Tales of #MOMLIFE

Hello All! I'm super excited to be sharing this challenge with you guys. Over the winter break I read a couple of books as I normally do when I'm on break from school. The sad thing about that is, that is normally the only chance I get to really read. Between work and family and general exhaustion, I don't usually get around to reading much. Well, I vowed to change that this year. And so far, so good.

Luckily, I had a change of positions at work that doesn't really require me to work as much at home anymore. That has helped a lot. I've also noticed that since I've been getting back into reading as avidly as I did as a teen, that I'm not as interested in binge watching t.v. anymore. BONUS!! haha

So, I went on Pinterest and found a challenge that suited me. One that would challenge me as a reader. I love the one that this blogger created and I think you will too! Without further ado, here is the challenge and the books that I'm really looking forward to reading this year.

* You can find the original challenge at hannahbraime.com. Check her out. She also has a 52 book challenge for you over-achievers.

1. A book you read in school: The Scarlet Letter
2. A book from your childhood: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
3. A book published over 100 years ago: Persuasion
4. A book published in the last year: Small Great Things
5. A non-fiction book: Day of Infamy
6. A book written by a male author: The Fault in Our Stars
7. A book written by a female author: The Indian in the Cupboard
8. A book by someone who isn’t a writer (think Paul Kalathani or Richard Branson): Leah Remini-Troublemaker
9. A book that became/is becoming a film: Wild
10. A book published in the 20th Century: Fahrenheit 451
11. A book set in your hometown/region: Two by Two
12. A book with someone’s name in the title: What Alice Forgot
13. A book with a number in the title
14. A book with a character with your first name
15. A book someone else recommended to you
16. A book with over 500 pages
17. A book you can finish in a day: Breakfast at Tiffany's
18. A previously banned book: The Color Purple 
19. A book with a one-word title: Coraline
20. A book translated from another language: Anna Karenina
21. A book that will improve a specific area of your life: Uninvited
22. A memoir or journal: Talking as Fast as I Can
23. A book written by someone younger than you: P.S. I Love You
24. A book set somewhere you’ll be visiting this year: 
25. An award-winning book: Looking for Alaska
26. A self-published book: Justice for Emily

'Tis the season for resolutions guys.

I don't know if you all are tired of hearing/reading about people's resolutions.I know they've been blowing up your IG and FB feeds. The vows of 2017 being "My Year!" and a time for change.  I, for one, have really enjoyed reading others' resolutions this year, and feel so empowered by the optimism of those around me. It gives me a greater sense of longing for the things I want to accomplish. But, I won't hold it against you if you are totally sick and tired of reading about them and skip this post altogether.

I don't know about you, but when it comes to a new year I have a tendency to want to just wake up one day, all of a sudden a chic, do-it-all mommy who crafts her heart out and become this major #momboss. Yeah right Kristin. Wake up and smell the dirty pull-ups. (Can you tell we are having a  swell time with potty training?)

In theory, I know that becoming the person I want to be takes hard work and time. It's just nice to think of myself already achieving my goals. But I have to come back down to reality and realize that I am not going to achieve everything in the year 2017. I will not all of a sudden acquire a chic sense of style or have more minutes in my day. I can, however, take steps towards being the kind of person, wife, and mom that I want to be. So that's my resolution. To take steps.

2016 was hard. I know you've heard me say it. I feel like I lost a part of me this past year, and I'll be danged I'm going to get it back. So I've adopted a phrase for the year 2017 that encompasses all of my goals... "CHOOSE JOY." This is the area I struggle with the most and the area I believe will permeate through my goals and breathe life into them.


I've started a list of 18 things before 2018 and I'm keeping it in the back of my Happy Planner. I want to have it ever present to refer to. Although I don't feel comfortable sharing all of my goals for this year, I will share a few with you. Who knows, maybe you will be inspired. (Notice I'm calling them goals and not resolutions, so maybe I'm a little less annoying... No? At least I tried.)

Since I know Joy comes from the Lord, that's where I will start. 2 of my goals are finding a home church and having a daily devotional. (Totally wanting to jump into a journaling Bible, but we shall see.)

Other goals are:

•  visiting Andrea in NJ
• having a weekly movie night with Ethan
• setting apart specific play time for Aria
• monetizing the blog
• read at least a book a month