Life As Of Now

HI Y'ALL. Long time no see! (If you didn't even notice I've been absent, tbh I'm not gonna be offended, haha)

So, I started off this post so many times but failed, so let's just skip the introduction and jump right into the life update, shall we?

2019 was a year of firsts.

First public school experience (to take my ACT. It made me glad I was homeschooled, m'kay?).

First time publishing a book.

First time going to a summer camp.

First time mowing the lawn.

First time going to a concert as a VIP (Michael W. Smith is da bomb).

First time meeting Brooklyne in person (which was AMAZING).

First time actually making legit money on my cover design business.

First time visiting the ARK Encounter + Creation Museum in Kentucky.

First time getting Instagram. (Bookstagram is a blast, y'all. *grins*) You can find me @katetheauthor if interested. ;)

There's probably a whole lot more that I'm forgetting but meh.
Ya know, I think every year is a year of firsts. Each year we step out and do new things. But for some reason, 2019 just stood out to me that way.

But anyway. Now that that's all talked about, what's my 2020 looking like so far?

A few random happenings . . .

-My dad & brothers built me bookshelves to surround my walls at the ceiling! *happy sigh* So beautiful.

-I made mozzarella sticks for the first time and they were DELISH.

-I've been taking sooooo many #bookstagram pics...

-Kordell's cows had their babies! And they're so cute!! (I really need to go see them again . . . )

-I bought so much yarn, haha! I've got projects, lots of projects.

So, then, there's the big question: how am I doing during COVID-19??

Honestly? Nothing has really changed for us, hehe! I work at home, we don't go very many places anyway, and since half of my family is made up of introverts, and we see each other all the time . . . we're doing pretty good. ;) The question is, how are you doing? My extrovert sister is about to die, not being able to go anywhere . . . and I know a lot of y'all are the same way. You can do this, y'all!

If you're going stir-crazy, try

-working out (it's actually kinda enjoyable when you do it with someone)

-having an impromptu dance party, even when you're by yourself (because music + dancing makes everything better, gives you exercise, and helps you not be so stir-crazy)

-writing a book (keeps your mind occupied)

-blogging (because, honestly, there's so many posts that you could write that could keep you busy for days)

-starting a journal (getting your thoughts on paper, about anything, definitely helps relieve stress/tension!)

-studying your Bible (if we spent as much time studying the Bible as we did sitting around complaining of boredom, our faith would be so much bigger)

-playing games (*gasp* PLAYING A GAME! What a novel idea! Honestly tho, this could take so many forms—from board games to your own private olympics)

-playing with your hair (might as well learn to look good for when you're out in public again)

-work (yeah, y'know those lil' chores around the house that have been staring you down? Do it today)

See? The possibilities are endless. ;)

Also, random note—anyone else here wear jeans around the house all the time bc they're comfortable?? I see on social media that people are saying "Who would wear jeans when you can wear leggings?! They're so uncomfortable!" Um, sorry, y'all. Not feeling it. xD

So, anyway.

How has your 2020 been so far??

Anything exciting happen for ya?

(Also considering doing monthly life updates again so I don't have to keep doing year-end recaps . . . )

2019 Goals Recap {+ 2020 Goals}

Anyone else feel like 2019 got impatient in October and finally said "OKAYYY LET'S SKIP TO THE NEW YEAR!"

*Sigh* So, yeah, now's the time of year that everyone's looking back over the past year and makes resolutions for the new year. Well, you might know that I like to set goals rather than resolutions. There's just something about them that makes it feel like a work-in-progress that I can fail at a few times before getting the hang of it, whereas resolutions give me the impression that if I mess up once,  I've completely blown it. And then I'll give up.

So.

I did a post like this last year, and thought I might do it again this year. But first, let's see how I did with my 2019 goals! (I honestly forgot about most of these, oops xD)

1. (Tentatively) Publish Beloved.

Gooooaaaaallll!! I did publish! September 10, 2019, will be a date that I'll never forget. Faith Potts and I co-released our books on Suicide Prevention day! You can find Beloved on Amazon and Goodreads.

2. Exercise at least 4 days out of every week.

Heh. Heheh. Eh, no. I started out really well . . . but it went the way of all good things, as my father would say, and didn't last very long. I would say that I exercised more this year than I have previously, though, so that's a plus!

3. Read at least 60 books.

NAILED IT. I'm working on my 82nd book currently! If I were asked what my top five books of the year were, though, I'd have to say . . .

-Freedom by Faith Potts

-Monday Night Jihad by Steve Yohn & Jason Elam

-In 27 Days by Alison Gervais

-Fallen Angel by Jeff Strueker & Alton Gansky

-The Divided Nation by Angela Watts

4. Blog consistently.

*Cackles* Well, um, y'all could probably figure this one out. I tried?

5. Write at least 50,000 words.

Check! I wrote about 30,000 for Camp NaNo in April, over 10,000 in Camp NaNo July, about 26,000 in NaNoWriMo, and not to mention the sporadic writing I did in between.

6. Create a 2019 playlist.

Welllll yeah but no. I started it, but when I went months without adding to it . . . I deleted it. *cries* But hey, it only had a few songs on it, sooooo

7. Finish reading through the Bible.

Um . . . no. Honestly one of the goals I forgot about. xD I did get a good bit read, but between lack of perseverance and a ladies' Bible study I participated in at church, it didn't happen.

8. Memorize at least 20 Bible verses.

Again, one that I kinda forgot about. (Wow, I need to check back on these mid-year, don't I?) And I don't know, with all the memorizing I did, I might've? I didn't really keep track, but my guess is that it was somewhere shy of 20.

Okay. Now, 2020 goals . . . oh boy.
I'm gonna try not to set huge goals 'cause it looks like the new year is gonna be insane, but who am I kidding? I'm probably gonna look back on these goals and say "those were really dumb" xD

1. Become more serious in my prayer life.
Anyone else have this problem?

2. Exercise at least three days out of the week.
I know it's not much, buuuut I failed my four-days-a-week goal last year, so I'll lower the bar a liiiiitle bit. If I can work up to five or six days a week, that would be amazing. ;)

3. Read at least 60 books.
I know better than to set my goal at my total books read this year. Sadly. *cries*

4. Blog consistently.
Am I going to continually set this as a goal until I achieve it? Why yes, yes, I am.

5. Memorize at least 15 Bible verses.
If I could do more than that, that would be fabulous . . .

6. Write at least 40,000 words.
If I would actually finish another book, that would be amazing.

So, I've seen a lot of people do 'words of the year.'

I always thought it was kinda weird. I mean, they gave the coming year a single word and I guess saw how it actually played out? Weird. But it was also neat to see how, when they looked back after a year had passed, realized how well that word fit the year.

Or how it didn't.

So, this year, I'm going to try it. I'm going to give 2020 a word of the year.

Grow.

I want to grow. Grow in my walk with Christ, grow in wisdom, grow in maturity, grow as an adult, grow in courage.

So, 2020, here's to you.

2019 was a bit rough. Maybe you'll be better, but maybe you'll be worse.

Either way, may God help me grow.

Top Books of 2018 {Plus 2019 Goals}

So, I tried to narrow my favorite books down to one... but there were actually two that just really stuck out to me.
There were several books that I LOVED and rated 5 stars, and they each basically made me speechless (because c'mon, 5 stars?  It has to be good).  But there were two that just... ahhhh, I loved them so. very. much.

What are these two books, you ask?  Well, *grins* lemme show you.

    

Blaze of Glory by Jeff Struecker and Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury.

Oh. my. word, y'all.  Okay, so I was so surprised by Angels Walking.  I had been told that it was amazing.  I'd been urged by a good friend to read it, but as I knew that Karen Kingsbury writes romance, I was rather hesitant.  I mean... romance.  But.  Wowwwwww, I was kinda shocked at how much I loved it.  Allllll the feeellllsssss.  I've recently acquired an appreciation for feelsy stories and this one is definitely worth a re-read.

So, Blaze of Glory.  I enjoy intense books, and um this book delivered.  I checked it out of the library on a whim because I thought the cover looked cool (and because the author is military so I knew the military aspect would be epic).  Well... it was... incredible.  If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that I literally went on a rollercoaster, it was so intense.  But it was amazing.  And the spiritual aspect. <3

So yes, my two favorite books from the year were actually basically opposites, which is interesting but cool. (Also I got Blaze of Glory—the whole series, actually—for Christmas, and a candle that SMELLS LIKE A BOOKSTORE AND IT'S SO AMAZING)

******

Okay, now 2019 goals.

Right about now is the time that everyone is making their New Year's resolutions—a new year, a fresh start at becoming more, becoming better.

I've never made New Year's resolutions.  Why?  Because the definition of a resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something.  Resolutions take determination, y'all.  And while I get that determination and perseverance can be good things, I didn't want the burden of knowing that if I messed up one of my resolutions I'd feel like a failure, which basically reverses the effects that resolutions are supposed to have.

So, I came up with an alternative: goals.  Because I know I'm a work-in-progress, and by God's grace I'm going to continue to improve every day.  It's the same thing with my goals.  Rather than making a resolution, I made several goals to work towards rather than piling it on top of myself all at once.  So I'd like to share with you a few goals I have for the new year.

1. (Tentatively) Publish Beloved.

Okay, so yeah, this may or may not happen.  But *crosses fingers* Lord willing, I'll put the hammer down and stop procrastinating.  This poor baby has gone through (and is going through) so many changes, it'll be a miracle if I get it ready for publication by 2090.  But I'm going to try. ;)

2. Exercise at least 4 days out of every week.
Those who know me well know that I'm seriously so out of shape, it isn't even funny.  So since Mom got a membership at the local gym, I'll hopefully get going regularly with her, as well as exercising at home.  Because goodness knows I need it.

3. Read at least 60 books.
So according to Goodreads, this year I've only read 76 out of my 90-book goal this year, which is sad, but it also means that I haven't spent as much time with my nose in a book (or I'm just not as fast a reader as I used to be... but I refuse to accept that), so that's good, right?  So I thought I'd let off some pressure and rather than shoot for the stars on this one, I'd shoot for... well, the neighbor's yard, I guess.  (Living out in the country, that's not exactly close...)

4. Blog consistently.
Um maybe by the end of the year I'll actually master this one?  Because while I obviously need help in the consistent blogging department, I've been doing better lately, and maybe I'll just have to designate a few days this year to just write like 20 posts at a time and schedule them and possibly actually publish a post every week.

5. Write at least 50,000 words.
Well, seeing as how I probably wrote barely 10K this year, this might not happen, especially if I'm going to be dedicating a bunch of time to Beloved.  Buuuut we'll give it a whirl.  I mean, hundreds of people write this much in one month alone (NaNo, anyone?) and surely I can do it in the span of 12 months... right?

6. Create a 2019 playlist.
Now, this is an idea that I kinda halfways stole from a blog I follow, but I thought it was a neat idea.  I love music, and I'm constantly listening to music or singing or playing piano or just playing a song in my head over and over (I don't recommend that though, unless you want to get really tired of that song really fast).  I'm not sure how I'll do this, maybe a song per week, or when something significant happens.



7. Finish reading through the Bible.
I started this for school this past semester, and I'm actually supposed to get 3/4 of the way done by the time next semester is over, so I'd hope this would happen... but I guess ya never know.  Maybe I should shoot for reading through the Bible again after I finish...

8. Memorize at least 20 Bible verses.
I don't memorize nearly as much as I should, and I'll hopefully step up my game this year.  I've never really cared that much for memorization (unless it's music that I accidentally memorize by listening to a specific song over and over), so not only will this increase my knowledge of the Bible, it'll also bring me out of my comfort zone.

******

Yeah... that's a lot of goals.  We'll see how I do!  I might write an update post this summer... we shall see.
Do you have any goals/resolutions for 2019?

A Wedding, a Conference, and Other Random Stuff {Life Update}

Contrary to what may be a popular belief, I'm not dead.
Soooo... wow, a lot has happened in the past months.  Where to start?!

-Kord's cows all had calves!  Naming them all would take more time than you or I would like, so I'll just name a few. Roxi, Cleo, Irma, Bill, Leon, Judd, Duke, Kate (yes, named after me, lucky soul), Kara, Eddy...

Meet Earl.

-It snowed.  Once or twice in February, and once in the middle of April, actually.  'Twas strange, to say the least.

-I got new cowboy boots for my brother's wedding!  *insert heart-eyes*

-The whole family took a road trip to Ohio for... that's right, my brother's wedding!  I was privileged to be a bridesmaid, and may I just say that if you ever get the chance to be a part of a wedding, JUMP ON IT.  I think all the members of the bridal party will agree with me on this. ;) Lots of hugs and laughter, and, well, having two sisters-in-law is a blast.  Just sayin'.

Braiding the unity cross

And I got my hair done and everything.  'Twas lovely, though the stylist (the bride's sister) was trying to straighten my hair to make it more workable... and it didn't work very well.  XD
But she did a fab job.

Hours after the wedding... it's a lil' messy ;)

And the venue was just beautiful.

AND THE DECORATIONS!!  We also had a doughnut board that was super cute and a fondue fountain that was epic.

-My OTHER bro and his wife got an adorable puppy!

-We vacuum-packed Kord in a trash bag.  No joke.  Kids, don't do this without adult supervision. XD

-Ice cream.  'Nuff said.

-I got introduced to these epic songs.

-Kansas wedding reception, full of doughnuts and 7-layer dip and set-up silliness, during which I had a jam session with my sister-in-law's sister, singing VeggieTales when we were supposed to be working.  Pretty sure our mothers were starting to worry about our sanity.

-For Chow's birthday, we made stromboli.  That food, y'all... <3

-Along with Jesseca, Rebekah and a friend of Rebekah's, I ran a booth at our homeschool convention.  There were books, photos, and my specialty—crocheted book sleeves!

-I found this sign at Hobby Lobby and decided I need it someday.

-Kord and I got to take Daddy's sweet ride to check cows, so on the way home we stopped and walked out in the wheat field to snap some epic shots.

Also, he's got one cow that will let him sit on her.  He was thrilled.

Also, a couple days later, took some sunset shots.  My photography skills are improving. XD

-Mom & Kara tried candle making.  So far so good!

-Came upon these ladies that decided they were pedestrians.

And there's my life in the past few months.
Miss me? ;)
~Kaitlyn

Life Update {Plus A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT}

Hey, I abandoned y'all again.  Sorry 'bout that. XP

Life update... where do I even start?!  So much has happened in the recent months.  

-We took a family vacation with some dear friends to Branson, MO—namely, Silver Dollar City.  On our way there, we took a slightly LARGE detour to go look at a piece of farm equipment (surprise surprise XD), and, being 10 minutes from the Tennessee border, we just decided to drive on over.  

Then, on the way back from MO, we stopped by Big Brutus (a giant steam shovel in eastern KS).  That thing's huge, peoples.

Unfortunately, I currently don't have any pictures of SDC, and I'm too lazy to get one from others, soooo XD

Crossing the Mississippi...

...and into Tennessee!

Big Brutus

-I began to frequently tag along with Kordell to check his cows.  There'll be a calf on the ground any day now!

-We finished pulling the sweet potato patch.  There were a LOT, folks.

Kara had fun with the vines. XD 

-Two of my brothers got engaged, one of them now happily married, the other one soon to be!

-I made and decorated a cake.  I did a swell job, if I do say so myself. ;)

-I took an actually GOOD picture of a candle (#random), and haven't brought myself to delete it off the phone yet because it's one of the few good pics I've taken with the phone. XD

-Kordell got ahold of Mom's phone and started taking all these incriminating selfies... but I'll refrain from sharing any on here because he might kill me if I did.  And that would be bad. XD

-I made Oreo balls for Christmas, and took so many pictures to hopefully get a post written about it for this year's 12 Days of Christmas (yeah, I've always been an early planner... NOT.), soooo... get after me to actually WRITE the post so I can delete the pics off mom's phone and make her happy. *nods* XD

-Christmas happened!! ^_^

-WE GOT SNOW. TWICE.  ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY COLOR THE GROUND WHITE.  It wasn't enough to cover the grass completely, and we didn't get a white Christmas... BUT STILL.

-Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS!! May you have a year filled with blessings as God helps you through whatever happens. <3

So now... my big announcement... heh.

I'm kinda really terrified and really excited at the same time to say this.

I... wrote a book.  Yes, a BOOK.  One of those things made of paper and ink that you read and, if it's good enough, get lost in.

It's basically about dealing with issues of self-worth and hurt, and the love of Christ, and... yeah.

If you're really interested... I'll post more about it this week.

Oh, who am I kidding?  I'm going to post about it whether y'all like it or not. XD

I've been praying about it, and trying to see what God wants me to do with it, and... maybe I'll publish, maybe I won't.  We'll see what happens. 

All this said, I'll see y'all later!

~Kaitlyn