Month in Review: January 2016

2016 arrived at the beginning of this month, in a whirlwind of celebration, excitement, and resolutions…and now the first month of the year is over.

Highlights of the Month

• Snow!! I missed a total of seven days of school in a row because a big snowstorm this past week and a half or so. It was a lovely break.
• This super-helpful webinar from National Novel Writing Month, in which James Scott Bell, Kami Garcia, and K.M. Weiland gave advice about revising a novel. (the link takes you to a recording of the webinar, which I definitely recommend watching if you’re a writer!)

 

What I Read

Only two books this month, but they were both very long books that I feel very accomplished to have finished:

• The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan: The first in the Wheel of Time series, this book took me several months to get through, but I finally finished it this month! Now for the rest of the books in this long (14-book) series…
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: My heart will forever remember the wound it received from the ending of this novel. Why, Margaret Mitchell? Why?????????????

 

What I Watched

 

 

 

• Enchanted: Super cute, probably a new favorite movie!
• Ant-Man: I finally saw this over Christmas break. It was really good!
• Star-Wars: The Force Awakens: Also saw this over Christmas break. It was good! I mean, lightsabers, dramatic space battles, Harrison Ford…what more could you ask for?
• Big Hero 6: This is probably my favorite movie that I saw this month. It was so cute. Highly recommended!

 

What I Listened To

A few Broadway soundtracks that I have been obsessed with lately…Into the Woods, Newsies, and Wicked are all incredible musicals with incredible soundtracks and amazing singers, so go check all of them out!!

 

What I Blogged

• I kicked off the month with a review of 2015 in blogging;
• reviewed a new favorite series;
• reflected on some things a not-so-favorite series taught me;
• listed my favorite movies for snow days (complete with awesome gifs!);
• and came up with 31 activites to do with your siblings.

 

What Others Blogged

• Deborah O’Carroll, a favorite blogger of mine, just started a book blog!
• Katie Grace posted a novel-editing survival guide that made me smile (and groan about how true it was).
• I loved this fiction piece by Grace!
• I want to watch allll of these movies…
• And finally, (yet another) beautiful piece by Amanda reminding us not to regret where we are. If you don’t follow her blog, you need to! Everything she writes is beautiful and encouraging.

 

Upcoming in February

• our feelings-based culture and what true love really means
• spiritual highs and lows
• showing hate is not a Christian thing to do
• why do we hate Mondays so much?

 

I hope you all had a wonderful January! What were some highlights of your month? What did you read, watch, or listen to this month? Tell me in the comments! 

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♥ love, grace ♥