Productivity for the Win!

21 days until National Novel Writing Month

My NaNo is beginning to come together. A cast of characters has manifested and just thinking about their relationships makes excitement flutter in my chest. Prominent settings have been established. I also have the thinnest thread of a plot. And when I say thin, I mean nearly invisible. But at least there's something.

Planning isn't the only thing I've made progress on this week either. I have also added about another 1500 words to OBJECTION, putting it at a little over 45k. While this is great progress and makes me very happy, I think I'm going to have to alter my pre-NaNo goal. With everything I am trying to accomplish before November gets here, finishing the first draft of OBJECTION seems too ambitious. I am now aiming for at least 50k by October 31st. If I get farther than that, great. If not, I will have still made substantial progress.

That's not even the end to the good news. Recently, I've begun working with a new critique partner. This exchange has prompted me to take another step in my revisions of THINKING OF YOU. I completed the transfer to Scrivener and reordered the scenes to fit my new plot line. This is a big step because I can now see what I need to work on in an organized layout and tackle each task one at a time.

Overall, I am quite pleased with what I have managed to accomplish in my writing so far this week. I've gotten more done than I have in quite a while. This aura of productivity is the perfect lead in to NaNo.

What achievements, big or small, have you reached this week?

Can You Hear Me?

Testing. Testing. One, two, three. Does this thing still work? I hope so.

I know it's been over two months since I posted anything, but, to be honest, nothing much has happened. At least on the writing front. My life has still been hectic and time consuming, but I think it's settling down now. I may have to move soon (crossing my fingers for staying), but other than that, everything is steady and normal.

There are a couple of big things I should share with you. In April, I learned that I did not get accepted into the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute for 2013. That was a heavy blow. Luckily, my friends were there to support me through the crying. However, even though I was rejected, I still stand by the pieces I submitted. And! One of my good friends did get accepted into their percussion program. He just got back and he had a great time. Hopefully, we can return together next year.

I'm also working on revamping my goal plan (again...). But I won't go into that now because I will be writing an entire post to explain why and how. I'm not sure when exactly because I don't currently have Internet on my personal computer which makes it a bit hard to provide visual aids. Plus, I have to finish the remodel before I can reveal it. Duh. :P

Now, this post doesn't mean I've come completely out of hiatus, but I am working on that. I've been gone a while now and there's so much to catch up on. I'm reimmersing myself slowly. Already I'm keeping up on my emails and have responded to everyone who commented on my Figment profile (though I still have some stories to finish reading and critiquing). And though I haven't been posting, I've made sure to keep up with all of your comments.

While I'm once more getting comfortable with the swing of things, I want to reconnect with my joy for blogging. To do this, I decided it would be best for me to write posts that don't require much thought for a while. By that, I mean more organic posts, more natural me posts. The kind of things I used to write about when I first began my blog. Things like the slightest progress on any given project or ideas I get during the day or new office supplies (I'm just itching for the back-to-school season at Wal-Mart). Simple little updates to get me back in the habit of writing regularly about my writing.

And I thought I'd start now with two small things to go with my two big things. :)

First, Figment is currently hosting the Ink Haiku Contest. The prompt is loneliness. I have until July 15th to come up with a good idea and submit my entry. When I do, I'll let you know and post a link (along with a plea to check it out maybe...).

Second, speaking of office supplies, I recently acquired a small, 140-page notebook from Staples.

I'm using it to write down short story and poem ideas. Each new one gets its own page. I'm even including information about what inspired them. The notebook fits in my tiny teenage girl pockets (because apparently girls don't use their pockets) so it can go with me anywhere. And it's pretty. :D

And that's it (like I said, writing life pretty much non-existent). You'll be hearing from me soon. In the meantime, I'm off to read contest rules and watch videos on YouTube. Also, keep an eye out. I might be getting a new profile picture.

Have you posted anything recently that you think I should read right now? Leave a link in the comments and I'll stop by to check it out.

I'm Doing It!

I'm going to brag, because sometimes it's good for you. And because this is the Internet so I can't see your disapproving faces while I do it. ;P

Today I accomplished something I am very proud of. Do you want to know what it is? Do you? Do you? Do you?

Okay, I'll tell you.

I completed five index cards for my THINKING OF YOU storyboard. Five.

It doesn't matter that they were simply summarizing the chapters. That I didn't have to even think about whether the scenes should be majorly revised to fit my changing storyline. Nope. It only matters that I sat down and did it. (Plus, the way I look at it, it means I have a strong beginning.)

I have to do this for the next five days to complete my first Half-Month Goal for THINKING OF YOU on time. I can do it. I know I can. It won't be too hard because I've been thinking about how my scenes should change and be ordered for a while now. I just have to focus and take the time to actually PBICPIHAEOCS (Put butt in chair, pencil in hand, and eyes on computer screen).

Not only did I start my storyboard, I also reached the minimum word count for the day that I need to reach 42,000 words on OBJECTION, which is my Half-Month Goal for it, on time.

I'm feeling very good right now. :)

P.S. If you're interested, the first page of THINKING OF YOU is going to be critiqued on Unicorn Bell on Sunday. Stop by if you can and tell me what you think.

NYR Update - 6 Months

Half of the year is over. Well actually, half of the year is not over until 11:59 PM on July 2 passes. But we're close enough, right? No? At least I'm correct that this is the first of the month then. And boy, did it get here fast! (This does not go against our agreement to not mention how quickly the month has gone by.) Unfortunately, I also wrote up this report pretty fast.

1. I will have complete THINKING OF YOU's ready for query first round of revisions. I received three critiques for my first two chapters and so far have implemented changes suggested in one. I am currently working with two potential critique partners for this work thanks to Rachael Harrie's Beta Match.
2. I will have two new first drafts. NA
3. I will win National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).
4. I will submit at least two short stories to anthologies and/or contests. NA
5. I will read at least one hundred books. I read two books this month and am currently reading two others. Goodreads announces that I am seven books behind.
6. I will post at least one vlog a month. NA
7. I will exercise in some way once a week. The second week (June 10-16) I went on a two and a half mile run and a short hike. The fourth week (June 24-30) I went swimming twice.

I am not going to mope around about how little I got done this month. OSAI was an incredible experience that I hope to have again next summer and the two after that. Instead, I'm going to be happy that I started my new revising schedule today and that I got this post up on time.

How likely do you think it is that I can get half a year's worth of progress done before June 2 ends?

A Picture Painted These Words

As part of last year's New Year's Resolution to become better at critiquing, I joined Unicorn Bell. I am fairly active there, submitting and critiquing pieces. Now, I am participating in their first blogfest.

The idea is to use a picture for inspiration. Go here to see the ten possible choices. The one I chose is below with my story.

SHOW ME YOUR FANGS

Perhaps disobeying her mother was a mistake, but she never regretted it. Especially not this time.

Never go to the park.

She swayed lazily in the swing, her foot scraping the ground. The playground was deserted. Not unusual. Neither was the sound of rusty chains creaking, the wind fancied itself a child, but it caused her to glance at the swing beside her anyway.

If you ever see him, run.

Resting in the arch of worn leather was a giant spider. Not the size-of-your-big-toe giant. Larger-than-your-head giant. Her foot came down flat, ceasing her endless motion. She blinked, slow, deliberate.

Spider coloring gone, he sat watching her. His black hair fell over a couple of his eight eyes, red ringing each pupil. He had an arm laced around the swing’s chain, eight fingers laced through it.

Don’t speak to strangers.

“Tell me, are your spidey senses tingling?” She started to swing again.

When he blinked, his eyelids moved in a wave of motion. “You aren’t frightened?”

“Well,” she leaned toward him, her swing bumping his, “show me your fangs.”

---to be continued

A More Specific Beginning

Beginnings are one of my favorite things. The beginning of a week (Sunday, people, Sunday), the beginning of a month, and especially the beginning of a year. And today happens to be all three of those. Why do I like beginnings so much? I'm explained it before so I won't waste words.

"...everything is suddenly fresh, like everything has been wiped clean and I can just start over. It also sort of feels like a jumping off point."

-A Hopeful Beginning (January 1, 2011)

Of course, beginnings lead to endings (right after middles) lead to beginnings. And seeing as the post quoted above was a beginning and this post is a beginning, an ending had to occur in there somewhere. The ending of 2011. With that ending comes the fact that the year to accomplish the resolutions I expressed last New Year's is over. Before I move on to 2012, I would like to wrap up all things 2011.

I will be using the same format I used at my Midway Point report.

1. I will write everyday. I didn't do this. I didn't even build up to doing this. However, I have greatly improved my writing habits. With The Chrysalis Experiment I have managed to write every week excluding a few in the summer. With NaPoWriMo and NaNoWriMo I wrote everyday in April and November. And with Camp NaNoWriMo I wrote the majority of days in August. B
2. I will write a blog post or in my journal every day. I'm just going to give up on the journal. I've never been able to keep a steady one going and I hate what comes out when I write in them. Journaling just isn't for me. Blogging is more my style and, while I haven't done it everyday, I have erected a schedule for every third day (even if I kind of fell of the wagon the last month or so). Also, I have 169 posts for this year, just shy of a post every two days. B-
3. I will learn to vlog. I made two videos the whole year. Two. And only one of them was a vlog. I tried to make another video, but I failed because I didn't have the right editing software or knowledge. Editing is very essential to making good videos, vlogs or otherwise. D
4. I will become more organized with when and what I write (or edit). I really don't know how to assess how I did for this one. At the beginning of the year, I was pretty persistent and organized about how I "edited" THINKING OF YOU. I knew when I was going to write poetry (NaPoWriMo) and when I wanted to focus on a solitary project (ie. Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo). But, I don't think I really accomplished what I was going for. C
5. I will become better at critiquing others work. Not only am I still a part of the blog Unicorn Bell that I mentioned at my Midway Point report, I also have two new critique partners. Steph Sinkhorn and Christina Bejjani. A
6. I will not give in to peer pressure or do anything that I don't want to do (excusing homework assignments). Haven't experienced any serious peer pressure. N/A

I suppose I didn't do too terribly bad, but I won't dwell on it. Instead I'm going to take those mistakes and achievements and move on into 2012 by jumping straight into my goals with a vlog stating this year's New Year's Resolutions!

And for those that can't see the video:

1. I will have THINKING OF YOU ready for query. I need to get serious about my writing. I'm focusing on one project, part of that whole "organized" thing. This is the project I chose because I know what direction I want to go with it and I feel closest to it right now. As an add on to this goal, I also want to have a brief outline of the sequels.
2. I will have two new first drafts. One from Camp NaNoWriMo (probably doing August) and one from NaNoWriMo (November). One being my untitled princess close story (which I've mentioned once) and the other being a dystopian based around marriage. I wrote two new first drafts in 2011, I can do it again.
3. I will win National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). I haven't written much poetry since I did this last year, unless you count FOREVER, FROG. I really enjoy poetry and want to get back into it, plus this definitely helps with writing habits.
4. I will submit at least two short stories to anthologies and/or contests. Last year, I submitted my first Chrysalis story to an anthology. I rushed into it, forgot to put a title in my email and used a casual email address. I also entered a contest hosted by Seventeen magazine. This one I put a bit of thought into and I feel like it's turning out much better. It's still going on (my entry here and instructions on how to vote here). I want to continue to do these things and to put myself out there.
5. I will read at least one hundred books. I've talked before about how many unread books I have. That number hasn't gone down (quite the opposite in fact) and I would really like it to. I will be using GoodReads to keep track of this goal.
6. I will post at least one vlog a month. This is a more specific goal than last year's and, I feel, easier to keep track of. I've already started on this particular resolution. -pokes video above-
7. I will exercise. I talked about my lack of muscle in my summer's goals post and since then we have obtained a Kinect. Exercising while playing games is way funner. Those dancing games really burn after a while. This is my more personal goal.

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

How Far I've Come

Recently, while at my great-grandmother's house, she showed me a picture book that I had written and illustrated at her house in 2005. I would have been about eight. In the timeline of my writing career, BUCK THE BAAING HORSE is displayed as the first story or 'book' I ever wrote.

Of course, it is deeply flawed. There is information given that isn't needed and information that is needed sometimes isn't thrown in until the last second. I gave my characters names but half the time still simply called them 'the frog' or 'the cat'. My tenses switched. The ending was a complete clique. (And from an illustrator's point of view, my drawings weren't very consistent.) But everyone has to start somewhere and the fact that I recognize all this now just shows how far I've come.

Why am I bringing all this up? Today is my blogiversary. Exactly a year ago today, I posted my first blog post entitled 'At the Bottom'. I discussed how writing and publishing takes time and my preparedness to work toward those goals. I talked about THE LULLABY rewrite and what my hopes for it were.

Your first step onto the mountain doesn't bring you directly to the top. The first word of a novel doesn't bring you straight to the end.

While I still may be working on that rewrite, I've come damn far in a year. I'm mere chapters away from being finished with the rewrite, I have a whole other manuscript, I've written a short story almost every week in 2011, I wrote a poem a day for a month, I've come up with plenty of new ideas, I've found critique partners, and I've gotten to almost 200 followers on this blog. Who knows where I'll be next September 18th?

Decapitated Teddies and Crit Partners and Rules. Oh My!

I've got a secret. But I'll let you in on it. You know if you want. -looks around- About a month ago, I got -takes deep breath- a critique partner. Or two (one for each WIP, you understand). Their names? A secret isn't enough for you? Now I have to give you names, too? -huffs- Fine. -leans in close- Their names are Christina and Steph.

Recently, Steph (you know, my critique partner) passed along the Liebster Blog award. And guess who she gave it to? -points to self and mouths 'me'- How did you know?

There's one more thing I need to tell you concerning the award, but be warned, it is something so frightful you may sleep with a nightlight for the rest of your life. Those with squeamish stomachs might want to look away. Are you ready? Are you clenching a pillow in terror? Me too.

There are rules!

It's okay to admit that you screamed. -clears throat- But we're in up to our ears now, there's no going back.

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!

Steph, I'm so sorry to have drug you into this, really I am, but in accordance to the -shudders- rules I must thank you. Thank you, Steph. You're a true liebster. (See rules don't just affect one person, they affect everyone.)

Whew! That wasn't so bad. What did you guys think? -looks at decapitated teddy bear- I see. Well, risking more danger to poor Teddy, we must move forward.

I'm going to let you in on another secret, the following five bloggers must have under 200 followers. I know, you're biting your fingernails at the scaryfyingness of this new rule. But I promise, we'll get through this. Even if we all end up with nubs.

1. J at Concrete Pieces of Soul
2. Teralyn Pilgrim at A Writer's Journey
3. Izzy at I s a b e l l a
4. Marlena Cassidy at The Words Behind the Writer
5. Ella at Musings in Ink

Anyone need smelling salts? Anyone? No. Good. Oh wait, sorry I missed you in the back. I have some good news for you though, that may be better than smelling salts. We can skip over rule #3 because I already did that myself. Please, please, quiet down. I have one more thing to say. Anyone have a soapbox? Ah, thank you.

The five poor souls that I have passed this award onto, will have to face the -shudders- rules. But I have faith in them. I have faith that they will work through this and they will pass it on to others because there is nothing to fear, but fear itself. And to learn that, we must first face our fears. So have faith! And thank your lucky stars if you have over 200 followers.

Look at that. We completed rule four and you didn't even notice. You know, I've enjoyed watching you defeat your fears. It's been fun, this journey of ours. Which, guess what? Come closer. Closer. We've done everything the rules said so we can go back to normal where we do whatever the hell we please. Mwhahahaha!

Wait, before you leave, there's one more thing.  

Deirdra Coppel also gave me an award. One that I consider to be very special since she has to give it to you herself (this is because she created it), since she has to think you deserve it. The Powerful Woman Writer Award

And guess what (we're doing lots of guessing today)? There are no rules. Geez, I could hear your sigh of relief all the way through the computer.

Midway Point

Half of the year 2011 is over as of today. Being such a special occassion, I decided it would be a good day to update you on my New Year's resolutions.You may recognize this format.

1. I will write everyday. Does every week count? -sigh- Not only does that sound pathetic, these are the best writing habits I've ever had (at least I've made improvement). At least in the month of April, I did write every single day. B+
2. I will write a blog post or in my journal every day. I've been slacking off on blog posts lately but, again, in April I blogged every day (sometimes twice). However, I haven't written in my journal since January. I'll think of things to write and then I just won't. Sometimes I feel like anything I write in that notebook just comes out clique or like something you would read in a book. I don't want my thoughts to be like that so I don't write them down. C-
3. I will learn to vlog. Currently, there are two videos on my YouTube channel, one of which is an actual vlog. I also have a video (not sure if I'm going to make it a vlog) planned for when I reach 500 books (which may happen once I get home and update my book list). B
4. I will become more organized with when and what I write (or edit). -crickets chirping- I haven't worked really hard toward this one. I did set some goals for the summer, but setting goals is the hardest I've worked toward this goal. C
5. I will become better at critiquing others work. I've recently joined a blog called Unicorn Bell. It's like a critique group. I've participated in a few activites, posting pieces as well as critquing others, but I have yet to pair up with anyone. Of course, Madeline and I still help each other (anyone hear about her recent success?). B-
6. I will not give in to peer pressure or do anything that I don't want to do (excusing homework assignments). N/A

Tell me how you're doing with your resolutions.

Faces

Your face
her face
his face
that face
the face

stare up at me

Sharp angles
round edges
circles
squares

make up all the
pretty
faces

that surround me

colors
shapes
feelings

shake and mix

and make

my face

I decided to set the post up this way, see how I liked it. And actually I like this way better. It makes the main idea of the post, the poem, seem more dominant. Speaking of the poem, as you probably guessed, this one is about faces. I sort of imagine it from the view of someone on stage. They're looking around at the audience and the other performers. They're feeling many things: nervous, excited, doubtful, confident; and it's all showing on their face.

I also have some other news relating to my poetry. The other day I got an email telling me that I had gotten my first rating for my poem, Orphan Questions, on Teen Ink. I was disappointed to find it was two out of five stars. This is my only rating so far and only 14 people have viewed my poem. I need to put myself out in the Teen Ink community more: get some more ratings and maybe even a few comments, post a few more of my newer poems, critique others (seeing as that was one of my New Year's resolutions and I haven't done anything for it yet!).

I have managed to accomplish something positive however. I made the poem I posted two weeks ago, Cast it Aside, into a slideshow type video on YouTube. It's not the best quality but I'm still really happy I managed to figure out how to do it (I get so excited over little things like this XD). I thought you might like to see it. ^^

A Hopeful Beginning

Here we are in a new year. I always love it when a new year starts. I don't know how to describe how I feel exactly. It's sort of like everything is suddenly fresh, like everything has been wiped clean and I can just start over. It also sort of feels like a jumping off point. It seems a good time to start working toward your goals as well as setting them. This New Year's I actually have some goals I want to set. Normally, I like the feeling of New Year's but I don't have any resolutions. Since I do have some this year, and since some of them pertain to writing, I thought I would share them with you.

First though, I have to tell you all that I already completed one of my New Year's resolutions. (I'm fast, huh?) I have known for months that I would have to quit Neopets. It's distracting and time-consuming. It takes away from my friends, my family, reading, my writing, and for what? Sure, I made some amazing friends (love you, guys) but there are other ways to talk to them that aren't surrounded by childish games and distractions. Email, for instance, or this blog, or even YouTube. I can speak freely in these areas, unlike Neopets. Today, I deleted my last account, and I'm really rather proud of myself. It doesn't feel as different as I thought it would but it's still a great achievement, for me. I have beat my addiction! Now, on to other things, like the resolutions I have yet to complete.

1. I will write everyday, whether it be a poem, a paragraph, a short story, a chapter. I need to get more serious about my writing. It's a very important part of my life and I need to give it more attention. Also, practice makes perfect.
2. This one kind of goes with my first resolution but, I will write a blog post or in my journal everyday. I know this sounds like the same thing but it isn't. Most of my writing is fictional, my journal/blog is not. It's an account of my life which I want to have. I'm good about posting but I can go a month, or two, without writing in my journal. I like reading through it though, even if some of my phrases are kind of clique. XD
3. I will learn to vlog, not blog, vlog. I already have a channel set up on YouTube. There aren't any videos but I hope to change that soon, as well as spiff up that page. I like the colors I picked though I think I still need to tinker around with them. The only camera I have now to make vlogs is on my phone but my birthday is in February. Here's to hoping I'll get a nice camera.
4. I will become more organized with when and what I write (or edit). I have many projects going on and I need to figure a schedule where I can work on all of them, at least a little, once a week. This may take a while, I can organize anything physical, but time is slightly harder. Recently, I watched Kaleb Nation (author of the Bran Hambric books) on BlogTV. He was answering questions from viewers and I asked him what his suggestions for editing were (plus, two other questions, but we'll go into that some other time ^^). He said to set a time aside everyday, and do it, even on the rough days. So I will. First, I'm going to read through it. I might start doing that after I finish this up.
5. I will become better at critiquing others work. I don't really know how good I am now because I don't really go out of my way to do it. Sometimes I don't because I don't want to be picky and sometimes because I just don't feel like it. So I'm probably not the best. You have to give good critiquing to get it though. I better start practicing.
6. Last, but maybe not least, I'm going to be starting high school later this year, in August. I will not give in to peer pressure or do anything that I don't want to (excusing home work assignments). I've already decided that I won't smoke, do drugs, or anything sexual that I'm not ready to do. These are the things that they talk about the most in peer pressure but there may be other things. I've never had much peer pressure, no matter how much they bring it up. That may change in high school so I'm making this promise to myself.

Really, that's not very many. It just looks like it because I talked about each of them. XD They're all important to me though and I will work hard towards them (I hope!). I've already written my blog post for today, so see, it's already working. I'm also going to begin Chapter Six (as soon as I decide exactly where I want to start writing it from) and reading Thinking of You. I may log on to Teen Ink later and comment on some poems, or the NaNo website's Critiques, Feedback, and Novel Swaps forum.

For organization, I have a few things, mostly for the blog and much later projects (I know that doesn't do me much good now but it's a start) though once I get the Ledges section of the sidebar straightened out, that should be helpful. I've decided that since Poetry Peak has a specific day (Thursday), the Reading Trail should, too. I will update the Reading Trail list every Sunday, taking off books that have been completed and adding ones that I plan to read. Every week, there will be at least one review. I may have a specific day for this later but for now, it's just when I want to. For later projects, here's a list.

• The Chrysalis Experiment - (All Year Long) I'm not for sure that I'm doing this yet. This is a blog about three writers who are going to write a short story every week of 2011 and they're letting others join in. A prompt will be posted ever Monday. This is the part that makes me iffy. Prompts can be good, or bad. Uncreative prompts make me upset (I think I've mentioned this before) but as Madeline has reasoned, it's run by three writers. We've decided to wait out the first prompt before we decide. I'm hoping that this might help me kick start the City in the Sky series.
• NaPoWriMo - (April) This is a challenge to write a poem everyday in April. I'm doing this because I like writing poetry (as you probably guessed from Poetry Peak) and it won't get in the way of bigger projects like The Lullaby or Thinking of You. It will also be good practice and maybe I'll have a few new submissions for Teen Ink.
• NEPMo - (May) I've talked about this before. You're supposed to write a 5,000 line epic in May. I already have an idea for the plot and the format. I enjoy novels written in verse, and this is almost the same thing. I could easily turn it into one.
• WriDaNoJu - (June) This is almost exactly like NaNo except you can work on an already existing project and it's in June. I've decided to do it just for the existing project aspect. I've decided to treat The Lullaby's rewrite a bit more like a first draft since large aspects of the story are changing and I'm going to have to edit it anyway. If I'm not finished by then, well this should help, and if I finish it and haven't reached the word count, I'll just start on A Shimmer in the Light or Royally Burned.
• SeptNoWriMo - (September) This is yet another challenge that is almost exactly like NaNo except you can also edit. This is the reason I've decided to do it. Thinking of You is being edited and if I've finished doing that by then, The Lullaby will surely need it.
• NaNoWriMo - (November) Here it is, the big man himself; the original, and inspiration for most of the projects on this list. This challenge is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I already have an inkling of an idea for this year. I like to start something fresh for each NaNo, not to continue a series. That's the reason I decided not to do GothNoWriMo. I need that idea for NaNo.

I know that seems like a lot but I still have January, February, March, July, August, October, and December completely free (well, besides The Chrysalis Experiment, but that's a little different) to work on whatever I please. I'm hoping to get a whole lot done this year, as you can tell. Here's to hoping it's a wonderful, successful year!