February, 2023:
Next week marks the eleven year anniversary of this blog. When I jumped into the blogging world I did so with gusto and a great lack of understanding about the world in general. For the next seven years I blogged full-heartedly and if you dive into the archives, you can see my world – a world full of reading, writing, travel, and chronic illness.
I’ve changed a lot in the last few years. I no longer actively write or review, and traveling is something I do a couple times a year instead of a couple of months a year. But, these pages are like a snapshot of who I used to be, and so I leave them here as a reminder.
Nowadays I’ve left my twenties behind and live in Kentucky, work at the Creation Museum, and live a life fuller then I can imagine. I don’t blog much, but every once in a while I sit down and tap out me thoughts. Thanks for stopping by!
I used to do challenges and dream posts. Here they are: 24 Before 24 (2016),23 Before 23 (2015),22 Before 22 (2014), and 21 Before 21 (2013)
12-11-14 Travel around the USA in a RV for six months
12-11-14 Keep track of all the books I read for a year {Completed 2014}
12-11-14 Keep track of all the money I spend for six months {Completed 2016}
12-11-14 Go to Antarctica
12-11-14 Write a list of 1,000 things I’m thankful for {Completed in November 2015}
12-11-14 Start a cooking blog {Started Cooking Instagram January, 2023}
12-11-14 Go to Nebraska again {Completed May, 2020}
12-11-14 Be a Flower Girl in a wedding {Completed October 2019}
12-11-14 Go on a road trip to Colorado {Completed May, 2020}
12-11-14 Go camping with sibling(s){Completed many times}
12-11-14 Read the “Proverbs of the day” every day for 3 months {Jan. – March 2015}
12-11-14 Read the “Proverbs of the day” every day for 6 months {Jan. – June 2015}
12-11-14 Read the “Proverbs of the day” every day for a year {Completed 2015}
12-11-14 Visit Alabama
12-11-14 Visit Arkansas
12-11-14 Visit Connecticut
12-11-14 Visit Delaware
12-11-14 Visit Kansas {Completed May, 2020}
12-11-14 Visit Louisiana
12-11-14 Visit Maine
12-11-14 Visit Massachusetts
12-11-14 Visit Mississippi
12-11-14 Visit New Hampshire
12-11-14 Visit New Jersey
12-11-14 Visit New Mexico
12-11-14 Visit North Dakota {Completed June 2016}
12-11-14 Visit Oklahoma
12-11-14 Visit Rhode Island
12-11-14 Visit South Dakota {Completed May, 2020}
12-11-14 Visit Utah
12-11-14 Visit Vermont
12-11-14 Visit Washington{Completed May, 2020}
12-11-14 Visit Wyoming{Completed May, 2020}
Visit Oregon {Completed May, 2020}
Sit on a bench under a maple tree in the fall, wearing a sweater/sweatshirt and drinking a hot drink
Have a girly movie night with my sisters/friends {Completed November 28th, 2014}
Randomly jump into a pond/lake {Completed October, 2020}
Eat kettle corn {Completed 12-19-14 at the Creation Museum}
Ride a horse in mountains {Completed 2007}
Go to the place(s) where Catharine Farne’s books take place
Meet Catharine Farnes
Write a handwritten card every day for a month {May 2015}
Eat a donut on my wedding day
Meet someone who has read my books, but doesn’t know who I am
Get my drivers license {Completed in January 2016}
Be a bridesmaid {August 2018}
Be a maid of honor {Aug. 2014}
Have a pet skunk
Have a pet hedgehog
Have a pet rabbit {Completed multiple times starting 2016}
Ride in a hot air balloon
Eat cotton candy the day I get engaged
Seethe tap-dancing Riverdance
Go caving again {Completed August 30th, 2014}
Spend the night in a cave {Completed August 30th, 2014}
Visit a Grove and eat an orange there that I picked {Completed 1-22-13}
Write a modern-day book where the main character lives in a tipi (just cause she wants to…)
Do (and complete) NaNoWriMo again {Completed November 2015}
Write over 2,000 words every day for a week {Completed 1-27-13 Through 2-2-13}
Write a novel that is over 150,000 words {Finished April 10th, 2015}
Randomly make ten strangers smile in one day {Completed many times}
Introduce myself (to someone I don’t know), saying “Hi my middle name is Joy…” {Completed several times}
Talk in an accent around complete strangers {Completed August 30th, 2014 and also November 23rd, 2014}
Spend a week or so (at least) in New England
Memorize a book of the Bible
Memorize three chapters of the Bible
Go for a week with only eating fresh fruits, veggies and nuts, etc… (Berries, and those sorts of things included) {Completed January 6-12, 2013}
Go for 30 days without eating any sugar {Completed 2-2-13}
Write a book that takes place during WW1
Write a book that takes place during WW2
Go to Hawaii {Completed April, 2013}
Collect shells in Hawaii {Completed April, 2013}
Go to Europe {Completed April 25th-May22nd, 2014}
Go to Alaska
Buy a sweatshirt in Colorado {Completed June 2013}
Have an office solely devoted to writing {Completed 2014}
Have a bedroom in an attic
Have glow in the dark painted stars in my bedroom with a black light
Read 20 books in a month {Completed December, 2014. I read 23 books}
Go to Africa {Completed Jan. 2015}
Go to Asia {March 15th, 2014 through April 15th, 2014}
Go to Australia
Go back to South America
Visit all 50 States
Go to a concert {October 4th, 2014 post}
Visit a large library for a whole day, just to be there
Go to Ireland
Go to England {Completed May, 2014}
Go to Holland and see The Beje (the house where Corrie ten Boom lived) {Completed May, 2014}
Write and publish a children’s chapter books that teach them to grow and set goals, have good habits, be leaders, etc… {Completed on November 10th, 2014}
Go on a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon
Go to Yellowstone National Park {Completed May, 2020}
Take a road trip out west {Completed May, 2020}
Go to Montana {Completed in July 2016}
Run (or walk) a half marathon {Completed October 2016}
Run (or walk) a marathon
Learn sign language fluently
Learn to read braille
Go on a hiking/camping trip for at least five days
Go on an overnight canoeing trip
Spend several hours writing in a coffee shop {Completed April 2015}
Roll down a hill {Compelted May 2019}
Write (on the same thing) every day for six months {Completed March 10th, 2013}
Write (on the same thing) every day for a year {Completed September 10th, 2013}
Get a bookstore to begin selling my books
Get my series of kids creation books edited and published {First book published June 13th, 2013}
Get Where Dandelions Grow edited and published {Completed September 2018}
Do a book signing {Completed for the first time June 13th, 2013}
Go on a book signing tour
Eat an apple and carmel sucker again {September 30th, 2014}
Have someone tell me that I made their day (being serious, without me trying to get them to) {Completed multiple times}
Dance in the rain, singing {Completed}
Have someone tell me I changed their life for the better {Completed}
Learn to French braid
***These are my thoughts and opinions and don’t necessarily reflect the views of Answers in Genesis ***
Noveltea 
