Well, here we are, onto another year. 2024 blasted by like no other. Looking back at the lack of posts this year, I feel bad for those who follow my blog. I fully intended on blogging a lot more than I did in 2024, but time eluded me. Between the release of my third book, karate with the kids, working full time, and getting some time to write here and there, it was hard to find the time to sit down and compose a post. Because of the crazy year, it made me think long and hard how I want to approach 2025.
Sometime around Christmas, I have been feeling that I need to 'clean up' my life. What I mean is that because I am so busy with life, I've been barely scraping by on some of my personal goals, and other goals have managed to slip away. One of them being my cosplay/photoshoot goals. I don't necessarily want to shoot all the time or make costumes constantly, but I have been missing my creative side. This year, I fully plan to do at least one epic photoshoot and start crafting at least one other costume. I've had some major ideas on what costume I want to shoot; all I need to do is get a few things for the costume, set up a time/place with the photographer, and schedule some time off of work. As for cleaning up another area of my life, this includes managing my time and scheduling my weeks accordingly. One of the things that takes up a lot of time is my karate. I started off being a karate mom nearly two years ago, requiring taking the kids to class once a week. They became more involved, which meant eating up my Saturdays and sometimes additional classes during the week. Because of all the time spent, I joined karate too, not only to spend more time with my kids, but also to improve myself. Since joining a little over a year ago, I ranked up three belt colors. In a couple of weeks is the next belt ceremony, and am hoping that I move up at least three stripes in my belt rank. We will see! But I will say since joining I have thoroughly enjoyed karate, especially the sparring aspect. There are a few other adults in the class which I get to spar with. Most of them are bigger men that are stronger and higher rank. But because I am fighting harder opponents, I learn quicker and gain much more experience rather than fight someone my rank and size. Sparring is something I really look forward to and get much satisfaction out of it. As I mentioned prior, karate takes up much of my Saturdays and sometimes during the week. Because of me wanting to clean up my life and maximize my time, I have considered cutting back - for me and the kids. I'm not making any sort of decision yet as I want to see how this next semester of karate goes with me trying to schedule my time more appropriately.
One of the final thoughts I have is that I need to cut out the negativity in my life. I am good at staying away from anything or anyone that can drag me (or my family) down. Recently though, I feel like things that were once positive in my life have turned to poison. These things and situations have led to me to a place where I no longer want to be in life, and need to be cut out so I can move on. Sorry if this seems vague, but I think one can get the general idea of what I am saying. As for 2025, I am starting to plan fun things to do throughout the year. Camping trips, the Renaissance Fair (Arizona and California), an epic photoshoot, crafting a costume, possible retro computer convention, and a few book conventions. I will really make an effort this year to blog more, as it's another thing I miss doing. I also want to thank everyone who has supported me over the years. I have always appreciated it, even though I might not always say it. I love hearing from everyone, or reading a comment on my blog. Here's to an uplifting and creative 2025! Cheers! -Beth
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