What I Focused on in January
1. My non-writing job. I started taking on some extra responsibilities and enjoyed doing so.
2. My writing work. I kept track of the hours that I spent on writing (the first time I’ve done that for an entire month), and logged in a little over 70 hours. Not quite what I was hoping for, but still good.
3. Eating and being healthy.
4. Family time with extended family.
Birthday Challenge and Dream List Update
2. Pray the “prayer of Jebez” every day for three months {Another Month}
3. Read the whole Bible {Jeremiah and Lamentations}
4. Go to Wednesday night church 24 times {2 or 3 times}
6. Read 12 non-fiction “spiritual” books {1}
7. Read the Proverb of the day every day for six months {1 month}
12. Go to bed at 10:30 or before 24 nights (not in a row) {8}
13. Write a monthly review on my blog within 5 days of the end of the month whenever internet is available {Yes}
14. Blog my 3 (or more) top goals for each month within 5 days of the beginning of each month whenever internet is available {Yes}
15. Write 24 book reviews {1}
20. Track all the money I spend for 24 days {Yes}
3. Read the whole Bible {Jeremiah and Lamentations}
4. Go to Wednesday night church 24 times {2 or 3 times}
6. Read 12 non-fiction “spiritual” books {1}
7. Read the Proverb of the day every day for six months {1 month}
12. Go to bed at 10:30 or before 24 nights (not in a row) {8}
13. Write a monthly review on my blog within 5 days of the end of the month whenever internet is available {Yes}
14. Blog my 3 (or more) top goals for each month within 5 days of the beginning of each month whenever internet is available {Yes}
15. Write 24 book reviews {1}
20. Track all the money I spend for 24 days {Yes}
None
Reading Update
Fiction: 0
Non-Fiction: 1
Reviews: 1
Back in December I took a break from reading fiction. I’m not sure how long this break is going to last, but it’s the longest time I’ve gone without reading fiction in fifteen years… Craziness. Note: I am continuing to read my own writings as I work on editing them.
Traveling
8 Night Gone
New countries or states: None
November Goal Updates
My goals for January 2016:
If the Lord wills and I live I will…
1. Begin my Friday Series {Yes!}
2. Keep track in my Really Living book {Yes… Most of the time.}
3. Eat extremely healthily the whole month {YES!}
4. Spend 80 hours on my writing stuff {Nope.}
5. Spend 80 hours on my non-writing job {Haha. This is cute. Um, no.}
6. Read only non-fiction books {Yes!}
What I’ve Been Learning
Thanks to my Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks series, I got to spend a fair amount of time studying
Portugal, Mongolia, China, and Guatemala… As well as the art of traveling and airport times and traveling routes and all that good stuff. It was amazing to me how involved I got in the research and how it really did feel as if I were actually visiting the different countries.
This month I also began trying to get my blog posts up between 7:00-8:30 each morning. That didn’t happen every single day, but I managed to squeak through most mornings. This, along with keeping track of the time I spent on writing related ventures and having a new system of tracking my non-writing job, taught me to be a lot more aware of how I spent my time and to plan my day better than I used to. And that, my friends, is a very good thing.
I learned a lot this month about what WLHYL really looks like from an outside perspective and flaws it has that I’d never even thought of. I worked on learning to respond graciously even when I didn’t agree with what beta readers were saying and to really think about what they were saying, even when my initial reaction was that they were totally wrong. I also worked on articulating what I really was trying to say in the book so it would be more concise.
To be content with what I can and can’t do (still really working on this one). My thyroid has been being a bit hard to get along with recently and learning to deal with all that entails instead of freaking out is something I’ve been working on.
I enjoyed looking up and highlighting verses about Love, Joy, and Peace and really trying to focus on what God has to say about them. It was helpful and overall helped make the month better.
Other
Overall I’m excited and happy for how Twenty-Sixteen started out. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, but the good far outweighed the bad and I am joyfully satisfied and thankful with how the first twelfth of the year went by.
During the first week of the month my dad and I spent a lot of time working on an overwhelming project I’d been trying to get done for the past five years. I was so relieved when we finally accomplished it that I could have slept for the next two days straight (and possibly did).
The weather was wonderful for part of the month with gloriously beautiful snow and crisp, cold air. I enjoyed it immensely and was so thankful to experience some real winterish weather before coming down to Florida.
During January I got to play an amazing amount of games – most of them with my little brother as we traveled together and hung out when the rest of my family was gone doing other things. It was fantastic. We also had one of our really good family friend back from college for a couple weeks of break and he popped over a lot of evenings to play Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, and Dutch Blitz. Happy times.
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What about your January? I’d be delighted to hear what you focused on.
Noveltea 
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