+  i shared my new obsession in last week's musings post. it is still going strong! i love wordle. 

+  books i started reading this week:  lagom + admission. 

+  i shared some words about what God did for me this week. i am purposely being vague about the situation because it involves my job. but i cannot stifle my praise. He showed up in very specific ways this week that i cannot deny. it has left me in a puddle of tears every time i think about it.

+  i shared a mini book review on the blog this week. i plan to do this with all my five-star reads. i realized i am not the best at recapping a book, so this is just another way for me to practice my comprehension skills. (and take pretty photos of books, lol). i also had the idea to add ratings to my reviews. so many times, i am excited to read a book only the discover it's laden with profanity + sex + propaganda. i wish all books had these kinds of ratings. 

+  jackson: “mommy, this parme-john cheese is good!” 

+  i was asked to be a bridesmaid this week. of course i said yes! 

+  jared + i tested positive for covid over the weekend. he has a lot of congestion, whereas i have severe body aches + a high fever. i have taken more hot baths in forty-eight hours than i have in the last decade. it's the only way to find relief aside from ibuprofen. but! we are on the mend. 

+  we finally took the christmas tree down this week. (our first year of marriage, the tree stayed up through february!)

+  here is this week's pinterest inspo board. 

 

*THE LOLA QUARTET - EMILY ST JOHN MANDEL*

[five stars]

>>  mini review:  this book follows gavin as he navigates his career in the slowly-dying newspaper industry while learning from his sister that he may have a child he didn’t know about with his high school girlfriend. there are glimpses into the lives of his high school friends, who all played in the jazz band, the lola quartet.

>>  what i liked:  mandel’s writing style + the character,  eilo 

>>  what i didn't like:  the ending felt a little . . . meh. it wasn’t bad (i gave it five stars!) but i just wanted . . . more.

>>  you might like this book if: you love jazz or have enjoyed emily’s writing

>>  this book may not be for you if:  you dislike music, florida, and/or flawed characters. 

>>  read this if you liked:  anything by emily. her writing style of so delightful!

ratings- (1-5, 1: mild/casually mentioned,  5: extreme)

language: 1

sex: none

violence: 1

drugs/drinking: 1 

this format inspired by this insta post by toris.bookshelf 

 i uttered the words with tears in my eyes,

“the big miracles aren’t for me. i know that.”

and then sun set

and rose the next morning

not 24 hours after my confession and

You showed me not all miracles are big

Yes-

You can part the sea

make the lame walk

give sight to blinded eyes

but Your miracles are not always acts of grandeur

tiny miracles happen in the everyday moments

like how You went before me

and gave me a place to sit

a voice to speak

it had nothing to do with luck

You were in those details

i know it for sure

and even if it all crumbled tomorrow

i would sing of Your faithfulness 

for the tiny miracles of today 

 

+  i shared my inaugural post for the new year + some goals for Q1.

+  it snowed on thursday morning. my commute was not too bad. that is the kind of snow i like! 

+  i wore a set of fake nails this week that came with glue instead of the sticky adhesive. i was at work on friday morning + was setting my laptop up when i heard a nail pop off. it made me laugh for a good ten minutes because i thought of my grandma. she wore glue-on nails for years + would always be glueing then back on. it was a sweet reminder of her.

+  thursday evenings have become our family date nights. we ate sushi, stopped for lattes, + picked up our grocery order. 

+  i saw a tweet about wordle. i am a sucker for trendy things, so you know i had to investigate. it's basically a word puzzle game. it is a nice little challenge to look forward to each day.

+  my first social media sabbath was great. i will admit that i was waiting in the car, and i started looking at FB. i was literally an hour into my sabbath! but this is why it's needed; the mindless scrolling is rotting my brain. 

+ i finished my first book of the year: feel your way through. i give it 3 stars. [it was good, but we have different world views.]

+  my new favorite thing to listen to while i write is the score soundtrack to different movies. my favs are anything from harry potter and/or transformers.

+  turns out i inadvertently stole a book from the library last week. i checked out a book i'd had on hold. i received a notification that another book was ready, so when i checked that one out earlier this week, it said the other book was also ready. oops! the kiosk was really confusing + i didn't check it out correctly. thankfully it is all good now.

+  here is this week's inspo board on pinterest.

* affiliate links throughout post 

 

my word for this quarter is  D E L I G H T 

biblical definition of delight:  “a high degree of pleasure or satisfaction of mind”  •  “greatly pleased; rejoiced"   

i want to delight in the Lord. 

in who He is. (sovereign. holy. Love) 

in what He has done + is doing + will do. (faithful)

in the gifts He has freely given to me. (steward)

in His Word. (Truth over feelings)  

this is what i wrote in my powersheets prep work when i listed all my ideas + goals + plans. 

i want them to all point back to Him.

- read 6 books.  (3 physical books)

- take a social media sabbath once a week.  i'm thinking it will start friday night + end sunday afternoon.

-  practice hygge.  delight in this winter season.

- hone my skill in microblogging.  i often approach blogging with too much logic + structure. it doesn’t always need a catchy opening line, an informational middle, + a reflective end. most of what i want to say/share can be whittled down to two paragraphs or less.

-  have fun with photography.  i am not lacking when it comes to taking photos of flowers. i want to remember the everyday moments as well. how jackson is running down the sidewalk or when luna is being so cute. snapshots of our day.

 

for reasons unbeknownst to me, i am coming into 2022 with alllllll the ideas + inspiration. maybe it’s the extra free time i have or maybe it’s my rediscovered love for pinterest. maybe it’s that i decided to buy a set of powersheets after skipping them last year or maybe it just is what it is- the ebbing + flowing of the creative life.

i decided to think of this year in quarters. (i’ve been in the accounting industry for almost two decades. what can i say?) it’s a little different though because i am breaking up the year in this way: dec 2021/jan/feb, march/april/may, june/july/august, + sept/oct/nov. those months are how i view the seasons: winter, spring, summer, + fall, respectively. (this is also how i lay out my bullet journals)

-  read 25 books. *but i added a caveat to this one. i want 12 of those books to be physical books i held in my hand while reading. i love audiobooks. it's a great way for me to read more, but i crave the slowness of sitting down + turning the pages while drinking hot tea. 

-  social media sabbath once a week. i'm not sure of the day yet, but i need this so badly. i established 2 great habits last year: i put my phone away after 9pm + no social media before work in the mornings. i know i will never regret time away from all the noise. 

-  stretch every day. this is a baby step to other wellness goals i have. 

-  saturate my life with scripture. this is already a daily habit, but sometimes the enemy be tryna distract me with all the things, so i need the reminder. 

i have a few other goals, but i will update on those throughout the year as they are completed. 

 

-  HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

-  i finished "the cheerleaders". it ended up being a five star read for me. i really enjoyed it! (also with that being said- it wasn't the best written novel. i also cannot understand why the author opened with a controversial choice made by the main character. i don't see how it added to the book, but it's also because i'm very against what the character did, so there's that.) 

-  to whomever bought stuff off amazon via my affiliate link, THANK YOU. i don't blog to make money (i have only made $10 in the decade i've been blogging, lolz) so it always makes me do a happy dance when i see a purchase was made from my links. (don't worry; i can't see who it is!). i love this little space + even if i couldn't make pennies anymore, i would still love sharing bits + pieces of my life here.

-  i am working on my annual introductory blog post for the new year. i share a few of my goals + ideas for the new year, and it's always fun to write + reflect on in the years to come. what's different about this year is my focus on the quarters of the year instead of the year as a whole. it's more manageable to focus on little chunks of months. 

-  we rang in the new year by . . . falling asleep early. lol. i did wake up right at midnight to lots of fireworks going off in our neighborhood, but then i promptly fell back asleep two minutes later. 

-  i posted 327 recaps of 2021. best of 2021. 21 lessons + happenings in 2021. fav books of 2021.  

-  i also posted my december recap: 5 things i loved in december.

-  we got our first snow of the winter on new years day. only about an inch, but it was nice to cozy up all day in the house with my boys.

-  i try really hard to be empathetic toward others. i really do. but for the life of me, i cannot understand why some people won't hold the elevator for people who are clearly making their way to get on the same elevator? if we make eye contact, i'm close enough for you to hold the door. it drives me absolutely insane at work. 

-  i started reading "the lola quartet". i love emily's writing, so i am confident i will love this book as well.

-  here is this week's pinterest inspo board.