2018: QUARTERLY RECAP #1

Last year when I started blogging, I hated doing monthly recaps, but I did them because everyone else did them*.Toward the middle of the year I decided, what’s the point? If I hated it, why do it?

*um… NOT A GOOD REASON.

So at the beginning of 2018, I decided I’d do quarterly recaps, one every three months. And I would do them ANY WAY I LIKED.

So, if you’re not too terrified, here’s my quarterly recap. LET US PROCEED.

 

 

BOOKS (JANUARY – MARCH)

 

The Blue Castle

This is a truly beautiful book that I adored. I already reread it and forced it on my best friend 😉 Full review here.

 

Real Friends

OH MY GOODNESS this book!! I love, love, loved it – it’s so beautiful and heart-wrenching and true. It was a graphic novel, which is definitely different for me, but it was so amazing. Go read it. I’ve already read it twice and will probably read it again.

The Penderwicks

Ack, this series is so summer-y and homey that I couldn’t help but love it. It gave me the sweetest feelings of all my favorite summer adventure books when I was younger – Gone-Away Lake, the Moffats, The Four-Story Mistake, etc… so good. I’ve already read the first three books in the series and can’t wait to read the rest.

Disowned

What an amazing debut book! I went into this not expecting much and was wowed by the author’s writing skill and how much I loved the characters and storyline. I also read the entire thing while I was sick, so if I was sick and still loved it, it was pretty good. 😉 I definitely want to continue reading this series!

Martin Hospitality

I finally read this, and really enjoyed myself! Abigayle Claire is definitely a young author to watch. I have a full review on Goodreads but can’t figure out how to link it. (Ain’t nobody got time for that. You should be able to see it on Goodreads if we’re friends.)

Summerlost

Beautiful writing. A lot of emotion. Summer at a theater. I had a few problems with it, but it was still an amazing, gorgeous novel that I wasn’t expecting to break my heart. And just look at that cover!

 

JOURNAL SNIPPETS (well I’m scared to post this but I’m doing it anyway :P)

 

1/4/18 I feel almost lost without my novella, my baby. I sent her into the world :’)

1/5/18 The days are slipping by again.

1/10/18 I WAS PRODUCTIVE TODAY. AREN’T YOU SO PROUD.

1/14/18 WHY IS PEOPLING SO HARD THOUGH

1/26/18 came home + chilled for 2.5 minutes

1/27/18 It’s raining and I have a new 40s dress and we’re going dancing tomorrow.

1/28/18 Emma + I cried over 1700s hair

2/6/18 Today was good.

2/13/18 just FEELING the “why-aren’t-you-in-school” thoughts

2/17/18 and I can hear the rain coming

2/18/18 I think I’m too tired to go to sleep.

2/26/18 I DID SOMETHING REALLY CREATIVE

3/17/18 Today was like whaaaat?

3/28/18 I must do a lot of impossible things before breakfast hooray

 

 

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED? (a recap about writing, life events, and randomness)

JANUARY

2018 didn’t start with a bang, really. I remember cleaning a lot (I’m still doing that). I didn’t really want to do anything or write anything, and basically nothing got done except for school, of course…

I was going through a LOT of burnout from working so hard on my novella and suddenly just stopping working on it after I submitted it. I just got in a funk that was really hard to snap out of, and I’m STILL trying to get out of it.

One of the problems, I think, was that I felt like I needed to start another big writing project, rIGHT NOW. I was pressuring myself to think of an idea that was worthy of my very first full-length novel, and my brain was blank.

Hey, ya know, I could write a blog post about what I learned from that… 😉

I attended a couple of Baroque dance classes (!!!!!) which were really fun and helpful! It’s so interesting meeting people with similar hobbies as you…

Went to see Paddington 2 with friends (in the theater!) Which is a notable event because we almost never see movies in theaters.

 

A LOT of journaling happened…. I’ve been doing it every day, pretty much.

 

FEBRUARY

I got a lot of really nice comments on this post and they made me pretty much die of happiness….

My room was still a mess. Despite my best cleaning efforts…

Valentine’s day + our annual homeschool Valentine’s Party! So fun… I know I’m older but I still love making Valentines and passing them out. And also I got two books I wanted from my mom and that made me very happy.

Went to the zoo… Twice. XD

Planning my sixteenth birthday party with one of my best friends!! More about that in a bit…

I was more creative, and starting coming out of my creativity rut.

Also I started learning to sew, apparently?? I am really horrible so far but with a LOT of help from my grandma and Emma I managed to sew some basic Civil War underpinnings.

MARCH

March was a better writing month. I worked on some new things and wrote more than I had in the past two months combined, probably…

For a few weeks in March I was attacked by birthdays, as I mentioned in this post… SO MANY BIRTHDAYS. SO MANY PRESENTS.

Did a historical fashion show with my little sister + Emma which was really fun!

Also did my first debate. Which was terrifying and not-so-fun. xP

I had my sixteenth birthday party with one of my best friends! It was SO much fun. We basically just danced all night and it turned out so perfectly. And now I shall dump photos on you because it’s my blog and my recap and I CAN.

 

Also I got to see this girl for the first time in forever. 🙂

 

ALSO IT’S SPRING NOW, HAVE YOU NOTICED?

We went to the World of Coke, which was really fun. I didn’t drink a ton of Coke, but since I never, ever drink sugary drinks it still made me jittery XD

And there was the usual Easter rumpus: dying eggs, Egg hunt, Good Friday service, Easter service, etc. I love it. On the day of the Easter egg hunt we barely made it there and then barreled off to Fort Yargo to perform Baroque dance!

 

AND GUESS WHAT. MY ROOM IS FINALLY CLEAN! It still looked like a bomb had dropped on it and was stressing me out. Until today (March 30th) when I finally finished…. now for the closet. *cries* But I got a new desk that I really love!!

On a blogging note: I promise I’ve been trying to write my blog posts earlier but I just can’t seem to keep up… from all appearances, April is going to be slightly less busy than March, so maaaybe I’ll be able to schedule some posts and let myself chill out. I know I’m unforgivably late… It was ready to go last week but my images! wouldn’t!! upload!!! So frustrating. Tech issues…

 But just a notice: posts may be every other week instead of every week for a while, until I can get things together. 🙂 Thanks for your patience!

Aaaaand… That’s all folks! If you made it through that post, congratulations. 😉 How has your year been? What is the BEST thing that’s happened to you?

 

xx 

Zane