February 2026 Recap

 

Introduction:

Hey everyone! I hope you had a fabulous month! My February flew by, but I enjoyed every moment and was intentional with almost every day! I am continuing on in this new series where I recap each month to keep track of my year from the small stuff to the big stuff, so when January 1st 2027 gets here I'm not left thinking "What the heck happened in 2026?" If you missed January's recap where I explain more on this process and how I'm keeping track, you can read that here. 

Recapping in Four Parts: Writing, Reading, Health, And Other Life Stuff

Writing

Habit Tracker: 20/28 writing days. Although the other 8 were still writing days for me. If you know, you know. Lol 

Last month I told you I started a new book, and I am currently still drafting that book. I am making good progress and have been showing up daily to get in my word count! I have been back to my roots doing word sprints and that has really helped as well. Woo hoo! I am almost halfway through this draft with plans to finish in March. No title or blurb reveal yet, but it is an M/M Friends to Lovers book with some of my favorite tropes like obsession, hurt/comfort, and more! I just swoon when writing it. I may even have a book cover already that I bought for a steal on a premade cover sale a long time ago! I feel like this book is coming together quickly and easier than any story before. And as an audiobook girlie, I absolutely already have a list of narrators I love for when the time comes. 

I hope to have more updates in March and maybe I will share more on my ghosted social media platforms and more importantly, my newsletter! So if you aren't signed up for that you can do that here to get any book news first, and of course you can follow me on social media if that's your jam. 

Reading

Like January, February was another slow month of reading for me. But that is a good thing as my attention has been on writing, working on my craft, and letting my storytelling brain take center stage. Yay! I finished 4 books and loved every single one of them! I'm thinking I need to bring in maybe a quarterly book recommendation blog post this year as well to highlight my absolute favorite reads for y'all. 

My hubby and I are also currently reading 3 non-fiction books at night. We read a few pages out of each with me reading out loud to us and we love it. We learn, discuss, and laugh. He is not a reader, but wants to learn so I am his audiobook. Lol  

I am also currently buddy reading for the first time ever with an author friend! We are reading The Happy Writer by Marissa Meyer. It is filled with so many good brainstorm ideas and makes me feel joyful while reading it. Highly recommend for all writers and it's free to read in KU as of this writing!

Health

As I mentioned in my January Recap, I started my habit tracker calendar this month so I will have more information for you below than in January's post!  I am glad I did this as it helped keep me on track with my overall yearly goals, evaluate what worked and what didn't work for me, and now I can adjust for March to make next month even better. 

Water

It turns out the 6 glasses (48oz) of water a day I set is not doable right now. I didn't reach this goal, but for 1 day out of 28.  The other days I was getting half that, sometimes more, and a few days were less than that. I have changed that goal to starting with half of that and guess what? The pressure is off, and I know making that goal is 100% doable. I was clearly aiming too high for a beginner who went from drinking hardly any water. I am going to stay at 3 glasses a day until that feels easy and I am naturally going over that consistently until 6 glasses feels good.

Intentional Movement

I did this habit 7/28 days. So I have lots of room for improvement here. Zumba didn't feel good this month so what got me to do those 7 days were walks and Get Fit With Rick Videos on Youtube. So again, I am going to scale back and not try and start at 100% when I have 20% left to give. Lol I may even start with just intentional stretching for 5 minutes in March. Something to where I am not trying to go harder than my capabilities when this is all new. 

Sleep (7-9 hours)

I did this habit 15/28 days. Lots of room for improvement here. This was me being my usual night owl self. I thrive at night, and clearly just need to sleep in later in the mornings, or try going to bed earlier and trial that. I also need to make sure I am being more mindful of my time once I get up for the day and really go ahead and get going, and limit screen time. I will try some things in March and get back to you. 

Skin Care/ Self Care

Morning Skincare: 23/28 days 

Evening Skincare: 11/28 days

My morning skincare goes great and I know I'm waiting too late at night on the evening skincare so I will set a specific evening time for that to improve those numbers in February. I also don't wear makeup so this is also part of the easiness to skip it. On the days I do wear makeup though, I am washing my face. 

Journaling

Habit Tracker: 28/28 days

This is my easiest habit. Super short. Doable. I like where I am at with this and loving it. I am even planning on starting physical journaling in March and DIY-ing my own travelers journal!  

Vitamins

27/28 Days 

I am currently taking these adult gummies and love them. And an additional Vitamin D.

Other Life Stuff

Time Outside/Birding

Lots of time spent with family at the park and feeding the ducks! Sunshine and nature helps with the mental health y'all. I promise! This is one of my favorite things to do. And of course, more birding! The highlight has been seeing the seagulls and pelicans for me during this winter season. I think they are all beautiful! I have loved noticing the behavoir of birds through each season and noticing which birds come to my yard during which season. You learn a lot by watching birds. 

Films/TV

Again, I wasn't reading much this month due to writing, so film is where that time went. Sandokan The Pirate Prince definitely fills that historical romance slow burn enemies to lovers well, and if you loved Gossip Girl, the guy who plays Chuck Bass is in this! SWOON! I ate this show up and it was one of the only things I have been able to watch after Heated Rivalry. But still forever and always will be  re-heating Heated Rivalry. Lol Bridgerton season four is also really great and I love supporting our romance author community! This season is the true Cinderella story. Way to go Julia Quinn and Rachel Reid! I also did a Pirates of The Caribbean rewatch coming off of Sandokan. 

Anniversary  

The hubby and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on the 17th! This was a big deal for us and we celebrated so much after making it through so much and healing, and personal growth. All the things! We are more in love than ever before. We celebrated by going to a fancy tea shop, having a steak and potato dinner at home, and seeing  the new "Wuthering Heights." I am obsessed with this movie and will be seeing it again. (I did not read the book so probably why I loved it. It was provocative, toxic, and made for the dark romance girlies. I loved it!) The playlist is currently on repeat for me while writing now. The 50SOG playlist has been moved over. Lol 

Conclusion 

February was a great month! Writing wise and being creatively inspired felt better than ever! I definitely have some trial and error to do on some other habits, but I am for sure prioritizing my goal of writing and publishing this year and I am very proud of that! Let me know in the comments below how your February was and if you reached your goals or what you worked on. 

As always,

Happy Writing & Reading!