus, from what my brother's said about it, I think I'll like it. I'm actually rather excited, to be honest. I think I may actually want to work in a college just to stay around the learning atmosphere ;)

But I'm starting off in community college, because there's no way in heck I'm going to pay $10,000+ for two years of college education that I could have gotten for about $4,000 instead! (I guess my parents are actually paying for it, but still xD) And community college isn't easier than universities or other colleges - believe me, I took an introductory course there (I mentioned this in a post about last year) and it was challenging!

Let's see..what else has been happening lately? The stuff I wrote previously was written ages ago xD Lol, well, not THAT long, but pretty long, you know. Aside from NaNo, I can't really think of what I've been doing lately. I started reading City of Fallen Angels, the sort of "second" series in the Mortal Instruments series, but I stopped. It's just not as interesting as the first series to me, but I'm glad I read through the other ones and enjoyed them :) I saw some recommendations for some interesting-sounding romance YA novels, which is different because I'm not much of a romance novel reader. But some of these books are tongue-in-cheek/humorous while others just seem more realistic (like Sarah Dessen's stuff - I haven't read much of hers yet, but so far it seems interesting). Whenever I get back to the library I'll do that.

Of course, Thanksgiving came up two days ago (only two? It fees like longer...)We didn't invitee anyone else over, but with a family as big as mine, we're already a huge bunch xD Anyway, we had our traditional foods - turkey, ham, stuffing, etc., including my personal favorite, mashed potatoes :D And I hope we'll make some mac & cheese on Sunday, since that's our "off" day when we start indulging ourselves with unhealthy eating since we were supposed to eat healthy the other six days of the week ;) Momma said she brought some, so I'm really looking forward to that. Yum...

But you know, a friend mentioned on Thanksgiving Day how we should always be thankful during every time of the year, which I totally agree with. Thanksgiving is just a day to reflect on that. We all have our problems, but we're really blessed people. If you just take the time to list a few things you're thankful for, you'll start feeling grateful and happier :) I think I may do something like that in my diary just to keep me in a good mood :)

Christmas is coming up, too, of course. Black Friday madness occurred yesterday xD Which reminds me, I'm glad there's a great deal on everything, but I don't like hearing about people getting stressed or pushing through people or whatever to get a great deal on Black Friday. People spend time with families on Christmas, and it's sort of like Thanksgiving with being grateful for one another, So just relax and go shopping for loved ones, but also remember to have fun! We all deserve to enjoy life :D

I can't really think of anything else, to be honest...I should have logged more down in my diary. The year's coming to a close end (can you believe that?) and 2015 is just around the corner. I don't mean to say that to look so ahead in the future, because we should always be living in the moment, but I say that to take a moment to reflect on everything that's happened this year. I know I have been doing that now but especially a few weeks or so ago. A lot has happened this year, more than we've even realized, and I want to write a sort of "reflection on 2014" post during the last week of December.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Happy Holidays, everyone!