2009 - Year In Review

One of my favorite things to do in life is to look back on all that has transpired over the course of a year and assess where things are in relation to goals, new goals, enjoyment and other of life's fun things. So here is my list for favorite things in this past year, beginning with something fun.

5 Favorite Movies of the Year

5. Coraline
4. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
3. Star Trek
2. District 9
1. Up

5 Books I Most Enjoyed This Year (In No Particular Order)

5. Found
4. The Lightning Thief
3. Ultimate Galactus
2. Amulet 2
1. 100 Cupboards

Biggest Lessons Learned This Year

- To Be thankful for all of the great blessings God has blessed me with today, and not spend so much time thinking on the future.
- Dreams are great to have, and should be worked diligently towards, but they pale in comparison to many other things like family, friends and service towards others. They must be kept in their proper place.
- The publishing world requires a lot of patience. Publishing on the web, just requires my time. Both of which I am fine with.
- Parenting is both a joyous and hard task. I can only pray I'm doing a good job.

10 Favorite Moments of the Year (In No Particular Order)

10. Writing a complete script for a graphic novel, The Unknowns books 1.
9. Finishing all of the line art for From Death Til Now volume 1.
8. Going on our first family trip to Disney.
7. Finding out I'll be an uncle again. Twice!
6. Getting promoted at work.
5. Watching my daughter grow up all year long.
4. Signing with my literary agent, pitching our first book and seeing doors open for the future.
3. Seeing my name in print on a comic book. Check out the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi to see my name bringing the supporting role, beginning with volume 2.
2. Going up to NYC to visit my father.
1. Celebrating another year with my amazing wife.


So this is a bit of an abbreviated list. I do a lot more thinking on things, especially on New Year's Eve night. I'm a bit of a resolution setter. I think having goals and working towards them is a great thing for anyone to do. They should be goals that you really do care about though. Not throw offs that you just put down on paper to say you did it. I think long and hard about what those things are and if they are obtainable. If they aren't I try and set stepping stones to get the process started. So, I hope you enjoyed my look back at the year. Feel free to share your favorite moments here too!