New Adventures and Far-off Places: February at a Glance

February was full of a lot of "firsts" for me, which was both exhausting and exciting. 

As some of you may know, I work in international education. In my specific line of work, I help to bring university students to come to the United States to work during their academic break. I do a lot of positive engagement with government officials and whatnot, so I haven't had the chance to do a lot of traveling. My colleagues travel all around the world and throughout the United States. 

This time, I was able to travel to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for a hiring event. And let me tell you, it was so much fun. I was able to see my old students, pretend that I know how to speak Spanish, and I even met a Marley (there are a lot of them so I guess that's not too surprising). While it was so much fun, it was exhausting to be on the go basically all day for a week straight. I ended up getting really really sick on my last day in Jamaica and let me tell you - it is not fun flying for five hours when you have a fever and the chills. Airports are full of gross germs. Luckily, two days of bed rest (and some antibiotics) cured me, and I'm right back!

This trip made up most my February because I was very anxious about going - this was my first time

traveling internationally in 8 years (that's sad to say), I've never been to the Carribean, and this was my first time spending so much time away from home. It was so much fun and I can't wait to go to Jamaica again, I'll have to bring the husband next time. Also, I have to mention how weird it was to come back to Chicago and still be able to wear the same clothes I was wearing in Jamaica. Climate change is NOT cool.

I sucked when it came to reading and blogging. I was doing pretty well the first week of February, but then everything went to hell. I had to go on a 10-day hiatus because I couldn't bring myself to schedule posts for my time overseas, and then I got super sick and couldn't even bring myself to look at a computer or pick up a book. I did attend the BHP twitter chat on February 28 which really got the wheels turning for future blog content. I'm excited to share with you all, but I need to make sure I know what I'm doing first! Bullet journal to the planning rescue!

 

Well, this is embarrassing. I only read five books in February, and one was a 100-page novella. Ugh. This is what happens when I'm anxiety-ridden apparently. And to top it all of, the majority of these reads were 3-star reads (Hunted, Appealed, and Wayfarer). That was also my highest rating. My least favorite read was The Beast is an Animal, which I gave 2 stars. March will be better, surely. 

 

Ah March, the month I redeem myself. I hope to read at leat 14 books and get all of my March reviews up and submitted to publishers. I also went overboard at my library and checked out 10 books so I need to read all of those before they're due. I need to practice restraint. I don't have anything crazy happening in March so I should be around a lot more, especially on instagram!

 

Did you do anything fun in February? 

How many books did you read?