Monthly Recap
January 14th was my one year blogiversary and I was so busy that it completely slipped by me until a few days later! I'm bummed that I haven't had time to pour more of myself into this little blog, but I'm still here and I'm still posting, so don't count me out! January has been a month of change, personally and as a nation, and I've been coping with copious amounts of reading and sugary foods.
I have challenged myself to read 100 books again this year via the Goodreads Challenge. I think 100 is a good, easily attainable number for me, while still giving me time to enjoy other hobbies and personal adventures.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 5/5 ✰
And I Darken by Kiersten White* 2.5/5 ✰
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh 5/5 ✰
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien* 3/5 ✰
Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall* 4/5 ✰
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult 4/5 ✰
Infinity Lost by S. Harrison*3/5 ✰
Infinity Rises by S. Harrison* 3/5 ✰
Infinity Reborn by S. Harrison* 3/5 ✰
The Bone Witch by 3/5 ✰
I started off the year with a re-read of Throne of Glass because it quickly because one of my favorite series, and after my heartbreak over Empire of Storms, I needed to go back to the beginning. I have hopes of re-reading the rest of the series throughout the year as well. I was deeply disappointed with And I Darken. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen and almost did not finish at 64%, but forced myself to keep going.
Another disappointment (that will probably make me unpopular) was The Hobbit. I was all set to enjoy this cult classic fantasy, but it just did not do it for me. There was so little dialog, the narrator goes off on so many wild tangents and incomplete thoughts and story lines, and the story itself us underdeveloped. I've heard that The Lord of the Rings series is much better, so I'm going to take the chance and try it out. Don't let me down Tolkien!
I did little to no cross stitching this month, which makes me sad. Going back to work and getting back into the rhythm of reading and life sucked up all my time. I really have nothing to update here :( I added to the flourish on the right and some of the crest.
I rang in the new year surrounded by friends and family - who could ask for more? I decided to try out bullet journaling. I know I'm really late to the party with this one, but I kept seeing it referenced around the net and once I looked into it more, and got over my confusion as to how it worked and what it actually is, it seemed like a system that would really work for me. It keeps all my lists in one place, and it will help me keep up with my desire to actually keep a journal (of sorts). I used this Buzzfeed post to help me get started, I'm using this notebook for my journal, and this mini ruler lives in the pages. I also used this post for ideas like the yearly financial planner and habit tracker.
I received a planner for Christmas and went all gung-ho about it, buying up sticker books, etc. only to realize the stickers were too wide for the planner, and the preset columns were too small for me to do much. As someone who loves to stay organized, the planner was an excellent and thoughtful gift, it just wasn't the right one for me. The bullet journal is a much better, and more customize-able way for me to do almost the same thing, but also more. I didn't include the big picture view of the month, and I shortened my Future log to 2 pages - see so many options! - and included a section to track my trivia teams scores and rankings, as well as my daily water intake, etc. There's so much you can do with it. Granted it took me much more than a few hours to initially set up because I'm very picky and particular, so I sketched the whole thing out in pencil before putting pen to paper, but to me it was worth it.
