recently read for october 2014

Books are one of my favorite things to write about, but it has been a long time since my last post on what I've read. Dax doesn't exactly nap enough for me to get a whole lot of reading in these days, but I try. Here's what I've finished in the last eight months ...

Praying Through Your Pregnancy

By Jennifer Polimino and Carolyn Warren

Loved reading a chapter for each week of my pregnancy! Awesome prayers. Great book.

The Gifts of Imperfection
By Brene Brown
Brene Brown's TED talk on vulnerability is fantastic, and that is what prompted me to want to read her books. A bit too touchy-feely at first. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it was hard for me to concentrate and really get into her style of writing. And then ... I did. AND I LOVED IT. One of my all-time favorite reads!

Praying Circles Around Your Children
By Mark Batterson
Quick. Packs a punch. I took away one specific prayer that I continue to pray over Dax daily.

The Nesting Place
By Myquillyn Smith
I want to gift this book to every woman that I know. Her perspective is so freeing and inspiring. It frees you up to decorate however you want to, and to just do it. Try things. Go for it. This book definitely got my creative juices flowing. I want to be friends with Myquillyn. Her biggest statement: it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. (Can everyone please get on board with this? Love it.)

A Million Little Ways
By Emily Freeman
A divine read. Another one that got my creative juices flowing, as Emily encourages readers to see the beauty and creativity in almost everything. I'd like to be friends with Emily too. (She and Myquillyn are sisters!)

Me Before You
By Jojo Moyes
Stayed up way too late finishing this book the other night, because I could not put it down. (I love when you get to that part in a book, and you know you're not going to sleep until you finish!) Story about a girl in her twenties who needs a job, takes one as a caregiver for a quadriplegic, and finds out a secret that changes everything. (Hint: the secret ties in well with the current media storm over assisted suicide.)


What about you, friends ... finish reading anything great lately? 
(Any mediocre or terrible reads would be good to alert me about too.)

therapy

i read this sign in a shop - the kind so cute that you wish you could buy everything, but leave with nothing because it's all too expensive. (or you're too cheap and too broke. either or.) i had never thought about it like that, but that statement is SO TRUE. good conversation, with a good drink on top of that, leaves me feeling incredibly refreshed. 

*

my experiences with traditional therapy are brief. i had to go after my parents got divorced - or maybe it was before, my timeline is sketchy. (my family would probably pipe in that my timeline isn't the only thing sketchy about me or my memory, but that's neither here nor there.) and again one time right before my mom and stepdad got married. i don't even know if it was technically called therapy, or just "counseling." is there a difference?

the first time, i remember my brother and i being in a room with pretty good toys, and the movie "all dogs go to heaven" was playing on a small TV. my brother was not interested in playing, and told me there were people watching us. this baffled me. WHAT? WHY? i don't think that was true, but as usual i listened to him and stopped trying to talk to him, and just watched the movie. i don't remember anything from the part where we were actually in a room talking to an adult. 

fast forward to fifth grade, and again it's my brother and i in a small room, sitting on a couch. this time to talk about blended families. i did not want to be there. the counselor (bless) was too peppy - or i was too sassy - and i was NOT about to talk to this joker. 

i fiddled with my watch and he commented on that, which perturbed me. he talked about his kids - whose parents were not divorced or remarried so i failed to see the connection. none of his attempts at conversation led to anything that left any positive impression on me. after that we had to go back in with my four stepsiblings for more banter. we all devoured mcdonalds immediately afterward. all of us. probably the first and last time we all had fast food together, because my stepdad and mom are amazing cooks and all of us are foodies because of it.

*

life is crazy and so are people, and therapy is crazy expensive and not necessarily always the way to go ... so i think that requires knowing yourself well enough to incorporate whatever is therapeutic for you into your daily life.

for me, it's definitely good conversation with friends. whether over a cup of chai, or on a walk, or at a dinner party. exercise. running outside. shopping. a great song, movie, or book. exploring or going on little (or big) adventures. being outside. being alone. being with people. cafes and bookstores. beauty in flowers, gardens, and nature. yoga. massages. worship music and singing. writing.

yard saling has been my latest therapy ... love language ... cheap thrill, if you will. i tried in columbus, but the yard saling scene there just was not what it is in lancaster. this place is an oasis of second-hand goodness and frugality! i am tickled whenever i find something great, and i love the challenge of making a house a home on a dime. it probably would be fun to decorate with a limitless budget, but it's easy to convince myself that it really wouldn't be as much fun as it is to have to search for treasures and improvise and be creative. creativity is definitely a joy-giver for me.

this morning i had to scrape frost off my windshield and was reminded that winter is coming, and i'm not excited for that. bye bye sunshine and yard sale therapy, hello ... hmm ... hopefully getting addicted to exercise again. 

so what gets you through winter? and life?

stories that bring perspective on marriage/life

You and Me Forever from You and Me Forever on Vimeo.

"I don't know how you're going to face God at the end and say, "You put us together, and what we decided to do with our marriage was get comfortable."

Whoa. Definitely worth watching for some fresh perspective. 

Mental notes for later/what else stuck out to me ...

- If you individually desire to settle down, then together you'll doubly settle down ... but if you individually desire to serve the kingdom, then you'll double that impact.

- Sometimes Satan whispers in your ear when things are hard: 'Your friends are in Jamaica, looking in each other's eyes and relaxing ... what did you get yourself into?'

- Following God often includes doing a lot of the same mundane things over and over.