February

I can't believe it's already March! February was a good month and I feel really good about the way this year is going so far. Here's a few things I got up to in February...

Homeschool- We finished our human body study at the end of the month... Such a fun study! I created this one on my own. I've said a few times that I'll probably buy the The Good and the Beautiful curriculum as they get older but I don't know... I do love putting together my own science studies! I plan to share everything we used eventually.

Teaching- I taught another Enneagram + writing class at the end of the month and this one went so great! I have another coming up in September. I feel so anxious leading up to the classes that I tell myself I don't want to do any kind of speaking after all... But then I feel fine a few minutes into the class, energized and empowered afterwards! Maybe I just need to space them out less so I have less time to forget that the last one went great.

Learning- to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the keyboard my mom bought us for Christmas! I've got my right hand work down fairly well and almost feel ready to move on to my left!

Personal Growth- Ryan reminded me one day when we were all sick that I was hyperfocused on being sick rather than getting better. I absolutely know how important these mindset shifts are but I just didn't even think about it until he said that! I shifted my mindset and speech to "This will help me recover, that will give my body extra strength as it's fighting this off," etc and sure enough, I felt about twice as good by the end of the day. I'm focusing on that same concept in all areas now (or trying to, at least).

Movies- The hubby and I are watching all the Marvel superhero movies in order via this line-up. We watched the first one, Captain America, and will watch Captain Marvel soon. A was really hoping we'd say Captain America was fine for him but we think it would scare and upset him just yet.

Writing- I finished a mini project on the 12th and then basically just brainstormed and outlined my next project for a few days before taking a writing break to focus on my Enneagram + fiction class. I've been working on some fun things I'm proud of but you won't get to see them until later this year and next year. It's kinda weird and even a little bit frustrating to be honest, but it's a good thing. I've learned so much since my last published books and I'm dying to get my new work not your hands so you can all see how much I've grown as a writer!

Playing- playing outside so much! Sledding, mini hikes to where the snow is still too deep, climbing, Fort-building... I'm enjoying taking my workouts outside and doing them while I listen to an audio book and watch the kids run around, so wild and free, so creative and inspired. <3

Celebrating- B turned 5 in February. We had a simple birthday at home- pizza, strawberry shortcake with "green ice cream" (pistachio), presents, and a family Toy Story 4 movie night. We also always read our favorite birthday picture books, record their height on a growth chart, share our favorite things about them, and pray for their next year on their birthdays. For our weekend celebration we took them to a bounce house place in the city where they could run around choosing different bounce houses to play in for an hour.

Homestead- First of all, I coined the term "glamsteading" which is more what we're doing. It's a lot like homesteading, but with Amazon deliveries and frozen pizzas. ;) We still have snow on the ground so haven't started any big projects yet but made lots of plans. We want to build a closed-in raised garden and plotted that and a few other projects, then everybody cleared away an old fire pit while I was teaching my class.

Reading- I read 13 books in February, most which were of course 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade review books.

Worthy by Elyse Fitzpatrick- I only read the first 3/4 of this book and skimmed the rest. The writing was fine and the subject, women's worth in the eyes of God, was great! I think I just felt by the end like I'd taken in what I needed to and felt ready to move on to something new. I would still say it's an overall good book, but I realized while reflecting afterwards that it doesn't totally apply to me. I've never really doubted God's love for women. He created them. My problem was never thinking I was unimportant because I was a woman- it was that I spent all those years thinking I was unimportant because I was me. I would imagine there are many women out there who will benefit greatly from this book. *I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Yes Sisters by Angelia L White- I'd like to start by warning readers that this book does lightly dive into the author's childhood sexual abuse. But ultimately, this is a book about female friendship. Your "yes sisters" are the women who encourage and inspire you, show up for you, motivate you, stand up for you. She shared a lot of great stories and several great words of wisdom that made me both appreciate my best friendships and finally feel strong enough to step away from a friendship that's been hurting me for quite a while now. It seems to be a fairly common trend for me to disengage 3/4 of the way into a book like this and skim the rest, and I did that with this one too. It wasn't poorly written, I didn't disagree... I just felt like I'd gotten what I needed and was ready to move on to something else. *I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

If any of you are curious... I don't allow myself to count a book in my final count for the year if I only partially read it.

Also worth mentioning- loved Anne of Avonlea and then followed it up with Marilla of Green Gables, which I adored! Some say it was more of a young adult novel but I think it's fine for both! There was one scene where Marilla ran her hands over her beau's bare chest and said she'd never felt a man's flesh under her fingers before, otherwise I loved it! Also adored If There Is a God by Gus Bess (I met him at the Spokane Christian Writer's Conference and find this Marine-turned-pastor so inspiring!), the audio book version of Echo (one of my favorites!), and Where is the Bermuda Triangle? (a concept I've always been quite interested in).