Happy New Year! A sneak peek into my goals for 2019

How has a year gone by already? It seems like just a month ago that we were talking about resolutions and goals and now we’re doing it again.

If you’ve followed me for very long, you’ll know that I don’t personally do resolutions. I do goals. Every single month. But I also do them for the year. So how did I do last year? (You can read the whole post here).

Piano

I didn’t do very well with these goals. I was able to perfect some hymn arrangements, but not the other two songs. I never made enough time for piano practice which is something I aim to change this year.

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August 2018 Goals

Happy August! Summer is almost over. Of course, here in Wisconsin, August is usually the most consistently hot of the summer, but I’m curious to see what this one is like since the other months have been so weird.

How was your July? Mine was pretty busy. If you are a newsletter subscriber, you’ll have seen this picture before, but I thought I would share it with the rest of you, too.

It was a busy, but fun month. And I wrote an average of more than 1,000 words each day! Which means my total for the month went over my goal of 25,000 words by over 6,000 words! It’s been a great month of me trying to be more consistent and intentional in my writing. Doing these blog posts has been a great help to me.

What else did I accomplish? Well, here’s the list I made at the beginning of July and how well I did with each.

• Edits #2 and #3 of Lo, How a Rose (Done!)
  
• Finish writing rough draft of Christmas story collection (Done by July 17th)
• If those stories don’t reach my 25,000 word goal, start writing The Haven of Rest (Done, and 2/3rd through – as it stands, I think this might be the shortest of the series)
  
• Continue working on Un Sospiro and get past the 4th page (Mostly done, I got past the 4th page, but it’s not polished up yet)
• Finish beta-reading Bitter Winter (Done! And it’s really good!)
  
• Continue WWI research (Done, though not as much as I should have)
• Stay cool!! (Done! The last week or so, I’ve even had to wear hoodies to stay warm. Like I said, it’s been a weird year weather-wise)

August Goals

• Go through HLM proofreader edits and send to formatters
• LHaR edit #4 and send to proofreaders
• Edit #1 of Christmas stories, send to beta-readers, and then edit #2
• Finish writing The Haven of Rest
• Work on book covers with Perry
• Work on novella release
• Polish up the first 4 pages of Un Sospiro and start working on pages 5 and 6
• Exercise at least 3 times per week

I’d love to help encourage you in your goals. Feel free to comment here with them, or email them to me using the contact form. Have a great month!

 

Have a Fruitful New Year!

 

Last Sunday, December 31, Pastor Stephen preached a sermon entitled, Have a Fruitful New Year. It was the perfect sermon. The sermon was based on John 15:1-8 and talked about abiding in Christ so we can bear fruit for Him. After the news we got the Thursday before, I needed to hear it.

Here are some of my favorite points from the sermon, summarized by me.

There are two different kinds of people. Those who bear no fruit and those who do bear fruit.

Another Year is Dawning

Last year about this time, I made 10 goals for 2016. This year I have a few more. But first let me share with you how last year went.

1. Publish two novella collections, three novellas, and two novels. (One collection, three novellas, and one novel were published as well as a few short stories. The second collection and novel will be published in January and February, Lord willing.)
2. Read at least half of the writing books I own. (Not quite, but close)
3. Be more conscientious of the time I waste on the computer.(Yes)
4. Finish the study of Revelation. (Yes)
5. Read through the Bible in a year. (I missed too many days and couldn’t quite make it. I hope to finish sometime this year though.)
6. Learn at least one new classical song on the piano. (I did learn Schubert’s Impromptu op. 142 #3, but it isn’t quite polished yet).
7. Be better about responding to emails. (Yes, mostly).
8. Finish the sewing projects I’ve put off, including my quilted dress. (Eh, not so much. And the quilted dress has been changed to a skirt, and still isn’t finished).
9. Write at least one informational blog post every other month. (I believe I did manage to do this one).
10. Keep on top of the church activities I am involved in. (Mostly).

Surrender

Calling all pianists! With a Joyful Noise has released a new piano solo book for late-intermediate to early-advanced pianists. Whether you are your church’s pianist or you simply enjoy learning new music for personal enjoyment and reflection, finding new music books is always a joy. Coming from a church
pianist who knows the struggle of finding new offertories, Amanda Tero has taken timeless songs and woven advanced techniques into simple, relaxing settings.