Hello, everyone! Now that January is officially over, I am going to be sharing some highlights and updates from the month.

Life Updates

January ended up being a very busy month for me! Here are a few highlights!

• Obviously, beginning the New Year was a highlight! I rung in the New Year at a celebration with some friends.
• I had fun coming up with my goals for the New Year, a few of which include getting my novel, The Sullivan Six, ready for beta-readers, reaching 500 listings on my Etsy shop, reading more non-fiction, and starting this blog (that’s one goal checked off the list)!
• I also picked a word of the year this year–“Grow.” The Bible verse I chose to go along with it is 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
• I started a new job! I am really enjoying it, and it works great for my schedule. Plus, I get to work with kids, which is so much fun!
• I got back into practicing sign language! I took an American Sign Language class in school a while back, but my ASL skills have been getting rusty. I have been wanting to brush up on my skills and learn more, so I found a free course online that has over 60 lessons!
• I also started writing a new short story (more about that below)!

Writing Updates

January wasn’t a huge writing month for me, but I did begin researching for and writing a new short story! If you haven’t read about it elsewhere on my website, this story is about a young woman living on Swan’s Island, Maine, during World War 2 and how she learns to trust God through the changes the war brings to her life. There will be more details to come later, but I’m very excited about this story and what I have so far!

Total word count for the month: 400

Etsy Updates

I was able to work on my Etsy shop quite a bit this January and added many new listings! A few of my favorites are these Printable Love Bible Verse Cards, Printable Valentine’s Day Bucket List (both of these templates are currently 25% off!), Printable Hours Outside Tracker, and Printable Gratitude Journal Templates. In total, I added 36 new listings to my shop!

Books I Read

I finished 7 books in January! These books were:

• The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (re-read; 4.5 stars)
• The Christmas Book Flood by Roseanna M. White (4.25 stars)
• Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas (audiobook; 3.75 stars)
• A Noble Warrior by Lucy Peterson (4 stars)
• Almost Home by Joan Bauer (3.5 stars)
• Live Your Truth and Other Lies by Alisa Childers (4 stars)
• Recruit of Talionis by C.J. Milacci (4.25 stars)

Favorites This Month

Book: My favorite book I read this month was The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser! This is my third time reading this book, and I enjoy it just as much every time! I always love reading about the Vanderbeeker family and their adventures, and the writing is just so cozy and fun. It is definitely a modern classic for middle-grade readers.

Blog Post: I came across this post shared in Jessica B. Brown’s newsletter. It is written by Karissa Chmil from A Seat by the Fire, and it is called “A Plea to Those Who Write For Children.” It so beautifully sums up what literature for children should be!

Recipe: For those of you who eat Paleo or low-sugar diets, these Paleo Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks from Eat Beautiful were very good!

Bible Verse/Passage: I’ve been using the Five Day Bible Reading Schedule this year, and it has already taken me through a couple books of the Bible and several Psalms. One that especially stood out to me was Psalm 107.

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever…. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Psalm 107:1, 8-9

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my January! Leave a comment below and let me know how your month was; I would love to hear from you!

I will be back next week with a book review!