// 2016: A Summary //

Hello, my friends.
This is the post in which I re-visit all the best highlights of 2016. 
I am blessed to say that 2016 (in spite of the stress involving Nov. 4th) was a fantastic year for me. It was by far one of my most happy and productive years of my life so far (and I've only lived 18...).
It's the beginning of my illustrious career as an adult.
I saw things and did things that I have never done before.

I imagine this will be a long post, so I better get going.

APRIL:

I met my first famous person! That would be Markus Zusak, author of the Book Thief. :) He talked with us and told jokes and said "hi" to everyone (wow just like a real human) and then he signed all of our books! It was a pretty great experience, because I've never actually been to an author event before. Here's a post I wrote on my experience.

MAY:

I (FINALLY) graduated from ye old High School. How does it feel being graduated, you ask? Let's just say I miss school, but I also DON'T miss school... at all. And I don't like all the expectations that come with being 18-going-on-19. I mean, chill people. If I don't want to go to college right away (or even at all), that doesn't mean my life won't be a success, or whatever. Don't you watch Blimey Cow?

JUNE:

I spent two whole weeks away from home when I went to camp. We learned to teach Bible Clubs to little kids. I met some great (and not so great) people, and I feel like the experience really broadened my view of the world and people's opinions. It was really neat to see God work right in front of my eyes as we ministered to the kids and it was a blessing to everyone involved. Before you ask, YES I'm going again next year. :)

JULY:

I had my first surgery! No, nothing serious. I didn't almost die. I was only getting my tonsils out. It was quite a painful ordeal though, don't get me wrong. I mean, I was able to relax on the couch for 14 days, but I wasn't exactly comfortable. I ate Jell-O (LOTS of Jell-O), I watched Sherlock and Call the Midwife and did lots of browsing on Pinterest. Yay. So fun.

SEPTEMBER:

It's weird to call this one of the highlights of 2016, but I FELT MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE.
I've always wanted to feel one, which is why this was a big deal to me.
It wasn't a huge one, and fortunately, the earth DID NOT crack open beneath my feet and swallow me up into a deep chasm of nothingness.
I was sitting on my bed doing some writing (what else...) and I started to sway back and forth suddenly. I had no idea what was going on (I figured I was dizzy or something) until I saw some necklaces that were hanging on my wall swinging back and forth, and then I knew that HOLY MOLY THIS WAS AN EARTHQUAKE.
It was very interesting.
At least now I can say "Oh yeah, I felt an earthquake once..."

DECEMBER:

I wanted to add December in here because I actually had a great one. It was a little hard toward the end because of CERTAIN situations, but I enjoyed the Christmas season pretty good.
I went to like... *counts on fingers* 4 Christmas parties (usually I don't go to any), I actually tried out some Christmas volunteer work (thanks to my best friend for inviting me... you better know I'll be back to help next year), and I went to this beautiful street near my house where all these drama volunteers walk around as Christmas characters (Ebenezer Scooge, Kris Kringle, Jack Frost, Dickens Carolers, Santas from around the world, etc.) and you get to talk to them and collect their 'character cards' and they never once break character (not ONCE) and there's glowing lights and quaint little shops and homemade cookies and hot chocolate and the crisp Winter air and the gladness of Christmas cheer on the faces of everyone you meet.
It was simply glorious.
And that's coming from me, who is not usually a "Christmas loving person". Oh, don't get me wrong, I love JESUS, I just get tired of songs, and "Happy Holidays", and grinch music. And candy canes. Don't ever give me candy canes for Christmas. I will hate you.

And a couple of Random High Points:
The Best book that comes to mind: Gone With the Wind. Guys. This. Book. Let's just say it's one of the best books I've read in a long time. :) The Circle Series deserves an honorable mention here as well. This year I'd like to keep better track of how many books I read. It will be easier now that I have a Goodreads profile.
The Best movie: Wow, don't get me wrong but I actually didn't watch a lot of movies this year. I mostly watched TV shows. We did get VidAngel, which has enabled us to watch some movies that we couldn't watch before because of CERTAIN content, *ahem*, and that has been pretty cool.
While I'm on the subject of movies, also in December my best friend had me over to her house and I FINALLY SAW THE FIRST STAR WARS. That is, Number Four (A New Hope).
And GET THIS: I actually enjoyed it. I always thought it was stupid that everyone LOVED the Star Wars movies so much, but now that I have actually seen it, it isn't so bad.
A week later I saw the second movie (The Empire Strikes Back) with some friends, and I liked THIS one even better. I can't really form an opinion of the entire "fandom" yet, because right now I've only seen 2 out of 8 movies. Therefore, my opinion of what I've seen matters little at this point. (*whispers* except that I like it so far).
Moving on.
The best TV Show: You know the answer: Call the Midwife and Sherlock BBC.These two shows made up the majority of what I watched this year in TV Shows. What? No, I don't like British shows, why do you ask?

My Writing Progress: Actually I didn't write very much this year. As you can see, I WAS TOO BUSY. It seriously hurt, keeping my ideas all pent up inside. I'll tell you one thing. I don't 'do' New Year's Resolutions, but if there's one thing that I want to improve in 2017, it's my writing. That is, how MUCH I get done.
But it's just hard, you know? Let's just say that I hate writing first drafts more than anything in the world. :P
I do love my ideas and stories too much to let that stop me, so I just have to work on it.
*sigh*

Favorite Concert this year: I'm not really a 'concert person' (crowds and loud noises and big dark rooms with bright lights are NOT my thing at all. In fact they make me really nervous) but I do go sometimes if I like the artist well enough.
This year the best concert was MercyMe back in April. Seriously, I love those guys, and the concert was sensational.
For those of you who don't know MercyMe,  I gotta share a couple of their songs: Flawless (seriously listen to the words, people!), Greater (again, hear these words, my friends), and Wishful Thinking  (beautiful, I love this song).

Favorite songs and bands for the year: This year I really enjoyed those songs mentioned above, as well as two other songs I've mentioned in a previous post, Be the Change, and Through Your Eyes by Britt Nicole (she's been a favorite of mine for years). And of course Owl City is still one of my favorites, as well as Casting Crowns, Danny Gokey, and others.
Of course my very favorite music this year has to be the Adam Young Scores. But I am not going to talk about them at ALL right now because I want to write a whole post on them soon.

So: What are my plans for the new year? Get this: I literally have none. I'm just hoping it will be another good year. I kinda feel bad saying that 2016 was a good year for me, because a lot of my friends (both my internet friends and my 'real life' friends) are saying that 2016 was so ridiculously hard as well as emotional for them.
I express my sympathy and prayers for those people, but I am also grateful at the same time for how this year turned out for ME.
God did some great things in my life. He showed me how to take care of myself, He taught me to love my enemies (Yes, surprise, I do have enemies), and He told me who I was.
Not only am I a child of God, but I am unique and special to Him, just like everyone is.
This year I discovered the Meyer's Briggs Personality Type Indicator, and that helped me get to know the people around me as well as myself. It helped me discover that the Human creation is really such a special thing, and superior to all that God has made.
We have to remember that life is not about sitting around waiting for God to give us a good year. It's about trusting Him with everything, and believing who He says we are- in HIM. That is, his precious children. This is true in the good years AND the hard years.
That is what I pray for all of us in 2017.
Remember to enjoy life, for everyone only has one.
Life is hard, but let's not take for granted its lovely side.

AND THAT ABOUT WRAPS UP MY NEW YEARS POST.
Thanks for sticking around to the end! I know I will enjoy looking back and reading this in the years ahead. 
I wish you all the very best year! Keep on posting, my friends. I do enjoy reading about you all. Even if I could never meet most of you. :) As for me, I posted 29 times this year!
Just for funsies, here's my last New Year's Post. :)
Here is a good verse to sum up my year, and I hope you will be encouraged as well!

 2 Corinthians 5:1
"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."

See you later!
-Amaris