I’m not sure I’ve ever been more ready for Spring!  Can I get an “amen?”  Maybe it was the polar vortex thing, or maybe it’s just that this year I had TWO kids to bundle up with coats, gloves, hats, socks, boots, etc., but winter feels long where I live, and January through March are not exactly my favorite.  So, Spring, I welcome you!  I don’t even care if you bring a ton of rain, just please bring warmer temps!

So, yes.  It is April, and I did just wake up to a light coating of snow on the grass, but mostly we are through it, and it is SO great.  We’re back at the park here and there, and getting out the door for a twenty minute errand does not take an additional thirty minutes of bundling.

With a new season, I like to write about what I’m into lately.  So, here we go! [Read more…]

One of the audiobooks that I completed last year (and mentioned in my 2018 Top 5 Best Books) was Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise. I have found the principles and practices suggested to be quite life changing!

Here are the ClifNotes–habits can be formed using will power or motivation.  Will power functions like a muscle in your brain.  It even requires glucose to function (a big reason why diets can be so hard…try going “low carb” or “keto” or whatever and completely depriving yourself of sugar while you form a new way of eating!).  Additionally, it is exhaustible.  You have more at the beginning of the day than you do in the evening (another reason why diets can be so hard–who has ever eaten great all day only to settle down with a giant bowl of ice cream at the end of the day?…not that I’m condoning diets, but you get the point).  Motivation is another way to affect change and form habits.  However, it is hard to pin down!  (If we continue with the diet example, maybe the new cookbook inspires you to cook real food at home, but maybe the delivery pizza just sounds so good when you’re super tired after work.  Maybe the photos of your favorite celebrity in her bikini taped to the fridge is inspiring to eat salad, but maybe sometimes you just don’t care or it feels totally unachievable.  Maybe the new gym clothes help you get to the gym a few times, but eventually they’re in the wash and you find yourself back on the couch.)  Motivation is tricky!

Since motivation is often quite elusive, Guise argues for habit formation strictly using will power to create a new habit.  However, since the new habit is extremely small, it uses such a small amount of will power that the habit can continue endlessly while feeling effortless.

Now, here’s the kicker. [Read more…]

It’s winter! Time for another “Stuff I Like” post!  I LOVE the change of seasons.  I don’t think I could live somewhere where the seasons didn’t change.  Summer is definitely my very favorite time of year, and winter is definitely not my very favorite.  BUT, I do like being cozy.  Winter is very, very cozy.  It’s a time for lingering over good food and wine with good friends.  Time for books, movies, and lettering and card making in my woman cave (read: basement).  It’s a good time for lots of coffee and pajama pants and knit hats.  There are things to love all year round, even if where you live it is ugly and grey and SO COLD in winter.

So, what am I into on all these chilly, grey days?  Here we go! [Read more…]

In my last post, I shared my favorite books that I read in 2018–my top 5 of the 16 that I read/listened to.  It’s been so fun to fall in love with reading! I did really enjoy reading as a kid (and I still marvel at my concentration, focus, and comprehension that I had then).  However, I was a pretty active kid, and being outside probably had more appeal than sitting curled up with a book.  So, here I am, all grown up and enjoying time with a book–generally early in the morning before my people are awake or after the tiny humans are in bed.

This year’s goal is 24 books–two per month.  When I factor in audiobooks, that feels pretty achievable.  I am a list person and definitely a planner, so I enjoy deciding which books I’ll read when.

So, what am I hoping to tackle this year? [Read more…]

I keep a running list of books I read every year.  I try to read 20 (this year I’m shooting for 24).  That’s not very many compared to lots of readers, but for me, it feels pretty good (and actually attainable).

I’m not a very fast reader.  Additionally, I feel that I’ve lost a bit of reading comprehension in the past ten years or so.  I’m only 31, so this feels weird to think that my reading comprehension as a fifth grader was significantly better than it is now that I’m an adult.  Does anybody know?  Is this common?  I’ve got a hunch that reading on a screen (iPad) probably does not improve reading comprehension (I’m sure there are studies, but I haven’t looked yet…again, does anybody know?).  So, I’m trying to read more actual books these days.  Plus side: the cozy factor is exponentially higher.  Down side: since I’ve always got several books going, it’s harder to have them all handy at all times.  First world problems.

Anyway, this week I wanted to review my reading list from 2018 and give a few recommendations.  Spoiler alert: next post I’ll let you know what I’m currently reading/planning to read in 2019.

This year I read/listened to 16 books.  Five of those were audiobooks.  I do really enjoy audiobooks, and I like how it helps me get to my 20 book goal.  Also, if you’ve got a good book going, household chores are, like, suddenly enjoyable (“When can I do the dishes?”).  Also, I read fiction and nonfiction books, and I’m going to just bunch them all together into one list.

So, here we go.

[Read more…]