I Did It! 2024 Edition

It's time for the 12th annual I Did It! post, in which I celebrate my accomplishments large and small over the past year. Previous years can be viewed here: 2023, 2022, 2021 (Apocalypse Year 2) 2020 (Apocalypse Year 1), 2019 (including decade-in-review), 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013.

Writing
In 2024, I wrote:

• 16 essays
• 2 short stories
• 100 poems
• 2 articles
• 2 chapters of a nonfiction book
• 19 blog posts
• 11 newsletters (and switched from Mailchimp to Substack)

My submission/acceptance stats for the year are:

• 10 essay/story submissions​
• 2 book proposal submissions
• 3 grant applications
• 1 contest submission
• 1 residency application

• 3 acceptances
• 1 third-place award

2024 publications*:

• "Joyful Noise" Spelt Magazine, Issue 11, December 2024 
• "Oh, What a Night! Exploring Maine's Winter Wilds after Dark" Green & Healthy Maine Winter Guide, Winter 2024
• "Walking in Place" Still Point Arts Quarterly, Fall 2024
• "At Home in the Trees" Northern Woodlands, Summer 2024
• "Discover Maine's Undersea World" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2024
• "Two Cent Bridge" Writing Waterville Chapbook, Waterville Creates, May 2024
• "Writers on Not Writing" The Masters Review, May 2024
• "Finding Answers in Nature" Literary Mama blog, February 2024
• "Fledging Season" Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology, ​January 2024

​*Publication stats and submission stats don't line up because some publications occurred outside the normal submission process, and some resulted from submissions made during the previous year.

I also:

• Continued meeting with my writing group and my creativity circle
• Attended 2 writing conferences (Terry Plunkett Poetry Festival and Maine CrimeWave)
• Completed training to become a certified book coach in both fiction and memoir
• Worked with my first paid book coaching client
• Taught 3 nature poetry workshops and 1 nature journaling workshop
• Attended at least 5 literary events/book readings
• Had 1 book promotion event for Uphill Both Ways
• Participated in book promotion events for 2 anthologies I was part of

Travel and Adventure
There was no way 2024 could top 2023 in the travel department, but looked at on its own, it was a pretty good year.

• We went on a family camping trip (minus one child who was really traveling at the time) to our usual place over Memorial Weekend.
• C and I drove two kids to Vermont for a hike on the long trail and made it into a tiny break.
• I drove back to Vermont to pick up said kids (which wasn't much of a trip, but still interesting).
• C and I went to Roosevelt Campobello and Prince Edward Island for our 25th wedding anniversary.

After our trip to Europe in 2023, I wanted to find ways to recreate some aspects of the experience of traveling while staying close to home. Because visiting museums is something we often do when in new places, I made a goal of visiting at least 24 museums last year, which I came close to meeting, if you count the second visits I made to two of them:

1. Portland Museum of Art
2. Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum
3. Danforth Gallery at University of Maine at Augusta (2x)
4. Colby College Art Museum (2x)
5. Maine Maritime Museum
6. Schupf Art Gallery
7. Waterville Historical Society Apothecary Museum
8. Museum of Beadwork
9. Casco Bay Arts Gallery
10. LC Bates Museum
11. Bowdoin Art Museum
12. Frank Brockman Gallery
13. Langlais Art Preserve
14. Roosevelt Cottage
15. Anne of Green Gables Heritage Site
16. Confederation Center for the Arts Gallery
17. Bates College Art Museum
18. Maine MILL
19. Ogonquit Museum of American Art
20. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

I also made a goal in the fall of 2023 to visit the beach at least once a month, all year long. When January of 2023 came, I made that a goal of visiting a different beach every month of 2024. I managed to visit the beach at least once a month during 2024, hitting at least one different one in every month but December, for a total of 16 -18 different beaches in 2024 (depending on how you count them). I collected sand in little jars at all of them as well (only I accidentally threw out October's sand).

Arts and Crafts

• Painted several watercolors for my Europe journal
• Created two more mosaics (an address plaque and a Christmas star)
• Made 13 pairs of recycled sweater mittens, a Fiestaware puzzle, and three ornaments for Christmas gifts

Household
C and I did a major amount of home improvements this year, including:

• Repainted the mudroom and painted the interior surface of the front door
• Repainted the sunroom walls and ceiling
• Touch-up painted the bedroom and some other rooms of the house 
• Decluttered and cleaned every shelf, drawer, and surface
• Made some minor repairs and woodworking finishing touches
• Repainted an repurposed a few pieces of furniture
• Donated boxes and bags of used books, housewares, and clothing

All in all, 2024 was a full and fulfilling year. I see a lot of things I want to carry over into 2025 and a few things I'd like to do differently. That's what the year-end review is all about.