Monthly Recaps

November 2019 Monthly Recap

Greetings! I hope your November and Thanksgiving was wonderful! Today, I’ll be giving my November Monthly Recap.

Writing

My goal was to start going through my book, but I got no writing time in last month. None. I suppose I could’ve spent less time reading… but Legacy came out last month! I just HAD to spend every spare second reading it!

So, on the less desperate side of things, I plan to spend less time reading and more time writing this month.

Blogging

Well… I think we all know how blogging went for me this month, if you read my update post. No posts. No time to write.

But, this month will be better. I plan to get at least two posts out that will continue our bullet journal series.

Goals

My goals last month were:

  1. Drink more water. I did start on my water goal, which was to get to the point where I drank three cups of water each day. I got up to two cups, but not three.
  2. Read three books. I did reach this goal.
  3. Study driving book. Nope. I didn’t. Not even once. I have a driving guide that I’m trying to get through, but I just haven’t had time to study it.
  4. Work on going through your book. This is referring to the book I’ve written. As I said before, I didn’t have any time.
  5. Do a devotion every day. I did not do very good on this goal.

My goals this month are:

  1. Study driving book at least three times a week. Be finished with it by the end of Christmas break.
  2. Get at least two blog posts out.
  3. Work on going through my book.
  4. Get to the point where you drink three cups of water a day.
  5. Read at least two books.
  6. Do daily devotions.

Books

Last month, I read three books and started one.

  1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. This is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, and I loved reading it for the second time. The first time I read this series, my mom read it out loud to me; so this is my first time reading the books for myself.
  2. Legacy. Okay, I have a lot to say about this book, but I’m going to save it for a different post. I got a request to post about this book when it came out, so that can definitely be expected this month, for all of you KEEPER fans. This is the eighth book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series and I enjoyed it. So. Much! Whenever I had a break in my school work, I buried my nose in this book. I CANNOT WAIT for book nine.
  3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I finished this book for the second time, and had just too. Many. Feelings. Of course, I loved it all the way through and I started book seven the moment I finished it. 🙂

My goal next month is to read at least two books (this is less than last month because I want to focus more on writing and studying my driving guide). I plan to finish book seven of the Harry Potter series, and start another series of books (I’m not sure what I’ll read next).

Bullet Journal

I think I’m finally getting the hang of bullet journaling (says the girl who’s been bullet journaling for over a year). I’ve figured out a system that works for me, and I didn’t miss very many days of filling out my journal this month. That might sound kind of discouraging, given that I’ve been bullet journaling for over a year, but it has truly been an amazing journey. It has been so fun to figure all this out, and I am so happy that I decided to try it.

This month, I did a Christmas-y theme, given that it is December.

I used stencils to create this page, and I’m not thrilled with how it turned out. But it’s only the title page. I don’t really look at the this page a lot.

This is my monthly overview. I have my calendar, and a section for events and another section for goals underneath it. On the right page is a page for reviewing my month. The first two sections are for writing out the positive and negative things that happened during the month. The next two sections are for recording the books that I read and my water goal. Finally, I have a place to record memories and and a drawing of a snowman. Isn’t he just so cute?

Next is my mood tracker. This is a simple tracker. Each day, I’ll choose the snowflake that best shows how I felt and draw it in the empty space.

This is my December Brain Dump, where I can write down anything I want to remember.

Here is my Habit Tracker for this month. It’s the same as always: dates are written at the top, and on the side of the green line is where I will write my habits.

Finally, here is my weekly layout. I did this in gel pen because I couldn’t come up with any color schemes that I hadn’t used on my regular pens and I had a lot more colors to choose from with my gel pens. The left page has all of my extra information and the right page contains all of the daily sections. At the top of the left page, I have a section for my goals. I’ve decided to start doing three goals for each week as well as the ones for the entire month. Underneath that is a section to record all of the exercise that I do during the week. The section below that is divided in two- one for extra notes and one for my water tracker. Finally, I have my to-do list at the bottom of the page.

Life In General

Life in general last month was hectic. We just moved in to our new house last October, and this month was full of unpacking the house and going out. Then came Thanksgiving, and it was from house to house, dinner to dinner, family to family. So now, I’m glad to be back home, writing this post in front of my Christmas tree.

Next Time…

That’s it for today’s monthly recap. My next post will be about Legacy, so if you’re a KEEPER fan, stick around!

How was your November? Are you all set for Christmas? Are you a KEEPER fan? Tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading! Happy writing!

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Matthew 6:3 ESV

Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities: My Favorite Series

These are all of the Keeper books that I currently own. The stuffed elephant is there because she reminds me of Ella, and necklace reminds me of the leaping crystals they use.

Hello, everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since my last post! Life has been very busy for me recently, and I’m trying to get a hold on things. Anyway, onto today’s topic.

Today is all about my favorite book series: Keeper of the Lost Cities! I have spent hours on end reading this series by Shannon Messenger, and I find it as the perfect world to escape to when I’m feeling down or out. If you haven’t read the series, you totally should!

WARNING: SPOILERS MAY BE COMING UP! I tried to keep this post spoiler free, but it’s hard, ya know?

A Little About This Series

Author: Shannon Messenger

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy

Age Group: 8-12

Books in the Series: So far, seven. The eighth book is coming out this fall (more on that later).

Sophie Foster, the main character of this series, has grown up knowing she isn’t the same as everyone else. She can hear other people’s thoughts- whether she wants to or not. It’s been her burden ever since she hit her head on the concrete when she was five years old, and waking up in the hospital and hearing everyone’s panicked voices in her head had truly been horrifying. Ever since, she has struggled with headaches and wishing she was normal. Not to mention, she’s super smart! She’s only twelve, and she’s already a high school senior! But one day, everything changes. She meets a boy who knows her secret and also shares her burden. Once he shares the truth about who- and what -Sophie really is, her life changes completely.

Would you Rather?

And now, I have come up with some would you rather questions that you will enjoy answering if you have read the series. If you haven’t, you’ll probably be super confused.

Would you rather…

  1. Have a pet imp, like Iggy or a pet alicorn, like Silveny?
  2. Live at Everglen with Alden and Della or at Havenfield with Grady and Edaline?
  3. Have teal eyes like Fitz or periwinkle eyes like Dex?
  4. Take Elementism or Alchemy at Foxfire?
  5. Have Keefe or Fitz as a brother?
  6. Have a lifetime supply of Mallowmelt or Chocolate-Mint Ripplefluffs?
  7. Be a Councillor or an Emissary?
  8. Be a Vanisher or a Conjurer?
  9. Be a Telepath or an Empath?
  10. Be a Pyrokinetic or a Hydrokinetic?
  11. Be an Shade or a Mesmer?
  12. Fall into a pile of sparkly alicorn poop or have detention with Lady Galvin?
  13. Be the youngest in your family to manifest or be the youngest in your family to get your nexus off?
  14. Read an ogre or gnome’s mind (assuming you were a Telepath)?
  15. Have a gnome or troll as a body guard?

My Answers

These are my answers to the would you rather questions above.

  1. Pet alicorn
  2. Havenfield with Grady and Edaline
  3. Teal eyes
  4. Elementism
  5. Fitz
  6. Mallowmelt
  7. Emissary
  8. Vanisher
  9. Telepath
  10. Hydrokinetic
  11. Shade
  12. Fall into a pile of sparkly alicorn poop
  13. Youngest to manifest
  14. Gnome’s mind
  15. Gnome bodyguard

Legacy

Legacy is the next book coming out in the series this November. I am crazy excited, and I just cannot wait! This is the second book in the series that I’ve had to wait an entire year for. When I read the series for the first time, it was about a month away from when book six (Nightfall) would come out. So, when I finished book five (Lodestar) and found out I would have to wait another month to read book six, I was devastated (if you remember the ending of book five, you’ll know why). After book six came out, I had to wait a year for book seven (Flashback) to come out, and now I’m waiting for book eight. *sighs dramatically*

Anyway, the hardback version of Legacy (which I’ve already pre-ordered) is coming with two special extras. One, some artwork by the author herself, and two, a scene from Tam’s point of view. It has also been announced that in October, a new edition of Flashback is coming out, and it will also have two extras. One, an extra scene from Keefe’s point of view, and two, a teaser for Legacy. My guess is the teaser is either the prologue or first chapter of Legacy.

Well, I suppose that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed it!

Are you a Keeper fan? Are you excited for Legacy to come out? What were a few of your answers to the would you rather questions?

Next time, I’ll be giving an update on my writing and book reading.

Thanks for reading! Happy writing!

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17 ESV)