Announcements and my Love for you!

Hello, Browsers! Happy Friday!

Alright. This will be mostly an announcement post. I will not be able to post next week. It's getting to that part of the semester where life is just increasingly difficult. I have a lot of things to catch up on, and I'll use next week to do it. That's right, guys, not even the What is Monique Learning? idea can save me from the amount of studying I have to do. Meanwhile, here are some of the things you can do on the blog while I'm off studying.

All the stuff!

-Feature A Blogger Sign-ups are still open. Sign up to get a chance to be featured on my blog. 

-Get to know Olivia and Vi by reading their Feature A Blogger posts. Go say hi! :)

-Nominations for the SAC Award. Every once in awhile, we come across characters that we really hate or characters that need a good talking to. The SAC Award, also known as the Slap A Character Award is inspired by Queen Levana from The Lunar Chronicles. The award goes to a fictional character that really gets on our nerves, a character that is just mildly annoying, or a character that we love but they seriously need a wake-up call. . Scroll down and in the sidebar, there are nominees for the next SAC Award. I think you'll be surprised by who found their way on the list. So, you decide. Who should we "slap" next? Do you have nominations? Comment your nominees and I'll add them to the list. 

-Explore the features.

-Learn a tiny piece of Genetics by viewing the What is Monique Learning? post.

-Read Teasers and Theories for the upcoming novel, Winter by Marissa Meyer. 

-Go read some Fake Texting Between Emperor Kai and Captain Thorne. 

-Book recommendations? Tell me what I should read next. 

-Want to share a bookish/discussion post from your own blog? Put the link to your post in the comments.

Thank you guys for being amazing with all the views, comments, likes, and shares. I love you! <3 Never forget that.

What is Monique Learning? #1

Greetings, my wonderful browsers! :)

It's a Wednesday and I'm posting! Yes, that means we're almost done with this week, and I'm not dead from Organic Chemistry classwork! Yes!!!

I've been learning a lot of cool stuff in my science classes and also some of the boring stuff, but oh well, what are  you going to do? I have to learn all the details to figure out who I want to become and all that jazz. 

I know sometimes my schoolwork takes me away from blogging, so I wanted to find a way to incorporate school and blogging, you know, to show them that there can be a truce and that they don't always have to fight for my attention! Such greedy things! I love them both!

Well, here's the truce I've come up with: when I really don't have the time to post a very detailed, bookish blog post, I'll just post something interesting I've learned from one of my science classes! That way I'm studying and blogging all at the same time. How about that? I also promise to just post the interesting, fun things I've learned, not the details that will make your head spin.

Well here's #1 of the new "What is  Monique Learning" Experiment. This one is coming to you from Genetics.

Mosaicism can develop as a result of mitotic nondisjunction early in embryogenesis. What is embryogenesis you ask? It's the process by which the embryo forms and develops. Ok, so what's mitotic nondisjunction? To put things short and simple, it's when the chromosomes don't separate properly during mitosis. And Mosaicism? Let's just say that it's when your cells have different genotypes. I'm really simplifying here, but let's move on.  

So why am I sharing this with you? Didn't I say I would only share the fun stuff? Great question! I'm so glad you asked!

The interesting thing is in that word Mosaicism. Some organisms have sex-chromosome mosaicism that produces gynandromorphs.  Ugh! I know, right?! There I go throwing in another big word at you. Bear with me for a second. It's actually a very simple word. It means these organisms have individuals that have some female cells and some male cells (because of the mitotic nondisjunction).

Well, what do they look like? Here you go!

Examples:

Half-male/Half-Female peacock

Half-hen/Half-rooster 

Half-male/Half-female Fly

Half-male/Half-female Butterfly

I just think that's really cool! Hopefully you all enjoyed that too and I didn't bore you to death. I can't wait what wonders I'll get to learn next. 

Thanks for sticking around,
Monique loves you. <3

Where are you, Monique?

Hello Browsers!

Yes, I know! I said I wouldn't be around for one week and it turned into two weeks! You'd never guess just how hard Organic chemistry turned out to be. I'm actually not procrastinating and reading ahead because I feel like my brain is going to explode! I'm going to take the time out today to respond to all the comments that I've been missing out on and visiting your blogs. I know my blogging schedule got a little bit out of hand while doing the TBR Challenge, but it's fine. 

I can safely return to my regular blogging schedule for the week. That's my normal Monday, Wednesday, and Friday blog posts. Here's a question that might be lurking in the minds of my subscribers: WHERE ARE THE REVIEWS?

I know, I know. Here's my answer: They are coming. Yes. It may take till November because October is a pretty busy month for me right now, but rest assured, they are coming. All of them. 

Like I said, the normal blogging schedule is on for this week. I can't guarantee next week will be the same thing. As much as I love you guys and this blog, I don't want to die in my classes, so I must focus. This is a day of visiting blogs and commenting back. :)

I have good news for my Feature A Blogger requesters. I have gotten  lots of requests and I'm planning to put that back in full effect and I'm also planning to do a little giveaway one day that has to do with the Feature A Blogger posts. The whole reason I started the feature was to promote other book bloggers and I should make sure to keep up with that. Hopefully with your support, it will turn out to be amazing. If you don't know what a Feature A Blogger post is, you can find out/sign-up here @ Feature A Blogger Explained.

I noticed that my posts about The Lunar Chronicles are my most popular posts, and I've learned that people actually type in my name in order to find out more things about The Lunar Chronicles??? Whoa!! That's amazing! As a treat, I've scheduled a blog post for Winter by Marissa Meyer as part of my Theories For A Series Feature. I hope you guys like it, it will probably show up on Wednesday. Feel free to utilize the search bar to find more Lunar Chronicles' posts. 

And as a plus, do you want Teasers for Winter by Marissa Meyer?
Here are my Winter Teasers posts:
Winter Teasers#1
Winter Teasers#2

Thanks for being awesome! :)

Feature and Follow Friday: Trading Places

Feature and Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison can Read

This week's question: Tell us about a book character you’d trade places with – Suggested by Escaping Within Pages

My Response

This is actually a hard one because I read a lot of dystopia and I know very few (if any) people I would actually trade places with in a dystopia setting. I decided to go with Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Why would I not want to trade places with her. 

Ahem. What was that? Ofcourse I had to find a picture of her reading. It would be criminal not to use it! :P Elizabeth Bennet has the elegance of a true lady, unmatched wit, intelligence, independence, and did I mention she gets to marry Mr. Darcy? Not to mention living in that household would be hilarious! I might even get the chance to give Wickham a piece of my mind (in an elegant fashion ofcourse) Yup! I think trading places with her would be quite a good trade. 

Picture from the 1995 bbc adaptation

What about you guys? Who would you trade places with? 

 

Hiatus Lifted and School Started

Hello my wonderful Browsers! The hiatus has been lifted! Woohoo!!!

And guess what? Yup! You guessed it right! School has started... You're probably like:

Haha! I'm actually really excited for this new school year. I hope to do even better than last year and I would love to "Keep Moving Forward" as the Robinson's would say. :)

It's going to be a great year! 

Now what was I doing while I was away? Sadly, the florida trip was a let down. I didn't get to go due to many scheduling difficulties and all that jazz. I still got to go to the international camporee in Oshkosh!! I had a blast! Sadly, I'm like the only person that does not remember to take pictures of important events, (I'm enjoy the moment so much, I forget to capture it) so many pictures will have to wait till I can borrow them from a friend. Here's basically what went down: Honors, Fun, Lots and lots of walking. 

There were almost 40,000 people there, so there were tents everywhere! This is my second Oshkosh experience and I can't wait to go back in 2019!

There was a play everyday based on Daniel every night. Yes, I'm talking about Daniel from the bible. I wish you guys had all been there. I can't even type properly because I'm still really exhilarated from the experience. There's just no way to describe it. You had to be there. However, I will try.

This year's international camporee was titled "Faithful Forever" and focused on Daniel's faithfulness to God while he was taken into Babylon. There were people from everywhere! It was an amazing sight to see! It actually started raining the first day we got there and the last day of the event. The play was ending when it started raining, but it wasn't quite finished. The wonderful actors decided to stick it out through the rain and keep their performance up. Many people left, but a lot of people stayed as well. We were getting soaked, but we didn't care. It was too good of a show to miss. I'm really glad I got the opportunity to go, and hope that everybody could get the same chance as I did. 

Did I mention there was FOOD? Yes! Food from everywhere! It is an international camporee after all. Roti, spinach patties, churros etc. It was amazing! I apologize for the lack of pictures.

I'm glad to be back!

Blogging Hiatus: On Vacation

Hello everybody! 

Here's something you need to know. By the time this is posted, I'll probably be in Florida!! :) I thought I was going back to my home country for a month to visit my family and friends, but I'm going to Florida instead cause apparently everyone is there this time of year. I haven't seen them in years. After that I'm heading out to Oshkosh for a big camporee with my church. 

I can't wait! I need a break from life. 

I'll be back to blogging sometime in august! As soon as I get back, I'll be happy to check everything. Thank you guys for being awesome! You get lots of virtual cookies and cyber hugs from me! :)

When I get back, school will be right around the corner. Wow....can you believe how quickly the year is ending?! I hope I don't miss too much of anything while I'm away!

Remember, Feature a Blogger signups are always open, so sign up if you want to get featured on my blog! :)

Today's Post is Brought To You by The Letter.....P

Hello, Browsers!

Simon from Stuck in a Book has started a new meme. I thought it was a whole lot of fun, so I joined in, ofcourse! It's really easy...but may be a bit challenging depending on what letter you get. Basically, you get assigned a random letter and you state your favorite book, author, song, film and object beginning with that letter. Easy, right?! If you'd like to join in, leave a comment, and I'll give you a random letter, so you can do your own post. The letter I got from Simon is...P. 

Let's do this!

Favorite Book...
This is Easy!

This works out perfectly for me. I love Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel by her. Let's hope the rest of this challenge goes as smoothly...

Favorite Author...

I'm going to have to go with the author's last name....James Patterson!

We can all argue about what book he did and didn't write, but all I know is that all the books I've read under his name has been an incredible journey. The mystery of it all just pulls me in. 

Favorite Song....

My mind is a blank right now,  all I can think of is Please don't leave me by Pink

Favorite Film....

Score! Pride and Prejudice again! 

Favorite Object....

The pen! I love my pen because I love writing! It's one of my favorite pastimes with reading right next to it, ofcourse. I know that typing is the "new thing," but I like writing everything down before typing it up. I used to annoy my friends with that in high school because they thought it was stupid to write an essay twice (once with pen and once typed up on a computer), I never could convince them it was something I had to do. Haha! Good times!

So....what about you? Comment for a letter if you want  to join in! :)

As usual, thanks for reading!

An End to Five Days of Features

Hello amazing browsers! :D

I hope you guys enjoyed the 5 days of Features (more like two weeks) I forced upon you all! I had fun writing those posts! I hope you guys didn't mind me rambling about some of my favorite things. 

Let's review the features introduced:

-Slap A Character Award (SAC)
-Browsing: The Treasure Files
-Series Overview
-Theories For A Series
-MBTI: Fictional Character Edition

That's a lot! Accompanied by our veteran features: Feature A Blogger and News Alert

I'm super excited about doing these features again!

Thanks for sticking around! :) Also, thanks for your wonderful comments! I love them so much! 

If you want to get featured on my blog remember that Feature A Blogger sign-ups are always open.

Ummm.....I missed my Blogoversary?

Happy 1-year of Blogging?

So...I was just curious to know the date of my blogoversary, and it turns out that I started this blog on May 21, 2013. I find this laughable! I was planning to celebrate it with you guys, but that ship has sailed. I was not prepared for this.

Here's the rundown: I went in search of my very first blog post on Thursday (May 22), which turned out to be one day after my blogoversary. Awwww.....that sucks!

Sadly, there will be no big giveaway in celebration, but come back next year and we'll see what happens! ;)

I don't even feel like it's been a year because I've only started posting regularly since this year. I still feel like a newbie....maybe I'll always feel that way. Haha! :)

Thanks for all those who stuck around and helped me learn all the ways of blogging! I really appreciate you guys and hopefully next year I'll get to celebrate properly! 

Thanks for sticking around!

Blogging Hiatus Lifted: A Return To Blogging!

Yes! I'm back! I'm finally back!!!

My blogging hiatus lasted a little longer than expected, but I'm finally back! I missed you all so much! If you kept visiting my blog while I was away studying, you've probably seen many changes to it. Maybe you even noticed that another person's name is above mine in the sidebar. Olivia Hou.

Who is Olivia Hou, you ask? Did Monique take on a co-blogger? Nope. Olivia Hou is only one of the most amazing people you will ever interact with. She's been reorganizing my blog and designing cool things for it while I've been away! Did you notice I had a new blog button? Yep. She made that! Along with several other awesome things. 

Olivia has a blog too. Actually, she has two! Fictionally Obsessed where she gushes about books like the rest of us, and Book Bird Designs where she offers to design spectacular things for you. Some of her services are FREE, so go check them out!

Before I left, I announced the birth of Feature A Blogger! I've emailed the winner for this month (go check your emails!) and I'm expecting to hear a response really soon, so that post should be up soon as well. Also, sign-ups are already open for next month, so if you want to be featured on my blog, feel free to sign up! :)

I've also announced the winners of the Miranda Contract giveaway here. Thank you for everyone that entered, and congratulations to Chelsea and Lauren. 

I've missed you all so much, and I'll try to finish responding to all the wonderful comments you guys left me by the end of this week. I still have two finals left to study for, but after that, I'm FREE!!!! :D

Thank you for sticking around with me. 
Happy Browsing! 

Introducing: Feature A Blogger

Hello! :D

I enjoyed doing the Blog Liebster post so much that I started a whole new feature! Woohoo!

I told you guys how much self-promotion gives me anxiety, and I thought that maybe some other people felt that way too! I don't have any problem promoting anybody else, but when it comes to promoting myself.....*hides in corner*

 So, today is the birth of Feature A blogger. Every month, I plan to feature a new blogger for all of you guys to check out. If you're not a blogger, but you have something epic on the internet that you want everyone to see, you are also welcome to participate. Basically this is me saying, let me promote you for FREE! 

Sign-up in the form below! :)

Self promotion and I

Let's go take a walk, shall we?
I hate self promotion more than anything, even though I know it's necessary. You might think I'm crazy for this, but even writing a resume is hard for me. It's like: you want me to take credit for the things I've done? No way!

Have you ever heard of the word introvert? Well my picture should be next to the word in the dictionary. I just really started blogging a few months ago and any time I enter a giveaway by another blogger, it's like: I'm so inadequate, I am a lowly child...do not look my way for I am unworthy. Blogging in itself is actually a problem. Tell people that I own a blog? *gasp* Tell people to check out my blog? *insert mini heart attack here*. Even just tweeting my favorite author several times is a problem for me cause I feel like I'm being annoying.

What?!
Well 2014 I'm looking forward to shaking this....this...this DISEASE from my life.
Sorry for not posting Happy New Year! I will next time guys I promise! I'll start taking this more seriously because I love it, I just lack the time. From now on, I'll try to get atleast one post in during the week.

Hope you guys are having an awesome time. Later! :D