Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2015

Posted February 28, 2015 by Brin in Discussion Posts, Monthly Wrap-Up / 4 Comments

Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2015

February is always the quickest month and this year was no exception. I had so many plans: catch up on my reading, get on top of my reading challenges, get more organised in general with my posts, do a little maintenance to my older posts to fit my new theme… all of these just seemed to get left by the wayside and I have no idea what I have actually been doing with my time!

It’s been a crazy quick month and as happy as I am that March (and Spring!) is finally on the horizon, I am disappointed that a lot of my plans went… well, tits up, to put it bluntly! 😉

It wasn’t a complete loss this month as far my personal life is concerned: we finally starting decorating the bedroom (been meaning to do this for over a year but other things started getting in the way) and I am beginning to feel that I am getting out the funk I have been in for the past year or so.

I am also finally starting to get control over my OCD which is really good because my intrusive thinking and rituals were really beginning to take over my whole life. I don’t often talk about my struggles with OCD on my blog but honestly it feels good to be open about all of this. I kept it all inside for so many years and it made everything so unbearable.

My reading has been pretty woeful this month though. I have only managed to read two books which I am a bit disappointed with. It’s totally my own fault – I just haven’t made enough time for reading. I definitely need to make it a goal to get back on track in March.

Here are the books I read in February:

Please Remain Calm was a follow-up to This is Not a Test and it was just as tense as its predecessor. Very scary stuff – I was on the edge of my seat throughout.

Princess of the Midnight Ball was a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses and it was a pretty amazing read. I really enjoyed it.

Challenge Update:

Princess of the Midnight Ball is one of the books I set out for the TBR Challenge. It has been sitting on my Kindle for years so I thought it would fit the requirements of this particular challenge. It was definitely worth reading – I am only sorry it took me so long to get to it. It also fits the Flights of Fantasy Challenge and the Fairytale Challenge – yay!! Now I just need to review it – watch this space! 😉

What I watched in February:

Agent Carter is probably the best new show I have gotten into. I am a fan of the Marvel Universe anyway but this show was simply fantastic. I am really sad that it has finished and I am keeping my fingers (and toes!) crossed that it gets picked up for another season.

I also got into Sleepy Hollow in a big way. I had meant to watch this when it first aired but didn’t for one reason or another. I was scanning Amazon Prime the other week and decided to watch an episode… which turned into watching about five in a row! I have been watching it steadily ever since and only have one more episode to watch in season one. Looking forward to season two!

Between Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, and Sleepy Hollow, my time was pretty much all ate up this month. Oh, and I have really gotten into watching this series of The Voice – not sure why as I was never really a fan before. I did manage to squeeze in some gaming time though. I bought the first episode of Life is Strange which I am really enjoying.

I was really sad to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy yesterday. I was (and still am) a huge Star Trek fan and I can safely say that Spock was my favourite character from the original series. Leonard Nimoy also seemed like a remarkable and genuinely decent person and I think the world has definitely lost a true icon.

I have had a lot of personal losses over the last couple of years so celebrity deaths (while sad) do not really tend to hit me all that hard. I have to say though that this particular loss has been difficult. I have had the urge to watch The Wrath of Khan, my favourite Star Trek film, to honour his passing. I have a feeling the funeral scene might just make me cry though.

Yup, totally did. 🙁

What else I got up to in February:

I kind-of splurged and upgraded to a newer version of Adobe Photoshop. I also decided to purchase (on the advice of my other half) a My Passport Ultra portable drive. My laptop is filling up with all my graphic downloads (I have found a couple of amazing sites with offer free and discounted design deals which I plan to share with everyone very soon) so I thought it would be a good idea to secure some extra storage.

I have also been getting back into watching movies and television shows (and gaming) so have purchased a few to keep me going. 😉

I very rarely feature anything to do with health and beauty on this blog, afterall it is a book blog, but I just have to share my latest beauty buy. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before on my blog but I am a vegetarian (and a strict one at that) so finding beauty products can be a bit of a nightmare. Not to mention the fact that I am allergic to a lot of products which doesn’t make buying beauty products a whole lot of fun.

However, I recently came across a company that offers vegan-friendly mineral make-up which doesn’t cause my skin to react – whoop!

The above Concrete Minerals Sugar Skull Collection is amazing. This collection was created in celebration of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). The colours are really eye-catching (geddit?) and I adore the packaging!

Here are the posts I wrote in February:

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Tags: books, discussion post, february, monthly round-up, wrap-up

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Freda Mans

I am also OCD. (((HUGS)))
You got one scary looking book there…. catching my attention! 🙂
Happy March reading!

March 1, 2015, 12:20 am

Brin

OCD is the worst isn’t it? <3

Please Remain Calm was very scary and tense - but such a good read! The cover does really convey the atmosphere of the book. 🙂
March 8, 2015, 2:24 pm

chucklesthescot

Sometimes the death of a certain celebrity can really get to you-if you were a big fan or if the circumstances are really sad etc. I know what you mean about The Wrath of Khan-I love that film and I cry my eyes out every time I see Spock’s heroic death and funeral. I haven’t watched it for a while. I’m not getting time to watch anything on TV or DVD because I’m trying to get my reading increased. Maybe next month…

I have a few minor issues with a bit of OCD behaviour, especially when it comes to shelves being tidy and alphabetical etc. I can’t sleep until I sort that kind of thing out. I’ve been in friends houses at parties and been discovered rearranging their shelves in another room. I also have issues counting the times I open and close doors. It’s great that you are feeling more in control of things! *hugs*

March 1, 2015, 9:55 am

Brin

Sometimes it really does get to you – I have always been a Star Trek fan and Spock was my favourite so this was a tough one for me. 🙁 The Wrath of Khan is an amazing film – the ending is just so poignant.

It’s amazing how many people I have met who have OCD or elements of it. So many people seem to struggle with it and I can totally relate to your particular issues like sorting shelves and the door thing even though I don’t have that myself. My partner is OCD as well (we are so well-matched lol) and he has very similar problems when it comes to arranging shelves and stuff. He even starts to tidy up shelves in the supermarket if they are out of alignment.

Thanks! I am feeling a little bit better with it all lately. <3
March 8, 2015, 2:30 pm