Can you belive 2015 is halfway over?

 

First off, to all my fellow Americans, Happy Independence Day!  I was thinking I needed to do an end of the month wrap up to catch up on some of my goals and challenges for the year. Then, I realize, the year is half over, so why don't I do a halfway through the year update?  So that's what you're going to get today.

• I've definitely been doing my two reviews a week, some weeks have been more than that.

• I had planned to give my blog a new look, and it is in the process.  It is almost done.  Hoping to do the whole update in August as part of my blogoversary!

• I've tried to do more on Instragram, even doing some of the 30 day challenges this year, unfortunately I never quite completed any of them.

• As for my walking goal, I've definitely gotten closer to walking 20 miles a week, one week I even made 21, but haven't quite gotten back on track for every week.  I blame all the rain we've had, and then the heat of summer.  

• I've not saved any money for ALA next summer, but I'm still thinking about it and trying to figure out how in the world I can do it.

• I've had a few chapters of my NaNoWriMo story read by a friend and critiqued, and I'm putting those up on Wattpad as I get them changed from the suggestions. 

• I also once again participated in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge and completed it.

• I completed the Winter COYER Challenge, and have actually joined into one for summer that is going on right now.

•  My Goodreads goal is doing pretty well.  Probably because it is summer and I'm able to get more reading done.

• I joined the TBR Reading Pile Challenge this year, and  I've done okay.  I've only read 2 of the books I actually planned to read, but have read others that will count.  I'm actually 3 ahead of where I should be to meet my goal of 12 books.  Here are my books I've read:
• Fallen by Lauren Kate
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
• White Space by Ilsa J. Bick
• Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
• Broken Symmetry by Dan Rix
• World After by Susan Ee
• Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
• Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

So those are my updates for the first half of June.  Seems like I'm doing pretty well for the most part!  One sad thing about this year, I've only been able to meet one author, and it is an author I'd already met last year at BEA, but the cool thing was that I got lots of time to talk to her.  That author was AG Howard, who wrote the awesome Splintered series that was the modern retelling of Alice in Wonderland.