January 2022 Recap

It has been extra cold here in Maryland this month. We've already had four snows, although two of them were only dustings. We don't normally get this much snow, so I don't even know what to do. But enough snow talk, and let's get on with the recap.

•I guess the biggest one is I quit my retail job and am striking out on my own as a freelance copywriter. This hasn't been an easy switch, if you can imagine. But retail, and especially the job I was in, was no longer working for me. I felt God was calling me to talk this path, so I'm trying to walk in faith where he leads me.

•Did a few last Christmasy things. My mom took me and some of my younger siblings to see some Christmas lights near us at the beginning of the month. We also finally got to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family, which was fun. And we celebrated Epiphany, of course.

•Went to the March for Life and the Museum of the Bible (on separate days, but the same weekend). The March for Life was back at full force, which was nice after last year's small one. The Museum of the Bible was also fun to visit again.

•Took all of my siblings to see Spider-Man: No Way Home. No spoilers, but it was so good! We enjoyed it so much and it was fun to go all together, because we don't get to do that often.

Of course, I had to wear my Spider-Gwen hoodie for the event

•The Girl Who Saved Christmas- Matt Haig (4 stars)

•Father Christmas and Me- Matt Haig (4 stars)

•Page by Paige- Laura Lee Gulledge (5 stars)

•The Valiant- Lesley Livingston (4 stars)

•The Crown's Fate- Evelyn Skye (2 1/2 stars)

•Hawkeye: Family Reunion- Kelly Thompson (5 stars)

•The Defiant- Lesley Livingston (4 stars)

•The Triumphant- Lesley Livingston (4 stars)

•Spider-Man: No Way Home (again, so, so good. A must watch for Spider-Man fans)

•Sing 2 (could use some tightening of the plot, but still fun)

•Total Recall- 2012 (I haven't seen the original, so I enjoyed it)

•Vivo (super cute, great music by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

•Jump In (pretty classic DCOM stuff)

•Den Brother (incredibly cute)

•Over the Garden Wall (my sister got me into it and now I'm obsessed)

•Arcane: League of Legends (pretty cool, if a little intense)

•Good news is, I finally finished this round of edits on New Magic! Whoo-hoo! Cake all around! I'm pretty pleased with how it is now and I hope the ending is a lot more solid. Next I'm going to start querying it 😬.

•Other than that, I also drafted the short story I've been wanting to write. It's Biblical fiction, which is very different from anything I've ever done before. Now I'm resting it a little before editing it into something I hope is good.

•Also! I commissioned an artist I know on Instagram to make Flynn, and I have to share the results. Isn't it the cutest? He looks so perfect. (Her commissions are still open if you want to check her out. Her hand is @sketchbookface.)

If you hadn't noticed, I've decided to switch to only one post a week for the foreseeable future. There may be two posts if I decide to do something extra, but for now, you can expect a new post every Monday!

It was a good art month. I finished several pieces and made a few paintings as well. First up is this blue themed gouache painting. It's the first thing I've painted with gouache that I'm actually happy with the results. (Personal favorite part is the lollipops.)

Next, we have the finished version of Goth Elf. She came out so cute, and she was super fun to draw. I just need a name for her.

My sister held a DTIYS challenge of her characters, so of course I had to draw them. They're pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Finally, we have this watercolor painting I did of Wirt from Over the Garden Wall. He's my favorite character from the show and I think the watercolor medium suits it.

•I plan to start editing on An Octopus Ate My Homework. I'm very excited to return to this project, because it's one of my favorites along with my Wonderland series.

•I hope to start getting some jobs as a copywriter. Probably nothing big yet, but getting experience would be great.

•I'd like to try to continue my habit of exercising and stretching, even a little, every day. I managed to most days in January and want to keep that habit up.

How was your month? Have you watched any new shows lately? Tell me in the comments!

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