Monthly Recaps

June Monthly Recap

Happy Saturday, friends! I hope you are having just as great a weekend as I am! Today I’m going to give you a review of my month, and hopefully I will get some feedback on yours!

Books

This month I have been in the process of rereading the Keeper of the Lost Cities series along with many other Keeper fans. Shannon Messenger, the author of the series, is doing a Keeper-Read-Along, where each week, we read one of the books in the series. I’ve already gotten through the first two books, Keeper of the Lost Cities and Exile. I’m almost finished with the third book, Everblaze. I’m really enjoying it so far!

I’m still reading the other series I was working on as well, The Mitford Years. I’m on the fifth book, called A New Song, and still loving it!

I will probably finish A New Song and Everblaze tomorrow, which means I will have completed my goal of five books this month! Yay!

Writing

I regret to say I didn’t get much writing done this month. I was really focused on reading. I’ve made a new writing goal for July, and I’m confident I’m going to do better.

Blogging

This month did not go very well in the blogging area for me. I only got three posts out, and I didn’t get very many views. But I know I will do better next month.

Bullet Journal

Yay! This was the area I excelled in! I got a lot done in my bullet journal this month, and I am really excited to show you the pictures of next month! I worked very hard on them, and I think I did really well!

The picture you saw at the top of the post was my title page, and if you can’t tell, the two themes for this month are watermelons and patriotic colors. I found the watermelon idea on Pinterest, and I decided to also do some red, white (or in this case, gray), and blue since July fourth is coming up. The picture above is my monthly overview. On the left page, I have my calendar, notes section (to mark down special events), goals section, and a quote (also found on Pinterest). On the right page, I have my books section (where I write down what books I’ve read), memories section (where I jot down special things I want to remember), sleep tracker, writing section (where I record how much time I spend writing each week), and blogging section.

This is my mood tracker, and I came up with this idea on my own (amazing, right?). I am not the best artist, but I’m working on it. I combined all the moods I could think of into three categories, and then I can choose a color according to the moods I felt most and color in the correct section of the watermelon rind.

I did use Pinterest for this page. I was tired of using the same layout and wanted to try something new. For each habit, when I’ve completed it, I’ll color in the date with a colored pencil. Hopefully, I’ll like this layout better than the last.

Well, that’s it! How did June go for you? Have you enjoyed your summer break? Are you a Keeper fan? Are you looking forward to July? Let me know in the comments! Have a great weekend!

Thanks for reading! Happy writing!

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints (Proverbs 2:7-8 ESV).

Monthly Recaps

Monthly Recap: February

My Bullet Journal Weekly Spread

Hello, readers! I’m glad you’re back! Today I’m just going to do my once-a-month recap that tells you what my month looked like.

Books I Read

This month, I finally finished up The Chronicles of Narnia, and I have to say, I REALLY enjoyed it. I’ll be doing a review on this series soon.

I also started a new series recommended by my mom, The Mitford Years. I am in the middle of book one, and I love it! This is a very relaxing series, which is definitely a change of pace for me!

Writing

This month, I got a few chapters done. You may be thinking, “Only a few chapters!? I thought you loved writing!!” Yes, I do love writing. But I also needed to focus on my schoolwork, which took up a lot of my time this month. But I also made an important decision.

I’ve been wondering for a while now if I should publish my recently-finished book (just as an e-book). I couldn’t decided, because I was afraid. I had no idea what others would think- if it was weird or just not a good story overall. I finally decided that this summer, I’m going to try to publish it. I’ll do whatever I need to do (look over it, give it to someone else to critique, etc.) to get it out there.

If you have any experience publishing an e-book and have any advice, please let me know in the comments.

A New Journal

This month, I started something new to help me focus on my daily Bible reading. I’m calling it my Devotion Journal.

Basically, I do my Bible reading, and then I write down a summary for each chapter. And then I can also add any prayer requests or interesting facts that I learned. I suggest doing this because it can help you understand what you’re reading and help you learn from it.

Bullet Journaling

This month, I tried several new weekly layouts, just trying to find what really works for me. The one that I had been doing in January just wasn’t working. It felt too cramped. So then I tried one that divided each day into sections. It was too strict. Finally, I found the one that works (see the picture at the top).

First, I drew a line down each page that was about one-third of the page. Then, I drew lines for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday daily sections on the first page. I then continued the lines over to the second page as well. Those would be for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Saturday and Sunday is one daily section split in half). I did this that way because I didn’t want to have different sized sections, plus I don’t use my bullet journal much during the weekend.

On the left page, I have my study chart, habit tracker, and health tracker. My study chart is something new I’m doing to help me see when I studied in each subject.

On the right page, I have a section for notes, goals, and a stress key.

My Story of the Month

It was time.

I was ready. I was born ready.

We were going to win.

“Christy! Are you ready?”

I jumped up off the bed when I heard my mom calling for me.

“Yeah, coming!”

I began to search my room for my helmet and riding boots. I found them in the corner of my closet. I pulled on my boots and stopped in front of the mirror. My chin-length blonde hair was tangled, my mascara was smudged, and my riding uniform was wrinkled. I sighed. I had gotten ready too early, and I had fallen asleep on my bed while I was waiting to leave.

I grabbed my mascara and hairbrush and stuck them in my bag as I rushed down the hall and outside onto the driveway. I halted when I noticed a blue truck in the driveway.

I stared in wonder as a handsome guy hopped out and slammed the door. His brown hair was combed to the side, and he wore a gray t-shirt and jeans.

“Surprised?” Derrek asked as he walked over to me.

“Yeah. Usually my dad drives me to the race.”

“We worked it out,” he said glancing as the short man standing in front of the barn.

Dad waved, and he waved back cheerfully.

“Well, come on! Let’s go!” He took my bag and put it in the back as I ran to the passenger’s side and hopped in.

When we got to the stables, I couldn’t get out of the car. My legs felt like jelly.

“Hey, it’s ok. You’ll do fine. I know you will. You and Chester have been training for a long time. You’ll do fine.”

I looked over at him and sighed. “But what if he falls? I mean, what if he slips on the track? It’s been really rainy lately, and-”

He put a finger to my lips. “You’ll be fine. Now get out there.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and then got out of the truck. I followed.

Two hours later, I was sitting on top of Chester, mere seconds before the gun shot. Then, everything was a blur. I could only focus on urging my horse on, telling him to go faster.

I didn’t see the rock.

And neither did Chester.

The last thing I remember seeing was the muddy ground.

I’m just going to take a second to explain this story. If you couldn’t tell, Chester and Christy were in a race, and because of a rock in the path, Chester fell and Christy is now unconscious. I don’t really know anything about horses, but I would love to be able to ride one. I just thought I would try out writing a story about a race.

And that is the end of another monthly recap! Let me know if you liked my story and if you have any experience with publishing an e-book. How did your month go? Was it as busy and filled with homework as mine was?

Thank you for reading! Happy writing!