Blogmas Day 3: Christmas Books TBR

During this festive time of year, I mostly just want to read Christmas books! I have been in such a mood for it here lately. I have already read several, but there are plenty more I want to read that are mostly on kindle unlimited.

⭐️ Christmas books I Have Read ⭐️

Hot Chocolate & Hitmen — Persephone Steele

This was a spicy book containing 3 men & 1 woman. It was well-written in my opinion. I rated it 4 ⭐️.

Christmas at Fox Ridge — Bailey Hannah

I thought this was so cute! It was definitely a hallmark-like book. Perfect for this time of year. I rated it 4 ⭐️.

Vixen’s Guide to Christmas — Chelle Sloan

Another hallmark-like book, but I rated this one 5 ⭐️. It was written so well!

⭐️ Christmas TBR ⭐️

Holiday Hideaway — Mary Kay Andrews

The Naughty List — Jade West

As I was scrolling through KU books, I seen this one and couldn’t resist.

25 Days — Per Jacobsen

This is one of those advent books where you read a chapter a day. I have started this as of December 1st! I’m loving it so far. I first found out about these kind of books through tik tok during October.

King of Christmas — J. E. Rowney

The Christmas Tree Farm — Laurie Gilmore

Stuck at Christmas — Georgia Coffman

Currently reading this one!

The Christmas List — Maren Moore

The Santa Rules — Mya More

Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal — Meghan Quinn

I put this on my regular TBR MONTHS ago!

Spirit of the Season — Fern Michaels

This is one book I have the physical copy of. I got it through blind date with a book a couple weeks ago.


I know I probably won’t get through all these Christmas books, but I am going to try my best!! They all caught my interest as I was scrolling through what kindle unlimited books there were available to read.

Goals for THIS WEEKEND (July 18-20)

I AM GOING TO BE PRODUCTIVE THIS WEEKEND.

I have not been that productive these last few weeks, and I am tired of putting things off!

General to do:

  • Family reunion this weekend!!
  • Celebrate Cody’s birthday

Tidying up:

  • Organize shelf above washer & dryer
  • Organize spare bedroom
  • Sweep & mop
  • Organize under bathroom sink

Self-care:

  • Do a face mask
  • Give myself a pedicure
  • Finish reading a book
  • Journal daily
  • Workout
  • Paint nails
  • Make a matcha

Social media:

  • Post a blog (or 2)
  • Post on YouTube
  • Post on instagram

I’m back (hopefully)

Hi. I’m Kelli. I feel like I need to re-introduce myself (again) because of how long I have been gone. I have always struggled being consistent with my blog. I enjoy writing, but it is hard for me to sometimes put my thoughts into words — especially coherent words. My thoughts seem to always be going a million miles a minute, and it can be hard to slow it down and make it make sense. I am one of those people that tell 20 different side stories while I am telling one.

These last few months – no, the past year and a half, has been life-changing for me. I am in a place in my life now where I feel like I am finally starting to get my life together.

I have a boyfriend. We have been together for a year and five months. He is definitely the longest relationship I have ever had. He loves me, cares about me and takes care of me. I am without a doubt still an independent woman, but I like when he does things for me as well.

As of January, we moved out of my mom’s house and got a place together. Not counting college, this is the first time I have lived out on my own. I have always been good with money, but I am still figuring out how to budget correctly. Between bills and stuff I want for the house, I am trying not to spend everything I earn at once. Of course if someone didn’t steal a ton of money from me, I would have been better off with rent and necessities, but there is nothing I can do about it now.

The main hobbies I have been doing since moving is playing video games, reading and working out. I have played video games for as long as I can remember. My first gaming system was a PlayStation 1. Here lately I have been playing on something new. My sweet boyfriend ended up getting me a PC after I had been talking about getting one for longer than we were together. I love it so much. The games I have played the most recently is Sun Haven, DayZ, Runescape and Sims 4.

Gaming with my friend, Juliane, has taken up many hours of my time. We have played a lot of Runescape and Sun Haven together. One day we will also play DayZ together too.

Reading has taken up my time too. So far this year I have read 21 books out of my 52 book goal. Goodreads says that I am 4 books ahead of schedule. I have started being a multi-book reader. I love to read on my kindle, but I also love listening to an audiobook on my walks.

Recently I have been doing a 75 day soft challenge. The challenge is to drink more water, one 30+ minute workout, 5+ minute meditation, eat more fruits and veggies and read 10+ pages of a book. I am on day 45 of my challenge, and I am loving it. A few days ago I started incorporating a 12 lb weighted vest. I can tell such a difference in my walks. I hope to lose 20-25 pounds by the end of the year. I need to get better with my eating. Chips are my biggest weakness. I’m going to start getting fruits, and trying to remember to eat that when I want a snack instead of chips or chocolate.

I think this time of year will really help me lose some weight. It’s gardening and outdoor activity season! My grandpa and I have a good size garden that we do. I get a good workout with it. My legs currently hurt from squatting down so much.

I also love doing outdoor activities like hiking, badminton, throwing a ball or kicking a soccer ball.

I want to try to get better about getting out and experiencing more. I have became such a homebody. Maybe I will and I will document my adventures.

This is all I am writing about me for now. I am a 28 year old just trying to navigate through this thing called life.

August goals recap

I have been slacking on the blog posts this past month! I am going to make a recap of what I’ve been doing in August then I will make a September goals post.

Career goals

  • Give a 2 week notice to my current job —I gave my 2 week notice on August 4, and they ended up firing me on August 8. It ended up better for me because I was already working somewhere else so that freed up my schedule to work.
  • Job search — I meant this to be for me to job search for myself because I don’t need to be a waitress all my life. I looked some for me, but I was really looking for one of my friends a new job.

Social media goals

  • Publish 3 blogs + monthly goals & recap — The only thing I got posted was the goals. I slacked on posting ANYTHING else.
  • Post on YouTube 2 times — I didn’t post a single YouTube video in August. Oops.
  • Get to 185 subscribers on blog — I haven’t gained or lost any subscribers. I have stayed at 179. I was hoping to post more and gain some.
  • Get to 317 subscribers on Youtube — I have 314 subscribers… Sub to me on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@Ykelli
  • Organize my Pinterest — Why do I keep putting this off?

Personal goals

  • Do one self-care act a day — I know I did at least one most days. I forgot to keep up with it.
  • Drink 50 oz of water a day — Some days I did 50 oz. Some days I did 20 oz.
  • Plan 2 dates with Cody outside the house — If we did I didn’t get pictures of it, and my memory is bad LOL. I know we at least had one date outside the house, and we had went out shopping and had lunch.
  • Practice mediating — I did NOT do this like I wanted to.
  • Journal daily — I was doing good with journaling daily until I wasn’t.
  • Walk 3-4 times a week — I have been slacking.
  • Schedule a day to hang out with each friend — I did really good with this. I hung out with all but two.

Books goals

  • Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell — I am hopefully finishing this in September! I’m currently 64% into the audiobook. If I have to go get the physically copy from the library I will finish it this month!
  • When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough by Dr. Kevin Leman — I am literally finishing this book on the day I am posting this (September 9 lol).
  • Along Came a Spider by James Patterson — I enjoyed the first book of this series!
  • The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes — LOVE this book series! I’m already almost done with the next one.
  • Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel — A good little self-improvement book. Not my favorite, but not bad.

I had such a good month even though I did not do all the social media things I wanted to do! I’m already doing better in September so go me! Here are some pictures that capture some of the reasons my month of August was so great.

August goals [2024]

Career goals

  • Give a 2 week notice to my current job
  • Job search

Social media goals

  • Publish 3 blogs + monthly goals & recap
  • Post on YouTube 2 times
  • Get to 185 subscribers on blog
  • Get to 317 subscribers on YouTube
  • Organize my Pinterest

Personal goals

  • Do one self-care act a day
  • Drink 50 oz of water a day
  • Plan 2 dates with Cody outside the house
  • Practice meditating
  • Journal daily
  • Walk 3-4 times a week
  • Schedule a day of hanging out with each friend

Book goals (books I want to read this month!)

  • Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  • When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough by Dr. Kevin Leman
  • Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
  • The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel

I am going to check in with myself weekly to try and keep myself more accountable. I was very happy with the results of last month! This month I am trying to challenge myself even more.

To December Me [2024]

Dear December me,

It’s you from July.. Things are not terrible right now, but they could definitely be better. I feel like all I do nowadays is work and complain about work. Work has been so stressful this past year, I hope you have had luck at a new job.

Another thing I hope you have had luck in is moving into your own house. Living with mom was fine for a while, but it is definitely time to move out. The only problem is that there is nothing available for rent around here. There is currently four people living in this house, and it is a little much. I would definitely love a bigger bed, but there is not enough room in my tiny room.

How is the family? How is Pa? I hope he is doing good. Today Pa and I picked tomatoes. We picked 19 five gallon buckets in total before Pa had to stop because his back and legs were hurting him.

I re-evaluated what goals I wanted to have for the end of the year. Have I achieved them?

  • I want to be consistent on posting on my blog and have 200 subscribers by the end of the year. I want to post at least twice a month and hopefully by December be posting at least once a week.
  • I also want to be consistent on posting on YouTube and have 350 subscribers by the end of the year. I plan to post at least twice a month and hopefully be posting once a week as well.
  • I want to be more active on twitter (I refuse to call it X), instagram, twitch and discord.
  • I want to have a new job. I think it is time for a change.
  • I want to work on my book more consistently.
  • I want to learn to manage my time more efficiently.
  • I want to form a budget plan and live by it.
  • By the end of the year, I want to have read 50 books.

It is 7 months into the year, but I really want to try and make time for being successfully productive on doing things I do enjoy while also working a part-time job, farming, socializing, etc. I am tired all of the time, but I want to make sure I do make time for other things other than a nap. Have we achieved my goals, December me?

Love,

July you [2024]

July Goals

Career goals

  • Bring home $350 in tips weekly
  • Job search!

Personal goals

  • Publish 2-4 blog posts
  • Post on YouTube 2 times
  • Save enough money for PC gaming set up
  • Keep up with finances and budget
  • Pay bills
  • Catch up on emails
  • Take care of mom’s dogs – give lots of love!

Health goals

  • Meditate at least 4 times a week
  • Walk 10,000 steps a day
  • Cardio 3 times week
  • No food after 7 pm
  • Drink 40 oz of water minimum

Adventure goals

  • Go to pool
  • Go hiking
  • Do something for Cody’s birthday
  • Meet up with friends

Social media goals

  • Get to 180 subscribers on blog
  • Get to 317 subscribers on YouTube
  • Get to 30 followers on twitch
  • Be active on twitter, Facebook and instagram
  • Organize my Pinterest

Reintroducing Me

My name is Kelli, but you can also just call me Kel. I have had this blog for years, but I have not really done anything with it. I talk about wanting to be consistent with posting about my life, but between my mental health, negative self-talk, and overall busyness, I have not been on top with it like I would prefer.

What’s changed? You may ask. Honestly, a random boost of motivation. I am reading this book called Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, and a chapter talks about how the reason most people don’t achieve their dreams is because when they are told no, or discouraged, they listen.

With both my blogging and YouTube channel, I have been so unmotivated because of personal things in my life, and the fact that I don’t really get any interaction… Which makes sense considering I don’t post regularly. I enjoy doing both, but even though I enjoy it, for some reason I don’t do it. I want that to change.

With saying that, I want to start doing everything more regularly. I wanted to start that with my blogging channeling and “reintroducing myself.” At the beginning of the week, I have given myself the challenge to post on my blog and on YouTube by Friday.

So hi – my name is Kelli, or you can call me Kel. I work as a waitress, but I also farm helping my grandpa. We grow tomatoes,watermelons, cantaloupes, squash and cucumbers. We currently have tomatoes ready, but the watermelons and cantaloupes have just been planted. They have sprouted! We have not been able to plant the squash or cucumbers yet due to all the rain we have been getting. It’s just my grandpa and I most of the time so it can be a slower process. My boyfriend has helped sometimes, but he has never farmed before.

This era of my life involves a lot of saving! I have always been good with money. I always have something I want to save up for. I may try to post about how I budget sometime later! The big thing I am saving for right now is a whole PC gaming set up – including a camera and mic so I can stream on twitch. If I stream on there right now it is on my PS4.

My favorite hobbies as of late are reading, playing video games, watching people play video games, and doing something outdoorsy – lately it has been playing badmiton! My favorite games to play are Sims 4, Hogwarts Legacy and animal crossing.

One of my dreams is to one day publish a book. Ever since I was a kid, I have always tried writing something. I used to write “short stories” and sell them to my family for a quarter. I couldn’t even tell you now what they were about. I have an idea for a fantasy book, but I am so stuck on it. I hope to try some techniques that will help my creative brain flow.

I have three cats and one dog. They are my heart and soul. As mentioned before, I have a boyfriend. We have been together for over six months. This is my first relationship in a while, and it is also my longest relationship ever. Our relationship has definitely been not traditional. He moved in with my mom and I before we had even started dating due to a situation he was in. We started out as co-workers, and at first, I only wanted to be friends. We are way more than that now. He treats me better than anyone else has, and will actually try to change when I say something bothers me.

I hope on this blog I can share my life and personal beliefs. I will also share with you the things that I am trying to do to improve my life – that may or may not work with me. If you are here for me and this journey.. I thank you.

New Year Resolutions

My 2024 has started out with me being sick. For the past three weeks, I have not felt like being productive at all. I am normally on top of making my new year resolutions and starting to implement them to my life already. I am eleven days behind, but I am ready to start the new year.

The main New Years Resolution that I have that I want to focus on this year is to be more creative, and to have fun with it. I enjoy blogging and YouTube, but I feel as though I somehow make it into a chore. My goal is to do those things and have fun doing them.

I want to post on YouTube at least twice a month, and post on my blog twice a month as well. I hope at some point I can do both once a week, but I know if I make that my goal right now I would fail. I also really want to work on a book that I have been trying to write. I do want to do that once a week, if not more.

Onto another goal I have, toward the end of 2023, I really slacked off on going to the gym. I was busy, and honestly, I didn’t want to make the drive to the gym. The whole thing takes up a bit of time. I am going to start getting back into the gym, and even start doing more cardio and yoga on top of my strength training. I will be working out three to four times a week. I know when I am working out consistently I feel so much better than the way that I am feeling right now.

Lastly, one of my main goals is my reading goal. In 2023, I made a reading goal of 30 books, and I exceeded that goal during the summer so I extended it to 50 books. I ended up hitting my 50 books goal on Christmas Eve. I want to challenge myself this year so I made my reading goal to be 50 books. I haven’t made as much time lately to read so I really want to make more time for it like I did the first six months of last year. I’ve already compiled a list of books I want to read this year that I may share on here later.

These are my main goals for 2024. Do you have any new year resolutions? What are they, and how are you going to reach them?

June goals RECAP [2021]

I feel like the months are going by so fast. June seemed to have just started yesterday and it is already the end of it. Here’s the results from my goals for this month.

Buy a new planner

I did do this and I am so excited to use it. It is called the simplified planner. This planner will help me simplify my life, and at the same time, declutter it. It kind of goes hand in hand. I will make a post about this planner sometime in the future.

Read 2 books

I read 4 books in total this month.

  • Coming Up Roses (The Southern Roots, #1) by L.K. Farlow
  • An Uphill Battle (The Southern Roots, #2) by L.K. Farlow
  • Weather the Storm (The Southern Roots, #3) by L.K. Farlow
  • Shielding His Baby (Deuces Wild, #3) by Taryn Quinn

Post 4 blogs

I ended up only posting three. These are the ones I posted:

Post 4 YouTube videos

I did not post 4 videos this month, but these are the ones I did post.

Get tanner

I feel like by me walking outside 3-4 times a week has gotten me a little tanner.

Walk 30 miles for cancer

I walked over 30 miles to raise awareness for cancer.

Take vitamins daily

I didn’t have vitamins for 2 weeks of this month, but when I did have them I took them. I am counting this because I could not help that my vitamins got here late, lol.

Meditate 3x a week

I did not do this. I did meditate about once a week. I am still trying to get better at this.

Go hiking

I actually did not go hiking, although I did walk on a track a lot. This month just flew by. I am going to pencil in time for a hike next month.

Practice writing

I have practiced writing this month. I started writing my book instead of staying stuck on beginning ideas. I am trying to male myself plow through on writing and let myself go back later to rewrite, add or subtract things from my rough draft.

22 push ups every day

I started this at the beginning of the month, but I ended up have to take a week and a half break because I got a bad sinus infection. I have started again on June 28 and will do this for at least 22 days to raise veteran suicide awareness.

22 squats every day

I did not continue doing this. Probably should.

Clean house

I have started this. I reorganized the kitchen’s pantry and multiple cluttered drawers. I hope to move to the dining room and my room.

June goals

May seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye, but I am proud of all that I have accomplished with my goals. Here’s the new goals for the month of June.

  • Buy a new planner
  • Read 2 books
  • Post 4 blog posts
  • Post 4 YouTube videos
  • Get tanner
  • Walk 30 miles for cancer
  • Take vitamins daily
  • Meditate 3X a week
  • Go hiking
  • Practice writing
  • 22 push ups every day
  • 22 squats every day
  • Clean house

February Goals

I complied a list of goals for this month!

Post 2 YT videos

I have started posting YouTube videos again. Last December, I did about 18 days of vlogmas before I got burnt out, but I do want to start post videos at least twice a month. I want to eventually post once a week.

Post on blog 4 times

I have been so bad about posting on here, but I have this month more prepared. I’ve been using a planner a lot more here lately and have already planned out several blog posts.

Read 2 books

I’ve started reading again this year. I used to read all the time, but when I went to college, I hardly ever read for pleasure. My goal this year is to read 22 books, but I expect I’ll read more than that.

Be more active on Instagram

I have a fitness instagram, and I really want to be more active on that account. This past weekend, I have been researching what I could do with my account. I will be posting a progress picture at some point. I also might post about food as well. If you have any suggestions, please do comment them.

Try new recipes

I have a couple new drink recipes I want to try, and I’m sure there’s some new food recipes as well.

Do my daily to dos

When making my new year resolutions, I made a list of daily to dos to help me accomplish my goals. My daily list consists of: write 50 words, read bible, read 10 minutes of book, meditate 5 minutes, watch TJ daily vlog, inspirational quote, and affirmation.

Wake up and don’t hit snooze

I usually have four or five alarms set and still hit snooze once more. I have now made myself only have two alarms. Today on February 1, I did actually get up earlier than I have been here lately. I hope to eventually get up after the first alarm goes off.

Ab challenge

This month I am going to do an ab challenge. I will take a picture of my stomach in the beginning and the end of this month so I can compare. I will do sit ups, crunches, leg raises and planks daily.

Finish Criminal Minds

I am almost done with this series! I am so excited, but also sad that I am almost to the end. They will still have episodes coming out, but it won’t be the same as watching as many new episodes as I want.

Finish The Seven Deadly Sins

This is an anime that I started in January. I could have already finished it, but I just don’t want it to end! It is so good. I love all the seven deadly sins and their friends. After I finish Criminal Minds, I am going to finish this series.

January in Pictures

Do you ever have that weird experience where you can’t tell if time went by really fast or really slow? That’s me right now. Part of me is like “oh wow, January is already almost over,” but then another part of me is like “oh wow, it’s ONLY January.”

Anyway, here’s what my January looked like!

My January has been quite interesting. I started an internship (which I love). I am working out again. I’m drinking lots of good coffee and even been meditating.

I want to give an explanation for the last picture. The last picture is (obviously) of my shower (which I share with two suitemates). Last night one of them called me and asked if I knew what happened to the shower head. I asked. “.. what do you mean what happened to the shower head?” I went into the bathroom and it was literally GONE. We don’t know who took it or when. I know it was sometime yesterday between 12 p.m. and 11 p.m. but other than that, we have no idea exactly when or how or WHY.

2020 New Year Resolutions

Hello everyone! I hope you have all had a great year so far! This year I am really putting a challenge on myself to become a better and happier person. I wrote out a whole list of New Year Resolutions that I want to complete this 2020. I actually put them in a notebook and am logging the things I get done. What I mean by this is, for example, I want to workout at least three times a week. To keep myself motivated, I created a ‘workout log’ in a notebook so I will more likely hold myself accountable each week. Here are some more resolutions (and how I keep up with it):

1Self-care to help your mental health – I wrote a list of things I can do that could help my mental health. For example, workout, dance, hot shower, face mask, ect.

2. Be a better friend and family member – I wrote out ways I could do this.

3. Read at least x books in 2020 – When I read a book, I write the title, author and the date I finished reading it.

4. Save money (goal: $5,000) – I write out the date I deposit money, the amount deposited and the total amount saved in 2020.

5. Workout log (goal: 3 times a week) – I have writen ‘week x (month date – month date), and then under it have the day, how long I worked out and what kind of workout.

6. Podcasts (goal: watch 2 a month) – I write the podcast name, the author and the date listened.

7. Trying new things (at least 4 a month) – I write down the new thing I tried, the date I tried it and a note about if I liked it or not.

8. Learn how to cook – I list the things I have cooked and when I cooked it.

9. Youtube ideas – I have a list of ideas for my youtube channel.

10. Blog ideas – I have a list of ideas for my blog.

11. How to be more extroverted.confident – I have a list on things to achieve this.

These are the New Year Resolutions that I have for this year. What are your New Year Resolutions? Do you have any suggestions on what else I can do to have a happy 2020?

Writing Update

Good morning! I decided to write a little writing update before I go to work. I know I don’t post a lot, but it’s because I don’t really have the time! I work long days and it’s really hard to find the motivation to write after work.

However!

Tomorrow I have the day off, and I have already put in my schedule to sit down and write some blogs!

I really am sorry for the lack of writing. I’m going to try harder!

I have to go to work now, but I hope you have a fantastic day.

xx Kelli

Goals for November 2017

Hello everyone! I can’t believe that the year is almost over! It’s like it was just yesterday I was enjoying my summer break. I’ve decided that at the beginning of each month I’m going to start doing goals for the month. Down below are my goals for November 2017.

1. Do 6 hours of community service for Sociology class.

2. Have Thanksgiving with my family.

3. Start Coffee Talk with best friend on YouTube.

4. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week.

5. Be more outgoing.

6. Make more friends.

7. Keep up with my school work.

8. Post a blog at least 2 times a week.

9. Take more photogenic photos. (Instagram: @ kyoun42)

10. Continuously do random acts of kindness.

 

10 Facts About Me

Hello everyone! I’ve realized that I haven’t properly introduced myself so here’s what this post is about! First of all, my name is Kelli and I’m currently 20 years old. I have 10 facts about myself listed below!

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1. I am a college student in Tennessee.

2. I love to travel! Every year I usually go to Michigan and Florida for vacation. I would love to travel to more places (as long as I don’t go alone.) Below is a random picture from when I was in Panama City Beach, Florida.

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3. I love Harry Potter. I have always loved Harry Potter for as long as I can remember. Last May I actually got to go to the Harry Potter World.. Picture below.

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4. I do a variety of things. I love to read, but I also like to play sports. I also like playing video games too. My favorite ones to play are Pokemon, Harry Potter, COD: Ghosts, and The Last of Us.

5. I’m a really shy person until I get to know you. My best friend says that I’m like a completely different person then. I can be very outgoing when I’m comfortable around the people I’m with.

6. I’ve lived in Tennessee my whole life though I am open to moving to a different state if need be for a job. Hopefully if I do move, one of my sisters will be able to come with me.

7. I’m very picky in who I date. I can’t make myself go on a date with someone whom I don’t feel any connection with or I don’t think I could ever feel any connection with.

8. I have 4 siblings, a niece, and a nephew. Sibling wise, I have a little brother and 3 older sisters. My niece and nephew are from one of my older sisters.

9. I have a retainer and I hate it. I’ve had it for years. My teeth would have been straight already if I hadn’t lost/broke 2 retainers already.

10. I have a YouTube channel! My first ever post was actually just about my YouTube channel. I don’t upload much (I’m going to try to get better but I’m just so busy) but you should check it out. I’m going to try to upload a lot more often. It’s just the time to take editing is what hinders me from doing so.