JUNE 2020

Hello, lovely people! Can you believe it's the end of June?? Summer is officially here, and the year is halfway over. 2020 IS HALFWAY OVER.

This has seriously been SUCH a crazy beginning to the decade. Nobody would have thought it would have started out like this, huh?? But here we are, we're surviving, and hopefully the second half will look a little brighter!

For now, though, let's focus on June, shall we?

I mentioned last month that I had started reading Dust by Kara Swanson. (my first-ever print ARC of a book, by the way, which is pretty exciting.) I finished it the first week of June and AHHHHHH. You guys NEED to read this as soon as it comes out because it was SO SO GOOD. prepare yourself for a killer cliffhanger that will make you question everything though lol haha haha fun times

I read the Stories That Sing anthology! So many great stories! As a whole, I think I even liked it a wee bit more than the first anthology. no I'm not biased why would you ask What I love about these anthologies is that even though they have their share of stories I just don't love, there's such a wide variety that there are plenty of stories I DO love!

And finally, I read Rising Shadows by Ashley Townsend! Aaaad here we are with another cliffhanger. Why do I always buy only the first books of sets? xD I enjoyed this book and while I feel like it could have been MORE (vague, I know), I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy!

Writing was next to nonexistent this month. I did do a little teensy-weensy bit of work on Roots to Claim, but definitely not the 10 chapters worth of work I was aiming for at the beginning of the month. (maybe a bit of a lofty goal? maybe??)

I really want to intentionally make a habit of taking even just five minutes a day to write. It almost hurts to even say that, because I really love the idea of getting all my other responsibilities out of the way and having at least an hour to sit down and dive deep into my story. And five minutes a day sounds like so little progress, you know?

But honestly, those longer sessions are rarely as fruitful as I'd like them to be, because when you sit me down in front of a computer for an hour you can BET I'm going to get distracted. BUT if I just make it a goal to work on my WIP for five minutes every day, and force myself to stay hyper-focused on JUST my story for that five minutes, I'll actually be making progress. And sometimes I know that five minutes will turn into even longer, and maybe with time I'll be able to stay hyper-focused for that whole hour. xD

Also, I've tried a "Writing Log" page in my bullet journal multiple times, and it just WON'T WORK FOR ME. Keeping track of words written every day is next to impossible sometimes, especially when you're rewriting. But if I record how much time I spend working instead, I think it might be better? We'll see!

I'm planning on doing Camp NaNo in July, so hopefully I'll be able to kickstart some real progress (without it completely consuming my life)! :D

I watched Ralph Breaks the Internet, which was great. My favorite part was the Disney Princesses. xD

I started watching The Saddle Club with my sisters. Yes, we are all adults, thank you very much. xD But it's been SUCH a nostalgia trip and I miss those carefree days. If you didn't know, before writing consumed my life, horses did. And I think Pine Hollow was pretty much every horse-crazy girl's dream back in the day. xD

the childhood feeeels

I've started doing monthly themes in my bullet journal! Last month was actually my first time doing this, and I did a Star Wars theme. But I forgot to show anything other than what was in my title photo, and I didn't do anything that exciting with it other than draw some lightsabers, so that doesn't really count. xD But in the spirit of finishing Dust, I decided on a Peter Pan theme this month and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

What I've been listening to:

Dear Yesterday by Michael Booth // I love this whole album, and the lyrics have really been speaking to me lately. Especially this song:

Though my heart won't heal this side of heaven
And the hurt I feel this side of heaven
Will stay with me for all my days
Til at last we're face to face
Still my heart will choose
To trust in You

// This Side of Heaven

This is such a beautiful song. While we can certainly find peace and comfort in this life, we won't experience perfect healing and wholeness until we're in heaven. But it's trusting in God and His purpose and plan for our lives that will help us find peace while on this earth. You should definitely go listen to this song.

For King and Country // After falling in love with the song "Fix My Eyes" and having it on repeat, and listening to the "Burn the Ships" album a couple times, I've decided I really like this band and should listen to more of them. *nods*

Remember that post I wrote about shalom that was inspired by the Out of Time series? NADINE BRANDES actually READ IT and I just O_O WHAAAT.

#ded

That's about it! Looking back, it seems June was actually pretty full, and went by a lot faster than May did. It was a good month, and I'm ready for July! Let's all hit this second half of 2020 with all we've got!

How was YOUR June? Any highlights? Did any of you watch The Saddle Club when you were younger?? And finally, WHO ELSE IS DOING CAMP NANO?? Let's panic in complete un-preparedness together! 

JUST A LITTLE PECK (A TRENTLEY AND JYNNIA STORY)

Hey everyone! It's that time again: time for another Trentley and Jynnia story!

This month's featured fairy tale at The Fairy Tale Central is Sleeping Beauty! I was super excited to see them focusing on one of the bigger fairy tales, because though y'all know I've LOVED getting to know some obscure stories, I've been waiting for the big ones to start trickling in.

So, as usual, Arielle gave us another fantastic writing prompt on her blog Intuitive Writing Guide, and here it is!

I quite like this installment, if I do say so myself. It was tons of fun to write, and it's also the first time we're in the POV of one of the new additions: our princely brothers, Ali, Houssain, and Ahmed. I also decided that since the theme is Sleeping Beauty, I would introduce a new character, who's actually in Once Upon, my full-length Trentley and Jynnia book. In the book she has a bit of involvement with the Sleeping Beauty herself, but I'll say no more. Enjoy. ;D

Here's the previous story, if you missed it: Giants, Brothers, and Weasels

USUAL DISCLAIMER: These stories are written purely for fun, and if you read them all straight through you'd probably notice tons of inconsistencies and continuity errors. That's fine. Also, although they're about the same characters, these stories aren't attached to my novel about Trentley and Jynnia in any way. Like I said, just for fun!

JUST A LITTLE PECK

 "I sure am glad to be rid of that pest." Ahmed shook his head with disdain as they passed through the gates of Herek's kingdom and back out into the forest.
 "Yeah, I just hope he doesn't get cursed again anytime soon," Jynnia scoffed.

 Ahmed glanced down at her from atop his horse and smiled. "You're sure you don't want to ride?"
 "I'm sure. Thank you." Jynnia glanced over at Trentley, who looked a tad irritated but mostly amused as he walked beside her. Ahmed avoided his gaze.
 "So now it's on to the search for the jewels, yes?" Ali said. "Now that we've dumped off the baggage, it's time to look for a little magic."
 "Yup," Jynnia said. "Although I have to admit, most of the time it seems to find us rather than the other way around."
 Houssain stopped his horse and held up a hand. "Does anyone hear that?"
 They all stopped to listen. A faint, musical sound floated on the air. "What is that?" Jynnia whispered in wonder.
 "Somebody playing an instrument?" Trentley peered through the trees.
 "It doesn't sound like an instrument," Ali said. "It sounds like-"
 Jynnia gasped and pointed. "Look!"
 All eyes followed her finger, which pointed through the trees at a small person in the distance,  faintly illuminated and... flying.
 "What is that?" Jynnia whispered again.
 "It's a fairy," Ahmed said. "Haven't you ever heard of fairies?"
 "Of course I've heard of them, but I've never seen one!" Jynnia's wide eyes were fixed on the ethereal creature. She was flitting about here and there, her wings shedding glittering dust as she went. The closer she came, the louder the music grew. Ahmed smiled. He never tired of hearing the delicate music fairies made naturally when they flew.
 "Let's go say hi to her." Jynnia's voice rose as she sprinted forward.
 The fairy jerked her head up and came to a stop, hovering in the air.
 "Jynnia, I wouldn't-" Houssain warned.
 "Hey!" Jynnia said, darting forward through the brush. "We want to introduce ourselves!"
 Trentley followed her hesitantly. "Jynnia, I don't think she wants to-"
 The fairy gave a little shriek. Holding her up hand, she revealed a wand and waved it in a panic.
 "Jynnia!" Trentley shouted again, running forward and grabbing her shoulder.
 A glowing stream of glitter shot from the wand straight toward them with a quiet hiss. It hit them, exploding into the air like fireworks on impact, and they collapsed.
 The three brothers immediately dismounted their horses and ran over to Trentley and Jynnia, shouting their names.
 Ahmed reached them first. He looked up as he dropped to his knees beside Jynnia. The fairy was gone, leaving only a faint trail of glittering dust behind her.
 "Coward!" he yelled. Way to go. How manly of you, yelling at a fairy.
 "Are they all right?" Houssain and Ali joined him as he gently rolled Jynnia over onto her back.
 Her eyes were closed, but she looked peaceful. Almost as if she were... sleeping.
 Houssain moved Trentley to a more comfortable position. "A sleeping spell," he said. Ahmed glanced over to see that Trentley wore the same calm expression that Jynnia did.
 Ahmed looked down at Jynnia. She was breathing perfectly normally. It really did look as if she were just slumbering in her bed. "There's only one thing to do." He looked at Houssain and Ali with wide eyes.
 "Oh, brother," Houssain muttered, turning his head as if it hurt to look at him.
 "Are you kidding me, Ahmed?" Ali said. "You're going to kiss her?"
 "Well, yeah." Ahmed gave a small, hollow laugh. "I mean, we have to save her, right? And everyone knows that's the quickest way to break a sleeping spell."
 "You're right, we do have to save her. Here, let me." Ali took a step toward her.
 "No!" Ahmed leaned to block his view of her and held his hands up.
 Ali grinned.
 "I've got this," Ahmed said. His hands started to shake as he turned around. "I'll just... give her a little peck and there you have it, she'll wake up."
 "Okay, great, so which one of us has to kiss Trentley?" Houssain said.
 Ahmed rolled his eyes. "Once Jynnia's awake, she can do it." Unless my kiss makes her fall so madly in love with me that she doesn't want to.
 "Are you sure you should do this, Ahmed?" Houssain said. "With Trentley lying right there in front of you? Do you really think Trentley or Jynnia would want this?"
 "Someone has to do it!" Ahmed said defensively.
 He leaned over her, gulping. He didn't realize he was hesitating until Ali said,
 "What's the matter, never kissed a girl before?"
 Ahmed frowned at him. "No, it's just that she's..."
 "What?"
 Ali's mocking tone was making Ahmed want to punch him in the face.
 "Sleeping."
 "Oh. Yeah, I didn't realize. Thanks for the information."
 "Okay, why are you being like this?" Ahmed plopped down on his rear and looked at Ali like a pouting child.
 "Because I'm your big brother."
 "If you don't hurry up and wake her, I'm going to make Ali kiss Trentley so he can do it," Houssain said.
 Ali looked at him in alarm.
 "Okay." Ahmed shifted to face Jynnia again, taking a deep breath. He leaned down. He could swear he heard music.
 "She's coming back!" Ali said suddenly, startling Ahmed out of his trance. Jynnia? He hadn't even kissed her yet!
 But a quick glance up revealed the fairy, flying slowly but steadily toward them. Oh. So that's the music. Ahmed was a little disappointed he hadn't been having the magical moment he had thought.
 "Hello," Ali called, raising an arm in greeting.
 "Hello," the fairy replied. She stopped and hovered a safe distance away, crossing her arms. "I'm afraid I overreacted and put your friends in a sleeping spell."
 "We noticed," Ahmed huffed, throwing his hands in the air.
 "Could you kindly wake them up before my brother loses his senses or does something he'll regret?" Houssain requested.
 The fairy raised an eyebrow but didn't question him. "Of course." She flitted over Trentley and Jynnia and pulled her wand out, seemingly from nowhere. She waved it a bit, and the musical dust grew louder as it spiraled down from the wand over Trentley and Jynnia.
 Ahmed scooted back to avoid the dust. (What effect would an anti-sleeping spell have on someone who was awake?) Trentley and Jynnia began to stir.
 They sat up sleepily, rubbing their eyes. Jynnia blinked a few times. "What happened?" She then noticed the fairy a few feet away and gasped. "You!"
 The fairy frowned and backed away, but Jynnia said, "No, wait! It's so great to meet you! I've never met a fairy before. What's your name?" She scrambled to her feet as she talked, dusting herself off. The fact that she had been under a sleeping spell didn't seem to faze her.
 Ahmed caught Trentley's eye as he stood up, and quickly looked away. It felt as if Trentley could look right into his mind and see him about to kiss Jynnia. And although Trentley was quiet and mild-mannered, Ahmed had a feeling he would not be happy to find out that another guy had tried to lay a liplock on his girlfriend.
 "Winlie," the fairy said, relaxing.
 "It's so nice to meet you, Winlie!"
 Ahmed smiled at Jynnia's excitement. She is so adorable. Still, he had to point out, "Even though she just put a sleeping spell on you?"
 Winlie glared at him.
 "Well, she didn't mean to," Jynnia said. "I mean, she did, but, you know. I understand."
 "Thanks for waking us up," Trentley said, picking a leaf out of his hair.
 Jynnia nodded. She stared at Winlie for a few moments with a big grin on her face. "Did I mention I've never met a fairy before?"
 The corner of Winlie's mouth lifted ever so slightly. "Yeah, I think you did." She gave a quick little shake of her hand, and her wand disappeared. "Well, I really have to be going now. I don't like hanging around too close to the kingdom, you know." She nodded behind them.
 "Oh." Jynnia deflated. "You mean you can't join us for a while? We're just-"
 "Oh, no, I really should be getting back to my cottage," Winlie said again, waving a hand. "But thank you. It was nice meeting all of you, too." She nodded at Ahmed, Houssain, and Ali.
 Ahmed scowled. Yes. This had been such a lovely experience. So lovely.
 He was so busy sulking, he almost didn't even notice Winlie flying away.  "Ahmed? Are you all right?" Jynnia asked.
 He came back to the present and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I guess some of the fairy dust got on me and put me in a daze." That was stupid.
 "Well, you better snap out of it. You wouldn't want to kiss anything- er, miss anything." Ali grinned.
 Ahmed shot him a glare that he wished could actually kill.
 Then Trentley shot him a glare that was so suspicious Ahmed could practically see it dripping venom.
 "Um..." Jynnia cleared her throat. "So, has anybody seen any new jewels, or what?" 

OOPS THINGS JUST GOT AWKWARD. And the funny thing is, does Jynnia even know why it's awkward? Does Trentley? xD I don't even know to be honest  I'm honestly so chaotic

ANYWAY I hope you all enjoyed this installment of The Adventures of Trentley and Jynnia! I always have so much fun tying the prompts into the stories (and by that I mean coming up with a story completely around the prompt because I have absolutely no inkling of what the story will be until I see the prompt hehehe). And can you believe it's been over a year since I started doing these?? Wow. o.o

Hope you all have a lovely Father's Day weekend, and I'll see you next week! *gives out parting cookies*

SO! Do we feel sorry for Ahmed, or do we want to put him in timeout? (it could go either way, honestly) What do you think of Winlie? And do you think Trentley knows what Ahmed (almost) did? xD

SHALOM

SHALOM.

It means peace. Wholeness. Completeness.

The way things are supposed to be.

I recently reread the Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes (aka one of my favorite series ever... not that any of you have any doubt about that by now), and it touched me just as deeply (perhaps even more) than it did the first time I read it. Which is saying something for a reread.

But what stands out so much about this story?

I've mentioned before how much I love Parvin and her journey. Hers is one of my favorite character arcs ever. And the entire story is incredible. But one thing in particular spoke to me this time around.

Shalom.

Something I'm passionate about is honoring God's will. I don't just mean choosing a career or spouse, but how there is so much that we might not even think about that is so far removed from what God originally intended. I have a LOT of thoughts about the state of this world and how what some might call progress has done nothing but harm to our society. I could go on for hours about this. (Maybe someday I'll devote a post to it, but today I'll try to spare you that rant.)

I've found new passion in devoting my life to rightness. To how things are supposed to be.

Every day I see anti-shalom at my job. It's one of the things that makes me really, really, really, really want a new one. Convenience is great, but after three years now of seeing how fast food has made people rely on other people to work hard so they don't have to, and treat other human beings like dirt... I truly wish it never existed. (I'm not saying you're a bad person if you eat fast food. I eat fast food. But with the awful things it brings out in some people, I wouldn't be sad to see it disappear from the face of the earth.)

There is so much that exists in this world that might seem harmless but has been twisted into something toxic.

Lately our world has been in desperate need of shalom. In every headline we see fear, anger, hatred. Anti-shalom absolutely everywhere.

And as harsh and hopeless as this sounds, there's nothing we can do to stop it. There won't be perfect shalom until Jesus comes and takes us all to be with Him for eternity.

But.

That doesn't mean there's no hope for shalom in this world. It doesn't mean our lives have to be completely void of it. And it doesn't mean that the world can't be greatly changed by it.

We just have to start it in our own lives.

How do I feel led to spread shalom? To pursue peace and rightness in my world?

I want to treat people the way I should.
I want to live and use my time in a way that matters.
I want to give of myself to help others draw closer to shalom.

And so many other things that can't be expressed. In short, I want my life to be one that supports and pursues shalom.

Put in prettier words by a song I've been absolutely loving lately:

I'd love like I'm not scared
Give when it's not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall, but above it all
Fix my eyes on You

// Fix My Eyes by For King and Country

(I discovered this song from the playlist Nadine Brandes created for A Time to Rise, and I think it's perfect for this topic.)

Ultimately, what does shalom mean for me in my life? Complete and utter surrender to God. The handing over of my life in its entirety into His hands, saying, "Here it is, Lord. Do with it what you will. Accomplish in me what You placed me on this earth for."

If I fix my eyes on Him and allow Him to saturate my life, I will find my own personal shalom. I'm not there yet. I'm SO far from there. Will I ever reach complete surrender to Him? Who knows, because as humans with a sin nature that's something maybe we'll never reach perfection in. I constantly struggle with it. But can't I forget about my own desires for a while and stop being selfish?

Can't I stop worrying about what will or won't happen if I don't get enough writing time in every day and just get back to prayer? Can't I just commit my life to God like He intended?

I want my life to be what it's supposed to be. To be complete, to be right.

I want to use my life to further good causes, to benefit others, to find and complete the tasks God has given me. I want to get uncomfortable and rise above the darkness and hatred of this world to shine a bright light for anyone who needs to see it. For anyone seeking shalom.

Bottom line: I can't make my toxic job a thing of shalom. But I can be shalom at my job. And the same goes for everything else in our lives, and for our world.

To quote another book series that's made no small impact on me:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

How absolutely perfectly this describes how I feel every day. I can't undo the things that have happened and the far leaps our world has taken away from shalom. But I can be shalom.

And if that's all I'm meant to do in life, I think that's a worthy purpose.

Hopefully I didn't ramble too much here and the heart of what I'm trying to say came across the right way. It's hard to gather my thoughts properly on things like this sometimes.

But in case I've never said it before, I'm so thankful for the Out of Time series, and Parvin. It's amazing how God can use stories to impact your life, and He certainly has with this one.

I hope somehow these words have encouraged you. Let's spread shalom together.

MAY 2020

Well, we're a week into June already, and 2020's almost halfway over. Whaaat.

Thinking back on May, it seems it went by kind of slowly. Anyone else? (Then again, I suppose time's been going by slowly for a lot of people lately.) It was also kind of a weird month? I don't know. I was going to explain why it was weird, but I don't even know how to describe it, so. xD

BUT ANYWAY. Here we go: a summary of my May!

It was a great reading month! I didn't read much, but pretty much everything I read I loved.

Porch Swing Girl by Taylor Bennett- 4 stars
How We Rise by Brooke Riley- 4 stars
Dust by Kara Swanson- not yet finished hehe oops but it's either going to be 4 or 5 stars :P

I got my Stories That Sing anthology!! VERY VERY EXCITING. I still can't believe I have my own story on my bookshelf now. okay i'll shut up about it for a while now

Real talk time: I'm really frustrated with myself because I haven't been working on Roots to Claim nearly as much as I'd planned on. I've been procrastinating like a pro, and what drives me crazy is that it's not because I don't want to work on this story. I DO. I love it so much and I want so much to see it finished. But when I hit the slightest snag I get discouraged and give up for a few days. And of course y'all know a few days leads into even longer.

BUT hopefully I can get back into it this month, because like I said, I really want to see this story finished!

i also have some really cool news coming but i can't tell you yet

I made Star Wars cupcakes on May 4 because how could I not.

And blue milk because again, how could I not.

My sister started reading the Out of Time series for the first time and this conversation happened:

XD #ifyouknowyouknow

I started a YouTube channel! I've only posted one video so far but I promise I have another one coming soon!

What I've been listening to:



I made this playlist for a short story I wrote, and I've been listening to it a lot even after I finished writing the story. I mentioned before about how I was having trouble writing. Part of that was because I've had some rough days lately. I'd start feeling down, lose all my motivation, get emotionally exhausted, and as a result get creatively exhausted. But this playlist has helped. I especially love "You're Gonna Be OK." You should definitely listen to it if you've never heard it before.

I've also been listening to the Descendants soundtracks like my life depends on it because I watched D3 again recently and WOW I love those movies. xD

it's obnoxious how much I love them

It's been a weird month. At times it was hard, at times it was great. Your prayers are always appreciated. And I'm always praying for you guys!

I hope you've all had a great week and beginning to your summer!

So what have you all been up to?? How was your May? Any big plans for June/summer? What's your favorite song that gives you hope?