Favorite Books of 2017

I started this year wanting to read only 2 books a month... that did not work. My reason was that I wanted to be more intentional about the books I read. While the number didn't work for me, the practice of reading more intentionally sunk in and I was able to make choices based on what I really wanted to read vs what was available. Even then, I ended up reading over 60 books and these 9 were my favorites.

The Crossroads of Should and Must
In the Company of Women
The Confidence Code
Finding God in the Waves
The Shack
The Comet Seekers
We are Okay
Dress Codes for Small Towns
Starfish

I am going to continue being intentional with what I read, probably being even more selective this year than last. I love reading, and I think it's very important to keep reading, but I also want to spend more time in my life.

So there's that.

Hope all of your 2017 reading was successful and happy page turning for 2018!

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Add me to the list of things you drink to forget.

visions of the future, of small houses and company

Sometimes I sit here with this vision of myself, living in a small house, almost like a cabin, having a dog, and plants and the dishes I need to cook, nothing too grand but the view outside my patio. I feel at peace in this vision, single. Other times I quake in fear that my life will come to that. Would it be too late to have both? What if, in July of next year I moved farther East, or back West, to a place I could live on my own, with a dog. A small house, a humble kitchen, a job that pays all the bills and takes me on unassuming trips.

Been thinking quite a lot about how I show up in relationships, the ones I have and the ones I don't. Been reading, been listening, been watching, been yearing for things I see from silver screens and instead of pushing it back down or pretending to get rid of it, questioning it. Trying to trust myself on something things while also still getting to the root of it. Do I want this person in my life, do I not? Would my life be richer with her in it, do I really need to cut ties or scrap the shallow day to day shit and start over with that, leaving the important parts, the roots...

Thoughts At Night

I'm young and I'm scared and there's so much pressure and I don't think well under pressure like this. Why does this have to go so fast? If only I had known that 18 isn't a grown up, that legally sure but the pressure of a life decision was so heavy it stopped real and natural progress.

Reading this again, when coming here to type: I am terrified. I am terrified of this life, terrified of losing it, terrified of fucking it up, I've been given such incredibly circumstances. I've had such privilege. A functioning body, a functioning heart and lungs and all these things we think are birth right. Two parents, with love, with house's and extended family and safety nets and such genes and I won the female jackpot of being pretty but also smart and not so audacious in body that one would only think of reproduction, but also a hint at the wild, I have something to grab anyone's attention which is it always great but can definitely be used to my advantage. Weird thought, back to the beginning. I'm terrified... I am terrified of my mom not being there when I finally give birth to a child, I finally found a moment where I would need her and I know, oh good lord I know she would come through. I am terrified of my own mortality, of the possibility of all sorts of medical one offs, of having luck slapped off my face. I am terrified. I am young, and I am scared and I am worried. Have we always been so cold? Dear self, I am young, and I am scared, and there is so much pressure... how do we remember this surrender? How do we remember this gratitude, this awe, this everything after reading this memoir? How do I bring this feeling to life? How do I breathe just a little more and build a life? How do I acknowledge and be so fucking proud of what I have accomplished up to today? I have accomplished things, big things. Moved cross country, by myself, on a bit of a whim, knowing no one, no job, little bit of money, lot of faith somehow and determination. Made friends in days, convinced people without trying that I was worth knowing. Convinced others I was worth hiring. I am worth knowing, I was worth hiring, I am still worth hiring. I have gone countless places on my own, seen shows, met new people, tried so many recipes, shed so many tears, saw good or hoped for good in so many men. Learned dances, became a regular, stuck with counseling, faced and continue facing truths that don't sit comfortably, that beg more questions.

September

I need a clean out, the fresh start of a new month. A new season. Technically it starts at the end of September but I'll call it here, enjoy the remaining parts of the hopefully less harsh parts of summer and take a step back from, you know, I don't exactly know what I am taking a step back from, but something. The spending for sure.
September 1st will be a reset. August has felt a little loose around the edges, I want to bring it back together, get on a track for a while and get into a rhythm. That word is always so tricky to spell. Turns out keeping a life rhythm is also tricky.

I've been seeing a couple of awesome instagramers/bloggers coming into some work with themselves, clearing some blocks, making connections to why they do the things they don't like that they do, and it's so real and wonderful. I've been missing the real in a lot of the blogging world, I've been searching for people who are dropping a uniform that's become so prevalent. I've constantly on the hunt for real.

I'm writing more, not just here but at home, in journals. I'm getting more honest with myself, I'm looking at things that use to come harsh criticisms and then avoidance with a softer eye. I still feel sad or something like it, I don't think sad is quite the right word, tired, maybe. Trying to unravel some knots, some blocks, going back to places where I don't accept myself but wondering if there is a way to not accept something while also not punishing myself for it or beating it into submission. For example, not liking the shapes my body is currently forming but not making it about a lack of worth and not immediately working out hard doing things I hate and won't last. I'm trying to look from different angles, ask different questions, lean in and find tiny bits of love and forms of acceptance where I can.

September, I'm ready for you. Bring on a new rhythm.

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Eclipse

I think it would be an injustice, or a disservice to not write a little about the Eclipse today. Yes, it's one of those things that EVERYONE is talking about, and usually I'm not one to follow suit on those kinds of things, I wasn't big on GoT for a long time, I can't stand certain music that people are all about... I'm honestly not trying to be an asshole, I promise, I just tend to be naturally adverse to the things too many people rave about. (Still haven't read 50 Shades of Gray and probably never will.)

But the eclipse, this natural occurrence, this incredible thing... it was worth seeing. I was fortunate enough to have the day to work from home and go wherever I wanted. I was going to go up to Springfield, TN because they had a long time of totality but I was feeling dizzy that morning and took a nap and then woke up a little to late to possibly get up there. I freaked out inwardly a little, there had been so much talk of traffic and crowded everywhere, and I'm not big on crowds. But I went through the drive thru of Starbucks, got myself my drink and my croissant (hmmm kinda fitting the shape of the food and the place of purchase)... and drove around until I found a small-ish and not so busy park. I sat in my car for a while but then had to find a restroom (porta potty... luckily quite clean) and instead of going back to the car I found a small set of bleachers to lay down on.

I was there a good 45 minutes early, on the bleachers about 20 minutes before totality, so I sat and occasionally looked up at the disappearing sun through my nasa glasses. It became steadily darker, hard to tell when taking pictures through my phone, but it was slightly ominous, like when something wicked comes in a movie. The weather was absolutely perfect, I was worried that it would be too hot being Nashville summer and in the 90's, but the eclipse kept it completely comfortable and there was a bit of a breeze too. The clouds moved out of the way of the sun with more than enough time to see the transition. It went so slow until a minute before and then it felt like everything sped up. It was as if someone had pressed fast forward on a sun set. A news helicopter went by and then the last bits of light left the ring around the moon and totality hit.

The groups of families and friends around the park cheered and went through a variety of different exclamations. We took off our glasses, we looked around to see the false sunset in almost 360 degrees, we looked back at the moon and the sun and then as the tiniest bits of sun started peaking back there were yells of "glasses back on" by several moms across the park. It took a second for the experience to hit, the overwhelming, "I am alive for this. I. Am. Alive." I was hit by a wave of emotion, my eyes welled at the magnificence of the experience.

Shortly after people started leaving the park, maybe to get a headstart on traffic, but I stayed. I stayed and wrote a couple notes down, I wondered if anybody proposed, if anyone got married and had the wedding party all in glasses, I wondered what babies might be conceived today, what bridges mended, what bonds deepened. I laid there a little longer, seeing other people's experiences through Instagram, laughing at all the different reactions.

We've had such a crazy go of it this past month, well... since November, and before. Since... well, when hasn't it been crazy, depends on who we ask. But there's been a lot of emotional hardship, there has been a lot of frustration and incredulity and hurt and hate. Those of us with privilege have had such a break but our eyes are being constantly ripped opened to just how much work there is left to do, how much there is left to stand for. I wonder, if for a second, many forgot their differences and just sat there, watching our solar system do its incredible thing. For just a minute, along each point in the line of totality, we sat in awe with the masses.

Nashville: Thirty-Four Months

I started writing this five months out from my actual two year mark. What are my thoughts... convoluted, per usual. I've had some great experiences here, I don't know that I connect with this city. I talk to people that love it, that love it so incredibly much and I find myself so confused. What am I missing, what am I getting wrong here? So I go out and try the coffee shops and try the restaurants and go to the places that people make look so cool on Instagram and still I feel a little lost. What in the heck are these people talking about?

I was once sitting with a very good friend of mine having brunch one day when I looked over to this table of girls having brunch and I said, I wish I could be brunching like those girls. In my mind it felt so different, it looked like they were doing something so different than what I was doing but my friend looked at me and was like, Corey, we are doing exactly what they are doing... you are brunching like them. And while now I totally see what she means, then it felt different. Like somehow their experience was deeper and better than mine, that I would never be able to achieve this sunny life that other people seemed to be having.

Nevermind that I was sitting there, eating food with my wonderful friend at a time that would be considered brunch. I don't know what I felt was missing from that moment, maybe I felt like I didn't look the part of the brunching 20-something. Maybe I felt like our conversations weren't as light and carefree as the girls (women?) at the other table

Always looking for what I want to see instead of seeing what is in front of me. I look at these gorgeous pictures other people take and think, oh man, that's where I need to be. Then I can see these beautiful things and I will be happy. I did this often during my adventures with Dan, I would suggest another hike, another trail, and each time I would go through it and leave feeling disappointed.

Is Nashville suppose to convince me? Am I suppose to convince myself. There was a good month where I was driving around thinking, maybe I really could stay here for the long term. That didn't last. I don't have a solid idea of where else I want to go, I might want to stay, but at this point I have absolutely no idea either way. I have spent over a year not really exploring Nashville because I can't eat many things, I don't drink coffee, and I hate traffic. The things people seem to say need to be explored here are the food, the coffee and the parts of town that seem to be in perpetual gridlock.

I've spent a year going to Murfreesboro, to one specific bar almost every weekend, for a good 6 months at least twice a weekend. I wasn't drinking, I was dancing... and fishing in a pond that had no real fish for me. No, scratch that, I was the fish. Catch and release, catch and release.

I want somewhere to connect and set down roots but it's rare that I allow myself to frequent the same place over and over again. I don't have a neighborhood coffee shop because I 1) don't drink enough coffee and 2) don't go to the same place every time. I forget that the feelings that I am chasing in these Instagram photos are the feelings of belonging and comfort. I think that some place will just have that immediately, but often it takes time and repetition. It takes commitment. I found myself driving home from a show last night waiting for a person to merge over into my lane but they were waffling back and forth and I heard myself yelling "just like everyone else in Nashville, you can't seem to commit!" It's funny the overarching statements you make about other people and what they say about your perspective as well as yourself. This morning as I thought about that moment I turned it back around and thought, but darling, aren't you waffling just the same? Doesn't it take one to know one so well?

Mid Year, Here We Are

Like everybody else and their mother I'm having a hard time believing we are already mid year. What made it even harder to believe was looking through pictures from last Fall and feeling like it was yesterday. Nashville, it's always a wild ride, I swear.

I looked back a couple of posts, because I've become quite negligent with this blog, to see if I had posted a 2017 goals anything, and I don't think I did. So I guess we'll just start here with a little look over what's happened so far and then go into what I will be working on until 12/31/17.

So far this year I have -

+ Saved up for and gone to CA for my brother's wedding
+ Saved up for and completed an apartment move
+ Attempted a Low FODMAP Diet and threw in the towel quite fast
+ Read some really awesome books
+ Stressed out about and redefined some really tough goals I had from the beginning of the year
+ Pulled out of a spiral from said goals and redefinition
+ Deleted, redownloaded, and deleted again the Bumble app several times, as well as tinder, and also tried Zoosk for a month
+ moved the blog over here
+ made a new instagram handle and then, more recently, shut the old one down. Pictures are still there, not following anyone, not doing anything with it.
+ Finished the Swiss Cross blanket, it's gorgeous (and incredibly heavy)
+ Went on a roadtrip for my birthday to Knoxville and surrounding areas
+ worked out 4 times a week for three months
+ was sick 3 times in 4 months
+ transferred remainder of cc debt to no interest card! getting closer and closer to no cc debt!
+ treated myself to a meeting with a mentor about my resume
+ Had the crisis many woman seem to have (or media says we have) about turning 30 when I turned 31. I may still be pulling out of it.

At the beginning of the year I decided my word was Proud. My goal is to end 2017 really proud of myself for the work I have done. With that in mind, here's what I will spend the next six months working on:

+ Press handstands
meaning, work on core, and rehab shoulders in PT, and work on back strength
+ Be on schedule to completely pay off CC debt by 6/30/18
this means planning for possible big expenses and saving for them while also paying off card
+ further develop my skills in conjunction with my career
+ deepen friendships and family relationships
+ see a dermatologist -yay being of super pale skin
+ try a breathwork class

If I happen to come into extra money/resources I also wouldn't mind also:
+ starting retirement fund
+ having a base amount in my travel savings
+ opening savings account specifically for emergency savings only that is hard to access
+ start a puppy fund for eventual puppy friend
+ Lasik fund - want to get these eyes to see without contacts
+ start seeing naturopath about stomach and stick to plan

There they are, and here we go.

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May and June In Review

The two things I’m most proud of from May & June are:
1. Going to CA for 9 days, being in a wedding, and then coming home and moving (with movers) without putting anything on credit to pay off later. I had some help with this definitely, but even then, June has been crazy expensive and because I've been working on my money management for months and months and maybe even years at this point, I had enough saved up.
2. Completed my swiss cross blanket. It was a labor I kept avoiding but I eventually buckled down and I finished it at the end of May!
The two things I’m most grateful for from May & June are:
1. Being a part of the most amazing wedding. My brother married his best friend, my now sister-in-law, who is such an incredible person, and the whole weekend was so great.
2. All the privileges that I've had and grown up with that have made my life relatively comfortable. This is not a gloat, it's a real recognition. Humbling recognition. Just the beginning I think.

The lesson I learned and am carrying forward with me from May &/or June is: There was a line in some show I watched a couple episodes of and to paraphrase the character said that Adult children are always waiting for an apology from their parents and their parents are always waiting for a thank you. Both are left disappointed.

My #1 commitment to myself for July is: to take care of my health. Doctors appointments, leaning in to my counseling appointments, writing, vitamins and probiotics... etc

Because I am brave, here are two new/scary things I will do in July:
1. dating
2. facing my health/the money implications that may come from having to commit to evening things out

The one book I definitely want to read in July is: House of Plants

Something I want to experiment with in July is: Rest. Sounds funny, but experiment with sleeping earlier, reading, unsubscribing from hulu so I can read more, deep breathing, meditation, etc.

Just for fun, I will: Start re-watching Friday Night Lights

As an act of intentional kindness, I will: remind myself constantly that people need our love, not our judgements.

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April In Review

In April I...

• Compiled all career info including interests, notes from mentor sessions I've had before, parts of previously written cover letters I liked, almost every address I have had since I moved to Portland for college and so much more. Compiled, more organized, made easier to access. Stoked.
• Scheduled and had a career mentor call where I got helpful advice and suggestions on how to better sell myself and the kind of work that I do. Looking to make some shifts in the next few months and grow this part of my life. Pretty stoked.
• Made a new playlist for working out with old hip hop and pop songs as well as some current ones that still get me moving. It's really fun. I made it one afternoon after work but then erased the wrong version NOOOO and had to start all over again.
• Switched my credit card to one without an annual fee because I figure out the travel points I got back at the end of the year was basically equivalent to the fee itself
• Planned my money goals for the next couple of years. I've been looking at my money tracking and budget spreadsheets I made myself pretty much daily and I'm starting to realize I am not who I use to be with money and that's frickin awesome.
• Lined up most of the details for brother's wedding in June. Got my bridesmaids dress in the mail and it fits, found shoes, rented car for my time there... only a few things left to do.
• Tried dance classes at a new studio.
• Helped a friend at the stables she works at on a Sunday afternoon. Best Sunday afternoon ever.
• Had an obsession with iced mochas/iced coffee with chocolate
• Was sick the first half of the month, month and a half long issues. Then had a reaction to the antibiotics. I think I'm coming almost completely out of it. Nashville allergies are no joke.
• Rewatched the first half of the last season of PLL, can't believe we are almost done!
• started my I Believe or I want to believe practice.

The month didn't feel productive while it was happening but turned out pretty full. Funny how that all works out.

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March In Review

March was a hard month, and so I'm going to do a review and save April and next quarter's goals for another post.

At the beginning of March I turned 31 and while I usually get excited about birthdays, I crashed hard with this one. The crash was totally unexpected and hit like a tidal wave. The day of my actual birthday was spent alone, the next day a sickness hit that lasted a good couple of weeks and still has some residual lung issues. March was the month I had my first ever asthma attack, yay going back to the treadmill a little too soon, that was exciting. If I am being completely honest I feel like I am just now coming out of the overall mental and physical funk. (Thank goodness)

I decided this time that instead of being super hard on myself I would give myself whatever I wanted (within reason) and hold on. This meant using up my entire $50 starbucks gift card in a little over a week, buying little things that I had been putting off like a hat, a new chair for the patio, brown eyeliner and mascara, I ordered 3 different pairs of cowboy boots in different sized to try and find some that worked, none of them did, looked at rifles I might want to buy, looked at a whole bunch of fun shirts, added snapchat (something I was very vocal about hating for a while), went dancing two nights a week instead of one, decided I hated cooking and mostly bought precooked food and went out to eat, etc. As I'm typing this out I'm realizing how small some of these things are that I didn't allow myself to do or talked myself out of over and over again. No wonder I am tired.

The good from March:
- Booked plane ticket, and paid for parking for trip in June
- Order bridesmaid's dress for wedding
- Exercised 4x a week: Only missed one week because of the sickness, it was annoying
- Explored some new places- outside of Nashville: Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg
- Bought so much new music: Cody Johnson, some Josh Turner and Aaron Watson to name a few
- Drank a lot of iced coffee/mochas: tried with coconut milk, and low fat milk and decaf espresso and decaf cold brewed coffee... still trying to find my best option with the least amount of sugar
- Took a good amount of side roads during lunch and on the weekends, needed to be away from things
- Took a nap in my car at the library by a park under a tree and it was all kinds of blissful and a hint of the Spring I am looking forward to
- Painted a couple times
- Blocked some necessary people on different sites so I can keep my mind in the present, they weren't bugging me, I just got bored and would "see how they were" and then get into a bad mood. No need.
- Wrote and re-wrote goals, obsessed about the most random things
- got Snapchat and started talking to one of my sisters daily on it

March wasn't all bad, but it was mentally strenuous, I'm looking forward to the warmer days and then my vacation home in June. The countdown is on!

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Turning 31 Road Trip

I turned 31 this week. There's a lot to be said about that but then again, nothing at all. When I first moved to Nashville I had dreams of driving all over and going to so many different states but two and half years later I have only been into the southernmost part of Kentucky and as far south as Atlanta. I decided to do something about that this year and so I booked a night at an AirBnB in Louisville, TN and planned some stops along the way.

The trip was quick, one day out, one day back but I did manage to see a lot. A pink elephant, Hidden Hollow amusement park (unfortunately it was closed), Minister's Treehouse (I did not trespass to get closer, maybe one day), and Cotton Eyed Joe's all took up my first day. On the way back I went through Pigeon Forge (the love pancakes and old time photos), Gatlinburg (was a street away from the fire damage I guess) and into Knoxville (still getting hit by the drought pretty hard) then back home.

I hope to get a few more of these in over the year. Maybe Louisville, KY and Charlotte, NC. Gotta do what I came here to do.

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February/March

February has been unseasonably warm. It's wonderful!

February Goals:
- donate to one new organization: signed up to donate time - I signed up to be a volunteer at a Mud Run in May and this weekend I will be helping weed at a farm for The The Trust for Tennessee. Pretty excited about these.
- one date - accomplished
- at least one call to each of the designated family members - accomplished
- plan my 31st birthday party and/or mini trip - done! I will be setting out to a horse farm by the Smoky Mountains this weekend!
- read books I am excited to read (try to keep it at 4) - accomplished
- exercise 4x a week - DID IT! This is two full months of vigorously moving at least 4x a week.
- spend less than I make - ACCOMPLISHED! Clearly I am pretty excited about this. I have been working on my budgeting system and tracking each month, figuring out what I want to get out of it and this month I even took out the value of two extra days of pay in a short month and saved it for my birthday and STILL I spent less than I made. Praise hands and what not.
- create something... seriously anything (paint a picture, work on the blanket, edit some old photos) - did not do well with this, I am going to add working on the blanket to March
- take a walk/hike in a new park and visit a new part of Nashville every weekend: I did this a couple times but not every weekend
- continue on with gratitude/daily pages - accomplished
- file taxes - accomplished

*The lessons I learned and will carry on from February is/are: I get pulled into drama, not just with other people but in my mind, which means I also create some myself. The lesson I want to carry forward is to invest less, to notice when I'm getting pulled in to others issues as well as when I'm getting pulled under my own, I want to take the importance away from being in the know, to walk away from things that can admittedly be very entertaining and to react slower.

March Goals
- Get all travel plans locked in for trip home in June (plane, parking, rental car, possible mini trip)
- Order bridesmaid's dress for wedding
- at least one call to five family members
- exercise 4x a week: This time focusing on 3 times in gym or hike and then one free exercise any way I want
- stay in food budget - don't let overspending on food take from other categories
- work on the swiss cross blanket
- explore somewhere new every week

*Something I want to experiment with in March is: meditation

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*These questions are part of Nicole from Real Talk Radio's monthly review. I highly recommend her podcast.

January/February

January didn't go as planned (it never really does).

January Goals:
- Start a Low FODMAP Diet - absolutely crashed and burned on this one. Managed to: continued with a probiotic, start taking a multivitamin, and try out a lot of different recipes though
- Work out 4 times a week - ACCOMPLISHED!!! Most of those times were in my apartment gym but a couple times they were out on trails and a few they were dancing in a bar (preferred method of cardio)
- Family phone calls - Not so great, definitely need to get better at this.
- Spend less than I make - this was a draw. Didn't put anything on credit or dip into savings but did have extra money from Christmas AND spent way too much on food trying to figure out the Low FODMAP stuff.

Unintentional January Goals:
- Do more social things away from line dancing bar: Did this well. I did go a couple of times but I also stayed away for a couple of weekends and caught up with other friends. Success.
- Find causes to volunteer for and donate to: Started donating to Boot Campaign and have some others in mind for the next few months.

...

I looked at my list and didn't really feel anything so I will be reworking my goals yet again. I'm looking for smaller changes over longer terms. I want to end 2017 feeling better than I ever have and while I would love it to be with huge things accomplished I may have to settle with gradual improvement. Here are some of the possibilities for this month:

February Goals:
- donate to one new organization: this month focusing on reproductive health/women's rights and environment/land conservation
- one date
- at least one call to each of main family members
- plan my 31st birthday party and/or mini trip
- read books I am excited to read (try to keep it at 4)
- exericise 4x a week
- spend less than I make
- create something... seriously anything (paint a picture, work on the blanket, edit some old photos)
- take a walk/hike in a new park and visit a new part of Nashville every weekend
- continue on with gratitude/daily pages
- file taxes - done!

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Books of January

I started the year with a goal for a low number of books in 2017. I wanted to limit, to par down, to get intentional and to, I guess, restrict. Then January came and as it went I read almost half of that number I was trying to limit myself to for the year. Clearly limiting is not my specialty. So I went back to the drawing board on this goal and decided there wasn't a number, but there was a feeling that I was looking for. So now, instead of a number my goals for reading are as follows.

In 2017 I want to:

...choose each book intentionally and invested in it rather than speed read
...spend the time I previously spent to escaping in cheap/fast/shallow reads working on creating, working out, and cooking
...read outside of my norm, authors and stories I wouldn't normally read

Before last year ended I felt like I was flying through books without really liking or remembering them. It was like the candy I was eating. Another sugar hit, another book checked off a list. I don't know that I was getting much out of it and I have a feeling I was also avoiding a lot of my life in the practice. I'm excited to see what this year of reading brings me.

Books of January

*Finding God in the Waves* (started in Dec.) - Loooooved.

Anansi Boys (started in Dec.) - Liked American Gods and Good Omens better.

Milk & Honey - heartache and hope

Gluten is My Bitch - Funny, informative, haven't gone gluten free yet but will use as a resource

Cabin Porn - Gorgeous pictures, makes me want to get the heck out of town

Balancing In Heels - Light read, I do like Kristin Cavallari better after reading this

Scrappy Little Nobody - I liked it, I laughed, but I'm not sure I needed to read it.

*Chasing Slow* - I kept this for the whole time the library allowed me to, I did not want to let it go, I want to buy myself a copy for my shelf. There was so much, soooo much in this that I wanted to read again and again.

Strong is the New Beautiful - some good exercise and eating info

Six of Crows - read this for a book club and was not disappointed, excited to read the sequel

Cookbooks:
I Quit Sugar Cookbook
The Low FODMAP Cookbook
The Complete Low FODMAP Diet

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Books of 2016

So many books in 2016! Holy smokes and what not. I plan on reading a lot less in 2017 which sounds like a funny goal for someone that reads so dang much, but there is a reason. While I liked a lot of the books I read I don't think I invested in them very much, looking over this list I could mix up the story line of two or three at least. I want to read for enjoyment and not just to pass time in the coming year. I also want to spend more time doing active things so if I get real serious on my book limit (which will be very hard, I am shooting for only 22 books in 2017) then there will be more time for other things, like writing, or creating something, or finding a second job, or working out.

Enough about that though, here's the list of the books I read (and mostly remembered) this year.

Loved:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series (3)
Red Queen Series (3)
This Raging Light
Brain Maker
Saint Anything
All the Bright Places
The Museum of Intangible Things
The Dirty Life
How To Be a Person In the World
Present Over Perfect
The Disenchantments
The Book of Speculation
The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
Wild in the Hollow
Scary Close
Holding Up the Universe
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Harry Potter 3-7

Liked a lot:
Signs Point to Yes
Let's Get Lost
The Lake Season
Start with Why
Since You've Been Gone
Notes from a Blue Bike
The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo
Love Warrior
The 12 Days of Dash & Lily
Talking As Fast As I Can
Faithful

Somewhat enjoyed -> whatever:
Reasons to Stay Alive
The Crown
Art Before Breakfast
Maybe in Another Life
You Are Here
Knowing Your Value
Woman Code
You're So Money
The Geography of You and Me
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck
Outrageous Openness
The Spender's Guide to Debt-Free Living
Dear Emma
Adulthood is a Myth
Fangirl
Sane New World
Sleep Smarter
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
Now What?!
Loving My Actual Life
The Rules of Love and Grammar
Mystic Summer
The Museum of Heartbreak
The Islanders 1-8
Level Up Your Life
The Island House
Everything, Everything
Sex God

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2016 In Review

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
The single best thing... goodness, such pressure on a question. I don't know that there is one big huge thing that happened that stands out, this year has been a lot of things working under the surface. I loved my time with Chelsea in New York, and sharing my city with Sarah and Dasha this summer. I am so stoked on the roommate I ended up with after some craziness, my salary that I got this year is nothing to turn my nose up at either.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
A relationship that I've been working through mentally.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
Hearing myself say "I'll do my best, but I'm never going to be perfect." And feeling totally calm and accepting of that. (The conversation was in relation to God and faith and life and how it's not a merit based system and I have to keep reminding myself of that.)

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?
Dealing with the feeling of having a bit of a sabbatical but not knowing what to do and trying to stay somewhat positive. A month off that didn't really feel like a month off, in fact I forgot it happened.

5. Pick three words to describe this past year.
Listen (my word of the year worked!), dig, choppy

6&7 - About spouses, so N/A this year.

8. What were the best books you read this year?
I read 70+ books this year, started so many others and decided I didn't want to continue them. There were many I enjoyed but these stand out the most.
Present over Perfect
The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
Scary Close (2nd reading)
All the Bright Places
How to be a Person In the World
Harry Potter 6 & 7 (re-read)
Finding God In the Waves

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?
Sarah, the ladies of WD's, the one with my counselor

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
Allowing myself to be imperfect not just in theory and by logic but in feeling too.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?
I learned the beginnings of mindfulness, a practice that I see being very, very helpful moving forward.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?
I dug in and started questioning what my beliefs are, not just what I think and say they are but what is really going on underneath. I read books by several Christian authors, have another to either end this year with or start next year with. I questioned God, I got mad at God, I realized I was still operating under old beliefs of what God was and how he/she/it worked and I started questioning those. I allowed myself to feel and mentally speak to what I use to think were betraying thoughts. If God is all being and all knowing then He/She/Ze/It already knows what's going on so I may as well make it an open conversation.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?
It's just coming now at the end of the year but I started getting really tired of my excuses about my physical health. I realize I've been saying the same things for three plus years of why I can't do so many things I want to do and I'm tired of hearing myself talk. They are valid excuses, the road to getting better and being able to do some of those things if not all of them will be challenging to say the least but it's far from impossible.

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?
I backed off of some relationships but spent a lot of time working out different things I felt about them. My hope is that in the new year I will be able to come back to them with a better understanding of myself and my boundaries so we can rehabilitate and grow.
I learned to let people tell their own stories. It's something I will continually work on, but I think it's important. I want people to trust me, and I think they can, but I also realize that what I think is no big deal to share might be a huge deal to others.

15. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (both professionally and at home)?
That I have the time and the freedom to work on my health with doctor's appointments and health insurance. I also enjoy the steady income that has helped me work on budgeting.

16. What was the most challenging part of your work (both professionally and at home)?
Communication

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
Facebook and crushes

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
Going to counseling. Definitely.

19. What was biggest thing you learned this past year?
I learned that the previous assumptions I had about how life should be, ones I didn't even realize I had, were not quite right and were causing more distress than anything else. There has been a lot of shifting and reconfiguring and deciding where I want to be working in the middle of that.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes this past year for you.
Neither of these are mine originally but they have been so very true: The only way out is through and the time will pass anyway.

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