reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.
I’m here… buried under this creative mess somewhere.
I got the new blog up and running (ish…) but I forgot to find the time to write posts. HA!
I have so many ideas and lists for what I want to say here, but it’s taking me some time to get my blogging groove back on.
See you tomorrow- it’s Sadie’s birthday and I’ll have a post up about what she is like at 8. EIGHT!!! Jesus take the wheel.
I’ve had a paper planner as long as I can remember. I used them obsessively as a student and that obsession has continued into my adult life.
I keep hearing people say “this new planner craze”. Um, nope. There’s always been a planner frenzy in my life. But now I can openly let my freak flag fly because other people are admitting they are planner freaks too! WHOOP!
Digital calendars do NOT work for me. I’ve always been a write it down on paper type of gal. I will always love paper planners. If I could find a way to parlay helping people find their planner peace into a career, I’d do it.
So all of that said…I’m working on a big ole planner post for the blog.
Here are some of the questions I’ve gotten.
I plan on addressing all of these questions, but I wanted to open the comments up to you and ask what YOU would like to know.
So I’m asking for your feedback. Let me know what you’d like to see in a blog post about planners? Would you like a video too?
Be specific, and remember…NO question is silly. Seriously.
I hope you all have a beautiful Monday. I’m working on responding to all of your comments as well as a Rome recap!
NOTE: I will always respond to your comments, though it might take some time. I don’t know if WordPress notifies you when I respond? So make sure to always check back!!
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about my word for 2016.
Some years I pick a word, sometimes I don’t. I don’t do a lot with the word during the year. By that I mean…I don’t really blog about it. Or talk about it, or scrapbook about it.
I just try to be mindful of it. And sometimes I completely forget what my word is. But I love Ali’s concept and think it’s a wonderful way to live. This year I didn’t want to pick a word if it wasn’t meaningful. As I watched my friends share their choices on Instagram, I decided I wouldn’t participate this year.
And then, out of nowhere, I couldn’t stop thinking about life lately. And how crazy it is. And how I feel like I’m in survival mode and how sometimes I feel like I’m running on a treadmill that’s just
going
too
fast.
And I can’t catch up no matter how fast I run.
I don’t like that.
I don’t like not experiencing the moment, not living in it. The best way I can explain it is this:
Do any of you understand what I’m saying? I can’t feel it because I’m trying to get through it.
And I want to change that.
I want to embrace this crazy, messy, overwhelming, beautiful life. I want to remember how Cora smiles at me. I want to remember the feeling of Cate holding one of my hands and Lucy holding the other. I want to remember the feeling when Jimmy walks in the door after a long long day at work. I want to remember the way Italy looks, smells, feels, and tastes. I don’t ever want to forget Sadie’s spunk and Harper’s transition from little girl to tween.
I want to savor all of it.
And just like that, I realized that I had a word for 2016. I want to savor my life. I want to savor each day, not get through each day.
I’m starting small.
When I get stressed over silly things that don’t matter, I remind myself to breathe. When Cate and Lucy ask me to read them a book, I say yes. When I’m doing laundry and Harper says she wants to talk, I stop and we talk. And I really look at her.
Here’s to a year of mindfulness- a year of paying attention and a year of enjoying the ride.
It’s been a while hasn’t it? I have so much to share. Even when I wasn’t blogging I was sharing my thoughts on Goodreads and my reading Instagram account.
I want this blog series to be a place where we can all talk about what we are reading, loving, hating, what we are wanting to read and what we wish we hadn’t.
Please comment and share your thoughts!
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person
by Shonda Rhimes // This one’s tricky. I really liked it a lot. The “girl power”/”girl boss” element is excellent. Shonda is fierce and strong and doesn’t take crap from anyone. I love that. I found so many parts of the book inspiring. I nodded my head and laughed out loud. I really identified with her chapter on mommy wars and her thoughts on women not being able to accept compliments. I read many parts out loud to Jimmy and her words facilitated many conversations between us. But I also felt like the book could have been so much more. Shonda never let us know too much and she never got truly deeply personal. I know….that’s a lot to ask. But I found the book to be more inspiring platitudes and I wanted it to be more of a personal memoir. With all that said…I definitely recommend it. 3.5 stars.
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff // I am going to be the odd woman out here. And I’m okay with it. This was President Obama’s favorite book of 2015. I saw countless friends rave about it and read glowing reviews. But I HATED IT. Hated hated hated hated it. Ugh. I hated the characters. They were horrible and selfish people. And although I can honestly say that Groff is a talented author (obviously) I was turned off by her style. I honestly can’t even put it into words. I just had a very visceral reaction to this book – and not in a good way. 1 star.
We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh // I loved The Language of Flowers so I reserved this one at the library as soon as it came out. I loved it. Diffenbaugh wrote each character beautifully and I fell in love with each of them for different reasons. The book really moved me-and I still think about it now and then. 4.5 stars.
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter // SO MESSED UP. And creepy and dark and nauseating in certain parts. If any of those things are too much for you..don’t read it. But I thought it was so good. It kept me glued to my earphones – I listened to it on Audible. Really- consider yourself warned. SO MESSED UP. But riveting. 4 stars.
Anything at all by Colleen Hoover // I am not a romance girl usually. Not that I have anything against reading- I don’t discriminate when it comes to books…I love ALL books. But Colleen Hoover made me a romance girl. She’s funny and witty and her stories are HOT and realistic. Not cheesy. I love her. I listen to her books on Audible as well.
The Hummingbird by Stephen Kiernan // This book was really interesting to me. At first I kind of skimmed all of the historical parts of the book but then I realized that they were crucial to the plot line so I had to go back and start over. As an army wife…the PTSD parts were painful to read. But so well written. One small negative – I got kind of annoyed with the way the main characters talked to each other. I deeply enjoyed the hospice parts of the book. It was a beautifully written and tender tale. Just lovely. 3.5 stars.
For more of my recently read book reviews, check HERE.
+ Anything and everything by Karin Slaughter
+ The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
+ Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
+ Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
+ Carrie by Stephen King
+ Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
Whew! That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too. So many books so little time!
So what about you? Tell me about what’s on your list.
Well hello there 2016! And hello to all of you!
2015 was the year of many things.
Travel
Reading
Eating
Cora.
Yeah. That was the big one. And because of that…2016 was NOT the year of creating. Or blogging. But oh…it was a beautiful, surprising, amazing year.
One of my number one goals for 2016 is to blog again. I want to blog about reading, making, planning, shopping, drinking, eating, traveling, mothering. I want to start a YouTube channel. And this is the year it’s going to happen.
Step one of that resolution is finally moving to a self-hosted WordPress blog. I’ve wanted to do this for years and years.
There is MUCH work to be done. Migrating my old blog. Culling and cataloging what I want to keep. Customizing my design. Tweaking things.
But I’m not in a rush. This platform is so much more intuitive and easy. I am tired of Typepad. It wasn’t easy and it is part of the reason I stopped blogging.
So here we are. And here YOU are. Thank you so much for sticking with me.
Won’t you say hi if you are out there? Tell me who you are, when and how you started reading, and what keeps you coming back.
Love to all of you!