What Saved My Life in January

We’re at the midpoint of winter now, but January truly did last 76 years and each one was HARD and HEAVY and YOU ALL, I’m so dang ready for spring. In the name of newness and better tomorrows, I wanted to start sharing what’s saving my life each month as we move through 2020. This is the best of the good stuff, and I hope it adds some goodness to your life.

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five-star books:

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

• The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

• The Book of Waking Up: Experiencing the Diving Love That Reorders a Life by Seth Haines

• All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living by Morgan Harper Nichols

good shows + movies:

• Cheer (Netflix)

• Little Women

• Glow Up (Netflix)

• High School Musical: The Musical- The Series (Disney +)

thought-provoking podcasts:

• Catlick (B.T. Harman)

• Might I Suggest… (Hayley Morgan)

• The Good List (Tsh Oxenreider)

• That Sounds Fun (Annie F. Downs)

• The Next Right Thing (Emily P. Freeman)

inspiring music:

• Mission House (Jess Ray + Taylor Leonhardt)

• Remember (Bryan and Katie Torwalt)

• The Highwomen

everything else:

• weekly Sabbaths (which includes 24 hours of a locked down phone, no social media, no screens, lots of life-giving things, and REST)

• also weekly baths, usually with this or this added in.

• counseling sessions. (brutal but necessary.)

• a day trip to Fredericksburg for some quality BFF time

• going to a Silent Reading Party at the Institute for Contemporary Art

• Trying a float tank for the first time! BIG FAN. (RVA locals — I went to Vitality Float Spa)

• painting each of my nails a different color (proof!)

• my yoga studio (Humble Haven) opening a second, more convenient location

• hiring a new member for my team at work + officially becoming a boss!

• Back + neck massager (I USE THIS THING SO MUCH AND LOVE IT A LOT)

• Grillo’s pickles. (trust me.)

• my air fryer. (it gets near DAILY use and I cannot stop raving.)

• taking + sharing #radsermonnotes again

• burning the good candle.

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ps— if you’re curious, here’s everything I read this month:

• If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free by Jamie Ivey (2 stars // review here)

• Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential by Amber Rae (3 stars // review here)

• If I Stay by Gayle Forman (4 stars // review here)

• Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul by Hannah Anderson (2 stars // review here)

• Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (4 stars // review here)

• Where She Went by Gayle Forman (3 stars // review here)

• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (4 stars // review here)

• Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (4 stars // review here)

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars // review here)

• The Book of Waking Up: Experiencing the Divine Love That Reorders a Life by Seth Haines (5 stars // review here)

• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars // review here)

• White Picket Fences: Turning toward Love in a World Divided by Privilege by Amy Julia Becker (3 stars // review here)

• The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez (5 stars // review here)

• All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living by Morgan Harper Nichols (5 stars // review here)

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