January 2020: Recap + On My Shelves
2020 is official underway! The year got off to a great start for me – nesting mode kicked in hard, and I got so much done in January. I can't believe it's finally February and that we'll be meeting our baby boy any day now!
1. Celine Dion Concert – In April 2019, I texted my family with the news that Celine Dion had announced a new tour. My awesome dad bought tickets for me, my mom, and my sister to see her in Atlanta this January. Well, the day finally came – and we had so much fun! She is fantastic live and played all of our favorite songs.
2. Last Vacay as Family of Three – One of my goals for the month was to take one last trip to the mountains all together, and we made it happen over the long weekend. It was the perfect way to soak up these final days with our son as an only child. We ate good food, enjoyed lazing about in our pajamas, and did a little exploring, too.
3. Preparing for Baby – As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, nesting hit me hard in January! While I haven't had quite as much energy lately, I found myself so motivated this past month. From completing my pre-baby checklist (yay!) to finally tackling part of my digital photo organization project, it was nice to feel so productive.
Read 17 Books | Favorites:
Headliners by Lucy Parker
The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Atomic Habits by James Clear
“If you're going to be with someone, they shouldn't... fade you,
You shouldn't have to make yourself less so they can be more.
I think – the people you love – when everything else goes to shit,
they should be a safe place...”
Headliners by Lucy Parker
“There is always a way out of a situation. Might be ugly.
Might leave you feeling like the earth had gone and shifted under your feet.
But there is always a way around.”
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
“Parenting is not first about what we want for our children or from our children,
but about what God in grace has planned to do through us in our children.
To lose sight of this is to end up with a relationship with our children that at the foundational level
is neither Christian nor true parenting because it has become more about our will and our way
than about the will and way of our Sovereign Savior King.”
Parenting by Paul David Tripp
“Silence has a voice of its own.”
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
“One of life's contradictions: how human beings were at once entirely resilient and impossibly fragile.
One decision could stay with you forever, and yet you could live through almost anything.”
Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
Atomic Habits by James Clear
You shouldn't have to make yourself less so they can be more.
I think – the people you love – when everything else goes to shit,
they should be a safe place...”
Headliners by Lucy Parker
“There is always a way out of a situation. Might be ugly.
Might leave you feeling like the earth had gone and shifted under your feet.
But there is always a way around.”
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
“Parenting is not first about what we want for our children or from our children,
but about what God in grace has planned to do through us in our children.
To lose sight of this is to end up with a relationship with our children that at the foundational level
is neither Christian nor true parenting because it has become more about our will and our way
than about the will and way of our Sovereign Savior King.”
Parenting by Paul David Tripp
“Silence has a voice of its own.”
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
“One of life's contradictions: how human beings were at once entirely resilient and impossibly fragile.
One decision could stay with you forever, and yet you could live through almost anything.”
Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
Atomic Habits by James Clear
You know that productivity I mentioned in my Loved section? Well, it applied to blogging, too! It helps that I really enjoyed writing yearly recap posts, which comprised most of my January content. I kicked off the month with my December 2019 Recap and followed it up with my December 2019 Quick Lit.
Once I'd checked off those posts, I shared my 2019 End of Year Book Survey – and patted myself on the back for getting it done in a timely manner. For the first Top Ten Tuesday topic of the new year, I was excited to chat about the 2020 releases I'm most anticipating. Then, I recapped a few 2019 challenges and discussed my plans for 2020: #My10toReadin2019 + My 2020 List, What I Re-Read in 2019, and The Picky Pledge 2020.
With the new year on my mind, I couldn't wait to introduce my 2020 Goals and then to start a new feature inspired by those goals. Every month, you can expect a recap on my progress on the previous month's goals and an outline of my goals for the month ahead. Here are my January 2020 goals. And I got to complete one of those when I shared our family's 20 in 2020 bucket list. Can you tell I'm really fired up about being intentional this year?!
I shared two individual reviews in January. The first was my favorite book of 2019: Lovely War by Julie Berry. And the second was a book I loved in 2018, forgot to review, re-read in 2019, and finally reviewed in 2020: My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan. I don't write them as often anymore, but it's nice to give extra attention to my favorites.
And finally, I ended the month with So Obsessed With: The Baby Edition #7. My son shares my love of reading, and I've been meaning to write about the books we've been loving lately. This post featured 32 children's books!
Once I'd checked off those posts, I shared my 2019 End of Year Book Survey – and patted myself on the back for getting it done in a timely manner. For the first Top Ten Tuesday topic of the new year, I was excited to chat about the 2020 releases I'm most anticipating. Then, I recapped a few 2019 challenges and discussed my plans for 2020: #My10toReadin2019 + My 2020 List, What I Re-Read in 2019, and The Picky Pledge 2020.
With the new year on my mind, I couldn't wait to introduce my 2020 Goals and then to start a new feature inspired by those goals. Every month, you can expect a recap on my progress on the previous month's goals and an outline of my goals for the month ahead. Here are my January 2020 goals. And I got to complete one of those when I shared our family's 20 in 2020 bucket list. Can you tell I'm really fired up about being intentional this year?!
I shared two individual reviews in January. The first was my favorite book of 2019: Lovely War by Julie Berry. And the second was a book I loved in 2018, forgot to review, re-read in 2019, and finally reviewed in 2020: My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan. I don't write them as often anymore, but it's nice to give extra attention to my favorites.
And finally, I ended the month with So Obsessed With: The Baby Edition #7. My son shares my love of reading, and I've been meaning to write about the books we've been loving lately. This post featured 32 children's books!
Favorite Album #1: Manic by Halsey
I loved Halsey's debut album, barely listened to her second, and have really liked this release!
There are a few songs I always skip, but I've been enjoying it overall.
Favorite Album #2: On My Messy Mind by James Bay
Even though it's just four tracks, I have no idea how I missed this 2019 release.
What in the world? I made up for lost time in January and had this on repeat!
Favorite Album #3: Little Women Soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat
After seeing this in December and adoring it, I had to look up the soundtrack.
It became my go-to anytime I was blogging. The perfect background music!
Favorite Album #4: Nightfall by Little Big Town
This randomly appeared on my New Release Radar, and I'm so glad I did!
I'd forgotten how much I enjoy this band, and their new release was the perfect reminder.
The Aeronauts (2019) starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones – I technically watched this on New Year's Eve, but I'd already scheduled my December recap and decided to save this for January's post. I mostly watched this for my bae, Eddie Redmayne, and liked it overall. But it was stressing me out to imagine being in this situation!
Unbelievable (2019) starring Kaitlyn Dever, Merritt Wever, and Toni Collette – My mom and sister both recommended this mini-series, and I'm so glad they did. I probably wouldn't have checked it out otherwise. This was so moving, and I adored watching Wever and Collette together. I can see why this has gotten rave reviews.
Younger, Season 6, starring Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff, Miriam Shor, and Debi Mazar – I had a season of this to catch up on, and it was the perfect thing to turn on while I worked on organizing digital photos. I'm getting a little tired of the triangle drama and always laugh at the publishing inaccuracies, but it's still a fun watch.
Poldark, Season 5, starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson – Ahhh, the final season of this show that I both love and hate. I just need Ross to be the best version of himself for Demelza. I felt like this season focused on a few too many threads that had to wrap up really quickly in the end, but I was happy overall with this farewell.
Indie Bookstore Purchase: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
Audible Credit: You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley
On My Messy Mind is so brilliant! I'm just eagerly waiting until he drops more new tracks for us to love (hopefully this year)!
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