Life Update: What's Been Happening In My World Lately
Life Update: whats been happening in my world lately
Why, yes, hello — I am still here! It has certainly been a minute. I published my last blog back at the beginning of March and here we are already well into May. Time flies! And it’s been a hectic and full couple of months for us. And while I’ve missed spending time on my blog, it’s been one of those seasons where I just didn’t have the bandwidth or enough motivation to keep up with it with everything else going on. I’m going to do my best to try and catch up with all the content ideas I had lined up these past several weeks! My Trello boards are overflowing and I’m excited to start diving back in.
But here’s a quick look at what I’ve been up to and how I’ve been feeling, the books that I've been reading and loving, what we’ve been watching and what’s coming up for us soon.
LIFE LATELY
Oh, life lately! Life lately has felt SO full, in the best kind of way, but also the I-am-so-exhausted-I-can’t-think kind of way. We’ve been out and about and also spending a lot of time sprucing up our home. Here are the highlights:
We’re moving! We bought a new place. A townhome to be exact. Still in our current neighborhood and town, but it’ll be a little bit of a downsize and an upgrade at the same time. I’m super excited for this new adventure of ours!
Naturally, we’re also selling our current home and we’ve been endlessly working to get it in tip top shape to put on the market – purging and donating like crazy, we’ll be participating in our neighborhood yard sale this weekend, and just house projects and maintenance galore. It’s been A LOT! But it’s all things we’ve been wanting to do for years anyways, so it really feels good to finally have them done and behind us.
We’ve also started fertility treatments again. We originally “started” at the beginning of the year, but after a difficult two months with the new clinic we went to, we decided we had to move on from there and we unfortunately never got to the actual treatment process. We were able to get some valuable testing done, but deciding to move on from them was definitely a gut punch at the time it happened. But, we’re at yet another new clinic, Carolinas Fertility Institute, and they’ve been absolutely wonderful to work with. This is our second treatment cycle with them.
I’ve been writing and revisiting my novel much more these last few weeks, spending time developing this fantasy story that’s been brewing in my head for a while. It’s been intimidating, yet amazing.
Those are the big ticket items! You’d be surprised how much mental and emotional space all of that can take up. All good things, but also just things that make life fuller with lots of coordination and moving parts! It’s left me without a lot of motivation for anything else, including reading. I’ve even been finding my typical routine to be a bit mundane. There hasn’t been much *spark* there, but with the nicer weather and longer days, I’m already starting to feel a little more in the creative swing and groove again. I’ve been tired but also sleeping well and generally just feeling accomplished in the IRL arena. And I’m ready to start feeling that way with my creative work again too!
Otherwise, we’ve just been trying to live our normal life! We love breweries and happy hours and going to the Greenway (which we’ve decided to become members at!) and spending time outside or watching a new favorite show. And with that, here’s a quick look at what I’ve been reading and what we’ve been watching lately!
BOOKS I’VE BEEN READING + LOVING
I’ve yet to do a monthly wrap up on the blog this year, goodness me. But, all the quick versions are on Instagram, if you want to check them out, though! Tap on the pictures below.
Overall, it’s been a wonderful reading year so far! In Q1 of 2023, I read 25 books. As you might remember from My Reading Goals for 2023 blog, I’m pushing myself a little this year with my overall reading goal. I’d love to hit 100 by the end of the year – I know, it’s definitely a solid number and something I’ve not done before! So that just means, to stay on track, I have to read 2 books a week. And hey, some weeks that’s been great, and all through Q1, I stayed pretty much on track. I had this surge of motivation in March that allowed me to read 11 books and got me ahead with my backlist ones, too. But overall, in no particular order, here were my Q1 favorites!
EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune >> check out my read- and watch-after blog here.
THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT by Carissa Broadbent >> a new-to-me author I can’t get enough of!
TO FLAME A WILD FLOWER by Sarah A. Parker >> THE BEST installment to date in the Crystal Bloom series.
Other notable mentions include THE STARDUST THIEF, SEA OF RUIN, HAUNTING ADELINE, BOOK LOVERS, AND CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE.
I’ve slowed down considerably in Q2 so far, having read only 5 books since the start of April. With everything we’ve had going on, reading has just felt harder these last few weeks. But I’ve already read some favorites! MR. WRONG NUMBER and THE GUEST LIST have been top reads for me at this point in the quarter. And I’m excited for what’s to come. Here are 5 books I’m looking forward to reading soon:
FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros
FULL FLIGHT by Ashley Schumacher
HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry
THE LOVE WAGER by Lynn Painter
FAIRY TALE by Stephen King
I’m currently almost finished with my reread of TOWER OF DAWN.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN BINGING
We’ve watched so many good shows this year. Lately, we’ve been loving LOVE & DEATH on HBOMax, SAINT X on Hulu, and QUEEN CHARLOTTE on Netflix.
I’ve always got a rewatch going of some kind, too, and lately, that’s endlessly been rewatching THE RINGS OF POWER and I also recently restarted JERSEY SHORE: FAMILY VACATION (weirdly a huge comfort show for me LOL).
WHAT’S COMING UP FOR US
In the near future, a lot of the same! Plus packing and more purging, showings and, eventually, moving and hopefully some good news with our fertility treatments soon! We’ve also got Mother’s Day this weekend and pool days fast approaching. Generally, just life enhancements and enjoying all this spring weather we’re getting. And once the dust has settled, we should also have a Charleston trip on the horizon, and that couldn’t come at a more needed time.
Hope you enjoy the weekend!
What’s something new happening in your life lately?
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Oh hey, friend!
I’m Leah. Cozy connoisseur and bountiful book buyer. I have a minor obsession with getting lost in the pages of a good book, guzzling coffee, and thriving at home. Leggings, wine, and essential oils are also my jam. I'm truly just a bookworm and homebody at heart with a knack for content creation & cozy shots. This is my creative space.
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