January/February/March Highlights + I'M DOING CAMP NANO, GUYS

"OMW LIV YOU'RE ALIVE!!!! i thought you were dead + this person posting on ur blog was a ghost or something"

YES MY DRAGONS YOUR SUPREME FROZEN YOGURT QUEEN IS  B A C K. Forgive my lack of Liv-has-a-life-beyond-obsessing-over-books-all-the-time posts. The end of first semester / beginning of second semester BASICALLY ATE MY LIFE. #rude

But, I WAS able to pop in a few times with the occasional interview, blog tour, and cover reveal. Speaking of which, Victoria Lynn (of Ruffles & Grace fame) and I are hosting a giveaway! You can enter to win a paperback copy of London in the Dark (Victoria's debut novel)... HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! This giveaway ends soon, so be sure to enter asap!

TO LEARN MORE + ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY, CLICK HERE

LIFE HAPPENINGS

• I finished my fifth semester + started my sixth which means I only have two semesters of high school to go after this #WHAAAA
• Stuttering (idk why??) while studying for my Physics test in January PROBABLY BECAUSE THE STRESS I MEAN 20% OF THE ENTIRE SEMESTER GRADE YO
• Staying up late with my mom on Sunday nights because VICTORIA'S BACK ON (but not anymore because apparently season two decided it need to end at some point??? I WANT IT BACK NOW THO)
• The two of us sobbing at 10PM last Sunday because the end of Victoria, season two, episode two, part one = TEARSSSS
• Alfred + Wilhemina = ALL THE HEARTS 💗💗💗
• VISITING UNIVERSAL STUDIOS WITH MY PARENTS AGAIN AND RETURNING TO THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER 💛🖤💛🖤 (pics below)
• Going to the Jurassic Park lot and getting a picture with a robotic raptor who had a personality the size of Russia
• Doing the Studio Tour and especially loving it because THE TOUR GUIDE LOOKED/TALKED JUST LIKE LORD MELBOURNE
• Crying on the Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey ride because I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS *sobs some more*
• Also screaming on the Fobbiden Journey because SPIDERS AND DEMENTORS IN REAL LIFE ARE BASICALLY THE SCARIEST THING EVER
• And screaming even more on the lower lot Mummy ride because (1) MUMMIES ARE CREEPY, (2) there was one part where it felt like there were bugs climbing all over you, and (3) IT WENT BACKWARDS AND DOWNWARDS REALLY FAST YOU GUYS
• Drinking butterbeer outta a souvenir cup (I'VE NEVER BOUGHT A SOUVENIR CUP BEFORE)
• Trying pumpkin juice for the first time (it was good BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF CINNAMON)
• Meeting the Hogwarts Express conductor and ALMOST PROPOSING ON THE SPOT BECAUSE AAAAH HE HAD A BRITISH ACCENT, LOVED CLOCKS, AND I GOT TO TAKE A PICTURE WITH HIM WITH OUR ARMS LINKED TOGETHER (even though my hair was a beast and I'll probably never show that picture to another living soul STILL THE MEMORYYYY)
• Wandering Hogsmeade at twilight
• Eating pizza at City Walk in Universal Studios
• Realizing that a five-ounce chocolate frog right before bed = definitely not my best idea
• GETTING MY WISDOM TEETH OUT, but honestly the worst part was not being able to eat tacos for a week-and-a-half + getting my stitches out (apparently I'm a "superhuman healer like Wolverine" (to quote my dentist) which meant that MY GUMS ATE MY STITCHES AND GETTING THEM OUT INVOLVED KNIVES AND CANNONS AND SWORDS AND MACHETES AND STUFF (basically?))
• The rest of February / the beginning of March was all JUST KINDA A BIG BLUR?? (I SURVIVED THO)
• I FINISHED MY EDITING JOB!!!!
• I learned that taking the SAT with the intention of being the happiest soul in the room is (1) pretty easy and (2) makes the SAT so much easier and way more fun
• Serving as a student representative at a WASC meeting made my emotions a bag of mixed vegetables (it was both fascinating and intimidating at the exact same time, I guess?)
• MY GRANDPARENTS CAME TO TOWN
• The MEA Theatre Company performed A Midsummer Night's Dream (original text and everything) and OH. MY. WORD. IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!!
• March (the part before spring break) just about killed me (as mentioned above), but I SURVIVED THO (also mentioned above)
• SPRING BREAK!!!!
• One of my besties came to town and thus SPRING BREAK WAS A MAGICAL COMBINATION OF BEACHES, HIKES, COFFEE SHOPS, AND MUSEUMS 💕
• I TURNED SEVENTEEN 🎊 😳 🎊
• I met up with my AMAZING friend Ashley! As always, if you haven't read her Rising Shadows trilogy, YOU NEED TO. IT'S AMAZING!!!! 😍😍😍 You can check it out on Goodreads here!
• I attended the Five Poisoned Apples FB party and IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTABULOUS 😍😍😍 (if you missed the winners announcement, you can check out my post on it here)
• ONLY 58 DAYS UNTIL SUMMER
• I'M DOING CAMP NANOWRIMO! My project is The Scent of the Stars (yup, that sci-fi novella I mentioned in my sleep-deprived October Highlights). My current goal is 25k... but we'll see how it turns out. 😉

PHOTO DUMP

Disney's got nothing compared to this place. 😘

From under the roof of the Three Broomsticks.

I stood on my tiptoes to get this picture. #beproud 😜

HOGWARTS. 😻😻😻

A different view of Hogsmeade.

Wandering Hogsmeade at twilight = basically THE MOST MAGICAL THING EVER.

Goodness, I love this place...

BUTTERBEER.

I WANT TO GO BACK ft. me drinking butterbeer. (📷 cred: mi madre)

Spring break adventures kicked off with a mission visit and a hike at Torrey Pines!

That view, though.

📷 cred: da bestie

The IMAX theatre at the Rueben H. Fleet Science Center. Opinion: all IMAX movies should be played on the ceiling.

Artist Village, Balboa Park. (📷 cred: da bestie)

Locked and loaded for the Five Poisoned Apples party. 😉

BOOK HAUL

1. The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson. A church friend recommended this to me, describing it as "Rick Riordan meets Disney Parks." Um, YES!
2. Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Medieval fantasy is always a must.
3. Jackaby by William Ritter. I started this last Tuesday, and idk how I feel about it yet? It's fun in an odd sort of way, but the writing's a little too classical for my taste. 🤷
4. Defying Shadows by Ashley Townsend. This is the LAST book in the the Rising Shadows trilogy, and ofpewwrb fgblgg,. THE FEELSSSS
5. Sinking by Sarah Armstrong-Garner. I've been wanting to read this one for months now, so I finally bought it to review for the Drifting blog tour! Keep an eye out for my post, coming April 29th. 😉

READING CORNER

1. Chasing Shadows by Ashley Townsend [5/5]. THIS BOOK, YOU GUYS! 💗 IT WAS SO GOOOOOOOD 😍😍😍

2. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones [dnf]. I think this is the farthest I've ever read with a book I didn't finish. It just wasn't my gig. I know a lot of people love it though, so I'd still recommend giving it a try!

3. The Midsummer Captives by Lea Doué [4.5/5]. This was even better than The Firethorn Crown. Next up, The Red Dragon Girl! 😍

4. Sentinel by Jamie Foley [4/5]. I read this guy for the Sage blog tour, and WOW. I'm not really into Christian thrillers, but this was great! You can read my full review here.

5. Love Needs No Words by Faith L. Potts [4/5]. This was adorable! Full review forthcoming. 🙂

WRITING DESK

The past few months have been CRAZY. Like, INSANE. So not much writing has been done, but I fully intend to tackle Camp NaNoWriMo and (hopefully) finish The Scent of the Stars this April!

April Goal: Finish draft one.

Current/Overall Goal: Start edits and hunt down betas in May/June.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH BLOG ROLL

I'm skipping this part. There are just too many posts. 😆 But, you can scroll through my monthly posts at any of the links below.

• January
• February
• March

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Jill Stengl (JM Stengl) launched a new website and book series (Faraway Castle)!
• Rooglewood Press announced the winning authors, finalists, and honorable mentions of Five Poisoned Apples!
• Sarah Addison-Fox released a book trailer for Disowned! (IT'S SO EPIC YOU GUYS)

What's up with you, Dragons? I feel as if we haven't talked in ages! How has your year been? Have you had spring break, yet?

❤,

P.S. Lord willing, my post schedule will change to Wednesday mornings with blog tours / cover reveals on the weekend! This'll allow me way more time to dole out posts. 😉 Have a marvelous week, my loves! 💕