(Yeah, I'm kinda sidetracked. But aftermath of the trip + glitchy internet is my excuse for the tardiness of this recap, sooo... Let's move it on out.)
|| Life. ||
>> I hosted a readathon! After asking around on Goodreads, I got a lot of positive feedback, so I ended up hosting a weekend readathon. It was lots of fun and I plan to do it again sometime!>> My parents hosted a graduation party for little ol' me at our church fellowship hall one Saturday. I acted like I'm the adult that my birthday is about to force me to be and talked and peopled and surprisingly survived... *wink*
>> I went on a missions trip, to a town about five and a half hours from my home, with my family and youth group. And, y'all, it was amazing. We roofed houses and built handicap ramps and made new friends and laughed way too hard. <3 I won't go into great detail here, but keep an eye out on Chosen Vessels for a post about that fabulous week of my summer.
>> Two of my bestest friends started a cover design/formatting business! Hop on over and check it out. :D
>> Um...that's all?? I know that tons of other things happened in June, but I can't think of another worth mentioning! I took a million and one mirror selfies and sunsets pictures, and listened to oodles of music...not that any of that is new. xD
|| Books. ||
// Reads
Andi Dreams of Gold by Susan K. Marlow -- 4 starsAndi Far From Home by Susan K. Marlow -- 4.5 stars
Have Courage, Be Kind: The Tale of Cinderella by Brittany Candau -- 5 stars
Chasing Sunsets by Karen Kingsbury -- 5 stars
Brush of Wings by Karen Kingsbury -- 4 stars
At the Little White Cabin by Marian Schooland -- 4 stars
George Washington: The Crossing by Jack E. Levin -- 4 stars
// Books
I got oodles of books this month! I hit a library bookstore clearance one weekend and got The Crossing, Land of Silence, Beyond All Dreams, D-Day: 1944, and the WWII collection.
I ordered Signs of the Times from Thriftbooks because I'll need it for ASL class (next month *gulp*)...so I just had to get Deepest Roots of the Heart and Remember Wake as well. ;)
Lastly, I bought Kate's Innocence from the author. And Emmeline, Trouble in Scotland, and Time-Life: Billy Graham were gifts! <3
Does this series have some amazing covers and spines or what?! My aunt gave me the first 15 books of the 24-book series. Can't wait to give them a try!
|| Writing. ||
Well, June wasn't exactly a record-breaking month on the writing home front. (That doesn't even make sense...)
As I started in May, I continued in Go Teen Writers' 100-for-100 writing challenge. I wrote 3,412 words, all in One Summer, the prequel to Dandelion Dust.
I was filling rather discouraged on this particular project. I couldn't focus, the words weren't coming, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to finish it. But, because I chose it as my project for 100-for-100, I was eking out the minimal word count each day.
But then...the mission trip happened (for which I took a break week from writing), and I returned home with oodles of inspiration. So now I'm happily writing the mandatory words each day—and then some! I'm not sure what I'll do with this book once I've finished, but I'm pleased with how it's turning out. <3
|| Blogging. ||
// Favorite Posts
The Barefoot Gal ~ A Letter to All the Baby GraduatesColorful, Creative Cards ~ Broken is Beautiful Too
Rachelle Rea Cobb ~ How to Write a Romance Novel Even if You're Single
One Name ~ They Forgot. He Remembered.
Ink Blots and Coffee Stains ~ They Say We are World Changers // a poem
Ordinary Girl, Extraordinary Father ~ Maybe
Precious Treasures of God ~ The Lost Art of Listening
Totally Graced ~ Sweet Summertime
Important Nothings ~ Wonder
// My Posts
|| Goals. ||
// June Goals
>> Read 10 books. Heh, nope.>> Write 5,000 words. Another no. xD
>> Work on new scenes for A Soldier's Freedom. #failed
>> Post my short story from April on here. YES! So glad y'all enjoyed it. :D
>> Share about the trip with y'all. Another nope...let's try for this month.
>> Go on a missions trip. Mhm. <33
>> Celebrate my 3rd blogging anniversary and the 1st anniversary of my precious debut novella. I ended up not celebrating my book anniversary on here, but I did have a book sale last week in celebration. :)
// July Goals
>> Read 8 books.>> Write 10,000 words.
>> Finish another edit of A Soldier's Freedom + get it ready to send to betas.
>> Finish writing One Summer.
>> Post weekly on both blogs.
 |
| In case y'all wondered what a tired, overheated version of Faith looks like... |
How was your first month of summer, lovelies?! Tell me all about it. <3 Who else is swimming and loving the heat? Any summer book recommendations? Wanna be a beta-reader of A Soldier's Freedom? (Sign up here!) Got any ideas for random questions I can include here next month?? xD
Later,
~Faith
Happiest graduation, Faith <3 I'm so happy for you. AND you successfully adulted! It's better than I could say XD
ReplyDeleteThose book spines...I don't even know what series that is but I want it anyway. <3
And yay on the writing being more flowy! That's always the best feeling ^_^
Happy July! (And I'm in denial that we've gotten this far too ;))
Awww, thanks, Faith! <3 Hahaha, I'm trying... XD
DeleteAren't they pleasing?! <3 All I know is it's a Guidepost series by multiple authors and the cover are fabulous. xD
Yesssss!
To you too! (It's gotta be a conspiracy....)
The missions trip sounds amazing...And I'm so glad it was helpful with writing the prequel to DD. <3
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love that group pic from SOS ...;)
And that last pic is so adorable. I love your shirt and braids, and you're just so darn cute!
*hugs* <33
DeleteIsn't it an amazing picture? *smirks* A shame it's so blurry...
Aww, you're sweet, love. ;)
That first picture is so pretty! :)
ReplyDeleteThe readathon was super fun. I’d definitely be interested in doing it again sometime. =)
I’m so glad that you had such a fun graduation party. :D Your cake is so fun and I love the color of blue. Aww, I loved seeing the picture of you and your family. <3
I’m also super happy that you had such a wonderful time on the missions trip! <3 I can’t wait to read your post about it. :D I love the picture of all of your Miracles of Marble Cove books! That’s just so fun that you got all of those. :) I looked up the books to see the covers and oh my goodness! They’re so pretty. Now I really want to read them. :D
Oh, you wrote some in “One Summer”? *smiles* That’s exciting!!! :D
Congratulations once again on three years of blogging and the first anniversary of “Dandelion Dust”! <3
Super fun recap and I love all of the pictures. :) <3
Isn't it?! That was a sunset one night on the missions trip. :D
DeleteYay!
We did blue decorations and everything, and they did a great job on making the cake match. :D Yup, someone got us all together and the picture turned out pretty good...even though Tucker's mouth is open. xD
Thank you, dear! <3 I have a partially-finished email about the trip that I need to get sent off your way, too. ;)
Aren't they gorgeous?! I basically just want to pet them and admire them. ^_^ <3
*smiles* Yup! <3
Thanks so much, girl! I appreciate your support of my books and blogging ever so much. <33
Amazing post - I enjoyed reading this update!
ReplyDeleteAnd "Land of Silence"! I love that book so much. I love months where getting a lot of books is a thing. :D
Yay for surviving the graduation party! That's how I felt about mine too XD
Thank you, Raechel! ^_^
DeleteOooh, yay! Good to know! I haven't read any of Tessa Afshar's books, but they have such lovely covers. <3
Haha! It was fun. xD
I enjoyed reading this post!! I hope you have a great July!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad! Happy July, Sarah! <3
DeleteBook rec: Louis Zamperini by Janet and Geoff Benge. A. Ma. Zing.
ReplyDeleteRandom Question to ask : Maybe everyone's favorite color?
Summer is going awesome! Just finished up the Threshers Reunion and gearing up for VBS and Sword of the Lord Conference! Can't wait!
Looking forward to future posts! And I filled out your sign up form;p
Ohh, thanks! We have several books from that series, but not that one in particular. Have you read Unbroken? (I haven't, but soon!) Or Louis Zamperini's book, Devil at My Heels? (I think that's the title....?)
DeleteSounds exciting!! We're not having VBS until August this year—so a bit of breathing time there. xD
Yay, thank you! :)