March Madness! Or, How I Can't Get My Act Together

Well, with all good-intentioned resolutions will eventually come stumbling blocks. I will call my stumbling block "March 2016". I've been pretty mediocre, and maybe downright pathetic, at following through with some of my goals this month. Sure, I could make up a laundry list of reasons but I'm not really here to air out said dirty laundry. Actually, it's more like gently worn and might require a sniff test. J/k*. I'm just lazy.

Here's what's up... I haven't posted a damn thing this entire month. I've drafted a few ideas but nothing's been catching my interest for me to bother beefing up and posting to the interwebiverse (patent pending... well, no... not really). I was doing pretty well on my photo challenge for the first half of the month but hit a creativity block (which resembles me not checking my challenge topic list on a daily basis) so nothing's been going up on Instagram except pictures I've taken of food. Mmmm, food.

But check it out, here's what I've been doing in the meanwhile, since I haven't been posting here:

Every year, I fill out a NCAA March Madness bracket, much like thousands upon thousands of Americans. Except I know squat about college basketball, also like many other thousands of Americans. My method is simple. I select teams using an arbitrary algorithm I've created and which resides solely in my brain that factors in the school's name, the mascot, the team colors, and the ranking. Essentially, I guess and hope for the best. All of this (lack of) effort is pretty much to see if I can beat my husband at something he takes rather seriously. Turns out though, my pick to win the whole thing was a bust early on. So Hubs and I are counting how many teams we chose correctly overall and tallying it up. Whoever made the most correct picks wins! Grand prize: an ice cream sundae!! Hubs says the whole thing is wrapping up soon (like I'd know, heh) so I'll get to find out shortly if I win or not. (I'm one pick behind him and hoping beyond all hope that I get my sundae, dammit!) 

I also celebrated my wedding anniversary this month. It's been 6 years of marriage and 8 years together. We had a long-overdue day date to the movies and lunch since it's been awhile that we've gone anywhere in daylight without our Baby G. So why didn't we have a romantic dinner date instead? Glad you asked! Because I had a very important date to see Nick Carter in concert that night... without Hubs! That's why!

"Hi, my name is Kim. I'm 31 years old. I've been a die-hard Backstreet Boys fan for more than half my life. Nick Carter is my favorite."

"Hi, Kim!"

Something (else?) cool happened this month. I won a free book giveaway on Goodreads! It's The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg. This is actually the 5th book I've won over the last several years. I'm really looking forward to reading this one! As for the past books, I only read 2 of the 4 that I got. Though, I have every intention to read the other 2 this year, finally!

Also book related, I finally finished the Chronicles of Narnia series. It's taken most of my adult life before I ever bothered to look into the series, and took over the past 2 years to get through all seven books. I feel very accomplished now, and I've been basking in my own self-approval. *smug smile*

As far as my other goals go, I haven't been very good at recording moments I want to remember with my daughter. She's a toddler now and at an age when she's constantly surprising us with the new things she's learned or picked up. It's quite difficult to keep up with, honestly. My heart breaks a little for my future-self who may not remember little things like when Baby G started using certain words correctly or when she figured out how to do something new, but my present-self is very much enjoying the moments and soaking it all in. In that respect, my heart fills up a little more and sometimes I think it will burst with love and pride when I just sit and observe my little girl. (You know, when she's not throwing a tantrum or something).

So, there you have it. A month later, I finally checked back in to my blog. I'm hoping to do better next month. Until next time (whenever that is....)!!

* "Just kidding"

How reading LESS will make this bookworm happier

In the spirit of #simplify2016 and #connect2016, I'm tackling one of my most beloved but all too often neglected hobbies: reading.

In any given year, I attempt to read numerous books for several reasons or occasions.

I am part of an online book club called Eclectic Readers so there is at least 12 books that I try to go through in a year. I'm not always successful. If I can't finish a book and/or make it to a group discussion, I make up for it by listening to our nifty podcast.

I also participate in a "book bingo", which if you don't know what it is, I highly recommend a Google search on the topic. The bingo card usually covers 24 books of varying genres, some spots taken care of through my book club selections, but the rest are picks of my own.

On top of that, I try to set a Goodreads challenge for myself so if I'm feeling ambitious and want to read more than 24 books, I have to make up the difference for the challenge.

In case you missed it in my first post, "The Inspiration", I happened to have a baby in 2014. She is in full on toddler mode now so there seems to be little time, if any, to sit down and crack open a nice, cold beer book. That means for most of 2015, I struggled to keep up with something that I deeply love and NEED in order to keep my peace of mind and my imagination strong.

So, let's do this, 2016! I am setting out to simplify life by cutting out book bingo (*sad face emoji with tears*) and focusing mainly on my Eclectic Readers book club picks. This in turn will help me connect again with the amazing members of this group. I'll also be able to keep my challenge count reasonable.

I haven't been in this book club for as long as some other members, but in the time I've been a member and the few times I've been able to join discussions, I've been privileged enough to learn A LOT from some amazing people. I've been exposed to genres I wouldn't normally choose for myself, and I've listened to opinions and insight that I couldn't have possibly come up with myself. This book club covers quite a few things that I love about life: reading, friends, and meaningful conversations.

Seriously, I think I felt my heart grow bigger just thinking about being able to be more connected and engaged with my ER friends. I can't wait!