FEBRUARY 2021

Happy Saturday, everyone! And happy penultimate day of February. wut. o.o

I don't know about y'all, but this month just FLEW by for me. My main focus has been on just getting through the semester (let's be real here, that's every college student's goal), and I guess it's kept me distracted enough to barely notice the month whizzing by around me. And here we are, suddenly 1/6 of the way through the year. (okay ummmm I kind of just freaked myself out by saying that. let's not talk about that again.)

BUT it was still a great month! Read on for all the (not-so-juicy) details!

You guys. 

I READ THIS MONTH. 

It has been SO long since I read more than... heck, half a book in a month? I don't know for sure, but over the past six months or so (basically ever since I started college... though it was kind of rough before then, too) I've just been reading so little. And there are going to be seasons of life in which that happens and that's okay, but I've just been aching to consume more stories. (And my TBR was aching under all the weight.)

It didn't start off as a super speedy reading month. The first book I finished, I started back in January. BUT that book (Brand of Light) kickstarted me back into reading, and I am having a BLAST. 

Here are the books I read this month:

Brand of Light by Ronie Kendig: 4 stars // slightly disappointed me but I still very much enjoyed it // that ending was RUTHLESS though

The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson: 4 stars // BRILLIANT concept // Kara Swanson really knows how to pull a reader in

The Journey by Verity A. Buchanan: 3.5-4 stars // SIBLINGGSSS // Fred is my new love

Coral by Sara Ella: currently a little over halfway through this one (probably gonna finish it tonight and come back here to update this post when I do) and it's SO GOOD // MERMAIDS

Over, this was a GREAT reading month and I'm just so happy to be taking in stories again. I'm just hungry for all the books and literally can't read fast enough to satisfy me. 

If you read this post from earlier in the month, you'll remember I'm currently taking a break from writing, to take some strain off myself during college and also to read more books and charge my creative battery back up. (And I've already mentioned how fantastic reading has been lately, so it's definitely been a successful break so far!) However, I have been working on edits/rewrites for draft 2 of Roots to Claim, and enjoying it so VERY much. I say it every time I bring this story up and I'll continue to say it: I love my Archlan and my Quinard. I've been moving slowly through this draft this time around, not putting too much pressure on myself, but it's been so lovely and I'm glad I switched my focus back to it. 

Also: I changed my mind about my April Camp NaNo project. When I first decided to take a break from writing, I said I would make an exception (take a break from the break, I guess XD) for Camp NaNo, in which I would be working on and hopefully finishing the first draft of my second Trentley and Jynnia book. Now that I'm back into Roots to Claim again, I decided it would be better to stick with it and make that my project for this April. Whether I'll still be finishing up draft two or moving on to draft three (!!!), I don't know, but I'm definitely not going anywhere. I'm excited about it right now and just don't really want to change gears. Plus, it'll extend my breather from writing new things a little longer, which I think will be good. I plan to jump back into Trentley and Jynnia's story when the semester is over and I have summer break; so that'll be my project for July! I think it just works out so much better this way.

We got TONS of snow this month! It was kind of insane. Almost two whole weeks of classes were canceled (you're not gonna hear me complaining). And this snow was just wild. We really haven't gotten much snow in the past several years, and whatever we did get always melted pretty much right away. But this month the temperatures were pretty consistently single-digit for a while, so we got to actually keep the snow and enjoy it for about a week. 

It started snowing on the evening of Valentine's Day, and just DID. NOT. STOP for more than twenty-four hours. I'm talking heavy snowfall and crazy accumulation. My huge dog was knee deep in the stuff. xD I said recently I was ready for spring (an unusual thing for me to say), but I absolutely LOVED this winter wonderland we got to experience. It's been so long since we got any amount of snow for longer than a couple days, and definitely YEARS since we got this much. So, I was just soaking. it. up. (And really wishing I would find a wardrobe to stumble through into a magical land, because the snow was making me wish like crazy that I'd run into Mr. Tumnus.)

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I spent the first part of the day playing Monopoly with my family... and CRUSHING them. Muahaha. (I also made brownies with strawberry frosting and red and pink sprinkles. Because if you're gonna make brownies for the occasion, you gotta go all out.) Then that evening, I watched Mirror, Mirror with my sisters and had pizza and ice cream. A lovely day indeed!

I got a super cool bookish sweatshirt from My Bookish Den and I'm obsessed with it because GUYS. IT HAS A TIME TO DIE ON IT. 

I knew as soon as I saw it that I neeeeeeded it, precious, because OF COURSE I need a shirt with A Time to Die on it. (It has some other epic books, too, like The Hobbit, Narnia, and Cinder, but y'all KNOW Out of Time is like my favorite series ever soooo yeah.)

This is kind of random, but the 22nd was the one-year anniversary of when I watched Endgame aaaand yeah. I was feeling all the feels again. *weeps* Very much want to journey back through the MCU (even though I know I'll just get my soul destroyed again at the end). 

One more thing... this didn't actually happen in February, but close enough... I registered for Realm Makers!! *endless screaming* Aaaand I'm pretty sure I was the first person to register because I didn't know how fast they would sell out and I was paranoid. XD But I'm all signed up and I'm soooo excited!!

How is it almost March?? I know I say that every month, but... yeesh. 2021's just flying by already. In nineteen days it'll be my birthday, which doesn't seem right at all. (I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but all the COVID craziness first started right around my birthday last year, and that was the last day my whole family was together for a while. I remember my brother staying several feet away from the rest of us because he was feeling under the weather and didn't know what it was and I was thinking "oooh spooky, what if it's the coronavirus". here I am a year later and me and every member of my family has now had it. xD) 

It's also almost spring, which, like I mentioned, I'm ready for, for once! I'm always a little sad to see winter go, but this year I'm excited to be able to go outside and enjoy the sunshine, and roll the windows down in my car, and all that good stuff. 

ANYWAY. I hope all you lovely people are having a beautiful Saturday and that your February was a good one as well! See you in the comments! ♥

So, how was your February? Have you been reading a lot or maybe moving a little more slowly? And do you know what you're doing for Camp NaNo yet, if you're participating? (I realized how close it was the other day and kind of freaked out. xD)