Friday, July 1, 2016

200 Posts!! // Giveaway // June Wrap-Up

Hey all! Guess what!?!?! (Hint: look at title of blog post)

Yep. That's right! This is my 200th post! And, just for kicks and giggles, and because there's a first time for everything, I'm going to do a giveaway!! ^_^

To Enter:
Go HERE. Then follow the necessary steps. It's that easy! ;)

The winner will receive a FREE, personally signed copy of my self-published book: "The Silver Flower"! If you already have my book and win, I can sign it for a friend or family member.

And now for the June wrap-up... *nervous laugh*

Life:
Well, as you probably all know, I graduated last month...which kept me pretty busy until it happened. That was really the one big thing that happened. I, along with three other teens from our church that I've known...basically my whole life graduated together. Which was super fun! :)
Brandon, Me, Aileen, and her brother Garrett:
The four 2016 Grads of MCC! :)

We each got our own mini ceremony within the bigger ceremony, and had a personalized slideshow that was basically our lives squished into five minutes. I am proud to say that despite going a little crazy finding pictures and songs I wanted in my slideshow, I still managed to have the shortest slideshow. :)

The whole family came up after the slideshow and
Dad (no surprise) as well as Mom (also no surprise)
gave a little talk about me and what it was like
growing up around me and trying to teach me. ;)


No explanation needed. ;)


The Grand Moment: I got my diploma!
Oh, and Sam photo bombed. ;)
My "stage smile" (the smile I put on when
someone shouts out "Smile, you're getting you're
picture taken") managed to be far more
natural looking than Dad's "stage smile". XD

Welcome to "Ma table"...oh, that's French for "My Table"
 

The "boy cake"
Which I actually liked better...the looks, not the taste.
I'm not a huge cake fan period.
We each got a table for a few keep-sakes and favorite snacks (I had salt & vinegar potato chips, Rollo's, candy corn, and roasted and salted peanuts.) I even got to create and order a photo book from Costco for people to sign! ^_^
The "girl cake"



Me 'n' my table before the ceremony

My brother got his wisdom teeth out, which was interesting...to say the least.

We've been spending a lot of time planning Sarah and Jesse's wedding, ordering bridesmaids' dresses, flower girl dress, other wedding clothes...etc. Not to mention trying to find a bunch of people willing to help us out during the Big Day.

Also, my Grandpa Olson (Mom's dad) had a big old car get-together at our house, and so we got to learn about and ride a bunch of old cars, including an old electric car that made hardly any noise! It also didn't have a steering wheel. Which added a whole new level of awesomeness. ;)



This is the electric car: see? No steering wheel!



And Father's Day happened. Max and I took both parents out for lunch the Sunday before FD since we knew not only would FD be really busy for our family, but also that if we could find time during that day to take Dad and Mom out for lunch, probably everyone else and their cousin would also bring their father's out for lunch that day...so we didn't. Since we just LOVE being different. ;)
What did YOU all do for your dad's in celebration of them?

One last thing, my older sister Margaret has a piano studio, and she wanted to have a little more privacy while teaching her students, so we moved our piano to where our dining room used to be, our dining room to where our entry-way table sat, and our entry-way table to where our piano had sat. :) It sounds more confusing than it actually was. ;)
Our new "Music Room"
This had been our dining room.
That's Margaret on the piano.
It does look cool. You've got to admit it.
 
Our new dining room.
With a surprisingly neat living room behind it. ;)
But, even though June was still busy, it did end up being LESS crazy than May. Thank goodness. If I had another month like May, I think I was in danger of going insane. ;)

Reading:
Sadly, this month wasn't as good reading-wise as last month...mostly because I focused more on writing and because there weren't long car rides to read during. ;) I did read some though:

The Choosing (Rachelle Dekker)

 
A Mighty Fortress (Faith Blum)
 
 
The Piano Girl (Sherri Schoenborn Murray)
 
 
 
The Tinkerer's Daughter (Jamie Sedgwick)
 

There should be a poll on the side of my blog with these books, so go and vote. Now. Just do it. ;)

Writing:
I did manage to write 100 words each day. At least. Some days were more, but the average was over 100. Which was awesome. Granted, not all of that was on stories...(I've been writing notes for an American Literature CLEP and some of that was journaling or poetry) but still, I managed to write some in my stories too.
The Princess & I: Three chapters
Beyond the Galaxy: Three chapters
Ocean Mist: Six chapters
A New Name: One chapter
Out of Darkness: One chapter
"Millions That Will Never" (a poem)
"Coffee Courtship" (a short story)
So you can see why I said I focused more on writing. ;)


Favorite Quotes Found During June:


Image result for writer quotes
Image result for writer quotes
Image result for writer quotes

Goals I reached:
Here's the goals I made last month that I was able to accomplish:
1: GRADUATE FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!!! (Been there, done that! And so glad to be done... :D)
2: Keep writing at least 100 words a day. (Yep. Check)
3: Write five chapters in "Beyond the Galaxy" and "The Princess & I". (Nope. Better luck next time...)
4: Finish one of the new short stories. (ALMOST THERE! But alas, I did not. This month though... ;)
5: See if I can get 35 followers. (Again, almost. I gained three though! You guys are awesome!)
6: If tagged, try to post the tag within a week. (Yes, I did this one! It helped that I didn't get any new tags. ;)
7: Do another Pet Peeve Post. (Next month...I will do another one next month! -_-)


Goals for July:
And some new goals for this month:
1: Keep writing 100 words a day
2: Finish editing "Alice & Alyssa"
3: Write five chapters in "Beyond the Galaxy" and "The Princess & I"
4: Finish one of the new short stories
5: See if I can get 40 followers
6: Do another Pet Peeve Post
7: Write two more poems
8: Read at least ten books

We'll see by next month if I've bitten off too much for me to chew. ;) Hopefully not, but we'll see.
How was YOUR month?

28 comments:

  1. Fun post.
    Good job on sticking to your writing goal! That can be a challenge.
    Like you, I didn't get many books read. Oh, well. More this month? I hope! :)
    My month went too fast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed! ;) Thank you...yes, it was sometimes hard, and a few times I ALMOST got in bed late. Almost. :P
      Sometimes writing takes up the time I would have spent reading, but like I said above, now that it's summer, and I'm graduated, hopefully I'll have a little more time on my hands. :)

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  2. Congrats on graduating! :D
    I entered your giveaway! (I hope it worked) ;)
    I found your blog off of Emily McConnell's blog. :)

    My month was okay, really busy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! :) Yay! *gulp* I hope it works too. This is my first time to host one...so we'll see. Worst case senerio, I'll just do it the old fashioned way...(writing your names on a piece of paper and having a sibling draw out one at random)But we'll hope it doesn't come to that. ;)
      Thanks for the comment! It's going to be fun to see where all my followers came from! :)

      Delete
  3. Sounds like you've had a busy month!
    Congrats on graduating!! And I see a certain book on that table that I really, REALLY want to get in my hands. Since I've never actually read it all... B-) But I guess you're editing it this month. So.. I can wait. I think. ;)
    Ummm, I'm actually not sure how I found your blog. It was either through Andi's blog, through Emily's blog, or you told me about it when we started emailing. ;) One of the three.
    Oh, love the boorm quote. ;P Sooo true!
    And I'm curious about "Coffee Courtship"... sounds intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, well...about that. ;) Slow and steady wins the race, right? B-)
      Ah, a kindred spirit. :P Yeah, that one made me laugh. Gotta love Pintrist quotes. ;)
      You'll be able to read it tomorrow, since Saturday is my "Novel Idea" post day, and it was written as a part of that. :)

      Delete
    2. Wait...you have pinterest???
      I'll be looking forward to tomorrow's post! ;)

      Delete
    3. No, actually. My mom does though, and sometimes I go on her account for recipes or to look around at other things. I will hopefully get one soon though...possibly after Sarah gets married. *cries*

      Delete
  4. Ahh!! Congratulations on graduating, Rebekah! :) I'll be entering my last year when school starts up again in August. Hard to believe it's over, isn't it? You spend so many years in education...

    What a fun month it sounds like you had! Another congrats on 200 posts, as well as keeping up with your writing! Your book cover is absolutely beautiful!

    Best of luck with July's goals. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!! ^_^ Yeah, it is. There's that time when random people come up to you and say "Congratulations!" and you give them this blank stare and a confused "thank you?"...then five minutes later it dawns on you WHAT they were congratulating you for. XD (I may have had this happen to me a couple times... ;)
      Thanks again. ;)

      Delete
  5. You told me about your blog when my family had lunch at your house last year.
    *snicker* As if you don't already know that!
    Can I share this by e-mail and still get an entry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure! And that goes for every one who doesn't have a blog... :) Thanks for asking!

      Delete
  6. A wonderful post!!! I love reading the end of the month posts. Congratulations on graduating!!!! :) That's so exciting! I graduated two months ago and the relief of getting it done and over with is amazing!!

    I love how the music room looks! Your piano is beautiful.

    I'm not exactly sure how I found your blog, but I'm pretty sure it was through Jesseca...

    Oh, and I'm dying to read Alice & Alyssa!!!! =D I read The Silver Flower and loved it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. :) Isn't it great! *sighs happily* SO glad to have it behind me!! ^_^
      I think so...I'll have to thank her. ;)
      I'm hoping to have it edited and published by the end of this year...but we'll see. B-) I'm so glad you liked reading "The Silver Flower"! Authors always appreciate positive feedback, and I am no different. ;)

      Delete
  7. SOOOO glad I finally got to read this post. :) Thanks so much for putting it up and congrats again for graduating. You are a beautiful young woman Rebekah and I'm so proud of you! Great job. :) And good job with your goals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw...so sweet of you to say that. Thank you! Glad you had the time to drop by! ^_^

      Delete
  8. YOU GRADUATED!! Hip hip hurrah! :D The graduation photos are all so sweet. And the table, yours looks amazing! :)

    Oh, so uh, how did the electric car work exactly? How on earth do you steer it? ;)

    And haha, that broom quote. Not sure if I’d use such strong words against it, but totally understand the feeling :P

    Not entirely sure how I found your blog. It was either through Andi’s blog, Jesseca’s blog or from when you commented on my blog and I clicked on your profile picture and found links to your blog ;)

    Have a good July! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *cheers* I'm so glad to be done!

      It was steered by a tiller. Like a boat. Crazy huh? XD

      Ah, another kindred spirit. ;)

      Either way, I'm glad you came along! I enjoy following your blog Blessing Counter! ^_^

      You too!

      Delete
  9. Congrats on graduating!!!!!!! :D
    I can't exactly remember how I found your blog... it was either Andi's blog, or Jesseca. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. It sounds like you had a good month! And congrats on graduating as well! I found your blog through Faith's. :)
    ~Emily

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly did! Thanks for the comment! :)

      Delete
  11. Congrats on graduating! That's so exciting! And thanks for hosting a giveaway. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. *pretends it's not weird at all to comment on old stuff* XD
    YOU GRADUATED HUZZAH congrats! :D Also nicegive away. :) I pushed 'I commented' because I comment on here all the time but I wasn't sure what to put in the blank. XP Also I pushed 'I followed' but I've been following you for ages so I literally have nooo idea how I found your blog. XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OHMIGOODNESS your face gave me a heart attack! Can I not escape it's rainbowness ANYWHERE?!?!?!
      Ahem.
      It's not weird people do it ALL the time. ;)
      Why thank you! *bows* That's fine, just as long as you comment here...and yes, those who follow me get a four free entrees! How's that for awesome?!

      Delete
  13. Woot, woot! Congrats on graduating, Rebekah! :D Super awesome giveaway. I would love to win your book! :)
    Ahhh, I love all da pictures. XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! :) I kinda hope that everyone wins. XD So glad I'm not the one choosing! Yay for Rafflecopter! ;)
      Glad you like them. I always get to put my favorites on here, so that's awesome. :)

      Delete

I LOVE COMMENTS. But be warned, if your comment is impolite, contains swear words, or is disrespectful of God, I will kill it. Just kidding. ;)
(Seriously though...it WILL DIE.)

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