Would you believe I actually typed in 2016 in the heading? Welcome to the New Year, self.
We made a spontaneous trip to Chik-Fil-A last week, the first time me or my kids had been (I know, I know. Our area just got one last year!) Within a few minutes, we were reveling in the warm ambiance and friendly demeanor of the staff. The sweet girl who took our order said she even read my blog for one of her classes last semester!
We had just settled into the corner booth with our chicken when around the corner comes the dressed-up Cow. A fun fact about Brenna is that she is terrified of anything large in costume. She turns around, gets one look at his large bovine face and begins shrieking, terrified. The poor Cow. He turns on his heels in the opposite direction and the whole rest of the meal was spent with Brenna craning her neck to make sure no creatures were getting too close. As we headed out to leave, she was frantically crying out “I don’t want to see the Cow! Don’t go by the Cow!”
So now, the rest of us can’t wait to go back – and Brenna said she will never go in Chik-Fil-A again if the Cow is making rounds. So all in all – a successful experience, yes? #eatmorechikin
It’s been a full month so far, hasn’t it? Here’s a round-up of what’s been going on around these parts in the last few weeks!
This month, I finished Falling Free
This past weekend, I completed When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and feel so transformed by it. I’m still processing it. It definitely jumps to my list of one of my all-time favorite books and I will be recommending it like crazy now. SO good. And I just started the novel Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Both came highly recommended to me and have been on my to-read list for a few months.
I went a little crazy with the library requests so I have a huge stack to get through – here we go!
“I’m trying to teach my kids this healthy attitude towards failure (and model it for them, which is harder): that screwing up isn’t a great personal failing, but something normal and natural and inevitable in this life.” – I love this post about stumbling from Anne of Modern Mrs. Darcy.
“Tiring yourself out—or scheduling every minute of your day with work—isn’t a reliable indicator of a day well spent.” Being a hard worker means prioritizing doing the right things, not just lots of things – an interesting read from 99U about effort versus focused work.
This post from my friend Ginger is a great reminder to stop trying to document or capture every moment, but live it and interact with our children instead. “I love seeing pictures from my childhood….But I cannot remember a single photo of my play-doh creations. I remember our interactions, not the color of play-doh used to make ornaments on the tree.”
The Joyful Devotion subscription service, a Christian women’s monthly subscription box, is including my book A Different Beautiful in its February box focused on love! You can join the subscription plan or even purchase a one-time box if you are just interested in February’s (and those caramel brownies look AMAZING too!)
We took this big girl to be registered for Kindergarten! She starts in August and is SO excited!
Evan and I enjoyed a little weekend trip (without kids!) to the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois. Even though it was cold, there were a sprinkling of snow that made all of the forest and rock formations look just beautiful….
Being silly!
Brenna trying out the new scooter she got for Christmas on a recent warm-ish day for January. Pretty pleased with her new ride, I’d say.
We had my friend Ginger’s family over for dinner last week, and it was so fun to sit and chat and catch up while the kids played (destroyed the house). Weekday nights can feel so hectic if we let them, so it’s even better when we can carve out space for a relaxing dinner with friends. (Oh and cooking gluten-free/dairy-free was an interesting challenge for me too. I made this salmon with avocado salsa – SO good!)
I loved seeing my “Best Nine” from Instagram at the end of 2016… so much story and love in these 9 photos that were my “most liked” from Instagram last year. Excited about what this new year has already brought into our lives and what is to come!
My book, A Different Beautiful, is now available for order!
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The post What I’m Into (Jan. 2017) appeared first on Courtney Westlake.