It’s the first day of blogmas, and the first thing I like to do is set my goals and intentions for the month. I love making lists. It makes me feel more put together and with this being the last month of the year, I want to go into 2026 getting things done.
Personal goals
Read 5 books
Fill my workout punch card
Finish Christmas shopping ASAP
Deep clean before Christmas
Reorganize bathroom
Creative content goals
Post 24/25 days of Vlogmas
Outline 5 chapters of book
Prep 2026 blog content
Post daily for blogmas
Post on tik tok 3 times a week
December intentions
Strive for consistency, not perfection.
Get outside my comfort zone and go do fun Christmas-y things.
Make time to do the things I love to do like writing and creative content.
December has always been my time to feel more put together before the new year. I have done Vlogmas for years now, but this is my first time doing blogmas.
Ironically I was weeks late posting my September goals, and now I am weeks late at posting the recap for it. I completely forgot about it. Better late than never, right?
Personal goals
Read 6 books — I only read 4 books.
The Coworker by Freida McFadden | 5 ⭐️
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | 5 ⭐️
When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough: The Secret of Measuring Up by Kevin Leman | 4 ⭐️
The one by John Marrs | 4 ⭐️
Meditate 3 times a week — I slacked on this one.
Create a space I love — I am happy with the way my room is!
Self-care goals
Journal daily — Yes!
Practice affirmations — I have been doing them most days, but not every day.
Do skin care routine — I had a rough spot on my skin, but it is a lot better now because I have been making sure my face is clean and moisturized.
Health / Wellness goals
Move body everyday — Yes! I am working out again.
Eat more fruits & veggies — Better than I was.. Not yet where I want to be.
Have 10k steps a day —7/30 times this month. I was usually between 5K and 9K.
Drink 40 oz of water daily — I did not do too good on water intake this month.
Stretch daily — Yes!
Social media goals
Gain 5 subscribers/followers on main platforms I use — I only gained any on YouTube and my personal instagram. On YouTube and my personal instagram , I gained 3 subscribers in both of them.
Book goals
The Coworker by Freida McFadden
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough by Kevin Leman
The One by John Marrs
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I am trying to finish Gone With the Wind by the end of October. I will have to wait till All the Light We Cannot See is available on Libby again.
Overall, I have met most of my goals for the month, and I am happy about that. Setting goals lets me be able to have something to work toward.
It’s a new month and I want to set a challenge for myself. There are five things I want to challenge myself to do daily. These are things I have been doing since October 1st and I hope to continue all month.
Workout everyday — whether it’s a strength workout, or a 10 minute walk
Cut out sodas
Limit junk food
Eat more fruits and veggies
Journal
I have let myself get unfit. I used to workout every day and have an okay diet. I didn’t really drink soda or eat many snacks, but for the last year others have been stocking the house with both of those things. Since it’s been there, I’ve been eating and drinking it.
I do have the goal to lose a little of my body fat, but the main goal is for me to feel better. I have felt so crappy lately. I know it’s because of the things I’m consuming and the lack of me working out. I’ll check in at the end of the 30 days to give an update. I want to make these a habit. I don’t expect to feel completely different in 30 days, but I hope there’s at least a little change.
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.
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.
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.
I thought it would be a really neat idea to make a blog each month that reflects on my goals, books I read and talk about my favorite things from the month like tv show, video game, pictures I took. It is a great opportunity to connect with you and to be able to look at this later to see what was going on in my life this month. With that being said, let me get started!
GOAL RECAP
Career goals
Bring home $350 in tips weekly — I did!
Job search — I did not… however, soon I will be starting a new waitressing job (long story), and I will be searching for a new job then. One I can use my degree with.
Personal goals
Publish 2-4 blog posts — Posting this reflection will make it my fourth blog post this month! I am so proud of myself.
Post on YouTube 2 times — I have only posted one video this month.
Save enough money for PC gaming set up — I did!! I am so excited to be able to get it once I finally get my own place.
Keep up with finances and budget — Yes, I did!
Pay bills — most of them. Will do the rest ASAP.
Catch up on emails — Hundreds of emails later… Yes, I did.
Take care of mom’s dogs – give lots of love! — Always!
Health goals
Meditate at least 4 times a week — I know I definitely slacked on this, but I know I did do it every week… Maybe just not 4 times.
Walk 10,000 steps a day — I walked at least 10,000 steps 18 days out of 31… On my days off I definitely lacked steps.
Cardio 3 times a week — I did not.
No food after 7 — The people I live with wasn’t wanting to eat till 8 pm some nights.
Drink 40 oz of water minimum — I am so bad at this.
Adventure goals
Go to pool — I really wanted to do this for my boyfriend because he wanted to swim in a pool. While I did not go, he did end up going to a pool.
Go hiking — Sadly I haven’t made time to go hiking.
Do something for Cody’s birthday — We didn’t do anything too crazy, but I think he still had a good time.
Meet up with friends — We did! It was so good to see them again.
Social media goals
Get to 180 subscribers on blog — I didn’t. I hope of I continue to be active on posting, I will get more people to follow my blog journey.
Get to 317 subscribers on YouTube — Nope! I also didn’t post like I meant to.
Get to 30 followers on twitch — I meant to start streaming again, but I did not.
Be active on Facebook, twitter and instagram — Mostly! I was more active — just not as much as I wanted to be.
Organize my Pinterest — Not yet…
BOOKS I READ IN JULY
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
This book was given to me by one of my friends. She highly recommended it, and I did get some good things from it. For how on when I read self-improvement books, I am going to start writing notes from them… I have forgotten most of what I have read to be honest LOL.
Final Offer by Lauren Asher
This was the third and final book of the Dreamland Billionaire series. I loved this series and going through the journey with each brother. I love the grumpy- sunshine trope.
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
This was such a good book! It’s a mystery with a side of supernatural. It had me guessing, and then when I did know what had happened, it was cool for it to show you how things came to be. Some things are different than they seemed to be.
FAVORITE PICTURES I TOOK
I think Khloe wants to play fetch.Cody and Stitch always chilling on the couch.A big ol’ baby.Fun in the sun!Cody can be sweet (most of the time).. cats photobombed.Nights outside..Set up selling tomatoes!Roasting marshmallows, being silly.Day out with friends.. ate at Buffalo Wild Wings.Cody and Khloe snuggling.Wanted a cute picture.He’s so handsome.Thea a big baby… She pretends she isn’t.
I also have favorite pictures with some kiddos, but I don’t want to put them online!
FAVORITE TV SHOW
I haven’t watched much tv this month.. The only things I’ve really watched is Hoarders and Family Guy.
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME
I recently just got into playing Dreamlight Valley! I love it. I love playing a quest-type game. Getting to play with all our favorite Disney characters is so neat! At some point, I’ll be able to play with my friend too.
I have a goal of reading 50 books this year. I also have a goal of reading more physical books that I have already instead of only reading kindle books. In order for me to accomplish this, I made a list of books that I wanted to read this year with more than half of them being physical books.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires, #2) by Lauren Asher
Final Offer (Dreamland Billionaires, #3) by Lauren Asher
The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games, #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games, #3) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic by British Library
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
Some Things I Still Can’t Tell You: Poems by Misha Collins
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
The Rainmaker by John Grisham
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
Without Merit by Colleen Hoover
We Used to Live Here by Daniel Hurst
Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz
When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough: The Secret to Measuring Up by Kevin Leman
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2) by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3) by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4) by Sarah J. Maas
The One by John Marrs
Keep It in the Family by John Marrs
The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
The Inmate by Freida McFadden
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Becoming by Michelle Obama
1984 by George Orwell
The 8th Confession (Women’s Murder Club, #8) by James Patterson
The 9th Judgement (Women’s Murder Club, #9) by James Patterson
10th Anniversary (Women’s Murder Club, #10) by James Patterson
Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, #1) by James Patterson
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Stone Maidens (Stone Maidens, #1) by Lloyd Richards
Buy YourSelf the F*cling Lilies by Tara Schuster
The Invisible Life of Adie LaRue by Victoria Schwab
Will by Will Smith
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros
The New Girl (Fear Street, #1) by R. L. Stone
Mystery Ranch (The Boxcar Children, #4) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Mike’s Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #5) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Out of these 50 books, I have read 22 of them and am currently reading 3 of them. According to Goodreads, I am 6 books behind schedule, but I think I will still be able to reach my goal by the end of the year. I know I will also eventually veer off of my TBR and read some shorter kindle books — especially during Christmas season… I am a sucker for some hallmark-quality Christmas books.
Have you read any of these? Do you want to read any of these?
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?
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.
Hi! I am behind on my monthly book blog, but I am here now! In January and February, I have read 5 books in total. So far this year every book I have finished, I have throughly enjoyed! I recommend all 5 of these books.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is the first one I finished in 2024. I do have to say out of all of them this was my least favorite book, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I don’t really like how it would bounce between time periods, but at the same time, that’s part of what makes the book. It was a beautiful story.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a reread for me. I like to try and reread the Harry Potter series every so often. It has been a long time since I have done a full reread (I usually stop after book 4), but I hope to read through the rest of them this year. This one and the rest of the series always makes me cry so it’s hard to read them, but I love getting lost in the pages. The movies left out a lot of the story. Some of the most important parts in my opinion.
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am so glad that this book was recommended to me! It was a very interesting read. Fast paced – which I love. It’s about a guy who was put into prison for murdering his son… except he didn’t. We end up going on a journey with him as he breaks out of prison. This is the first time I’ve ever read a book by this author, but I will definitely read another.
We Used to Live Here by Daniel Hurst ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Some people bought this house, and they were finding strange things while remodeling… I did not expect the ending of this book at all. To me it was definitely a twist that almost made me mad. The ending made me want more to the story.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to the audiobook of this one, and enjoyed it so much. It was a cute little read that’s like a hallmark movie cliche. It had the whole uptight person visiting a small town and falling in love.
Final note
I am very happy with what books I have read so far. For 2024, I have made the reading goal to read 50 books this year. According to my Goodreads, I am 3 books behind, but I think it will all workout in the end. Last year I started reading several books at once, and I usually finishing them all around the same time. In the next few weeks, I plan to post my 2024 tbr, which has 54 books on it. And yes, I know my goal is to read 50 books, but sometimes it’s hard to choose what books I want to read!
What book(s) are you reading right now? Have you read any of the ones I’ve read in January and February?
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?
In June, I had finished reading 8 books! That is the most that I have read in a month in a very long time. Four of those were books I had started in a pervious month but still. I wanted to start trying to do monthly book logs/reviews so here we go.
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas is the last book of a very good series. There are 7 books in the series – not counting some extra side books (I don’t remember what they’re called lol). I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. This series starts out about a woman who is an assassin, and she is totally badass. I don’t want to talk too much about the series because I don’t want to give anything away. My favorite thing about this series is that the little things in the books matter because in the end it will create a big picture.
Recipe for Love by Anna Malcom
I gave Recipe for Love 4 stars even though parts of it was a little bit cringe. However, it wasn’t so cringe I couldn’t finish it. It was a lovely fast read for me. I love the sunshine / grumpy trope so much.
Ignite by Melanie Harlow
I gave Ignite 4 stars. This was a really quick read for me. I am pretty sure I read this in one day. It was a good single dad romance. To be honest, the reason I had wanted to read it was just for the fact that he was a firefighter. There was some cringe parts in this, but it is mainly because I could not really relate to the girl main character all that much. Winnie falls in love very easily which is why a bet was made between her and her best friend that she couldn’t not fall in love for the rest of the year.
This is definitely not relatable to me because I have the opposite problem. It is hard for me to fall in love. Because of this, it blows my mind that there are actually people out there that do fall in love very easily.
Could not be me.
Savage Hearts by J. T. Geissinger
I gave Savage Hearts 3 stars. This book is part of a series, but one of those that is about different people each time just in the same setting (?). I read this in a day so it was a very fast read for me. The thing that put me off about it, and apparently the previous two books are also focused on, is that the girl(s) have MAJOR stockholm syndrome. Like – immediately. I’ve read some books where they got it, but those settings were normally where these girls were taken from a bad family and they warm up to the person that kidnapped them. This book was nothing like that. It was very fast paced. I thought they really needed to chill out. LOL
Spare by Prince Harry
Spare got 5 stars from me. I love memoirs. Even of people I don’t keep up with. Going into reading Spare, I did not know much about the royal family AT ALL. Since I had started reading it, one of my friends had talked to me about the whole Princess Diana being murdered thing, and I watched a movie about them. Other than that, I was pretty much reading without knowing anything the whole way through.
I’ve read reviews that people said the reason they did not like this book is because he was just “whiny”. I think those people just said that because for whatever reason they just don’t like him. A memoir is about telling a lot parts about yourself. Good and bad. I think reading from his point of view really made me understand things about him and the royal thing as a whole.
One of the main things I learned was you cannot trust what any news or tabloids say because they can and will post straight of lies. It made me so mad as I was reading how the paps were treating Harry and the people he cares about. They probably treat them like that still. They have no boundaries or a conscious.
Another thing that made me mad was the palace. There was so much that could have been straightened out if only they had said something.
I’m glad Prince Harry and Meghan got out of it.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Outlander got a 3.5 stars out of me. Hear me out. My sister and I started this book at the end of last year, and the reason why it took me so long to read was because I was trying to read at the pace of my sister.
I did really enjoy reading this book most of the time, but it is one of those books I can’t have any distractions otherwise I would have to reread parts over and over.
I really liked some characters like Claire and Jamie, but then this book also made me really dislike some characters – which I think is a really good thing.
I think the main reason it was so hard to read is because I am an American woman so there were a lot of times I had to look up what something meant. Also I knew going into it that there was some scenes of sexual assault, and reading about that was really hard for me.
With that being said, I will probably read the rest of the series at some point. (I just have to wait in my sister to finish this one).
How to Do the Work by Dr. Nicole LePera
3 stars. I am on the journey of self-healing so this year I want to try to read more self- help books just to at least get some ideas on how to heal on my own. I believe this book helped me understand myself and my parents more. I will definitely take some of the “exercises” the book talked about and apply it to my life.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
This got 4 stars. I loved Red, White & Royal Blue so much. Forbidden romance between a prince and the first son of the United States? SIGN. ME. UP.
THOUGHTS
I was very happy with my reads for this month. My favorite book I read was Kingdom of Ash. My least favorite was Savage Hearts.
What books did you read in June? What books are you wanting to read in July?
For the past several years, I have created new year resolutions. I surprise myself and actually stick with it for at least 6 months. I’ll take 6 months over no months.
This year I’m putting my resolutions into 4 categories — fitness, books, productivity, and self-care.
Fitness
Bench 95 pounds at least 5 times by the end of the year.
Be able to do an unassisted pull up.
Get better at push ups.
Books
Read 30 books by the end of the year.
Complete book reading challenge. I made this one up myself and I’ll post about it in a different post.
Productivity
My main goal is to decrease my procrastination. The first thing I am going to do is stop procrastinating getting out of bed. This past week I’ve been getting up after the first alarm.
I want to be better about posting blogs and YouTube videos. I love doing it – I just love procrastination more. However, I think procrastination is a big cause of my anxiety so I want to be better about it.
Self-care
This year I really want to work on journaling and meditating more.
Also, just doing things that make me happy. And figuring out what does make me happy.
Here are my new year resolutions. Did you make any? What are they?
I know you’re sick right now with covid. Or still trying to recover. Spoiler alert: it’s going to take months before you feel OK again. Just keep pushing through.
I know you’re wondering how 2022 is going to go for you. You think this year is your year. Instead, this year is going to be a rough year. You’re gonna struggle. You’re gonna feel bad (sick) half the time. You’re definitely going to cry.
But — you’ll be alright. You’ll still have good times. You might not do everything you wished you would do, but you’ve still made memories.
You’ll visit your family in Illinois. You’ll feel bad, and won’t find out why till later, but you’ll still have a fun time.
In April, you’re going to burn your hand at work. You will cry a little bit, but just let your coworker put aloe on your hand and then when you get home you can put Vaseline on it. Makes it stop burning instantly.
During the summer, you’re gonna help Pa with farming. Uncle is supposed to help, but with him sick, you’ll end up doing most of the planting. It’s going to be really hot, and again, you won’t feel well, but you push through. I’m going to cherish the times we’ve helped Pa.
There’s other fun things that you will do with your friends. You’ll go hiking a couple times. The annual strawberry festival is fun as always. You’ll even go twice. You’ll go to Nashville for a day with some of your best friends. You’ll meet interesting people who may or may not stay in your life. Overall, life will still be good.
I’m not going to lie, your love life is going to suck this whole year, but you just need to focus on feeling better. I truly believe that the perfect person is out there for us. We just have to be patient.
I know you’re probably thinking “man, this year is gonna suck,” and honestly, a lot of parts do suck, but there’s a lot of great parts too. It’s just one of those years where we grow. Sometime soon we’ll thrive.
My goal was to read at least 22 books this year, and I actually went past that goal by reading 29 books. Here’s what I read this past year (in order). I’ll even add what I had rated it on GoodReads!
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Stacey Kennedy (3 stars)
Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1) by Stephenie Meyer (4 stars)
Carved (The Road to Hell, #2) by Brenda K. Davies (5 stars)
Of Beast and Beauty (Daughters of Eville, #1) by Chanda Hahn (4 stars)
Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3) by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)
4th of July (Women’s Murder Club, #4) by James Patterson (4 stars)
The Zombie Chronicles (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed, #1) by Chrissy Peebles (4 stars)
If You Ask Me by Betty White (4 stars)
Forever Words: The Unknown Poems by Johnny Cash (3 stars)
Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4) by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars)
The 5th Horseman (Women’s Murder Club, #5) by James Patterson (5 stars)
Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5) by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling (5 stars)
Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6) by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)
Boot Camp by Todd Strasser (3 stars)
Wild Rebel (Dirty Wild, #1) by Laurelin Paige (4 stars)
Her Name Was Olivia: A Story of Post Civil War Tennessee by Carol Britt Eason (4 stars)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (5 stars)
The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, #1) by Gertrude Chandler Warner (5 stars)
Race for the Cure (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed, #2) by Chrissy Peebles (3 stars)
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (4 stars)
Surprise Island (The Boxcar Children, #2) Gertrude Chandler Warner (5 stars)
The Yellow House Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #3) by Gertrude Chandler Warner (5 stars)
Once Burned (Hammond Brothers, #3) by Suzie O’Connell (4 stars)
Make Me Burn (Turn Up the Heat, #1) by Marie Harte (4 stars)
The 6th Target (Women’s Murder Club, #6) by James Patterson (3 stars)
The Billionaire’s Email-Order Date (Email-Order Romance, #1) by Vivi Holt (4 stars)
A Firefighter’s Christmas Gift (Holidays in Heart Falls, #1) by Vivian Arend (3 stars)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (4 stars)
What was your favorite book that you read in 2022? what’s your reading goal for 2023? I have a goal to read 30 books! But I hope to read more.
I am a week late in posting my December goals, but better late than never, right? I have made up 5 goals/things I want to focus on this month.
VLOGMAS
I believe this is my 3rd year doing vlogmas. Last year I did it all the way through, and I plan on it this year as well. While there could be pressure to post 25 days in a roll, at the same time, I don’t feel so much pressure in making sure everything is perfect… Not that I really do with regular content. It’s just my regular day-to-day things with some Christmas things sprinkled in.
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
CHRISTMAS IS LESS THAN 3 WEEKS AWAY, AND I HAVEN’T BOUGHT ANYONE PRESENTS. I’m panicking just a little bit. I have decided this year to get everyone a small gift just because I have so many to buy, but it’s still the principle of making sure I get everyone’s gifts.
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES
Christmas is probably my favorite time of year. My favorite thing to do is to go see Christmas lights. I also still love to take a picture with Santa if there is an opportunity. I did it for the first time last year or the year before for the first time in years, and it made my day! Sometimes it’s nice to feel like a kid again. This year I hope to make some Christmas cookies and read some romance books based around Christmas time.
BLOGGING
I keep failing to get better at blogging, but I am going to keep trying! I’m one of those people who just have a really hard time sitting down and starting something because if I can just start then I can finish it. For instance, I have put off this blog post for a whole week, but now that I’ve finally started it, I am going to post it the same day. My goal for this month is to publish at least 12 blog posts! This one is number one.
WRITING
I had the goal at the beginning of the year to already be done with this book I want to publish, but I have barely even started it. I’ve restarted it so many times (one of those times this month) so that is why there’s not much progress. I hope now I am at a place that I can continue forward with my writing. I hope to be mostly done with my first draft by my 26th birthday next year (so roughly 9 months).
Theseare my 5 goals for themonth of December. At the end, I will, hopefully, post an update about them. Do you have any goals/things you want to accomplish this month? What are they?
I have read more books this year and last year than I have read all throughout college. I am so glad to get back into reading. My goal for this month is 3 books. My normal these past few months have been 2 books, but I want to try to push myself. Plus this past month I have been making a plan on how to finish the book I am reading by a certain time. I have a goal this year to read 22 books. I have read 12 books so far so I may extend my reading goal.
I am really wanting to blog more than just my monthly goals and recaps and the books I read each month. I have been really thinking about what more content I want to do – which I will explain in my next blog post. I plan to blog at least once a week.
I may not blog as much as I want to, but for the past year and a half, I have been posting on my YouTube channel a lot more. My goal for this year is to post 24 vlogs before December (as December is for vlogmas). I have posted 10 videos so far this year. I want to try to post once a week, but if not, then at least once every 2 weeks.
I also really find joy in writing, but I do not make enough time for it. I want to write consistently for the book I am writing and some things on Tumblr as well. I have gotten into the habit of at least writing one idea down a day for either one, but I want to be actually writing for both. My main problem is that I don’t want to write bad writing, but I know I need to just write now and edit them later. I keep wanting them to be perfect the first go around.
A random goal that I have for this month is to get tanner. I feel better about the way I look when my skin is a little tanner. I get so white during the winter time. I lose what little tan I get during the summer. I want to try to get more than this summer than ever before. I am going to try to get outside every day in the sun for at least 30 minutes. I have not been consistent with this, especially since I have not been feeling well, but I am going to make more of an effort for the rest of the month.
This month I really want to try to get out of my comfort zone. What I mean by this is if I would rather stay home than go do something – I want to make myself go do the thing. Most of the time when I do this, I end up having a really great time, but sometimes I get so stuck in the comfort of being at home, I don’t want to go out and have fun.
Last but not least, this whole year I have been trying to work on my mental health. Due to my health issues these last few months, it has been rough. This month, however, I plan to journal more, meditate, exercise, be more mindful of my mind and surroundings, and do more things that make me happy. You would think this would all be easy, but sometimes it is hard to do anything.
Do you have any goals for this month? What are they? Tell me in the comments.
For the past few months, I have been slacking on doing monthly (and weekly) goals, but I hope now that the stressful holidays are over and I am feeling much better since I had covid about three weeks ago, I want to get back into the swing of making lists.
Here are my goals for February 2022:
Hang out with Ricky
Hang out with Kendyll
Finishing reading 2 books
Post 4 Youtube videos
Blog 4 times
Write regularly
Declutter closet
Take cute instagram pics
Write a love letter
Practice self-care
Random anonymous act of kindness
Use saved up money to declaw cats or fix car radio
This year I am trying really hard to focus on my self-care. It seems to be something I usually put on the back burner. I also want to try and be more involved with my friends. I have a bad habit of having an out of sight, out of mind mindset. I haven’t hung out with Ricky or Kendyll in months. Ricky is moving closer in a couple of weeks and Kendyll only lives about an hour away yet none of us have made the time to get together.
Overall, I just really want to work on being a healthier and more productive person. I want to be happy.
For the past few years, I have made a point to make some new year resolutions. Last year, I had quite a few actually – about twelve. I achieved most of them, but not all of them.
This year I decided to shorten my list of resolutions to five in total. Five things that I really want to work on this year. I want this year to be the year I focus on myself and get healthy mentally, physically and spiritually.
Bench 50 lbs and do a normal push up
This past year I started benching for the first time ever. I really enjoy it and while I can’t do much weight, I can tell that I can do more than before. Currently, I can do 20 lbs about 5 times, and by 20 lbs I mean 10 lb weights on either side. My goal is to use 25 lb weights.
As for the push ups, I have yet to be able to do a normal push up with my knees off the ground. My goal is to be able to do them by the end of the year.
Post 22 YouTube videos and 30 blog posts
In 2021, I probably uploaded the most YouTube videos in one year than I ever have. I even finished vlogmas. This year I want to push myself again and try to do 22 YouTube videos before December.
I did not do many blog posts in 2021 – or any year, really. I love writing, but I struggle to keep writing with how busy I get and my attention span in general. I want to try to write one blog a week, but I am also giving myself room to miss a few weeks.
Read 22 books
I barely made my 22 book goal last year, but I am still very proud of myself. Last year is the most I read since my Junior year of high school. In college, I rarely even read what was required for me to read. In another blog post, I am going to list the books I put on my 2022 tbr. So far it’s a total of 26 books, haha.
Write book
For a few months I have been slowly working on a book I have been wanting to write forever. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, I used to write little short stories and sell them anywhere from a quarter to a dollar. My goal is to finish writing it by the end of the year – if not sooner.
Work on my mental health
My word for the year is self-care. My mental health has been a roller coaster since my freshmen year of high school. I really want to work on myself this year. I am going to do things that make me happy. I am going to do the journaling, face masks, exercise, eating right, drinking water and taking my vitamins. Admittedly, my mental health has been really low here lately. It usually is around the holidays. Here’s a year of healing.
Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted on here. I’ve mostly been on Tumblr BUT for this December, I have decided to do blogmas!! I don’t know if there are official rules for blogmas, like having to only post Christmas things, but I am not going to do that. I am, however, going to post for at least 25 days in a roll. With that being said, it is only write to start out with my December goals. The last monthly goals for this year.
Do at least 2 weeks of vlogmas (click here for YouTube channel)
Do at least 2 weeks of blogmas
Finish reading 4 books to meet Goodreads goal (click here)
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:
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.
The months are going by like a blur. This month I want to try to be more present. That way I might get everything done. Here are my goals for this month.
Summer is upon us. As of June 21, it is officially summer. And it will be summer until September 22. I’ve made a list of things on my bucket list for this summer of 2021.
Go to the zoo
Get tan
Catch fireflies
Fly a kite
Roast marshmallows
Watch fireworks
Go on a trip
Go hiking at least 2 times
Donate to animal shelter
Do something nice for myself
Celebrate my birthday
Do something for grandparents day (September 12)
Post on YouTube at least twice a month
Do the simplicity challenge
Try a food truck
Declutter
I am sure there are other things I will want to do this summer, but here are the main things!
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.
Hello! I have been absent for a month or so, but I am back! I’ve been struggling with motivation, but I have some back now so I am going to try to keep it up.
I can’t believe April is already half way over. I made a list of things I want to accomplish this month.
Post 4 Youtube Videos
Starting this month, I really want to challenge myself to post on YouTube again! It also helps that I’ve got a deal with one of my best friends if I do start posting again. I’ll talk about it in a video I am posting tomorrow.
Post 4 blogs
My goal is to start posting once a week (or more). At the beginning of the month is when I usually plan everything out – when I post and such.
Take more pictures
I LOVE taking pictures, but I don’t allow myself to have time for it anymore. I have decided to make myself have time for it. I may post some of the pictures each month.
Be more organized
I haven’t been organized in a while, as I said before I just have not had the motivation. Thankfully, motivation has decided to show up again, and I hope it is around to stay a while. I think the warm weather really helps. I have been spending more time outside.
Read 2 books
This one has been a struggle for the past 6 years. After high school, I never made time for reading. Well – I have been reading a lot here lately, but it has been things on Tumblr. My goal is to start reading more books. I have a lot I want to read through so I can donate or exchange them out for more.
Practice writing
I have loved writing for a really long time. I love writing stories. I also want to practice writing more poetry. I used to do it in high school, and I even took a class in college, but I haven’t written any since then.
Take things to Goodwill
This month my mother and I have been cleaning and organizing our house. I want to get rid of anything we don’t use and donate it either to Goodwill or a women’s shelter.
It seems like the months are going by fast and slow at the same time. This past month I ended up mostly just working a lot, and I did not do much of anything I wanted to get done. Here’s an update of what I did do:
Graduate
Go hiking
Work in my Grandpa’s garden
Read (at least) 1 book
Publish (at least) 4 blog posts
Film and post (at least) 1 YouTube video
Write & publish (at least) 2 short stories on Tumblr
I FINALLY HAVE TIME ON MY HANDS. As of today (May 2), I am a college graduate.
This past semester I have been so busy that I have not had time to do much else except go to work and school.
This summer will be full of job searching and finding the job I wouldn’t mind having for a while, but I am going to try to still doing all the things I enjoy to do. Here are some of the things I want to accomplish in May.
Graduate
Go hiking
Work in my Grandpa’s garden
Read (at least) 1 book
Publish (at least) 4 blog posts
Film and post (at least) 1 YouTube video
Write & publish (at least) 2 short stories on Tumblr
Here are the things I want to do in May! I am hoping to actually get things done this month even though we are still going through a pandemic. My goal is to also be more organized and productive. I want to try keeping a calendar and sticking to it.
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.
Last month I only finished about half of goals that I wanted to do. This month I’m going to start making a calendar of when I am doing to do things. This way I will be more motivated to get things done.
Here’s a list of the goals I have for July:
See fireworks
Post on Twitter at least once a day
Post on Instagram once a week
Post on tik Tok at least every other day
Do at least 6 hours of community service at the animal shelter
Post 2 Youtube videos
work work work work
see a baseball game
Go camping
Go hiking
Get tanner
Go to the gym at least 3 times a week
Post on Tumblr once a week (at least)
Clean room (and try to keep it clean)
Learn how to cook basics (if you have any easy recipes please send them to me)
Sadly, I did not do everything I wanted to last month, but hopefully this month will be better. I’m going to work hard to volunteer and post on YouTube this month.
Go to the gym at least three times a week
I am confident that I’ll have this goal down because we (me and Tawnie) have been doing pretty good so far. We typically get up at 5 am, and we get to the gym by 6-6:30. We both like going to the gym earlier instead of later. It makes it feel like you have more time in the day to do other things.
Volunteerat the animal shelter at least twice
I did not volunteer at all last month, but I’ve discussed it with Tawnie, and we might go by and volunteer after we leave the gym. I’m really excited to do this because volunteering at the animal shelter makes me really happy.
Post on WordPress at least twice a week
I’ve been pretty good about posting. I’m going to try to get a tad bit better about it though. I haven’t post much here lately because I’ve been using my wifi to download some games on my new PS4.
Post at least two YouTube videos
I tend to neglect my youtube channel. What kind of stuff do you like to watch on youtube – vlog wise. Maybe reviews, mukbangs, advice, etc. If you want any advice just let me know!
work work work work work
I’ve been working so much it’s better to ask when I don’t work. But honestly even then I probably couldn’t tell you because I get called in last minute… No one else seems to want to work.
Plan a vacation
I was going to plan a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, but it’s gong to cost way too much, and I do not have a lot of friends that could go. I’m thinking about going to The Smokey Mountains instead. It’s been a while since I’ve been, and I would love to go there with some friends.
Go on a hike with friends
I love hiking with friends! I think I’m actually going this weekend. There are a lot of parks around where I live with hiking trails.
Here are seven goals I hope to complete this June. Do you have any goals for June? What are they?
These goals are mainly for my benefit because it is easier for me to get things done if I have them written out. With that being said, down below are the things I hope to do in May of 2019.
Volunteer at the animal shelter at least twice.
I love volunteering at this local animal shelter with my friends. At the time of day we go, we usually finish walking what ever dogs have not been walked yet. Then we clean what ever it is that they want us to clean.
Plant the flower seeds I got.
I love planting seeds, but I honestly have a hard time keeping them alive. I don’t have a green thumb when it comes to my own plants. I do help my grandpa with his gardening though. He grows lots of watermelons, cantaloupes, and tomatoes. We sell them all summer.
Post on WordPress at least twice a week.
I’m hoping that I am able to stay consistent this time. A year ago, it was hard to decide what I wanted to write about, but now that I’ve decided to go with what ever is on my mind – whether it be a story, a recipe, or something like this – I’m going to go with it.
Post on Tumblr at least once a week.
I like to write fan fiction and post it on Tumblr.
Go to two festivals – Strawberry and Folk festival.
I went to the Strawberry festival a few days ago, but the Folk festival is next week. I’m really excited to go because there’s going to be music, crafts, and old cars.
Post at least 2 YouTube Videos.
The only problem I have with posting YouTube videos is that I have to be really motivated and happy, but here lately I haven’t been that so I have been struggling to make content.
Start working out again – 3 times a week.
I’ve been neglecting working out. This is probably part of the reason why I haven’t been motivated to make YouTube videos. I’m hoping to start running and lifting weights again.
Work work work work work.
I have to pay for some schooling next school year so I need to work as much as I can. On top of that, I have to pay for groceries, books, and what ever necessities that I have.
These are eight goals I hope to accomplish this month! Do you have any goals for this month? If so, comment them down below! 🙂
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)
Story of My Life 