2017 was an odd year that started out with two deaths (one friend and one pet) and never really recovered. There were some high points scattered in among the low, but as a whole I am very very glad to see the end of it.

I felt like I was constantly starting over as the months rolled by and while I did get some wins in, for the most part this year was just a holding pattern. I’m all revved up to get started with next year and hopefully get some traction. There’s so much I’d like to do that it seems almost impossible right now.

But teaspoons still move mountains and I just need to focus on putting on foot in front of the other! 🙂

2017 Highlights Reel (tl;dr)

• Said goodbye to Rocco and Egg.
• Visited Katuson, Disney, and Maine.
• Said hello to Sir Buckethead the Gallant.

Real Life Stuffs

• Got a promotion to Developer II! *dancedancedance* I’m still loving my job and my coworkers, but there’s some company rumblings on the horizon that I’m a bit worried about. But it will be as it will be and I need to just focus on enjoying the moment! 🙂
• Had to say a final goodbye to the awesome corgiboy Rocco.
• Lost a friend to a one-in-a-million surgical accident. I’ll miss you Egg. *hugs* 🙁
• Rebuilt one side of the backyard fence (aka: contractors did it for us.)
• Volunteered at Katsucon in Event Tech as a Generic Minion

• 15 Year Wedding Anniversary, WOOT! 😀
• Adopted the Corgiador.. and then unadopted him. Not funtimes. 🙁
• Went to my hubby’s second college graduation! (Well, third really, he’s now got two Bachelors and Masters!)
• I got to go to Disneyland with Dad and we had an awesome time! 😀 (At least until the lady in the runaway wheelchair hit him. O_O; )
• Got to see the solar eclipse!

• Mostly rebuild the fish gazebo (still needs a shelf and more siding)
• Got to go to MAINE! 😀 😀 😀 (and Jake came too for the first time!!)
• Adopted Sir Buckethead the Gallant
• Took Basic Obedience classes with Bucket – this was my first ever professionally taught dog training class! It did wonders for Bucket and I’d highly recommend it for anyone with a new dog.

• Took Intermediate Obedience classes with Bucket
• Took Nosework classes with Bucket
• Finally got the old house to the point where it’s on the market as a rental!!!!! (It’s been almost two years, but it’s finally all fixed up!) *massive happy dance*

Writing and Art Related

• Participated in 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks and got a bunch of new short stories out of my head and on paper… But not 52, alas.
• Participated in NaMoPaiMo (National Model Painting Month) and finished my first ever paint job on a Breyer Stablemate Icelandic mold… and then Bucket ate his legs off. *sighs*
• Started posting stories to Wattpad as an experiment. I wasn’t very good at updating them regularly, but I did get some readers in so that was nice. I’m going to try to be a little better about updating things in 2018.
• Joined a local fiction writing group that turned into a non-fiction group so I stopped going. I need to start up again, since they were good about accountability even if it wasn’t my genre.

• I experimented with Amazing Mold Putty, but had subpar results. It’s a very soft medium, so it ripped easily when resin casting in it and the molds I got weren’t much better than the silicone molds.
• Started an amazing model horse body box trade that really pushed my sculpting and painting skills! I started working on the horses in March, but only managed to get one of the five horses finished in 2017… darnit.
• Lost April Camp NaNoWriMo, boo!
• Learned how to make paper gift boxes
• Sculpted three new owl fat animal magnets

• Painted a metric ton of new magnets (plaster, resin, canvas, etc.), but never got around to posting most of them. I need to take better notes next year!
• Wrote a bunch of new Custom Saturday Story Prompts ebooks and worked on getting the older books up into the Etsy store.
• Learned how to make molds with OOMOO 30 (so nifty!)
• Created a template for three rail fences (Stablemate scale) that lets me make the interchangeable fencing much faster and more consistently.
• Also lost July Camp NaNoWriMo, hardcode. Wrote zero words all month. 🙁

• Cast a LOT of fat animals magnets!
• Started making images for the Saturday Story Prompts and posting them Pinterest. I have basic images for all of 2017 and some for the previous years. I’m going back now and making better Canva images and those are getting a lot more traffic than the basic ones!
• Went to a craft fair and sold $60 worth of magnets! (12 x $5) 😀
• Created a micro mini scale fence
• Built a new set of storage drawers for the magnets

• Won November NaNoWriMo with [YANS]
• Built a new toilet paper storage shelving until for the top of the toolbox
• Sculpted a new Reindeer Ornament
• Got through 39 of 76 chapters of the novel that I’d doing a beta read for! 🙂

Fitness and Health Related

• Participated in the Biggest Loser competition at work and came in above the average! 🙂
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (Jan 8 – Feb 4) : UnquietBones follows the AIBARNs!
• Stopped drinking Diet Coke on a daily basis in January, but started up again in February
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (Feb 12 – Mar 11) : UnquietBones lie quiet, lie still…
• Joined the Nerd Fitness Academy
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (Mar 19 – Apr 15) : UnquietBones is doing One Assassin-y Thing a Day!
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (Apr 23 – May 20) : UnquietBones is GOING OUTSIDE! *dramatic pose*
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (May 27 – June 23) : UnquietBones brings the SCIENCE!
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (July 9 – August 5) : UnquietBones has a Quest! (or Four)
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (August 12 – September 8) : UnquietBones Trains a Sidekick
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (September 16 – October 13) : UnquietBones (and sidekicks) get SMART
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (October 22 – November 18) : UnquietBones Keeps It Simple Silly
• Nerd Fitness Challenge (November 26 – December 23) : UnquietBones vs. Old Year’s Resolutions
• Joined the health insurance at work and now I have a reason to make sure I get out to the doctor on the regular next year. Free(ish) visits ftw!
• Took a moment to sit down and plan out the challenges for next year! 🙂

Blog Related

• Had 31,438+ sessions in 2017 (vs 22,384 in 2016, up 40.93%) ((vs 831 in 2010!))
• The Molds and Casting posts still take up the top 5 slots, but the Saturday Story Prompts are starting to make a comeback thanks to Pinterest
• There was a bit of a change in the ‘how folks find me’ index this year: 65% Organic Search, 18% Direct, 13% Social, 2% referral vs last year’s 63% Organic Search, 21% Direct, 13% Social, 10% referral
• Pinterest traffic is 3,738, up from 703 (yowza!) and Facebook held roughly steady at 363 from 224.
• The massic drop off in Referrals was from the NaNoWriMo.com forum traffic, which went from 1381 down to 399. Sadface goes here 🙁
• AdSense made roughly $36 this year, not sure it’s really worth keeping so I may turn it off once I hit the $100 payout threshold. If I could find a way to narrow it down so the ads were useful, my numbers would probably go up! *sighs*
• There were 203 posts to the blog this calendar year, not counting all the backdated fan fiction posted to previous years.

It was a year and I am glad it’s done any over with! 😀

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018!