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. 

quick lit – next page, please {July 2019}

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For the second time, I planned my monthly reads for the month of July and posted a pic of my TBR on Insta.  And once again, it didn’t go as planned.  I didn’t read any of the books on that list.  That should probably tell me that I shouldn’t do it anymore, huh?  But, I still got three books in this month, just not the ones I intended.

Read

Currently Reading

So, what have you guys been reading? Read any of these?

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…

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

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What I'm Into. July.jpg

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, September 3.  

July had a lot going on. And it’s only as I sat down to write this post that I realized it.  Probably need to pull back off the throttle a bit in August. To that end, my family and I are taking that quick weekend to the beach that I mentioned last month.  So excited!

Fun but Work(ish) Stuff

I have begun collaborating with Lady Smith of the Snail on the Wall Books, an independent virtual book store in Huntsville.   And we’re in the middle of planning a HUGE project that I cannot wait to share with you when the time comes. Additionally, she has been gracious enough to provide me with some ARCs (advanced readers’ copy) in exchange for my honest review. This IS fun but, I must say, it seems like there is no way that I will be able to get through them all.

I am also sitting on the Planning Committee for The Catalyst’s annual Mompreneur miniconference planned for September.  Everyone is working hard to make it a meaningful event for the mom entrepreneurs in Huntsville.

Met a new-to-me author, Heather Kaczynski.  She is the author of two books, the first of which, Dare Mighty Things, begins in Huntsville, Alabama.  Yay! Planning on diving into this while on vacay.

I have started sketching/drawing/doodling, whatever my efforts are called.  I have been posting some of them on my Instagram.  It’s been really fun! YouTube is a wonderful research tool if you want to learn ANYTHING! And, now that I think about it, that could be scary.

I only have one more full category to complete in order to complete my EnjoyLife Project: Create Home thru KonMari: Sentimental Items. Additionally, I still need to go through my cleaning supplies and my pending box. But even without doing those things, I am feeling the “magic of tidying up”.

I wrote last month, that I felt a bit overwhelmed with everything that was going on and that I took a day to reprioritize and refocus for the remainder of 2019.  That “self-care” day was wonderful and I figured out what I should be doing.  I was still struggling, however, with how to keep everything straight in my head. In the Mompreneur Planning Committee, we were discussing Bullet Journaling.  Did some research and discovered that it has been called the “KonMari for your mind”. And I decided to give it a go.  You can read my first post about it here.

I held Part 2 of my New Year visioning party, Enjoy Life 2019 at my home this month. Everyone said that they enjoyed it and I was able to refocus and prioritize for the remainder of 2019.  The year is halfway over but there is still plenty of time to make progress on our goals for 2019.

Fun Stuff

To that end, while I haven’t been running every day, I have been exercising every day.  The #shannanmoves streak continues and that has felt like very real progress to my goal of becoming healthier in 2019. After over 60 days, waking up in the morning and working-out has definitely and officially become a habit! Yay! And isn’t that sunrise so pretty above.  Took that on my long run last week.

This month, I have been watching the Tour de France.  I first started watching this in 2013 and wrote about what I learned from watching it here. Since then, it has been something that I look forward to every summer and this year has been epic.  I didn’t know what was going to happen and that made it even more intriguing.

My man, Roger Federer, almost won Wimbledon again.  I couldn’t watch it; I was so nervous.  He’s still the GOAT (greatest of all time).

What have you been into this month?

P.S. A friend shared this video with me on the difference between sympathy and empathy-I’ve kind of been struggling with this recently. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a look.

enjoy life…