Thursday, March 31, 2016

Goodbye March

Oh, March. March was more normal than February, but insane. I'm really not too sad to see it go, considering our April is supposed to be much calmer. *knock on wood*

our beautiful redbud

Life

We have an oven again! We hired a friend of ours and he did a super job reworking the cabinets to put in a range. We are really loving the new features and the bigger oven came in super handy for the gigantic ham we ended up with. It probably wouldn't have even fit in our last oven. It was that bad.

I also worked elections for my first time, which was actually really fun. Even if I was the only girl and I had to come from choir. And we actually got paid and everything. *gasp* Anyway, for those of you who haven't had your primary election yet, it's a neat way to see how everything works and gain a new appreciation for all the election staff.

I went to Kansas and got some awesome pics for my novel:


Inspiring, right? You can read all about the actual purpose of that trip and its dramatic ending here.

And I got a gun from my grandmother! I haven't taken a picture of it yet and it's off at a workshop getting sights put on it, but it's a left-handed .22 :) On that same note, I won the impromptu competition my Gun Club held! No prizes or anything, but it was fun nevertheless. I was 3/6 on time, but the most accurate :)


And then there was Easter. Which you can read about here.

Words

~Vocabulary~

soporific: adj. tending to induce drowsiness or sleep
triturate: n. ground into a fine powder
thews: n. muscular strength

I didn't read books quite so deep this month. But the one time I sat down to try and plow through Adella Cathcart Volume 2, I hit like12 new words. WHAT?! So I just picked a few :) One of the others was "somniculose." I couldn't find a definition anywhere! It was used in the sentence as a "somniculose condition." I imagine it means something like "unattentive." Let me know if you have any better luck!

~Quotes~

So I kinda forgot I wanted to do this, so take some of my favorite quotes from To Kill A Mockingbird :)





Books

~Cover to Cover: 1~

I read Where Treetops Glisten and loved it! I already ranted about it in one of my other posts, so suffice it to say here that I was very glad to find a book to blow through for my trip :)

~Middle to End: 1~

I finished To Kill A Mockingbird after playing tug-of-war with my library for it.

~Front to Middle: 2~

I didn't ever completely finish Proofreading Plain and Simple by Debra Hart May. But I had gotten all I wanted out of it, so . . . *shrug* And I started A Spool of Blue Thread and promptly returned it to the library after 1 chapter. Hehe.

I'm still planning to finish about 6 others.

Writings

This should go a lot better this month since I know what I'm doing now.

~Words: 13,957~

I am impressed with this number. This includes drafting and editing words for my WIP. On average, my number of words a day was 450. My all-time low was 0 and my high was 1,612.

~Chapters: 4~ 

I reached my goal!! I am very happy about this. Thank you 300/4/30! Although you about killed me, you fulfilled your purposes. (Okay, so I actually missed two days, but I did it for 31 days, so it all evens out.)

~Progress Update: 80%

I've worked on some general outlining which I ignored and then wrote like crazy. I don't really have any idea how many chapters I have left to write, but I've working on #20, so not too shabby :)

~Biggest Problem: The Ending~

I was so excited to get going on my novel again, that I sorta forgot that I haven't decided where I'm ending this thing yet . . . Hehe. I know what's happening, until I don't. So that's probably where I'll end it. Prayers for the ending not to be super lame would be appreciated!

Blogs


Behold, the new section! I didn't include it last time because my blog was so new (and I didn't think about it.)

~Followers: 29~

I only count 28, but whatever. Either way, I hit my goal of reaching 25 this month. Thanks, everybody!

~Views: 3,100~

Rounding down, over 3,000 page views! That is utterly crazy, if you ask me. But it's kind of flattering at the same time. Thanks again, peeps! I don't have much to do with this one :)

Goals

I had 5 goals for March

1~ Write at least 4 chapters
Boom. 4 chapters with days to spare.
2~ Read at least 3 books
Well . . . I finished one, read one, and DNF two others, so . . . I pass?
3~ Finish editing Katie's book
*screams* I did it! We did it! She sent me a chapter almost every day like a saint! We were even able to wrap it up with a few days to spare, so she can follow or not follow my advice and then send it out to all her eager little betas. I'm so excited for where she's going as an author!!
4~ Reach 25 followers
I'm so happy I made this one :D I worked hard for the first week or so, finding new blogs and nudging their authors. That got me to around 20. Then, I just waited for another 5 to show up, and show up they did!
5~ Blog at least 5 posts
How about 8? Easy peasy.

Now for April's goals

1~ Edit my WIP
I kind of abandoned the editing phase for the writing phase this last month, but I'd like to get back to it.
2~ Finish at least 2 books.
Pathetic? Yes, it is. But I am sick of being in the middle of 2 gazillion books! I'd be very happy just to complete two this month.
3~ Finish editing Jesseca's lovely story :)
Now that I finished Katie's, I want to finish hers this month. I fully intend not to abandone Lydia and Ivy's stories just because I'm honing in on one. (I have been known to do this). But have no fear, ladies! This is good practice for me :P
5~ Do/host a guest post
I don't know. I don't have trouble blogging a lot, obviously, so this would be something different. Volunteers?

There you have it. I think I can do that.
~~~~~

How was your March? What are your goals for April? Did you notice I skipped goal #4? Don't worry, that was intentional :P

35 comments:

  1. I liked this post! It's fun to read a summary of all you've been enjoying reading and writing this month. I would be willing to write a guest post for you, provided you give me a couple of prompts or topics to jump off of. :)

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    1. Oh, I would love for you to do a guest post for me!! I'll have to think about what I want, and then I'll let you know ;) But if a topic comes to mind, go for it! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

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    2. A couple of ideas for a post you could do. Disciplines (ie journaling) or a virtue (ie patience) that have helped you become a better writer/blogger. Something along those lines maybe? There's no rush, so just let me know when you have something you like and I can ask you prompter questions if you need them :)

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  2. AARGH YES tug of war with the library is my life. XD
    But I loved the quotes. :D And now I have to go look up Where Treetops Glisten...
    I'm also having the same problem with my plot right now. Where am I going again?? *rolls eyes* But I'm counting on Camp Nano to force my creative juices fro my mind. :P

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    1. Tell me about it. I think I gave the book back three times before I finished it . . .
      Yeah, I think I'm gonna wait on Camp NaNo until July because I'm just not ready for more writing stress :P

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  3. You made your goal! Yay!!! Um, just finish Camp NaNo, alive or not.

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    1. :D Yes, that's what I'm gathering from most people. What's your word goal? New story or current?

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  4. I want a picture of your new gun once you get it back from the shop. Also, nice job on the competition. :D
    I sympathize on endings. I really do. They're hard. I hope you can get yours figured out!
    Also, I might be interested in trading guest posts, if we could think of a topic?

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    1. Okie dokie, I'll be sure to get a pic ;)
      I know! I hadn't realized, but it's probably because I've never truly finished a book before.

      Sure, Sarah! The only thought I have right now is to pick a genre to sing the praises of. You take Fantasy, and me take Historical Fiction or something? I'm open to any ideas you have!

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    2. Awesome!
      Ooh. Double congrats, then.

      That sounds cool to me. Though I'll let you know if I come up with any other ideas.

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    3. Sweet! And no pressure. It doesn't even have to be soon or anything. Just whenever. I can space them all out and wow people with your brilliance ;)

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  5. I'm five chapters away from finishing To Kill A Mockingbird-gosh, I love it.

    Oh my word, 25 followers in a month?? TEACH ME YOUR WAYS!!!!!!!

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    1. Yes, such a good book! The movie isn't half bad, either :)

      Haha! I just clicked on all my followers profiles and stalked blogs they followed, commenting and trying to hook other people. Just getting my name out there. I did an initial guest post that got me started. :) And because I'm still new enough, people were tagging me and such, leading other people to me, so that was nice, too :)

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  6. I'll be praying that your ending comes easily to you! Endings can be HARD.
    And awesome job on your 300/30 success! I'm so proud. :D

    Seriously... 3,000 views in a month is IMPRESSIVE. It took me almost a year to get to that amount. You're doing so well with your blog. :P
    (I love that you share stats. I think it's so interesting.)

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    1. Thanks! You rocked yours!

      Oh, really? I have no idea where they're all coming from :P I'm glad someone else finds them fun to read!

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  7. Endings are tricky things, to be honest my biggest WIP series doesn't even have any sort of ending yet. I should probably think of something one of these days...
    I love these monthly highlights posts though, I think I might try one, they are super fun to read. And if you're looking to guest post, I would totally be up for that if you are?
    Awesome work this month (and don't be discouraged about your reading, I only finished 2 books this month, granted they were rather thick but still)!

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    1. I'd love for you to do a guest post! It could help you get more followers, too :) Any idea on what you would want to post on?

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    2. Oh, haha, I was on a different track there, I was wondering if you'd like to guest post on my blog! But a switcheroo could work too.
      Well, I have a few ideas stored away in a notebook. Are you interested in anything specific?

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    3. I could have sworn I replied to this comment . . .

      Not really . . . If you have any ideas, go for it! And it's totally up to you if you even want to guest post for me. But I would still love to do one for you, so is there anything specific /you/ want? ;)

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  8. Hey Girlie, I'd love to do a guest post, and I'd love to host you on my blog, too. Not that I have a ton of followers, but maybe such a thing will cultivate some. :)

    Nice job with your goals. You must be so organized to keep track of what you want to do/what you did do.

    And GOOD, I'm glad you're not going to abandon my poor little book because it would be SAD without you!!! :)

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    1. That would be awesome, Ivy! I've had a lot of volunteers, so I'll have to come up with some ideas for content :D

      Ha! I like to think I'm organized, but it was a little tricky keeping track of my word count this month :P

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  9. Wow, I really enjoyed reading this, Abi!! I love when people do the monthly highlights posts. :)

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    1. Thanks! You're in luck, it's becoming pretty common ;)

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  10. Is 'To Kill a Mockingbird Bird' a good read? I've heard so much about it, but never had any special desire to read it..
    I really like your blog:)

    x,

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    1. I liked it a lot. It's through the eyes of a child during a politically charged time in a small town. So it's unique, humorous, and has some adult themes.

      Thanks!

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  11. Ahhh, I love seeing monthly highlights posts!! <3 This was such fun to read. Sounds like an amazing month! :)
    I'm one of Katie's betas. Which is a new experience for me. O_O Eeps!
    I second Mariya (above). Was "To Kill a Mockingbird" good? It's another one of those classics that I've never read. XD

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    1. It was an amazing month. It was just crazy. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
      Yay for you! Beta reading is seriously so much fun!!! And it's Katie, so that makes it doubly awesome :D

      I loved "To Kill A Mockingbird." It's very unqiue because it's through a little tomboy's eyes in a racially charged small town. While politically themed books are not ones I'm ever drawn to, it kept my interest even with the adult themes and was very real. I definitely recommend it.

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  12. Sounds like a good month! Hope that you can meet all your goals!

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  13. It sounds like you had a busy month! I'm always saying that someday our lives will slow down and we'll have a "normal" month like other people...I'm still waiting...;P
    I'm going to have to try "To Kill a Mockingbird" again. I remember a few years a gone I started reading it, put it aside, and never finished it. But I've heard a lot of good things about it the past couple months, so I will have to try and find a copy!
    I'm waiting till July for camp NaNo as well. We are going to be waaayyy too busy in April!
    Oh, and since I'm really curious. . .do you have 5 goals for the month or just 4? Or. . both? *looks back up at the post* It actually kinda looks like you have both! ;) Really random question, I know. :P

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    1. I know, I know. I promptly got the stomach bug after this post about 'hopefully April will be calmer.' -_-

      Yes, it's really such a good book, but it can take some effort to read. I gave it back to the library several times before I actually finished it ;)

      Technically, I have 4 goals (listed above as 1-5 ;) ) But some of them are kind of two fold ;) I'd be so happy if I could still reach them all though. With the super unproductive beginning to this month, it's a really good thing I set the bar low!

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  14. I want to get a gun! I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird, but those are really great quotes!

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    1. I know! So many of my more 'country' friends were so jealous. I really enjoy shooting, but I'm not a hunter, and we can't shoot in our neighborhood, so . . .

      Well, at least you have the highlights of the book, now :D

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