My Weekly Adventures: New Year’s Special (2015 Recap & 2016 Goals!)

My goodness, 2015 went by in a flash! So many things happened and most of it was pretty awesome!

Let’s start with some 2015 recaps and the last half month of stuff.  Then we’ll wrap up with 2016 goals, okay? Sounds like a plan!

End of Year Things: Christmas Party, Boxing Day Finds, Snowstorm & New Year’s Eve

Christmas Eve party with the family was crazy fun.  We hosted for the first year and I went into a frenzy about the house not being clean enough and now having the turkey defrost in time but we found backup for everything and it ended up working out and

Boxing Day finds at Walmart & Best Buy (waiting for a few more movies/games coming in from Amazon)

Boxing Day Finds at Adidas and Nike

Walmart Online order for Kitchenaid Ultra Power Standing Mixer

Dynamite Sweater and Pants (Online order arrived rather efficiently so I tried it out and took an awkward selfie)

Snowstorm

New Year’s Eve and Jenga with Friends

2015 RECAP

2015 was kind of a half-half deal.  For the blog, my main goals and projects didn’t exactly work out as I planned but my overall views have averaged higher than the previous year which makes me quite happy.  Jumping into the 4th year of blogging, I’ve finally found how I want Tranquil Dreams to be positioned and what content I want to write about.  As much as versatility seems overbearing and crazy, I really do enjoy every bit of it.

• Baking Through Disney Project: Only one movie was done completely (kind of a fail but I did add a side project of watching adaptations when available)
• The Classics Project: It went pretty good.  Currently, I’m reading the second last novel of Jane Austen.  These are more time-consuming than I initially imagined but I’m continuing right along.
• New segment: Netflix A-Z was added on.  We got one round completed with much success.  I felt great that a lot of you not only commented about the movie and even joined in to guess what the next movie would me, sometimes opening my eyes to movies that sounded completely out of the world weird.
• Joining That Moment In: Its one thing to own a blog but its another to be part of someone else’s.  That Moment In is a great blogging family for me.  I love being part of The Random Chat Show with my awesome co-hosts Melissa and David and chatting up all sorts of randomness, even when we debate and argue over our different views. As for writing, I’m loving getting back into playing video games and writing about them. I may  not be a skilled gamer but I always have tons of fun.

On a personal life level, my weekly adventures expanded with:

• Getting married in October
• Visiting different festivals in Montreal: Fantasia Film Festival, MTL a Table, Sherbrooke met la table
• Vacation and first time cruise experience on the Norwegian going to Alaska and sightseeing in Seattle
• Falling in love with Zumba (I probably didn’t elaborate on this one too much) & getting running into my summer workouts

If you do want an overview of this year, you can check out the WordPress annual report HERE!

An general look of the how many of each categories I’ve posted about for the last few years:

• 103  novels and short stories reviews
• 510 movies (and maybe short films) reviews
• 129 recipes

Personally, the goals I set out for this year kind of did flop but a lot of things did happen.  I’m a lot closer to where I need to be in the final Practical Piano exam except the curriculum changed and now the technical bits have caused a little problem, making the theory part also a little change to my original plans.

2016 GOALS

This year, we’re taking things kind of the same but a little different. Since last year was really about finding my footing and getting a sort of routine going, I think we’re ready for some stable and organized posts going up for once in almost 5 years. I do have a few personal goals I need to get out of the way so I’m still working out how to maybe get something like that here, if not, it’ll all be about getting things done in advance to make time for it.

Let’s get down to 2016 business!

• Netflix A-Z: As usual, its appearance will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The only interruptions is on themed months and other events going on. It all depends if there are fitting movies that match up with it.  I don’t think there will be an interruption for February’s Valentine’s Day since romantic comedies are abundant. If you do have any suggestions, do tell me what Netflix movies, you’d like me to review.  Keep in mind, I am in Canada so I have far fewer choices than the US selection.
• TV Binge: A much more sporadic series but I do love TV in between a lot of busy  movie seasons.  I have one coming up and this next year, I’m not going to be too ambitious but I’d like to see Hemlock Grove Season 3, From Dusk Till Dawn Season 2, Criminal Minds Season 8 & 9, Once Upon a Time Season 4, Jessica Jones, Daredevil just for starters.  That looks doable. Of course, I also follow The 100 and the new season is sometime in January if I’m not mistaken.
• Baking Through Disney: The goal is one movie and baking a month.  I can’t guarantee it but I’m hoping we’ll get through 12 movies in the Disney Classics list this year. To boost the confidence level, I already have the next one, Pinocchio watched and I have a pretty cool baking idea set. Just a few details I’m deciding on to actually get down to business after the holiday season.
• Marathons: All the themed marathons are staying except I’ll try to have more scattered and not just movies.  I’ll try.  For Valentine’s Day, I have acquired the latest two movies for Nicholas Sparks to continue on that journey, among other choices which I’m deciding on. Halloween should be either Hellraiser or Final Destination themed series.  But then, I have a vague memory of promising someone here that I’d do Scream so that is going to happen except I need to find the 4th film. If thats the case, I’ll go with the Final Destination series just to have a reasonable amount of time. I’ll decide when it gets closer. As for Christmas/holidays, its getting harder and harder to find Christmas movies so I’m thinking up a twist for it 😉
• Books & The Classics Project: This year, I’m not going to do a Reading Challenge.  For one, I’m planning to contribute more to That Moment In so I want to get back into gaming a little especially since we did get a PS4 and there are some decent games coming out this year that I’m excited to play. However, the focus from now on will be on books that will be adapted into films and indie books.  But, don’t be fooled, I am not giving up The Classics Project.  I’m currently finishing up Persuasion and have one more to go before I finish that up.  You can see the updated list of classics I plan to read for next year.
• My Weekly Adventures, Music Obsessions and Pinterest Therapy: These are my more personal segments.  I keep them around because they are fun to put together and really less thought heavy. It shines a little on who I am.  Music Obsessions and Pinterest Therapy are a monthly segment for the most part and My Weekly Adventures has dropped to being a biweekly event.  I did add on a seasonal Montreal events segment and I might just continue to do that.  Winter hasn’t gone up yet but I might see if I can work it in the schedule.

There you have it! That’s 2016 for you.  My brain thinks about the blog all the time and how to improve it and make it more me.

What has me curious is what segments do you drop by here to read? Is there anything you’d like me to incorporate in these topics? Feel free to share your opinions.  I do a lot here but its rather scattered and recommendations are always appreciated.

Overall, 2016 looks like its going to be a great year!

*VIRTUAL HUGS* FOR EVERYONE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY LOVELIES~!!! 🙂