Ooh, it’s been a doozy of a week. Our living room has nearly been converted to a hospital. We are all down (except for my husband), but I see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

A few of my children are feeling better, which is awesome. I was the last to fall, so I expect to feel crummy for a couple more days.

Everything feels hard. Like, I placed a Walmart pick up order for my husband to get, and it took me twice as long as normal.

Said order had to be pushed back until tomorrow because there is a winter storm advisory on Friday, and all of the spots for today were already full. Here in the south, we take these warnings very seriously. I’m hoping that tomorrow, there are still some groceries left.

In the meantime, I asked my husband to stop by Dollar General on the way home. There are around 20 in our county alone, so that shouldn’t be a problem. The only thing that sounds yummy right now and is super easy to fix, is Spaghetti-Os. This is something I usually never eat, but I will make an exception today since I feel badly.

I ordered multiple cans of Annie’s Bernie O’s today, but alas, he cannot pick them up until tomorrow.

I want some warm pasta, okay? Even if it’s full of bad ingredients. (I’m literally laughing at myself right now.)

Anyhow, some exciting news happened this week too, and I wanted to share! I plan to celebrate every little thing that happens in my budding author career. (If you can even call it that.)

And friends, I want to encourage you to celebrate your life, too! So many little exciting things happen to us each day, and we should be happy about them. This is the making of a beautiful life.

So, almost one week ago, I ran a Kindle freebie for my book, The Amish Schoolmarm. I also ran a Facebook ad for this book at the same time.

Well, it reached the #1 spot in both 20th Century Historical Romance and Amish Romance categories. At one point, it reached #169 in the entire free kindle store.

(Screenshot from my Instagram story.)

This is HUGE for me, since my books normally stay in like, the top 5,000 when I run a freebie. I’m so, so happy with the results.

Since then, the book is getting many more page reads from Kindle Unlimited then usual, and good reviews are rolling in, too.

I’m seriously just so thankful.

And then, I released a Nature Journal to accompany The Mystery of the Missing Orchids, which is the first book in a new children’s series I’ve started to write.

It debuted as the #1 New Release in Children’s Diary Books

I was floored.

So while my writing career is still not very profitable, I’m seeing little glimmers of hope.

I like looking for glimmers of hope in every situation I’m in, when I can. It’s a good habit to cultivate.

So I’m looking for glimmers of hope in my writing, and in this sickness we’re facing.

I believe it’s making our immune systems stronger, which is a good thing. Really, there is a bright side to everything.

Before I go, I’d like to remind you that I’d love for you to join The Mystery of the Missing Orchids ARC Team! Here is more info if you’re interested.

Also, 31 Days of Rest: Daily Thoughts for Tired Moms also recently released if you’d like to check it out. It includes 31 days of short readings, that will hopefully encourage you.