2019 New Years Goals

Happy New Year!

Every year we create a poster with our goals for the coming year. This is one of my favorite traditions! The rules for the annual poster are A) the goals must be achievable in one year, and B) they must be quantifiable, as in, they have to be things we can measure and check off. 

First, I like to review how we did on our goals for the previous year. To be perfectly honest, we didn't do so hot this year. 2018 was a year of upheaval for us. At New Year's we didn't know where James would be working post graduation, so a lot was up in the air. As things coalesced, some of our goals changed or fell by the wayside. 

James:
Did marvelously with his Duolingo study this year, he's been making great progress in Spanish. He did read (or listen to an audiobook) every day. He did obtain a post-graduation job. He did not practice the piano every day.

Joel:
Learned to read! Of course it's still a developing skill, but we love to hear him read beginning books to us, it's awesome. He's still working on his roundhouse. =)

Xander:
His goals were ones that we neglected this year.

Valerie:
I did not work on my novel "Allspeaker" this year. (Although I did make some progress on "The Seventh Guardian" fortunately.) I did pretty well with my photography challenge. Duolingo totally fell by the wayside for me. I did finish my poomsae challenge in time for my black belt test in October. Bike riding didn't happen as intended. But I definitely got pregnant!

Family goals:
We successfully moved to Utah, a location which meant we didn't need to find a new martial arts school, haha. We went on one of the two camping trips we'd intended. James and I did attend the temple three times. We are still working through the Book of Mormon together. We're terrible about walking our dog, but at least we've been on a date every week!

And now I present our goals for 2019!

James:
-Daily Spanish study
-Daily reading/audiobook
-Settle finances
-Create and follow personal exercise plan
-Weekly video journal
-Bake 12 new recipes

Valerie:
-Earn 5th Dan
-Finish "The Seventh Guardian" revisions
-Project 52 with Clickin Moms (ie weekly photography project)
-Journal weekly
-Read 5 new books
-Finish Duolingo Spanish tree
-Take a yoga class

Family/Couple goals:
-Successfully move to Colorado
-Family camping trip
-Go star gazing
-Find a new martial arts school
-Trip to Tennessee
-Create a family budget
-Attend the temple (number of times to be determined when we know what part of Colorado we're moving to)
-Weekly "Come Follow Me" family study
-Weekly date night

We also want to add "Plant a tree" if we end up buying a house this year. But we'll have to see!

We decided not to set goals for the children this year. We've decided  to wait until they're old enough to set their own goals. We feel like we shouldn't be forcing our ideas of what their progression should be, but should let them discover their own interests. Of course we'll be working on things together, but it's a little different when we're setting up checkboxes on their behalf. So we'll revisit those in later years.

We are excited about this coming year. We've got some big changes ahead for our family. Hopefully our move will go well; we are looking forward to settling down at last and hopefully not moving again for a while! =) 

We wish you a happy New Year and a great 2019!

2018 New Years goals

Hello, dear abandoned blog. I hadn't realized until I pulled up the blog just now that I haven't posted since June. Ooops! But, it's time for our annual New Year's post, so here we are.

Every year we create a poster with our goals for the year. This is one of my favorite traditions. The rules for our poster are A) the goals must be achievable in one year, and B) they must be quantifiable, as in, they have to be things we can measure and check off. Let's review our goals from 2017:

I will take a photo of our checked-off poster when I get back from Utah.

James:
He has not yet obtained a job for after graduation, but is in process. He has been applying, has had some interviews, and will be having more. We're still waiting to hear back from some of his first interviews. It's an involved process! James did not meet his weight loss goal. He did, however, complete Camp NaNoWriMo (twice)--he wrote 22,000 words of a story that he plans to complete after graduation. =P He has nearly finished his book-reading goal, and gave himself a grace period to complete his last book (he has a long flight this coming week with no kids!) He did not create something to donate. He has been very diligent about his daily scripture study.

Kids:
Joel potty trained this year! Yay! We tried early in the year, and it was a struggle, so we put it on hold until this summer. The timing was right at the end of June, and he did it! He night trained at the same time, which was extra awesome. He has not learned to read yet, but is in progress, and we are renewing that goal for this year, and doing the same for Xander's ABCs. Given that Xander is still learning to talk, that one turned out to be a bit ambitious for this past year.

Valerie:
I did indeed complete the first draft of "The Seventh Guardian" over the summer, which was a gigantic triumph. I did not meet my weight loss goal. I have also not completed the 100 Challenge yet, but I gave myself until Black Belt Testing in two weeks, and I'm on track to complete it. I did read the New Testament this year, and I won National Novel Writing Month in November. I completed a 52-week photography challenge, and I did read 6 new books this year. Yay.

Family:
We did not create a budget this year. =P We did go on a camping trip, to Falls Lake in September. James and I attended the temple 5 times this year. We did not walk Shadow twice a week, though we definitely have been walking him more than we had in the past. (We're terrible fur-parents.) We did go on a date every week this year. We did not practice taekwondo 2 hours every week, but we came pretty close.

Presenting our goals for 2018!

When we get back from Utah, we'll make an actual poster and update this. =)

James:
-Meet daily Duolingo goal
-Read 10 minutes daily
-Get a post-grad job
-Practice the piano 1 hour a week
-Secret goal that I (Valerie) am not allowed to know about yet

Valerie:
-Write the first draft of Allspeaker
-2018 Photography Challenge
-Finish Duolingo Spanish course
-New 100 Poomsae Challenge
-Weekly bike ride

Joel:
-Learn to read
-Learn to roundhouse kick

Xander
-Learn the ABCs
-Play a (very short) song on the piano

Family
-Move to: ?
-Find a new martial arts school
-Camping trips x2
-Attend the temple x3
-Read the Book of Mormon (nightly companionship study)
-Walk Shadow at least once a week
-Go on a date each week


We definitely have some repeats. Some, like walking our dog and going on dates, are important for us to maintain, and having them on our poster helps keep them a priority. We've dropped the number of temple attendances this year since we have no idea, as of right now, where we'll be living during the second half of the year and what our proximity will be to a temple.

Despite the uncertainty that our future holds right now, we are excited for whatever 2018 will bring! We hope that you also have a wonderful new year. =)

Camp NaNoWriMo

If you haven't ever heard of it, National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) takes place each November. Aspiring novelists all over the world embark on an epic quest to pen 50,000 words in 30 days. Camp NaNoWriMo is a less formal version that takes place during the summer, this year in July. I am excited to participate!

I have done NaNoWriMo as well as the Camp version many times in the past. (Every year from 2006-2013!) In fact, portions of both my published novels were composed as NaNo projects. I love the motivation and support that NaNoWriMo provides. There's an incredible energy to it.

The past couple of years I have skipped NaNoWriMo, because I had a couple of babies. :P Seriously, though, I never imagined, before having kids, how much it would affect my writing.

A) Raising little boys takes up a lot of time and energy. During my formerly-most productive times of day, I now either have little boys to care for, or I'm exhausted from caring for said kidlets.
B) Post-partum depression seriously affects my creative energy.

I read an article a few months ago by an author who declared that sometimes mom-writers mistake writer's block for what is really PPD. This article was a real turning point for me. Previously, I have felt really guilty and/or frustrated with myself when I have struggled to work on my books. I mean, writing novels is supposed to be fun, right? But while battling depression, doing anything creative feels a lot like pulling teeth.

It's hard because I know a number of people have been waiting for mine and Sam's third book for a long time. I get asked periodically when the trilogy will be completed. It's hard to admit to my readers, whom I want so desperately to please, that I simply haven't written anything in months. That I haven't wanted to write. That I haven't really been able to write.

Happily, the fog of depression is beginning to lift. This happened about a year after Joel was born, so I'm excited to been feeling a bit more like myself only 8 months after Xander's birth. I still struggle some days, but I actually feel like I can commit to Camp NaNoWriMo this time around.

Camp begins on July 1st. My goal is to write 30,000 words. Or more! Since I have already 33k written in Buk Tri ("book three" of our Seventh Empire series), this should put me around one-third complete, if the third book is similar in length to the other two. And hopefully it will get me back into the habit of writing consistently, so that we can get this thing done! Wish me luck!

Life of Late

Some of the things that have been occupying the time of the Holley family lately:

-I attended the inaugural Salt Lake Comic Con with my co-author Sam Stubbs, where we occupied a booth for three days promoting our books. It was awesome!

-James is back in school at BYU, enjoying some of his classes (being bored by others). While the transition was difficult (I was soooooooo spoiled having him to myself for two months this summer) its been good because....

-I've started actively writing my third book again. Seeing as how Book Two is being released in November (two years, four months after the release of the first book) I am eager to complete the trilogy in a timely manner.

-James and I are both facing a slight change in our schedules at the studio. This past week, I took on a new class: coaching the school demo team. I'm eager for the new challenge. Starting in a week and a half, James will also be taking on a new class, his first "curriculum" class (he's been teaching Weapons for some time, and working as an assistant instructor in several other classes). Even though I will be there as his assistant, it's exciting, for me at least, to see James really growing into his own as an instructor.

-We've started preparing for Halloween. More on this once we actually start decorating and whatnot--which cannot come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

-Oh yeah, it was my birthday a few weeks ago. It was lovely. My birthday was on Sunday, so on Saturday, we went on a double-date with our friends the Pages, on Sunday my mother made birthday dinner, on Monday we went out to dinner and I got my first present from James, a printer, and on Tuesday, I got my second present, a couples massage, which was heaven. I felt very spoiled.

-We have been thoroughly enjoying our Shadow puppy. He is darling. We've had a few mishaps, but pretty minor stuff, considering that he's 6 months old and new to our family. He and I go on walks when James is at school, and he is the most curious creature I think I have ever encountered.

That's the bulk of it. We stay busy teaching and learning at the studio, plus school for James and writing for me. That and enjoying one anothers company. And Shadow's company. :)

A New Era

No, I am not writing about a Church magazine.

I am writing about a major shift in my life--though to anybody else, it probably won't seem like a very big change.

Today is my last day working as the Program Director at Beyond Sports Taekwondo. Friends, don't be alarmed. I will still be teaching and attending at the studio. But I have handed over all my office duties, effective today.

It's been a decision long in coming, and not an easy one to make. I love the studio, and I hope they will continue to thrive without me in the office. However, there are hopefully to going to be other, really major changes in my life in the near-ish future, which I am planning and preparing for now.

The biggest concern right now is my writing. I have had very clear inspiration that I am supposed to write, and I intend to follow those directions. Dropping 10+ hours a week of work allows me the time I need to write my third book before the really major changes come along.

So, Taekwondo friends, this means I'm no longer your touchstone for all things studio-related. All friends, this means if I seem a little absent-minded occasionally, it's probably because I'm writing furiously in my head. I am hopeful that this will be a positive change. Regardless, I know that it's the right thing for me!

Music, Food, Books, Writing, and Thoughts

I've been wanting to write a blog for several days now, but I've been struggling with a lack of anything profound to say. So welcome to a rambling blog about a bunch of random (and mostly unimportant) things that have been on my mind.

1. Music

I have a complete obsession with The Piano Guys. I've been following them pretty much since they got started two years ago, and I was a huge fan of Jon Schmidt long before that. Their music inspires me. Their music unfailingly makes me happy. I really enjoyed their newest video, a cover of "Home" by Phillip Phillips--a song that I insisted go on our wedding playlist, even when James protested that it didn't really have anything to do with a wedding. But I won that one, mostly because we both like the song so much. And even though I don't prefer TPG's version over the original, I like it equally well for different reasons.


2. Food

I get bored with food easily. Eating the same things over and over again without alteration makes me crazy, and if I don't get something different, I feel utterly lackluster. The problem is that is often ends up with us eating out more often, because that satisfies my need for variety, however, it creates the problem of us eating out too much.

In an effort to resolve the issue, I've started seeking more creative meals to make at home. Nothing that I haven't made before, I just have to think about it a little more. Recent efforts have included homemade pizza, salmon & asparagus, and just last night, chicken salad on croissants. All have turned out well, satisfied my cravings, and made my husband happy. :)

3. Books

I recently read "Bitterblue" by Kristin Cashore, which is the sequel to a novel called "Graceling" that I read sometime last year.

I really enjoyed the first book, and while I found "Bitterblue" to be engaging, it was also really messed up. At the same time that I picked up "Bitterblue" from the library, I also got the prequel, "Fire." James asked me last night if I'll be starting to read it, and I replied that maybe I'll pick it up again another time, but after the psychological nastiness of "Bitterblue", I'm a little iffy about another book in this series. At least for the time being.

On the day before Mother's Day, James took me to Deseret Book. I picked up "Choosing Motherhood" at random, and could not put it down--even after taking it home!.

I am in love with this book. It's a selection of stories by women (mostly from Yale) who all had education and successful careers, but who each, through different circumstances and series of events, chose full-time motherhood instead.

I love the idea of choice. None of these women felt like they had to be stay-at-home moms. None of these women caved into pressure from family or church leaders (indeed, most of them felt the opposite sort of pressure from their coworkers and colleagues). Each of them sacrificed their own personal goals and ambitions for their children--and none of them regretted that choice.

I strongly identify with these women. Not because I have any difficulty with the idea of becoming a mother; on the contrary, it's something that I am anticipating with great excitement and eagerness. No, I identify with the choice. I desperately crave our children. But having them, staying at home with them, will mean the sacrifice of other things that I greatly enjoy and value. I have a full and rich life, I have talents with great scope, I have prospects and ambitions. I want to be an acclaimed author. I want to become an international referee in Taekwondo. I want to serve as an adoption advocate the way I have in the past. There are many other things which I hope to accomplish in my life. And the thing is, I know that if it is God's will, I will accomplish those things. But there is a time and a place. And when my children are in my home, my place is with them. My time is for them. I choose to give my life--my time, my talents, my education, everything the Lord has blessed me with--to those precious souls He entrusts to me.

My sister-in-law Shaylee blogged (raved might be a better word) about this book, "The Gift of Giving Life" and so, having sufficiently piqued my interest, I decided to pick up a copy. I'm still only about a third of the way through it, but I'm finding a lot of things that I really enjoy and appreciate about this volume.

There is great emphasis placed on natural childbirth, though I notice the authors are careful to caveat with the notion that any birth experience can be a spiritual one. It's been interesting for me, because I have always believed strongly in natural childbirth (though I will probably always deliver in a hospital. Both James and I are of the "just-in-case" mentality) and I really appreciate feeling like I'm not a totally backwards nut for not wanting drugs and interference when I give birth. I do have to say (don't take it personally, Shaylee!) that some of the ideas presented in "The Gift of Giving Life" are a little weird for me to digest (blessingways? I can't quite get my head around that one) but overall, I'm really enjoying the book, especially the spiritual and scriptural connections that I've been making.

4. Writing

I should actually call it Publishing, because I haven't really been doing a lot of writing lately, but I have been doing a lot of detail-follow-up nonsense with regards to the publication of my second book, The Scourge of Narak. I received the almost-final draft of the cover art a couple of days ago, and I'm really excited--I'm looking forward to sharing it soon! I've also been seeing drafts of the new maps, which is nearly as exciting as the cover art. There is just something special about seeing artwork somebody else has created based off ideas from my head.



I guess that's all for now. I will probably have some big-ish news next week, but in the meantime, live life to the fullest, and have a great day. :)

Life is good!

Last week was Spring Break at the studio. While James still had school, this still opened up a lot of free time for us both--of which we took full advantage!

On Monday we went for another test flight at the Discovery Space Center in American Fork. These test flights help the flight directors figure out what's working and what's not working, with regards to the controls as well as the stories. Unfortunately, this test flight wasn't nearly as exciting as our last one. But we still enjoyed the company!

That day, I also embarked on Camp NaNoWriMo. This is a 30-day writing challenge hosted by National Novel Writing Month. I am attempting to write 30,000 words of the third book in our trilogy, between April 1 and April 30. It's been slow going thus far, though I have been making steady progress. Goals always help me stay focused better, so I took on the challenge.

For family home evening that night, we put together our 72-hour kit. It's something I've wanted to have for awhile, and especially now that we're married, I wanted to have what was needed for both of us. I looked at a couple of different websites for ideas of what to put in our kit. For example, we did not put any bedding or things like that into our kit, although we did figure out a method for carrying our sleeping bags if we did happen to need them. We looked around at some water filtration options, but didn't find anything we liked within our budget. So we are storing 3 gallons of water alongside our kit, and going from there for now. We did include one spare set of clothing and undergarments, including socks. This is in addition to food, first aid, and other general supplies we pulled from the lists' suggestions. I felt a lot better about life once we had it all put together.

Tuesday was temple day. James got out of school at 2pm, and we drove up to the Draper Temple for a session. James had never been to Draper, and we both found it to be lovely. The woodwork in this temple is particularly beautiful. It was nice to have extra time to spend. Many of our temple trips are on a pretty tight schedule, stuffed in between school and the studio. Being on Spring Break allowed us to linger in the Celestial Room, which is always a powerful experience. Afterward we headed to Carrabba's for dinner. It's a personal favorite of ours, with several important occasions having taken place there.

That evening we took my ring in to get 're-dipped', a process that we were encouraged to have done every six months. Basically they recoat the metal of my engagement ring to make it all shiny again, as well as cleaning the whole thing. Unfortunately, this meant parting with my ring for two days, and after about ten minutes, I thought I was going to lose my mind. (I've gotten VERY accustomed to wearing it!) So James, dear that he is, bought me a substitute ring to wear while mine was gone. However, I'll tell you--totally worth it! My ring was SO much brighter when we got it back. I couldn't believe how much more the diamonds sparkled. We were very impressed.

On Friday, I donated blood--finally. I had attempted to donate blood alongside James several weeks ago, but was turned down due to my low hemoglobin. I was pleased to be accepted for donation this time around. However, my visit resulted in a rather terrible bruise on my arm! This is my bruise, six days later.

My students yesterday decided that I must have been battling with elephants! Of course, my boss (tongue-in-cheek) asked if my husband was abusing me. Either way, it's a pretty impressive bruise for a relatively low-key blood draw.

Over the weekend, James and I watched General Conference. To my surprise, my mother-in-law offered us her tickets to the Sunday morning session. I was delighted! For having lived in Utah pretty much my whole life, I have never actually attended a session of General Conference in the Conference Center. And it was lovely, sans the ticket-beggers and protesters (the former actually bothered me more than the latter, strangely enough). I was glad we got to attend Sunday morning in particular, because I have always loved listening to Music & the Spoken Word prior to that session, and it was even better live. So so so wonderful--as was conference as a whole! I felt spiritually recharged.

On Tuesday night, I decided to reenact one of my favorite childhood memories. Throughout my growing-up years, my mother would periodically make homemade pizza, which was almost always accompanied by homemade cinnamon rolls. I loved this meal, and on Tuesday I succumbed to a hankering for it. Thank goodness for a patient husband! We didn't eat until about 11:30pm that night. But I think he will agree that it was totally worth it! The pizza turned out great, as did the cinnamon rolls that followed! All from scratch.

This weekend, we are headed to Arches National Park for a little camping trip. This is our "spring break" getaway, and our first camping trip together. It's also our first chance to use the sleeping bags and tent that James' mother gave him for his birthday. We're super excited!

Life is good!