February: The Month Of Celebrations

Happy Feburary! This is going to be a fun month. My brother and I both have special birthdays this year, I'm planning a fun party, I'm excited to send valentines to my friends, and I hoping we'll get some more snow. (A girl can dream!)

I know it's not really a birthday present but it feels like it and I never could have thought to ask for it but the last Ilyon Chronicles book releases this month and I am SO EXCITED!!!!! I got to read an early e-copy but I can't wait to have the physical book on my shelf!

I'm also very excited to read book #2 of The Tales of Tarsurella as a buddy read. The author hosted a buddy read of book #1 back in December and I kind of hoped she'd do another one. It worked out well for me that she skipped January, since I wasn't on Instagram almost at all.

Speaking of Instagram, I'm actually kind of excited to be back. I have a lot of things to share and I'm done trying to cater to the algorithm. My new resolve going forward with Instagram feels very freeing.

Personal Goals

• Galentine's Party.
• Celebrating my birthday
• Continuing my "resolutions"
  
• Going to visit some botanical gardens
  

Business Goals

• Building buzz around my Top Secret Project
• Finish any last minute details for my Top Secret Project
  

I want to talk about celebrations for a minute, especially Valentine's Day. I read a book about celebrating small holidays and using them to a) bring joy into an ordinary day and b) bless your community. February has several holidays, the biggest one being, of course, Valentine's Day. Now, Valentine's Day has been made into a romantic holiday and then the flip side is that all the single girls are sad on that day (which I think is sad). Then the Galentine's Day parties started becoming a thing, and they are great (I'm having one this year), but what if Valentine's Day was broader than that? In the book, it talks about making treats and taking them to your neighbors. I used to talk about what love really is when I lead a group for teen girls. What if we made the celebration of Valentine's Day into a day to celebrate with family and friends and a day to love on our community? It can, and should, be much more than just a day for couples.

But if you love celebrating things, then why not also celebrate Groundhog Day and President's Day? It doesn't have to be anything fancy, you could even make it into a potluck, but especially in the winter, we need to be intentional about gathering and celebrating and these holidays, silly as they may be, are a great excuse to have people over for fellowship! Just something to think about.