May Book Recap

So there was not much reading accomplished in May.  The month started out really well.  I finished up my first book only a couple days in, but the next two I picked have been deeper and heavier.  But, let me tel you what I thought of the two I did read.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Morarty was the first of Moriarty's books I've read and I wouldn't be opposed to reading more. I would classify this as a beach read.  There's a little bit of a mystery, a little soul searching, and some reflecting, and a nice resolution at the end.  The premise is that Alice wakes up after falling off her spin bike at the gym and hitting her head only to discover that she doesn't remember the last ten years of her life.  The last thing she recalls is being happily married with a baby on the way, with her and her husband remodeling their dream home.  Now she finds out she's getting a divorce, her sister barely talks to her, her shy, quiet mom is remarried and a salsa dancer, and she has three kids!  It's a good read and it was interesting to find out what happened in the missing chunk of time. I wasn't sure how it would end, but as a lover of happy endings, I enjoyed it.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is taglined as "Some Instructions on Writing and Life" and I'd say that is true.  I feel like Anne Lamott would make a great best friend.  She'd tell you the truth with humor, always be encouraging, and have a fun way at looking at things. This book really inspired me to get back to writing just for the sake of writing and find my voice.  She also gave me new insights and presented a different way of looking at things.  Her sense of humor shines through every page and I found myself laughing out loud more than once, and quoting passages to friends and then listening to them laugh out loud.  I took longer to read this book than I should have, but I really wanted to soak it all in and once I was finished, I felt like I should immediately go back and reread it, highlighting and underlining pertinent parts, but I'm afraid it would be covered in yellow highlighter and notes in the margins.  I highly, highly, recommend it to anyone who wants to write but isn't sure how to begin, as it gives practical advice for writers of all levels without regard to skill.  It's definitely a keeper.

I started a third book, about the Rwandan genocide, and am still trudging through it.  It's hard because it's full of inhumanity and terror and the history of an area I know little about.  It's well written, but definitely not enjoyable or light.  Hopefully, I will finish it in June and can tell you more about it next month.

As for what I acquired- look at that!  Absolutely nothing new!  Feels great to not add more to the to be read pile.

And what about you?  What are you reading or adding to your reading list?  Let me know in the comments below.

2016 Totals:
Read 17
Acquired 20

May Goals

This year is flying by.  It seems like it was New Year's just a month or two ago!  I've been busy but not with anything that really seems worthy to blog about.  Maybe I'll give you all an update of randomness in a week or so.  In the meantime, here's a much belated recap of April and my goals for May.

April Goals

• Read 4 books.  Nailed it.  I actually got five done.
• Daily devotions and prayer time.  I did great on the devotions and spent time praying most days.
• Exercise five times a week for at least 30 minutes a time.  I walked for at least forty-five minutes outside.  Walking outside is so nice.  There's birds to listen to, flowers to see, occasional animals to watch.  Not to mention all that sunshine!  I love it!
• Limit spending on unessentials to $20.  Well, I did pretty good, but didn't make it the whole month.  There will be a post in a day or two detailing how it all went.
• Declutter house.  I made it through the kitchen, and my closet, but am continuing to work on it.
• Write daily.  Not even close. :(
  

 May Goals

• Spend half an hour writing three times a week.
• Walk 10,000 steps three times a week.
• Continue to exercise at least 30 minutes a day five times a week.
• Memorize ten Bible verses.
• Finish my prayer cards that I started a few months ago.
• Increase veggie intake and decrease grains.  Try to eat grain free three times a week.
• Read four books.
• Daily devotions and prayer time.
• Spend five hours a week on blog stuff.

I have a feeling that a lot of these are going to be refined and/or retried in June.  And, if you're interested, you can go to My So Called Chaos, and check out what everyone is working on in May.

Morning Rituals

I always think of myself as more of a creative person rather than an analytical one, and I always liked the idea of creativity being free flowing and just kind of this gem in the midst of disorder.  But you know what, creativity is really hard work.  And disorder does not encourage it; in fact, I'd say it inhibits it.  Just from personal experience, I know I don't like sewing when my office is full of stacks of clutter and half finished projects are laying all over the place. 

I had a light bulb moment, after listening to a podcast from Todd Henry's Accidental Creative about the importance of structure to your mornings with morning rituals, and I decided I should really try it out.  So one of my goals for the month of May was to start having a morning ritual.  Todd gets up the same time every day, and spends the first hour in his morning ritual,  reading for about half an hour, clearing his mind and gearing up for his day for about fifteen minutes or so, then writing for about ten minutes, and finally five minutes to plan his day.

So basically, a morning ritual gives you a firm foundation to start your day on.  It lets you kind of reflect on what you need to do, and helps get your day off to a good start.  Here's how my morning ritual goes.

1. Reading- I read out of two daily books: one is Sarah Ban Breathnach's Daybook of Comfort and Joy, which I've talked about several times before and is a book I love, and the second is a devotional called A Godward Life, which is only about two pages long.  Then I read a chapter in a book.  I've already read a couple.  Currently it's a book called You are Talented!  Which is pretty interesting.

2. I free write a page in my large Moleskine notebook.  It's just kind of whatever is on my mind and whatever comes into my head. 

3.  I pray and write my prayer requests out, so I can keep track of where my mind is, who I've been thinking of and I write down what I'm grateful for, for that day.

And that's about it, but it's really helped get my days off to a good start and get my mind in the right place for the day.  I'm still tweaking it.  Today I did a little Yoga afterwards.  Some days if I'm pushed for time, I don't write, and I'm still working on getting up at the same time every day, but I just love getting up and easing into my day with a cup of coffee, no internet, and just reading thinking, and focusing on things.

If you're feeling frazzled and overwhelmed (and who doesn't) I really recommend you try having a morning ritual and see if it helps your day get off to a smoother start.  And let me know what you think.

May Goals and Recap of April's

First, here's how April went: 

Read four books. Only managed to read three books. 
Sew 10 things.  I sewed quite a few things, but didn't get ten done. 
Write fiction.  Haven't even started.  Time to change my approach.
 Make wall art.  Well... I started my wall art, and my husband decided he wanted to take it to work and hang it in his office.  It was not at all great.  He's just sentimental.  It did get me in gear to start a second piece. 
Clean my office.  Done!  I got rid of quite a few things, and reorganized a lot of things. 
Make PJ pants!  I got my fabric out and realized the print was not ideal for what I had in mind.  It was kind of a ombre that ran across the width of the fabric and it wasn't going to work.  But... I did make a shirt that I had cut out over a year ago, that I found in my closet when I was cleaning.  I didn't love the finished shirt, but at least I know some things about the pattern and I know that I don't want to make another shirt out of it without making some tweaks. 
Open pop up Etsy shop to sell of some of fabric scraps.  I ended up giving away a bunch of five inch squares for Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day, and bunch of scraps went in gallon zip lock bags for the thrift shop.  I was able to downsize one whole bin of scraps.  I don't feel like I need to open my Etsy shop up to sell scraps now.

May Goals

So for May, I only have two goals, but they are big ones. Before I list them, just a bit of background- I've been listening to a ton of podcasts lately about productivity, creativity, and simplicity.  I'm still reading Simple Abundance, and all this is spurring me on to be more creative, more simplistic, more positive, and more productive.    So, that's why these goals are important to me.

1.  Declutter my house!  I started this project with my office, and have gone through my clothing, and some of my dishes so far.  I've gotten rid of four boxes of stuff and it feels great.  How much stuff do I have that I keep for "just in case" it fits again, or I suddenly like that color, or I want to make mini pies?  Being unable to fit all my clothes in my dresser, find things under the sink, or get the kitchen utensil drawer open because it is too full is super annoying, wastes time, and wastes money when I buy something almost like something I already have because I couldn't find the original item.  I can know fit all my clothes in my dresser, I've downsized my closet, and my china hutch is less crowded.  It feels great and I want to be able to feel that way about every room.  Our church is having a garage sale in early June and I'm purging my house of things to donate.

2.  Create a morning ritual.  One the podcasts I was listening to was talking about how a morning ritual is necessary for most people to be constantly creative.  Sarah Ban Breathnach talks about it in Simple Abundance and Julia Cameron talks about it in The Artists Way.  It's time to quit spending my mornings mindlessly surfing the web, and instead spend it reading, meditating, journalling, and or exercising.  So, that's my goal for May- to make some morning rituals to get my days off to a good start.

If you want to see what everyone else is aiming for this month, check out The Monthly Goals Link-Up.

Read four books. Pretty much on my list for every month. Sew 10 things. Still tons of fabric in my stash to get through! Write fiction. (Attempt #2) Make wall art. (Attempt #2) Clean my office. It looks like I'm auditioning for Hoarders! Make PJ pants! (Attempt #2)