It has been a long time since I've posted anything on my blog. I would like to say that I've been reading a ton of books and I've been doing so many things that I can't wait to share with everyone but that simply isn't the case. The benefit of having a free blog is that it pauses when I pause and it's always there for when I'm ready to come back. 

As I'm writing this, I literally can't believe the last review I post was over a year ago! And I honestly haven't read anything since. I recently joined a book club with a couple of girls at my church and I'm currently reading American Royals by Katherine McGee and it's reminding me why I gave up young adult books all those years ago. I've kept up my subscription to Book of the Month but I haven't had a chance to read any of the books. I just like to think that I'm building up my collection of books that I'm going to want to read later! 

The kids have been growing up so fast and I've been trying to enjoy every moment I can! Emery is 3 now (which blows my mind) and RJ will be 2 in October! They love to read books so I think I might have to start adding some posts about the books that they love on the blog, as well!

Something new that I've added back into my life that is completely different from the blog is that I've gotten back into studying the Bible. By reading God's Word every morning, I feel so much better throughout the day. I have less worry and more peace and clarity. 

I can't wait to expand my blog into so much more: back to more review, talking about children's books and talking about what God has been teaching me through my daily Bible study. I'm so glad my blog was right here waiting for me when I was ready to come back. I'm so glad the kids are getting older, my district and my job are going back to school full time next month and I feel like we're finally getting back to normal life. Which means I can finally get back to picking up my books and reading like normal again!

Podcasts I've Been Listening To: April 2020

I love listening to podcasts. Podcasts are my thing. I've been listening to various different podcasts since about 2009 and I've been hooked ever since. I used to listen to music in my free time or in my commute to work, but since I've discovered podcasts, I've slowly phased music out until I hardly listen to it at all. Since podcasts are something that I love to talk about, here are some of my current favorites.

1. Potterless Podcast: A Grown Man Reads Harry Potter for the First Time

Mike Schubert had never read the Harry Potter series as a kid and even only saw the first couple of movies. In this podcast, he starts reading the books and jokingly makes fun of all the plot holes. Each episode has a guest host that is usually a Harry Potter fanatic. I've really been enjoying this podcast so I've decided to use it as a way to re-read the series. Currently I'm reading and listening my way through the third book, only continuing to read after I've completed the appropriate chapter.

2. Down the Hill: The Delphi Murders

One of my favorite type of podcasts are true crime podcasts, specifically cold case murder podcasts. The Delphi murders are not necessarily a cold case as it's still an open investigation, but it is just as fascinating. Basically, it's about two teenage girls who were murdered and found on the outskirts of their small town.

3. After Buzz TV's Married at First Sight

One of my favorite guilty pleasure TV shows is Married at First Sight. I love this experiment where strangers marry each other and try to decide if they could make a marriage work. After watching the show, I like to listen to commentary and I love hearing other people's perspectives on these relationships. I also do this with The Bachelor, when it's on, where I listen to an after show podcast. It's very satisfying to know that other people also like to watch these people's train wreck lives!

These are just a few of the podcasts that I'm currently enjoying in my headphones. And I'm always on the hunt for new ones and open to recommendations! So if you know of any that you think I might like, I would love to know in the comments!

How I'm Slowing the Spread and Spending My Time

Wow! What a time to be alive! I literally can't believe that we are living through an actual pandemic right now. A lot of craziness is going on in the world and in order to keep me and my family safe, we have been social distancing, self-isolating or quarantined or whatever you want to call it.

We are on week 3. Day 23 as I'm writing this.

I'm lucky and privileged to be a teacher right now. I'm a special education teacher in CCSD in Nevada and luckily they have allowed us to figure out this whole distance learning thing so I haven't lost any pay. I'm lucky and privileged to be able to send my children to a private daycare that was nice enough to let us pull them out without having to pay for the time that they're not in attendance. That right there is saving us so much money. We are lucky and privileged that my husband is a real estate agent and somehow still has business coming in with the interest rates being so low. We are lucky and privileged to live in a state that hasn't been hit nearly as hard as some of the others. We are lucky and privileged and I'm so grateful.

I'm grateful for the extra time that I'm getting to spend with my children. I'm grateful that we have a nice neighborhood where we can walk around daily. I'm grateful for the technology that allows me to participate in weekly staff and special ed meetings. I'm grateful that my children are young enough so this time is just fun at home time and that they don't understand fear and anxiety yet.

Now that I have a lot of extra time, I've picked up my books again and gotten back into my blog. I'm also taking my last three classes over the summer so even though school will be starting again, I know I'll still have time to keep up with reading and blogging.

Although there is a lot going on in the world right now, there is still so much for us to be grateful for. I hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy.