Going to be gone a while...

No more "30 Day Challenge" for a long while. Sorry, but something in my life has come up and I don't know what's going on.

I don't know who reads this, or if anyone does, so I'm not going to give any details other than it's very personal.

I hope to be able to come back and blog some more, but right now, I can't make any promises.

I'm sorry, guys. I really am.

30 Day Challenge - Day 17

Day 17: Your highs and lows of the past year.

Well, I'm going to do the highs and lows of 2015, since it's the closest "full/complete" year.

My highs:

• We got through two years of marriage, my husband and I, and for that I'm grateful.
• Honey has transitioned pretty well from outside dog to inside dog and she's definitely less scared of us than she was before.
• Charlie loves the kennel and we have thus named it the "Puppy Cave" - it's basically the only place in the house he'll sleep (though, it makes it easy to find him).
• Started getting treatment for my sleeping issues - learned I don't have sleep apnea, and not really insomnia, so that's wonderful news.
• I got coloring books for Christmas, which is good for me and my anxiety! :D
• I got two new nieces this year. Little Raven-Bird and Liyah-lay. Love them both.
• We got a horse. O__O Yeah... I've always wanted one, but I didn't mean while we lived in this little town with not enough land to feed her. (Thank goodness for in-laws)
• We got our own house. XD This one is HUGE for us. How could I forget this?
• Hubby got in a wreck but survived with bruises and some torn muscles. 
• Went to another RenFaire this year. Love these things!
• Made it two years with my wonderful husband; here's to a hundred more.

My lows: Huh... Which of these can I share without giving anything to fuel fires? Probably not a lot, but I'll share what I can.

• It feels as if my sleep doctor does not care that the medication she's put me on makes me more tired when I wake up, which could cause problems during my job or even driving to my job.
• I accidently blew a hole in our wall with my .380 (though, I did manage a pretty awesome trick shot that I'll never be able to do again in a million years).
• This was the year I attempted to slice my toe off with a sword in the middle of the night, attempting to avoid a dog in the dark. :I Yeah, that was fun and bloody and painful...
• Hubby and I got into a serious fight. Our first big one? (Probably the biggest we've ever had to be sure.) Hurt like a bitch.
• My husband got in a wreck and totaled our first vehicle.
• I couldn't finish my "Crochet Advent Calendar" and I couldn't even bring myself to care... :I Mostly because I'm pretty sure no one else did.

Some neutral thoughts? (Wasn't part of the "prompt", but they're fun for me and I thought I'd share.)

• I tend to get into depressive slumps and often have the urge to write. But, when I do, I tend to project my feelings into my characters. For instance, Trevor (a beloved were-tiger, thing) from my novella Athena shares these bouts and attempted suicide. I wrote a short story about his near-death and once I did, I felt tons better. No clue why, but it's happened multiple times. Not gonna look too much into it, just run with it. I kill off characters to make myself feel better.
• Watched a tv show about black holes and white holes. Black holes suck things in and white holes spit things out. I, the nerd I am, immediately thought of portals. My thought was, of course, instantly confirmed when a scientist said that things could be sucked in through a black hole and spit back out by a white hole - Now that's thinking with Portals!

More highs than lows, which is always a good thing, of course. I, of course, expect 2016 to be much better. Things get better with time, so I'm excited to see what this year brings.

30 Day Challenge - Day 16

Day 16: Your views on mainstream music.

What is mainstream music? ... I actually had to look this up.

"Music that's usually on the radio." - Thank you, Urban Dictionary.

Um... Okay? I guess I'm supposed to hate it or something? Which is strange because I just don't. I actually like most of the "mainstream music" that is playing on my radio. Why? Because it's music that's playing on my radio. It gives me something to listen to and I'm familiar with the songs, or the themes as they are the same that I've listened to for years.

"Usually criticized by fans of the previous mainstream generations" - HA! You want to know what I listened to growing up? Music from my parents' time. Country music (though, I do have to agree that some of the new Country music isn't nearly as good as the stuff from the 90s-00s). My mother wouldn't let me listen to Brittany, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, etc. Hell, I even had to listen to the Chipmunks singing Country songs - talk about butchering some good music. That or classical stuff.

So, yeah, I like what's on the radio now. Sure, hearing stuff from my childhood makes me feel "old", but hey, music progresses in its own way and changes with the times. It gets better or worse, though sometimes it's got to get worse before it gets better (also read as "goes back to the way it was).

I enjoy listening to whatever comes on the radio for the most part, mainstream or not. It's music and it inspires me to write, to draw, to dream, to live, to laugh, to be me. Who cares if it's not what it used to be, tomorrow's music won't be today's music. It's a song, don't like it? Then change the station. Listen to your cds of by-gone times, listen to your iPhone/iPod/Zune/whatever and sing your own songs. I'm going to listen to whatever I want and I don't care about labels on music.

Psht, mainstream... It's the same with books. Don't care. Reading it whether or not it's "in" or "out".