November Highlights

This month had some ups and downs, but the good far outweighed the bad. <3

I was watching my favorite little kid. He's almost three, and I told him I loved him, and he said he loves me too. My heart just about melted. Two and three-year-olds are just about the best. <3

After a Bible study zoom one night me and my sisters made a late-night run to get ice cream. =D 

I had a cold for part of the month. It was rather uneventful, just mild discomfort and staying home. Thankfully it cleared up in a couple days and I was able to go back to work. But telling people your sick in 2020 is terrifying. XD 

I participated in NaNoWriMo. I had been unsure as to whether I was going to do it (Due to stress, and recent questions about the site) but I decided to go for it. I write 30 thousand words with of short story and book beginnings. Nothing stuck until I got to the last 20 thousand and I managed to write a Novella about my character Mandy.  I finished on the 27'th and really enjoyed my experience. I have never been so busy while doing NaNo. There were a lot of nights when I was writing till 1AM (A time of night I do not enjoy), and a lot of writing in the car between jobs, but I loved it. All the stress was worth creating again.  

A Bible study group I've been a part of met up in the park for the first time. After seeing everyone on Zoom for the last few months, it was super fun to be able to meet up in person (from six feet apart). 

My dad pinched a nerve in his back (super painful), and so we've been taking him to a lot of appointments. I've tagged along to keep my mom company, but thankfully he's finally starting to feel a bit better.  

I did a lot of Christmas shopping and wrapping. I had a bunch of fun buying things for my friends and wrapping them. <3 I was going to go black Friday shopping online, but the sheer volume of things on sale completely killed my enthusiasm, so I didn't. 

We had our family Thanksgiving celebration. We weren't able to go up and see my great-aunt this year, so we just stayed home, had fried chicken, and enjoyed being together. It was sad not to be with extended family, but I am so grateful my whole immediate family was able to be here. <3

I became a rep for Mudlove.com. They are an awesome company, so I was super excited when they started an ambassador program. I'll be one for six months and I'm super excited!!

Honestly, the best part of my whole month was getting to meet Jesseca Wheaton and Deborah Cook. We went to Magnolia Market (which honestly, I'm not really impressed by), and then we went to a drive-in For King and Country concert. It was pouring rain, so we all stood huddled under an umbrella and blankets freezing, but it was worth it! The songs sounded even better in person, though my favorite had to be hearing them sing Together and Priceless. <3

I am excited to be featuring both the books I've read and the movies I've watch this month!

Books: I re-read my all-time favorite Dear Mr. Knghtely along, and discovered The Story which was my favorite new read of the month. <3 The Traitors Game was also a first, but it was my least favorite due to the romance. 

Movies: I watched a lot this month, but most of it was re-watching. The far-right row was the four new movies I watched, none of which I liked. XD Unleashing Mr. Darcy and its sequel were my favorite thing I re-watched and A December Bride was my least favorite new movie. 

Most of the posts this month were Black Friday deals. XP

What If  Summer of 1999

Inktober 2020 A Farm Girls Life

Gingerbread Cookies Ellen's Musings 

20+ Unique & Thoughtful Gift Ideas A Farm Girls Life 

How was your Thanksgiving? Do you like the addition of movies in my posts?

Why I Love MudLove

About five years ago I was given a MudLove bracelet that said "Be the Change. It had a brown band and I loved it so much I wore it out. I'm not kidding, it literally snapped in half because I used it so much. I was so in love with that bracelet that I bought more from their site. I now have 20+ bracelets and a couple of mugs, and I just became a rep for them for the next five months. I am super excited about this because I not only love their products, but I love their mission. I just want to be clear here, I'm not here to try to shove products on anyone, I just want to share about one of my favorite companies with y'all. I thought I'd give y'all some reasons why I love MudLove so you can know some of my reasons why I applied to be a rep. 

1. For every product you buy from them it gives a week of clean water. They are partnered with a company called Water for Good that builds well's in Africa. So by buying from them, you're also giving back. 

2. They are super durable. Their mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe. Their bracelets are adjustable so there's no growing out of them, and they are waterproof. They also hold up under pretty much anything. 

3. They have the best customer service. Like ever. I've had a couple issues with their site and every time I've emailed them they've always been super nice and fixed the problem right away. 

4. Did I mention that if you break your bracelet they will replace it for free? Yup. All you've got to do is pay shipping, which is a fraction of the cost of the bracelet. 

5. They might be sold near you. There is a map here showing places that carry their products. I've only been able to buy in person once, but if you like shopping in person they have a lot of places you can buy. 

But if you like online shopping like me, for the next three days (through Sunday) you can use my code and get 30% off at MudLove.com. If you order before the end of Monday you also get free shipping on top of my code, which is an incredible deal. So here's the code: MIKAYLAH30 You'll be able to apply that in your cart. 

Again, me being a rep will not be one long ad of me hoping you'll buy their products. I really love Mudlove and I hope y'all will be able to check out their products and maybe love them as much as I do. I might pop in once in a while to tell y'all about deals going on.  

Do you have a MudLove bracelet? If you do, will you tell me the story behind it?

My Top Five Christmas Books

I just put up my Christmas decorations. Yup, a week before Thanksgiving. I know some of you are groaning in , but honestly, I just love Christmas so much I didn't want to wait. I've got a Christmas candle burning and have already done a lot of my shopping. I'm in the mood so I wanted to share my top five Christmas books, so here we go:

Treasures in the Snow by Patricia st. John. This was my all-time favorite as a kid. It still has a powerful message for kids and adults. 

A Very Bookish Christmas. The collection is epic and I'm linking it on Amazon because it's only going to be available for a bit longer before it goes away forever. I would highly recommend all the stories in it. <3

At Christmas Lodge by Rebekah Morris. This is a tiny, but awesome little romance. <3

The Five Little Pepers by Margaret Sidney. This isn't strictly a Christmas book, but it has one of my favorite Christmas scenes ever. 

Gift From the Storm by Rebekah Morris. This is a sweet story with great characters and family relationships. 

Also, as a bonus, Little Women by Lousia May Alcott has some awesome Christmas's in it as well. The book starts just before Christmas. 

What's your favorite Christmas book? 

U N D E R S T A N D

Sometimes I don’t understand 

Why all this has to happen 

But as I struggle 

Finding no solid answers 

I realize you have a purpose 

And even if I don’t get it 

There’s a reason for all of this 

I don’t like it 

But I don’t have to 

All I’ve got to do is trust you 

And you’ll take care of it

Please help me to hold to you

And not question you 

Cause I want to trust 

I know you are good 

Help me to live 

Like I believe that 

October Highlights

This month felt jam packed with social events. I hadn't realized how much I had gotten out until I started writing this post. 'cause wow, it was full!

Our church had it's anuel picnic. This year was pretty different since we all had to bring our own food, and stay apart from each other, but we managed to have fun. =) 

On the fifth was my aniversy of accepting the Lord, so my family celebrated by taking me to lunch. I am now a spiritual teenager. 

My mom and I went to the zoo, but I decided to go without my camera. It was refreshing to be able to just walk around without any pressure. I got a couple pictures on my phone, but mostly we just enjoyed walking around looking at the animals. 

My sister and I attended our young adults meeting, then we decided to get ice cream. So at 10PM we pulled into Sonic and got shakes. Dispite peoples dire warnings that ice cream will keep you up at night, it gave us no bad affects. Our group also had a s'more's and worship night. I'm thinking this needs to be a regular thing. 

Me and my siblings from left to right: Sarah, Michael, Rose, Grace, Rebekkah, and me!

We went to a pumpkin patch! I was super excited that they were open this year, and we got to walk around. I got two tiny little pumpkins, which are sitting on my desk. 

I got some great chill time at home with my sisters. We watched some movies, I played a computer game (Something I haven't made time for in awhile), and just hung together.

Someone had a boat they had painted as the SS Minnow on the side of the road, so I got to get my picture with it! I used to be a big Gilligans Island fan, and while I'm not much of one anymore, it was still fun to see!

It got cold enough for hot chocolate. (And promptly warmed right back up into the 80's. No complaints here.)

The biggest thing that happened in October was me and my siblings went on a four day trip to the beach. We did a lot of Madlibs in the car, spent a ton of time on the beach, played games, watched youtube, and ate a lot of junk food. I got to take my first moonlite walk on the beach, which was epic. We ended it off with lunch at a restaurant on the seawall. <3 For those four days it really felt like 2020 had paused. I was off social media, we didn't have to wear masks at the place we rented, and the beach was practically empty. It was a delightful break. 

As for work, I've been continuing on my awesome Monday preschool that I help teach, and then two other days I watch one darling little girl. She and I spend a lot of time doing chalk drawings and playing pretend. The paycut was 110% worth how chill this has been. 

I just wanted to add a note down here that I never post any of these as a way to brag or show off. I realize in 2020 a lot of people have not been able to get out nearly as much as I have. I fully realize how blessed I am to be able to get out as much as I am, and how many of my events are up and running. I'm sorry if my posts ever make you feel bad. My intention is simply to share what's going on in my life.

I felt book starved going into October, so I spent a ton of my free time reading. It was fun to re-read a lot of book. The Riddle of Ages was probably my most enjoyable re-read and The Captive Kingom the best new read (with reservations). 

Clear Skies Totally Graced

We'll Keep On Stories by Firefly

A Forest Photoshoot A Farm Girls Life

Top 5 Favorites of the Year so Far The Destiny of One

A Few Autumn Delights  || Top 5 from 2020 Ellen's Musings 

The 12 Days of NaNoWriMo || Maybe I'm Back Once Upon a Time

I've got a question for y'all: Should I add movies watched to my highlights? I already keep track of the movies I watch in my bullet journal and have been thinking off adding them, but wanted to know if y'all would be interested in seeing those. 

How was your October? What's your favorite beach?