in only took a pandemic in order to......

I've been home (and technically without a job) for the past 7 weeks and just like everyone else, a lot of every day things in life have changed.

So here are the things that it took a pandemic occurring in order to finally happen....



~Have a "normal" schedule with Austin. His night job furloughed him as well, so we've been spending every night at home together, which has never in our 7 years together happened. Typically he worked most nights and didn't get home from work until late (sometimes I was already in bed). There were also days that our schedules kept us from even seeing each other.

~Cooking at home. Like most, we've been making and eating home cooked meals just about every night. Very rarely do we order to go or do left overs. Most of the time it is Austin cooking though and he's gotten really adventurous and good! He made a homemade pizza last week where everything (including the dough) was from scratch.

~We finally watched the popular movie "A Star is Born" with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. The music was fantastic- the ending was heartbreaking.

~People are finally realizing how important and amazing teachers are to our society! I've seen so many parents post pictures or videos of how their kids' teachers went above and beyond for them. As a former teacher, I've seen this so many times from my colleagues. Most teachers love kids and they want their students to succeed, which a majority of the time means going above and beyond. So let me be clear, this is NOTHING new-- the pandemic didn't create this attitude, it just brought it to your doorstep.  But I'm so grateful that parents and others are finally seeing and spreading the word about how incredible some teachers are.

~I've been working on my social media game for Ashes. Granted it's not where I want it to be yet- but it's better and I love learning more.
goal: Continue and take 3 more classes online about Business to better help Ashes. 

~Read books that were on my to be read pile. There are a ton of them and I've made time to finally read and check them off. I've read about 20 books while in quarantine.
goal: keep reading so that by December I get to 100 books read for the year.

~Take online classes. There are several places to do it, but I finally signed up for a Contemporary Art class and two Business courses. I've wanted to for awhile, but just never had the time or will power. I would love to take a history course, but there aren't any on coursera.

~Clean and clear out in our place. To be clear- it's been Austin doing this and he seriously has done an amazing job! We have so much more room!!!!
goal: for me to clean out the closet and fix the broken shelving. 

~Have morning time with God doing a devotion that is long as I want it to be. Let's be real-- I am NOT a morning person, so typically my devotions were done when I got home from work or at night and I was exhausted, so they weren't very long. With all this extra time, it's more frequent that I'm doing my devotional and I get to spend as much time as I want outside or on my comfy bed reading and studying. It's been amazing. I'm currently in 2 Peter. Not sure what I'll do next though....

things I'm currently loving

Luna has been a major cuddle bug lately, which is probably what I am loving the most right now!

Loved this quiz on finding out what your interior design type is. Mine is Bohemian and mid century.

These DIY necklaces!!!!

Or these super cute party earrings!

The perfect gift for the book lover in your life (my birthdays May 5th...cough....cough)!

I’m a little obsessed with this tote! Actually, I’m pretty much in love with everything on this site and the best part is their cause!!!

Candle scents by your enneagram numbers?!?! Sign me up please!

THIS video of Julia Roberts acting out her film career with James Corden!

One thing I'm currently enjoying is taking online classes FOR FREE. I've already enrolled and started 2 business classes and 1 art class. I'm a total nerd, but I don't care!

until next time,

-k

song #6// I Choose To Worship

I feel like this is the perfect song for right now. 

"You are good, even when life is not" is one of my favorite of the lyrics. 

Granted, things in my life aren't as hard as they are for others, but during this uncertain and weird time, we're all struggling in some way.  This song puts into words what my heart tells me. I don't know how else to explain it. 

I also love that during this stay at home time, Rend Collective has done concerts on instagram live at least weekly. 

Through all of it.....I will choose to worship. I hope you do too.

-k

song #5// This Old Heart of Mine

Last week we watched the movie "Bad Times At the El Royale. Okay, it was one of the millions of movies we watched, thanks Covid-19 for giving us a LOT of down time. 

Anyway, it was a strange movie to say the least, but one of the main characters sings this song and it's beautiful!!! I of course have had it stuck in my head ever since... but I'm okay with that. 

-k

March reads

The monthly roundup....

1. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton **

I've mentioned before that I'm participating in a 2020 Book Challenge (on facebook) and one of the challenges was to read a book published in 1920. Unfortunately, the only Agatha Christie book that would've fit this category I had  already read (and I want to read only new to me books for this challenge). Which stinks, because I am a HUGE Agatha Christie fan..... Edith  Wharton, not so much.  It was definitely proof that language has changed in the past 100 years, which does make me a little sad- language use to be said eloquently, not we shorten our words because apparently it takes too long to say adorable. 

The main takeaway from this book for me was sometimes life sucks, but you make your choices and you stick with them (or at least in 1920 you did)-- another fun change of our modern culture. (Can you hear my sarcasm?) Some might enjoy this book, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

2. Prince Caspian/ Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis ****

Ever since our book club decided to read The Chronicles of Narnia last November, I decided that I would read the entire series. (I also made this my "series" challenge in our 2020 Book Challenge.) I really have throughly loved all the books in the series so far, but honestly nothing will ever be greater than Lewis' first, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

3. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan ***

So I watched this movie and decided I wanted to actually read the book too. For once, I felt like the movie was better (am I even allowed to say that?). 

4. Inspired by Rachel Held Evans ***
Evans is one of my favorite authors to read- her books have all been heartfelt and sincere and this one was no different. Her view on church (having been brought up in one) put into words what I've felt and couldn't express. Her passing took away an amazing and though provoking woman that I wish I had known.

5. Philippians by John Mac Arthur ***
When doing a Bible book study, I like learning the history and context of a book/it's author/etc.  MacArthur provides that, although not in as much depth as I would like, it's enough for me in the right now. 

6. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott ***
This novel is told from multiple women's perspectives during the Cold War/Iron Curtain time. I really enjoyed the stories told from an American and a Russian while both on a mission to release the Russian Masterpiece, Doctor Zhivago. I did feel like the book lacked as much detail as I would've liked and I sometimes spent too much time trying to remember who was currently telling the story. Overall though, it was an interesting read and I enjoyed it.

7. The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell **1/2
Okay, to be honest- had I read this book a decade ago, my rating would've been so much higher. But alas, I put it off until now. I did learn a lot (like what a Maven is) and it's interesting that since I've learned these terms, I've noticed them more frequently (even on FreeForm shows, ha!). Since the Internet and Social Media have exploded in the last few years and so the information explained in this book isn't as relevant as it once was. Still an interesting read.

8. Philippians- Small Group Study by Henry Blackaby ***
Philippians was obviously the Bible book I was studying during March.... while I did enjoy this book, it was more of a devotional-- asking questions meant for self-study- which is not a bad thing, just not what I was looking for at the time. 

9. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan ***
After reading (and watching) Crazy Rich Asians and enjoying it, I wanted to give the second book in the series a chance. While it was a good "light" read- the overdone drama and ridiculousness of the characters sometimes wore on me. Overall, not a bad story- but would I read it again? No.

10. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan **
After reading 2 of the 3 books in the series, I felt compelled to download and read the last one. I think at this point I was over the insane amount of drama needed to make this book work and the characters were no longer funny in their overly rich and shallow ways- it was just too much. I finished it- and I will say the author gave the series a good ending, it was not my favorite book.


11. Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan ***
Since I've been reading the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, I was really intrigued by learning more about him and his wife. Although this is a work of fiction based on true life events, I still felt like I learned a great deal about the creator of Narnia. Recommended by a friend, I would also highly recommend this book as well.


Until next month,
-k

Song #4// Ain’t no sunshine (in memory of Bill Withers)

One of my favorite musicians passed away today.

Bill Withers, thank you for sharing your talent with us.