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Hannah Mason

The 31-Day Blog Post Challenge (Part Four)

I used to watch youtube a lot. At one time in my life, it was the "in" thing. I suppose it still is the "in" thing although it is no longer something I ever participate in. When I watched videos on youtube there used to often be "A Day in the Life" videos and "What's in My Handbag" videos. Well, today we have reached the portion of the 31-day blog post challenge when you get to experience that.


You can click the links below to skip to particular questions and you will find a schedule for the full 31-day blog post challenge at the bottom of the page.

What's in my handbag?

I think this question is usually answered on the spot (ie. What is in my handbag at this very moment). However, what's in my handbag right now is quite different than what's usually in my handbag given that my handbag is currently packed for my flight on Thursday. Let me give you a little overview of what's in my handbag.

  • My handbag was bought for me by my mother on my last birthday (my 21st) and I love it. It has a number of pockets (which is a necessity for any bag I own since I love to organize) and it has a smaller bag that fits nicely inside the larger one. I like to put a few necessities like lip balm, lady's supplies, bandaids, and ibuprofen in the small bag and take it with me if I am just going into town. I'm I am going out for the night or traveling I use the larger bag.

  • The flowery bag was given to me by a friend. I call it my "emergency bag." It contains items like bandaids, ibuprofen, lip balm, hair ties, and more. I ALWAYS am sure to include earring backs in there because I have a habit of fiddling with my earrings and losing the backs. I sometimes include extra pearl earrings in case I lose one on the go.

  • I always have a plethora of notecards and/or post-its. I tend to use simple black stick pens and have a collection.

  • When I am traveling, I like to use this little white box that my traveling charger came in. It is a convenient storage box for a small cord, my travel charger, my headphones, my headphone adaptor for iPhones, and the charger for the traveling charger. It also fits snugly in the smaller bag.

  • I have bought myself a treat for the road so currently, my bag has Risens (dark chocolate with caramel) and Brookside dark chocolate acai-blueberry candies.

  • My book generally has a book in it whether that's a book to read on the plane or in the airport, a book to read while waiting for a movie or play to start or a book to bring along "just in case" there's a chance to read it. I plan to bring along Two Dark Reigns on my trip.

A timeline of my average day:

My days are somewhat in limbo right now. A year ago, I had a routine down. This week I have had somewhat of a routine as I have cleaned the house and prepared to leave for Pennsylvania. But next week I begin a new journey and I have little to no idea of how it will look. I will be starting two new jobs but I do not know what my hours will be at either of them or which one I'll work when and because of that, I don't know when I'll fit in my writing, reading, and exercise. So for this question, let me just tell you a little bit about what I do each day right now and what I plan to continue doing whether or not I know when I'll be doing it.

  • My mornings usually start around 6:00 am. I have an alarm on my phone set for six but I often rise with the sun in the summer. I don't usually get out of bed until 5:45 am at the earliest so as not to wake anyone. That may change when I live in my own basement apartment. Once I am up, I take my morning meds and go to get up the dogs. I feed the two family dogs and bring Asha inside (she gets fed a little later). I eat a bowl of cereal and then shower and get dressed.

  • Mornings are usually my most productive times. I used to use this time to get my homework done. When I wasn't doing homework, I would use mornings to write, do housework, or write blog posts. Whatever was on my list for the day, the morning was the time to do it unless there was a particular reason it couldn't be done in the morning. In the past, if I worked in the morning (I was never scheduled earlier than ten), I got as much done as possible before ten knowing I wouldn't get anything done once I came home from work. I suspect the same to be the case in Pennsylvania.

  • Afternoons are my chill time unless I am scheduled to be doing something. Unless I am working, doing something in town, or hanging out with friends, I tend to put pajama pants on around 4 or 5 pm. At that time, I begin to read. My family often has dinner at 6:00 pm and more regularly (given the number of activities drawing one family member or another away from the house at dinner time) we eat while watching a show.

  • Between 7:45 and 8:00 pm I like to get ready for bed. I always have some kind of dessert at this time whether that's a small cup of cereal, a cookie, a piece of pear with yogurt. In the winter months (and usually in the spring and fall as well) I like to fill up my hot water bottle and take it with me to bed. I get really cold really easily so this silicone bottle covered in fabric and filled with boiling water warms my feet and bed nicely. Before I turn out the lights, I eat my dessert and watch a show. For the past few days, that show has gone back and forth between Gilmore Girls and Body of Proof. Usually, I stick with one show at a time though. I like everything from cop shows (Brooklyn 99, Blue Bloods) to comedies (Blackish) to medical dramas (The Good Doctor, Chicago Med) and everything in between. When I am finished my show, I always read 10-15 minutes of whatever book I'm reading at the time (usually until my eyelids are drooping.)

My worst habits:

I noted before that I have a terrible habit of fiddling with my earrings when I'm out and about. The habit is bad enough that I have to bring extra earrings and earrings backs with me when I go places for extended periods of time. I also fiddle with my ring all the time and have nearly lost it on numerous occasions. That's a problem because I got the stunning piece of jewelry when my dad brought it back from Russia. The woman who gave it to him (to give to me) had heard my medical journey. She said it moved her to give the ring (which she had received as a purity ring on her 18th birthday) to me. As a child, I bit my nails terribly to the point that my mother would paint them with nasty tasting nail polish and I would lick off the polish just so that I could keep biting my nails. Now, I no longer bite my nails to that level but I do pick at them if they get rough at all and will use my teeth to do so if necessary. I do also bite the dead skin off my lips, needing them to be absolutely smooth. I make my own lip balm for that very purpose.


My pet peeves:

I have a giant amount of pet peeves. I struggle to stop myself from telling off my siblings when they get on my nerves because of my pet peeves. Slowly, I am working to kill off my pet peeves but it is a very slow process that doesn't seem to be getting any faster (though thankfully I am making progress). Some of those pet peeves include the following:

  • People who don't like dogs. I understand fear of dogs. If you have a fear of dogs, I am have nothing against you (there are some scary dogs out there). But if you won't pet my 15 lb teddy bear dog who is desperate to say hello because you don't think you'd be good with her, I have something against you.

  • Cracking of knuckles. Nails on a chalkboard don't bother me. This does.

  • Feet in my line of sight when I'm trying to watch a movie. Particularly if they're wiggling. Particularly if they're bare.

  • People who say they don't like reading but have never tried with a book up their ally (people with reading disorders don't count)

  • This one is dumb because it isn't completely grammatically correct but I often get frustrated when people say "Me and Henry" instead of "Henry and I." In most cases, the second one is correct but there are cases where the first is correct. Either way, the first is a pet peeve.

  • Sniffers. Blow your nose people.

  • People playing music so loud you can't hear the words but can feel it beating in the ground whether that's next-door neighbors or the car next to you playing it with their window rolled down.

  • People singing. I know it's stupid but it bothers me when people sing in a couple of different ways. A. badly. B. in a way that society deems good but trained singers don't. Breathy or throaty. C. catchy songs that stay in your head forever. D. songs about sex, drugs, and other such stuff.

The 31-Made-7-Day Blog Post Challenge Schedule:

Day One: Intro to the Challenge

  • An introduction to the thirty-one-day challenge

  • 20 fun-facts about me

Day Two: All About Me

  • My earliest childhood memory

  • An old photo of me

  • 3 personality traits I am proud to have

  • My deepest fears

  • My piercings/tattoos

  • My first celeb crush

  • My guilty pleasure

  • A weird quirk I have

Day Three: My Favorites

  • 10 of my favorite foods

  • My favorite comfort food

  • My favorite quote

  • A favorite childhood book

  • My most proud moment

  • 10 of my favorite songs

  • My favorite physical features

  • 5 of my favorite blog posts

Day Four: Daily Life

  • What's in my handbag?

  • A timeline of my average day

  • My worst habits

  • My pet peeves

Day Five: My Past (part 1)

  • Something I miss

  • The last time I cried

  • Something that always makes me feel better

  • A difficult time in my life

Day Six: A Difficult Time in my Life (part 2)


Day Seven: The Future

  • What would I do if I won the lottery?

  • My dream job

  • Where do I want to be in 10 years?

  • My top bucket list items


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