Hailey Hudson's Blog, page 31

Room Tour January 2019

I’m planning to move out later this year, and while I can’t wait to get a little apartment and decorate it, all I’ve been thinking about lately is how much I’m going to miss my bedroom. We’ve lived in this house for over 10 years, and since I was homeschooled and now I work from home, I spend a lot of time in my bedroom. It has a bay window and vaulted ceiling, plus lots of books and fairy lights. Normally there’s a candle burning, music playing, and hard work happening (or hard relaxation, depending on whether it’s a weekend or a weekday). I work at my desk, work out on the carpet, and watch Netflix or read in bed. Here’s a tour of my room! (I apologize for the terrible lighting in the photos–I took these pictures at a weird time of day.)

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First of all, we see the pull-up bar that I don’t use nearly as much as I thought I was going to and my bookcase (which I use every day). Most of the 300+ books I own are on here, and they’re arranged by genre. Obviously, they don’t all fit and they’re kind of a mess. But can we appreciate that I have a whole section for Louisa May Alcott?

I have a bulletin board behind my door (and this is a TERRIBLE photo of it). It’s been about a year and a half since I redid it.

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In my chest of drawers (the top is always messy), the top few drawers are filled with pajamas and clothes, while the bottom few drawers are filled with papers (literally–to the brim) and random stuff.

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This bookcase at the end of my bed contains old journals, school notebooks, yearbooks, and magazines, plus my modest DVD collection and the stuffed owl that Hannah gave me (it came bearing my Hogwarts letter). On top of the bookcase is an anthology I was published in recently. To the left, there’s a box full of copies of my book, and a little tray with all my stationary and letter writing supplies.

Here’s my closet with the fairy lights that make my room look purple instead of pink at night. And in the spirit of transparency, here’s what my closet actually looks like inside. (Not pretty: Clothes everywhere, all my extra blankets falling out of the top, and a ton of workout equipment jammed into the bottom.)

Next we get to my desk. I absolutely love my desk, and my bay window, and everything in this area of my room.

The crate on the right holds everything I need for work–folders with W9’s and printed project briefs from clients, notebooks where I keep track of my marketing, etc. The one on the left is where I keep filled notebooks and journals, plus some Bibles and old books and my camera. The little whiteboard (my favorite Alaska souvenir, lol) holds my quote of the week.

I have a few of my favorite quotes of all time–they’re from random books/movies/TV shows and have huge personal meaning to me–on my bay window. The bay window collection of quotes is a very exclusive club. New members are only added once every six months or so.

My desk itself has more quotes on Post it notes, a neat stack of planners/folders, my computer, and a few other little special items. Sometimes I also outline articles with Post it notes on the wall, lol. I like Post it notes.

This is the messiest part of my room, but here’s my dresser (shot sitting on my bed): Old American Girl dolls, a stack of library books (on the floor), stacks of books I own and keep meaning to read (on the bench), and my jewelry box. On top of my antique table I have a ton of Writer’s Digests and magazines I’ve been published in. I can’t figure out a cool way to display them. (Also, peep the big whiteboard to the right–sometimes it’s used to outline novels, currently it’s being used as a habit tracker of sorts.)

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On top of my nightstand, I keep a postcard someone once wrote me speaking life over me, a paper rose that a stranger made me once at a coffee shop, and a gorgeous notebook I’ve owned since last July but didn’t write in until a week or two ago (lol oops). Also, there’s a bucket of bookmarks. Because who doesn’t need one of those.

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There’s nothing I love more than collapsing in bed with a book at the end of a long day. I used to have four blankets on the end, but currently I just have one (my Ravenclaw blanket) because all four would never stay neat. On the wall I have a painting from a friend and some motivational quotes I love.

And that’s my room!

January 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up

I’m glad that January was a really, really good month–happy and busy and full. I was expecting the opposite, so it was nice! I stayed busy with work, discovered so much good music (a big highlight, honestly), and did fun stuff. I also had a lot of energy (well, what counts as “a lot” for me) and felt pretty good physically for most of the month.

The volume of my work stayed pretty steady and I had a good month with some new clients and old ones alike (I made just about as much money as I made in my highest-earning month in 2018), and I enjoyed my first month of having a virtual assistant to take some tasks off my plate. Outside of work, I took tap dance class, picked up/sometimes babysat my neighbors from school, went to my 20’s small group only once oops, and went to small group with my parents’ church twice.

Fun stuff: Anna and I kicked off the month with pizza and shopping on New Year’s Day (I got six items of clothing for $55!). We had lunch with friends from Mississippi, Hannah and I went to Panera and watched a movie, and I had a coffee/mentoring date with a friend from small group. I went out for coffee (which I can longer HAVE because acid reflux–it’s sad), shopping, and lunch with Andrea and Zoe, and Brooke and I caught up over dinner before small group. I played with my favorite one-year-old a lot, went to a brass ensemble performance at a local college with my dad, and we had family friends over for snacks and board games. I attended and helped run Sara’s Diamonds 2019 conference for chronically ill Christians; spent a really fun Sunday with Emma and the Coxes; and spontaneously had a picnic at the park (in the cold) with Brooke. I also ended the month by having my car towed for the first time and getting a cold, neither of which were fun.

 

Reading: The Cricket in Times Square, George Selden (reread). The Secret of a Heart Note, Stacey Lee. The War Outside, Monica Hesse (DNF). The Librarian of Auschwitz, Antonio Iturbe. Taking the Lead, Derek Hough. Scrappy Little Nobody, Anna Kendrick. Gay Girl, Good God, Jackie Hill Perry (cue the tears). The Blue Castle, L. M. Montgomery (aww!). Anna and the French Kiss and Isla and the Happily Ever After, Stephanie Perkins (both rereads–I just wanna live at SOAP). I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai. Revolution in World Missions, K.P. Yohannan. Queen of Air and Darkness, Cassandra Clare (ALL 900 PAGES–IT RIPPED MY HEART OUT AND I AM NOT OKAY–I LOVE THE BLACKTHORNS MORE THAN LIFE). Letting Go of Gravity, Meg Leder (unexpected emotions, hello). The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin (reread). 15 total.

Watching: Riverdale, all of season one and part of season two (so obsessed). Spider-Man Homecoming (re-watch). Glamour’s YouTube videos on money. Some of Monica Church’s vlogs. Good Witch, the beginning of season two. A little HGTV. One episode of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo because Joshua and I wanted to laugh at it. Mona Lisa Smile (loved this movie so much). The True Cost documentary (as research for a work project, but I loved it). Winner Cake All (just the Broadway Princess Party episode).

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Listening to (I LISTENED TO SO MUCH GOOD MUSIC THIS MONTH, I’M OBSESSED WITH ALL OF THESE SONGS): Natural, Imagine Dragons. Dusk Till Dawn, Zayn ft. Sia. Youngblood, 5 Seconds of Summer. Fear Nothing, Riverdale cast. Wherever I Go, Dan Bremnes. It Is Finished, Passion. Cross My Mind Pt. 2, A R I Z O N A. Start A War, Klergy. Youth, Shawn Mendes ft Khalid. Hold Tight, Sabrina Carpenter. Kings and Queens, Matt Kearney. Life of the Party, Shawn Mendes. Bridges, Johnnyswim (new JS music!). come out and play, Billie Eilish. Queen, Shawn Mendes. Whatever It Takes, covered by Landon Austin. Home, Bruno Major. Wolves, Selena Gomez and Marshmello. Walking the Wire, Imagine Dragons. Particular Taste, Shawn Mendes. High Hopes and Roaring 20’s, Panic! at the Disco. One Of Those Nights, Shawn Mendes. Save Me Tonight, ARTY. Be Alright, Dean Lewis. Nearer My God to Thee, BYU Vocal Point. I also finally discovered the local pop hits radio station.

Loving: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, Buzzfeed News. The Paradox of Jughead’s Hat, Medium. Marie Kondo of Netflix’s Tidying Up: she’s not coming for your books, Vox. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, Time. The Good, The Bad, And The Guilt Of Working From Home, Fast Company. Wellesley grads frown at “Mona Lisa Smile,” Chicago Tribune.

Writing: At the magazine where I’m associate editor, I wrote two features, wrote the editor’s note, came up with a social media strategy, and proofread the February issue. I wrote four blog posts for a pet insurance company (example); wrote 15 short (and fun!) blog posts for a new client of mine that creates travel content for a variety of brands (example); wrote eight blog posts for a small outdoors brand (example); wrote a couple of pieces for Craft Your Content (read here and here); wrote a rush work piece for a fitness content marketing company; wrote two blog posts for two social media marketing companies; wrote two blog posts on LinkedIn for a content writing company; wrote a fascinating piece on fast fashion (and finished another long piece from last month) for a consumer protection company; and came up with a content strategy for an email newsletter company. Whew!

I also applied to 88 jobs, sent 33 LOI’s, pitched 26 story ideas to 14 publications, and had my final coaching call for the freelance writing course I enrolled in last June.

Fiction-wise, for the first time in months, I began working on a novel (my ice skating contemporary YA novel) and it was just flowing. I haven’t worked on it much, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot, which feels so good. Also, my copy of the Out of Shadow anthology I was published in finally arrived.

 

Grateful for: Book mail (there was a lot of it this month #Christmasmoney). Constantly sending Voxers (voice messages) with a freelancing friend throughout every work day. Being happy. Nailing down monthly retainer clients. THE GRISHA UNIVERSE IS COMING TO NETFLIX. Playing Marvel board games by candlelight. Being excited. Discovering and enjoying so much good music. Having enough energy to walk the dog (this mostly backfired on me though lol). Candles and books on rainy Saturdays. Playing with a cute dog and talking to some nice ladies at my mechanic. A waitress giving us full-size waffles for the price of mini ones. Laughing and drinking hot chocolate in my car in a dark park. A friend sending me a Kindle book when I was having a stressful day.

What did you do in January?

Liebster Award

Hanne tagged me in this back in December, and I’m finally getting around to doing it–yay!

What is your favorite winter tradition?

I guess my favorite winter tradition is anything to do with Christmas–getting a tree, watching The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents, etc. (It’s only mid-January but Christmas already feels like a dream, or a dream of a dream.) (Points to anyone who got that reference.)

What is your favorite quote?

I have a ton of favorite quotes. Here are the ones that have made it to Post-It notes above my desk, which means they really mean a lot to me in this stage of life for one reason or another:

It’s time to take the world and make it your own.

I might be a dreamer, but it’s gotten me this far, and that is far enough for me.

You figure out what matters. And you do something about it.

Life is short, the world is wide, let’s make some memories.

You can do anything you want. You are bound by nothing.

One of these is from a TV show I love, one is from a musical I love, one is from a book series I love, and two are from movies I love. Again, bonus points if you recognize any of them!

What is the book you read most recently, and what did you think of it?

Currently I’m in the middle of I Am Malala (not sure why I haven’t read it before? It’s good). I’m also going to reread Anna and the French Kiss later today in one sitting, and do the same with Isla and the Happily Ever After tomorrow, and I’m so excited because I love both of those books so much.

What is your favorite board game?

This isn’t necessarily a board game–it’s a dice game–but I like Qwixx. I also played a fun game the other night called Hail Hydra, and I like Payday and any Harry Potter-themed board games.

What’s a name that you love but won’t ever use for your kids?

I love the name Linnea, but if I have biological kids (not planning on it) I’d want to give them names that are easy to pronounce and spell, just to make their lives easier. I might use it for a middle name, though. Something classic for a first name and something a little different for a middle name. I really like Caroline Linnea, Elisabeth Bethany, Elise Vivian, something like that.

If you could learn one physical activity and do extremely well at it, what would it be?

There are so many things I’d love to do, but my health problems hold me back from most of them. I would LOVE to compete on American Ninja Warrior, for instance.

What is your favorite brand? (i.e., Forever 21, Nike, etc; not restricted only to clothing)

OrangeTheory Fitness has really good branding. Also, UPS has a weirdly impressive social media strategy, especially on LinkedIn.

Outside the work world, though (I’m trying to have a weekend, I promise), I love UnderArmour clothing.

What is your favorite trait in a friend?

Someone who’s loyal, funny, including, understanding, etc.

What is your secret talent?

Umm I don’t think I really have one? A lot of people who are in my life right now don’t know that I’m a classically trained pianist. I try not to bring it up.

16 Book Releases I’m Excited For in 2019

2019 is going to be a fantastic year reading-wise. There are so many good books coming out (and so many 2018 releases I still haven’t read, oops). Here are the 16 books we’re getting in 2019 that I’m most excited for!

Romanov, Nadine Brandes (release date: May 7, 2019)

Nadine is the best in every way possible and I love the story of Anastasia Romanov. It’s captured my imagination ever since I was little, so I can’t wait to see what Nadine does with it in this historical fantasy retelling. I was gifted a preorder of Romanov for Christmas!

To Best the Boys, Mary Weber (March 18, 2019)

I’ve never actually read any of Mary Weber’s books, but I really want to. I thought this one looked interesting, so I preordered it! From what I understand, it’s a fantasy story of a town that invites its boys to navigate a labyrinth and compete for a scholarship once year… except this year, the girls have decided to compete in the maze, too.

The Boy who Steals Houses, C.G. Drews (release date: April 4, 2019)

Honestly, this is probably the release I’m MOST excited about in 2019. Big families, autistic rep, probably (hopefully) lots of cake… I don’t have anything to say here except I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED TO READ CAIT’S NEXT BOOK. (It is undoubtedly going to make me sob. But I’m okay with that.)

The Deceivers, Kristen Simmons (release date: February 5, 2019)

This is a book about a girl who goes to a school for con artists, and it’s written by one of my newfound favorite authors. I DEFINITELY preordered this one! Also, it looks like this is the first in a series, which makes me even more excited.

Call it What You Want, Brigid Kemmerer (release date: June 25, 2019)

Brigid Kemmerer is also a newfound favorite author of mine. Her contemporaries Letters to the Lost and More Than We Can Tell ripped my heart out, and she’s super friendly on social media. I’m counting down the days until Call It What You Want, which is a YA contemporary/romance. Kemmerer also has her first fantasy book, A Curse So Dark and Lonely (it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling!!), coming out January 29. I’m looking forward to that too.

King of Scars, Leigh Bardugo (release date: January 29, 2019)

I’ve been looking forward to King of Scars for so long. (How beautiful is the cover?!) I love Nikolai Lantsov (who doesn’t?) and can’t wait to read his book! I’m also excited about Ninth House, coming out in October–I have to admit, I know literally nothing about this book, but I’m Leigh Bardugo trash. I would read that woman’s grocery list. Anything and everything she writes is top-notch.

Chain of Gold, Cassandra Clare (release date: November 19, 2019)

Cassandra Clare literally has SO many books coming out this year?! I don’t read much of her stuff anymore because I decided years ago that the whole paranormal romance thing wasn’t what I wanted to be filling my brain with, but I’ll probably read this one anyway because EDWARDIAN LONDON. Also because I’m desperate to learn how Cassandra Clare keeps all of her characters straight and how she’s managed to flesh out this entire huge history for her world–seriously, it’s some JK Rowling-level stuff.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Tomi Adeyemi (release date: March 5, 2019)

I just found out about this tonight, and YAY! I recently reread Children of Blood and Bone and remembered how good it was. I’m so ready to spend more time in Orïsha.

The Toll, Neal Shusterman (I’m pretty sure this comes out in 2019 but now I can’t actually find a release date anywhere??)

Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of Scythe when I first read it. But Neal Shusterman stepped it up big-time with Thunderhead. I’m so freaking excited to catch up with Rowan and Citra. (Also a little scared about what’s going to happen to them…)

The Queen’s Resistance, Becca Ross (March 5, 2019)

I debated whether or not to put this on my list. I met Becca last April and she’s so sweet and wonderful! But The Queen’s Rising just didn’t do it for me. I have hope that I’ll enjoy The Queen’s Resistance more, though, so here it is. (One thing I did love about the first book was its cover, and this one is equally as gorgeous.)

The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee (release date: August 13, 2019)

All of Stacey Lee’s historical fiction is just so solid, and this one is set in my hometown of Atlanta, so extra points! It’s about a girl who’s a journalist and gets caught up with criminals, and it’s set in 1890. Sounds intriguing.

Imprison the Sky, A.C. Gaughen (release date: January 22, 2019)

Again, I debated putting this one on the list of books I’m “excited” about. I enjoyed Reign the Earth; it was done very well and carried important themes, but I didn’t fall in love with the book. It will still be nice to read the second one, though!

Symptoms of a Heartbreak, Sona Charaipotra (release date: May 21, 2019)

I haven’t read any of Sona’s previous books yet–I have one of them in my room right now from the library, I just haven’t gotten around to it. But I see her name pop up on Twitter all the time, and this looks really cute.

Serious Moonlight, Jenn Bennett (release date: April 2019)

I recently fell in LOVE with Jenn Bennett through Alex, Approximately. The blurb for this one mentions that one of the main characters was homeschooled and “raised in isolation,” but hopefully the story won’t reinforce homeschool stereotypes, and I can just enjoy it!

This post only scrapes the surface of all the good books coming out this year, but these are a few I’m really pumped for!

What 2019 releases are you excited to read?

December 2018 Monthly Wrap-Up

Everything I did for the first 25 days of December was documented in Blogmas; start here if you missed it. The final week of the month was filled with organizing my room, reading, watching Netflix, procrastinating working on a query letter/synopsis/finding agents for World on a String, sleeping, playing the piano, and playing Catchphrase. I also went to lunch with Brooke, and Joshua and I spent a day with the Coxes. It was such a great break.

 

Reading: Dancing Through Life, Cameron Candace Bure. Metaltown (WOW WOW WOW), Kristen Simmons. Among the Barons, Among the Brave, Among the Enemy, and Among the Free, Margaret Peterson Haddix (reread). Life in Motion, Misty Copeland (reread). Article 5, Breaking Point, and Three, Kristen Simmons. American Panda, Gloria Chao. A Very Large Expanse of Sea (so good), Tahereh Mafi. Wild Blue Wonder (YES), Carlie Sorosiak. Downriver, Will Hobbs. When Chronic Pain and Illness Take Everything Away: How to Mourn Our Losses, Esther Smith. Outrun the Moon, Stacey Lee. Louisiana’s Way Home, Kate DiCamillo. Bunheads, Sophie Flack. Always Never Yours, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. Reign the Earth, A.C. Gaughen. 20 total.

Watching: Boy Meets World season 2. Good Will Hunting. The Good Witch season 1. Mary Poppins Returns. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II.

Listening to: Shawn Mendes’ full Illuminate album and most of the songs from his latest self-titled album. Sabrina Carpenter’s album Singular Act 1. Various Christmas music. Probably every video of Shawn Mendes and Cole Sprouse on the Internet.

Loving: Shawn Mendes’ Rolling Stone feature. Stop Apologizing for God, Desiring God. How the Teachings of Emotional Purity and Courtship Damage Healthy Relationships, Recovering Grace.

Grateful for: Sitting on a family friend’s couch and laughing hysterically for the first time in a long time (to both). Sharing a hymnal in church with my favorite ten year old. Lying on a trampoline with my brother on a rare sunny day, laughing and talking.

What did you do in December?

2018: My Reading Stats

I read a lot of books this year. 153 books, to be exact, which comes out to about 3 per week and an average of 13 per month. I wasn’t trying to beat 2017’s number of 135, but I did. My lowest month this year was February with five books, because I watched the Olympics each night instead of reading, and my highest month was December with 20 books completed because I took eleven days off work (hallelujah). I read most of my 2018 books in Georgia. But I also read some in Tennessee, some in Mississippi, some in Alabama, some in South Carolina, some in North Carolina, some in Alaska, some in Vancouver, and some in Seattle. The first book I read this year was Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott (a reread), and the last book I read this year was Reign the Earth by A. C. Gaughen.

I didn’t do a Goodreads challenge. I’m terrible at having hobbies because I’m super competitive and ambitious. So I want reading to be the one thing in my life where I don’t put pressure on myself and can just truly enjoy it. And I do enjoy it… as is evidenced by the fact that I read 153 books in 2018 without even trying! But the downside of not doing a Goodreads challenge is that I have to compile my reading data myself at the end of the year. So, here are a few rudimentary pie charts showing some of my 2018 reading statistics.

Let’s start out with how many fiction books I read versus how many nonfiction books I read. My prediction: I wasn’t sure of exact numbers, but I knew I read much more fiction than nonfiction this year, and I was right.

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As far as rereads versus books that I read for the first time, I read a ton of new books this year, and I didn’t think there would be that many rereads. And I was right again! When I was younger, I used to think (and I’m sure my mom used to think) that I would run out of books to read one day, but now I know the truth… I’ll never have enough time to read all the books in the world.

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Out of the fiction books I read this year, I also wanted to analyze how many YA, MG or children’s, and adult books I read. I accurately predicted that I read the most YA books by far. These stats are as close as I can figure…

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Finally, genre-wise, my initial guess was that I read the most contemporary this year. I used to not think I liked contemporary, but I absolutely fell in love with it this year and read a heck ton of contemporary. I was interested to see how the other genres panned out!

I did have a little trouble sorting some books into genres for this chart. A lot of them overlapped–for instance, many of the autobiographies I read were by missionaries or pastors and could just as easily have gone into faith-based. And since several MG/children’s books I read don’t exactly slot into a category, I just made a general children’s lit section. So the lines blur a little, but this is pretty accurate. I was right that I read the most contemporary this year, but fantasy and dystopian/sci-fi came pretty close! Things were pretty even across the board with genres, which makes for a very pretty pie chart.

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Overall, 2018 was a really, really good reading year. I’m not going to divide books up into favorites/non-favorites or give any specific reviews because that’s a lot of work haha (hit up my Goodreads for somewhat coherent reviews), but I loved the large majority of the 153 books I read. I love the idea that all of these stories are part of me now, shaping the way I write and the way I look at the world. So excited to devour more books in 2019!

How many books did you read in 2018? What genre did you read the most? What were some of your favorite reads? 

Blogmas 2018 Day 25

We were so excited that it was CHRISTMAS!!! We started opening our stockings at 8:30 and were done with all the gifts by 9:30. In my stocking, I received candy, a candle, and EOS lip balm. As far as gifts, I received money from my grandpa; two books and candy from a family friend; and an Alaska photo book Joshua made me. From my parents, I received handmade soap; a gift card to a local boutique; Romanov by Nadine Brandes (pre-order); When Chronic Pain & Illness Take Everything Away by Esther Smith; the print copy of Worlds Beneath by K.A. Emmons; and a jar of freezer raspberry jam (it’s the same jam that we had in Alaska and LOVED).

I also did a little online shopping this morning and pre-ordered To Best the Boys by Mary Weber and The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons, plus purchasing a DVD of Spiderman Homecoming and a used copy of More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer (I don’t buy books the library has… unless they’re AMAZING books that I just want to own, like this one).

I gave my mom a book by Mike and Peggy Rowe that she wanted, and I gave my dad a coaster I brought from Alaska (although unfortunately it broke in my checked bag coming home). I gave Joshua a trilogy of books by Daniel Blackaby (I bought them at Write2Ignite and had Daniel sign them to Joshua), plus a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee from one of my clients, Eastern Mountain Sports. I told Joshua it’d be his favorite gift of this Christmas, and he said it is! We gave my grandpa an Alaska photo book. I helped Joshua make a video, titled Things You Can’t Do In Real Life If You’re Not Sophie, for our mom. And for my parents, I gave them a book called Hey, I Should Dust That (and other heartfelt poems and essays by Sophie). I started writing the book in July and procrastinated up until two weeks ago, when I finally had someone format it so I could order it. It arrived yesterday.

In the middle of opening gifts, we heard a knock on the door and found a gift–some chocolate covered cherries–from our next door neighbors. I guess that by now, they’ve figured out I was the one leaving gifts on their porch for the last three years! Sophie opened her stocking this morning to find treats and a new antler, and that occupied her for a while, but eventually she started getting into stuff and had to go in her crate.

My aunt, uncle, and two adult cousins came over for lunch and to visit for a few hours which was so fun. For lunch we had ham, baked pineapple, rolls, sweet potato souffle, chocolate pie, fruit, squash casserole, chicken and dumplings, etc. I had to go to our friends’ house mid-afternoon to pet sit. When I got back it was 3:30 and my aunt and uncle were leaving. I was in pain and dead tired so I went to bed. Later I got up, read Esther Smith’s book (so good), messed around with some songwriting stuff, and my dad took me to our friends’ house to petsit again. And Christmas 2018 was over!

Here’s what I did two years ago today and one year ago today. What did you do today?

 

Blogmas 2018 Day 24

It’s Christmas Eve! This morning I finally got out of bed at nine after sleeping/resting for 17 hours. I played the piano for a while and did this workout video. After lunch, I spent some time looking for agents who rep YA historical fiction, and then I wrapped two final gifts (the one I’ve been waiting and waiting for finally arrived today!) and watched an episode of The Good Witch while trying not to fall asleep.

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We went to a Christmas Eve service at my parents’ and brother’s church at 4:00. Then we went to a service at my church (the bigger one I do small group with) at 5:30. Both services were nice and it was good to see all my friends, and we also saw some friends from our old church.

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Afterwards, we went to Krystal, which is our Christmas Eve tradition and was very fun although it’s also the tradition for me to complain about it. We’re at home now and normally watch The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, but although it’s only eight I can’t keep my eyes open and probably won’t last long.

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Here’s what I did two years today and one year today. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2018 Day 23

Today I went to the little white country church that I went to last spring and summer, and it felt so good to be there. I sat with family friends from our old church who now go there as well. The service was so special; outside it rained, and I sat in the wooden pew under the lights and garlands and sang Christmas songs from a hymnal with my favorite ten-year-old. I was so, so happy to be back. And just look how cute it is decorated for Christmas.

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At home, our family friend Mrs. Alvalee came for lunch. After lunch I had to run over to our former pastor’s house to get instructions to pet-sit for them over Christmas. It was great to see them! By the time I got back from that, it was 4:00 and I was dead tired, so I went to bed. I meant to get up and have dinner at some point, but the nerve pain in my legs was so bad I couldn’t move. Next thing I knew it was 9:00 Monday morning.

Here’s what I did two years ago today and one year ago today. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2018 Day 22

Christmas break!!! This morning I slept in and then worked out: a five minute ab workout video, a ten minute leg workout video (lots of plyometric elements), and half of a a twelve minute bodyweight arm workout video. Then I collapsed on the floor and literally couldn’t move for a while because that’s how my body works.

After lunch we went to see Mary Poppins Returns. Some parts were dumb to me, but overall it was good I guess.

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When we got home from that, I quickly cleaned my room and wrote a THC blog post, then watched some YouTube videos and read Downriver by Will Hobbs. After dinner we drove around and looked at Christmas lights, and I made everyone listen to Justin Bieber’s Little Drummer Boy.

I finished the evening with a couple of episodes of The Good Witch on Netflix. It’s a Hallmark show about a small town with an even smaller touch of magic, and although I’m barely halfway through season 1, I like it! It has Bailee Madison in it, and I’ve always loved her; the show is clean, funny, calming (which sounds weird, but it is to me), and I just really like it.

Here’s what I did two years ago today and one year ago today. What did you do today?