April Highlights

Hello everyone! This is one of my first duel posts. I won't be doing this for long, so please go over and follow me on Mikaylaholman.blogspot.com to keep updated!

Participated in Camp NaNo, and wrote 10,000 words. I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted in my story, but I did meet my goal.

So. Much. Weeding. But really, I loved it. 

I listened to Defy while water marbling. I recently discovered water marbling and I love it. 

I went to the dentist again, this one ended up being not so great, so we kind of just ignored all his advice. ;P  

I tried my hand at lemon pound cake. It turned out surprisingly well!

It was my Grandpa Leroy's birthday. He's in a nursing home, so we drove up to see him and spent the day with him. 

We went to an amazing passion play, and then we had our Passover celebration. On Easter we spent the whole day together at church, and then just chilling. Passover and Easter are my favorite holidays, so it was a really good weekend. 

I went to bible study with my sister Grace, and we had a late night fries run afterward. 

I registered for two events happening in six months. One a bubble run (I've never done one before, but they had free registration and it looked fun), and I registered to go back to the Gospel concert I attended last year.

My whole family went bowling. We found a great deal which included the food and went. I made two strikes, ate a ton of pizza, and had a blast. We had never been as a whole family before, so it was really fun to do. 

My sister Rose and I went to the beach for a couple of days, which was the best. I rode my first Ferris wheel, swam a ton in the ocean, rode the ferries, went to the Moody Gardens, and we ate ice cream on the beach. 

My favorite was probably my re-read of Defy, and my least favorite The Treasure of Secret Cove, though I liked all the books I read this month.

New Routine Stories by Firefly

Spring Pen Pal Ideas A Farmgirls Life

Recent Photos and a Life Update Aria

5 Writing Lessons from Charlie Brown and 

Internet Friends of The Left-Handed Typist

How to do Something You've Never Done Before Pen Prints

This Was Harder Then I Thought it Would Be Sunshine and Joy

January Highlights

Hello everyone! January was a good month. I did not accomplish as much as I had hoped, but it was good anyway. =)

I completely cleaned out my room in the first part of the year. I got rid of a lot of stuff, and it was super nice to start the new year with a clean room.

So we were pulling some boxes out of our storage shed a few months ago, and the floor broke through. So we pulled some resources and built a new shed. Some friends came over and helped build it, but I did pitch in a little bit of help with hauling dirt for under it.

So many pretty sunrises.

After saving coins in a box for a long time, I finally cashed it in and got enough to buy a Sprocket (A mini photo printer) with!

I tried water marbling and loved it. =)

I stayed up till one AM with my sister watching the eclipse. I hate staying up past midnight, but it was so worth it to watch the eclipse.

A good part of my month was spent sorting through photos from the past six months and deleting blurry/duplicate/bad ones. It was a lot of work, but so worth it.

Our power went out at our house, so three of my sisters and I played a game of Pandemic by candlelight. (I knew there was a good reason I kept that candlestick holder around)

My babysitting job started up again. I get to hang out with some of my favorite kids. It doesn’t get much better than getting paid to play hide and seek and hug little kids.

I got to meet Gray Marie for lunch. As always, it was delightful.

And to end the month off, a dear friend of our family died. He had been a supporter of our family since we moved in twenty years ago, and it was hard to say goodbye. (I wrote a post about him here)

My favorite book from the month was Live Without You. <3 My least favorite was The Crux Anthology. It just wasn't my thing. 

Hard into Holy Brin Lael

Misty Waters A Farmgirls Life

An Adventure Stories by Firefly

Top ten books of 2018 The Destiny of One 

The Doings of Kate Once Upon an Ordinary

Identity, Dreams, and Future Sunshine and Joy

How was your January? 

December Highlights

I'm planning a super epic review of the year, including my top ten books, and highlights of the whole year. But today, I've got my December Highlights.

My sister Grace and I decided we wanted to do a hot dog roast (These are becoming quite regular around here), so we did a spontaneous trip to town to get the stuff for it. 

I got to go to the Zoo with a lot of fellow Texan writers and friends. It was a blast hanging out with them. 

I had Cedar allergies most of the month. Thankfully except for a few days, it wasn't too bad. it just gave me a phantom fever and made my nose stuffy. 

Our table for the Christmas party

We had our annual Christmas cookie party, and we made so. many. cookies. Seriously, I'm kind of sick of cookies. But it was fun! =D

My siblings and I played a lot of games this month. Mostly Forbidden Island, but we threw in some Monopoly in there. 

Two of my sisters and I decorated trees in the woods!

Me in the entrance to Longhorn Cavern (Photo taken by Rebekkah)

We went to Lornhorn state park, got to see a cave entrance, and amazing views. Then we went to a lake and walked around a pretty incredible light display! 

The floor in our storage shed started to give out, so we spent all of one day carting the boxes full of stuff to a different location. Exhausting, but it was good to get the stuff safe! 

We celebrated Christmas a little early because of my brother's work schedule, which was fun. We all got up at six and spent a very leisurely morning slowly opening presents. It took us until noon because we kept stopping to get food, and at one point to play with a game! We went for a family walk, then had a beautiful candlelight service. This Christmas was just about the best. 

All of us (Except me) on Christmas

I undecorated my room for the first time ever by myself. But Rebekkah (Whom I share the room with) was busy helping my mom, and so I did it. It took a lot longer (surprise), but I got my books really well organized. ;) 

We had a girls shopping day on the 26'th. We got a very early start, hit a lot of good deals, and had an awesome time. I didn't get a lot, but I did get a couple of fun things, like sticker packs, and a little-stuffed elephant.

We went up to Dallas to see my Grandparents and went to the biggest Half Priced Books ever. Seriously, that place is heaven for bookworms. 

Monster (Which is not nearly as creepy as it looks) was my favorite of the month. (I'm excluding my re-read of Radialloy, and It's Not About Me) 

It Turned into Narnia Aria 

Hike Four Dancing in the Rain

You Have a Purpose Chosen Vessels 

December 26 The Introverted Extrovert 

A Poem and a Bit of a Quizzie Brin Lael 

2018 Goal Progress The Left-handed Typist 

I Don't Understand this Love A Storynerds Life

Subplots & Storylines and How Beautiful on the Moutain Tracey Dyck 

See y'all next year! I've got some pretty big plans, I'm really excited to share them with y'all! 

How was your December? and your Christmas?

November Highlights

So this month was awesome and busy, and yeah, I loved it so much!

My parents, my sister, and I got to go to a southern gospel concert which was just amazing! There was Legacy Five, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, and the Martins. They had a Catherdals reunion which was my favorite show because I grew up on their videos. Getting to meet all of those people and hearing them play was a huge blessing.

Rebekkah, me, Scott Fowler (From Legacy Five), and my dad. =D

So, yeah NaNoWriMo happened. This year was good. So good. I had so many days where I had no idea what to write, but I had some awesome cheerleaders. My awesome sister Grace and I wrote together a lot and even went to Whataburger once (that's where I met the UPS guy). I sprinted so much with an awesome group of writers and had a lot of sleep shortage due to writing. But, I loved getting Battle for Kelar onto the page, and I'm super excited to dive into editing next month. =D

Some of my sisters and I went to a Fall Festival, which was a blast. We got lost in a corn maze (though not as lost as we wanted), played in hamster wheels, took pictures in the pumpkin patch and rode on kiddie trains. It was a blast!

Rebekkah, me, and Grace at the end of the corn maze!

I ate alone at Cracker Barrel for the first time. I even wrote while I was there and it was so fun. =)

One evening I got to just sit with my dog, Luke, and watch a huge bonfire burn till it was just embers. It was so peaceful and fun.

I figured out that my wisdom teeth need to come out. I'm not thrilled about the news, but I am really happy because I don't have to do it until spring! So I've got time to plan out all the books and movies I want to get through while recovering. =)

My mom and I at an awesome light display. =D

I had an awesome Thanksgiving with my family. My brother wasn't able to come, due to work, which we were all sad about. But I spent most of the evening relaxing with a book.

One night I got caffeine jitters and was up till 1AM. I felt very antsy and my awesome friend Micaiah texted me until I could finally go to sleep. <3

We decorated for Christmas!!

I was so excited to buddy read Things I Never Told You with Kate Willis but A Song Unheard ended up being my favorite book of the month. 

I Choose She Dances in the Rain

Do We Actually Listen Julia Ryan

I Don't Need You to Love Me Brin Lael 

I'm Doing NaNo Sunshine and Scribbles 

Thankfulness Thursday III Totally Graced

Excerpt Time, Yay! Once Upon an Ordinary 

How to be a Consistent Blogger The Left-Handed Typist 

Why YA Characters are Missing the Mark Writing is Life

Five Bookish Troops that Should Jump off a Cliff Stories by Firefly

Overall it was a bursting at the seems, awesome, busy month. 

September and October Highlights

Somehow I missed two months worth of highlights. *Crickets* yeah, so this is super late, but if you want a really condensed version of what happened in my September and October, here it is.



September 

My sister and I babysat some really awesome kids and we made toy parachutes for them out of kleenex, sting, and lego people. It was a blast!

My mom, sister,  and I spent a few days with my aunt who was having surgery. It went really well, and on the way home, my three other sisters met us at the zoo. It started pouring rain on us, but we had a blast walking in the zoo, getting dripping wet. ;D

I drove in rain so bad that you couldn't see the lines on the road. That kind of freaked me out. Also, one day I drove so terribly that by the time I arrived at our destination I was in tears. I called my best friend, and she made things better. <3





We had a hot dog and s'mores roast. It was just our family, sitting around a fire, and seriously, we had so. much. fun!

We got our puppy, Ascari. He's an adorable handful. ;)

One night, the stars were bright enough that we could see the Milky Way. That isn't super uncommon, but it is always a treat.

October

Some of my family and I took the month off movies and computer games. It was refreshing.

My computer came!! I could not be more pleased with my computer. *grin*

I celebrated 11 years of knowing God!!! =D





My siblings and I had a retreat. It was the best weekend I've had in a long time. We did madlibs, played tons of board games, stayed up late talking, took tons of goofy photos, ate to much pizza, and did an escape room. Seriously, I wasn't sure what I was going to think of an escape room since I don't really love puzzles, but it was great, and we got out with 16 seconds to spare! The whole weekend was amazing!!

One of the kids I babysit saw me putting on my chapstick and just looked at me very seriously and told me (In three-year-old lisp) to make sure and buy more. And to make sure and wear my jacket on the way out because it was cold. I just about melted.

I voted for the first time. =D

I got the meet Gray Marie from Writing is Life. Seriously, her blog is awesome. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should, it's awesome, and she is amazing.

Beta read "Live Without You" by Sarah Grace. I'm really excited because it's coming out in January!



September                                                                  October 

My favorite from September was The Coronation and Kates Conundrum.
From October, Live Without You.

16 Expressions Writing is Life
Sweet Dreams Dancing in the Rain

The Fire of Contentment Apples of Gold

Let There be Light A Purpose and a Promise

A Daily Reminder: Its all Him Lauren Elizabeth 

House Sitting and a Book Fair Stories by Firefly

Writers: How to Engage the Five Senses Adventure Awaits

What No One Told Me About Writing || Farris's Birthday The Left-Handed Typest 

So there you are. Two months worth of updates!

August Highlights

Well, here were are in September. August wasn't my best month, but I did really enjoy having some time to re-focus on why I blog. I'll share more about that later. 

Every Wednesday I go for a bike ride down to a church four miles from our house, and I always lock up my bike. Well, I came out and tried to undo it, only to find it stuck. The pastor came out and tried his best to unlock, but finally, my dad had to come and cut through the lock for me. Luckily it was a cheap one, and pretty easy to cut.

We surprised my mom by taking her out to lunch one day and then taking her to a museum nearby. This was a huge highlight of my month because they have a big section on space and I had a blast looking at it all. 

I was having a bad day, so my sister Grace stayed up late playing a game of Pandemic (a cooperative board game) with me. 

I had a lot of movie party's with my siblings in August. With everything from Bionic Woman, to High School Musical, to Star Trek, it was an eclectic month. But it was awesome.

For the first time in my life, I got to go to my first water park. All my sisters, my mom and I all went for the day and had an absolutely amazing time. It was a small park but packed full. I went down the tube slides a TON and thankfully only got a mild sunburn on my face.

I got to go on glass bottom boats! This was a really fun experience of actually getting to see under the water and all the life down there. A turtle even followed underneath us for a while. 

I got sick so I spent a whole day listening to "A Name Unknown" by Roseanna M. White and playing computer games. Thus I listened to eight hours of it in one day and about five the next. O.o

My cat nuzzled me awake one morning. Best. wakeup. call. ever.

I got caught up on book reviews this month by writing seven in one day. Those reviews pile up so fast. 

My favorite was A Name Unknown. 

Oops Bess's Bit of Treasure

Guess What I Got Writing is Life

A Trip to the Country Fair A Farm Girls Life

A Bad Dream Woke Me Up A Storynerds Life

Summer '18 Life Update Sunshine and Scribbles

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag Stories By Firefly

99 Things I Learned from Senior Year Tottally Graced

How was your month? What was your top book of August?