She's Reading How Novel

What a great reading month it has been! As usual, I’ve read many different genres, but the majority of my month was spent steeped in Sarah J. Mass reads. From continuing my Throne of Glass series read, to reading her new release from ACOTAR, it’s been a whirlwind of fantasy. I actually spent more time with digital reads this month than usual, same goes for audiobooks. While I know some don’t count audiobooks, I do as I’m still hearing the story, analyzing characters, and sometimes even going back and listening to sections again.

When We Believed in Mermaids

This book was my book club’s February read. This book was so good and extremely sad. I recently lost my sister to liver failure and didn’t keep in touch with her much, so this book was a real trigger for me. Even with all that though, the story was just so well written. The combination of flashbacks and current reality was so well done. I typically don’t care for flashbacks, as I feel like this is so often done in a confusing and disjointed way. That wasn’t the case at all in this book. I definitely found myself not wanting this story to end and I would love a glimpse at what their lives look like 2 or 3 years into the future. I just needed a little bit more time with the characters.

The Midnight Library

This was an audiobook that I listened to very quickly. I think I finished it in like 2 days. This was not a book I would normally pick up, but I’d seen sooooo much about it on Instagram that I thought I’d give it a try. It was one that I enjoyed, really good story line, something fresh that I’d never seen done in a book before so that was enjoyable. I really like the main character, Nora. I did find that I was disappointed by the ending a bit. Don’t want to give any spoilers in case you haven’t read it, but there was a story line that I very much wanted her to stay in and I was sad that she didn’t. This isn’t one that I would read again, but am glad that I gave it a chance.

It Ends With Us

This read was for an online book club. I opted to go the audiobook route and really enjoyed listening while I cleaned and cooked. This was my 3rd Colleen Hoover read. I always enjoy her books, but am not crazy about them like it seems others are. My favorite so far by her was Verity. Anyway, this book had a domestic violence thread and coming from a childhood home of domestic violence it was uncomfortable for me in many ways. However, I did enjoy the story line and the characters. It’s not one that I will reread.

Beach Read

Wow! I absolutely adored this book. I was hooked straight from the beginning and read most of it in one day. The characters were likeable, the story line was well written and I did not want to say good-bye to these characters when it ended. I loved that the main characters were writers. I thought that was an interesting aspect of this book. I enjoyed the bits and pieces that centered on their writing habits. This will definitely be a book that I think I will reread in the future. Since I borrowed from a friend, I’ll need to purchase my own copy.

Storm and Fury

I have read so many books by Jennifer L. Armentrout this year and I’m not sad about it at all. While this one is very YA, it includes a character from another series I read in January. I feel in love with Zayne in the White Hot Kiss series and when I found out there was another series featuring his character, I quickly purchased them on Kindle. I love that these books are centered around gargoyles and demons. I haven’t read a lot of stuff with gargoyles, but am greatly enjoying getting to know them and their features. Like a lot of YA books, there are some cheesy moments, but I find myself loving Zayne just as much in this one as in the previous series. I do like that Layla and Roth from the first series are present in this one and they are working together. It’s nice to see characters continuing to pop up in future series. This makes it seem like we didn’t say good-bye to them after all and I’m a fan of that!

The Simple Wild

This book was so so good! I’ve had it for a good long while and just hadn’t made time to read it. I worked in several romance reads in February because, you know, Valentine’s Day. This was an easy read and I loved getting to know these characters. I loved how Calla finds respect and love for Alaskan life. When the story began with her parents leaving each other, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book because I felt like it started so sad. However, I quickly realized it was going to be a favorite. I bawled the last few chapters because I was not liking how the story was going. The ending turned things around a bit, but left me with a lot of questions so I quickly ordered the next 2 books. I can’t wait to continue this story.

The Happy Ever After Playlist

I have had this book for a looooooooooooooooong time! I have no idea why I didn’t pick it up before now or what I was waiting for, but man am I glad it was in my month of love TBR. Sloan’s story line absolutely destroyed me in The Friend Zone and to see a book dedicated to her character thrilled me. I love this story and getting to know Sloan and Jason. I felt the way the two met was so unique and I loved seeing them get to know each other. Like The Friend Zone, I will want to go back and reread this one. I am so excited for the next installment, Life’s Too Short. It comes out in April and I will be preordering for sure. I was also excited to here that there will be several more books in this series as well!

I spent most of last year reading in my free time. When I was a kid I could devour a book a day. Then I became a mom and well…all you mom’s know how that goes. But, we are now empty nesters and I’m discovering my love for reading again. Last year I set a goal to read 50 books and I read 39 books. While I didn’t reach my goal, I’m pretty happy with that number. I found some of the best authors and series last year and switched my Instagram account slowly over to mostly bookish content and I’m loving it. I’ve met some great readers and I love that I have people out there to chat with about books and make new friends. How wonderful it’s been!

So, I thought I’d switch this page over as well. It was originally just a spot to post random thoughts and DIY projects, but I struggled to keep up with it because there wasn’t much to post. While working on bookish things on instagram, I find it hard to put down everything I want to say in a review in the space that’s allowed. I thought it might be nice to post short reviews on my bookstagram and then have longer reviews on here. That’s my hope anyway.

Stick around for some reviews, bookish content, maybe some more DIY projects (especially when we finish our bookcases in the library), and who knows what else. If you’re interested in following me over on Bookstagram, you can find me @shes.reading.how.novel

I have pinned cute wreathes on Pinterest about a billion times! Since I’m working on being brave and trying new things this year, I thought I’d give them a go. I am in LOVE with how they turned out! Since we are close to Valentine’s day and these babies have all the pretty pink flowers, I thought I’d post my experience with these.

I ordered gold hoops to use for the base. These come in many different sizes, I ordered the 14 inch ones for this project. Of course, if you have an oversized front door, I’d move up a few inches. These could also be made to hang inside for decor. In that case, you’d probably want to move down to 10 inches. Here is the link from Amazon to order them. Click Here

I purchased the flowers from Michaels. I chose not to order these online because I wanted to be able to look at them and the size to make sure I was getting the right ones for the wreathes. I also have ordered flowers online in the past and the colors weren’t what they looked like once they arrived. I definitely recommend going and selecting them yourself. For these projects I bought 3 different sized flowers. This will really help balance out the wreath.

For the greenery, I wanted eucalyptus leaves. I just love how they look. These are the larger leaves because I wanted them to look big against the gold hoop, but you can definitely use ones with the smaller leaves. I used just half of what I ordered to make 2 wreathes, so these really go along way. Here’s the link for the greenery. Click Here

Once I had all my materials I got to work. I put everything together with hot glue.

Step 1: Cut the whole greenery piece in half, then half each of those as well. I chose to glue them on in sort of a backwards L pattern. I glued these on the gold hoop backwards so I could easily see where the hot glue was going. To curve to the circle shape, I glued in sections and waited for each section to dry a bit before moving on to the next.

Step 2: I put the largest flowers right in the center at the bottom. When I cut them apart, I left about a 1 1/2 inch stem to be able to glue on to the ring. I also cut off some of the leaf sections and glued them on as well to fill up the area. Don’t just use the flowers, it looks bare.

Step 3: I then moved to the next size flowers. Again, I included some of the leaves for these to create dimension. I put these on the left of the larger flowers to close the gap between the two sections of greenery.

Step 4: I added the smaller flowers to the right. For these I chose some that would pull off the wreath a bit and have some movement.

Looking back I wish I had taken some pictures of each step, but I have a hard time remembering to do that once I’m in the middle of a project. Below is the finished product! If you have questions, please let me know.

One of my goals for 2020 is to read at least 50 books. I’m well on my way already! Reading is something that I’ve always loved, but since becoming an elementary school administrator, I have not found good balance in my life that has allowed for much time for reading. I’m really working to find balance this year and reading is one of my top priorities. So, what am I doing to hold myself accountable? So many things!

• I had a friend recommend a reading log book. I am loving adding things and reviewing what I’ve read. If you’re interested, here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1519531540/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
• I follow this same friend on Instagram…want to follow her too…click here… https://www.instagram.com/epiblogue/
• I made a wish list of every book I’d like to get this year and uploaded the currently owned digital books on my iPad. I also made a list of the physical books I’d like to read as well.

Here’s a short list of my TO READS in 2020…

• Game of Thrones Series
• Vampire Diaries Series (Currently Reading)
• Vampire Academy Series
• Fallen Series
• Dracula
• JFK Biography (I have several)
• Thirst Series (Currently Reading)
• Where the Crawdads Sing
• American Drifter
• The Friend Zone
• Lord of the Rings Series
• Go Set a Watchman
• Such a Fun Age
• More Patricia Cornwell…always and always

It’s a lot, but I’m hoping to do my very best. You’ll notice that I listed two series as currently reading. I like to be reading a physical book and a digital book at the same time. This allows me to just grab my iPad and take it with me to read on the go. It also allows me to turn off the light if I want to read after Ryan goes to sleep and read a digital book. I also sometimes find that reading more than one book at a time keeps me interested in a book. There are other times that a book is so good that I focus on one from beginning to end before I start another.

Are you a reader? What are your book goals? I’d love to hear them!

Ryan and I talked about redoing our stairs in our house in St. Charles, but moved before we were able to get to that. I knew when we bought our current house that it would definitely be on the list. True to what we do, we decided on the spur of the moment at the beginning of Christmas break to go get what we would need.

This was actually one of the quicker projects we’ve done so far. Once we removed the spindles and figured out where to cut the new ones, it went pretty quickly.

A few tips to help if you plan to install them yourself:

1. Determine your pattern BEFORE you go to buy them. We had ours figured out, but didn’t consider the one at the top being so short so we had to rework the plan and exchange one of the new spindles.
2. Make sure you have a metal cutting blade on hand. We just used our jigsaw to cut these and it went fairly smooth.
3. You will need to drill a hole in the top of the new spindle, after you’ve cut it, to screw into your handrail. They come with holes already drilled, but if you have short spindles like we do, you have to cut them to size anyway.
4. When we tightened the top piece to cover the screws we discovered that they moved away leaving a gap between the handrail and the top of the cover piece. I don’t think our handrail was installed at the correct angle and this wasn’t something we were willing to correct at this point. So, instead of tightening them down, I ran a thin line of hot glue around the edge and held them for about 30 seconds to the handrail. Problem solved! If we want to change the angle of the handrail later, we can. The hot glue will easily pop off with a little pressure.

Our next step will be to beef up our newel post, probably with a craftsman style, which is my favorite, then stain the handrail and newel post a dark brown color. This is probably an upcoming summer break project.

I’d love to take the carpet off the stairs, but I’m not sure about putting in new treads. Maybe we will tackle that someday…who knows! For now, I’m super happy with how it turned out. We did buy black handrail braces to replace those icky brass ones you see below, we just have been enjoying being lazy so much, that we haven’t done it.

Years and years ago, I started picking one word instead of a New Year’s Resolution. I never stuck to my resolution. It always ended up being something crazy with weight loss and something that wasn’t realistic or attainable. Once I switched to using one word, I found I was able to stick with it AND it was something that truly made me grow and feel better about me.

However, a few times I’ve struggled to settle on just one word and have occasionally chosen two words or even a phrase. Last year my word was enough. I struggle to feel like I’m enough. There are a lot of things from my past, I won’t go into those here, but those experiences have always caused me to question myself and feel like I’m not good enough. Spending all last year focusing on my own confidence and perception of myself was so good for me. I questioned myself less and I feel so much more confident about who I am in my life right now.

This year, I couldn’t decide between two words, so I decided to go with both. They each have a different meaning to me and I believe they will help me continue to be confident and be the best me in 2020.

My first word is…

There are so many things that I’d like to try. I absolutely LOVE being creative and want to work with that in this next year. I’ve been working on growing as a photographer, but there are so many things that I don’t do to really put myself out there as a photographer, and in other areas. This year I really want to be brave. With that comes rejection and in return can be a hit to your confidence. I think that it just takes finding the right person to give you a yes. So, this year, I’m really going to work on being brave and putting myself out there.

My second word is…

Balance is something I’ve worked on for years and years. My job requires so much of me and in the past I’ve missed out on things that I wanted to do because I struggled to find balance. I’ve worked on this before and I believe I’m better than I used to be, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. In order to be brave creatively, I’m going to have to really work on balance. Balancing my family, health, work, reading, photography, designs, writing, all of it.

One of the things that I have neglected a lot in the last few years is reading. I have always been an avid reader and would finish a book or two a week. In recent years, I have been lucky to finish a book every 6 months. This last fall, I really wanted to spend more time reading and I managed to get through 8 books in December. I joined Goodreads last year and am really working to focus on balance that allows me to read like I love.

If you want to work on reading, you should hop on Instagram and follow my friend Jesseca James. Her page is @epiblogue and she is working on reading goals as well.

In fact, any goal you are working on, probably has a following on Instagram. If you’re not on instagram you’re really missing out. There is so much out there for support and guidance in areas that you love.

So, here’s the thing…I’ve picked my words and with that, a list of things I want to do. I know I said I don’t make resolutions, but what I do make and excel at are checklists. Who’s with me on that?! I’m great at making lists and checking things off. In fact, this blog is on my checklist of to dos for today. Sooo…my list of ways I will be brave and find balance are below.

1. BALANCE so I can read 50 books this year. (I’m already finishing up my second book of the year!)
2. BALANCE my schedule to find time to eat right by cooking at home and working out. (I already joined a Facebook support group and set a goal for my birthday in 2021!)
3. Create at least 3 blog posts a month. (I’m creating all 3 for January today and scheduling them to post. Make sure you subscribe so you won’t miss them!)
4. Finish writing the 2 books that I’m almost done with. (Even if I’m the only one that ever sees them…BUT…send them out to publishers…BE BRAVE.)
5. Say yes to more photography opportunities. (I’ve already scheduled another wedding…which I said I never wanted to do…this will make 3…lol. I’ve also had inquiries for headshots, another area to branch out and be BRAVE.)
6. Finish our bathroom remodel (Find the BALANCE.)
7. Try more projects from my boards on Pinterest. (I’m starting something I’ve never done, tomorrow and I’m so excited.)

So, there it is…my CHECKLIST…and my two words…BRAVE and BALANCE. I’d love to hear what your resolution or words are. Comment on this post and let me know. We can work to support each other and be accountability partners.

Today is Mother’s Day and I find myself reflecting on the last almost 22 years of being a mom. My oldest will be 22 in October and my youngest is 17. I always find it odd when people say my work is almost done. I don’t feel that way. Not at all. My worries still very much exist, just in different forms. Being a mom never ends, the job description just shifts, that’s all.

My son will be graduating high school around my next Mother’s Day and my daughter will be graduating college. It has happened so quickly. I blinked and slept a few times and their childhood is all but over. However, now I’m meeting these people they are becoming.

I’m wondering about what their lives will be like as adults. Wondering what kind of person they will marry and what their children will be like. Will they look like they did when they were little? Will I be close enough to have sleepovers and rock them to sleep? Will becoming a grandma bring back the wonderful memories of when my children were little and still needed their mom to soothe them and kiss them goodnight?

I know they will both be great parents, but it’s sad moving on to that next phase. It’s sad knowing I no longer get them cereal while they watch cartoons. Sad not to see and hear them playing in the yard. No one told me all the wonderful, but sad things that come with motherhood.

Even with the sadness, even having to let go, it is something I wouldn’t change for the world. I can’t imagine not being a mom. I went from graduating high school to being a mom and I don’t regret a single second. It has been the greatest gift I have ever received.

Several years ago I wrote a letter to my daughter. She was a sophomore in high school and it was hitting me that I didn’t have much time left with her at home. I’m attaching it below as a reminder to put your phones down, turn off the tv, and enjoy your babies! It doesn’t last…you think you have time…you don’t! Be with them, love them, laugh with them, make memories that will last a lifetime…you will need them!

So, this post is all about those working moms out there. I’m sure many of you have struggled with finding that balance between professional and personal life, I know I have! I’ve been a certified educator for 14 years, and working in schools for 18 years.

In my first years of teaching I would work all day, then come home cook dinner, take care of the kids’ needs, and work more. Granted my husband and I shared the care of our children. We are true partners and I adore that about him. Sometimes, I’d keep working…until midnight…grading papers, writing lesson plans, reading books to keep up with reading groups; the list goes on and on.

One thing I noticed after the first four years, was that I was missing out on some things and feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. I couldn’t keep up with everything in both places. I began to think about how I could get better at balancing things. What made it even harder for me was my passion for my profession. Anyone that knows me knows I CANNOT do anything half-way. I’m all in…period! This was a hard eye-opener for me.

I think where I was working was one of the things that made it harder. Those first four years was in a very rural school where there was one teacher per grade level. At the end of those four years, we had relocated to St. Louis. I was no longer a singleton…I now was part of a team. This was an adjustment because I’d never worked as a team with anyone before in this way. What I noticed was that we weren’t alone. We had each other. That was a big turn of events for me! My school worked a lot on team building and the team I was on became very close and trusting. This meant we began to rely on each other and to plan TOGETHER!

It is nice to be able to depend on someone and know that they will be there to give you ideas and share their experiences and what’s worked for them. I began to find I had more time at home for my family and to work on hobbies that I enjoyed, and even find some new ones!

I guess the purpose of what I’m trying to say is that you aren’t alone! Count on others, lean on others, depend on others. There’s no shame in saying you need help. There’s no reason you have to try to do everything alone. Finding out how to work effectively as a team helps you find that balance.

This kind of goes back to my phrase for this year, “You are enough.” Find the balance you need. Mental health is just as important as our physical health. Make sure you are taking care of both. Make sure you are taking care of you!

When we bought our current house we knew there were a few things that we wanted to change.  Some of the small things we did right away; light fixtures, cabinet handles, and appliances. Every single fixture and handle was icky brass!  In our previous home we updated those items to brushed nickel. However, in this house I really wanted more of a farmhouse feel. We live in the country, so I thought it fit.  So, we started with the handles in the kitchen and picked a beautiful black shell pull for the drawers and knobs for the doors. I LOVED how the black looked against the white.  We then changed all the door knobs and hinges to black as well. I love how it turned out! Almost everything in our house was from the original build. The previous owners made some updates; painted trim and doors, new hardwood floors (even though we don’t like the finish), and new tile in the kitchen, dining room, and laundry room.

Other items on our list we knew we needed to take some time to figure out what we really wanted.  One of the big items were the bathrooms. We didn’t really like anything about them, including the floors.  We started with the main level bathroom. We replaced the countertop and sink and then removed the horrible wood pieces behind the towel rod.  These wood pieces are behind every single towel rod and toilet paper holder in this house. I have no idea why, but they are absolutely hideous!  Next, we moved on to the floor.

We were at Lowes for something completely different and found these tiles!  I fell in love instantly! One of the best things about these tiles is that they are peel and stick!  Can you even believe it?!?! We had never done any kind of flooring, other than laminate, and we’d never replaced a toilet.  These were both new adventures for us.

For the floor we started by finding the center of the floor.  We centered it from the door to the wall and the cabinet to the other wall.  Then we found the center of the tile to make sure it was in the correct spot.  From there it went pretty easily. As we got to the edges, we had to measure and Ryan cut them to fit.  

The area around the vent was a bit tricky because there were some small pieces that had a hard time staying in place.  To problem solve this we nailed the very edges of the tiles since they would be under the vent cover anyway.

The toilet was completely hilarious!  We put everything together and all seemed to be going really well.  Then, we flushed the toilet. WATER WENT EVERYWHERE!!! I mean, it was a literal waterfall in that bathroom.  I started yelling and running around and my hubby is just looking at it like, yep, something went wrong. I then asked him if he followed the directions.  He said, “No, I just put it on.” Well, upon reading the directions we noticed that we didn’t put the black rubber gasket between the tank and the bottom. It was ceramic on ceramic.  Lesson learned! The toilet in the master bath was MUCH easier!

The master bath has gone through several stages.  When we first moved in we changed the light fixture and the cabinet hardware from brass to black.  Next, we put on black door handles and hinges. Then, we painted the bathroom and the mirror frame, and added new towel rods (in black of course).  The next step was to replace the faucet. I went with black. We did a black faucet in the kitchen and I fell in love with it!

We recently replaced the floor over Christmas break with the same floor as the main level.  We just loved it so much we decided to use it in 3 of our 4 bathrooms. That means one more to go!

This is the mirror frame when I began painting.  It’s that same icky oak colors as the hardwood floors.  I despise builders grade oak. In this picture you can see the new light fixture we put in.  The old one was one of those with the giant round bulbs like you see around make-up mirrors on tv.  In brass…of course! We actually got these lights on clearance at Lowes. They were originally $300 each and there were two of them for $60 each.  We put one in our bathroom and one in the guest bathroom.

Here are the AFTER pictures and what it looks like now.

This is the floor after.  I love how it looks!

We have one item left to tackle in this bathroom…the tile around the tub.  We’ve considered several different things and I think we’ve finally decided on shiplap.  We will do all three sides of the tub. I cannot wait to get rid of the ugly tile and finally tackle a shiplap wall.  Another first for us.

Now…SEVERAL people have asked me about the tiles and where we got them.  So…I’m including a link to the Lowes website. We bought them in store. The other thing that’s nice about these tiles is that you can buy them individually if you want, so if you don’t need a whole box, you can just grab what you need!  Here’s the link:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Armstrong-Flooring-Terraza-1-Piece-12-in-x-12-in-Harbor-Gray-Peel-and-Stick-Vinyl-Tile/1000549185

Also, these babies are 88 cents a tile!  We were blown away by the quality for the price.  Home renovation doesn’t have to break the bank. When we put in the contract on our house we knew what things we wanted to replace and we spent the months before we moved shopping for many items on clearance or on sale before we moved.  Yes, that means we moved a lot of new purchases with us, but we saved so much money it was worth it. I will do a post in the future on all the sale items we purchased for our house. Light fixtures was the big saver.

Guys!  I’m so excited about this new year.  2019 is going to be grand…I can feel it!  I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about creating a blog this past year.  I have actually tried it twice before and it never really went anywhere.  However, this time around I have a ton of ideas that I want to get out there and share with others.  I have a wide range of hobbies and interests so be prepared…lol!  

I find this quote to be so true and meaningful for me.  I did not come from a middle class home, in fact, I grew up in poverty.  I’ve worked extremely hard to be where I am today and I firmly believe that it’s your mindset.  I decided, long ago, that my life would be what I wanted it to be.  That’s a story for another time.  It might even find its way on here…some day.

My goal for this blog, is to have one post weekly, two times a week, max.  I want these posts to be meaningful and educational.  I plan to link these to my Instagram and Facebook page as well.  Topics may include: photography, books, organization, DIY, crafting with my Cricut, home decor, or cooking.  There may be an occasional clothing recommendation or two, but fashion is definitely not my area of expertise.  

Below is a picture I took at Creve Coeur Lake in St. Louis, Missouri.  I was there taking pictures of another family and just happened to get this amazing shot.  If you haven’t been to Creve Coeur Lake, it is a definite must.  There are trails around the lake, paddle boards to rent, and even a waterfall.

Let’s make the choice right now, together, to make 2019 the best year yet.  How exciting it is to know we are beginning a whole new year, fresh with possibilities and unknown adventures.  I plan to make this year the time of my life, will you join me?