Farewell 2011

My mogging set is slightly eye-watering

Wow, where did December go?!

I haven't had a whole lot of time to play or write lately, partly due to the general busy-ness of the Christmas season and partly because, in Rioriel style, I was kidnapped by Skyrim for a little while. You know how it is.

I managed to completely miss my two-year blogaversary back on the 21st of December! In the tradition of these things, I'd better take a look back at this year.

The Past
2011 saw quite a few changes to the way I play, starting in March when my Sproutling was born. I guild-hopped a little bit and found another casual home in Vitare, did a little (very casual) raiding and have done a fair bit of questing towards Loremaster. I had some fun with the Ironman challenge and the Lillis too. In short, it has been a little-bit-of-everything year, which leaves me slightly frustrated because it means I haven't really completed anything. There's still plenty to do!

I've had more visitors this year than the previous year, despite writing less posts and hosting fewer events. My Resto and Balance pre-raid gear guides remain the most visited pages, followed by my leather gear for Transmogrification posts. I hope people found them useful.

I had a lovely time chatting on the Twisted Nether Blogcast in November. I was so flattered to be invited!

One thing I really enjoyed putting together this year was IntPiPoMo. I do intend to add some of the images to my Gallery page, but you can see all the posts using the IntPiPoMo tag. That was a lot of fun, and encouraged me to think about where to take the extra screenshots I needed to make 50.  Thanks so much to all the participants - I really wasn't expecting so many to join in, and I hope it continues in some form next year!

The Future
What will 2012 bring? Well to start with, I'm going back to work in January. This will drastically reduce my free time, which I expect will be filled up with sleep after work, food and time with Sprout and Mr Ang are taken care of.

In addition to this, my old Disciples of Sneer guildies have started playing Star Wars: The Old Republic and I'm going to join them when I can for a month or two at least. It's the first time I've switched to a different MMO since I started playing WoW and it feels a little like cheating, but it will be nice to catch up with my guildies and play a new game for a little while at least.

Mostly for these reasons, things will probably be a lot more quiet around here than they have been.

I'll still be around on Twitter @_Angelya and you are most welcome to email me if you like!

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, linked and supported R&R! I've really appreciated it over the last two years. If I've made you smile, or helped you with some information, my work here is done :)

I'd like to wish you all a very Happy and Safe New Year. Ta-ta for now!

Happy Winter Veil 2011

I'd like to wish you all and your families a very happy and safe Winter Veil! May it be filled with joy and peace.

<3 Ang

Furtive Father Winter: Is Great Father Winter Real?

As Winter Veil approaches, the Blog Azeroth community has once again come together for the yearly exchange of posts. This year, the exchange is known as Furtive Father Winter and was organised by Akabeko of Red Cow Rise. 

I was delighted to find my present in my inbox this morning - from Beruthiel of Falling Leaves and Wings. Thanks so much, Beru! Happy Winter Veil to you!

~o~

One year as Winter Veil approached, Angelya was at home working on mulling her sparkling apple cider when her Sproutling approached her and said “Momma, some of my friends say there is no Great Father Winter”. Angelya thought on this for a minute, and encouraged her Sproutling to ask The Azerothian Sun if it was true, “because if it’s in the Sun, it’s so”, she told the Sproutling.

And so the sproutling sat down, and wrote to the Sun:



Well, as it turns out, that Sunday – on page seven of The Azerothian Sun – they answered the all important question: Is there a Great Father Winter?

(Author’s Note – The “Yes, Virginia” editorial dating back to 1897 has always been fascinating to me for many reasons, but most of all because of what it says. This year has been rough on me personally, and reading through this again in drafting this post, has given me the reminder that believing in the fantastical and impossible is not a bad thing and is what gives us heart and hope. While I did modify the text of the editorial slightly from the original to fit into the Azeroth world, the majority of the text remains the same, as does the integrity of the message the editorial writer was sending. As such, I would like to give credit to the original author of the editorial, Francis P. Church. As the story has been retold many times over the years, I did not think he’d mind my borrowing it one more time to share the message with Angelya and her Sproutling on this holiday season).