I hadn’t realized it had been over a year since I last wrote a blog post, but here we are. A lot has changed since my last update!

Global pandemic, new job, and oh yeah… I had a baby.

This is Maximus, and he’s a month old today!

I’m feeling sort of too exhausted to actually write anything meaningful in this blog post (parenthood is wild, folks) but the point of posting at all was to share his birth story, which I spent the first couple of weeks postpartum working on in my fleeting moments of “spare time”. And of course to celebrate his 1 month birthday.

We’ve kept you alive a whole month, kid! That’s worth patting ourselves on the back about!

I’ve decided to try sharing my writing on Medium for the first time, so if you’re interested in hearing about the circumstances surrounding this kiddo’s birth, feel free to go check it out.

I’m still living in a state of constant amazement at how much this tiny person has flipped our lives upside down. Joe and I are both on parental leave right now, and good thing: it feels like we have time for absolutely nothing else! It’s a good thing Max is so adorable. It sure makes the fifteenth diaper change in a day a lot more manageable.

I’m sure I will be sharing a lot more about the rollercoaster that is motherhood in the coming weeks/months/years, but for now I just wanted to check in, make sure people know I’m still alive, share this cute picture of my son, and share the birth story. I’m already glad I wrote it down as details are starting to get fuzzy, and sometimes I genuinely don’t believe it all happened to me at all. Are you sure I didn’t just pick Max up from the baby store?

Hope everyone is doing well, staying sane in the pandemic, and getting ready for NaNoWriMo! It’s only 2 months away, folks!

Now I’m going to go take a nap.

It’s one of my favorite times of year again! And this time, despite a precarious schedule and some potential work travel, I am very set on winning.

The Reading Rush (July 22-28) is the shiny new evolution of BookTubeAThon, the reading challenge I hold near and dear to my heart. BookTubeAThon, way back in 2014, was the catalyst that threw me headfirst into BookTube.

And that year was a dream.

After that, I’m pretty sure I failed year after year after year, but I had fun doing it. And truly, nothing will ever compare to that first year, when I read the entirety of The Selection by Kiera Cass in three days. What a time to be alive.

Anyway, there’s not much different for me this year, save for the massive rebrand the readathon hosts have undergone — that and my dogged determination to get back to my former seven-books-in-seven-days glory.

So here’s to the first year of The Reading Rush! Get yourself to the fancy new website where you can track your progress and earn shiny badges and whatnot. Exciting stuff, man. As a note, I’ll be hosting the Twitter sprints Thursday the 25th from 7-8pm. For those of you who’ve been around for previous BookTubeAThons, you know what that means…. *devious face*

Here’s my TBR and the challenges [two audiobooks not pictured]! May your days be filled with wonderful words and comfortable reading spots.

1. In The Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce (purple on the cover)
2. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (Book to Movie Adaptation)
3. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (meant to read last year)
4. My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life by Rachel Cohn (over 5 words in title)
5. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (an author’s first book)
6. The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson (Same Spot the Whole Time)
7. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Non-Human Main Character)

Are you doing The Reading Rush? What are you reading?

I have exciting news!

For YEARS I have been intrigued by the podcasting world. Not only does it remove the need to do your hair and dress cute while making content (clearly making it the superior medium) but also, I love how… intimate it is. When you listen to a podcast, the hosts are speaking directly to you, whispering in your ears, often the only company you’ve got during a car ride or long run. And while the listenership is growing all the time, it’s still got that “newer community” vibe, like it hasn’t quite reached your aunt in Mississippi who still has dial-up, like Facebook and YouTube have.

Maybe it’s just that I’m exhausted of YouTube. Maybe I just need something new to sink my teeth into. But either way, I’ve wanted to make a podcast for a long time.

It just doesn’t seem quite as simple as slapping together a YouTube video and tossing it online to see what happens. A podcast needs a concept. It needs to be a show. It needs intro music and cover art and costs actual hosting fees.

I needed an idea good enough to justify jumping in.

But finally, finally it came to me. Not just the idea for my very first podcast, but a way to bridge the gap between a couple of things missing in my life:

• A new medium to create content in to share with the people (hopefully!) waiting for me to finally ‘make stuff’ again.
• A way to replace the writing pep talk videos I used to put on YouTube.
• And a way to continue supporting my favorite thing in the entire world, NaNoWriMo.

So, here is How To Win NaNo: A Writing Podcast. My friend Liz and I will be creating weekly episodes starting in August, though the trailer is up already if you want to give it a listen. It’s available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and a few others, and I honestly couldn’t be more excited for this new endeavor.

The idea is that listening to this podcast in real-time will help you get as prepared as possible for the NaNoWriMo challenge in November. Liz and I will be talking through all sorts of tricks and tips we’ve learned over the shares, sharing advice and stories and giving a peek behind the curtain at our own progress. The first season of this podcast will run clear through the end of the year, giving writers a solid ramp up to NaNoWriMo, support throughout the harried month, and a ramp down in December as they start to ask themselves “what’s next?”

You can follow us on Twitter for more news and updates, or send us ideas for things you’d like to hear us discuss on the show!

Hello all! As we dive into the heart of summer, I figure it’s time for a bit of an update on how I’m spending my time these days! Who is the enigma that used to be “Kristina Horner, Chief of the Unicorn Warriors”? The more time passes, the less I feel the need to project my life onto the Internet, so forgive me for extreme periods of quiet in between updates. If I’m being honest, the bulk of my time has been spent working at Mixer, writing a book and doing yardwork. But here are some recent standout experiences you might be interested in.

Cool experiences I’ve had:

As I’m sure is no secret, I love things like escape rooms and immersive theater. Most recently, I had the good fortune of getting to try out an experience called The Confidence Game put on by Cat & Canary. It was unlike anything I’ve ever done before, sort of a blend of an escape room and live immersive theater. Joe and I called up our friends Tara and Alexander — because when it comes to both experimental theater and breaking the law, they’re the first people we’d go to.

The Confidence Game puts you at the heart of the story. The experience happens in real bars, parks and hotels in the city, where you meet up with a hustler who enlists you to take part in a tricky diamond heist. From there you’re expected to negotiate, pickpocket and straight up lie your way through the story, interacting with talented actors who will make you remember why you aren’t a criminal in real life. That shit’s scary, man.

I’m gonna be honest, parts of this were terrifying for me. Not terrifying in the “I fear my life is in danger” way, but in the “my friends are really good at improv and I’m better with a paper and pen and time to think” kind of way. However, when we had to split up into the “thieves” and the “hustlers”, I of course was nominated for the negotiating team. I would probably have made a better pick-pocket in hindsight, but I like to challenge myself, so Alexander and I set out to negotiate “no less than $50,000” for the diamonds with an actor, while Tara and Joe got to do the sneaking around.

My favorite part of the night was when Alexander and I were intercepted by the Feds (another actor), who tried very hard to get us to sell out the guy who put us up to the job. I think my “acting” skills really shone here, when my only response was to keep asking Alexander where the cameras were, as I was “sure we were being punk’d on our anniversary night out”. We told the guy we were just two country folk in town to celebrate, and had no idea what he was talking about.

Overall we had an amazing time, got to live out some criminal fantasies and ultimately played through the experience in the manner that involved none of our party ending up being ‘arrested’. All things considered, a pretty successful night. While this experience was part of a soft launch for the company, they should be bringing it back a bit later in the year, so keep an eye out! Cat & Canary also create custom experiences for special events, so if you can convince your work team to do something like this, or want to plan an epic surprise party… keep them in mind!

Games I’ve been playing:

Well, obviously…. Wizards Unite. I’m a Professor, and loving the experience of playing in the wizarding world like it’s my real world. But despite all the cool new features, and the fact that a bunch of my friends are finally interested in playing an expansive AR app game, it just doesn’t compare to my one-true-love, Pokémon Go. I’m still deep in that game, because — obviously — I need to be the very best.

I also recently played Scythe for the first time, then played two more games shortly after. I really do like crunchy euro-style games, but sometimes I look at a table like this and I’m like… yeah. Maybe I’ll do something else today.

But I powered through the learning process with this one, and I’m so glad I did! So far I’ve played three different factions and had varying success with each of them, and have plans to start the campaign version soon.

Homeowner things I’ve learned:

Homeownership is an adventure, guys. It’s something new every day, I’m finding. Here are the things I’ve learned just since moving in in April. It’s hard work but I am having a blast and I can’t wait to keep learning forever.

• How to install drywall screw anchors, an electric drill, impact driver, hedge trimmers, a weed whacker, lawn mower and our new grill
• How to identify way more plants than I used to be able to, and also how to weed/trim/prune a lot of them (and which ones are weeds)
• How to grow tomatoes, mint, rosemary, strawberries, blueberries and cucumbers (sort of, there’s a lot of guesswork here but nothing has died yet)
• That there are all sorts of amazing products that make life easier like simple hose attachment switchers, table cloth clips, hose water timers, and all sorts of other magical things I have yet to buy at the hardware store (I love finding solutions to problems I didn’t even know I would have! People are brilliant!)

Projects I’ve been working on:

The biggest project is my book. I’m STILL working on my Renaissance Faire book, but I am really hoping this current draft is the last one. Fingers crossed, y’all. That said, I won’t have anything to share for a hot minute, but I hope I can start pitching it to agents…. sometime soon.

I’ve also kept this mostly under wraps for now, but I am working with my friend Liz Leo on podcast that we should be launching very soon. I believe we’re aiming for the start of August for a go-live date, so keep an eye out. Signing up for my mailing list or just following my social channels are the best way to keep up to date with any exciting news like new podcasts.

I’m also doing a wardrobe challenge right now on Instagram called #wearitalljuly, where you must wear through your entire wardrobe before you can do any repeats. This is part of an effort I am doing to minimize how many clothes I have, so wish me luck and follow along!

That’s it for me, folks! Feel free to send encouraging words about the writing process, or just say hello on Instagram and Twitter! Until next time… stay motivated, and stay cute.

In early 2018, I discovered something online… something so immensely up my alley I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of it yet. It was called “Indie Bookstore Day” (which in itself was such a lovely idea) — but that wasn’t even all. On top of a day meant to visit and celebrate all of the wonderful independent bookstores in your region, Seattle had something that took it to another level. Something that took it to a very… Kristina-level.

Here in Seattle, there’s something called the “Indie Bookstore Challenge”, which is a quest to visit all of the independent bookstores (during their hours of operation!) in a single day. This sounds all well and good, until I remind you that there are 21 participating bookstores in this particular challenge. And some require a ferry to get too.

Indie Bookstore Day sits at the cross-section of all the things I love: it’s about books, it’s about patronizing stores that really do need our help, and most importantly: it’s about doing something that sounds slightly crazy, something that other people might say is “too hard”.

So back to 2018. If this was something I discovered a whole year ago, why is this blog post only coming out now? Well, the truth is, I discovered this amazing challenge last year… and then discovered that it fell less than a week before my wedding. So believe me… I considered it. But it just wasn’t in the cards.

I put a note in my calendar for 2019 and waited patiently the entire year. When Indie Bookstore Day finally rolled around again, I grabbed my most dedicated friends (or the ones I’m just the best at convincing to do things, you choose) and set out to make this dream come true in 2019.

It takes a village to successfully visit 21 bookstores in one day. Here’s how we made it happen, via roles:

Me, Kristina Horner: General cheerleader and social media documentarian. I orchestrated getting photos of us taken at every store, kept track of whose turn it was to buy something at any given store, logged what was purchased, and engaged with bookstores and other participants on Twitter and Instagram. Typically could be heard saying things like “Excuse me, can you take a photo for us?” and “Oh crap, I completely forgot about Twitter for like four bookstores.”

Katrina Hamilton: Navigator and schedule mistress. Katrina built the spreadsheet and itinerary that set us up for success and kept us to it throughout the day. Was often the one to say things like, “Hurry and pick something, we have 2 more minutes here,” and “Guys we did not schedule in this trip to Dick’s Drive in.”

Liz Leo: Travel agent and resident DJ. Liz booked our hotel in Bainbridge Island the night before so we could start the day on the right side of the ferry, and curated an epic girl-power playlist for the car. Liz’s signature quotes were things like “Wait this is the best song,” and “No wait, this is the best song.”

Jenn Godwin: Snack mom and moral booster. Jenn provided the necessity that was car snacks, and generally remembered to ask us all if we were doing okay, which is a very important role in a group very driven book-nerds. Jenn could most often be heard saying things like “Anyone need some licorice?” and “Wait who’s turn is it to sit in front?” 

Abbey Jacobsen: Gettaway car driver. As the girl in our group with the best car (no contest, she has a Tesla), Abbey provided the mode of transportation for our adventure. She had the most important job, which was making sure that not only did we accomplish this amazing goal, but that we did it in style. Abbey’s catchphrases for the day was “go on ahead, I’ll find parking” and “did you know the Tesla could do this?”

There are a few ways to achieve Indie Bookstore Day glory, and if you search online, there are a number of wonderful blogs out there that walk you through each blogger’s personal execution of the day. I’ll let my pal Katrina explain to you the extreme methodology we exercised, because that’s much more her domain. The important thing to know for this blog post is that you need to have specific goals when attempting this challenge.

Here were ours:

Goal 1: Spend a reasonable amount of time in each bookstore.

Goal 2: Between the five of us, purchase something at every store.

Goal 3: Enjoy the day.

Here are some crucial things we learned:

1. Social Media Takes Time: The day goes by fast. I had all sort of grand plans to keep Twitter and Instagram updated throughout the day, and journal about the experience in real-time, and keep up a dialogue with other folks on social media that were doing the same thing. This fell apart pretty quickly. In the end I gave up on my epic documentation dreams and focused on one social media account (I posted a pic from each store on Instagram). This allowed me to feel secure in capturing the day, but also take a moment to enjoy myself, as well.

2. Pace yourself: It’s incredible how much energy it takes to be constantly moving all day. No one in our car considered this ahead of time, but there’s something incredibly overwhelming about never staying in one spot for more than a few minutes, and doing this for hours on end. On top of that, we started the day on such a high that we all got excited and started buying this immediately — some of the later bookstores were a bit more of a stretch to find something to purchase, since we’d all spent a lot of money already. It was overall a lot more exhausting than we expected. 

3. Eating out of the trunk of a car sucks: It was wonderful to have car snacks when we needed them, but we realized we didn’t schedule in an actual sit-down lunch. I think we all would have benefitted from a bit of a break, even if it was short. If we do this again, we’ll definitely need to budget this into the day.

4. Even very good friends might get cranky: This one speaks for itself. The Indie Bookstore Challenge is an intense day. You’re often confined in close quarters while driving from place to place. Always assume best intent, and be a little extra kind to each other.

5. Book people are the best people: Despite living in a large city with many bookstores, the books community is small. We were often on a different route than most people, but we ran into the same people over and over again through the day, regardless. This is one of the best parts! Everyone was so happy and excited, and the bookstore employees in particular were a delight. This alone makes the day worth it. 

6. You very rarely regret purchases you make at bookstores: I will caveat this one, of course, with the reminder that only you know your own personal finance situation, and should go into the day with some kind of budget… but we were often making snap decisions on what to buy, fueled wholly by adrenaline. And when I got home and looked at my little haul, I was still so pleased. Buying things at indie bookstores is the best.

If you’re curious, I thought I would make a list of every bookstore we visited personally and the things we purchased there (for reference, there are a couple bookstore chains that allow you to pick one and have it count for all of them). Being that we never spent more than 20 minutes in a single bookstore, this was the epitome of impulse shopping, but as stated above… it’s hard to regret a purchase you made at a place as delightful as a local indie bookstore, especially when you know that money goes directly toward keeping these places in business. 

1. Eagle Harbor Book Co. — “Read Wild” tote bag (Jenn)

2. The Traveler — Insect repelling scarves (Kristina, Jenn), Travel Writer (Katrina), Collapsible water bottle (Liz), Travel guide to Nice (Abbey)

3. Liberty Bay Books — Font/Letter themed tote bag (Liz), The Grave Keepers — free ARC (Kristina)

4. Edmonds Bookshop — Ordinary Magic and a blind book (Liz)

5. The Neverending Bookshop — Tea Rex (Kristina), Harry Potter 2 & 3 Illustrated Editions (Abbey), The Antidote (Jenn), Voodoo Killings – won (Liz)

6. Open Books — A Poem Emporium and American Journal (Katrina)

7. Book Larder — Rhubarb Cookbook (Kristina), How to Be Gluten Free and Keep Your Friends (Abbey)

8. Magnolia’s Bookstore — Digital Minimalism and a blind book (Katrina)

9. Arundel — Dead Feminists (Jenn)

10. Fantagraphics — Grab Back Comics anthology (Jenn)

11. Page 2 Books — Eleanor Oliphant (Kristina), Architecture for Dogs (Abbey)

12. Island Books — No One Here is Lonely (Kristina), Koala plush (Abbey), Mysterious Mansion (Liz)

13. Brick & Mortar — The Vanishing Stair (Katrina)

14. Book Tree — Little Nothing (Jenn)

15. Secret Garden Books — Women Talking (Katrina)

16. Queen Anne Book Company — “Choose Kindness” mug (Jenn), I Love You Mommy (Liz)

17. University Bookstore — My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life (Kristina)

18. Third Place Books: Ravenna — I’m A Lot Cooler on the Internet mug (Kristina), Housegirl and a card (Jenn)

19. Madison Books — Oregon Trail Choose Your Own Adventure (Jenn), Future Cities (Liz)

20. Ada’s Technical Books — Very tiny Moleskin (Katrina)

21. Elliot Bay Book Co. — A journal (Liz)

Overall, Indie Bookstore Day was worth the wait. I’m not sure I mentioned this before, but winners get a 25% coupon for every single bookstore, and it’s good the whole year long — but that’s not why we did it (though that coupon is definitely nestled happily in my wallet now). We did it for fun, for the community, and for glory.

If you’re interested in checking this awesome event out yourself, be sure to read up on the official website, and check out my friend Katrina’s post for the logistical side of our day. Everyone’s Indie Bookstore Day is a little different, but there’s no wrong way to celebrate the book community and thank our local bookstores for being there for us. The general consensus in our car was that folks weren’t sure they wanted to do this every year, but I think I’ve got plenty of time to start convincing them to join me again next year.

What a year, man.

Since the wedding, and my incredible trip to Japan, and being laid off, and a record-breaking NaNoWriMo, and getting a new job, and taking on a freelance writing project, and buying a house, and moving… I’m honestly not sure I’ve taken a breath the whole year!

Now that we’re in our new place and I’m just sitting here on the bed, thinking about the future and what’s next… I’m not even sure what to do with myself. Hence, a blog post. It’s always good to be a little introspective when you’re not sure what you used to spend your time doing, am I right? What do I do with my hands?!?

So, let’s recap.

First things first. I’ve been at Mixer for 5 months now! I kind of can’t believe how fast the time has gone. I’m learning a ton, and it’s particularly fun to immerse myself in the streaming world, since my own background is so YouTube focused.

This job has afforded me the ability to travel to PAX South and East already, which has been a really great opportunity to get back in the convention scene. I’ve even run into a number of people who used to watch my videos while at these events — which was a funny experience for my coworkers to witness. One girl came up and told me that my videos meant a lot to her when she was younger (^_^) while I was talking with one of my Mixer partners — after the girl left he turned to me, eyes wide, and asked, “Who are you?”

*wink* Just your friendly Microsoft Partner Account Manager!

Beyond work, so much of my time since January has been spent on buying a house. Joe and I have known for a long time that it was something we were interested in doing, and there’s something about being married yet still living in the rental you’ve shared with so many roommates that just… doesn’t feel like you’ve fully taken that next step. So we started searching in earnest right after the holidays, and thankfully the whole process only took a couple of months! Moving is always a bit of a nightmare, but we’ve successfully landed on the other side, and we’re so thankful.

Now the fun part: decorating!

Now I’m just excited to figure out what’s next! We don’t have any MASSIVE plans coming up on the horizon, so for now… I’m excited to put my feet up, pick out a new couch, and figure out what to do with the fact that I now own a backyard. Am I now a person who can grow actual food out of the ground? Can I buy a slide ‘n slide? Do I have to learn how to mow the lawn?

In my very immediate future, I have the following fun things to look forward to (and hopefully write about!):

• This Saturday, April 27th, is Indie Bookstore Day! That means that a group of friends and I will be taking the indie bookstore challenge, which includes visiting 21 unique bookstores in a single day. I am so pumped, and there will be a blog post chronicling our adventure.
• Next Wednesday Joe and I are packing our bags and taking a long weekend to go to Iceland! This is a place I have always wanted to go, and we’ll be spending our first wedding anniversary there!
• I’ve got two camping trips, two weddings and hopefully a writing retreat planned already for the upcoming months. But I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a chill summer.

That’s all for now! I just wanted to get back in the swing of things, since part of moving for me is going to be centered around building some new/better habits. I’m really trying to set my new spaces up in ways that are positive and productive, and I’m excited to keep you all involved along the way.

Until next time!

Something about me that’s always been true is that I am, without a doubt, a dreamer. I’m always thinking ahead to the future, making plans, setting goals, and feeling more inspired than I have time to be. I’ve got an extensive bucket list I’m always adding to, I’m always juggling about three too many project ideas, and there never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything. That’s why, now that I am in my thirties, I decided to take a step back and make myself a nice little top-ten list of the most important things I want to accomplish in this life time. That way, next time I am feeling overwhelmed, I can use this as the razor by which I evaluate how I am spending my time. Does what I am doing bubble up into one of these buckets?

I’m always looking for good ways to really focus in on what’s important to me, because time is our biggest non-renewable resource. So here’s where I’m at, in terms of what I want to do with this one glorious life I have:

1. Publish a book (the traditional way!)

This is always the top of every list for me. It’s something I totally have within my power to make a priority, but it’s one that gets pushed down by other things that might feel more immediate, more flashy, or just plain easier. I need to buckle down and just get something ready enough to go for it. You only get one debut novel, yes — but after that, I feel like the biggest obstacle is taken care of. There’s something scary about “your first book”. I want to conquer this fear to pave the way for my second, third, and twenty-fourth book.

2. Celebrate a 50^th wedding anniversary 

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here, since we haven’t even celebrated our first wedding anniversary — but this is something that matters a lot to me. I want to make my marriage a priority and work on it every single day, and never take it for granted. I want to be in love for a very, very long time. I want to be adorable little wrinkly old people who know each other better than anyone else in the world. I want to have one big massive joint 80^th birthday and 50^th wedding anniversary party because all three will happen within 6 months of each other. I just know we’ll get there.

3. Give birth to a child

I’m not making any strong goals about number of children or anything like that — I just want to make sure I experience natural birth at least once in my life. I’ll be honest, the whole idea is a little terrifying to me, but I am fascinated by the idea that my body was built with the ability to make the choice to do this. That my body already knows how to do this. The fact that I could make a little human is incredible, and I’m starting to feel it in my bones that I’m meant to do so. I’m not quite ready… but someday. 

4. Visit all seven continents

I just feel like this planet is too beautiful not to try to see as much of it as I possibly can. So far I’ve been to Europe and Asia on top of the obvious North America. Hoping to go to Australia later this year, but that leaves Africa and South America. And I’m not ruling out Antarctica. There’s a cruise that leaves from Ushuaia, Argentina (the southernmost city in the world) and takes you up close and personal with some penguins. Someday, I’m going to be on it. I’ve also never gotten over that time I got second place in a contest to win a trip to Antarctica, so amends must be made.

5. Live somewhere else for at least a year

Sometimes I lament the fact that I grew up in what I fiercely believe is the best city, because I never saw myself as a person who would live in the same place all her life. I guess I moved from the suburbs to the city when I turned 20, but ultimately that wasn’t really a paradigm-shifting move. I love Seattle. I love how liberal it is. I love how tech-driven and nerdy it is. I love how much there is to do, how many of my friends live here, and how green it is. I love that we care about recycling, and not using plastic shopping bags, and how temperate the weather is most days. I want to raise my family here. Because of all of this, I would love the chance to live somewhere else — just for a little while — to have a completely different experience.

6. Start my own business

For four years I was a freelancer, and I made plenty of money — but that felt like “getting by”. What I’m talking about is dreaming up a concept, putting together my business plan, and launching something. I have a lot of different ideas swimming around in my head, and someday I just have to take the leap. I haven’t had a lot of extra time or funds lately for an extensive side-hustle (particularly while planning a wedding and then searching for a new job), but once I get a bit more settled at my new job, some of these back burner ideas might get more love. I just want to keep making things. 

7. Own a home

This is something that I’ve been thinking a lot more about, especially as Seattle has taken its spot as the third most expensive city (in the US) to own a home in. It beat out New York City and Los Angeles, which… I’m going to be honest, sometimes keeps me awake at night. Anyway — despite all that — I still wanna do it! I want to feel like a little plot of land in this big wide world is mine. I want to paint walls without asking for permission. I want to live through a messy remodel. I want to have a tiny little garden, and have to learn how to unclog a drain, and have a place to put a couple boxes of Christmas decorations. I want a place my future kids will be excited to come home to when they’re grown up because they have so many fond memories of the place. I want a place that really feels like “home”, because we made it that way.

8. Voice a character in an animated show or radio drama

Okay this is the only thing on the list that’s a little silly, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I have dreams of being cast in a cartoon web show, or some sort of radio drama, or just writing and performing my own narrative podcast. I’ve done a good amount of acting, and plenty of singing — but I’ve never just straight up done voice acting. I’d love to help bring a character to life. It just sounds fun. It’s my one frivolous selfish goal on this list and I just think about it all the time. 

9. Create something wild just because I want to

This is a bit vague, and possibly could be tied in with many of the goals above (#6 and #8 in particular) but someday I just want to invest in something outrageous just because I can. I’m talking like rent a summer camp and make it a writing retreat space for adults. Buy a house and turn it into an Airbnb that looks like Hogwarts. Turn a whole wall of my house into a 1:12 scale dollhouse and fill it with miniatures. Put on some kind of crazy performance in an abandoned space and sell tickets. Fill my yard with rubber ducks. I don’t know, man. I want to be like that guy in Seattle who turned his house into Diagon Alley for a few months and then let people come look at it. I can’t afford to do any of this stuff now, but someday. Someday I want to make something really outrageous just because it sounds fun.

10. Live a life without regrets

This one is obviously a bit more conceptual, but I’m really hoping the end result of #1-9 in this list is that I ultimately achieve #10. I am a person prone to stress and anxiety. I want to do a lot of things. I cannot do all the things. So my biggest goal is to be intentional about how I spend my time, to create things that matter, to love deeply, and to share my life with people who make it richer and vice versa. I want to look back on my life and know I spent my time in ways that bettered the world, or fulfilled me personally, or at least made other people smile. I want to learn to be happy about the things I choose, instead of always wishing there was more time for “something else”. 

So that’s my list! My thirties have already held some of the biggest adventures of my life yet, and I’m so excited to try to tackle more things on this list. Which of my goals are yours as well? What other life goals do you have for yourself? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! 

The closer we got to the end of 2018, the more I felt that nagging desire to write some kind of “end of year blog post”. And yet every time I sat down to do it, I just… couldn’t. This past year was big. It was hugely transition in many ways, from gliding into my thirties, hitting many large positive and negative life milestones, and altogether having a sense that I’ve been doing the same things far too long and needing to take on new things.

While on the surface I’ve very much adjusted to living a life without YouTube in it, there’s still a huge part of me that is recovering from that lifestyle, and still grasping to find ways to fully fill the holes it left. It’s easy to keep doing things because you’ve done them for a long time. It’s brave to stop doing things when you realize they aren’t adding value to your life anymore. It’s scary and hard to figure out what to replace them with.

But every day is a new opportunity to reinvent yourself, and there’s no deadline. 2018 threw me some serious curveballs, but I like the direction my life has taken, and I want to keep exploring what else there is out there for me. So I’m going to spend some time looking back on this past year, and then think a little bit about my plans for 2019. As always, I thank you for joining me for any of it,

2018. We didn’t always get along, but boy were you an important year: 

• Got married to my best friend on May 4th. 
• Completed a lifelong goal of visiting Japan, on our honeymoon. 
• Learned to snorkel in Hawaii!
• Came home from my honeymoon to find out things were not going well at work. 
• Became the casualty of a company-wide reorg and lost the job I loved. 
• Got laid off for the first time ever. 
• Spent many months job searching and interviewing for so many jobs that I genuinely lost count (probably at least twenty).
• Went on many amazing trips like Disneyland, NYC, and San Francisco with friends, and a solo Chicago trip for work. 
• Took my spontaneous road trip to North Dakota while being unemployed and got to spend some quality time with relatives. 
• Finally started my book inspired by North Dakota, which became my 13th NaNoWriMo win.
• Also spent most of the year working on another book project that’s pretty close to what I’d call a “first draft”. This will be my first non-NaNoWriMo draft of a book.
• Taught myself all sorts of random new skills while being unemployed since I can’t sit still, like: sewing a quilt, embroidery, building miniature things and some minimal baking. 
• Finally got a new job at Microsoft, and started my exciting new role with the Mixer team as a Partner Account Manager in November. 
• Read 30 books, which is actually quite low for me, but a number I felt good about for wedding year. 
• Realized that with my new job and new marriage and fun hobbies and great friends I am genuinely just so happy, and cannot wait to see what this next year will bring. 

The start of the year was a whirlwind. I loved our wedding, but I hated what planning it did to me. I’m already prone to anxiety and stress, but the months leading up to the wedding were on another level. Frankly, I’m not sure I would do it all over again if I had to. But the wedding day itself… was truly magical. Seeing the joy on the faces of our friends and family really did help to make up for it, and people are still telling me it was the coolest wedding they’ve ever been to… so I suppose all the work was worth it. I’ve already blogged extensively about this, but it’s obviously the biggest pinnacle of 2018 and I am loving married life so, so much. 

I’m not so interested in new year’s resolutions, because I’m already big on habit tracking and basically set myself resolutions all the time… but here are the high level things I want to focus on next year. My values, if you will. 

1. Self-care, and setting myself up for success. By this mean I learning more about myself in terms of what food my body likes, how much water it wants, and getting in better shape, as well as being more mindful and intentional about how I spend my time. 

2. Investing time into the projects that mean a lot to me. Writing. Crafting. Cooking. Mostly writing. I’ve got a project I’m currently working on that I’d like to have in your hands by the end of the year, but we’ll see. I guess my intention for this year is to work harder on writing than ever before, and start to share it, in some form.

3. Travel! This one is a little tough because losing my job and starting over made me zero out on vacation days, but as I slowly start to accrue them again, Joe and I want to do so much traveling. We’re starting to think about larger life steps, so before we dive head-first into that stuff, we want to make sure we’re doing all the things that are so much easier with kids, a house payment, etc.

That’s it! I am in a really good head space going into 2019, I’m happy, I have a wonderful support group in terms of friends and family, my job is new and exciting and challenging, and I am deeply passionate about so many projects I’m working on. The biggest challenge, honestly, is focusing in on a couple things so I can actually do them justice. That’s always been the toughest thing for me because I always want to do EVERYTHING.

So 2019 will hopefully be the year that I do SOME things, and do them well.

Thanks for all your kind words, tweets, emails, instagram comments, etc. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear from you, especially when I’m not “creating content” regularly. I promise I am making things… it’s just on projects that take much longer, and stay much closer to the chest in the mean time.

Happy New Year! This will be a year of positive, intentional change, and I’m already loving it.

I’m going to be honest… I actually forgot that I set specific reading goals this year. It’s one of those things that was BW…. Before Wedding. Some of those things are a bit hazy these days, lol.

Anyhow, I was reminded of my goals, and so I have dug them up so that I can check in on my progress. There’s just a little over two months left in the year, so I think hitting most of them is still pretty reasonable at this point.

Below is my progress, with the bold ones being the ones that are incomplete.

1. Read at least 3 books in the category of “you should have read this by now” whether it’s a classic or been on your shelf too long
   • Vicious by V.E. Schwab
   • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
2. Read at least 3 books about people who are very different from yourself
   • The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee
   • Far From the Tree by Robin Benway
   • If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodsen
3. Read at least 8 actual physical books
   • My Boyfriend is a Bear
   • If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
   • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
   • Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
   • Midnight at the Electric
   • City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
   • An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
   • The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
4. Finish reading The Book Thief
5. Read The Name of the Wind
6. Read a book that’s over 500 pages
   • Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (504 pages)
7. Quit a book before you’ve finished (or at least skim the rest)
   • Black Beauty by Anna Sewell — this is the second time I have tried to read this book, and I just can’t do it. I can’t get past the fact that it’s from the POV of a horse. I know it’s a classic and was written in the 1800’s. I’m sorry.
8. Get rid of a book immediately after reading it
   • Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters (did not like this book at all)
9. Read a book immediately after acquiring it or hearing about it (before it even makes it to the shelf or TBR)
   • Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Bought this book at the Strand when I was in NYC and read it immediately, loved it)
10. Read a book you think might make you a better person
    • How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t by Andrea Owen
11. Read a book of short stories
12. Read a book with a cover that bothers you
    • Save the Date by Morgan Matson
13. Get rid of a book without reading it
    • (I have definitely done this already this year, but I want it to be intentional, so I still need to pick one.)
14. Get at least 2 books behind or ahead of schedule at some point in the year
    • Definitely have been 2 books behind at multiple points. Only 1 book behind now, though!
15. Decide not to do one of the challenges on this list
    • The Name of the Wind might be waiting until 2019…

I’ve read 23/30 books I set out to read on Goodreads, putting me 77% of the way through that goal as well. November is a bit of a tough month for reading, sine so much of my time will be spent writing my NaNoWriMo novel and finding creative ways to procrastinate writing my NaNoWriMo novel… hey! Maybe I will do some reading that month!

Being unemployed for awhile has been an interesting journey and it’s definitely given me a bit more time for reading, as well as for other things I tend to have much less time for with a 9-5 job. I think I’ll be writing an entire blog post about this experience soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Wish me luck! If all else fails, I will consider the year a win if I at least finish reading The dang Book Thief.

On May 29th, I came back to work after taking nearly a month off for my wedding and honeymoon. I was feeling refreshed and excited, ready to get back to my routines, ready to take on my next project. That day, however, I found out things had not been going exactly as planned at work. I found out that most of my coworkers had been living in an unnerving sort of unknown for weeks, due to hallway talk and things said in hushed voices.

On May 30th, an email came out letting us know our org was being dissolved effective immediately, and while no one was losing their job that day, there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered.

On July 9th, after a month of not knowing what was going to happen, my team was laid off – along with a whole bunch of other people we worked with.

A lot of layoffs at Microsoft are interesting because they don’t happen immediately. Though I got the news of the layoff on July 9th, my last day wasn’t set until September 7th. This is because they give you time and resources to look for a new job within the company, hoping you’ll stay. I’m thankful for that time, but what this did was create a very stressful summer, in which I felt a ticking clock constantly echoing in my ears, reminding me how many days I had left to find a new job, how many days until I would be let go for good, how I wasn’t working hard enough or applying for enough jobs or scheduling enough informational meetings.

All I wanted was to leave the stress of wedding planning behind and start the next chapter of my life on a healthy and happy foot, and yet, instead, I stepped into a new pit of stress and anxiety, worrying that if I couldn’t find another role in the allocated 60 day time period, then I must not be good enough.

Well guess what. I didn’t find a new job in the allotted 60 day period.

September 7th was my last day at Microsoft, which honestly felt pretty bad. I loved my job. I loved my team. I loved the work we were doing, and the culture our org cultivated, and I honestly loved being a Microsoftie. I loved the campus. The farmer’s market. The ham and swiss and granny smith apple sandwich I ordered way too often. I didn’t want to leave. I worked hard there for four years, I stopped making YouTube videos, and I leaned into being a ‘career person’.

And then as quickly as it began, it was over. And I’ve learned an important lesson in not counting on anything as a sure thing, not believing anything might be ‘forever’ – and it’s not a fun lesson to learn, nor is it a very optimistic way to approach life. As quickly as I have learned this lesson, I’m trying to figure out how to unlearn it.

Now it’s almost been a month, and I’m in a slightly better place with this whole situation. I finally feel like I have time again, now that the “60 day pressure” is off. I’m still working on finding a new job every day, but I’ve also given myself some room to breathe. Your job isn’t your only defining feature. It does not dictate your value or your worth. I’ve been taking a cycling class. I’ve been teaching myself new crafting skills. I’ve been writing and catching up on shows I never have time to watch and playing Pokémon Go again and cooking, and I’ve gone on a couple of little trips.

I’m going to find a job. I know I have an impressive resume and useful skills, and soon enough I’ll be back at a desk, back to my commute, back to the routine. For now, I’m trying to appreciate this time, and see it as a gift. How often do you get a few months off? How often can you decide to teach yourself embroidery just because you have some time? How often can you schedule appointments during business hours and go for a walk at noon and actually make it to bars in time for happy hour?

Don’t get me wrong – I definitely look in the mirror some days and ask myself, “why haven’t you gotten a job yet? Why did the other people in your predicament find something right away while you’re still floundering?”

But that kind of thinking isn’t helping me. All I can do is keep being brave, keep putting myself out there, and use the time as best I can. No one will be able to look back on my unemployment period and say I wasn’t living it to its fullest.

Now excuse me, I’m going to go learn how to make glow-in-the-dark slime.