Monthly Recap! February AND March 2018!

Posted April 14, 2018 by Wendy in recap / 1 Comment

Hi friends! I’ve been a little MIA on the blog lately and the majority of that reason is because I was on vacation for most of February! Then it’s been pretty crazy busy getting back into real life after an absolutely amazing trip! For those that don’t know, I was in New Zealand and Australia and it was seriously the trip of a lifetime. I’ve been WANTING to write a bit of a recap post at least for when I got to visit Hobbiton but time has been scarce lately! I feel like people would love to hear about Hobbiton though so it may be super delayed but I will get a post up yet! So after I had to leave Middle Earth and come back to reality, I’ve been super busy with work and training for my first full marathon coming up in June! It’s a HUGE time commitment.

Anyway, so that’s why I’ve been a little scarce here but that’s not to say I haven’t been wanting to be blogging more! I really do and hope to work in some time now that I’m getting back into the routine of things.

Favorite Things in February and March:

Going to Australia and New Zealand!! I mean, hello, trip of a lifetime! In Australia we got to go on this truly amazing backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House that was so informative and fascinating! We bike toured through the city, ate tons of amazing food, pet koalas, saw the Blue Mountains and walked all along the coastal beach walk! We did some multi day hikes doing the Kepler Track and Routeburn track in New Zealand (two of their Great Walks), I jumped off a cliff (I was scared out of my mind but it was actually SO MUCH FUN), I did an all day horse ride and got to canter through the beautiful countryside and even pass filming locations of LOTR (!!), I did some outdoor rock climbing with the gorgeous blue waters of Lake Wakatipu behind me, I ziplined and climbed up waterfalls in some super amazing glowworm caves AND I WENT TO HOBBITON AND WALKED IN THE SHIRE. I almost cried. It was super emotional.

Coming back to real life was definitely hard but I jumped back in with a bang as two days back I got to go to Emerald City Comic Con (I won a ticket by winning a Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt last year!) I met Matthew Lewis aka Neville who is such a nice guy!! They push you through the photography line reaaal fast but when I walked up I told him “hi! it’s so nice to meet you!” we turn and smile and they take the picture and I was about to just walk off since they make you go so quickly but he clasped my shoulder LOOKED ME RIGHT IN THE EYE and said “it’s so nice to meet you too!” Nearly. Died. He seemed super sincere and very nice. His panel was also fantastic with some great Q&A – very cool to hear about his experience growing up filming HP especially since he started as a big fan too! I also got to meet Karl Urban (Eomer! Skurg! Bones!). I also got to chat with some very nice publicists at both the Penguin and Random house and Macmillan booths! A jam packed fun day!

(look how epically nerdy I look in my robe and Spectrespecs! <3)

And a mere four days after I got back from the trip, I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K which was HILLY (omg those hills) but very fun!

I SAW HAMILTON! And I know I’m late to this but I’m OBSESSED AND I LOVE IT. I listened to the soundtrack NONSTOP and there’s a few songs that are staples in my running playlist now and I’m listening to the biography on audio too! LOVE LOVE LOVE.

My BFF Rebecca recently moved to WA and we got to celebrate her birthday by her coming here for the weekend! We got to eat delicious foods, get ice cream, AND go to Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s Obsidio event! Those two are so much fun to listen to and so hilarious. Best part? My lovely friend Mary told them I was sad I didn’t die in the book so Jay took it upon himself to WRITE ME IN. Yes, he wrote my full name onto a list of fighter pilots and I love it so much. In related news… I NEED TO FINISH OBSIDIO. Somebody get me a time turner please!

Month in Review:

[3 Feb] Monthly Recap! January 2018
[5 Feb] A Poison Dark and Drowning (Kingdom on Fire, Book Two) by Jessica Cluess ★★★★
[7 Feb] About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis ★★★★½
[12 Feb] Iron Gold by Pierce Brown ★★★★½

[12 Mar] To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo ★★★½
[14 Mar] Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas ★★★★
[19 Mar] Jesse’s Girl by Miranda Kenneally ★★★★

Books Read In February And March: 8

Audiobooks Listened to in February and March: 5

Favorite read of the month: LOVED the last book to the Empress of Rome series by Kate Quinn! And loved Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins!