Hello everybody!! What this? It’s the twelfth day of February??
. . . .
Huh. Whaddya know.
Time is such a weird thing.
How was y’all’s January? Mine was busy but it was also wonderful. I quite enjoyed myself. And I got a LAPTOP!!! THAT’S WHAT I’M CURRENTLY WRITING THIS BLOG POST ONNNN!!!! ISN’T IT CRAZY??!?!?
This is so EXCITING!!
AHH!!
Okay I’m done.
Let’s get on to the recap, shall we?
January Memories
I wrote every important event or mishap that occurred (on the Hermitcraft server this week) AHEM. Every important thing that happened this month in my journal so I have plenty of stories hehe.
I worked a lot. Mostly out of necessity. There are two Claire’s locations in my town and one of them is situated in Walmart, which means we don’t get a lot of customers. That’s the one I typically work at because there are only two keyholders that work there currently, which means they typically work from opening to closing in the dead Walmart store. So they have me come in for a few hours so they can take a break, go get something to eat, y’know. I actually quite like working at the Walmart store because it gives me time to read. I’ve finished two books so far.
I will say, working in a store inside of Walmart is amazing because Walmart shoppers are chaotic. So even if there’s nothing going on in Claire’s, I can still people-watch in Walmart and have infinite entertainment! 😀
SPEEDRUN OF ALL THE CHAOS AT WORK AND IN WALMART
*ahem*
1. There was this tough-looking veteran who came in with his wife to buy something that his daughter wanted and he lost his absolute mind when he saw a Stitch thermos we were selling. It was amazing.
2. There was this little girl who wandered around the store for twenty minutes, reiterating over and over how much she loves Claire’s. Her dad bought her a unicorn hairbrush. She told me to get turquoise braces the next time I have an orthodontist appointment. I haven’t seen her since.
3. I was bored at work (like usual) as were my coworkers so I walked out of work that day with two more piercings in my ears. So um. Whose idea was it to let me work at Claire’s?
4. Someone dropped a pickle jar in Walmart while they were checking out and no one cleaned it up for the longest time. The most they did was put a caution sign on top of the mess, which cracked me up.
5. My coworker literally went and bought slippers because she was cold.
6. There’s this guy that keeps coming by Claire’s with his daughter and he looks JUST like Jschlatt. It’s a little creepy.
7. There was this mechanic // ex-convict that came in with his wife and daughter and he was quite enthralled by my puffball earrings. He was also curious about my height (I’m 5′ 11″) and somehow, we ended up talking about what I’m going to do in college so that’s fun.
8. Some guy did a full-on evil laugh in the middle of Walmart. I heard it echo around the store and worried that Loki was here somewhere. He was not. Fortunately.
I love my job.
What else did I do besides work?
Oh, college stuff. Ugh. My audition tapes are due March 15 so I’ve been learning my songs with my mother (who used to teach voice) and I think it’s going pretty well. I’m going to be singing The Green Dog, Star Vicino, and In Christ Alone.
Scholarships are also just. . . . so much fun. *weak fist pump* Nah, it’s not that bad, I’m just ready for it all to be over! I can’t wait to go to college and start learning things I’m passionate about. But I have a long way to go before I’m ready for that.
Six months.
I leave in six months.
I HATE that.
Anyways, on a more cheerful note, I am now addicted to Undertale. I love the characters and the soundtrack and the story and the LORE and E V E R Y T H I N G. It’s a work of ART. My spirit animal is a Temmie.
We had a Christmas get-together with the cousins. It was fun because we got to hang out with my older cousins’ fiancés. They are both fantastic and I can’t wait for the weddings.
Anyways, it was an eventful day. One of my little cousins shoved her ten-years-older cousin down beside his bed and got him stuck there and, instead of helping, we girls just stood around and giggled and took blackmail pictures. Cousins love each other 🥰 As proof: I called my older cousin short and she slapped me and then sat on top of me because she was mad at me so happy I was her cousin.
Also there was a surprising amount of disowning. Soooo not sure what that was about.
I love my family so much.
Let’s see, what else?
On the way to church one Sunday, me and my dad were stopped by this lady who was wondering how to get to Dublin. She was going the complete wrong direction. I wonder if she made it.
OH, my dad opened the door one night and one of the cats charged inside at top speed. She didn’t even ask permission, just NYOOOOOM!!!!
My little sisters are National Treasure fans now so that’s fun.
Ooh, I cleaned out my playlist (which was LONG overdue) and went from 920 songs to 691 songs. How.
I got a laptopppppp!!! His name is Kyle Jordan Octavius Leopold George Harden. He goes by Jordan. It is so great having a laptop because now I can do all my computer stuffs ANYWHERE (mostly)!!!! It’s literally so amazing. My sister also got a new laptop, as the one she had was so old, it was more like a desktop, and she named him Peter after a LOT of debate. Oh, and I made a Notion for myself! It’s still a work in progress but it’s so COOL. I’ll probably do a Notion tour sometime because I’m obsessed.
I think that’s everything exciting that happened. I also read a lot of books. Which is why we have a new section!
January Book Reviews
I read a lot. And what does one do when they read a lot? Make mini book reviews, of course! These are my reviews of all the books I read in January.
Jesus Freaks Vol. I by DC Talk // Voice of the Martyrs
Jesus Freaks is a nonfiction book written by dc Talk, a Christian group from the olden days aka the nineties. Jesus Freaks tells the stories of many persecuted Christians. The book was published in 1999 so it’s a little outdated but the stories were still incredible and inspiring to read.
It was. . . . a good book, but holy carp the prose was awful. The stories inside were worth the read but I couldn’t read for very long without feeling like I was stuck in a rut. Maybe this wouldn’t have bothered me so much if I wasn’t a writer but it did bother me and I don’t know if I’ll have the courage to read the second volume heh. It took me literal months to finish this one because it felt like a chore to read. But I’m glad I finished it and it was full of inspiring stories about men, women, and children who stood up for their faith. And there’s also a little section in the back of countries that are hostile to Christianity to pray for.
All in all, I would say the idea was great, the execution just wasn’t it.
In 27 Days by Alison Gervais
In 27 Days is a paranormal fiction story about a girl named Hadley who is sucked back in time to stop her classmate, Archer, from committing suicide. She has 27 days to become friends with him and help him realize how wonderful life is. As the deadline draws closer, it becomes obvious to Hadley that someone is trying to stop her from saving Archer — and that someone will go to great lengths to get their way.
This book is SO GOOD. Its humble beginnings as a Wattpad story really threw me off as far as what I was expecting. The writing wasn’t that great in the beginning, but as the story went on, it improved, along with the characters and the plot itself. The characters are so lovable, the villain is amazing, and holy carp this story really pulls your heartstrings towards the end. Definitely one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.
Millie’s Fiery Trial by Kersten Hamilton
Millie’s Fiery Trial is the eighth book in the Millie Keith: A Life of Faith series. It tells the story of Millie’s missionary journey in Bolivia as her husband struggles to set up a clinic and a witch continues to curse Millie’s family and friends.
I’ve been waiting to read this book for YEARS but it wasn’t at the library and these books are SO expensive. Fortunately, my sister got it for Christmas and I was finally able to finish reading the Millie Keith series!
It wasn’t terrible but it felt kind of forced in some places. That’s the struggle with Christian fiction, trying to make the conversions seem natural. The story was wonderful, but it could have been told better. Either way, I’m glad to FINALLY finish this series!
Unblemished by Sara Ella
Eliyana, or El for short, hates the way her face looks. She has a bright red birthmark covering the right half of her face and she hates the way people look at her like a freak. When her mom dies, she leans on her only friend, Joshua, for comfort. Little does she know that leaning too far on Joshua will launch her onto a journey to save those dearest to her — and the soul of her very world.
This was a reread but it’d been more than a year since I read it last and I barely remembered what happened. So I read it again, since my sister had bought the other two books in the trilogy. I love this book SO MUCH. SO MUCH. The prose is gorgeous, the characters are wonderful, the plot is captivating, and the way Sara Ella goes about plot twists is absolutely shocking. It’s just. . . . a work of freaking ART.
(I also read a fanfiction but I won’t make you guys sit through that hehe)
January Goal Recap
1. MEMORIZE FOUR BIBLE VERSES ❌
I memorized three *sad face* I wanted to memorize a Bible verse every week but with how hectic my life has been lately, it may be easier just to memorize one every two weeks.
2. POST AT LEAST TWO BLOG POSTS BESIDES THIS ONE ✔
Success!! I posted my yearly recap and a mail art post.
3. JOURNAL EVERY DAY ✔
I didn’t journal every day but I did recap every day in my journal so I’ll count it.
4. LEARN MY AUDITION SONGS ✔
Well, I learned them all mostly well but today I found out that one of them doesn’t meet the requirements like we thought so I have to learn a different one. *facepalm* Such is life.
5. REPLY TO MY POOR PENPALS ✔
Yep! It only took eight years. . . .
6. START SCHOOL UP AGAIN ✔
Yep! I think I have roughly six weeks left in Advanced Biology and then I’ll be DONE. WITH HIGHSCHOOOOOLLLL!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
February Goals
1. Complete At Least Two Plot Points in MoF
I’ve been in a writing mood lately for some reason so I think I’m going to try and work on my NaNo novel some more and get it finished. Then I can sic some Alpha-readers on it and get it EDITED!!
2. Finish My Notion
Technically it’s completed enough for me to use it but there are a couple of pages that have a few things to be added. And then I’ll be all done! Hopefully I can do a tour or something because I am so excited and happy with it.
3. Plot That One Idea I Had
After looking through some Undertale fanart I was ✨inspired✨ to add a little bit more development to some of my characters. So I need to squeeze that bit into the plot (that I THOUGHT was FINISHED but noOOooo) and then we’ll be good to go!
4. Read Four Books
If I read four-ish books every month, I’ll be right on track to achieving my fifty book goal! Hopefully.
January Stats
Blog posts published: 3
Letters written: 7
Letters received: 3
Art done: 10
Words written (outside of blog posts): 0
Journal entries: 24
Books started: 4 (counting that fanfic)
Books finished: 5 (also counting that fanfic)
Songs in playlist: 688
I’d say January was a pretty good month! I got a lot done, I made some money, and I did a good bit of reading, which is always fun. Hopefully the rest of February will be just as productive!
Byeeeeee!!!
🎵 Psalm 45 by Shane & Shane 🎵
Windows 