In 2018 I Will . . .

2017 is officially over and done with. It was quite a year in many many ways, but I think the best way to sum it up is with a quote from A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass (thanks, Mor):

“There are good days and hard days for me - even now. Don’t let the hard days win.”#Describe2017WithABookQuote

— Andrea (@beutybutfunygrl) December 27, 2017

I don't go too crazy with resolutions because I think it's important to be your best self at all times of the year, but there's just something about the new years and the "fresh start" that I think really gets people motivated. I'm not going to lie, the tabula rasa philosophy does give me a warm and cozy feeling. Very blanket-just-from-the-dryer.

Reading/Blogging Goals

Read 30 books. I made a goal of 30 books for 2017 and blew it out of the water (58 books), but that was in part to audiobooks. I listened to a lot of audiobooks in 2017. Since I've gone through a lot of my "backlog" with audiobooks, I'm thinking 30 books is a realistic goal.

Finish series I've started or catch up to those still in progress. I hate having to run away from spoilers or falling so far behind that it feels like I'll never catch up. This resolution kind of goes hand-in-hand with my next goal.

Read the books I am excited about instead of putting them off (for some unknown reason). I've gotten books that I bought and borrowed from the library that I am so excited to read and then they sit on my shelf for a weeks before I finally pick them up. I have no idea why I do this, but it's got to stop.

Be a more efficient blogger. I got away from blogging regularly after Teacup Human was born - it's a lot of work keeping a human alive! I want to get back to writing more reviews, discussion posts, spotlights, and random thoughts.

Life Goals

Take pride in my appearance. We all have those days where we just don't care and how we look is how we look. Lately, I feel like I've had too many of those days. I always feel just a little bit better amount myself when I go that extra step. I don't feel the need to go all out every day, but taking a little more pride in how I look on the day to day basis will go a long way.

Savor the moments. With today's technology, I think it's easy to get lost on Facebook, Twitter, or whatnot when you should be more focused on spending time with the ones you love. It's crazy how quickly your kids grow up and I don't want to miss a single moment.

Complete (at least) one home project a month. We bought a new house in October and while it was 80% move-in read, I'm hoping I can make a dent in that 20% bit by bit so I'm not overwhelmed. Luckily nothing is huge, but it's those little changes that will make it feel homier.

Create my family yearbooks. I created a family yearbook through Shutterfly for 2016 and loved it! I used to print out my photos and add them to photo albums and it would take forever, especially when I wouldn't print out pictures for months, if not a year plus. I'm definitely going to create one for 2017, but I'd like to go back and create one for 2015 and earlier.

What are some are you 2018 goals?

Moving is Hard

And I don't just mean in the general sense - although, moving is a bitch. Let's be real.

But more than the physical aspect, the emotional toll can be so much harder. I'm no stranger to moving from beloved homes. Right before my senior year in high school, my mom sold our childhood home. (We stayed in the same district, she's not a monster.) I remember being angry, sad, and there's a good chance I used a few choice words when she told me.

To put it short, I was devastated. This had been my home since I was five years old. I grew up in these rooms. My siblings grew up in these rooms. I pouted. I cried. I raged. But in the end, what choice did I have?

So we moved. And while I lost my beloved bedroom with two closets - I still miss those closets to this day - I admit my mom made the right decision. We only moved a few streets down and on occasion, my mom, sister, and I would drive by the old house just to check it out. I wish I could tell you how livid my mother was when she saw what these people had done to her rose bushes and the landscaping, but I don't think words do it justice.

And to this day, over 10 years later, I could still walk through the rooms with my eyes closed and tell you exactly where each crevice is and exactly which step creaked. I will admit that I am constantly checking to see when the current owners put it up for sale. Speaking of . . . 

Nope. Still off the market.

Just over a year ago my mom decided to sell that house too. I'd been out the house for years, my sister a year or two, and my brother a few months. She made a very adult decision that the house was too big for just her and the beau and that a family with young children should enjoy it as much as we had. Plus, they were currently 30 minutes from work - in good weather with no traffic. It was no longer practical. I was fine. Bummed, but fine.

Now it's my turn. It's my turn to be the adult and sell a beloved home. And I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

This is the house that after months of house searching, Joe and I knew was home immediately upon pulling up. The house Joe and I bought after living together in our apartment The house we decided would be our home. The house we wanted to create our memories in together.

Over the years, it has been the perfect home. It has taught us the joys and tribulations of home ownership. It has taught us how to choose the right paint color. How to a bit handier. How when a raccoon has decided to make your attic its new home, it sounds like a person walking around your house. Really not cool at three in the morning.

We got Bentley while we lived in this home. I can still see him climbing up the stairs from the garage. A Christmas present weeks in the making and one of the best surprises of my life.

We were married while we lived here. There are pictures of Joe and his groomsmen getting ready, and taking shots, in our living room.

I came down the stairs one morning in March to give Joe an early birthday present - a positive pregnancy test. He was in the middle of vacuuming and was so annoyed that I was interrupting him for, what he assumed, was something nonsensical. But I stood on that bottom step, ready to hand him his surprise, and knew our lives would never be the same.

This is the home we brought Teacup Human to after leaving the hospital. I can tell you exactly where she was the first time she laughed, the first time she rolled over, the first time she crawled, and the first time she walked across the room holding my hands.

I know that I will always have these memories regardless of where we are living, but something about not being in the physical space is hard and emotionally draining. It's silly. I know this, but I won't apologize for my emotions. I can tell you right now that when I see our current home empty and devoid of our possessions, I'm going to cry.

And it's going to be about as pretty as when I cry during the Amazon "Lion" commercial. If this commercial doesn't hit you in the feels on some level, you are a monster. A monster who hates dogs. A monster who hates babies. A monster who hates life!

I've had my moments where I get sad about leaving and seeing all our things in boxes, but I don't think it's hit me that come Sunday, this will no longer be our home.

Our move is not a bad thing. I am excited to move and begin the new phase our life. We love our upcoming new home and are beyond excited to make new memories and grow our family. Change is hard. But it's also necessary and can be rewarding. I'm ready for our family to take the next step in our lives. The important thing is that we are together. And wherever that is, that's home.

Andrea's Socratic Seminar: Blogging Through Life

  Well, it's been a while since I've written a discussion post outside of Top Ten Tuesday, but I'm feeling rather inspired.

About two weeks ago I got a new job - one that I love already. Of course, new jobs come with new experiences. Aside from having to adjust to a new schedule (I leave earlier and get home later than my previous job), I've had to figure out how to work blogging into my life with a big girl job.

At Old Job I was able to read, write, and maintain Bookish Lifestyle. That's not exactly an option at New Job. New Job involves a lot more work, focus, and attention to detail. Old Job had a lot of downtime and New Job does not. Yes, I can read during my lunch hour, but I can't exactly take time mid-day to write a review or a random post.

Even though it's only been two weeks, I'm feeling a bit stretched thin. I've definitely noticed a bit of suffering when it comes to my blogging and reading. By the time I get home from work I need to make dinner, clean up, play with the dog, pack for the next day, and (depending on the intricacy of dinner) it's already past 7:00. Sometimes I have it in me to read or blog, but sometimes I just want to sit in front of the TV and binge on mindless television. 

Blogging has never really felt like a second job until New Job started. Or would that be a third job? On top of blogging and New Job, I am a wife, a homeowner, and dog owner (who, as anyone with a four-legged friend knows, is like my kid). It's a lot, but it's life. I just need to find my balance and prioritize a bit more than in the past.

My Plum Paper Planner will be my friend now more than ever. 

Blogging is a commitment. One I enjoy and fully plan to keep on keeping on. I just need to figure how to work in it with my new commitments and schedule. (It pains me that I got Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo's on release day and I'm only on chapter four. I mean, this is a Leigh Barugo novel!)

I know I'll eventually find my groove and figure out how to balance life and blogging, but for now I could use some advice. How do you manage a full-time job, blogging / reading, and having a life? How can I blog and still stay sane? Any tips / tricks you could pass along would be greatly appreciated and welcome!

Socratic Seminar: Branching Out

For those of you who are unaware, Socratic Seminars are defined as "collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a text." I use these in my classroom to get my students engaged in the text we are reading/discussing. It works much better than just having them stare at me for 45 minutes.

Tuesday night I participated in Cassie (Casserole)'s  first #casserolechat. First off, I absolutely loved this chat. I don't participate in many Twitter chats like this. Whether it's because I miss them or I'm lazy, I don't know. But on Tuesday, I was feeling particularly chatty and just happened to be on Twitter at the right time.

I have to say that I absolutely loved this chat. It was great holding a conversation about similar interests in this way and not just reading a post and commenting on it - kind of like this lol! I feel like my lack of social media presence has to do with being overwhelmed (which I'll get in to below). And this chat - thank you, Cassie! - seems to have opened my eyes as to what my problem recently has been. After my wedding and honeymoon, especially my honeymoon since it was a full week off, I've had a lot of trouble coming back into blogging. Even my reading has suffered a bit.

It's not because I'm over blogging - and I'm definitely not over reading - but something about that week away affected me more than I would have anticipated. Normally I review books right away, but now they sit as drafts for a week or two. I eventually come back to write the review and my notes make zero sense. Nada, zip. So no review for that book. Then I get bummed out because I loved it and I want to share it with all of you, but outside of "Yea this book! Read it, read it now!" I don't know what I can say because it's been too long since I read it and I'm not sure how to articulate my thoughts.

This brings me to (possibly) the reason I'm overwhelmed. I have been neglecting my other interests outside of books and I think that's why I'm feeling burned out, especially in the book world. For the past two years I've been solely book-books-books. But what about my other interests?

During #casserolechat Cassie brought up a question about which blogs inspire us. Katie (Bookish Illuminations) pointed out that she looks to travel and writing blogs for inspiration and Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner) chimed in saying that nowadays she reads more non-book blogs than book blogs, which got me thinking.

Am I reading too many book blogs?

I've recently found myself barely skimming my Bloglovin' feed and pretty much just clicking on "mark all as read" without really reading any posts. Even some of my favorite blogs, I just feel eh about. When I expressed my (new) desire to start reading other non-book blogs, Katie made the excellent point that doing so can inspire me in regards to Bookish.

Jamie then got all philosophical: "As a person, that's not who I am either. SO many varying interests! For a while I neglected other blogs and I just felt overwhelmed by all the book stuff 24/7." Cassie added that "No one likes only one thing." (An obvious observation, but also one that seemingly needed to be pointed out to me.)

And these ladies are right.

So I made a list of my other interests that I would love to explore more often:

• Marriage/Kids/Family Stuff
• Bentley (my German Shepherd) - and no I'm not ignoring him, but I love spoiling him with new toys and just reading about all the things I can do for my furbaby
• Decorating/Organizing my house
• Organization in general
• Working Out
• Cooking
• Entertainment (movies, television)
• Disney
• Education/Teaching (specifically high school English)
• Fashion and Beauty, relatively new interests but still

So while I have my fill of book blogs, I want to read other blogs, too. I want to branch out and learn more about my interests. So I tip my hat to you three ladies for helping me open my eyes as to my recent blah-ness when it comes to blogs.

Now the fun begins.

Recommend me your favorite (non-book) blogs! They can be inline with my interests or they can just be ones you absolutely adore. 
Help me branch out   :)

Socratic Seminar: Series Enders

For those of you who are unaware, Socratic Seminars are defined as "collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a text." I use these in my classroom to get my students engaged in the text we are reading/discussing. It works much better than just having them stare at me for 45 minutes.

There's a bittersweet feeling when a beloved series ends. It feels right, but you want more! But at the same time, you feel that more would taint the loveliness of the ending.

Maybe it's because I'm keeping better track of what series I'm reading, but I feel like this was the year of series enders - or is it just me? For example, there are eight - eight! - series that I read that ended this year. It was sad saying goodbye to all these amazing characters and their stories. (For the purpose of this post, I chose the series where the final book was published in 2014 and I have completed reading the entire series - or will in the case of Mara Dyer and Pushing the Limits.)

I have an issue with books that finish a series. I'm desperate to get my hands on it. Want it. Need it. Got to have it. And then once I have it . . . it sits on my kitchen counter for a few weeks. Staring at me. Eventually I pick it up and devour it in a day or two, but then it's over. I'm happy and sad at the same time - and depending on how the series ended, I might be balling my eyes out.

To those series that ended (and I read/finished) this year, I love you. I miss you. And I can't wait to binge read you.

White Rabbit Chronicles by Gena Showalter

  

The Grisha by Leigh Bardugo

  

Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent

   

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

   

Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

  

The Violet Eden Chapters by Jessica Shirvington

 

  

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

(I'm kind of guessing on this one since Katie is starting a new series and there isn't an unpublished book on Goodreads for this series aside from Breaking the Rules. Correct me if I'm wrong!)

  

  

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

   

Did you read any of these series? What are some beloved series you read that also ended this year?

Socratic Seminar: My Blogging Experience

For those of you who are unaware, Socratic Seminars are defined as "collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a text." I use these in my classroom to get my students engaged in the text we are reading/discussing. It works much better than just having them stare at me for 45 minutes.

I started blogging back in October 2012, on Beauty but a Funny Girl. It was a tiny little blog, but it was mine and I loved it.

I wasn't exactly sure why I started blogging. I'd written a few book reviews for a teaching blog as a school project, but nothing really came of it. The first review blog I'd ever found had been from my local library and then I somehow stumbled across The Story Siren. It sounded so cool. Reviewing blogs, getting ARCs (not that I was entirely sure what that was at the time), and interviewing authors. Like a dream!

That I did nothing about.

A couple years later, I stumbled across my school project blog and decided to start adding my reviews to Goodreads. A few months after that, and after finding other review blogs, I decided I wanted to start one of my own.

I dove right in. I didn't really do anything in the way of research, just did what I felt right (both a good and bad idea). I found more blogs that I enjoyed reading, started networking, participating in memes and blog tours, writing reviews, and all the fun things that go with blogging. Of course, there were drawbacks and speed bumps, but I so enjoyed it that I kept on keeping on.

In May 2013, a blog I followed and loved dearly posted about looking for cobloggers. She was looking for a couple different "roles" and I thought "Why the hell not?" So I typed up an email about why she should pick me over the, I'm sure, couple hundred people. Imagine my shock when she emailed me back and said I was a winner! Okay, maybe she didn't say winner, but I certainly felt like a winner.

In case you haven't figured it out, I am referencing Evie and Bookish  :)

For a four months, I blogged on both Bookish and Beauty but a Funny Girl. And let me tell you - that was not easy. I thought I was going to go mad keeping track of what to post where, making sure I had content on both blogs, and reading enough to do at least one review a week for both blogs. Madness. I don't recommend it because there is no sanity in doing what I did.

I approached Evie and told her I was drowning. It was too much and I couldn't keep up with both blogs. Not in the way I wanted to. So I was making the rough decision to leave Beauty but a Funny Girl. It was hard - she was my baby! I'd spent countless hours designing the layout, reaching out to others using my using and I was just up and leaving her!

But I knew it was the right decision. A hard decision, but the right one.

Through Evie I have learned so much more than I thought I would ever know about the world of book blogging. She's an amazing blog partner and sending out that "please pick me!" email is one of the smartest decisions I've made.

There are some days that I miss Beauty but a Funny Girl (you may have noticed that my Twitter name and email address are still the same - they're fun I can't give them up!) and I'll go visit every once in a while, but I don't regret my decision to blog solely on Bookish. Bookish is my home, while Beauty but a Funny Girl is my childhood home that I love and miss, but know that I can never go back to. Okay, that was morbid, but you get my drift.

Side note: My mom currently lives like five minutes my childhood home and my sister and I will occasionally drive by our old house just to take a peek and see what they've done to it. We're also waiting for it to go on sale so we can go to an open house. No judging.

While there are rough days ("Do I really have to write a review for this book?") and easy days ("I can't wait to write a review for this book!"), I seriously love this little hobby of mine. I've become close to a few of my favorite authors, found some amazing books, and made wonderful new friends.

So that's my blogging experience. It's been a wild ride and I cannot wait to see what the next few years of blogging bring to me!

Socratic Seminar: Reviewing Average Reads

For those of you who are unaware, Socratic Seminars are defined as "collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a text." I use these in my classroom to get my students engaged in the text we are reading/discussing. It works much better than just having them stare at me for 45 minutes.

I've been in this weird reading slump lately where the past few books I've read have just been okay. They haven't blown me away, but they haven't warranted a DNF either. I also think because of this, I haven't picked up a book in a while - like a week.

Granted, I've been a bit busy with wedding things, but to not read a least a chapter? A few pages? Quite unlike me.

Not to mention, the last two books I did read, I haven't reviewed. Also, unlike me.

I sat down to write reviews for these books a few times, but realized I didn't have anything to say. There was nothing for me to gush about, but there weren't major flaws for me to point out. The book was precisely middle of the road. I enjoyed it, but that's about it.

So, how does one rate/review an average read? "It was good. Nothing to write home about, nothing awful either. Characters were neat and I liked the story."

Do I write reviews for books I felt were average? Do I force myself to sit at my computer and write it? Do I hope that one day I'll wake up and know exactly what to say about this book? Or do I just say "Well, I rated it on Goodreads and that'll have to be enough"?

What do you do? Do you review your average reads or just chalk it up as a book you (unintentionally) read just for fun?