As I’m sure you can relate, I typically forget just how many things happened over the last year. So while it might be a little difficult to actually remember what happened, I do enjoy writing these yearly recaps because it gives me a chance to go look back through everything I’ve done and remember that I actually have accomplished a lot this year! And to recognize that I have a lot to be proud of!

 

January

 

The biggest thing that happened in January was announcing that Kristina and I would be doing another book soundtrack for the Green Rider series; this time for the second book in the series, First Rider’s Call. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous about doing this a second time, since the first soundtrack took SO much time and effort, but I was also very excited about the opportunities and new things we decided we would try this time.

 

I also started doing monthly creativity challenges in my Discord. So many people have created some truly original and fun entries, from a cosplay entry, a short story, and even sugar cookies (my Twitch friends know how big of a fan I was of the sugar cookie entry)!

 

Finally, I finished editing “The Spinner” scene in my Passages series, which I had shot in November of 2020. I really, really loved how these turned out, and to be honest, they’re one of my very favorites from all of the Passages scenes I’ve completed so far!

 

February

 

After several months of waiting to see if computer part prices would go down, I finally caved and bought the last few pieces I needed for a new PC and then built it on my Twitch stream. The bad news is that I ended up paying more money than I would have pre-pandemic, but the good news is that prices have continued to rise, so biting the bullet ended up being the right call.

 

Doing it on stream ALSO ended up being the right call, as building your own PC is complicated stuff! I would not have been able to do it without all the people showing up to my stream to help me assemble and troubleshoot when things weren’t working as expected. And now I have an awesome PC that has been marvelous to use ever since!

 

That wasn’t all that happened this month, though! As many of us can remember, February was the month of the crazy winter storm that took out Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana and MAN…. it was THE craziest weather I have ever seen in Arkansas. Our pipes froze at our house, so we ended up having to stay at one of my parents’ AirBnBs for a week while the weather warmed up enough for all of our pipes to thaw out. Vacations are nice, but when you weren’t planning on taking one, it’s REALLY nice to be home after a week in someone else’s bed.

 

 

March

 

In March, we FINALLY did the Pondered in Sorrow shoot. It ended up being in the pouring rain (we even had to take cover from some lightning at one point!), but I think the weather actually added to the photos and the story I was trying to tell with this scene.

 

A few weeks later, Kristina and I opened the First Rider’s Call crowdfunding campaign and managed to hit over 60% funded by the end of March (in about two weeks time)!

 

April and May

 

Much of April was focused on the crowdfunding campaign, but the month ended on a highlight when we finished the campaign at fully funded with $57,000 raised!

 

May was sort of a low-key month (probably a good thing, since the crowdfunding period was SO hectic). I did start brainstorming the next Passages scene, which I gave the working title of Differences to.

 

 

June

 

June was a good one! The most important thing that happened is Hoki’s green card arrived! It arrived the day we got home from our vacation, which was a nice surprise. Since Hoki wasn’t able to work for about a month in between when his work visa expired and his green card came through, we decided to take the time to visit some National Parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone) and see friends in Utah.

 

I also turned 31 in June! Which seems weird because I’m still convinced it’s 2020 and that I should only by 30. This COVID thing has really thrown us all for a loop time-wise!

 

 

July

 

It was good we were able to take such a nice long vacation in June because in July, we hit the ground running again with the first big photoshoot weekend for the First Rider’s Call project. Friends and fans traveled from all over the United States to participate and we had the most amazing locations and horses to work with, so it was a wonderful (but EXHAUSTING) weekend!

 

I also joined TikTok. Lol.

 

 

August

 

Because I wasn’t crazy enough, August was a month of adding more projects to the list. I finally finished editing Pondered in Sorrow, which was first, exciting to add to my Passages collection and second, relieving to get off of my endless to-do list.

 

I also made two Zelda inspired costumes for my nieces and did a photoshoot when I went out to visit them in Utah! I still haven’t been able to edit those photos, which I’m hugely bummed about, but they are some of the first items on my list for 2022!

 

I ALSO started ANOTHER project which I titled “Pop Couture”. This project entails taking pop culture characters, and creating couture costumes inspired by these characters using thrift store finds. My first project was reinventing a friend’s old wedding dress into a Black Panther inspired gown. Like with the Zelda project, I haven’t been able to work on this project much since I first started, but this is also one of the first items on the list to get back to in 2022.

 

 

September

 

After weeks of editing, I started releasing the first of the First Rider’s Call artwork in September, just before heading out on a little vacation down to Gulf Shores, Alabama. I didn’t plan it this way, but it seems like my vacations all lined up very well to give me a little peace and quiet just before the storm, because the big thing after THIS vacation was the second round of photoshoots for the First Rider’s Call project. 

 

 

October

 

In October, I had my inaugural Twitch party, which was, of course, Halloween themed. I did bobbing for apples (each apple was a gift to my Twitch viewers, like free prints and zoom lessons), Truth or Dare games, and some Halloween-themed sketches.

 

Other than that, I mostly just edited literally ALL month in an effort to try to meet the November deadline for getting all the First Rider’s Call artwork finished… and got major burn out because of it, haha.

 

 

November

 

Because of the burnout in October, Kristina and I ultimately decided to delay the project by a couple months so that we could slow down and not stress about putting out a rushed project. I’m SO glad we made this decision because it made all the difference in the work I was putting out and my own personal mental health.

 

I also (because I never have enough to do, clearly) launched my online boutique with items curated to fit with each of my Passages scenes. I started out with candles and accessories all themed around The Spinner images I created, and I really had fun putting it all together!

 

 

December

 

And finally, here we are in December! This month has been a much slower pace (thanks to the First Rider’s Call delay), which has given me the breathing room to be able to make some great progress on the rest of the First Rider’s Call images without feeling a sense of looming panic that I’m not working fast enough. I now have just three photos left, two of which are well on their way to being finished!

 

I’ve also had some time to start planning out 2022, and I have to say… I’m very excited about all the exciting things ahead! If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s how to pay attention to what I need and to sloooooooow down. Hopefully I can remember these lessons and apply them liberally to 2022!

 

 

But with all that said, I just want to end this much longer than anticipated post by saying “thank you” to all of you who have joined me throughout this year. It’s been a joy creating alongside you, and I can’t wait to continue doing so in 2022!