Hanging With Friends, A Break, and MAJOR Book Progress // January 2022

Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a lovely morning, afternoon, or evening! This month was pretty great. I began actually following the routine I created for myself and did some MAJOR… stuff… I guess?? From finally decorating my room to getting CRAZY progress on my WIP, January was really awesome. I hope February brings the same happiness and butt-kickery.

>> Special Happenings <<

– Got COVID –

I know what you’re thinking… COVID? That sucks, bro. But, actually, I think I was asymptomatic… I felt pretty much the entire time except for bouts of nausea, which I don’t think is a symptom of COVID. However, I was out of work for a week and got lots of movie-watching and chilling done. Per the advice of a friend, I bought some elderberry vitamins, Gatorade, and some green ginger tea to help with any symptoms I might get. My younger sister, Briana, my mom, and I all had COVID, and I, being the only one to take the vitamins, recovered first… that’s pretty cool, I think. Also, I bought an aroma diffuser with essential oils, again, just to help with any symptoms I may get, and I absolutely love it! Peppermint and Lavender is my favorite little combo to use. But, I am all better now!

– Hanging With Friends! –

This month, my church took a break from our young adult Bible studies, but we went sledding, some of us went rock-climbing, and after an evening service, we went over to two of the guys’ houses where we had homemade Thai food! I’ve been trying to branch out more, despite my “introvertedness” and social anxiety, and find a friend group. My sister and her boyfriend are within that group, as well as my best friend, Lydia, which makes things a lot easier. However, sometimes it’s awfully hard to ignore my social anxiety and leave the house to hang out with folks. Anyway, we went sledding and later hung out at one of the girls’ houses and played some really fun games. When we went rock-climbing, I got a blister that lasted for nearly a week but had some fun testing my strength and hanging out.

– A Break –

So, unbeknownst to you guys, I took a break from blogging this month. I honestly didn’t even realize until halfway into the month, and I was like, “dang, I haven’t posted all month.” But anyway, I’m back again and should be back to my regularly scheduled programming with “Wednesday Whatevers” every other Wednesday, as well as monthly recaps. However, I will have an additional, special post in February, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

– MAJOR Book Progress –

I FINISHED MY MANUSCRIPT FOR MY WIP!!! At the beginning of November, I sent my latest manuscript to an editor, and she got it back to me the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Ever since then, I’ve been rewriting and adding in the feedback and edits. The night of January 30th at like, midnight, I finished my manuscript with 46 chapters and 125,700 words!! The morning of January 31st, I sent in query submissions to two literary agents that I had bookmarked and am now awaiting their responses (should be within the next two months!). I am beyond excited to have completed another HUGE step in my process to become a published author and cannot wait for whatever God has in store for my novel.

>> Books Read <<

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

fantasy, fiction
first time reading
I FINALLY FINISHED IT! A friend lent me this book a few months ago, and I finally was able to finish reading it. I ended up loving it! I had some trouble following along the storyline since there were kinda three storyilnes happening at once, but I ended up getting the hang of it and absolutely LOVING the story and finding multiple favorite characters within in it.

>> Movies & TV Shows Watched <<

Raya and the Last Dragon

Animation, fantasy, family
third time watching (?)
I adore this film. I think it’s quite possibly one of my top ten (I even have a Raya Funko Pop). I watched it with my sisters, I believe, and I cannot get enough of this film. I just love it.

Narnia: Prince Caspian

Action, adventure, fantasy
I don’t even remember how many times I’ve seen this movie
I LOVE NARNIA LITERALLY SO MUCH I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THESE MOVIES! This is my favorite Narnia movie, I think. However, every time I’ve seen this movie, I end up bawling for the last ten minutes or so… I just love it so much and it reminds me of my childhood… I could go on about all that, but it’s kinda of a long story lol. I just love it.

Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Action, adventure, fantasy
Third time watching (?)
(see above review about how much I love Narnia) This movie is probably the last on the list of Narnia movies I love (yeah, there are only three, but whatever). I still really enjoy it and there are some pretty epic scenes that I love. Again, I just love Narnia.

Avengers

Action, superhero, sci-fi
Second time watching (?)
I really like this movie. I don’t think it’s in my top ten, but it’s still a really enjoyable movie for me to watch because I adore the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I watched it with my family (and sister’s boyfriend), and it just makes a nice (older) family movie, in my opinion.

Pirates of the Caribbean 1

Adventure, swashbuckler, comedy
Second time watching
This is such a great movie. A while ago, I kinda marathoned all the PotC movies and I think the first one is definitely my favorite. I watched it with my little brothers and dad, and it just has so many good lines, and I just love Jack Sparrow (but I don’t like how he’s just a plain scoundrel…) However, my favorite character has to be Will Turner… can we talk about a knight in shining armor ready to rescue his lady? Like, c’mon, me n who?