Snow and Books (Reading Challenge Weeks 5-7)

I've had quite a few books checked out from my library that I needed to read before they expired, so I haven't been able to read the books I've chosen for my challenge in the past couple of weeks. I do have them checked out, so now that I'm caught up on my other books I'll be getting to these this week.

Week 5: A play. I chose An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. The only copy of this my library has available online is a performance of the play, so I'll be listening instead of reading. I'm assuming it's going to be the same as listening to an audiobook. Maybe not quite.

Week 6: A Book With Magic. I chose The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.

Week 7: A book from your childhood. I've chosen Secrets Can Kill by Carolyn Keene. Nancy Drew is the reason why I'm infatuated with mysteries and always have been.

We're currently bogged down by snow here in Kentucky and I'm afraid to leave my house. My body doesn't do well with anything cold. This is the reason that I'm able to read a boatload of books in the winter. I'm not brave enough to leave my house in the winter, and most of the time I don't want to leave my bed.

Hopefully we don't get the 18 inches that's being called for. While it might be nice to experience that much snow on the ground at one time, I'm afraid of being in too much pain to enjoy it for very long. I don't want all the snow to melt, though, and have to admit I was too chicken to get out of my house and walk in it for five minutes.

Maybe I'll brave the outdoors tomorrow.

New Beginnings

I recently turned 19, and it made me really think about my life. It's a bit cringe-worthy.

I made a bit of a fuss over my birthday. I didn't want to turn 19, I dreaded it with no real reason in mind. I realize why now.

I dreaded becoming older because I was stuck, and had been for a long time. I was stuck in the same thought patterns I had been in, and I was acting the way I always had. I felt that the world was moving along at a quick pace, and I was stuck in the same position I had always been in. I feared it would always be that way.

I lost sight of who I wanted to be, and the things I wanted to do. I let myself fall into a pattern of always bending into whatever shape the people around me thought I needed to be in. Always doing the same things, acting the same way. I wasn't allowing myself to be myself. I was allowing the world to go on without me. But no more.

I don't usually make a list of New Year's resolutions, but this year I have. I know what I need to do now. I need to allow myself to be who I am without fear of being considered less than anyone else.

This is my list of the things I'll be doing in the coming year to embrace who I am.

1. Read at least one hundred books. I've fallen out of reading the last couple of years, but with the help of a couple of different challenges I hope to change that.
2. Get my business up and running. It's been a long time coming.
3. Learn to draw well enough to be accepted to, and hopefully receive a large scholarship from, a good art school.
4. Write the first drafts of three or four novels, and complete revisions on at least two of them.
5. Do something writing-related every single day.
6. Exercise often. I hope to begin taking dance lessons this year, and I need to build up my stamina.
7. Learn to read and speak Hebrew. I've been wanting to learn for the last couple of years, but never got much farther than a few basic words.
8. Become as neat and tidy as possible. I am a naturally messy person. I at least need to organize my mess. I'll settle for that.