2018 was a difficult year for my area, my family, and me personally. There were a few ups and a lot of downs, but all of them taught me a valuable lesson: if we want progression, we have to embrace positivity. So, as I kick 2018 to the curb with its last quarter review, I’ll try to reflect on the good happenings of 2018 of the last three months.

October

• October 1st: My favorite month FINALLY arrived! ❤
• October 6th: Went with my boyfriend, Josh, to a bowling tournament in Aberdeen, NC. On the way there, we drove through Spivey’s Corner, NC, home of the Hollerin’ Capital of the World. I’m not making this up. Here’s a video.
• October 9th: Watched Modern Day Miracles for review with Josh.
• October 11th: The remnants of what was Hurricane Michael visited eastern NC, but it was nowhere near as bad as Florence, or what occurred in Florida.
• October 13th: Date night with Josh. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and got milkshakes from Steak N Shake afterward. ❤
• October 14th: Wrote 2,300 words on The Crush, bringing it up to around 15k words!
• October 20-21st: Had a prosperous free Kindle weekend for Can’t Beat the Heart of a Carolina Girl. It reached #1 in three different categories!
• October 21st: Carved a Toy Story alien pumpkin!

• October 24th: My 2 1/2 years dating anniversary with Josh! ❤ Authoring Arrowheads also reach 1,000 likes.
• October 25th: Finished reading The Electrical Menagerie, which has now become one of my all-time favorite books!
• October 26th: Started writing “My Name is Zeebot”, a Speak Your Mind short story.
• October 27th: Watched The Greatest Showman for the first time with Josh. I ADORE the soundtrack.
• October 31st: Dressed up as Katniss Everdeen for Halloween at work.

November

*Note: November was a huge blur due to prepping for Speak Your Mind‘s release, so there are probably huge gaps between dates. XD*

• November 1st-4th: If I remember correctly, this is when I worked through edits from my editor, Rayleigh, for Speak Your Mind.
• November 10th: Put up the Christmas tree! (Yeah, we’re that family!)
• November 12th-16th: Josh’s Papa passed away, so I spent most of my evenings after work with them that week.
• November 17th: Went to a burial (for Papa) and a wedding on the same day.
• November 22nd: Thanksgiving and saw Ralph Breaks the Internet with Josh! ❤
• November 24th: Speak Your Mind‘s release day and went bowling with my sister and Josh.
• November 27th: Realized I’ve sold 100 books (CBTHOACG and Speak Your Mind combined)!
• November 28th: Saw Speak Your Mind in it’s paperback format for the first time at Josh’s! ❤

December

• December 1st: Went to my aunt’s house for the first time in forever and started trying to work out again (spoiler alert: that didn’t last XD).
• December 3rd: Finally finished reading my Disney Christmas Storybook that I received as a Christmas present in my early twenties and never sat down to read until now. XD | Made some Speak Your Mind quote pictures.

• December 7th: Went to eat and go on a Christmas hayride at a local tree farm with my family.
• December 9th: Christmas party with Josh’s bowling friends. We played Family Feud, and I surprisingly got all the #1 answers on Fast Money. XD
• December 12th: Realized it’s been 10 years since my beagle, Buddy, passed away. 😦
• December 13th: Started my annual reread of A Walk to Remember. ❤
• December 19th: Got a huge surprise at work when my coworkers organized a surprise book signing for me. This really helped me see the light while suffering from author depression earlier in the month.
• December 22nd: Tried to sit down and read A Christmas Carol, but that didn’t happen. I did get a pretty picture though!

• December 23rd: Christmas Eve Eve, yo! XD
• December 24th: Christmas Eve festivities at Josh’s uncle’s house and my house that night with momma’s side of the family. ❤
• December 25th: Christmas! I was excited to get some books, The Greatest Showman soundtrack, an Apple Watch from Josh’s parents (I’m a certified ninja spy now!), gorgeous notebooks with Bible verses on them, and cute clothes!
• December 26th: Major closet clean-out day at the house. XD Momma had skirts in her closet from when I was 4 or 5 (20 years ago!).
• December 27th: Josh’s momma taught us how to make Chef Boyardee box pizzas in her world famous way! They turned out way better than I expected.
• December 30th: Went to the movies with Josh and some friends to see Aquaman, and we played board games afterward.
• December 31st: Rolled in the New Year watching Safe Haven and A Cinderella Story with Josh and eating Buffalo Chicken dip!

What I’ve Read This Quarter:

• Casey Newman’s Guide to Being Funny (Even When Your Life Stinks) by Penny Wood
• Rosie’s Two Left Feet by Jean Davis Callaghan (A book from my childhood because I was in a kid’s book mood :P)
• Wolf Claw (Howling Twenties #1) by Jes Drew
• Little Raccoon’s Nighttime Adventure by Lilian Moore (Yes, another kids’ book)
• The Divine Guide to Creating a Daily Writing Practice by Pernille Norregaard
• Just Between You and Me by Jenny B. Jones
• The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson
• Meet the Sky by McCall Hoyle
• Thank You, Pooh! by Ronne Randall (Yet another kids’ book because I love Pooh 🐻)
• The Electrical Menagerie by Mollie E. Reeder
• Show, Don’t Tell by Sandra Gerth
• A Place Between Breaths by Jennifer Froelich
• Deal (The Blades of Acktar Prequel Short Story) by Tricia Mingerink
• The Time I Saved a Damsel in Distress (Ninja and Hunter Series #2) by Jes Drew
• Esther Ashton’s New Dress (Short Story) by Kellyn Roth
• The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins (reread)
• Nora & Kettle (Paper Stars #1) by Lauren Nicolle Taylor
• The Treasure Hunt (Short story) by Kate Willis
• October by J. Grace Pennington
• Retrieve (The Stormer’s Trilogy #1) by Sarah Addison-Fox
• Christmas Storybook Collection: A Treasury of Tales by Walt Disney Company
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Dandi
• The Time I Saved the World (Ninja and Hunter Series #3) by Jes Drew
• The Introvert Writer: Being Your Creative Best By Being Your Truest Self by Jamie Arpin-Ricci
• Mind of Darkness (Dystopian Takeover #1) by Jes Drew
• His Mistletoe Miracle (A Sugar Creek Novel Book 3) by Jenny B. Jones
• A Walk to Remember (reread) by Nicholas Sparks
• Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

Now it’s time to leave 2018 in the dust, and embrace the new opportunities 2019 will hold. I’m going to do my best to leave the negativity behind in 2018 and begin a new slate in 2019. Who’s with me? 😀

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀