(By the way, I am not drinking champagne on a beach in France, as the photo implies. I’m on my way back to Kansas City, and I’m glamorously drinking champagne in an inexpensive hotel room in Amarillo, TX. I just thought it was a nice image!)
As I said in my video about my New Year’s resolutions, 2015 was a pretty amazing year. Of course, even the best year brings some difficulties and disappointments, and even the worst year brings some things to be grateful.
But in 2015, I had a lot of reasons to be grateful. Here are 15 of them!
1. Meeting the Scoobies – a group of fascinating, creative women who write, right in Kansas City.
2. Getting to see the redwood forest with Mr. Donovan! Here’s me hugging a giant tree.
3. Seeing the Royals win the World Series! Kansas City is a beautiful place, and this brought out the best in us.
4. Receiving an “American Hero” award from the National Kidney Registry at a fancy dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, because I donated a kidney to a stranger the year before.
(I didn’t know donors were going to get awards. I just showed up for the fancy dinner. Let this be a lesson to you: don’t pass up fancy dinners.)
5. Getting a “Caught in the Act” award from Random Acts, the nonprofit of one of my favorite actors, Misha Collins of Supernatural, for the same reason. This was even more unexpected! Geek that I am, I was particularly thrilled to have a certificate signed by Mr. Collins. My amazing friend and fellow SPN fan Michele nominated me. (She has a terrific blog, by the way!)
I always feel embarrassed talking about the donation (including posting about it right now), because people give me way too much credit for something that was not that hard for me. I talk about it anyway because I figure, who knows? Someone else might see it sometime and think, “Hey, I could do that.”
6. Being healthy all year. This is the kind of thing that’s way too easy to take for granted, but it’s one of the best blessings a person could ask for.
7. Finding a voice and direction for my blog.
8. My blog inspired my book, Master Lists for Writers, which launched in October. Lots of people liked it!
9. Getting my family together in Chicago over the summer…
10. And spending time with my family and Mr. Donovan’s family, over the holidays!
Here’s me with my grandma at Thanksgiving. Isn’t she beautiful? Friends. She is 95. And sharp as a tack! I know, I’ve got some great genes going for me.
11. Talented friends of mine made a poem I wrote into a video!
12. Having my own line of cards in the Hallmark stores. This was a once-in-a-career kind of thrill! I think my mother will never stop bragging.
The other day I popped into a card shop to buy my Yankee candle for January (yes, I have a Yankee candle for every month – shut up 🙂 ), and the salesperson immediately asked me, “Are you here to check on your card collection?” She recognized me! I was so surprised.
13. I celebrated an anniversary with Mr. Donovan. Not a milestone, but then again, they’re all kind of milestones, right? I married him when I was 23, and I love him more all the time.
14. I got to be even better friends with some of the wonderful, supportive, talented, and hilarious people I work with. I am so lucky to know them, I can’t even tell you.
15. And I made new friends with talented, fascinating people online! Yes!
After I post this, I’ll probably think of more things! Looking back, I really think 2015 was my best year yet, and I believe 2016 will be even better.
What were you grateful for in 2015? I’d love to hear! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Cheers!
Wow! A fellow writer AND a fellow Kansan (I’m in Newton, not so very far from you by Kansas rules).
What am I grateful for in 2015?
1. A year of creative silence in the studio and nearly a year of creative silence writing fiction. Yes. I’m grateful for those two things. Being taken totally out of the loop in my two most creative areas–areas in which I never thought I could fail–taught me that it’s not all about me.
2. What I hope to be my debut novel nearing completion (for the 17th and hopefully final time.) This time, I think it’s really going to be finished. Depending on what the developmental editor has to say.
3. A great year of writing freelance articles. 43 were published this year. That’s a milestone.
4. The opportunity to apply for gallery representation with a gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. I didn’t make the first cut, that but that’s okay, too. I learned to take a chance, let go, and let God.
5. Four orphan kittens bouncing around in the “nursery”. Their feral mom disappeared when they were two weeks old. They’re now approaching seven months. Anyone looking for a kitten?!
6. Mr. Lewis. I was 40 when I met Mr. Lewis. Never married. Still living at home. I thought life was over and the next 40 years would be a downhill slide. Then look what God did! We’ll celebrate our 14th anniversary in 2016. Remarkable.
7. A steady supply of students for my online art courses. I never thought I could teach. I’m still not sure about that, but my students are telling me different.
8. The encouragement of students, who tell me things that make my face turn red (and at my age!)
9. Health. We’re still walking every day and enjoying it most of the time.
10. Snow. Yep. That’s right. I grew up in Michigan, where we had “real winters”. I saw snow last night and felt like I’d been given a late Christmas present.
11. The gift of words. Writing is one of my favorite things, whether I’m journaling, writing fiction, writing blog posts or freelance articles, or just word doodling.
12. The gift of art. I’ve been drawing since I was old enough to stand up and use a crayon on a wall.
13. Horses. What beautiful creatures!
14. The Flint Hills. Never was I so moved by the landscape than when I first laid eyes on the Flint Hills. I still love ’em.
15. The gift of life. Without Him from whom all blessings flow, none of the rest would be possible.
Yay, a fellow Kansan writer! Haha, my novels need lots of revising, too. Holy smokes, 43 articles? How is that even possible? So impressive!
What a wonderful list. Wishing you every blessing in 2016!
I’m grateful for my husband, my kids and my sanity….or what’s left of it.
<3 We only need a little, right? That's what I tell myself, anyway! Happy New Year! 🙂
It really was a great year for you — it’s been a pleasure watching you experience so many wonderful things. I’m really grateful for your wonderful example this year. You really helped me stay focused on my own goals!
Awww! Hey I really want to see you soon! I was just talking to Mr. Donovan in the car today about how I was missing you!
This is a beautiful post- I love all your pictures!! Thanks for the shout-out. 😉 You did all the heavy lifting, but I’ll take it. Love you bby, and I’m glad you had an amazing year! I’ll do an end-of-the-year wrap-up of my own I expect. xo
Just giving credit where credit is due! You are an amazing friend. I would love to read your wrap-up if you feel like writing one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I’m grateful for bloggers like you, who I meet by happenstance and gain another glimmer of the joy and wonder in the human race. I need only to read posts like yours to erase all the ‘ugly’ out there, and realize how much beauty we all have, right in front of us. Thank you for the sharing of your life (not just a kidney). Your grandmother, by the way, is an inspiration in and of itself. What a beautiful woman! Happy New Year.
This is just so kind, I hardly know what to say! Happy New Year, and wishing you everything good in 2016! I’m so glad I’ve gotten to connect with you.
Happy New Year Bryn! One of my very pleasant events of 2015 was finding your blog and book Master Lists. It has certainly given me many points of inspiration for writing. I wish you and all of the followers of this blog a very inspiring 2016.
Cheryl! Ohh thank you so much. I’m so glad I got to meet you! I hope your 2016 is fantastic.
Great entry! Man, 2015 was fully loaded with awesome for you! And you deserved every bit of it. I wish we had a Hallmark up here so that I could get a few of your cards. 🙂
Aww thank you. <3 Love you! It was so good to see you!
I am grateful for my husband of 36 years and the rest of my family, including furbabies. I am grateful for having an interesting life filled with good friends and wonderful opportunities. And I am grateful for finding a direction for my own blog – when I began it, I assumed I should blog about writing information, but you do a much better job of that. I am having a lot of fun blogging about pet information and humor, not to mention Purrseidon’s strange obsession with water.
These are such great things to be grateful for. 🙂 I’m following your blog — looking forward to more goodness in 2016! I’m so glad I’ve gotten to know you!
And I am glad I discovered your blog, too.
Wow sounds like you had a very packed year, I shall have to check out your book it sounds helpful.