Summer reading.

  I just looked back in my blog archives and realized that this is my 5th year doing my library's summer reading program. That makes my nerdy heart so happy! I've started enrolling the boys too and it's fun to see them get into it (and by them, I only mean Caleb because Tyler is too little/wild to care!).

  I'm trucking away at my reading goal for the year (20/24!) and figured it was time for an update on my reading list. And, since we're heading out for vacation our family trip in two weeks, I need some new recommendations!

Here is what I've read since my last update in March (I'm actually surprised by the amount since I took basically all of April off from reading). My favorites are highlighted!

• Home: Sort of a dark premise and I picked it up based on another book from the author that I loved. It was just ok and I had a hard time getting past the dark/unnecessary beginning. 

• Everything I Never Told You: Meh. It was a book club book and we all showed up thinking we didn't love it but had so much to say about it!

• The Storied Life of AJ Fikry: Another book club read. Short and fast read. Really liked it and wanted it to go on!

• The Fifth Letter: really fast read and interesting premise. Not amazing, but good.

• The Royal We: Oh. My. Goodness. I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN. So so good and maybe my favorite read of the year? So, so, so good and fun. 

• When In Doubt, Add Butter: I totally grabbed this off the shelf because of the title and cute cover. It was cute and easy to read. 

• The Underside of Joy: A really sad book. I don't know that I loved it, but I'm glad I read it. If you like more serious books that make you think- its great for that! 

• Here I Go Again: A silly, girly book. I liked it and loved how it ended! 

Ok, that's what I've been reading. Now hit me with your best/favorite beach reads! I'm talking fiction and something that you just can't put down!

(See my Summer Readings from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)

Beach reads.

 We're gearing up for a week in Florida with Justin's brothers and cousins and I am so excited. I fully realize the trips with two kids mean its not really a vacation, but bring on all the poolside naps and extra hands (Justin's) to change diapers, and fun with family. We haven't seen our niece since September and it will be extra fun to spend time with her!
  Its impossible to go on a beach vacation without a few good books to read, right? But here's where I need your help- I'm so out of the book loop these days! What are you reading? What should I add to my list? I'm kind of done with non-fiction for now (I am bringing this one along, but that's it!). Fiction is just easier and lighter and more fun!

But really. Leave a comment letting me know what I need to pick up from the library this week!

Ps. I'm almost done with this one, so if you need a recommendation, pick it up. SO SO GOOD.

Summer reading.

  A few years ago, I found out the library around the corner from our house has a summer reading program. Yes, just like the one your mom made you do in 5th grade. And it is awesome. At least for super nerd like me who seriously loves to read. And somehow I can always make time in the summer more than any other season.
  So, let's talk summer reading! I finished The Girl on the Train a few weeks ago for book club and it was good. Definitely had me hooked with the author's interesting writing style. Afterwards, I was in the mood for something a little lighter and more beachy. I took that literally and picked up Summer Rental, an impulse buy at the airport a couple months ago. SO GOOD. Like, not my all time favorite, but so easy and lighthearted. But it did nothing for my strong desire to move to a North Carolina beach town...
  So now I'm settling into our pick for book club this month, Belle Cora. After that, I need to read Orphan Train since it's been sitting on my self for way too long! I also have a Donald Miller book that I've been meaning to read for two years, but that will probably be my only non-fiction of the summer. I don't love them and have such a hard time muscling through them. Give me a good, addicting storyline!
  And that leads me to my question, what are you reading right now? Or what's on your shelf waiting to be read? I need some must-reads to add to my list! {preferably fiction!}

Another fun fact? Caleb is also signed up for the summer reading program! And it turns out that every 3 children's books I read, I can count as a single adult book. Hello. Have you ever met a toddler? We read at least 10 books a day! I'm racking up those points...

Loving well.

  I've mentioned at least a dozen times that I love rereading this book every Fall. The first time I read it, I was smack dap in the middle of grieving our miscarriage and life seemed a little more bitter than sweet for me. The second time, I was feeling a bit weary about trying to get pregnant and life still felt a little bitter, but in a different way. This time around, life is really sweet. And now, I think I get it- the bittersweetness Shauna talks about. And how it is hard to balance those out well. 
  Someone in a podcast I heard a few months ago mentioned that the church does not always do a good job celebrating the joyful things in life. That maybe we're a bit better at mourning the hard things together than celebrating. I would argue we have a really hard time celebrating or mourning past the initial shock of it, whatever it is. We know to send cards and flowers and bring food- to new parents and to friends who've lost a loved one. But what about three months later? When those same new parents are celebrating and the friends are still so deeply morning-but life seems to have moved on? Do we do a good job celebrating and mourning then? 
  I don't think I do. This became pretty apparent to me this summer, when I just truly fumbled around with how to love my friend well in her grief. Especially as I entered into my own season of celebration. And learned, firsthand, what bittersweetness feels like. I haven't talked about it much on here, because it's deeply personal. I know there are a lot of challenges as a new parent, but for me, this has been mine. It has been so deeply difficult to reconcile my joy as a new mom and my heavy grief as a friend. Most of my tears since June 16th have centered around that bittersweetness. 

  Shauna says it really well...
"That's why it's hard, I think, to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. I love that line from the Bible, but it's so incredibly difficult sometimes, because when you've got reason to rejoice, you forget what it's like to mourn, even if you swear you never will. And because when you're mourning, that fact that someone close to you is rejoicing seems like a personal affront."

  I think for me, the hard part has been the extremeness. It's not in me to not celebrate the season I'm in or to not mourn such a close friend's loss. It's not like I can pick one and not the other. But it's hard to do both, and do them well. To go from one extreme to the other. And love across those seasons, you know? I remember feeling pretty raw after our miscarriage and being so, so sensitive to new babies and pregnancy announcements. It was all so hard and even more difficult to really express to anyone. I equal parts wanted to separate myself from those celebrations but still be fully included. I really wanted people to want to talk to me about my loss, not to act like it had never happened or I should have moved on already. I also didn't want people to walk around on eggshells around me or to see me as the person they couldn't share their joy with. But is that how everyone is? 
  So, it's hard. To celebrate and grieve together. And maybe even a little awkward at times? For both sides- the mourners and the celebrators. We don't want to say the wrong thing or seem selfish or hurtful or whatever. But it seems like it is far better to risk awkwardness and fumble around than to avoid it just because it's hard. 
  All of this rambling, I guess, is just to ask- how do we do it better? How do we best celebrate and mourn with each other? For the long haul? Even if we find ourselves in a different season? It's a bit prescriptive at first- send cards, make food, give hugs. But what about after life settles in and moves on? Seasons are more than a birth story or funeral- they last. That's something I really want to get better with. Loving well into the seasons of sweetness and bitterness, not just at the beginning or in little spurts throughout. 
  How have you been loved well in seasons of mourning and celebration? Really, I'm asking you. It's not a rhetoric question. I think we learn best through dialogue, and I truly want to hear. Maybe you haven't been loved well in one of these seasons- I want to hear about that, too!
 I'll start. Here are some ways I've been loved really well across some different seasons {celebrations and grief}...

.care packages
.hand written notes
.honest questions and conversations about how I'm doing
.'just because' voicemails and texts
.shared experiences 
.intentional coffee dates, phone calls, and visits 

A fall tradition.

  I have a fall tradition that really just started on accident. 2 years ago, I found myself really really sad and just in a hard season of life as I was grieving our miscarriage. So I picked up Bittersweet. And then last year, I was just feeling worn out from trying to get pregnant, but learning to be content in the waiting. And it seemed like a good time to pick up Bittersweet again. Here I am, this September, settling into stay at home motherhood and life with a sweet baby- and, you guessed it, I'm diving back into Bittersweet. 

  Have you read it? It's one of those books that has you nodding your head and feeling like the author has been reading your mind, or at least standing in your shoes. And after reading it during very different seasons of life {grief, longing, fulfilled}, it really does speak to where you're at in life. Where ever that may be. Because life is always equal parts bitter and sweet. It just always is. Maybe sometimes more one than the other, but always both. 

  Anyways, as I sit down with my mug of chai and sit down with the book, I'm so excited. At this point it's like catching up with an old friend. And just in case you think that sounds too perfect, imagine a crying baby in the background {read:: nap fighting} and a sink overflowing with dishes and husky hair dust bunnies filling up the corners of my house. Life is far from perfect over here. But I always want to take time to read my favorites.

  There are far too many good quotes from the book to list here, but this is one of my favorites. It's so true. If you haven't already, go read this book. Maybe even make it a yearly tradition.

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” 

What are you reading right now? What fall traditions do you hold on to each year?

Summer reading.

  Ok ok. I know summer is half over already. I may or may not be a bit behind on making my summer reading list. But better late than never! I'm finding a bit more room to squeeze some reading into my schedule these days {did you hear about my new job?}, so I really want to make a list of must reads. Our book club is taking the month of August off, since it seems to be busy for most. I really look forward to having a least one book I have to finish each month, so I need to fill up my list asap. So far this summer, I've read this and am {slowly} working through this one. I think there are a couple more I've read, but I can't seem to recall them right now? My to-read list is pretty small right now, so I need your help! What have you read lately and loved? What's on your summer reading list? 

For what it's worth, here are three of my favorites from the past few months::

Reconstructing Amelia

The Rosie Project

Touch & Go

Summer Reading. {3}

   Back in June, I mentioned how excited I was to work through my stack of Library Sale books over the summer. And then I joined an Adult Summer Reading Program at my library, so I had extra incentive to get my read on (hello, Target gift card!!!) Since summer is almost over {well, not really, but it feels like it, right?} I thought I would check in and share my absolute favorite reads from the last couple months. 

::The Shadow of the Wind. SUCH a great book. Not my typical read, so it kind of snuck up on me how good it was. It was our July Book Club book and every person loved it!

::The Light Between Oceans. If you haven't already picked this up, do it asap. It is such a well written story about humanity and grace {I know, that sounds so deep. It's not really}

::The Fault in Our Stars. This may be my favorite book from the entire summer. I won't tell you what its about, because you might change your mind about reading it. If you only read one book this year, make it this one!

::Help, Thanks, Wow. Confession? I haven't read this entire book. But I bought it {on accident} last Fall when we were on vacation and finally started when we were on vacation again this summer. Maybe it had more to do with the season of life I find myself right now than how good the book is, but I absolutely loved the first chapter on Help. 

  And now, I'm slowly working through the recommendations all of you left on my earlier posts. It looks like I may have lots of Jodi Picoult in my future. What were your favorite summer reads?? Do tell!

Summer {favorites}.

  Back in March I did a favorites post. It was so fun, why not just make it a seasonal thing? K. I'm so in love with summer {and spring and fall} and really, seriously plan to live in a beach town someday. We haven't been able to log much sun/pool time yet this year, but I'm banking on our upcoming lakehouse vay-k to make up for that! Also, it seems important to note that, while it didn't make my list, I am currently obsessed with our new patio furniture. This is evidenced by the three hours I sat outside working around it today. Helloooo, tan lines! 

1// Old Navy Vintage tees. These shirts are the bomb.com. Old Navy basically has a summer long sale on everything in their store, these included! I have about 7 of them in different colors and I wouldn't mind have a few more. LOVE them. 

2// Hillsong United Zion. This cd has been on repeat for weeks, and I finally bought a legal copy on iTunes yesterday! {pats self on back}

3// the Festival necklace. Ok, I'm sure you're sick of me talking about Noonday. {I just really can't help it} But I love this necklace that I bought after my trunk show in June. It goes with everything {like my favorite tees!} and is so darn colorful!

4// Zinnias. I've already said it a zillion times {here and on instagram}, but I can't get enough of my zinnias! I have two or three bud vases full of them every day and they just make me smile, you know?

5// Volcano candle. Have we talked about this and how much I love love LOVE it? Or how I basically crapped my pants when I saw that it comes in a smaller {read: cheaper} size?? If I could only burn one candle for the rest of my life, it would be this one.

6// Parks and Recreation. I'm not sure what happened, but Justin decided he likes it now. We tried watching it a year or so ago, and he hated it. Either way, we're loving our post-cable life with Netflix episodes of Leslie and the gang!

7// Sally Hansen's Xtremewear polish. While its not a bright and summer-y shade, I could wear Grey Area every day and never get sick of it.

8// Green tea. Iced green tea is my summertime jam {when I'm not sipping boozy lemonade, of course} and this is my go-to brand.

9// Book club. We've had some duds over the past couple months, but I'm excited about this month's read. And really, I just kind of love book club. No matter what we read, we really just have a good time eating and drinking together! Start one. 

10// Straws. I usually snag a big box of straws in the dollar aisle, but this year my mom grabbed me some big, chunky, colorful ones from Ikea. Love! 

And, just because I really do love them, another zinnia photo. 

  But enough about me. What are you obsessed with this summer?? 

Summer reading.

   Ever since finishing grad school last year and slipping into much more of a normal 9-5ish routine, I've been able to pick up reading for fun again. Then book club started a few months ago, and I've just been devouring books. This summer is turning out a bit differently than I had thought or hoped it would, but that just means there's even more time to get my read on. And we cancelled cable again, so that frees up some time. And I may or may not have join the library's adult summer reading program, so there's that. {don't judge me with your judging eyes...} 
   I stopped by my library's book sale on Saturday and had to make myself leave after finding 8 books in no more than 10 minutes. Self-control. I only spent $4.50, and have enough new books to last me into July. So you're probably thinking I'm not interested in hearing your book recommendations, since I have a whole stack sitting next to my bed, just waiting to be read. But you'd be wrong. What are you reading this summer? I hear good things about Gone Girl and all Jodi Picoult books. Anything else I have to add to my hold list at the library?