2015

Happy New Year everyone!

Of course I did not only want to do an overview of 2014; I also want to take a look at what I hope 2015 has in store for me. Of course I'll keep doing what I do - writing (fanfics and otherwise), studying, spending time with friends and family - but I also have some goals and dreams for this new year!

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Goals

First of all, I want to be more positive. I'm going to try to write a blog post every few days about the things I feel grateful for, that are going well, and that make me happy - as a replacement for the 100 Days of Happiness challenge I broke off a couple of weeks ago.

I intend to continue this thing I have going on with green smoothies and to try and adopt a healthier lifestyle in general. Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I went running again; and it just felt great to be back at it. I don't know how it will go this time. I might have to stop again because my knee hurts me too much. I will try to keep it up, though, at least twice a week.

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Dreams

Publishing my first book is number one, of course. Broken Dreams is all but finished now, and I hope to be able to publish it soon, which I'm really looking forward to.

There are a few shows, of course, I want to see or will be seeing. On 11 January, Mum is taking me to see Dreamgirls; and in May, I'm going to see War Horse with my aunt. I also really want to see Billy Elliot while it's still here in the Netherlands, and I want to see the final Hunger Games film.

I really hope I will get the opportunity to go back to London to see Wicked again, and possibly another show (or some other shows) as well. Maybe I'll even see Willemijn, although I don't think I will be able to visit London before Women on the Verge closes; but who knows? Madame Morrible was right when she said, "Where one door closes, another opens".

I'd be nice if I'd get my master's degree in Victimology and Criminal Justice this year as well!

And, of course, I hope that I will stay in touch with all the amazing people I mentioned in my previous blog post, and meet some new ones as well. I love you all. Thank you for being part of my 2014.

Let's see what else this new year will bring!

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I wish you all a very happy and healthy 2015! May your new year be positively emerald! <3

Maddy

2014

I know it's a bit early; but I will be gone all day tomorrow, so I figured I might as well do this now. I just wanted to do an overview of my year :). I'll try to keep it relatively short, don't worry, haha.

I was just looking at the list I made last year on the first of January - my very first blog post - and I was actually surprised at how many of those things came true! Here we go:

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Bad Things

The worst thing that happened this year was our neighbour passing away. He always lent me books about one thing or another, and he and I always baked or cooked things and brought it over for the other to taste. When he saw one of us coming home, he always came outside to ask how we were doing. He has been a big suppport for Mum after Grandma died and she was often home alone because she was unemployed at the time - he always came over to ask how she was doing and let her talk to him. He was a very sweet, fierce, chivalrous, and strong man, and we will all miss him very much. Rest in peace, Ad <3.

Other than that, of course some bad things have happened - or just things that took some getting used to, like not seeing my friend Sanne every day now that we started different masters after seven years of being in the same class/year/study. Some relationships have changed for the better; some have changed for the worse. I'm glad and grateful to be able to say, though, that not much has happened that was very bad - and if it did, it at least usually ended well.

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Good Things

Almost everything that was on my list came true! I got my bachelor's degree in Psychology and started the master Victimology and Criminal Justice. I also saw the films, shows, and musicals I wanted to see - like Flashdance, Love Story, the third Hobbit film, the third Hunger Games film, Jersey Boys, Sister Act... I was at Musicals in Concert, which was amazing (it was particularly amazing to see Willemijn on stage again for the first time since her back injury forced her to stop with Wicked early); and tomorrow, I'm seeing this amazing Dutch musical about World War II called Soldaat van Oranje with my family, which I am really looking forward to. I am sure it will be mind-blowing.

Of course, going to London again (twice) and seeing Wicked (three times, including my first muck-up matinee and Kerry's final show) was, as always, the best thing ever. I have no words to describe the feeling I get when I see Wicked, it's just so incredible; and London is quickly becoming my favourite city. I met a bunch of awesome Wicked fans and created some Wicked fans myself as well (yes, I'm talking about you, Stan, who still cries every time he watches Wicked with me (especially about Dr Dillamond); and about you, Pien, who became a Verkaiking and even painted her bed Wicked, that's how much she loved it).

Last, but definitely not least, our short film To Do Great, Right A Little Wrong premiered in the cinema, which was absolutely amazing. It was so cool to see this film we created ourselves on a big screen and the reactions we got were all positive. It was so much fun to do this, especially with the people that were included in it all. It was absolutely epic!

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People

Of the new people I've met, the ones that definitely need a mention are Manja, Humbie (I'm sorry, I should really stop calling you that, but it sounds/looks so funny!), and Malou. I'm really glad I met you guys!

I'm also glad that Humbie introduced me to Danna Paola and Ceci de la Cueva, the Mexican Elphie and Glinda, because they are so good; and that I saw Kerry Ellis as Elphaba live.

Of course, I'm going to have to say thank you to a bunch of old friends, too:

Mum and Dad - you have been great again this year. I love you, you are amazing.

To the Film Production Team - it has been awesome working with you guys. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a unique experience and we had lots of fun. I think we will remember this forever!

Elizabeth & Xanne-Li - you're still incredible and I still wuv you both very much.

To my Twitter friends (again Humbie and Elizabeth, but also Carlie, Annamiek, and a bunch of others): Thank you for all the (often funny... or traumatising - right, Annamiek? :P) conversations we've had; and Stephanie, it was great to finally meet you in real life!

To my Fanfiction readers/reviewers: Thank you so, so much for your endless support. It means the world to me.

Finally, of course, Willemijn Verkaik has to be mentioned - the woman who has changed my life for good and continues to do so every year.

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All in all... I don't think this year has been a bad one at all, and I'm glad that so many of my wishes came true! Here's to another great year!

I wish you all a very, very happy, Wicked, and epic 2015, in which I hope your dreams will come true and you will experience all the love and joy in the world! Here's to us all!

Maddy

Winter Thaw ball dress

I know, I know. It's pretty tight, and just imagine it with a little less cleavage... I just thought it was too pretty not to use. And if you imagine it to look a little more modest, I could see Elphaba wearing it. Reluctantly, but still. Besides - she'd need something sparkly and pretty for a royal Lurlinemas ball!

Winter Thaw wedding dress

Next

I haven't been on for a while. Not much has happened, except for a lot of uni stress. My Days of Happiness have gotten a bit lost over the past weeks... I've been very busy and not feeling entirely well, emotionally.

Now it's almost 2015, and I decided that would be a good time to start over - sort of, anyway. I'm not exactly going back to the Days of Happiness challenge, but I'm going to do something similar. I want to try to be more positive in the new year, give less about other people's opinions and do what I want to do, since I still live too much by other people's standards, rather than my own.

I will definitely post an overview of my 2014, as well as my plans for 2015, on the 31st :). For now, I wish you all a very merry Christmas!

34 Days of Happiness

1. Christmas

Almost no-one is doing anything about Christmas yet here in the Netherlands, but merely listening to all the Christmas songs I downloaded onto my MP3-player, plus seeing the decorations in the stores and the streets, and that all combined with the cold, kind of does bring me into a Christmas-y mood! I love Christmas. Everything about it. I already can't wait to put up my tree.

2. Starbucks

One of my friends was worrying about something and she was extremely pessimistic about it, 100% sure her request would be declined. I told her there was no way in hell that would happen, and then she promised to buy me Starbucks if I turned out to be right and this person would say yes... so I had free Starbucks today. I need to try this more often, hehe.

3. Soldaat van Oranje

I just realised it's only a few more weeks until I will see this musical, which is a Dutch one about World War II and it's supposed to be absolutely amazing. I'm seeing it with my family on the final day of this year and I can't wait!

33 Days of Happiness

1. Presentation

No, presentations don't make me happy, but the fact that it's over now and I won't have to present again in the near future does :P.

2. Wicked

I watched Wicked with a friend today who hadn't seen it before. She doesn't even really like musicals, but she wanted to know what keeps me busy all day long and so she watched it with me. She now gets why I love Willemijn so much and she likes the fact that she understands the characters of my fanfics now, so that's nice!

3. Friends

I had a great time with my friend this afternoon (and I loved hearing about everything I missed this weekend when she was away). I'm also just grateful for my friends in general, knowing I can always talk to them and they have my back - even though I only know some of them online. Thanks guys <3.

32 Days of Happiness

I know, I know - skipped another day. I'm horrible at keeping up with this, haha.

1. Broken Dreams

I FINISHED MY BOOK! Well, okay, not 'finished', exactly - it still needs some editing; but given the fact that I've done a lot of editing during the writing already, actually publishing it is coming very close now! The end is written and I'm so happy about that!

2. Mockingjay Part I

I saw it last Saturday night and all I can say is... wow. It was incredible. I think it was the best Hunger Games film so far - it followed the book very closely, working out some things a bit more... it was beautiful. Especially the song, which has been haunting me ever since. Are you, are you, coming to the tree...

3. Grandma & Money

Spent the afternoon cleaning Grandma and Grandpa's bathroom, because they can't reach the high and low corners themselves anymore and because I need money, so I clean for them sometimes :). Caught up with Grandma (Grandpa wasn't at home) and earned some money, so that was nice.