35 Smiles

These are 35 things that have made me smile lately. They are in no real order and don’t cover half of it, but I hope you enjoy them. 

Revolutionary by Josh Wilson

My one year Bible plan (even though I’m behind).  

Lavender and Vanilla EOS. 

Playing Mario Kart on lazy days. 

Morning sunshine. 

Trips to Hobby Lobby. 

Sweet tea on hot days. 

Cuddling puppies. 

Reading books all in one day.

My “dream” Mudlove bracelet. 

Writing tons of letters.

Watching the retro channel. 

Getting bursts of writing inspiration.

Lemons. 

Getting to bake with friends. 

Long phone calls while watching sunsets. 

My Buzz Lightyear keychain funko pop. 

Waking up to kitten nuzzles. 

Working a job where I can wear Converse every day.

Singing loud in the car. 

New gel pens from my mom. 

Wax seals on letters. 

Keeping that Duolingo streak. 

Learning new verses.

Family meals. 

Journaling at midnight. 

Texting siblings across the room. 

A rainbow notebook. 

Dream in the Sky perfume. 

Birds outside my window. 

Mail time.

Jamberry nail stickers. 

Chocolate brownie cliff bars.

Bubbles. 

Fluffy clouds. 

What's made you smile recently? 

C H A N G E

I wrote this back in March, but life is changing a lot right now (in some good ways) and it applies so much I wanted to share it. 

Right now I’m scared 

Scared that it’ll never be the same 

Scared that I’ll have a new normal 

Scared that I might have to change 

But somewhere inside 

I know I shouldn’t fear 

I shouldn’t fight it 

Change is the point 

Of every circumstance 

It is a chance to change 

And change for the better

I am scared of this change 

And I’m scared it won’t be good 

But here I am Lord 

I want to let You work 

Mold me in Your hands 

Change me 

I’m trusting You

July Highlights

 This was a super fun month, but also pretty uneventful. 

Saharan dust was super thick this year, causing two weeks of headaches, irritated eyes, and a lot of hiding inside from the nastiness. But thankfully, it's over now!

I turned 21! My birthday was on a Sunday, so I got a free Starbucks drink on the way into church (which was awesome), then we had a family lunch, a water balloon fight, and played a lot of board games. It was a ton of fun!

One of the families my sister and I babysit for went on vacation, so they let us come over and row around on their pond! It was my first time on a canoe, which was pretty fun. We also babysat some, and two of the kids we watch got baptized! I cried so many happy tears. <3

Me and Ranger. <3 Notice my kitten in the background?

We got a new cabinet for our bathroom. Which may sound kind of uninteresting, but since the old one was super short, had stains might have been older than me, and the counter was pulling apart, it was a fantastic part of the month!

My sisters Rebekkah and Grace both had birthdays, which was awesome! I took Grace out for dinner, and we had a blast. One problem though. I ended up with food poisoning and basically lived on toast and Gatorade for a week. I also watched a massive amount of TV and got a lot of snuggles from my mom, so there were upsides.

We had smores. Nuff said. ;)

My little dogs. Right to left, Belle, Luke, and Ranger.

I finally finished my story Hiding! It took me eight months, but I did it! I was so excited to finally have another novella done. It still needs a couple edits (It's with my sister now to find inconsistencies), but it's pretty much done!

I started beta reading the biggest project I've ever worked on. It's a 280-page book. O.o

My sister Rebekkah and I went out for dinner and for some shopping. We ended up caught in a massive rainstorm, and I soaked my Converse to get the car. It took me three days to dry them out. XD But it was fun. And hey, I rarely complain about rain in Texas. We're in a drought over here. =P

I didn't really read much this month. But, I LOVED The Silence Between Us. And actually all of these books. =) 

It’s Time to Stop Pre-grieving Scattered Journal Pages

100 Questions to Ask Your Pen Pal A Farm Girl's Life

The 777 Writing Challenge Tag Little Blossoms for Jesus

Plate Update and Time to Begin Once Upon an Ordinary 

Joy in the Day to Day and Charcuterie Board Now All I Know is Grace

So, how was your month? Ever gotten food poisoning? 

Life Lately

This month has been a weird mix of things. For starters, I turned 21, which does not feel as big as I thought it would. We had a small family party, had meatloaf, played games, and just hung out. It was an awesome day. Since I don't drink alcohol, don't want a gun or to rent a car, it wasn't much anything special, but still a great day!

I am beginning to line up work for the fall. My favorite job, working with a class of 1-3-year-olds is almost sure it is coming back (though nothings certain with COVID), and I have a couple more job possibilities for a couple days a week, which I'm really excited about! I haven't been able to work regularly since March, so I'm glad things are getting semi back to normal. It means wearing a mask and doing a lot of sanitizing, but I don't mind.

I finished editing one of my novellas this week, which is the first time I've finished a project in a year. For some reason, I don't feel super excited. It's been long enough since I finished something and had someone else read it, I'm not super confident in my own ability right now. But I am excited to work on a new project. I'm either going to be editing some flash fictions I wrote in November or continuing to re-write my Sci-Fi sequel to Flight from Kelar.

Aside from that, I've been watching some shows, trying to keep up with cleaning, and hanging out with my family a lot.

What have you been up to?

The Mystery Blogger Award

I was tagged by Katja to do the Mystery Blogger Award! I also picked up Kate's questions, cause they were fun. It's been a while since I've done a tag like this, so this should be fun!


Katja questions: 

1. How many notebooks do you think you own? 
Ha, I have no idea. Maybe 20 empty and about three full? I don't actually keep full notebooks, just pages from them. My notebooks are more for writing letters or scribbling ideas in that I just input into the computer.

2. What's your favorite male name and your favorite female name? 
Well, I can't say I've really thought about it that much. I really like the name David, and honestly, I don't know for girl's names. I really like Kate and Amanda. I have fond memories attached to those names.

3. What is your passion? Your driving passion? 
My passion is really to live a life that honors God and to show His love to others.

4. Chicken burgers and fish sticks... with or without breadcrumbs? 
With. It makes chicken delicious, and it's the only thing that could make fish sticks palatable.

5. Any opinion on poetry, specifically classical poetry? 
As all my readers probably know, I love poetry. I've written poetry since I was about 12, and really got into when I was 16. But classical poetry? Not my thing. I have tried several different authors and... mostly just ended up board. Or confused. Metaphors are not my thing, and most poetry uses them really heavily.

Kate's questions: 

What is one song that makes you happy every time it comes on?
Speak Life by Toby Mac is always a guaranteed smile, but for some reason the song I always turn to when I just need a smile is the theme from Greatest American Hero. I don't really like that show, but the song has some really fond memories, and it's just fun and happy.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever baked?
Um, those little shrink plastic toys? I'm not much of a baker. I'd rather be cooking.

What is one book you’ll never forget?
Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay and Rainbow Garden by Patricia St. John. Sorry, I had to do two. These are two of the most impactful books in my life.

Orange Julius or lemonade?
Neither? I do not like lemonade, and I just don't love orange juice.

What is your favorite graphic novel or comic book?
I don't really have one. I feel like I've read one, but I don't really make a habit of it.

This was really fun! If anyone wants to do it, feel free to! Or answer some of the questions in the comments!