A Positive 2019 Retrospective

[Lizica]

What are some good things that happened to you this past year? ^^ I know sometimes the world can feel like a mess with all the negativity out there, but I also think it's important to try to take a moment to remember the positives, too. <3

--
I can start:

This past year, I got to visit family, and got to meet one of my cousins and her toddler son for the first time!

I took a summer art class and learned a lot and met some cool people.

We saw some baby barn swallows grow up and leave their nest!

I tried doing Inktober for the first time!

I hopefully don't have to see my cardiologist again! (Like, in a positive way, obviously. xD)

We discovered this great recipe for mochiko chicken, and augh, gotta make it again.

And thanks for you guys being around, too. <333 You're such awesome, kind people, and I hope that 2020 will be full of good moments for you all!

[Gelquie]

I'll give it a shot. Because you're right; it is important to take the positives into account too. ^^

I feel like I may come up with more later, so I may either edit them in or make another post.

--
This past year...

I finished all the classes and have a high GPA.

I gradually am getting a better grasp on my research.

I got to be in a play! There were some bumps but overall it was a really great experience!

As a result of being in said play, I feel like I have a better grasp of public speaking.

I got to be in a sorta-class that really helped me think about how I approach topics and teaching topics with others. I still have work to do but I'm making progress!

I was praised for doing a unique take on an assignment in a class and it was brought up a few times after.

I did a blood test for something important it came up negative. (That's a good thing!)

The pets at my parents' house were really happy to see me. (The cats took some time but they always do.) And now they're jealously fighting over who gets to play with me, not noting the fact that I take turns with them.

I've had some fun times in Euroatlantis. And my character got a good chunk of their backstory revealed! (Some critical elements are still a mystery, but trust me that the revealed parts are not insignificant!)

I've added a few recipes to my mental bundle and some of them are really good and better for my health while being relatively easy.

I made some progress on lessening one of my triggers so that I can enjoy a part of life without being reminded of terrible things. *Thumbs up.*

I moved out of my poisonous apartment!

I broke my main pair of glasses... But I didn't like that pair anyway, and it turned out not only was my old pair fine, I liked it better, so it was a blessing in disguise!

I tried a new haircut and in some ways it worked well! Might try it again sometime.

I've accepted some important things about myself.

I've had some really valuable, positive, constructive conversations this year that have meant the world to me. Thank you so much.

All those positive moments of being around people in positive constructive ways, thank you. And may you all have a good year too.

[Celestial]

Ooh, this is a great idea. Let me try!

I started my Masters in Museum and Gallery Studies this year. While it has been a challenge and frustrating at times, I am having a lot of fun with it. This was a good choice.
I also got my highest grade ever on an assignment for this course: 19/20.

Accessed disability at my university for the first time and got to experience how liberating it is to actually get support for my issues.

I met up with so many NTWFers, old and new. This list includes Thorn, Thundy, Liou (all of which came to my place), Frunty and, for the first time ever, Arielle and Stal.

I've had some amazing times in D&D, in EuroAtlantis and my other group. EuroAtlantis especially gets a mention because it is with NTWFers. I've been enjoying revealing things about Meallan and taking him through his character arc to hopefully turn him into a better person.

I did so much travel this year. I went to Valencia in Spain, Vienna in Austria, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Estonia and Ukraine again.

Not read as much as I used to but I still read some incredible books. Ancillary Justice, Seraphina's Lament, The Left Hand of Darkness, all excellent.

I have done a fair bit of art and am pretty pleased with it. I also got Clip Studio Paint and am excited to use it more.

I got into Overly Sarcastic Productions, Ask A Mortician and Extra Credits on Youtube.

Dormouse continues to be a mad, mischievous, too smart for her own good kidling who drives me crazy but I love her anyway.

I learned to bake with yeast. I can have delicious baked goods whenever.

I have cooked and tried so many new, delicious foods from all over the place. Same goes for beers and whiskies.

Went to my first Pride parade. And gotten closer to figuring out gender and sexuality things for myself.

Gained a lot of confidence and learned to stand up for myself a bit more as well as be more vocal.

In birding news, saw my first osprey, black ibis, egyptian vulture, goldeneye, and marsh harrier. Other birds of note this year which are not new but still cool include sparrowhawk and long tailed tit (not notable...except when they are in my garden), dippers, white-tailed eagle, raven, whooper swan, reed warbler, egret, gannet, pochard, brambling...the list goes on and on.

I have met many excellent puppers and kittehs this year.

[Thorn]

This is an amazing idea, Lizica! <3
Here are Good Things from my 2019:

-I got to hang out in Scotland and then York with varying combinations of Liou, Celes and Thundy! I still think about those adventures a lot. Just the other day, when visiting Lush, I was rambling to my brother about the time Celes and I went into the York Lush and got to destroy a bath bomb and run our hands through the glitter!!!

-Saw the Athens acropolis and the ruins of Sparta. <3 And so many archaeology museums!

-Went to Pompeii. Possibly the most amazing experience of my entire life.

-Saw Stratford-upon-Avon with a good friendo! We did some tours, went to a lovely ice-cream place, and got to watch half 'The Taming of the Shrew' before doing a dramatic reading of the second half on the train home. This was the last trip I did in the UK. I didn't like the play that much, but seeing it with a friend and reading it together made the experience so lovely and magical regardless.

-Visited much loved friendos in Auckland! There was movieing, and She-Raing, and wandering, and we went to a show and my friend introduced me to an excellent chocolate shop...all kinds of goodness!
=> On another chocolaty note: before I left the UK, Celes gave me so much chocolaty goodness ahhhh! There was one in a green packet that I ate when playing D&D as Zazz...can't remember the brand but I always nibble dark chocolate when I play him.

-My first day back in New Zealand, a friendo and I wandered Auckland's botanic gardens. Later we went to Rangitoto Island. It was just so cool to be back in the kind of nature I grew up with!

-I came home. Waiting at the departure gate with my city's name above it, coming back in to land at my home airport, and even falling back into my old bed after two years just felt...really nice! Don't get me wrong, I miss a lot about London and the UK- but the process of coming back to a Nice Safe Familiar Place was still lovely.

-Got a job at my favourite store! Well my fave store in my hometown, anyway. Smaller than my old nerdstore but still fun and nerdy- yesterday me and a customer argued in defense of The Last Jedi against a colleague, it was great.

-D&D had to be here somewhere: I've learned a lot and come a long way as a DM! Largely thanks to EuroAtlantis. Running combat is still my weakness, but I'm improving thanks to encouragement and practice and some good articles on Theatre of the Mind. I'm gradually streamlining how I prep for sessions, am getting better at building monster stat blocks, and am improving at seeing NPCs as tools rather than Beloved Creations (unlike my own player characters...as a DM, ideally the NPCs should be there to give the PCs stuff to react to or bounce off!)

-Got into miniature painting for D&D! I love it. Got new wash and terrain sets for my birthday so I can now make them even prettier.

-Started seeing a counselor for my anxiety! I've made some progress and am very happy with that. Still need to read all the material from my last session, but we're down to seeing each other about once a month now. Last session she told me she's also vegetarian and we talked about cool vegan/vegetarian places in town!

-Starting to reconnect with my dad. We don't really know each other that well, so it's been nice. <3

-Saw Wicked and Hamlet at our local theatre! I love theatrestuff, was very cool. As well as The Phantom of the Opera with my brother when we were both in London.

-Got my hair dyed for the first time ever! Colour hasn't lasted very well, but it still looks nice. It was purple at first but now is more a reddish-brown.


Might add more later, we'll see.

[Fraze]

A bit late but I wanted to do this too! 2019 was tough for a lot of little wiggly intangible reasons, but there were also a lot of good things that happened and I want to commemorate them.

-We got a bit of traveling in. We went to the adorable chill island of Hiiumaa for the first time in seven years, and managed to get back to Tartu for a few days as well.

-Celestial came to visit! There was much frolicking, some conspiring, and a lot of interesting and delicious beers.

-I got a new classroom on the fourth floor of the school. There's a great view of the city, and for literally the first time EVER I get a classroom with natural light!

-Worked together with another Math teacher to make an exam that, if it gets chosen, will be the graduating exam used by every school in the European School system. This is the first time our school has been asked to make these exams, and we were really proud of what we put together. All the word problems are about dragons. (If we're asked to make another exam next year I'll try to make it superhero/villain themed and see if I can make a storyline.)

-Traveler is thriving. He took to kindergarten like the little extravert that he is and it's so satisfying seeing him with a pack of bros.

-The Very Very Big Good Thing got finalized. It isn't something I want to talk about in detail publicly, but it's kind of life-changing.

-I started therapy, which probably deserves a diary post of its own. Confronting your internalized negative patterns of thought and behavior isn't easy by any measure, but I have to believe that it'll lead to good things in the end.

-Although life and things sometimes get rocky, I'm still in love with Huntress .

[Breakingchains]

In no particular order:

- Took a trip to Costa Rica!
- Met my Internet Boy <3
- Expanded my rock and crystal collection significantly. Shiny!
- Got a PS4 and beat the crap out of Bloodborne lol
- Made a lot of progress in therapy and recovery. Got the correct diagnoses, gained a lot of new skills for just handling life.
- Watched Spooky grow up from a squeaking fluffball into a big beautiful kitty

(Lizica thank you for this thread, I think I needed that)