Tag: wrap up

・❥・ An update of my life ・❥・

Q'Zion1 Comment

hey, y’all! My name is Q’Zion and welcome to my blog, The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen. I’m so sorry y’all; it’s officially been a week since my last post. But to be fair, I’ve been working on some other special projects that I haven’t shared quite yet…but we’ll get into that during my next post.

For the past month (and over) I’ve mainly been blogging about my updates with NaNoWriMo–the 30-day challenge of November where writers all over the world are challenged to write 50,000 words in 30 days. And I have some great news, for y’all; I won! Yayyyyy! But that’s not all; I’ve realized that in my time of doing nanowrimo posts, I haven’t given you guys an update on what I’ve been doing in the past month. And since November and December have been so amazing, so far, I thought it would be an amazing time to catch up. Here is an update on my life!

If I could describe my November in two words, it would probably be writing and books. I’ve went to Books-a-Million and Barnes and Nobles, and taken a lot of bookish/writerly pictures while doing it. I feel like nano also really helped me be able to write faster, as well, so it’s really helpful for writing blog posts and my writing projects!

As far as school goes, I’m nearly finished with semester one of the 2022-2023 school year. And I’ve got to say, as much as I love learning, it’s such a huge relief to be halfway there to summer break. How good it will feel to have freedom for a whole two/three months! Okay, so usually summer break would be about two, but considering that I usually finish up early, I’m anticipating on having longer.

I had a really great time on Thanksgiving; it was really nice to see my cousins and other extended family who I hadn’t seen in like a YEAR. I must say that it was super great to get a taste of my great-grandma’s famous meatballs and mac and cheese (my favorites.) And that makes me even more excited to go back, this Christmas!

Speaking of family, it’s been a while since I’ve given you all an update on Peace (my betta fish.) In short, it’s been a while since he’s grown, so I think my fish baby isn’t a baby fish anymore. As bittersweet as it is to see Peace growing up, I’m happy to say that he’s remained as energetic and loving as ever.

As far as my usual walking and running outside three times a week, I’ve got to admit that I’ve kind of slowed up on that. However, me and Goodmommy have still been finding and searching for nutritious and delicious alternatives to serve in our healthy eating (minus the ocassional milkshake, ice cream, or fruit smoothie.) We are also constantly working out in our home. I’m continuing to see progress in how I feel, how I look, and my everyday quality of life. So in short, I’m very happy!

I OFFICIALLY STARTED A NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL!!! Sorry for the ambush of all caps lol. But I’m just super excited since Goodmommy had been pushing me to start a channel on Youtube for the longest, and I finally settled on a book/writing channel since nano got me back into the groove of reading and writing. I’d really appreciate it if you guys would please check out my channel, Write It Right, on YouTube! All of your awesome support means the world! ❤

I hope you all enjoyed this life update, and I hope it was a nice refresher after all of my posts about NaNoWriMo. Please let me know down below in the comments, what were your favorite parts of your November, and is there anything you are looking forward to in December (including Christmas, of course!)

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! God bless you all and I will catch you next time! Peace in, y’all! ♡

Monthly Wrap Up | October 2022

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Hey, hey, hey, everyone! My name is Q’Zion, and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen. And no, we are not dreaming; it’s really already November! To be honest, October was like a fun roller coaster ride, for me. It was super fun, but it also went by crazy fast.

Either way, I really enjoyed myself, last month, and I’d like to share some of my experiences with you guys! So without further ado, let’s get into the October ’22 monthly wrap-up!

My Life

  • It’s been a while since I’ve given you all an update on my fitness journey. While I’ve been a little slow lately when it comes to walking outside three days a week, me and Goodmommy have been finding other creative ways to get some exercise. We’ve even been following along to workouts that we find on YouTube. At first, it took some adjusting but now I look forward to adding more variety to my fitness routine!
  • I officially started National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, and so far, I’ve added nearly 2,000 words. I plan to write about 50,000 words by November 30th. Is it a crazy goal? Maybe a little bit. But I’m so stoked about my new story, and I can’t wait to read the finished product.
  • Experimenting with photography is another thing that I’ve been working on. Lately, I’ve been working with capturing different angles and objects (such as trees, or the sunset) as well as looking at different perspectives to capture a shot. I think that October might be my best month this year as far as my photography goes, because I took quite a few gorgeous pictures!
This photo is definitely one of my faves :> All Rights Reserved.

Books I Read

While I’ve bought a lot of books, this month flew by so quickly that I wasn’t able to finish any of them. But, there are a few that I started, so I’ll be sharing a brief review of my first impressions of each one. However, you may look at my more in-depth opinion in my last book haul. Let’s go!

  • The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin — Basically, this novel that I found at The Dollar Tree (yes, you heard correctly) is intriguing and confusing at the same time. It’s about a small school that consists of grades 1-8. It takes place in a class of 11 students–also known as the entire 7th grade–who idolized their classmate Paulie Fink. It’s kind of at a stand-still right now. Like, I know what’s happening but I don’t know what’s happening. Either way, it seems like a pretty fun book, so I’ll likely get back into it when I’m not so busy.
  • Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Book I by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger — honestly, Goodmommy was the one who ended up picking out this book for me. I really love the originality that it includes with a variety of true stories, poems, and other types of creative writing by teenagers and adults about their teenage years. There’s so many lessons in this book that I think that any teenager could learn/benefit from!
  • Savvy by Ingrid Law — to be honest, I couldn’t have read much more than 20 pages of this one (if that many) but it’s probably because beginning took a long time to get off the ground. Everything was so slow paced that it kind of lost my interest quickly, which was suprising because its one of my new books that I was the most excited about. But considering that it’s just the beginning of the book, I’ll get back into it eventually to see if things get more exciting.
  • Better with Butter by Victoria Piontek — Out of all the books that I’ve read this month, this one has got to be the cutest! In a nutshell, it’s about a shy girl with anxiety who gains confidence when she saves a baby goat named Butter. So far, the beginning of this novel has been pretty promising, and I’m super excited to see where this story goes next!
All Rights Reserved.

Series I Watched

  • One of my favorite series ever is The Mysterious Benedict Society, which is an exclusive series on Disney+. It’s about a group of smart, yet neglected kids who make a band of do-gooders to save their city from a conundrum called the Emergency. To me, this series is the perfect mix between adventure, mystery, fantasy, and the wholesome friendships that dominate a film. And what’s even cooler is that they just released season 2!
  • It’s been a long time since I’ve binged-watched this series, but I recently took a dive back into That’s So Raven. I think most teenagers and young adults can agree that it’s probably one of the most nostalgic sitcoms of the 20th century. While Raven’s Home is a decent sequel, I don’t think it compares to the original.
  • I have a lot of Disney Channel shows that I really love, but one of my ultimate favorites is Good Luck Charlie, just because it’s such a wholesome and quirky show. No matter how much I see the episodes, they never fail to make me laugh 100 times over.
  • Occasionally, I also tend to watch the show Walk the Prank. In about the 3rd or 4th grade, I used to watch this show almost every day after school. And while I don’t watch it all that much now, it’s really nice to look back at it when I need a little laugh. There’s something about childhood shows that’s just so comforting.
All Rights Reserved.

My Favorite Posts of the Month

I wrote and published a total of 13 posts, this month! Hooray! I’m honestly not mad at the number, because I think every single post I made was super good, and that’s what matters most as a writer! While I loved all the posts that I published in October of 22′, there were a few that stood out to me:

And that was the monthly wrap-up of October of 2022! Hopefully, you all enjoyed seeing the highlights of last month for me. Please comment down below, which post of mine last month did you enjoy the most? Also, what was YOUR favorite part of last month?

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! God bless you all and I’ll catch you later! Peace in! ♡

Monthly Wrap-Up | September 2022

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Hey, everyone! My name is Q’Zion, and welcome back to my corner of the Internet! Oof, I just realized that it’s been 5 days since I last posted. I’m so sorry, y’all: it’s been a really busy few days! But thank God I got through it with flying colors! And I’m back with my monthly wrap-up of September of 2022.

Today I’ll be discussing some of my favorite moments from this month, with some of the novels I’ve finished and films I’ve watched sprinkled in between. Okay, okay–enough of the chatter. Let’s get started!

My Life

  • My birthday was this month, and I’ve got to say that it was the best birthday ever. (But just wait until I say the same thing next year.😂) My favorite gift was probably my second ear piercing! I got my first one when I was a baby, so being able to experience getting a piercing for the first time was an experience that I’ll never forget. You can look at my 2022 birthday post here!

  • I realized that in the past few months, I’ve been reading (and actually finishing) more books! In fact, ever since I joined Book Club last year, I feel like I’ve started getting into the swing of things again when it comes to reading every month. And that’s a huge relief, because I could never imagine my life without books!
  • Goodmommy and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, this month. As part of our fitness journey, we’ve been experimenting with flourless cookie recipes, and so far we’ve made peanut butter cookies, dark chocolate oat cookies, and fudge chocolate cookies, which were made from hot chocolate mix. While the peanut butter cookies were my favorites, they were all fun to bake and taste!

  • I’ve had at least one club meeting for each of my clubs now (which are Creative Writing, Glee, and Teen Driving Club). Even though most of the clubs are way different then what I was anticipating to join, this year, I couldn’t be happier with my choices! They make school days so much more, eventful, if you know what I mean.

Books I Read

  • Guts by Raina Telgemeier (link to review) – I’ve been a fan of Raina’s books since I was eight years old, and after finally getting my hands on the triology of her Smile series, I have to say that it didn’t disapoint. From the protagonist’s quirky character to the elementary school nostalgia, this book is the perfect gift for any tween or teenager–not to mention the perfect new addition to my growing graphic novel collection.
  • Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullay Hunt (link to review) – Although I love to read more than most things in this world, I’m hard to impress when it comes to giving a book five stars. But Fish in a Tree is one of the few novels to win that award. From the lessons of friendship, self-esteem, and being yourself, to the character development, iconic quotes, and heartfelt moments, this novel is officially one of my new favorites.
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks – I don’t want to reveal too much about this one because my review on it isn’t out yet . . . but this was SUCH an inspiring book! Zoe reminded me so much of myself, and the pace of the story was just right to keep things moving without being hard to follow. It’s so hard to believe that this was Janae Marks’ debut novel. In fact, her second novel, A Soft Place to Land, is now on my TBR (to be read) list!

Movies That I Watched

  • An Unlikely Angel – This film was such a beautiful reminder and demonstration of how God gives us second chances. Overall, there were a lot of funny and tense moments in this movie–a bit of an emotional roller coaster for the protagonist as we follow her on her journey to learning how to be a mother. If you’re a Christian who likes sweet movies that are perfect for family movie night, I would highly recommend watching this film on Pureflix.
  • The Mystery of Her – To be honest, I was really excited to watch this movie as soon as we turned on the trailer. And for the most part I liked it . . . that’s kind of all I’ve got. This film was about a teenage girl who tries to find herself after loosing her memory in a car accident. At first, it was good, but it slowly became more and more confusing. The end was pretty open, so it kind of left it up to you to imagine how the girl’s story ended. Not my favorite kind of ending, but it was an okay movie overall.
  • Grace Unplugged – This. I absolutely LOVED this movie. The main character, Grace, is a newly-eighteen-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a pop star–like her father, who was a rock star that threw away his fame to sing at their local church. I really appreciated how this movie showed young audiences–especially Christian teens–what it means and looks like to go down the wrong path. But there were also some amazing characters in the film that helped Grace get back on track with pleasing the Lord–and finding herself in the process. This film is definitely a must-see for any Christian teen/young adult.
  • The Way Home – To be honest, I didn’t watch the first half of this movie because I was busy watching YouTube videos and playing Roblox lol, but the second half was super emotional and pretty good, overall. And considering its about a community working together to try and find a missing two-year-old I expected that from the beginning. The ending was super heartwarming, and the fact that the film is based on a true story made this movie that much sweeter.

My Favorite Posts of the Month

So, we wrote a total of 11 post this month, 12 including this wrap-up, and I’ve got to admit that although I didn’t post a lot, I’ve written some really awesome posts, this month. I think I deserve a little self-pat-on-the-back. Anyway, here are some of my favorite posts of the month.

If you’d like to check out all the posts that I’ve written, this September, please check out THIS LINK!

I hope you all enjoyed reading what I was up to for the entire month! Overall, I really enjoyed myself these past thirty days, and I pray you all have, as well. And speaking of prayer, please send your prayers for all the victims of Hurricane Ian around the world. Your kind thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

What were your favorite parts of this month? I would love to hear your responses in the comments!

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everybody! God bless you all and have a splendid weekend! ~ Q’Zion ♡