August Numbers and September Goals + A Linkup

It’s August!! And this first Monday of the month, I’ve decided to start a new tradition! I’m creating my own idea from some inspiration I got from Becky from byBMG and posting all about some of the things I’ve been up to over the past month and some of my goals for this one. So let’s get started!

10 Books Read

I’ve read ten books over the past month, which is kind of impressive considering the fact that I’ve been working and I’ve started school. Over the past 31 days, I’ve read Full Steam Ahead, The Accidental Bride, Through the Deep Waters, The Trouble with Cowboys, Like Never Before, The Things We Knew, The Loyal Heart, The Forgotten Recipe, Starving Hearts, and My Stubborn Heart. While I enjoyed all ten of them, I definitely loved some a little bit more than others. Full Steam Ahead, The Trouble with Cowboys, Like Never Before, and My Stubborn Heart were my favorites.

1 Book Purchased

In actuality, I’ve purchased about a million books in the past month because I had to buy all of my school books, but I’m not counting those because they definitely aren’t for fun and therefore I don’t really care about them. Plus, I’ve also preordered a few books as well, but since they haven’t actually come out yet, I’m going to count them for next month instead of this one. So, the only fun book I’ve purchased and had delivered to my house is The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck, and is actually what I’m reading at the moment.

8 Football Games Watched

I’m not a hundred percent sure this is accurate, but considering the first weekend of college football was just two days ago, this is a pretty good number! I know, I know, technically this weekend was actually the first few days of August, but I wanted to be able to count football games and I haven’t watched hardly any NFL preseason games. So, I’m counting them anyway, but I promise I won’t add them to my count for next month.

3 Nail Designs Created

This isn’t very many designs, but considering the fact that you want your nail polish to last, I would say it isn’t that bad. While my Gamecocks design isn’t my favorite as far as quality—it didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped—I do love supporting my team! And the first design I did I don’t have a picture of but I’m pretty sure it involved polka dots.

18 Blog Posts Written

I’m so proud of myself for actually writing this many posts! Once school starts, I usually end up posting significantly less than I would otherwise, but so far, I’ve only missed one of the posts I have scheduled for myself. Hopefully I can keep that up, especially since I love blogging! I think my favorite post from the month would definitely have to be my Top Ten Tuesday post It’s All About Setting. I just love talking about books based on where they’re set, and I love the image I used for the top of the post.

Now for my goals!

Read 7 books

Although this isn’t more than last month, this is how many I have scheduled for myself according to my blog calendar, and with school in full swing I’m not even sure I’ll be able to read this many.

Purchase 3 books

Since I’ve already preordered two, this shouldn’t be very difficult, but I’m trying to save my money at the same time so I’m not entirely sure I will end up buying all three. Hopefully I will, but we’ll see!

Create 3 new nail designs

I love doing my nails, especially for holidays and fun events such as football games and parties, so this shouldn’t be a difficult goal to achieve. Plus, I’m trying to work towards posting some tutorials or something here on my blog, which means the more designs I come up with, the better.

Share at least 4 blog posts a week

This has been my goal for quite some time now, but since school is in full swing I’m not sure I will be able to keep this up as much as I’ve hoped. So, I’m going to continue to start pretty small, and we’ll see what happens.

Well, those are my goals for this month! Now on to the linkup!

FEATURES

First, I’m featuring Shea from Shea Lennon and her post about one of my favorite things: ice cream.

Second, I’m featuring Becky from byBMG and her post about the things she’s currently loving.

RULES

-Link back to Spreading His Grace, Bows and Clothes, or both

-Subscribe to both blogs and follow each of us on at least one social media

Mackenzie: Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Sarah: Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin'

-This linkup has no theme so we encourage you to link any of your recent posts. Also note that we have the right to delete your link if it isn't appropriate. However, we are super excited to read about your passions and are so glad that you've decided to join us!

An InLinkz Link-up

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.