Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2022

Hello everyone! Today I am posting a monthly-wrap up for March! This was a very good month for me, though nothing very exciting or big happened. Soccer has started up again, so that’s been fun! I didn’t get too much reading done, mostly just books for school!

Okay, here we go!

~ Books I Read ~

Geronimo’s Story of His Life by Geronimo. This was an autobiography that I had to read for my English class. It wasn’t my favorite, but wasn’t that bad, just a little boring, but pretty average. I rated it three out of five stars.

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin. This was another book I read for my English course. It was definitely not my favorite in the class, and I only rated it two stars.

The Search by Chris Stefanick and Paul McCusker. I rated this one 4.5 stars because I think it was a pretty good book. It gives a lot of good questions, and things to think about, but I feel like it was more geared toward people who weren’t Catholic or Christians yet. But, overall, it was still pretty good.

John Thompson’s Autobiography by John Thompson was the final book I read this month, and yet again, it was one I read for my English class. It was one of my favorites so far. It was written by an escaped slave, and he offers many different powerful stories throughout the book. I rated it 4.5 out of five stars.

~ Writing updates ~

I took a bit of a writing break this month. I still got some writing done, but I was doing more planning and character development.

~ Crochet ~

I did some crochet, but not a whole bunch of different projects. I’m adding a few pictures of a baby blanket I made after this too! But, other than that, I didn’t really get much crocheting in.

Here’s a picture showing the whole blanket!

Here is a baby doll wrapped up in it!

Haha, I tried to make this one look all artistic showing the stitches up close! 😄

~ Running ~

I’m finally getting back into running more regularly! Although I didn’t get the 20 miles done, like I planned for this month, it was close!! 😃

~ Posts ~

Doing the “Know Your Buddy Tag” With Raegan

What It’s Really Like Being a Writer

Recipes I Use A Lot

My Daily Routine: A Collab With Sawyer

A Small Blog Redesign

The Be You Challenge

Children’s Books That Always Make My Mom Cry

A Spring Aesthetic

A Bookworm’s Life: A Poem

~ Reviewing my goals for March ~

Run 20 miles. I almost got this done, but not quite! In April, I’m really going to push to achieve my running goals!

Work on my book for half an hour a day (it could be writing, or it could be planning or something else book-related). Yep! (At least, almost every day.) I didn’t get too much writing done like I said earlier, but I did do a lot of planning and everything!

Crochet something every day. Nope. I started doing it for the first half of the month, but it just got to be too demanding, and it made me feel like I had to crochet, so I stopped doing it.

Finish reading The Return of the King. Ummm…

~ Goals for April ~

~ Get 100 followers and do a special post

~ Run 20 miles (actually do it this time!!)

~ Post a crochet pattern

~ Do a book review

~ Get some bike rides in!

~ Do at least one lesson of Spanish a day

~ Practice piano every day

~ Pictures from February ~

For Saint Patrick’s day, we made homemade shamrock shakes! We just made homemade vanilla ice cream, and added some green food coloring and mint extract! It was really yummy! Have you ever made homemade shamrock shakes? ☘

I really like Saint Gianna, so I drew this picture! I’m definitely not an artist, but I’m really proud of how it turned out!

The other day, we had some graham crackers with yogurt, chocolate chips, marshmallows, Nutella, and bananas, and I made mine into a house!! (Lol, I tried to build a little snowman in front of it with the marshmallows, but it didn’t really turn out! 😆)

Here’s what one of my brothers made! It’s so cute!

Homemade pretzels and cheese sauce!! 😋

Here is March’s bookshelf display! It shows different books that have made me cry. Books shown: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah, A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir, and Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. These are all super sad books!!! 😭

Here’s a better look at the sign!

────── ♡ ──────

Okay, that’s all for today! 😀 How was your March? Did anything really exciting happen? I’d love to chat in the comments!

See you guys on Saturday, and have an amazing rest of your week! 😊

~ Rebekah

Advertisement

A Bookworm’s Life: A Poem

Hello! So, a while ago, when I first started my blog, I posted a poem called “A Bookworm’s Life” and it talks about the different emotions a reader feels while reading a book! And, because not many people were following me back when I posted it, I thought that I’d post it again!!

────── ♡ ──────

They make you angry, they make you mad.

They make you happy, as well as sad.

They can make your heart whole, or break it in half.

Make you scream in rage, sob, and even laugh.

There are shocking betrayals and huge plot twists.

The moments that make you clench your fists.

But there are moments of joy, of true happiness.

Like when the main character and love interest finally kiss.

And then the pain that follows, when your favorite character dies.

After throwing the book, you just sit there and cry.

Then you turn the page, and you see it’s the last.

And you deeply regret having read it so fast.

Then you savor every word of this last scene.

And you slam the book shut, wanting to scream.

Because you can’t wait a whole year for the next part.

The sequel that’s guaranteed to break your heart.

────── ♡ ──────

I’m definitely not an expert at writing poems, but I thought that this was a fun poem!

I hope you liked today’s post! 💖 Do you relate to the poem? I definitely do, as I wrote it based on my own experiences! 🤣

Thanks for reading, and have an amazing day and the rest of your weekend! See everyone on Wednesday!!!

~ Rebekah

A Spring Aesthetic

Hello everybody! Happy spring! Last Sunday was the first day of spring, so I thought that a spring aesthetic would be a great post for today! If you want to check out any of the other aesthetics I’ve made, just click here!

Like with most of my aesthetic posts, most of these pictures were found on Pixabay!

Hope you liked this post! I can’t believe that spring’s already here! Is it warm where you live yet? Thanks for reading, have an awesome day, and I’ll see you on Saturday! 😀

~ Rebekah

Children’s Books That Always Make My Mom Cry

Hello everyone! How’s your Saturday going so far?

For today’s blog post, as you probably saw from the title, I’m talking about different children’s books that make my mom cry. She was the one who actually suggested I do this, for her birthday! Thanks for the suggestion, Mom. Love you!

Okay, let’s get into it!

────── ♡ ──────

The Velventeen Rabbit

I don’t actually remember how this book ends, because the last time I read it was quite a while ago. My mom always cries to it, though. There are some books that I believe anyone can enjoy and read, not just children, and I think that this is one of them.

The Tale Of Three Trees

My mom was reading this book to some of my younger siblings a little while ago, and I actually cried a little bit. I think that it is really interesting and inspiring in the fact that their wishes came true, but in a very unexpected way that they never would have thought of. I also really love the illustrations!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

I really like this book! It’s very funny in some instances, but thoughtful in others, and I love the heartwarming way that it ends! This is one my family reads (or at least tries to) every Christmas!

The Little Fir Tree

We lost the cover to this book, so I turned to the title of the book on the front page. I don’t really remember it that much, but I have a general idea. From what I remember, it ends pretty happily and touching!

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

This is a great story! I haven’t read it in a long time, so it’s kind of foggy in my memory. I do remember loving this book, though! It’s a great Easter read, and not just for children!

The Little Prince

I know we have a copy of this book, but I couldn’t find it. I’ve never actually read it, but I did watch the movie a while ago, which was good, but I don’t know how different it is from the book.

The Selfish Giant

I just read this story for the first time a few days ago, and I think it had such a bitter-sweet ending! It definitely had powerful message and I really like the pictures in it as well. It’s not actually a book, just a story, and it was one of the stories in a book we own called “The Children’s Book of Faith”.

────── ♡ ──────

I hope everyone liked today’s post! Thanks for reading! I’m probably going to be posting a springtime aesthetic on Wednesday. (I know: I always say that I’m going to be doing these different posts, but they never end up happening 😂.)

Thanks again, Mom, for the post idea! 💖

Have you read any of these books? Do you cry to them? Are there any children’s books that make you cry every time you read them? I’d love to chat in the comments!

~ Rebekah

The Be You Challenge

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog! Today I am posting the “Be You Challenge” created by Maggie! Sophia nominated me for it, and I’m pretty excited! Thanks, Sophia!

Also, thank you so much for all the beautiful comments on my latest post! You guys are the best! Okay, let’s get into the post!

Rules

• Thank the person who tagged you
• Include the rules & badge in your post
• Tag it under ‘thebeyouchallenge’
• Share 5 things you love about yourself
• Answer the questions
• Tag 5+ bloggers
• Have fun!

Five Things I Love About Me

My dedication. I am usually pretty dedicated and committed to something once I set my mind to it!

My running ability. Even though I am not the fastest, and I can’t run for a really long time, I still love that I’m able to run! When I first started running, I never thought I would be able to run five miles straight, but here I am! I’m really proud of my running journey so far!

My hair. I like how my hair is. It’s not too thin or thick, and I also love the color!

My ability to understand math. I know some people who don’t do well at math at all, and really struggle with it. I have never found it very hard, and I understand it pretty well and sometimes I even like it!

My organization. I usually can’t stand a messy room, and I love to organize! I think that I’m pretty good at it too, and that’s just something I love about myself!

The Questions

What are a few things you’re insecure about? Maybe my acne. It’s not that bad, but it has gotten worse recently. My brothers always point it out, and stuff, so I feel a little insecure about it. Also, maybe just my awkwardness when talking to people.

What are some things you accomplished recently? I finished the first draft of a dystopian book I’m writing! I’m so proud of it because it’s a book I’ve been working on for years. I just had to push myself to finish it!

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why? I’d probably say my shyness and awkwardness when talking to people I don’t know well. It might not seem like it on here, but in real life, I’m a total introvert. If I could change anything I’d probably say not to be as shy and awkward in talking to people.

If you could create your dream wardrobe, what would you wear? My favorite types of clothing are athletic/sporty types of clothes! My closet would be filled with shorts, athletic shirts, cute summer dresses, tennis shoes, and hoodies!

What’s a unique/secret skill you have? I don’t really know…

How do you have a positive impact on others? I think that blogging and spreading positivity can really have a good impact on people, especially sharing the things that I love with everyone!

Nominations

Aayushi

Merlyn

Evin

Aamy

Heidi

And, you!

────── ♡ ──────

Thank you so much for reading! And, thanks again, Sophia for nominating me! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week! Bye!

~ Rebekah

A Small Blog Redesign

Hello! I’m just popping in here to let y’all know that I changed my blog’s look a little bit! It was nothing too big: I just changed up the color scheme and updated a few pages. My blog used to be a greenish color, but now it’s blue! 😃 I also changed my blog button, so if we swapped buttons, you can update it if you want to!

I hope everyone’s having a great week so far! I’ve been really busy with school, but I’ll still have a fun post for you guys tomorrow! Let me know what you think of the new color and blog look in the comments! Have a great day, and see you tomorrow!

~ Rebekah

My Daily Routine: A Collab With Sawyer

Hello everyone! I hope everyone’s having an amazing weekend so far! Today’s post is another collab! Yay! Sawyer from The Crafty Art Girl asked if I wanted to collab, and I gladly agreed! This collab post is going to be about my daily routine!

#1: Wake up, prayer/reading, getting ready

I wake up at six, then spend about 45 minutes in prayer and reading these books. I think that it’s just a really good way to start my day and gives me an optimistic and positive start!

Then, I get ready for the day: I get dressed, shower, brush my teeth and hair, wash my face, etc.

#2: Animal chores, family, breakfast

After that, I go out and do my animal jobs. I had to feed the pigs on the day I took these pictures.

Then, I usually get a start on my school or socialize with family a bit!

For breakfast, I had some fried cornmeal with jam and some chocolate milk! I know it doesn’t look very good, but it was yummy!

#3: School, school, school

After this, I usually work on school for a few hours! (Until about noon!)

Some math.

#4: Lunch, animal chores again, more school

For lunch, we had a “tea time” theme! We had hootenannies with cinnamon sugar and some tea! It was a very nice lunch.

After this, I do animal jobs again, and finish up on some schoolwork. Then, the time’s about 2:30 p.m.

#5: Writing, blogging, running

I then work on writing my book for about a half-hour! I’m trying to mostly focus on the second draft of my dystopian novel this month! I always love to listen to music while writing!

I also work on some blogging and catching up on other bloggers’ posts!

If I go on a run that day, I usually go around this time! Or, I’ll go on a bike ride or a walk!

#6: Clean-up, family time, organizing

Then, I just clean up my room a little bit, and work on some organization. I also just spend some nice time with family in the afternoon!

#7: Free time, hobbies, outside time

In the late afternoon I usually have some free time in which I read or crochet, or do one of my other hobbies, or spend more time with family!

I am currently reading The Return of the King, the third and final book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy! It’s taking a bit of time (I’m only on the second chapter) but it’s good so far!

I also like going outside and playing with my cat, Luna, or doing photography!

#8: Dinner, after-meal cleanup, more free time

We usually have dinner around six! My mom and dad picked up some pizza!

Then we clean up, and after that, I just have some more free time, where I usually read or do one of my other hobbies!

#9: Journaling, planning, bedtime

Then, I get ready for bed (brush my teeth, wash my face, get pajamas on, brush my hair, etc.) Before bed, I usually write in my journal a bit and do some planning, then I do my prayers and go to bed around nine or ten!

────── ♡ ──────

Thank you so much for reading! And thanks again, Sawyer, for asking about a collab! I had a lot of fun with this post! Everyone should go check Sawyer’s blog out!

See y’all soon! Have an amazing day! Bye!

~ Rebekah

Recipes I Use A Lot

Hello guys! I hope you are having a good day!

Today, I’m sharing a few recipes I use a lot. I usually post about books or crochet, but baking and cooking is another one of my hobbies and interests! So, in this post, I’ll be linking a few recipes I love and use a lot!

────── ♡ ──────

Spicy Nacho Cheese Sauce from Sally’s Baking Recipes

I love making this when my family is having nachos, soft pretzels, or veggies because this is the perfect dip! I don’t usually add all of the cayenne pepper, because I have little siblings who don’t really like spicy things. A couple times, we also made some of this cheese sauce, and added it to some macaroni to make mac and cheese! This works really well! Once, we also made some of this (we added some extra milk), and then we added some cooked potato chunks to make a cheesy potato soup and it turned out really good!

White Bread from The Food Nanny

This recipe is one of the easiest I have found to make simple white bread! You only need to knead it for a little while, but you can also use a mixer for this. It rises twice, and it’s overall just really simple and yummy! There’s a way that you can make cinnamon rolls out of the bread dough, too, which I’ll have to try soon! 😀

White Chip Chocolate Cookies from Nestle

This is one that I’ve only made twice, but they are sooo good! I love them better than regular chocolate chip cookies! 🍪 I’m definitely going to keep using this recipe!

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust from All Recipes

This is one me and my family have been using for a while. It’s a very, very, very simple pizza crust recipe! It only needs to rise once, for five minutes. It’s super simple and easy to make, and it’s pretty quick. We usually use a cookie sheet to make a rectangle pizza and double the recipe, because we have a bigger family.

────── ♡ ──────

Thank you for reading! Have you tried any of these recipes before? How did you like it? Are there any recipes you like and use a lot? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Hope you have an awesome day! Bye! 😃

~ Rebekah

What It’s Really Like Being a Writer

Hello!! How is everyone doing? I hope you guys are having a fun weekend so far!

Today, I’m posting different relatable moments as a writer! I kind of had the idea when I saw Maggie do the “Relatable Blogger Moments” posts, so it’s going to be kind of like that, but with relatable moments as a writer!

────── ♡ ──────

~ Looking up names ~

I feel like I do this all the time! I think I go on those baby naming sites more than parents naming their babies. I always look up things like, what name means (something), girl names that start with g, popular boy names, etc. 🤣 (This is the site I use the most.)

~ Getting a good idea for something in your book once you’re already almost done with it ~

Yup. This has happened to me…and then, I have to decide whether to just use my original idea, or change the whole plot. 😅

~ Staring at a blank page for half an hour ~

The other day, I went on to write, and I could not think of ANYTHING. Literally nothing…

~ Thinking about the characters and plot all the time ~

It’s like I want to write all the time, but then when I actually get to write, I can’t!! Ugh, why can’t this book just write itself! 😄

~ Sitting down to write, but then you end up researching something for a long time ~

I know we’ve all done this. I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head, but I know that I’ve done this before!

~ Looking up synonyms ~

Like…🙂 yeah. I do this All. The. Time. I always feel like I’m using too much of the same words, so I look up synonyms. I also look up words to use instead of “says” a lot!

────── ♡ ──────

Thank you for reading! Are you a writer? Have you done any of these? Do you have any more writer moments that you think are relatable? I’d love to chat in the comments!!!!!

See y’all on Wednesday, probably with a crochet pattern, but we’ll have to see! Have a great rest of your weekend! Byeeee!

~ Rebekah

Doing the “Know Your Buddy Tag” With Raegan

Hello! Today, I’m here with a blog collab! 😃 This is my first time ever doing one!! I got tagged by Rajonya to do the “Know Your Buddy Tag”, so thanks, Rajonya! (Here’s her post!)

I then asked Raegan if she wanted to do it, and she said yes!! So, I’m really excited about today’s post!!

The answers to the questions are Raegans. You can see what I answered to each question over on her blog, so make sure to go check that out!

Rules

• Tag the original creators of this tag – Tallblondetales and Proxywords – and tag the original posts from each of their blogs. If you do, you’ll be eligible for the roundup post and grand ‘Know Your Buddy’ tag winner! If not, you can still take part in the tag you just won’t be a contender for the overall winner.
• Thank the bloggers who nominated you (and your buddy), share the badge and rules in your post.
• Pick a blogger with whom you’d like to do this tag with, answer the questions together, and share each other’s answers on both the blogs.
• Nominate 10 new Bloggers and keep spreading the love.
• Notify the bloggers (tell them you nominated them) by commenting on one of their posts.

Raegan’s Answers

1: What is your favorite blog post of mine and why?

https://booksandhooks13.wordpress.com/2021/11/17/autumn-aesthetic/ I love looking at people’s different aesthetics that they design. 

2: What would you like to be known for: your name, or your blog name?

Giving out useful information and just fun posts to read. 

3: What is the weirdest comment you’ve ever gotten on your blog?

I got one comment that said, “I LOVE DOGS?” Which I thought was interesting. But that person who sent that said a lot of other weird creepy stuff. 

4: Do you think cereal is soup? Why or why not?

I do not think it is because when I think of a soup I think of something much more savory. If you do think it is a soup I am fine with that I would not be offended. 

5: If you had a controller to rewind or fast forward your blog, which would it be?

Rewind.

6: If you two were to be buddy characters in a movie, which characters would you be and why?

I would probably be whichever character is sarcastic because I like to write sarcastically. 

7: What is the most boring part of posting blog posts for you, or what part of posting a blog are you laziest about?

Probably just trying to start writing a post. Once I start I can just keep writing but it takes me a little while to actually start the writing process, lol.

8: If you could transform into any animal, what would it be and why?

A horse. Because they are pretty and strong.

9: If your blog had a superpower or magical element, what would it be?

To transform into any animal. 

10: If you were given the power to exchange blogs for a day, which things would you change or adapt first?

Probably nothing.

Nominations

Sophia

Lydia

Heidi

Addie

Suhani

And, anyone else who is wanting to do it!! (I know this isn’t ten people, but I couldn’t find enough people to nominate!!)

(If I tagged you, and you don’t want to do it/already did it/are tag-free, sorry I bothered you!)

────── ♡ ──────

Thanks again, Raegan, for doing this with me! I had a lot of fun!! Everyone, make sure to go check out her blog; she has a lot of amazing posts and great photography! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!! Bye!

~ Rebekah