Fish, Food, & 4-Wheel Drive | Life Updates from Your Favorite Author 😁

March has been fun.

But it can’t hold a candle to April.

And, as of writing this, we ain’t even started yet, folks.

March here is known for some pretty wacky weather, but nothing to make national news. That’s why we always wait till April to plan our garden and get seeds going and such. But wanna know the other reason?

April has the wackiest weather.

And I’m talking wacky.

Wacky as is I got a sunburn the on April 1st, then drove home in a blizzard on the 3rd.

I think April was pulling its own little April fool’s prank. But I, for one, did not find it humorous. I wanted spring, not one last ode to winter. 😐⛄

Farewell, March

March has been crazy. I feel like all I did was work work work. Then work some more. #thebusylife and I’m feeling it.

Unfortunately, I did not participate too much in The King’s Daughters Writing Camp. But I did reach my goal! Granted, it was a tiny goal, cause #busy (hey, let’s see how many times I can use that word in one post 😆), but I got there.

March also saw several release dates!

Lost Time by P.D. Atkerson
Merchant by Chuck Black
This Life of Mine by Victoria Lynn (More on this one further down!)
KEY by Madisyn Carlin

We also got way more rain than usual for March (that resulted in roads flooding and creeks swelling), which is one reason I didn’t even think snow in April would be an issue. 🙄 But I did get plenty of rain walks in with my Pyrenees puppy, and that makes me happy. 🥰 ☔

Hello, April

April seems bound and determined to make a splash, and she sure started off right. April 1st found us up in the mountains, beanies and sunglasses out, watching the first dirt bike race of the season (WUP WUP!). It was cool and breezy, but I came home with a souvenir sunburnt nose and chapped lips. This racing season’s gonna be a blast!

Then, not two days later, Nevada and Utah got together and decided it would be great fun to pull a Wyoming and dump us with snow. Flying horizontal. 😶 On the very day I just so happened to be out shopping. 😐 Blue skies and sun for the whole day, then WHAM. Not even on our way home and it’s snowing sideways. Sideways, people. 😑

The Lord definitely had His hand on us on our return trip. It was 20 MPH and four-wheel drive weather out there. The first mountain pass we almost turned around. The roads were slick, the windshield horrible, visibility slim, and that was just trying to see where the lines on the road were. But we made it safe, praise the Lord.

Then, while refueling on the other side, an ambulance went up the same way we’d just come down, lights flashing and sirens wailing. Just saying, that could have easily been us they were coming for.

The rest of the trip was much better, the snow holding out and the roads in good condition for the next mountain pass, even though the snow was thick in the fields and valleys. Then it decided to start snowing again just as we were reaching home.

Thanks, April.

Oh, and we got a fish! Well, actually, it’s my brother’s, and it’s a tank mate to a cute lil goldfish that was gifted to him. So now we have Bruce and Tony and their fish tank giving off a nice little ambiance during these cozy winter months. (Did you hear the sarcasm in that? 😑😜)

(The gold one is Bruce and the white one is Tony. 😁 Figures we bring white fish home in a blizzard, right?)

But seriously, I’ve had it up to here with this snow business. It’s been off and on snow and sun all. Day. LONG. I’m so desperate for the spring temps I drank my coffee in my Fourth of July mug. 😐 Yes, I’m pitiful, and I shall remain this way. My willpower is single-handedly fighting off this extended winter and I’m not budging till I can break out my flip flops and shorts. *Stomps foot*

Oh, and it’s not just me. This is the second year in a row the nicer temps have been smashed with freezes. It’s negatively affecting the farmers’ crops and fruit trees.

(Oh, look, it’s snowing again. Brilliant.)

I know it’s gonna get nice again, then the thermometer will go crashing. So will my morale.

So that’s why I’m plotting my garden. 😎

Garden Plans

This year, I’m going lots of herbs and medicinals and flowers and greens. There’ll be zinnias all over the place, I’ll be harvesting and drying herbs, and freezing small leafy greenies for smoothies, so that goodness will last me past the growing season.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Herbs

🌿 Basil

🌿 Parsley

🌿 Chamomile

🌿 Peppermint

🌿 Lavender

Flowers

🌼 Zinnias

🌼 Snapdragons

🌼 Marigolds

🌼 Paperwhites

🌼 Irises

🌼 Sunflowers

🌼 Cosmos

🌼 Yellow Roses

Fruits and Veggies

🌱 Kale

🌱 Spinach

🌱 Yellow Pear Tomatoes

🌱 Onions

🌱 Lettuces

🌱 Carrots

🌱 Strawberries

And with the warmer weather (*achem* *glares at the sun that decided to show its face*) I’ll be outside more, which equals less screen time which equals more grounding and sunshine, which, if I’m being honest, I cannot wait for. But you already know that. 😏

I also pre-ordered This Life of Mine!

Eh, my photography skills need some work (as do my flat lay set-ups) but Victoria did an amazing job on this cover, y’all. I LOVE IT.

And I cannot wait to read Marcus and Dilara’s story. 🥰 It’s gonna be so sad and hard and deep and rough and painful and—yeah. I’m excited, to say the least.

Newsletter Update

Okay, one last thing. In honor of spring (or, at least, what I THOUGHT was going to be spring), I hosted a newsletter giveaway with the hopes of expanding my platform a bit and garnering a few more followers.

It worked! Two bookmarks were shipped off to the lucky winner (Congratulations, Kaitlyn!) and I grew my subscriber list by at least twenty people (only half of which subscribe to my blog to get notified of new blog posts! Aww. How sad. *Hint hint* 😉).

That was the first raffle/giveaway I’ve hosted, and it was a lot of fun! So much fun that I would love to do another one! That’s where you guys come in.

Would you like to see another giveaway? What would you like the prizes to be? If this interests you, I have a real quick form that you can fill out that would help me out ever so much. 🤎

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxExr-LEkWqCpDHLATENeOF4GVEAG_NZapJSb1fMpmios1cw/viewform?usp=sf_link

That’s all for now, folks! Thanks for reading and be sure to subscribe to my blog so you never miss a post! And, you know, if any of you out there take pity on me and my plight with late snow, please. Let’s complain together in the comments. 😆

Catch ya on the flip side!

_Mac 🤎