April Wrap-Up

Good morning, Dragons! *waves* *yawns* I'm really tired... which may or may not be from staying up late during our congregation's gospel meeting (but yes, oh yes, it's been so worth it). (Lord willing, more on the meeting during the May Wrap-Up. 😉 )

LIFE

• I got a new laptop. My old one, Nameless (*coughs* Yeah, I never really thought to name him...), went kaput, so I got a new one named... *drumroll* D'artagnan! And I'm in love. A half-decent camera, a working disc drive, great speakers, and a six- to twelve-hour battery life... *sighs dreamily* ❤
• Thirty-four days until summer! *straightens bowtie* 😏
• Our congregation had a bonfire a couple weekends ago! I meant to grab my camera on the way out the door, but... I forgot. *shrugs*
• My grade gets a week off from school, soon! *cheers* We're one of the only grade levels that doesn't have SBAC testing (thank God), so, even though there'll be a bit of homework, still -- no classes!
• I memorized the Unit Circle... -_- Surprisingly, I aced that part of April's math test. Still not sure how I managed to do that.

IN THE THEATRE

*sings* Matildaaaa! In our school talent show, our theatre company performed When I Grow Up. I honestly remember nothing from being in the actual show. I remember the other acts and whatnot (and also getting yelled at for pacing prior to the show... our sound board director/assistant stage manager knows that pacing prior to a performance = Liv might die. 😛 ), but I remember little else.

*sniffles* And this is our director's last year at MEA before she leaves for college! *wails*

(On a less sad note, here's the song we performed, with the original cast of Matilda doing it... and in case you were wondering, the answer is yes, we did all sing with British accents. 😉 )

BOOK HAUL

I can't not have collected more books this month, now could I? (Don't answer that.)

Books I collected:

• The Hagenheim series (books one through five) by Melanie Dickerson
• The Silent Songbird by Melanie Dickerson
• Maggie's Hope Chest by Amanda Tero
• The Blades of Acktar series by Tricia Mingerink
• How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson

READING CORNER

So my goal of finishing all those books I mentioned last month didn't actually work... I finished two out of three of them, one of them being Laura Story's book, which I set aside for the time being, since I'm trying to get through a massive pile before Realm Makers, this summer.

Books read (not including academic reading):

• The Sound of Diamonds by Rachelle Rea Cobb
• The Guardian Duke by Jamie Carie
• Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

What I'm currently reading:

• Halayda by Sarah Delena White
• Scarlet Moon by S.D. Grimm
• Bellanok by Ralene Burke

Oh! Speaking of Halayda, I joined the Fellowship of Fantasy book club! And it's fantastic, ya'll -- I highly recommend it! It's amazing, and it covers indie Christian fantasy, and there are so many perks. Check it out on Facebook here!

MOVIE THEATRE

• Death Comes to Pembereley (2013). I've seen this miniseries before, but my, it's so good. It's like The Princess Bride -- each time you watch it, you learn more about the plot/storyline.
• Ella Enchanted (2004). I haven't seen this since I read the book... and the movie's as bad as the Percy Jackson films. So many inaccuracies!!!!
• The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). It's still my favourite HP movie. The characters, the magic, everything... Gaaah!

MUSIC ROOM

I listen to a lot of different types of music, so here are just a few highlights:

• Brittany Jean
• Megan Rae
• Ministry of Magic
• The Hamilton soundtrack
• The Once Upon a Time: The Musical Episode soundtrack

THE BAKERY

So I might have developed a cookie-baking addiction... Hee hee hee. I made two batches, one of which was a no-bake (and a total fail), and the other which was an already-tested batch of deformed, sugary, peanut-buttery goodness.

I also found a new mac-and-cheese recipe! It's vegan and not terribly difficult; you can check out the recipe here.

WRITING DESK

Camp NaNoWriMo and that 10k I was aiming for did not happen. I'm hoping to play catch-up in May and June. I seriously overestimated the time needed to dedicate to finishing my outline.

I did finish the map for And Did the Waters Tremble's world, though!

BLOG POSTS

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE...

The 2017 Goldstone Wood fan art contest is live! There are so many gorgeous pieces; voting for only three was definitely a challenge! (You can check out the submissions here.)

Here was my entry:

It's nowhere near the others in skill, but I've had the idea for several months, and it was fun to finally do. 🙂

GOALS FOR MAY

• Read three (or more 🙂 ) books.
• Finish outline.
• Write 5k.

~

How has your April been? What books did you read? Did you participate in Camp NaNoWriMo?

❤,