past, present, future | more specific updates

Okay yeah, it's been a hot minute since November. Honestly, the last few months have been a series of gaksjbasdvukshajmdhdlvhqfca and then sadkjbaslvaskhlcxjqcads with more aISHLJFDCNbwaovuclh,.achbsx,ckjkBjkCSADL,JC

bUT

That's in the past and I'm going to update y'all in this post about all the goings-on that have been....going....on....o.o......in the past few months xP

I have divided things into sections because my brAIn can't funCTION at this moMENT because of freaking scHOOLWORK

yeah life has been interesting

school

I guess we'll start off with the thing that leaves me dead on the inside. School.

School is interesting (my new favorite word woohoo). At the beginning of the school year, I didn't think that the workload was that bad.



























Yeah that was a lie. Um, how to summarize school now in a few sentences. Let's do it subject by subject.

Math: Why the hecc do i need to know this m'kay imma go die now
Physics: "not that much math anymore" *more math and death and shvckjmasbndc*
Gov & Econ: Feds *do something* antifeds *get angry* *insert a million timed essays
Literary analysis: honestly not that bad and lots of fun but humans are terrible people
Catholic Doctrine: really freaking cool because wow, I didnt know that

Honestly, I have so many more thoughts on school right now that are all very interesting to say the least so lmk if y'all would maybe like to see a post with more thoughts xD

violin

I REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT VIOLIN IS RIGHT NOW

JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE MY BEETHOVEN SONATA AND MAKE IT TO MY SENIOR RECITAL WITHOUT DYING

ALSO WHY DID I ASK TO PLAY A PIECE WITH LIKE SIX SHARPS

But this competition that we were gonna do was canceled because of the coronavirus so all I have left if my senior recital.

dance

Dance was going really well. Our recital was supposed to be April 4th but, because of coronavirus, it was canceled. This was really, really tough news not only because this was my last year, but because this is the last year my teacher is going to teach.

I just remember our last class. It was the day that we ran most of our worship pieces and things were finally falling into place and it was just so good.

Then the case of coronavirus here started to skyrocket and it was canceled.

Honestly very heartbreaking.

life

Eessh.

Life has been crazy XD Senioritis is very very real. In January I went to the March For Life again and it was amazing. I miss my friends a lot and I hope to see them this summer.

As in regards to college stuff (yay), everything has been settled since early October which is a RELIEF. I'm going to a college about an hour and 15 minutes away as a music therapy major. I got several scholarships that will pay for everything.

But um, besides that nothing much is going on in life.

Oh, they canceled our prom which is a huge BUMMER because I got my prom dress and it is SO PRETTYYY. But like, they might reschedule it so fingers crossed.

reading

IM KINDA ASHAMED OF HOW LITTLE IVE READ THIS YEAR BUT LIKE SCHOOL HAS KILLED ME

I've only read 11 books this year ;-;

Rerum Novarum: On the Condition of the Working Classes, by Pope Leo XIII; Cress, by Marissa Meyer; The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka; Winter, by Marissa Meyer; Stars Above, by Marissa Meyer; More Than We Remember, by Christina Suzann Nelson; Far Side of the Sea, by Kate Breslin; Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis; The Runaway Bride, by Jody Hedlund; An Old-Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott;  Star of Persia; Esther's Story, by Jill Eileen Smith

writing

I maybe haven't written since the end of November??

I've just been really busy and have had no inspiration. But I'm gonna try the April Nano because I got this story idea that wont let me alone for a novella. Pretty excited XD

future blogging plans

I'm hoping to post once a week. I have a few post ideas and I'm really excited. I have a book review I have to post tonight because I lost track of days and yeeee

ANyways, how are y'all?? Tell me anything i missed!

More Than We Remember {Book Review} | updates

Well, it's been a hot minute y'all. I am very sorry for essentially vanishing, but more on that at the end of this post. In the meantime, enjoy this book review!

One night changes everything for three women. . . .

When Addison Killbourn's husband is involved in a car accident that leaves a woman dead, her perfectly constructed life crumbles apart. With her husband's memory of that night gone and the revelation of a potentially life-altering secret, Addison has to reevaluate all she thought she knew.

Emilia Cruz is a deputy bearing a heavy burden far beyond the weight of her job. Her husband is no longer the man she married, and Emilia's determined to prevent others from facing the same hardship. When she's called to the scene of an accident pointing to everything she's fighting against, she's determined to see justice for those wronged.

Brianne Demanno is hiding from reality. She was thriving as a counselor, but when tragedy struck a beloved client, she lost faith in herself and her purpose. When her neighbors, the Killbourns, are thrown into crisis, Brianne's solitary life is disrupted and she finds herself needed in a way she hasn't been in a while.

As the lives of these women intersect, they can no longer dwell in the memory of who they've been. Can they rise from the wreck of the worst moments of their lives to become who they were meant to be?

Liked: I really enjoy those stories that have multiple storylines that all intertwine together. And while these three storylines are not so different, they still had that element of strings winding together. And it was pretty easy to follow. The strings never got tied in a way that left you confused, and everything panned out very well.

Liked: Christina Suzann Nelson did a really good job of rounding out her characters. They all had their strengths and flaws and it was amazing to read. I liked how the characters acted in very realistic ways and the characters helped make this story very good. It's a good tale of grace and our worthiness of it and the character being very three dimensional accentuated it.

Disliked: One of the things that I disliked, which I guess is the flipside of what I just said I liked above, is that some of the characters really sat wrong with me and I really did not like their behavior. Especially Emilia, who I felt sympathy for sometimes, but who generally really grated on me. And I think that attests to the way that the characters are well rounded that you can dislike a character and yet feel sympathy for them. Some of the other characters' behavior sometimes also kinda bothered me, so that wasn't that great.

-supposed drug use
-mention of suicide
-mentions of alcohol abuse
-one character is thought to have been having an affair
-death
-mention of child molestation
-some hospital scenes

A big theme in this book is grace and mercy, and who deserves it. Throughout the course of this book, you have Emilia almost solely focused on bringing Caleb Kilbourn to what she believes is justice. She pursues this like a hound and it's almost offputting because she decides right away that he is guilty and you wonder, "But what if he's not?" She seems to believe that he doesn't deserve mercy and two lines that come from her daughter kinda sums up what I wonder in regards to her behavior. "I bet Hannah doesn't feel like it's very fair that she's about to lose her dad because he was in an accident. . .so we should have our family, but Hannah doesn't deserve to have hers?" And that's something I wondered throughout the course of this book, especially how Emilia was very admirable in her determination to hold her family together: What about the Kilbourns?

A while ago in my literary analysis class, we read The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy (which I 10/10 recommend) and we later had to write a paper on it comparing the natural and almost animalistic justice that prevailed in the first half of the story (a sort of 'eye for an eye' thinking) and the more divine justice that came to light in the second half, full of God's grace. While I was reading this book, I kept thinking about that natural justice vs. God's justice. It was very thought-provoking and I liked keeping that in mind as I read this book.

I'm giving this a rating of 4 stars and I would recommend this for maybe ages 13/14+

I was given a free copy of this book by Bethany House in exchange for my honest opinion.

Now for some personal updates. Oof, let's just say that senior year has been rough. There's a lot of stuff going on and time is like, "adiosss" and leaves. But I do still want to keep blogging and I have several books I have to review so I'm hoping on posting maybeee once a week.

I'm really sorry that I just left in November but things got really, really crazy then and it's been go, go, go ever since then (I actually haven't even been able to write since the end of November ;-;). But please let me know what y'all would like to see next, a general update maybe? I really do love y'all and I will try my hardest to keep on posting!

i do suppose an update is called for

You know I have a really bad habit of falling off the face of the earth. Hm. It's really hard to break, especially with life holding a knife to my throat.

But let's not get morbid.

Am I back for good? Who knows.

I've just gotten inspired again and let's hope it lasts.

Now for some updates.

Life Updates:

So I finished 11th gradeeeeeeeeee

#notreadytobeasenior

I went to orchestra camp and that AAAAAAAH. A lot of fun. Later this month I'm going to a chamber camp with one of my best friends and then spending a week at the house of another best friend.

I'll try to keep posting during that time but my computer is always iffy with new internet connections.

I'm starting to pick out the colleges I'm going to apply to, I have 5 out of the 10.

I started going to spiritual direction because my prayer life has to get stronger. I've been amazed about some of the things I'm learning about myself.

Blog Updates:

I know that there are some old posts where I didn't respond to comments, since they are very old I probably won't respond to them because, well, they are old.

I might be changing my header. Not sure. If I do it'll probably be this week.

So anywaysss

There are my updates

Love y'all,

Ceci <3

Possible Hiatus?

 Hello, my lovelies! I know I recently got back into blogging from a rather long and unannounced hiatus, and it looks like that may be happening again (tho, quite not as long).

Stuff is just really crazy with the end of the school year, a music competition, and dance recital, and I have legit no time to come up with something worth gracing your feeds with. That and my creativity level is 0. And rather than giving you posts that aren't worth the time of day, I rather wait till I can give you something good.

To those who have been beta reading What Time We Have Left and have emailed me: I'll be trying to get to replying soon! I have seen what y'all have written and it has made me so happy! But yeah, I'll try to reply soon!

I don't know how long this break will last, but it is one I need to take.

Love y'all

Ceci <3

Writing Wednesdays: {What Time We Have Left} [CALLING ALL BETAS] [NO LONGER ACCEPTING ENTRIES]

Oh my goodness y'all, I am soooo excited about this post!!! It has been quite a journey to finish this first draft and I can't believe it. Well, I hope you enjoy this!

What Time We Have Left

England//Books//Libraries//Love//Loss//Family//Laughter//Walks//Gardens//Tears//Wind

Setting

Hampshire, England

So yes, our setting is Hampshire, England. I was looking at pictures and it looks like it is a very green, very pretty place.

Ashby Manor (name subject to change)

And most of this novella (basically all if I'm being honest) is set in Ashby Manor. Because I messed up with the title (the title of a person and their last name are different), it will probably *something else* Manor once I figure out what title to give the Ashby's. There is this manor in England (not sure where) called Gravetye Manor and it fits my mental picture of Ashby Manor to a t.

Time Period

1857-1859

Characters

Ava Pennington

(Anna Popplewell)

The only difference between Popplewell and Ava is that Ava has bright green eyes. Besides that, Anna Popplewell IS Ava Pennington.

She is my FMC. A very sweet, very mellow person. She can be funny when she wants and she loves to read.

Mr. Charles Pennington

(Tim Pigott-Smith)

He is Ava's father. A lawyer. He cares a lot for Ava and is also worried about her health. His wife died a few hours after giving birth to Ava.

Jameson Ashby

(William Moseley)

My MMC. He's also rather mellow and doesn't get angry very easily. He cares a great deal about the Penningtons and for his family.

Johnathon Ashby

(Ansel Elgort)

Jameson's younger brother. He turned out to be most people's favorite character and will be getting his very own sequel.

Lord James Ashby

(Michael Gambon)

He is Jameson and Johnathon's father, Mr. Pennington's best friend, and Ava's godfather. He is the 7th Earl of something (STILL COMING UP WITH THAT PART).

Lady Amelia Ashby

(Sharon Stone)

Married to Lord Ashby. Mother to Jameson, Johnathon, and John. Motherly figure for Ava.

John Ashby

(Matt Czuchry)

Older brother to Jameson and Johnathon. Was never really the same after being sent away.

Oh my gosh y'all. I am so freaking excited about this!!! I really hope you enjoy What Time We Have Left, because I really enjoyed writing it.

Here are just some stats if you were wondering how long it was and other things.

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Chapters: 20 + Epilogue

Word Count: 32,963

Other: There is one part that I tried to make vague, but a friend told me that I had made it too vague and it made it seem like something else happened, so yeah. Still need some opinions on that.

Ahhh, I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you sign up! What did you think about all the info I gave you? Are you interested? Think this might be right up your alley? If you do sign up to be a beta, I'll be sending out an email sometime before May 10th!

EDIT: Wow.....y'all have blown me away with your sign ups! Unfortunately for those who did not get a chance to sign up, I am closing the form. 

I missed my own blogiversary *dabs*

Welp my blogiversary was three days ago

And I missed it

Well

Happy blogiversary to me lol

Keep an eye out for the post coming out Wednesday

My Songs On Repeat [announcement at the end]

Contrary to common belief, not all pop music is bad. In fact, a lot of songs have clean lyrics, a good message, catchy beat, and this all combines to make a great song! I really enjoy listening to the good type of pop songs, but finding them is really hard since you often stumble across a song that makes you rip your earbuds out as you're looking for the good songs.

So, here are some songs that I've been listening to on repeat. All of these are 100% clean, and I'll be putting the YouTube video for it so you can listen to each one a bit to see if you are interested in the song. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Just because I like a song by a particular artist doesn't mean that I enjoy all their music, which might not be so clean. Also, there might be some lyrics that passed by me unnoticed and might not be so....great, but there is absolutely no bad language in these songs. Some of these songs may also come from movies or TV shows, this does not mean that I have seen or approved of these shows or movies. 

Happier//Marshmello, Bastille

Back To You//Selena Gomez

Classic//MKTO

Mansion//NF

Rise Up//Andra Day

2002//Anne-Marie

Walk Me Home//P!nk

On My Way//Sheppard

Rise//Jonas Blue, Jack & Jack

Superheroes//The Script

Happy Now//Zedd, Elley Duhé

No One Compares To You//Jack & Jack

Boom Clap//Charli XCX

One Last Time//Ariana Grande

I'll Be There//Jess Glynne

Polaroid//Jonas Blue, Liam Payne, Lennon Stella

Hurt Somebody//Noah Kahan, Julia Michaels

Love Song//Sara Bareilles

High Hopes//Panic! At The Disco

Cheerleader//OMI, Felix Jaehn

Hoy se Encuentran a las Tres//Santiago Saez, El Purre

Ya No Más//Pilar Pascual, Santiago Saez

Si Te Atreves A Soñar//Pilar Pascual

Did you find any that you liked? Or did you see any that you already like? Any recommendations for me? Would you be interested in seeing more posts about clean pop music and where to find it and titles and whatnot? 

And this is the part where I tell y'all about my announcement. In my February re-cap, I mentioned that I was working on something special, and honestly, it's about time I did this cause like I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE. 

Anyways

I

um

started a podcast?

Hehe, yep! It's called You Go Girl! and it would honestly mean the WORLD to me if you would listen, subscribed, like, comment, and spread the world. I'm putting the first episode here and I'll update y'all here every time I post again and yep, enjoy and let me know your thoughts in the comments over there <3

~ Ceci 

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE

Hehe

*waves shyly

guess who's still aliveeeeeee

So yeah

I do know that I kindasortamaybedid disappear off the face of the earth after November.

Gonna be honest with y'all, November was a really rough month for me. With Nano and my violin competitions and SCHOOL (oh the joyyyy) I was really in over my head. Then December came and I just felt no urge to blog. I was still extremely busy with school and I had to set my priorities straight. So yeah.

I will be posting more regularly (hopefully a triple book review will be posted Sunday). And I will get to responding to comments and reading all of your FABULOUS posts.

Love you all <33

~Ceci

~ October Wrap Up ~

How is it already (almost) November?? WHERE HAS TIME GONE????

Anyways, October was TONS of fun!!

I took the PSAT and ACT within 3 days of each other :))

No, I am not dead (yet)

(literally guys my dance teacher asked me if I had gone crazy when I told her)

ANYWAYS

On more "fun" subjects, I went to Homecoming and that was SOOOOO much fun! I accomplished my mission and got my brother dancing by the end xD

I have a HUGE violin competition this Friday and my dad and I have been working together a lot.

And my wrist has been doing worse so that's not good.

TO A LOT OF TAYLOR SWIFT

IDK WHY

- Enchanted, Taylor Swift -

- Poldark Soundtrack -

- Love Like This, Lauren Daigle -

- Mine, Taylor Swift -

- Speak Now, Taylor Swift -

HAHAHAHA I ACTUALLY READ A LOT THIS MONTH. And finished my Goodreads Reading Challenge of reading 50 books I never had before :D

Shelter of the Most High, Connilyn Cossette;  Hidden Peril, Irene Hannon; The Ranchero's Love, Nancy J. Farrier; Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell; Victoria, Daisy Goodwin; An Inconvenient Beauty, Kristi Ann Hunter; A Lady of Esteem, Kristi Ann Hunter; Mark of the Raven, Morgan L. Busse

Loved

Shelter of the Most High: I loved the writing style and the credibility of this book! Plus the roooomance! You can find my review here!

Hidden Peril: Not gonna lie, I have never read a book in this genre (mystery, murder, terrorist). BUT I LOVED THIS BOOK. Review coming sooooon!

An Inconvenient Beauty: The 4th and final (*sniff*) book in the Hawthorns House Series. So I love the first book of this series....and this one is my second favorite xDD I laughed so much and plus - SAVFKASHDJDFUG MIRANDA IS HAVING A BABY??? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH WHY CAN'T WE HAVE ANOTHER BOOK WHERE WE SEE MIRANDA AND RYLAN AS PARENTS????? -  yeah I love this book xD

A Lady of Esteem: The novella prequel to the Hawthorne House Series. Hehe.....I laughed a lot during this one too and yeah xD

Mark of the Raven: OH MY JALAPENO GOODNESS. I WAS SHOOKETH BY THIS BOOK AND NEED THE NEXT ONE NOW WHY IS APRIL 30TH SO FAR AWAY?? (more coherent review coming soon xD)

Liked

The Ranchero's Love: This was a very sweet book that sorta surprised me! I didn't really have any expectations but this was a really nice book! Review coming soon

Wives and Daughters: Yeah, I still want to hit Roger Hamley with a frying pan but I love Gaskell's writing style!

Victoria: I enjoyed this one but sadjksfahd fsdcdsc no. Victoria and Lord Melbourne. Just no. Thank you. Victoria and Albert. *dies*

Disliked

I didn't dislike any books this month so that's good xD

Books I Hope To Read This Month:

This Big House On Adam's Street, Alberta Sparks; Amish Celebrations, Beth Wiseman; The Centurions Wife, Janette Oke & Davis Bunn; A Murder is Announced, Agatha Christie; 'Tis, Frank McCourt; Teacher Man, Frank McCourt; Junia, Michael E. Giesler; Grain of Wheat, Michael E. Giesler

Poldark



Finished season 3 of this! I procrastinated on season 2 cause I knew what happened at the end....

Sherlock



Yep, I started watching this and O_O DANG IS IT GOOD

Victoria



I just like watching random episodes of this show xD

The Crown



Still haven't finished season 2 of this

Alexa & Katie



YES I KNOW THAT IT'S BASICALLY LIKE A DISNEY SHOW BUT I NEED SOMETHING LIGHTHEARTED AND FLUFFY

Nano is soon and I'm almost done plotting xD I'll have to finish worldbuilding and character sheets later cause soon it's gonna be time to WRITE WRITE WRITE

Stats

Pageviews this Month: 417

Followers: 39 (welcome!)

Posts this Month:

~ September Wrap Up ~

Let's Meet Some Peoples! {The Language of Worlds Link-Up}

100th Blog Post + Some Inspiration

Know the Novel {Part One: Introductory}

Shelter of the Most High {Book Review}

~ How Do I Love You? ~

Most Popular Post: 

Let's Meet Some Peoples! {The Language of Worlds Link-Up}

How was your October? Are you doing Nano? Are you ready for Nano? (the answer is no...) What are you most looking forward to this month?