I turned over in bed somewhere around 2 am, and realised July is almost over. Where has this year even gone? I’d planned to do an update for you, 6 months after my Hello 2018 post, but missed it. Meh. Life.

Better late than never, right? Right?

Let’s get to it.

The first point on my January agenda was to finish my novel. I can safely check that one! I do still need to write some acknowledgements, but otherwise, The Physician’s Apprentice is officially finished and should be published this year. I wrote a little post about that here.

Then, I wanted to learn to play the ukelele. I’m making progress on this one, though I’m nowhere near the skill level I’d imagined myself to be around this time. For a minute there in the saggy parts of 2018 (I’m looking at you, March) I didn’t play the uke at all. I had zero inspiration or motivation to do anything. I mean, this is the same time of year where I wanted to hurl my computer into the snow, and never read a single line of TPA ever again. I was pretty low back then. Still, I’m back to playing a little every day, and I’m more confident each time. I know a few songs now! I can at least play You are my Sunshine well enough that Kayla can sing along.

My third goal was to open a shop on Etsy and sell my art and dolls. I opened the shop recently, and I’ve been making a lot of art, but I haven’t added the new stuff or the dolls to the store. Be a dear and have a look anyway, please? It’ll mean the world to me. 🙂 The shop is called Colour and Graphite, and I hereby pledge that I’ll add some more items this week.

I wanted to finish some half-written projects filling my hard drive, but I’ve completely failed there. I worked really hard on one of the stories, only to find something similar on a shelf in the bookstore, then gave up. I need to get over myself and finish it anyway. On the flipside, I’ve been really good at planning for Book 2, so there’s that. Oh, and I’m also working on another small fanfic with some friends!

The fifth goal was more regular blogging. Since writing that, though, I’ve learned that I could do without the added pressure, and have loosened the schedule even more. This may have cost me some readers, but my anxiety levels are more manageable when I don’t kill myself to get out a blog – any post at all, no matter how shoddy the quality of work. I’m happier, healthier and slightly less stressed. About the blog anyway. 😛 And I do believe that the posts I have been putting out there are better researched, thought out and delivered overall.

The sixth goal, making more art to fill our empty walls, has been going splendidly. Though not all the art I made ended up on our walls, I did fill the empty spaces and have been making loads of artworks. Kayla and I have also completed a lot of craft projects so far this summer, so we have more than enough going on to prettify environments.

I wanted to finish learning German, and have failed miserably there. No excuses, it is what it is, and I’ll try harder.

The last goal mentioned in that post was to put down the phone sometimes. I took so many photos for the blog that I started feeling guilty when I enjoyed an outing with my family and failed to take photos. I have to say that it’s been wonderful to be in the moment. I do still take a snap now and then, but then put the phone back in my bag and focus on enjoying the company. I’m glad this goal has worked out.

Goals born after that post included writing more book reviews on the blog. I’d planned at least one a month, and may even have mentioned that somewhere in a post. I’ve failed this one too. I read a lot, but since I’ve upped my alpha- and beta reading game, so much of what I read is yet unpublished. I also read A LOT of fanfiction. Maybe more than what one person should be reading. 🙂 If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll also know that I’ve been reading a lot of stuff regarding grammar, as I’m learning more about editing. I do need to get my foot out of my arse and read more books to review.

Getting out more was a big goal. I wrote about that a little here, if you’re interested. But the TL;DR version is I didn’t want to become as reclusive as I’d been in Germany, so I started taking long walks every day. The walking has been such a wonderful way to cope with all the anxiety, and find a way to work through the chaos in my mind. The walks have been a little shorter now that Kayla’s home for the summer, but we do still get out every day. I feel so much stronger and healthier because of this, and I have a killer tan. 🙂

Another new goal was to set up a monthly newsletter. I’ve done that! Do be a dear and sign up for that below. 🙂

I promise I won’t ever spam you.

That’s all I can think of for now where the old goals are concerned.

For the rest of the year, I want to achieve the following.

• Finish planning and at least start writing Book 2.
• Continue learning about writing, specifically editing.
• Maybe edit for someone. 🙂
• Make more art with pastels. Those are messy and fun.
• Finish the Writing Emotions series on the blog.
• Hike more with the family.
• Experiment more with letting things play out as they will. For me, half of the stress is born in planning in advance.
• Read more books – the kind I’m not a beta reading.

I’ll let you know how this plays out. I think I did fairly okay for this first half of the year!

Until next time.

Yolandie.