2019 Wrap Up

Happy Wednesday! We're a week away from Christmas! And since there's only this Wednesday and next Wednesday left of December and 2019 I figured I'd better start with my wrap ups now.
2019 was... a good year. It was a year of change and growth for me and a whole lot happened this year.

But first and foremost, I must list off all the books I've read (so far) in 2019. I had planned to get to 50 books read this year buuut I'm not sure that'll happen. I might get to 45. If I read the Mercy Falls trilogy fast enough haha

My Top Seven Books of 2019: 

Fawkes by Nadine Brandes 

Slayer by Kiersten White 

Legacy by Shannon Messenger 

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh 

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi 

The Wicked King by Holly Black 

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black 

The Best TV Shows and Movies of 2019: 

Into the Spiderverse 

This was literally the best movie of the entire year and is now one of my all time favorites. Just the animation... the characters... the emotion... all of it. The whole movie was absolutely perfect in every way.

Alita: Battle Angel 

This is one of my dad's favorite movies haha I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, but I have to say, it was an amazing movie. The CGI was phenomenal (what else did I expect from James Cameron??), the characters were amazing. There's been a lot of comparing Alita to Captain Marvel and sorry Captain Marvel buuut Alita is a way better female protagonist then you ever will be.

Shazam 

I saw this with a friend and had gone into it with just thinking it would be a fun movie. It was so funny! I loved it and can't wait for the next one. DC is finally starting to get their act together. If they can make more movies like Wonder Woman and Shazam I think they'll be all good.

Avengers: Endgame 

And of course, Endgame. The biggest movie of the year. It was epic, awesome, everything I could have wanted it to be. There were a few things that I was a little iffy about but overall it was amazing. They really delivered it all to the fans.

Dark Phoenix 

I went in with high expectations. I am a HUGE X-Men fan and expected total awesomeness. I love the Dark Phoenix saga and was hoping to see it done right (unlike in the original trilogy). While they did follow the storyline pretty much to a T, there were several plot holes and it ended really badly... Overall, it was kind of disappointing. But I got to see it with a friend so that was fun.

Code8 

I just wanted this yesterday. This is a passion project by Stephen and Robbie Amell (both of which I love). Though there was quite a bit of swearing and some violence, it was an amazing movie. The special effects was amazing and the acting, of course, was incredible. Plus it was really awesome getting to see Stephen Amell with superpowers and see him and his cousin act side by side. It also got picked up for a TV show so that will be awesome!

Smallville 

Aww look at that smile! 😍 I absolutely love him... I know Smallville is an "older" show, but I just discovered it this year and let me just say, it is absolute perfection from beginning to end. Everything about this show is amazing and it is now one of my all time favorites.

Roswell, New Mexico 

So... the first episode was great. The political stuff was a bit of a turn off and the ending of the pilot was a major turn off for me. I stopped watching it and didn't start up again until the season was on Netflix and I had hope that Michael and Maria would be together. The romance between Max and Liz is swoonworthy (not as good as in the original series but pretty close). Once I could separate the original series from this one and see them as completely different then I was good with it.

And how could I forget?? Literally the best show of 2019: A Discovery of Witches. It was spectacular, amazing, romantic and genius. I can't wait for season 2 next year!!

2019 Writing:
This year was a year of discovery when it comes to my writing. I started out 2019 planning to traditionally publish Lost Girl and have ended this year with two self-published books instead. There was a major turn around in my goals in April-May of this year and I've been working on figuring out the whole self-publishing thing for the rest of the year. I wrote Wayward and published it. I revised and published Sterling Silver. I've written the sequel to Wayward (and am currently doing major book surgery on it right now) and wrote half of the third book in the St. Croix Falls series. I learned so much about myself as a writer this year and have grown a lot in my writing and writing process.

Life stuff: 
Life stuff this year... I finally got my permit (for the second time haha). That was a huge relief and a huge success for me. I've fallen into the rhythm of doing a childcare job at church in the Fall and Winter which I consider a semi-job. I turned 21 in March! And I started my first ever newsletter and bought an author website. We went to Michigan and had a fun time there. I'd never done anything like that. Like just staying a hotel and being next to the beach and just chilling. It was nice... I don't know if we'll do it again though. It's not really the type of thing my family enjoys enough to do twice. But it was fun. I think the big highlight of this year though, was I got to go see Twenty One Pilots in concert. That was EPIC! I'll never forget it and I can't wait to go see them again. I also went to a Breaking Benjamin concert. I don't really listen to them but my mom loves them and we went with some of our friends so that was a fun night. Oh and how could I forget?? I started working toward my bachelor's degree this Summer. I got accepted into a four year college and am working toward my bachelor's in General studies.
There have been some ups and downs throughout the year (as there always is) but overall, I feel like 2019 was a really good year. I feel like, at the moment anyways, I have a better handle on my mental health then I did at the beginning of the year. I think mostly because I went into December with a decision to try my hardest not to over-worry or stress about small (and big) things. I've been very purposeful and mindful about trying to be chill about things. There have been a few times where I didn't do so well, but I think overall, that mindful decision has made a real difference. Last December was good but I stressed a lot and just was not in a very good headspace. I wanted this December to be different and so far it has been. I'm hoping I can bring that mindfulness into the new year with me. Really though, it was a purposeful decision on my part and I've been doing my best to keep myself accountable to that but I also think it stems from God and me asking Him to keep me accountable to it. I've been really good about just giving it all over to Him. Why should I worry about the future or the small things when I know He's got everything under control? I know that can be easier said than done sometimes, but right now I'm feeling confident in the future because of trusting God and I hope I can keep that going into 2020.

So yeah, that was my 2019 in a nutshell pretty much... Lots of books, lots of good movies, lots of writing and lots of fun memories. I'm excited to see what 2020 brings.

How was your year? What are some of your favorite books/movies/tv shows of 2019??