From me and mine to you and yours, have a fantastic New Year!

It’s been a hell of a year. There have been so many memories that I won’t do it all justice in a 500-word post. But I’m going to try!

So, why has it been such a great year?

Travel

Mexico, te amo.

I had a trip booked to Cancun in February. I ended up canceling, and it seemed like I was stuck in -30 weather for the entire winter. But my cousins (this seems to be a theme for this year) were headed to Puerto Vallarta and I desperately needed a vacation.

I spent about three and a half hours on the phone talking with hotels.com / Expedia. I was stressed, and I was cold. But it was booked! It was a week of fun in the sun and way too much drinking. Even for me.

 

I also went to Houston, Texas to visit my aunt. I was still adapting to life as a writer and the catch 22 of being your own boss. But I couldn’t leave Cousin Patrick to suffer a week in the heat of Houston alone! I’m a great cousin, I know.

Besides, I thought, Far from Ordinary is partially set in Houston. I HAD to go. You know, for research purposes. I strive for incredible realism in all my novels.

Tough life, hey!

Family

From having a place to crash at for a while to teaching me how to cook to the legendary times at the lake to the immense reaction over my book launch. Oh and the surprise 30th birthday party. There’s way more, but I think you get the point. Those people closest to me really showed me the love this year.

You can’t pick your family, but even if I could I wouldn’t change a thing.

Friends

If you do it right, your friends are your family. Way too many pictures to share here. Besides, I wouldn’t want to post anything incriminating 😉

Sports

This year was pretty magical for Winnipeg sports. The city came to a stop for every playoff game. And c’mon, it was pretty surreal to see twenty-thousand strong downtown for the white-out parties. And I played a LOT of sports this year, too. Hockey and Handball, and I still can’t wait for Softball to come back.

My goal for this year is to run the half at the Manitoba Marathon. So far, I’m on the way, but we’ll see. Seems like it would be a lot easier to take up a less painful hobby. Like chess, or extreme lawn darts.

Everything Else

I got to spend more time at the cottage this year than I have since my childhood.  There were times when I was out there alone where I got my best writing done. With a cold beer and the birds chirping around me is when I get my best motivation.

You’ll notice that I haven’t said a lot about the writing, or my book. That’s because I wanted to give you all a vague idea of the other things in my life which fuelled the unique circumstances which were this year for me.

2018 was the best year of my life. I can’t wait to top that in 2019. Shameless plug, my 2nd book will be finished in half a year or so. My goal is to find an agent to represent me. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it will be SO worth it.

If it wasn’t tough, it wouldn’t be so rewarding, right?

Bring on the New Year.

SO. What did we learn this year?

1. Push yourself. Stay out of your comfort zone. It is NOT a good place to be in.
2. You are only as good as the people with whom you surround yourself
3. Nothing compares to the feeling of having your literary baby in front of you. I mean, I assume your ACTUAL baby might compare, but I’m going off of what I know.
4. It is STILL never a good idea to drop your keys down the elevator shaft. Dropping your phone could be, though. Do it and let me know how it goes.
5. Sometimes you go through life changes for a reason.

Stay frosty my friends!

Until next time,

M.