Adventures Abound (Part 1)

Well, it's been a while hasn't it?

Rather than going through a whole (boring) list of things I've been up to since January, it sounds more interesting to talk about some of the more exciting things I've gotten to do. Without further ado, let's dive right in!

In March I was finally able to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood! Two years ago, in 2015, I flew across the country to visit some friends and discovery all the parks in Orlando but, despite being much closer to the park in Hollywood, I'd never gotten a chance to visit. When I finally did, I had a magical time indeed.

But first - my view of the drive on the way to the park. It was so beautiful to see snow on the mountains.

I'd already heard about all of the differences between the Hollywood and Orlando parks and while I was disappointed about something of the things I wouldn't get to experience again this time (a ride on the Hogwarts Express, the dragon on top of Gringotts, Diagon Alley) I was excited to step back into the wizarding world once more and see what new things Hollywood had to offer.

A look inside Ollivander's wand shop. Please excuse the quality, the lighting was dim but I wanted to snap a quick picture on my phone before the wand choosing ceremony.

Hagrid's hut and the Weasley's flying car.

It was a gorgeous day and no trip would be complete without a sampling of Butterbeer. In Orlando I got to try hot Butterbeer but this time I knew I just had to try it cold. I've been waiting to try it again since my last trip and the anticipation didn't dampen the experience at all - cold Butterbeer was just as delicious as I'd hoped. (It might even be my favorite version!)

I wish I could have spent another day or two visiting the park; it's small, but it's a walk in a world I grew up alongside. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit again later this year.

A shot I snapped quickly of the Hogwarts Express and the conductor. Talk about lucky!

And to round out my experience at Universal Studios, I would be remiss to not mention Voodoo Doughnut. A friend I was with wanted to check out this place - and so did about half the park it seems.

After an hour's wait, we were finally nearing the shop's front.

Voodoo Doughnut is a Portland-based doughnut shop that had opened at Universal CityWalk earlier in the month. After seeing numerous people walking around with their pink boxes, we stopped to wait in line to get our own taste of the magic.

Everything was very bright and very pink - not a bad combination considering it's location.

The theme of the doughnuts themselves, loaded with cereal or icing faces and labeled with eccentric name, reminds me of Psycho Donuts, which isn't a bad thing at all. The wait was long but the was company was good and I have to say, after all that, the donuts were pretty delicious.

Donut display and a really cool mug.

And I'll spare you any fandom speak and freak outs but I can't end this without at least mentioning my favorite part of the whole trip.

It was an absolutely amazing concert and I had a blast. Their lives never disappoint!

And in the interest of not trying to write a novel of a post, I'll conclude this recollection of my March adventure. Make sure to keep an eye out next week for some photos from my trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art!

A look back, a look forward

I could begin the year by looking to the past and listing all the things I regret

• I didn't study that new language as much as I intended to
• I didn't write as much as I wanted (and the ghost of a failed NanoWriMo looms gloomily behind me)
• I should have drawn more, photographed more, gotten outside more, met more people, kept to those personal promises better, DONE MORE

I think it's likely that we'll all be leaving 2016 behind with more than a few instances of "I should have..." and "If I'd just..."; many will be leaving behind personal loss, tragedy, sadness, anger, disappointment. You're not alone.

But instead of dwelling on those things, I want to focus on the things I did do, the things that I'm proud I accomplished, and the things that made me happy. Every year for the past four years, I've written down one happy memory for the day, folded it it up, and dropped it into a jar for safe keeping.

No matter how my year has gone, awfully or wonderfully, with these colorful little pieces of paper masquerading as memories, I am reminded that something good happened in my life every single day. It doesn't matter if it's as small as something that made me laugh or something as large as a lifelong dream being realized - I can look back on this year and know that at least 366 (because we had a leap year!) good things happened to me, and likely there were many, many more.

I'm sure I'm not the only one brimming with plans for the coming year. My singular resolution for this year is this: keep firm in your beliefs and hold yourself to your promises - but remember not to be too hard on yourself, you're only human after all.

I have no delusions about being able to accomplish each and every thing I set my sights on this year. There will be things that I'll make the decision not to do (no matter how many excuses I may make) and other things that will simply fall out of my power to handle. But no matter how many failures, how many setbacks or complications I face, I will keep moving forward.

Here's to a better 2017. May we all try harder and be kinder. Happy New Year everyone.

From Inktober to NaNoWriMo

As we tuck away October and roll out November, I'm on the cusp of two undertakings: Inktober and NaNoWriMo.

For those that don't know these two challenges, Inktober is a personal challenge wherein artists strive to draw one drawing in ink everyday for the month of October. Similarly, NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month) is a personal challenge where writers attempt to finish a novel - 50,000 words - in the month of November.

And I've survived Inktober!

In an effort to cultivate good habits, I decided to do Inktober and I'm proud that I was able to keep to my schedule and complete the entire month.

Doing Inktober gave me the opportunity to try out a lot of different styles and try ideas that I may not have thought of otherwise. I got to develop my own style a little more and push it in different directions than I usually take it in my art.

Plus, it got me drawing more every day! (And there's nothing wrong with that.)

My upcoming challenge is going to be tackling NaNoWriMo. This year won't be the first time I've done it; I attempted NaNoWriMo in 2012 and 2013, but being in school at the time had made it difficult to make writing a priority over things like homework and studying. But I tried again last year in 2015 and was able to win with just over 50,000 words! I knew that I could that time because over the summer I was able to complete over 60,000 words in 5 weeks on another novel - essentially two NaNoWriMo novel in one year. Whew!

I'm trying to get better about the whole "self-imposed deadline" thing. I've done it before, so I know I can do it again this time. I have things roughly planned out for this month so I'm going to give it my all and try and win again! (Wish me luck!)

As for trying new things, not only was last month the first time I'd tried doing Inktober, it was also the month where I made my first ever attempt at digital painting.

Now, I've never learned this before and I have no training whatsoever - what I did was the very definition of winging it. Despite that, I don't think it turned out all too awful. There's definitely a ton of room for improvement and I have a lot more to learn about it, but, all things considered, I'm pretty happy with it.

And that's all for now!

But - I'll leave you with a sneak peek for what's coming on Friday.

Which one do you think it will be?