Recap of February + Welcoming March & SPRING!!

Another month has gone by. We’re now 1/6 done with 2018.

Does that blow anyone else’s mind?! Because though I’m glad it is I can’t believe that February is over, and it’s March. Cue exciting screeching about March. Today I’ll be discussing my February in terms of books, blog, and real life. Let’s go. 😉 *

*dun dun dun ALEXANDER dun dun dun – Hamilton fans? Non-Stop, anyone?

I think 2018 is just going to be a bad reading month for me?? I thought I could turn it around in February, but February came and went and I only read four books.

bad Olivia…

They were good books, though! I read:

• Because I’ll Never Meet You, by Leah Thomas // I enjoyed this one, it was written through letters between the two main characters, which I thought was super interesting. I bought it at random without knowing anything about it.
• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury // Not my favorite, but I did enjoy how it was about books (though the books were getting burned??). It was an intriguing dystopian!
• I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak // I was expecting big things from this, and it delivered! It wasn’t anything like The Book Thief, but I still enjoyed it.
• The Key of F, by Jennifer Haskin // Wonderful fantasy ARC I read this month, lots of plot twists and amazing strong female characters.

How I Did on My Reading Goals for February:

• Read 5 books ❌ as you can see, I obviously didn’t achieve this one….
• Finish the one I’m currently reading (Because You’ll Never Meet Me) ✅
• Go to the library ❌ ahaha, that’s funny. my books are still very overdue
• CHOOSE READING MORE!! (over Netflix, social media, etc.) ❌ i’m so bad at this one, help!!

Reading Goals for March:

• Read 5 books (okay I’ll be on Spring Break for a week so this should be feasible)
• Go to the library!! Or else I might get kicked out forever because my books are so overdue!!
• CHOOSE READING MORE. I will keep putting this goal until I achieve it.
• Read 3 books from my TBR.

I guess February was a solid-ish month for blogging. I stuck to my schedule and everything, but it was one of the most unmotivated months, blogging wise, I’ve had in a long time.

Posts I Did in February:

• Do Standalone Books Get Enough Credit? + My Favorites // In this post, I discussed my opinions on standalones vs. series.
• My Love-Hate Relationship with Love Triangles // Even after writing an entire post about this, I’m still not really sure if I love or hate love triangles…
• In Light of Recent Events…Love Others // I wrote this post in response to the Florida shootings that occurred this past Valentine’s Day.
• My {Long-Awaited} Bookshelf Tour 2018 // My updated bookshelf tour for y’all! I had a lot of fun writing this one.
• ARC Review: The Key of F, by Jennifer Haskin // My first ever ARC review! Go show this book some love by adding it to your TBR.

Also, I was tagged for a few tags/awards this month! I truly do want to get around to all of them, and hopefully I will. It probably will be a while before I can, though, so I wanted to give a quick shoutout to Bayance, Malanie, and Anna for kindly nominating me. Thank you! 🙂

How I Did on My Blogging Goals for February:

• An updated bookshelf tour.  ✅ I actually did this! *cheers*
• Some kind of book-list post. ❌ what did I mean by this?
• Stay on blogging schedule. ✅
• Consider making a blog survey. ❌ Honestly, I didn’t even think about it.

Blogging Goals for March:

• A post about writing.
• Stick to blogging schedule.
• Work on redesigning. (Over my spring break, I’m hoping to look into revamping the look of Purely Olivia. I’m ready for a little change!)
• Consider blog survey.

Once I wrote it out, February does look like it was fairly successful blogging-wise. I just felt really unmotivated this month, like it was more of a chore. The fog is already lifting though, so I hope the prospect of a new month will altogether erase it!

Even though reading and blogging didn’t go amazingly this month, real life actually went pretty well. So February scored in that aspect. 😉

Memorable February Moments:

• I’ve been able to get together with friends frequently, which is so great. I try to get together with people a lot, but with school and dance and homework, it doesn’t always happen. It did this month, though. 🙂
• At my dance studio, we got our recital costumes! Our photo week is coming up in mid-March, so that’s always exciting.
• I’ve been doing some devotionals on the YouVersion bible app and absolutely loving it. It’s really been helping me incorporate God into my everyday life. A few that I’ve enjoyed are:
  • Women On A Mission
  • Come & See Life Lessons from Women in the New Testament
  • Simple Pursuit: A Heart After Jesus
  • If you have any other recommendations for me, please let me know in the comments!

And that concludes my February recap! I’m looking forward to March, and I hope it’s a month of motivation and productivity for all of us.❤️

How was your February? Are you looking forward to March? Tell me about in the comments!

Photo by Larm Rmah on Unsplash >> Credits for the amazing image in my featured image!