quick lit – next page, please {august 2019}

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I read quite a bit in August and I am very happy about that.  I now have completed 34 books of my goal to read 39 this year so I am way ahead of schedule. Yay! Now I do need to get my rear into gear with the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge 2019. I still have 6 out of 10 categories.  If anyone has suggestions for these, please let me know. The categories are: a Book I’ve Been Meaning to Read (I guess you can’t really help me with that one, except you could remind me of something I said that I was going to read here on the blog); a Book With a Gorgeous Cover; a Book In Translation; and a Book Published Before 1980. Thanks in advance.

Here’s what I Read in August.

Read

Currently Reading

  • Code Name Hélène: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon. So excited to receive this ARC courtesy of Modern Mrs. Darcy for her first-ever Book Club Retreat! I’m so excited! It’s set during WWII – not my favorite historical time but a third of the way in the heroine is very intriguing and the story began in medias res so I want to see what’s going on. This one release on April 7, 2020.
  • Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. This is a #buddyread with my new book friend, Brittany, who I met, virtually, after being on What Should I Read Next. This is so good! Check it out!
  • The Life-Changing Habit of Tidying Up and Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. I’m rereading these according to the categories I am currently tidying. Still have my pending box and Sentimental left. I know I said that last month, but I have been really busy this month.

So, what have you guys been reading this month?

Per usual,  I am linking up with the Modern Mrs. Darcy’s monthly Quick Lit post, as I have done for years.  Check what she and other readers are reading over there.

enjoy life…

P.S. In other book news, Amazon is placing a brick-and-mortar book store in the Green Hills Mall.  This is across the street from the venerable, Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

what i’m into – keeping me sane {august 2019}

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I’m preparing this post on Sunday, September 1st! And I can’t believe that it’s September already. A lot has happened in my life last month, most of which I discussed in Now I Get It {Summer 2019} so head over there to see what’s been going on. Yes, I do feel a bit overwhelmed.  September is going to be chocked full of events and things to do leading up to those events and my tendency is to get so wrapped up and focused on the things that I have to get done that once that crunch time is over, I ALWAYS collapse and get sick from exhaustion (mental, physical, and emotional).  I hope that doesn’t happen this September and to that end, I have been working on those things that have been proven to relieve my stress.

Nurturing My Inner Artist

I commented last month, that I have begun to explore my inner artist. As a writer and in my new role as an Event Manager, I spend a lot of time inside my head.  OK, OK. I am always inside my head regardless of my work. Drawing and watercoloring have been serving as a release from mental overdrive and I have found it to be very relaxing.

And so I spent Labor Day Weekend working on a couple of versions of our house in watercolor.  I was inspired by this YouTube video by Shayda Campbell. I really enjoyed this process and painting houses so I hope to do a lot more.  If you’d like me to give your house a whirl (Obviously, I need all the practice I can get) reach out and let me know.

I also have fallen down the rabbit hole of looking at other artists on YouTube and I am really enjoying Minnie Small’s videos about the creative process.  I want to figure out a way to combine my inner writer and my inner artist together in some way.  I don’t know what that would look like but it’s an intriguing and exciting possibility.  I am thinking of snazzing up my Bullet Journal a bit more, as a creative outlet. Since, I have been using it, it has been a completely utilitarian, which has been great. It’s let me get use to the format and figure out my favorite layouts and spreads but I’m feeling the urge to do a bit more.  We will see.

Nurturing My Inner Athlete

The day this post will be the 100th consecutive day of my #shannanmoves streak.  This involved either a one-mile run or a 30-minute walk.  I am mixing it up in September and preparing for the annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run for breast cancer in October. I don’t know if I will run the race because I am planning a trip on that weekend but I had said that I wanted to follow the Nike Training plan to get ready for the race and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t do it.  There are rest days in the plan but I believe I can still do a walk of some time to keep the streak alive.  However, for the next 6 weeks or so, it’s not about the streak. It’s about following the training plan and giving it everything I have. If I need a rest day then I shall take one.  It makes me sad that the streak may be broken but it is important for me to learn to listen to my body and give it what it needs. This includes all areas of my life, not just exercise.

What have you guys been up to? Let me know in the comments and If you have a monthly recap post letting us know what you’re into, please share it in the comments below and let your community know that you are doing so.  We do this every month, next on Tuesday, October 1.

enjoy life…

now i get it {summer 2019}

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This summer has been particularly exciting and rewarding for me.  Here are a few highlights:

  • I went on a REAL beach vacy, and by real, I mean with chairs, umbrellas, buckets and shovels, food, and I wore a swimsuit for what is probably only the fifth time in my life.
  • I accepted a new position doing what my Daddy has described as my “perfect dream job”.
  • I was asked to sit on the Planning Committee for the 4th Annual Mompreneur Event in September hosted by The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship. Then, I was asked to present on the topic of goal setting and prioritizing. That will happen on September 20th. Get your tickets here, if you want to see how I do. LOL
  • My family and I went to see my sister and her family and she had a BBQ and Pool Party. Wearing that swimsuit, again, I got in the pool. FYI, I can’t swim.
  • Last night, our book club, the Rocket City Mom Virtual Book Club, hosted Mary Laura Philpott, author of the memoir in essays, I Miss You When I Blink. I can’t even begin to tell you how nerve-wracking, but thrilling, that was. We have been planning it since May and I have been dreaming about having an author participate in a book discussion since we started the book club three years ago.
  • I completed my 95th consecutive day of exercise yesterday.

As I was reflecting back on these wonderful and new experiences, I realized that every single one of them existed because I did it, with fear. I talked about this in April here. And as I contemplated it further, I realized that the truth of the statement:

 “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”

– George Addair

A day at the beach in a swimsuit despite being afraid of being too fat to wear one. Accepting a dream position while handling the negativity my mind always throws at me that I am not good enough and that I will most assuredly fail.  Sitting on the Planning Committee despite thinking I have nothing to contribute and then agreeing to present while wondering if I am really the one that will be the best for the topic. Getting in a pool while wearing that swimsuit, again. Reaching out to Mary Laura (yes, she said that I can call her Mary Laura) to participate in our book club afraid that she would say no, then she said yes and I was afraid that no one would show up and that I would make an idiot of myself. Honestly, starting the book club was scary three years ago. When I started the #RunningWorld Running Streak the Sunday before Memorial Day, my goal was to run a mile every day for 40 days.  I didn’t think that I could make it but, like Forrest Gump, I’ve just kept going.

All of these things have turned into experiences that will be included in the highlight reel of my life. And every single one of them would NOT have happened if I had let fear decide, for some insane reason, that we weren’t going to do it.

Now I get it.  Everything I want is on the other side of fear.  If I am afraid of it, more than likely, it will be a very rewarding experience.

What you want is on the other side of fear. What do you want?

I’m linking up with Emily P. Freeman and her community to share what we learned. Head there to see others. You can learn a lot. And you can check out what I learned this Spring, last Winter and Fall, if you’re so inclined.  They seem to be building on each other.