Tag: monthly wrapup

Blogging, life

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale- August 2016

Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

  • Miles Walked This Month (July 26th-August 30th):  83.7 miles
  • Total Miles Walked:  473.8 miles
  • Milestones Reached: Rivendell, Thunder Battle

“And so at last they all came to the Last Homely House, and found it’s doors flung wide […] His [Elrond’s] house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 3: A Short Rest

“All was well, until one day they met a thunderstorm – more than a thunderstorm, a thunder-battle […] Bilbo had never seen or imagined anything of the kind […] When he peeped out in the lightning-flashes, he saw that across the valley the stone-giants were out and were hurling rocks at one another for a game, and catching them, and tossing them down into the darkness where they smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang. “

~The Hobbit, Chapter 4: Over Hill and Under Hill

Well, I reached Rivendell, but I didn’t get much rest. I had my best month so far in August! And like Bilbo, I spent a great deal of it climbing around in the mountains:

Mesa Verde, Colorado
Mesa Verde, Colorado
Mesa Verde, Colorado

But I also spent some time in the air as well:

Pagosa Springs, CO
Pagosa Springs, CO
Pagosa Springs, CO

My Colorado vacation got me all the way through the Thunder-Battle, and well on my way to the goblin’s Front Porch! We should be through Gollum’s Lake (plus One ;P) and reunited with our beloved dwarves before September is done! We are a fourth of the way through our adventure, guys! It’s exciting!

See you next time!

 

 

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Blogging, life

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale- July 2016

Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

  • Miles Walked This Month (June 30th-July 25th):  55.5 miles
  • Total Miles Walked:  390.1 miles
  • Milestones Reached: Trollshaws, Ford of Bruinen

“For just at that moment the light came over the hill, and there was a mighty twitter in the branches. William never spoke for he turned to stone as he stooped; and Bert and Tom were stuck like rocks as they looked at him. And there they stand to this day, all alone, unless the birds perch on them…”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

“One morning they forded a river at a wide shallow place full of the noise of stones and foam. The far bank was steep and slippery. When they got to the top of it, leading their ponies, they saw that the great mountains had marched down very near to them.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 3: A Short Rest

Well, it wasn’t the worst month I’ve ever had, but it was a near thing. I did, however, manage to walk more than I did last month, which was the goal! We survived Trollshaws (without being squashed to jelly!):

trollshaws

We’ve nearly made it to Rivendell, but not quite, we’re just on the other side of the Ford of Bruinen:

4e6fe43f6e813_241_lotrford-of-bruinen2

Next month, we’ll meet Lord Elrond and begin our perilous journey into the Misty Mountains, if all goes well!

On a blogging note, you may have noticed that I missed last week’s blog post. This was due to a combination of Camp NaNoWriMo, and the fact that I’m considering switching that particular post to something else. I didn’t have time to get it ready this month, but stay tuned next month for something new and exciting!

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Blogging, Writing

The Quarterly Writing Round Up!- Q2, 2016

Emily

A reminder:  At the beginning of the year, I made some yearly goals and some quarterly goals, which I promised to reevaluate and re-prioritize every three months. It’s been six months now, and it’s time to look back at Quarter Two 2016! Here’s a recap of my goals for the year, in case you don’t want to go back and read the original post:

Overall goals for the year: Finish Changing History rewrites DONE! (Q1), Finish first draft of Changing History: Entwives, Write the Worth Living For short that I’ve been planning for ages, Edit and begin posting Clarity DONE! (Q2), Finish the first draft of all three parts of Wonderland Reclaimed.

Reward Project: If I finish Wonderland Reclaimed, I can write my Avengers: Age of Ultron fic for NaNoWriMo in November.

So out of five goals, I’ve finished two. Not quite half, but pretty close, considering I’ve been working on Calenhiril’s Search as well.

And here’s the month by month!

Quarter Two, 2016- Review

April: Camp NaNoWriMo #1! Edit Clarity (A Loki Fanfiction).

  • I did this! 80,000 words edited in thirty days! It was awesome! I’m super excited! 😀

May: Continue to post at least one chapter of Calenhiril’s Search and DBTT a week. Finish the first draft of Wonderland Reclaimed, or add 50,000 new words (whichever comes first).

  • I posted three chapters of Calenhiril’s Search. Respectable, but not quite what I was hoping for.
  • I only posted one chapter of Double The Baggins, Twice The Took, and this was the month that I decided to put this particular fic aside for the time being, until I could dedicate the time and attention it deserves.
  • No new words were written in May. Actually, I may have, kinda, forgot I had even made this goal. Whoops! ;P Hopefully July will make up for this!

June: Prep month for Camp NaNoWriMo #2! Depending on how May goes, either prep for editing Wonderland Reclaimed, or prep for a finishing WriMo (50K words on Wonderland/Calenhiril’s Search/DBTT). Begin posting schedule for Clarity (M/W/F).

  • I… prepped as much as I could? Okay, I didn’t really prep for Camp. I’m doing a Finishing WriMo so it’s not quite as critical, but I probably should have done more on this front. Hopefully it won’t be too detrimental. Also, I changed up one of the stories I decided to finish, instead of DBTT I’m working on my Worth Living For short (one of my year-end goals, so yay!).
  • I started posting Clarity! \o/ I only missed one day early in June, but I’m still well on my way to being finished with Clarity by the end of the month of… wow, I’ll probably be done by the end of July if I keep up the way I have! 🙂
  • I also got back into the swing of posting Calenhiril’s Search and made up for the missed chapter in May by posting five chapters in June 🙂

In review, I think I accomplished a decent amount this quarter. Granted, no new words were written (I feel like such a dumbass for forgetting that goal, tbh), but I got a lot of other things finished and several more things are in the process of being finished. One of my goals for 2017 is to limit myself to two sprawling epics in a year, one fanfic and one original work. I’m well on my way to making that happen, I think 🙂

With that in mind, here’s what I have planned for the next three months:

Quarter Three, 2016- Goals

July: Camp NaNoWriMo #2! Finishing WriMo including Calenhiril’s Search, Paradise Found (Worth Living For short), and Wonderland Reclaimed: Down The Rabbit Hole, 50k words cumulative. Possibly finish posting Clarity, but NaNo is the priority.

August: Finish posting Clarity (if not finished in July), I don’t plan to add any new words this month, instead focusing on the editing and posting of Calenhiril’s Search (at least one chapter posted a week, more as I finish them).

September: Continue posting at least one chapter of Calenhiril’s Search a week, complete first edit of Paradise Found, add at least another 25k to Wonderland Reclaimed.

So, with any luck, by next quarter, I will have finished two more of my yearly goals and be well on my way to completing another, which will put me on track for the year! I’m really looking forward to this quarter, I think my goals are definitely doable, if nothing untoward happens (which, let’s be honest, is always a possibility).

Until next time!

pusheen-typing

Blogging, life

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale- June 2016

Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

  • Miles Walked This Month (June 1st-June 29th):  54.6 miles
  • Total Miles Walked:  334.6 miles
  • Milestones Reached:  The Last Bridge

“I don’t know what river it was, a rushing red one, swollen with the rains of the last few days, that came down from the hills and mountains in front of them.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

Well, it was a slog this month, but I finally made it out of the Lone Lands and across the Last Bridge!

l1080554

I walked the least amount in a month that I have since I started this journey and next month isn’t promising to be a big walking month either, what with Camp NaNo and all. But my goal is to at least walk more than I did this month, because this is pathetic! With that in mind, I should see you all at the Ford of Bruinen! 🙂

Blogging, life

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale- May 2016

Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

  • Miles Walked This Month (Apr 26th-May 31st):  80.8 miles
  • Total Miles Walked:  280 miles
  • Milestones Reached:  Traveling the Lone Lands to the Last Bridge

“Everything seemed gloomy, for the weather that day had taken a nasty turn. Mostly it had been as good as May can be, even in merry tales, but now it was cold and wet.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

Ugh, that’s a nasty description isn’t it? Kind of like the weather today, actually. But I walked the farthest in one month that I have yet, so I just can’t quite feel as gloomy as Bilbo and the dwarves right now 🙂 I only have 45 miles to the Last Bridge and then things will start to get exciting!

But for now, here we are…

thelonelandsbannergleams

 Better just keep trekking 😉

Blogging, life

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale- April 2016

Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

  • Miles Walked This Month (29th-25th):  59.8 miles
  • Total Miles Walked:  199.2 miles
  • Milestones Reached:  The Midgewater Marshes, Weathertop

“Not far ahead were dreary hills, rising higher and higher, dark with trees. On some of them were old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

Hey guys! I got bogged down in the Midgewater Marshes this month. I actually missed the Weathertop mark by 0.8 of a mile, but I’m counting it, because I’m sure I can see it from here…

weathertop

I’m coming up on a long stretch of lonely land (125 miles!), which is probably gonna take me two months to get through, if previous months are any indication. Better get started!

Blogging, life

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale, by fogisbeautiful- March 2016

Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

  • Miles Walked This Month (1st-28th)– 65.8 miles
  • Total Miles Walked-  139.4 miles
  • Milestones Reached- Bree, The Forsaken Inn

“Now they had gone on far into the Lone-lands, where there were no people left, no inns, and the roads grew steadily worse.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

I didn’t quite make it to the Midgewater Marshes, but that’s mostly because I’m posting this a bit early! I didn’t want to wait until the end of next month to post an update, so here I am, just short of the Marshes and about to catch sight of Weathertop for the first time! I’m quite pleased with my progress and pleased to report that every month I have increased my distance, at least a little bit! We might make it to the Lonely Mountain yet!

A quick view of the current landscape:

Midgewater_Marsheslotr

Well… that’s depressing. But all the more reason to keep moving forward! 🙂 See you next month!

Blogging

Wrappin’ Up The Month With… Wait, What?

Emily

I know what you guys are thinking:

WahlbergNotThePost

And you’re right, it’s not. For one, it’s too early for March’s wrap up post. And, let’s be honest, how often am I early with anything? ;P For two, you’ll notice a distinct lack of content in this particular post. This is not because I haven’t done anything this month (quite the contrary, actually), but rather because this is more of an… announcement, than an update. There’s going to be a slight change around the blog, and I wanted to make everyone aware.

piggy

I’ve enjoyed posting my Monthly Wrap Ups for the past nine months. It’s been nice to have an excuse to look at what I’ve done and either pat myself on the back, or kick my butt into high gear. And it’s been nice to have a regular segment on the blog that I can keep up with. It’s very encouraging. But I am aware (as I’m sure the rest of you are) that it is a little… unwieldy. Honestly, it feels a little bit like this:

tumblr_inline_n438katthd1rd8izi

And no one wants their blog posts to feel like an unholy contract with the King of Hell. So, I am proposing a small modification. Rather than one long post at the end/beginning of the month that no one wants to try to wade through, I am going to break up each segment of my regular Wrap Up into four separate blog posts. These will be posted once a week, starting in April, and will detail what I’ve been up to in each respective area since the last post of that nature. Hopefully, this will also give me more room to explore each area in more depth, should I choose too, which will be nice. And also keep people from looking like this halfway through my posts:

bunny-falls-asleep-at-desk

…I mean, not that this wouldn’t be adorable… You get what I’m saying ;P

So I’ll see you all again in April!

giphy

Blogging, Random, Reading, Writing

Wrappin’ Up The Month With Fog: February Edition

Emily

 

Once More Unto the (Writing) Breach

  • Changing History: I DID IT! I ACTUALLY FINISHED THE EPIC REWRITE!!!

tumblr_mdtxe4jxan1qh0vhjo1_500

Part Four (Calenhiril’s Search) will start posting on March 3rd and I’m SO EXCITED!!!

tumblr_lrx5jpomhz1qhlc2x

I’m not… technically… finished with the entire first draft of Part Four yet, but I’m far enough along (and I’ve edited the first half enough times in the past year) that I feel pretty confident in my ability to begin posting in March. Of course, I’ll probably only get three or four chapters posted before Camp NaNoWriMo in April, but that will be FOUR CHAPTERS CLOSER TO THE END, OH MY GOD, I CAN’T EVEN!

tumblr_n22z3c1vfa1tq4of6o1_400

  • Writing Excuses: “15 minutes long, because you’re in a hurry and we’re not that smart.” If you haven’t listened to this podcast (starring Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells), then you are missing out! My friend, Elissa (who I’ve mentioned on this blog more times than I can count. If you aren’t reading her blog, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU???) mentioned this podcast in a recent post and (surprise, surprise) I had never heard of it. But I had heard of Brandon Sanderson, so I decided to give it a shot. From that very first line, I was sold. I downloaded several episodes through Podcast Republic on my phone, and have been listening to the playlist for days. They make being an author feel like something attainable, something that real, actual people do, and do well. It’s both encouraging, entertaining, and informative, I highly recommend it!

Have You Hugged a Book Today?

ReadingChallengeFeb16

I’m still behind, but I’m working on it. No, really! Stop laughing!

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header 🙂

  • Books I’ve finished:
    1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster- Three Stars (though, to be fair, I really only skimmed it. I’ll be reading it again in more depth at a later time)
    2. Ms. Marvel Vol. 3: Crushed by Willow G. Wilson- Five Stars
    3. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss- Five Stars (Patrick Rothfuss is a god amongst men…)
  • What I’m currently reading (In order of Date Started):
    1. The Gunslinger by Stephen King– I finally started this series! I’m hoping to read the whole series this year, but I’m definitely behind, so we’ll have to see.
    2. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes– This is the book that my book club has decided to read for March, but I started it early 😉 I came to the Princess Bride later in life, but the story is so timeless and lovely that I fell in love instantly. Cary Elwes tells the tale of his experience making the movie with such wide-eyed wonder and humility, it is a joy to listen to. And the guest appearances from the other members of the cast and crew add delightful flavor to the book.
  • Book to Screen (Twitter live!tag-#fogwatches):
    • Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix- I’m gonna be honest here. This was not as jarringly awful as I thought it was going to be. It was horrendously painful (and god, I hate Umbridge SO MUCH!), but it wasn’t “awful”. There were several wonderful moments, mostly containing Sirius and Remus, and I think I felt more sympathy for Harry in the movie than I did in the book. I mean, he’s still an annoying emo-teen, but I felt a little more sympathetic toward his emo-ness. If you really want all of my feelings, you should check out the live!tag on Twitter (listed above), I’ve been told it was entertaining ;P

#Hashtags and other minutia

Do I Actually Have a Life?

“At first they had passed through hobbit-lands, a wild respectable country inhabited by decent folk, with good roads, an inn or two, and now and then a dwarf or a farmer ambling by on business.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

As I suspected, I nearly made it to Bree! I am roughly 11 miles away, as of this writing! I probably could have made it to Bree in fact, if I hadn’t taken a week off from doing nearly anything this month, and then gotten sick in the last week. Oh well, next month! 🙂

DuolingoFeb16

I was doing really well, but then I lost my 20 day streak and I sort of… gave in. I’ve done really well though! I got through my review of the first set of lessons and nearly finished the second set, which was exactly what I expected to accomplish 🙂

I also wanted to share some highlights from my lessons with you guys because, quite frankly, this program has been so entertaining, and deserves to be shared with the world ;P

2016-02-05 13.50.50
Why yes. Yes, I am.
2016-02-05 13.51.58
This is unnecessarily frightening. Mostly because it’s true…
2016-02-08 18.34.57
Even my Spanish lesson thinks I should be writing!
2016-02-17 18.40.12
It’s occasionally uncanny how well this program knows me…

“And In Conclusion…”

  • Writing- Begin posting Calenhiril’s Search and start doing the preliminary work for Clarity (my Loki fanfiction, which I will be editing for Camp NaNoWriMo in April!)
  • Reading- I still haven’t managed to fix my audiobook files that I messed up, I’m going to try to do that this month, and then catch up on my reading!
  • Social Media- Don’t forget about Instagram! ;P
  • My Personal Life- Walk to the Midgewater Marshes. Complete 5 more lesson bubbles on Duolingo and reach level 7 (nearly level 8).

And… that’s it! This has been an exciting month, hopefully the momentum will continue!

 

 

Blogging, Random, Reading, Writing

Wrappin’ Up The Month With Fog: January Edition

Emily

First Wrap Up of the New Year! Let’s get to it! 🙂

Once More Unto the (Writing) Breach

  • Changing History: I managed to post three chapters last month, which is not as much as I wanted to get done. I also did not get any work done on Entwives at all.  I feel a little bit stuck to be honest, I’m going to try to push through that this month, even if it means skipping ahead.
  • Surprise!: I started a new, exciting project this month, completely unexpectedly! Not only is it in a fandom that has been currently ruining my life (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), but it is also my very first collaboration! The story is a High School Alternate Universe fanfiction, based on this tumblr post:
http://mamalaz.tumblr.com/post/137822574112/the-force-awakens-high-school-au-finn-plays-for

I am really excited about this project and my collaborator is a complete delight! I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated as progress is made.

Have You Hugged a Book Today?

JanReadChal16

I’m sort of failboating here. Not good. Part of the reason is because I haven’t been listening to my audiobooks, like I did last year. And I am out of time when it comes to actual paper, apparently. I’ll see what I can do to fix that, but for now let’s take a look at what I did finish this month!

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header 🙂

  • Books I’ve finished:
    1. Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire- Four Stars
    2. Wolverine and Jubilee: Curse of the Mutants by Kathryn Immonen- Three Stars
    3. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Vol 1 by Ryan North- Three Stars
  • Book to Screen:
    1. The Help– I put this off for a long, long time. And even though I tried to wait until the book’s effect had worn off, it wasn’t long enough. The movie just can’t compare. It was good, don’t get me wrong (I mean, it did make me cry… twice), but the book was so much more. I actually don’t think it would be possible for anyone to make a movie that could compare to the book for me. I enjoyed it, but only in that it made me want to read the book again 🙂
    2. I feel I should mention, I’m trying to live tweet whenever I watch one of these movies. If you’d like to follow along, or just go back and read my reactions to some of the movies I watch, the hashtag I use is #fogwatches

#Hashtags and other minutia

I did pretty well on the social media front this month! Yay me! Let’s play those highlights!

  • My Favorite Tumblr Reblog: Truth talk.
http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/138109185959/reasons-i-am-like-bb-8

  • My Favorite Tumblr Post: Poe Dameron is ruining my life, someone help…
http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/137699426079/i-wrote-the-beginning-of-this-thing-and-it-made-me

  • Twitter Retweet: Look me in the eye and tell me this was necessary.

  • Twitter Post: In honor of Alan Rickman’s passing I watched Sense and Sensibility. I expected it to make me sad, but instead it just made me angry.

  • Instagram: I’m constantly in awe of how much my friends just FLIPPING GET ME! ;P

View this post on Instagram

MY FRIENDS FLIPPING GET ME!!! MY VERY OWN BUCKY!!!

A post shared by Emily (@fogisbeautiful) on

  • Instagram: My crafting accomplishment of the month- Supported Spinning!

  • Just For Fun: I CAN’T UNSEE THIS, OH LORD…
http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/138246776541/millenniumfucko-im-gonna-tear-up-the-fucking

Do I Actually Have a Life?

For the first time in several months, I actually have something to report in this area! Two things actually! Let’s get started! 🙂

  • My good friend, Elissa is my Gandalf.

You see, not long ago she sent me a link to this post, by a blog called Nerd Fitness. It was all about walking to Mordor. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking:

And I concur. Wholeheartedly. In fact, after checking out the original website that contains the details of that particular walk, I felt a little bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. I mean 1779 miles? ONE WAY??? Eep.

But if you’ll look closely (and scroll down a little farther) there is another path that we might take. The path of that great (albeit reluctant) adventurer…

The path of Bilbo Baggins to the Lonely Mountain.

So, as a fan this really appeals to me, I get to start my adventure with the adventure that started it all! As a couch potato that is easily discouraged this also appeals to me, because (according to my calculations) the journey is only going to be 1755 miles, round trip! That’s still a lot, but because I am a complete nerd, I modified Nerd Fitness’s Google spreadsheet and broke the journey down into (mostly) manageable chunks. So, I went out and bought a Fitbit Flex and I have started my journey!

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You are welcome to follow my progress on my modified spreadsheet, or even save your own copy of the spreadsheet and walk with me! After all, Bilbo didn’t go it alone:

Either way, I’ll be sure to keep everyone apprised of my progress, both here on the blog and probably on Twitter and/or Tumblr. Because nerd things deserve to be shared! 😛

  • Anybody use Duolingo? It’s a free online program and app to learn a language. I discovered it before, but never really committed. Now I think I want to try again, starting with Spanish. It’s a fun app that feels a lot like a game and I’m really enjoying it 🙂 If anyone is using it, or feels like signing up, feel free to find me and make me a friend, I can always use the competition! 😉 As always, I’m fogisbeautiful.

“And In Conclusion…”

  • Writing- I’m already having to modify my goals for the year. But that’s just life I suppose 🙂 In February, I plan to finish posting my edited chapters of Changing History: Second Chances, finish the first draft of Entwives, and finalize an outline for my Force Awakens collaboration. This is going to be a lot of work, but I’m going to do my best.
  • Reading- Get my audiobook files fixed, so I can start listening again. Finish The Wise Man’s Fear. Start The Gunslinger.
  • Social Media- Keep up the good work, yo! 😉
  • My Personal Life- According to early calculations, I expect I can almost make it to Bree by the end of the month, if I’m persistent. I think I can make it through my review of the first section of my Duolingo lessons and also finish up the second section as well.

And that’s it! The first Wrap Up of 2016! Not a complete fail, not a complete win, but I’m working steadily and that’s what counts 🙂 See you all in February!