so, 2019 was a pretty great year. it was also a year of a lot of changes and transitions, but looking back, it was good. ;) here's a brief recap of the highlights of my 2019.
/ my three best friends and i celebrated international women's day by seeing Captain Marvel on opening day. it snowed that afternoon, so i drove my clunky car (a blue minivan that i named George), and we spent the whole drive laughing at stupid things and eating brownies. such a fun night, and a great movie.
/ the saturday mornings spent walking up to panera with my parents. going over college acceptances, and in the spring, celebrating college acceptances.
/ that glorious, crazy moment on the last saturday in march, at 5:05 pm when i checked my email and found that i had gotten into my dream college. screaming and screaming and falling on the floor and spending the weekend in a haze of shock.
/ my family, close friends, and i watched Avengers: Endgame on opening day. we spent the whole day in glorious and terrifying anticipation, refusing to go on the internet. i sat next to my best friends in the theater, and we cried as we saw our favorite characters on screen for the last time.
/ that monday in may when i graduated with some of my best friends, whom i've known since third grade. throwing our caps in the air, and walking down the aisle to the Throne Room song from Star Wars.
/ june & july: last season of swim team. i spent summer mornings on the sun-scorched pool deck, laughing and joking with fellow junior coaches and getting quite sun-burnt.
/ that amazing graduation trip to new york with my dad, two best friends, and their dad when WE SAW HAMILTON AT THE RICHARD RODGERS THEATRE. crying when the opening notes of "alexander hamilton" play, and realizing that i have the entire musical memorized. ;) and no, i still haven't recovered from that weekend.
/ weekdays spent working at my amazing job, and treasuring every last moment with regular customers and my boss. eating bagels nearly every day, because why not?
/ watching Spider-Man: Far From Home with friends who are basically family. shrieking at that post credit scene, and realizing with a pang of sadness that the next Marvel movie i'd see in theaters would be after my first year of college.
/ the weekend spent with my grandparents in the country, reading and drinking coffee and watching say yes to the dress. some days spent with my other grandparents, playing yahtzee and drinking coffee and watching jeopardy.
/ that emotional day in august when i left for college and had to say goodbye to my little siblings. driving with my parents and listening to my favorite episodes of adventures in odyssey while making sure my cactus plants (shawn & gus) didn't fall. having a last lunch at panera, and then move in day. saying goodbye to my parents, and not seeing them for another six weeks.
/ meeting wonderful, hilarious, quirky people at college, and realizing that it isn't as scary as i thought it would be. lots of ordering pizza and watching movies with my roommate and friends. spending weekday nights watching PSYCH with my roommate.
/ Harry Potter and Marvel trivia nights at our college library, two of my favorite nights of my first semester. we laughed so much and so loudly that other people probably thought we were obnoxious, lol. team spew and team fantastic four rocked ;) (also we beat this super annoying team of boys on Marvel trivia night, so that was amazing ;).
/ seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with my family and best friends. sitting between my best friends, and staring at each other in complete shock and amazement as the movie unfolded. leaving the theater in a daze and spending the next hour texting in all caps.
i'm probably forgetting some other memorable highlights of 2019, but these are the ones that stuck out to me when i was writing this post. ;)
my family and i discovered PSYCH in may, and now are officially obsessed with the amazing tv show. pineapples are everywhere in our house right now, lol. if you haven't watched this amazing, quirky show, do it. NOW. it's about a super observant guy (think of a more obnoxious sherlock holmes) who pretends to be a psychic and solves cases for the police department with his hilarious best friend.
Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker officially broke my heart. Endgame was more shattering and emotional, as i've always preferred Marvel over Star Wars and the Marvel characters are dearer to my heart. every time i rewatch Endgame, it gets more emotional and heartbreaking. the third rewatch, i cried the last hour, nonstop.
The Rise of Skywalker was also amazing. while some didn't enjoy it, i personally found it an excellent end to the Skywalker saga. i loved all the subtle hints and nods to the original trilogy (spoilers in white text: CAN WE TALK ABOUT CHEWIE GETTING HIS MEDAL FINALLY / AND TANTOOINE AT THE END / AND OH MY GOSH, LEIA HAS A LIGHTSABER AND THAT SCENE WITH HER AND LUKE TRAINING TOGETHER THANK YOU YESSSS i've always wanted to have it fleshed out more that Leia is a Jedi & has the Force, so that part was amazing. my best friend and i gaped at each other in pure amazement and we mayyyyy have shrieked in excitement. end spoilers) of course, there were some issues i had with it, but overall, it was great and emotional and very Star Wars-y. Star Wars has always been very nostalgic for me, as i grew up watching them (in the correct order: 4 5 6, then 1 2 3 (tho we can forget about those) and they remind me of my childhood.
i also discovered the amazingness that is Tricia Mingerink's The Blades of Acktar series. it's Christian fantasy at its finest, and for a girl who is not overly fond of the fantasy genre, it blew me away. (cue Hamilton lyrics). i also mayyyy have reread the series *gulp* three times this year. and i just purchased the paperback set, so i'm very excited. ;)
in spring 2019, i finished my second novel ever, a YA contemporary called OUR LAST GREAT ADVENTURE. it's about four best friends who go on a road trip to florida, before the oldest goes to college. it's funny (at least i think so, lol) and whimsy and contained a lot of the worry and anxiety about college and moving away that i was feeling at that time.
i also started editing OUR LAST GREAT ADVENTURE, which was the first time i've ever edited a novel before. o_o i still haven't finished editing it, bc something called college stole my time. i'm hoping to finish editing it before summer, and work on draft 2 before college yr 2.
lastly, i started hard-core writing my third WIP, a superhero dystopian called LEGENDS NEVER DIE. i've had this concept for awhile, but couldn't find the right plot or characters. i'm still struggling to flesh out the middle of the book, but so far, i have the beginning & ending written, lol. about a quarter done, so it's moving slowly.
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that's all for now! thanks for reading this long ramble about my 2019.
hope y'all have a very Happy New Year, and here's to an even better 2020.
x o xo,
a l l i s o n
p. s. blogger still won't let me respond to comments -_-,
so if y'all have any suggestions how to remedy this,
i'd greatly appreciate it.
it won't even let me comment on other people's blogs,
so idk what's wrong *sigh*
