Hello readers! It’s been a WHILE. I kind of took a break. A BIG one. You guys know that my life has been SUPER chaotic in 2024. I kept up on this blog a little too well for months, and I finally hit my breaking point.
Jeez, I’ve been gone for around 3 months, right? Maybe even longer than that.
Grab some popcorn if you are interested in what I’ve been up to, cos I have a lot to talk about.
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I hadn’t read anything for a while. So many times, I thought I was getting back into it and I wasn’t. And, I honestly have no idea if I’ll be back full time here or back to reading, but I do miss being on here a lot!
I did read a few things back in May, but it didn’t last.
I’d try to pick up a book and I’d get this feeling of dread that I didn’t want to be doing it. You know that feeling you get in a slump? It’s like I wanted to do it, but my body wouldn’t let me.
I finally got my library card back this last month! It’s been expired nearly half the year now.
Life Update:
Well, this summer I haven’t been up to much personally. I still do not have a job. I’m struggling to find a job right now that will hire me because I’ve been a SAHM since 2018. And, I know I don’t have room to be picky, but I really, really, really do not want a customer service job, unless it’s one where I can work from home.
My husband FINALLY moved out in August. It really showed me how much I was carrying this. Like, I have more freedom now with parenting and just doing my own thing because I’m single. Being single is actually really great!
It’s hard being a single parent, but it’s also more freeing in a way. Especially during the last couple months, my husband started being extra controlling of my interactions with her. He gave her a phone and wouldn’t let me child lock it, and I couldn’t tell her when to go to bed, so she’d stay up until like 3AM most days.
My husband left to an apartment where she cannot live. So, she has been living with me and my mom for now. I have no idea if and when he will get a place she can live in, but honestly, he’s been focusing on himself all year.
I have also become a single parent to my step-daughter. She is now attending traditional school and is in 6th grade! My issue is that I have to be the one to get her on and off the bus, so I also have this as a restraint for when I am able to work.
I have never obtained a license, but I’m honestly thinking about doing it. My daughter was doing cross country, but actually joined late in the season, so she wasn’t the best. BUT, she had fun doing it. One of the girls at her school placed 5th in my whole state.
She wanted to do basketball, but didn’t make the team. However, she will be doing track in the spring. I was thinking about getting my license so I can take her to stuff like that. I kind of want to put her in some sort of martial arts class for self defense.
My daughter struggled a bit at first with traditional school with being on time to classes, but it has worked itself out. She just hasn’t been in the setting where she has to go place to place like that before.
There were 7 school shooting threats in our town this September through Snapchat including one at her school. That was a new and awful experience for me. There is this new Snapchat trend where kids are threatening these things and are being arrested for it all over the United States.
We went to something that we’ve never been to before, which was a hot air balloon festival. It was really fun even though I didn’t go up in a balloon. I’d like to do it next time, to be honest.
I have never actually seen a hot air balloon in person before and there were nearly a dozen at this thing! It was actually really, really cool.
I made a TikTok video that I added to the right of some videos and pictures I took while we were there.
I tried out the bookkeeping exam from Intuit and failed it. I only have one attempt left at the moment, and I don’t know how I will do. I really think working at Intuit can be the perfect job for me.
So, I applied for college, and I’m actually starting tomorrow! I’m really excited for this new chapter in my life. Everything is settling down and becoming a new normal. One where I am looking forward to the future.
My family are thinking of buying a restaurant next year and I would end up being in charge of baking, so I’ve baked a TON of new things! Not all went well on that, but I had a lot of fun trying.
It’s going to be a very rustic/country style restaurant that was already there before, closing during 2020, and just never reopened.
I made banana bread, bread pudding, and the third photo is stuffed peppers (not for the restaurant).
I tried to make fudge 3 times and it just didn’t work. The first one burned, and the next two just didn’t set like they should. That last one was so close, but I have no idea what I did wrong there.
The only other thing is that I have been getting back into kpop this summer. I mean, I have listened to it for a long time, but I kind of fell out of it for a year or so.
I got into a new group called Enhypen and a j-pop group that is paired with them called &Team. The song in my tiktok video is an &Team song.
This may sound a little odd, but Enhypen has a vampire concept, and &Team have a werewolf concept, and they are rivals. There are books that go along with both groups because they have a story line. I have been loving it so much. Enhypen has been keeping me going every day. It may seem silly to others, but it isn’t to me.
I’ve sort of expanded into Jpop and Tpop. I just really love learning about other cultures and listening to music in other languages. When I was a teen, I listened to Jpop a bit (mostly anime music), some German music, and even a band from Brazil that I wish I could remember the name of.
PLEASE let me know if anyone reading this is a Kpop lover! I have been for a while now and love so many groups. Too many, if I’m completely honest.
I have sort of been made to feel for a long time that my interests are stupid, and therefore I have been afraid to share them with others. But, I’m ready to share things about myself that others might not like, or even find cringy. I’d rather be cringy and happy than miserable and liked.
On the Blog Last Week:
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Upcoming This Week:
I’m not sure when I’ll be back at it on a regular basis, but I really want to try. We will just have to see. I definitely want to do some form of Blogmas, so look forward to that!
Reading Update:
I actually started Battle Royal back in January (or February???) and read about 100 pages. BUT, I managed to pick it up again and have read it every day for nearly a week!!! I am so excited that I’m reading every day again.
I’m nearly half way through the book now. It follows a 14-year-old named Shuya, who is put on an island with 41 other kids in his class and they have to kill each other until only one is left.
It’s such a good book and I never see anyone reading it! I mean, it is nearly as old as I am, so that might be why.
This book has been compared a lot to The Hunger Games, but this came out first. It is so fascinating how much it is similar and how much it’s different. I might just tell you guys all about it when I’m done reading it.
I am also reading Mr. Lemoncello series book 5. I was reached out to by the publisher to get an ARC of book 6, so I have to get to book 5 first. I already owned book 5, I just hadn’t read it just yet.
This entire series is all about a board game maker, kind of like a board game version of Willy Wonka. In book one, a kid named Kyle signs up to do this escape room in a new library built by the legendary board game maker Mr. Lemoncello.
This library is unlike any other. It’s very kid centered by having a cafe, it’s sort of loud, and centers fun. There is VR, singing robots, and all other things to encourage learning in a fun way.
HIGHLY recommend it if you like middle grade books or libraries, or if you know someone who does! Book 6 is going to be the last one, which is so sad! I read book one probably a decade ago now, so I’m sad to see it go.
Well, I mentioned Enhypen earlier and how they have this vampire concept. They also have books that go along with it. These are called manhwa, which is the Korean version of manga. It’s on this app called Webtoon.
They have such an extensive story line and lots of books, so I’m trying to go back and read all of them. I really hate that I have to read it on my phone because there isn’t an app for Kindle.
This series follows 7 vampires who are attending this boarding school where vampires are not allowed to be. There is a new girl in school named Sooha, who they are all drawn to, but don’t really know why that is.
Library Haul:
I went to the library this past week and got two different books that I hope I can get to at some point. I have others that are high on my list right now, too.
I actually got the John Marrs one through Libby over the last month, and I just didn’t get to it.
I’m just excited to be back in a library and having Libby/Hoopla on my freaking phone again. I missed it all.
I Won a Goodreads Giveaway!:
I also won a Goodreads giveaway! I started doing this thing where I apply for 20 giveaways every few weeks to see if I can win something, and I won this one!
I’ve been going to the the least popular ones and heading to the top from there to increase my chances of winning. I hope it works again, but we will just have to wait and see.
This one is a romance that follows two people who investigate mothman, aliens, and all kinds of other things together.
What I Watched:
I’m not sure what I posted last time, but mostly I’ve been watching kpop variety shows. I watched around 100 episodes of TXT’s show TODO, and all of Enhypen’s show En o’clock (99 episodes), &Team’s show (20ish episodes), and Xiker’s show Tricky House (50 episodes).
I also watched a TON of shows and movies on Netflix including D.P., A Killer Paradox, Baby Reindeer (that was insane!), Outside, The 8 Show, Sweet Home, Monsters, The Platform 2, CTRL, Nightmares and Daydreams, Missing, Unlocked, Thanksgiving (I didn’t finish this one), It’s What’s Inside, Don’t Move, Behind Her Eyes, and One Piece.
I’ve also watched some Kpop survival shows like I LAND (Enhypen), &Audition (&Team), Boys Planet (Zerobaseone), one that is ongoing called Project 7, and a Thai one called 789 Survival (BUS). MAN are these shows hard to watch.
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