August Wrap-up/September Goals/Birthday Lessons

I had an awesomely crazy month! Not much happened writing wise, but it was a great month nonetheless.

I did write a few thousand words on The Fall of Chemmit, but then I decided I really needed to take a break and focus on preparing for NaNoWriMo. My world for my NaNo story is giving me a bit of a difficult time. I know where it's located, but I still can't seem to pin down which details are important to the story.

But I did continue with Ships, Secrets, and Survivors. It's so much fun to pull up the document every day and see what additions Jules has made and deciding how I can build on it. I love my characters a ton and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

~Reading~

I only read two books this month, both of which were the final books in their series, so that was nice. 

DragonLight by Donita K. Paul

A sweet finish to the series. Probably not my favorite book out of the series, but still so much fun and super lovely!

Winter by Marissa Meyer

I can't decide if this one or Scarlet is my second favorite book in this series. I know Cinder is my favorite and Cress is my least favorite, but it's a tough choice between the other two. I don't know. But I did enjoy it a lot! It was so action packed and super fun.

~Life Happenings~

As far as exciting things go, I didn't do a whole lot. I went on a hike with some church friends before one left for college. That was so much fun (albeit very hot!).

I refurnished my bedroom. The result was borderline perfect! I was so excited about how it turned out. I'm probably going to do a tour at some point when I have time and the lighting is decent. We're in that lovely time of year where it's overcast during the best filming/photography hours. But I do plan on getting to it.

Also had this hilarious text conversation with my brother about one of the locations he worked at recently (the context was he said he was working near a horse farm).

I also started babysitting again and it turns out that my charge has little kittens (so obviously, I had to play with them!) #bestjobever

Anyway, it was a good month. Didn't really get a ton done, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Life's going through another transition period, so I'm making sure I take plenty of time to readjust and focus on what's important. I feel like I did a pretty good job at that this month!

I don't have a ton of goals this month. I'm trying to not go crazy over all the little things, so I'm keeping it simple in the writing realm.

1. Pin down world building. I'd like to also figure out a few other details about my story, but the world building is definitely my focus.

2. Continue with SSaS. Self-explanatory. Just keep going!

3. Read more. September is my biggest book haul months of the year, so I'm hoping that means I'll read more. Maybe I'll try to read at least one book a week and see how that goes.

So I'm turning 22 this month, so I thought I might write a list of 22 lessons I've learned over the years. They're in no particular order and not anything super profound. Just things that popped to the top of my head.

1. People will leave your life and you won't understand why. Stop trying to figure it out. It has nothing to do with how good of a friend or family member you were. Just use the extra time to invest more fully in the relationships you still have.

2. You're not perfect. Good thing too, or else you wouldn't have any hope. But as it is, you have hope in Christ. Rest in Him alone.

3. People will judge your love of inanimate objects and animals and tell you that it's childish. Love those things anyway. God gave them to you for that very reason. Just because they're unhappy, doesn't mean you have to be.

4. Oh, you made a lovely, concrete, black-and-white plan for your life? That's cute, but you can throw it away. The fluid, colorful version that God made looks so much better.

5. It's okay to change. It's okay to not recognize what you see in the mirror. It's not ugly. It's not bad. It's just different. Don't be afraid to love the new you.

6. Stop holding yourself to the world's standards. Their milestones aren't God's and mean nothing. Just because your friends tell you that such and such a thing is worthwhile and necessary for life, doesn't mean it is. God, the creator of all, would know what you need better than them. Trust Him.

7. It's okay to be you. Whatever 'you' looks like in a situation, it's okay. You're not cookie cutter. You're made by God. Be you-nique (and cliche if you want!).

8. Life's too short. Eat the food.

9. Be open with your journey. Others may find encouragement from where you're at in life.

10. Find your song. Sing with all your heart. Till your dying day, never let the music fade.

11. Don't feel like you must fit in with your age group. Find people of all ages to be friends with, both younger and older. There are lessons to be learned from every walk of life.

12. Never teach with the assumption that you have nothing to learn. Teach with the expectation to be taught. You never know what your students might have to show you.

13. Not all of your skills are for the benefit of others. Yes, God gives us many gifts. You don't have to share all of them. Share the ones that you know bring the most healing to others. If you choose to keep some for your own healing, so be it.

14. Don't look for approval from others. You won't find it. Do what you're called to do anyway. Appreciate the people who do respect you and return the favor, but don't expect to roll in accolades.

15. Feel what you need to feel. Cry when you need to. Laugh with all your might. Roll with whatever emotions your body brings and don't stress about them. Your emotions aren't the whole of your life.

16. Don't covet someone else's outcomes when you don't know their journey. You might not like what it took to get there.

17. Dance like David before the Lord. You're not here to please the Michals of this life. Your life- your praise- belongs to Him, not them.

18. Breathe. God's got this.

19. Be a strong woman. They build up others.

20. It's okay to agree with the other side on issues. Follow Treebeard's advice. Don't be on anyone's side. Think your own thoughts. Never think you're 100% right. Be challenged. Change. Grow.

21. You can praise the Lord with your tears just as much as you can with your smiles.

22. Make a life you love. Your life circumstances might not change, but your attitude can. What is something you can do right now to make your life and someone else's a little better? Go do it. And keep doing it.

I hope you find some sort of encouragement from these. I hope I continue to grow over the coming years into the woman God wants me to be.

What did y'all do this month? Any exciting adventures? Cool books? Writing achievements? Lessons you've learned over the years? I'd love to hear all about them!