Life changes

Hello, friends. It's been a while, and I assure you it's because life has been changing rapidly around here. It's all really great changes! But the fact remains that life has gone bonkers. For one, my lovely partner in crime, Cory, proposed to me on the night before my birthday! He had me utterly convinced that 2019 wasn't the year, so I was happily shocked. I'll include a picture of the rock at the end of this post, for those interested! Secondly, we're under contract for a house. This almost feels bigger than the proposal, because it's scarier. I've known forever I want to marry Cory. Buying a house? That's terrifying. And exciting. No pictures yet of that one!

Not only are there wonderful changes happening in my life, but also in the life of a dear friend of mine - I will be an auntie to a wonderful baby girl come March 2020. I can't wait to buy her ALL THE BOOKS. Mila, you're already so smart, important, loved, cherished and have me wrapped around your tiny fingers.

Though life has been making huge shifts for the better, it means that time for myself has been few and far between - in other words, reading has taken a back seat. I'm just shy of my 2019 reading goal and I find myself worrying about quantity of quality right now, which isn't how it should be. Reading is where I can lose myself and recover from whatever the day has thrown at me. Reading just to meet a goal takes the joy out of it...so I am trying to tell myself that a goal is helpful to open your mind, but not necessary for success when it comes to reading for pleasure. If I meet my goal of 50 books, then I meet it. If I don't, I'll try again next year. Honestly, I'm incredibly proud of how many I've ready this year anyway - there was a time when five books a year was daunting to me, and I've blown past that with gusto.

A while back I promised you guys a blog post about my book club's first reading pick, Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. I very much enjoyed this little novel, but unfortunately I can't remember much from our discussion, so a post on that is a no-go. I will say that though it's not something I normally would have picked up without hearing a pretty good review on it first, I highly recommend reading this. It's literally a very small book, and it's weird but fun. It's fiction, so make sure you know that before going in - no one actually knows what Einstein dreamed.

As I have mentioned, I've got multiple books going right now - as always. Two audio books (The Witches of New York and Sleeping Giants) and three hard copies (A Monster Calls, It, The Witches). I'm finding it much easier to get through audio books right now because it's something I can listen to in the car, while I'm packing, while I'm cooking...in all the little moments where looking at something else isn't the best course of action. I'm trying to remind myself to slow down, because what's happening in my world right now is something I'm going to want to remember. There's no real point to this blog post, except to unload some pressure on to this page. But if anyone at all is reading this, here's your friendly reminder to slow down and take some time for yourself during this holiday season.