4 hours ago
I’m back with another glimpse around my home and life this month. January is actually one of my favorite months - there’s always a sense of freshness about it, even while most things stay the same.
On The Page {Anything I Read}
{A novel recommended by a friend}. A friend of mine from church recommended The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova to me, because we had been talking about Dracula by Bram Stoker. The Historian is a chunky book (over 700 pages), but I am very much enjoying it. There is some pretty graphic descriptions of violence committed by Dracula, but otherwise it has been clean so far (just creepy). The book is something of an epistolary novel, and I always find it fascinating how authors can tell a story through a letter format. It makes me want to write more letters.
{Interesting Substack article}. I read this post about a quiet, meaningful life, and what we’ve been told it is and how to get it, and how maybe we’re looking for shortcuts where we shouldn’t. This is especially resonated with me as I’ve been cleaning out drawers and taking things to donate lately. The things that stay, that I would never dream of giving away, are a hodgepodge that I’ve collected over years, mostly items that have been handmade for me, or given to me by someone I love. In the end, having a beautiful home isn’t about purchasing just the right things to make my house look like a magazine, or clearing enough away to make it look Pinterest-worthy - a home is really beautiful to me because of the meaning given to those items by the people we love. It’s not exactly the point that was being made in this essay, but these are the thoughts this piece prompted in my head.
In My Armchair {Projects I'm Working On}
{Editing photos for our co-op yearbook}. I wish I could write something like "crocheting hats for everyone in my family" or "finishing beautifully artistic embroidery hangings", but once again my hobbies tend to revolve around my computer. But the truth is, I haven't had the time and energy this month to tackle handmade projects since I'm still very much a novice at crocheting and embroidery. When we rejoined our co-op this year, I was asked to take class pictures for the co-op yearbook, and I've put off finalizing the images long enough. I'm aiming to get them edited and uploaded for sharing before the end of the month.
In The Kitchen {Things We Made}
{Banana Bread & Busy Day Cake}. Between sickness and busyness, not much baking has happened this month, but I remedied that situation with a busy-day cake and three loaves of banana bread this afternoon. I had a little helper that insisted on mashing the bananas, which is just fine with me since that is my least favorite part of making banana bread!
{Fresh-Milled Bread}. I'm attempting to get back into a bread-making habit now that we've started homeschool again, and this last loaf my oldest daughter made on her own. We mainly make bread in my amazing bread maker - it takes about 15 minutes to put it together, and by the afternoon we have a beautiful, warm loaf to enjoy with a bit of butter and jam. I would like to dabble in more hand-kneaded breads, if I ever have time, but for now, the bread machine is a blessing.
{Chicken Noodle Soup}. The coldest weather of our winter so far has been in the last couple of weeks - we had a whopping high of 9 degrees Fahrenheit one day this last week. Those kind of days call for chicken noodle soup. I've never had a recipe for chicken noodle soup, I just wing it - cook some chicken, throw it in a pot with some chicken broth and carrots (a bag of frozen carrots for ease), chop up some onions for flavor, get a little creative with some spices, and then the secret ingredient - Grandma's egg noodles. No other noodle will do.
On My Person {Things I've Worn}
{Lovely Coats}. It has been quite chilly and snowy outside lately, but I like it this way in the winter, and I’ve been especially happy for my coat collection in these winter months. A few years ago I decided I might as well nurture a collection of beautiful winter coats since I spend so much of the year in them, and it’s served me well. Here are a few winter outfits lately, some with coats, some without.
In The Accounts Book {Money We Have Saved}
{Looking through Groupon for Deals}. I'm going to be honest and admit that this hasn't been an amazing month for saving money, so this isn't technically money saved, but money we "spent" in the form of points instead of cash. We chose to spend some of our credit card reward points on rodeo tickets - rodeos are a big deal around here in January, and we haven't taken the kids to one since they were babies. My husband got a deal through Groupon which saved us quite a bit on a fun experience.
Out My Window {Beauty I Noticed}
{Morning skies}. Our back window faces East, so every morning as I'm pouring my cup of coffee, I look out the window and see what colors the sky will be today. Peach and pale azure? Fire orange and deep purple? Rosy pink and lilac and icy blue? It's always a surprise. Sometimes, just as the sun peeks over the distant mountains, it will shine like a spotlight into the living room, splashing the wall like a paintbrush with glowing red.
{Snowy landscapes}. We've been enjoying a good amount of snow this January, and I love it. I read a meme that said, if you choose not to enjoy the snow, you'll have alot less joy, and the same amount of snow, and I couldn't agree with anything more. Here's another Substack post that similarly extols the virtues of snow. Do not complain about snow in my presence, because you'll receive no sympathy from me. I love how it washes everything clean, and makes an ordinary landscape other-worldly.
Out And About {Places We Went}
{Snow Sculptures}. We decided to try something new this year, and we went to an outdoor display of snow sculptures. We didn’t get to watch the actual sculpting, but we did see a huge block of hard-packed snow, the “before”. It’s amazing what people can do with such an unstable and temporary medium! I don’t understand why you would want to waste all that lovely snow on sculpting something weird, as a few artists did, but most of the sculptures were pretty neat. We enjoyed the sculptures, walked around a cute little mountain town, and enjoyed Mexican food for dinner. It was a worthwhile (and free!) outing.
{The Rodeo}. Rodeos and stock shows are a big part of the culture around here in our western state, as I mentioned above, and this month we re-introduced our kids to the rodeo in particular. It was so fun to explain the different events to the kids and watch my little one’s eyes go round. “They have to race around the barrels as fast as they can, and get as close as they can without touching.” “They have to get one rope around the calf’s back feet, and one rope around his head, and then pull the ropes tight.” “They have to ride up next to the steer, jump on it, and wrestle it to the ground.” “They have to stay on that bucking horse (or bull) for 8 seconds without touching it with their free hand or falling off.” You don’t realize how crazy all that sounds until you try to explain it to a 7 year old. It was a grand time.
On My Mind {Thoughts I Want To Share}
{On reading hard books}. I always feel pressure to put something profound here, but I am in a hurry to finish this post before January is indeed over, and I’m pressed for time. So let me just say that if you are afraid to attempt to read an epic poem (as I mentioned I was in this post), don’t be. I couldn’t decide, so I picked up The Iliad and Paradise Lost, and I’m surprised at how much I am enjoying both. If you’ve read any Dickens within the last five years, trust me, you’ll be fine.
In My Heart {Things I'm Treasuring}
{1} Bright eyes and a big smile asking to help with the baking.
{2} Side-by-side sorts of friendships - different than the treasured “bosom friend”, but heart-filling in their own way.
{3} Frosty front porches glittering in the morning sun.
{4} Being worried that you are catching the family cold, but then waking up with your sinuses still clear.
{5} Sitting on the floor, reading a living book to my kids for school, and having a tiny dog climb onto my bent-over back and settle down there for a nap. Yes, she did that.
{6} Spots of sunshine on our wood floor in winter.
{7} A husband who never fails to have a pot of hot coffee ready for me in the morning.
Hope your January has brought fresh and new joys to you - and here’s to February!
For the past ten(ish) Januarys I have take some time to set a reading goal for the year. Many times my goal was a number of books read - most often 52, because 1 book a week seems like a nice round number.
But recently my goals are focused less on the number of books read and more on the quality of books I’m reading. I usually hit 52 books for the year, but I haven’t always been satisfied with the books that make up that number. My goals this year are focused on finding a balance of reading quality books that will stick with me and keeping my reading momentum going, while simultaneously not neglecting to share what I’m learning from my reading.
Sharing goals provides some accountability for me, and personally, I find enjoyment and inspiration in reading about others’ reading goals, and thought you might like to read about mine! So here we go.
2025 Reading Goals
One stiff book, one moderate book, one novel going at a time.
This is an idea I came across in some Charlotte Mason forum once upon a time, and it has stuck with me as something I need to implement. While I want to read books that are challenging and worthwhile, when I have too many challenging books going at once, it is very easy for me to lose my reading momentum. When my brain is tired at night, I need something easy. Having a balance of these three categories of books will help keep my reading high quality without losing steam.
Take more notes and applications to remember what I’ve learned from the books I read.
Especially for the “stiff” and moderately challenging books, I want to make sure the time spent reading them isn’t wasted - I want to remember and apply what I’m reading. I want to develop a habit of note-taking this year to ensure that these worthwhile books stick. I anticipate it will take some time to develop a system, so this will be a year of trial and error.
To read books I own.
I don’t own a ridiculous amount of unread books, but enough that it’s slightly embarrassing when someone peruses my shelves. I have four shelves on the bottom of my bookcases that hold all the unread books that I can’t let go of, because I would really like to read them someday - this is the year I want to make that happen! So for the reading challenges I’m going to discuss below, I’d like to fill out my categories with books I already own whenever possible.
To write a review post for every 3 books read.
This is a change in how I share books I’m reading on Substack and other places on the internet. Instead of monthly or quarterly book posts, I’d like to share a reading review post for every three books I read. To me, three is the minimum number of books to round out book posts, and having less books to talk about will give me more space to explore ideas or give a more thorough review. It also hopefully means more frequent posts on here!
(Note: Affiliate links below, to support my book habit, obviously, thank you.)
Challenges I’m Participating In
5x5 Challenge
A few years ago I came across the Schole Sisters 5x5 reading challenge - the idea is to choose five categories, and read five books within each category. You can read more about it here. Here are the categories I’m thinking about, and the books I’m considering in each category. If you have suggestions to fill these in, please let me know!
{Writing}
I have been writing online for over 15 years now, and I’ve gone through several periods where I feel my writing became a bit - sloppy. I think there is alot of room for writing improvement (there always is, isn’t there?), and so this category is about challenging myself to improve my skills. But the category is not just about writing as a craft, but about writing as a blessing to others in my real life, and to that end, I am also wanting to read books about handwriting itself, or writing letters, or any other topic that could fall under the umbrella of writing.
TBD
TBD
Other possibilities: Story Genius, The Glamour Of Grammar, How To Write Short, Improve Your Handwriting, The Art Of The Handwritten Note, The Missing Ink
{Homemaking}
My foremost job is that of a homemaker - creating a restful and loving home environment for my husband and kids is especially important to us as a homeschool and work-at-home family, since we spend so much time here. I want to gain insights on the importance of home, and also gain some practical tips and encouragement for keeping things running smoothly around here.
Mrs. Dunwoody’s Excellent Instructions For Homekeeping by Miriam Lukken
The Lifegiving Home by Sally Clarkson (I’ve tried to read through this book about four times now - perhaps this is the year I succeed, and if I don’t it’s probably time to give up on it.)
TBD
TBD
Other possibilities: Little Foxes, The Simple Home, Sink Reflections, Simplified Organization, How To Sew A Button And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew, Home Comforts
{Historical}
History is a big interest for me, and I want to read more historical non-fiction this year, since the bulk of my unread shelves are historical non-fiction. However, I am not making this category strictly non-fiction. Anything historical will do.
Land Of Hope: An Invitation To The Great American Story by Wilfred M. McClay
John G. Paton, Missionary To The New Hebrides: An Autobiography
TBD
TBD
Other Possibilities: The Guns Of August, Jane Austen’s England, Democracy In America, Autobiography Of Theodore Roosevelt, 32 Christians Who Changed Their World
{Books About Books}
This is a flex category that may change over the course of the year. I am a bibliophile, so any books about the activity of reading, or about literature of any kind, will fit in this category.
How To Read A Book: Advice For Christian Readers by Andrew David Naselli
The Mysteries Of Life In Children’s Literature by Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian
Writers To Read: nine Names That Belong On Your Bookshelf by Douglas Wilson
Heroes Of The City Of Man: A Christian Guide To Select Ancient Literature by Peter Leithart
Other Possibilities: Lit!, The Christian Imagination, Book Girl, The Read-Aloud Family, A Landscape Of Dragons
{Art & Music}
This is a category that could encompass books about works of art, artist biographies, or art tutorial books - I’m leaving it broad intentionally.
Frederic Remington: Artist Of The Western Frontier by John Stewart
The Gift Of Music: Great Composers And Their Influence by Jane Stuart Smith
TBD
Other Possibilities: Van Gogh Has A Broken Heart, Terri Harrison’s Watercolor Secrets, Everyday Watercolor, Modern Drawing
The G3 Reading Challenge
I almost didn’t want to tackle this challenge this year, because there are a couple categories that are going to be really stretching for me (marked by an asterisk below) - but then, that’s rather the point of a reading challenge isn’t it? So these are the categories and my tentative picks for each one so far.
{A Book About Faith}
{A Biography}
John G. Paton, Missionary To The New Hebrides: An Autobiography
{A Book About The Middle Ages}
The Year 1000: What Life Was Like At The Turn Of The First Millennium by Robert Lacey
{An Epic Poem}*
The Iliad by Homer (Fitzgerald translation)
{A Book By Charles Or Susannah Spurgeon}
Probably A Book Of Spurgeon’s Sermons
{A Book About Health Or Nutrition}*
Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner’s Guide tO Remove Toxins From Your Life Without Adding Them To Your Personality by Emily Marrow (This is a really lightweight health book, so a little bit of a cheat, but that’s okay.)
{A Shakespeare Play}
Julius Ceasar (We will be reading this in our homeschool this Spring.)
{A Book About Quiet}
{A Novel}
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (I will 100% be reading many novels this year, but I’d like to challenge myself to read this one.)
{A Book From The Living Heritage High School Curriculum}
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
{A Book You Own But Haven’t Read}
(Any of the above will fit here.)
If I can stick to these reading plans, I think the quality of my reading will go up, and I am hoping to have alot more book posts to share here this year! If you’d like to follow along, I hope you’ll subscribe, and please leave me a comment about one of your reading goals this year. The comments and likes and subscribes make my day, truly!
What reading goal(s) have you set this year?
January is a time for evaluating and tweaking. I’m not so much for making grand New Year’s resolutions, but I do think the New Year is a good time to take stock and see what things need adjusting. I saw this post format on A Gentle Defiance, and I liked the idea of thinking through what I’d like to continue from the previous year (it’s important to acknowledge successes), and what things I wish would have been better.
What Worked
Adding a little more to my proverbial plate.
When my kids were little, it was all I could do to take care of them and my home. I found myself overwhelmed and stressed with too many outside commitments, and I came to the realization that I needed to ruthlessly cut them out. It was the best thing I could have done for my own mental state and my family in that stage of life, and I regret nothing. However, over the last couple years I found myself with more space to take on new projects - and as I’ve added more work to my metaphorical plate, it hasn’t seemed overwhelming, but motivating. Overall, my being ready to take on a little bit more has meant more meaningful community and experiences for myself and the kids. I think it’s so important to know your limits - and that involves knowing when to cut back as well as knowing when to add things in.
Waking up early.
This year I bumped my wake-up time back another hour, and I’ve been more consistent than ever in having quiet coffee and reading time before my kids wake up. It’s been a game changer for me in providing time for meaningful Bible study and letting me get through some tougher books. It is definitely something that I will be continuing in 2025.
Changing our homeschool history curriculum.
This school year I decided to jump into a Charlotte Mason style with both feet, especially when it comes to teaching history, geography, and literature to my kids. I am by no means a purist, but I have always loved the idea of teaching history through living books, as opposed to textbooks. With my oldest starting 8th grade, this seemed like the year to figure out if this style of education was for us, and it has been a rousing success so far! I will give a more complete opinion once we have finished the school year, but we are doing this curriculum (with some adaptations), and everyone is enjoying it.
Being more aware of how I’m spending our money.
I wrote last year about starting a short no-buy project, and even though I don’t feel it was a total success, it kicked off a full year of being more conscious of my spending. I watched Youtube channels about no-buy journeys and no-buy advice, I am slowly reading books about contentment and shopping habits, and I’ve set various limits on my shopping and spending from month to month. Developing better habits isn’t a one-year project but something I’ll need to continually tweak. Just keeping these topics in mind has changed the way I think about the things I buy, and it’s been positive. I’m excited to keep working on this and hope to write more in 2025.
Figuring out my own style again.
I’ve always enjoyed clothes and taken enjoyment out of developing my style, but after taking a nearly 8 year break from normal clothes when I was pregnant and postpartum, I started floundering when it came to shopping and getting dressed. Somewhere along the way my style had become merely buying whatever I thought looked good on someone else - I had lost my own sense of style. I spent this year sorting through my closet and cleared out many things that don’t make me feel my best, considering what makes a certain outfit or item of clothing feel like “me”. Putting the effort into this has helped me avoid buying trendy items or being influenced to buy things because I saw it on social media. This process is just starting for me, but I’m more excited about my closet and more satisfied with my purchases since trying to figure this out.
Satisfaction in the kitchen and learning new things.
This year I was much more consistent in my bread-baking. I bake bread in a bread machine with fresh ground grains, and it took me years to perfect the recipe for my particular altitude. I made bread nearly bi-weekly for much of the year, and it is wonderful to be using a skill I’ve worked on for so long to benefit my family.
The new thing I learned was how to water-bath can - as in preserving food. I have a generous friend from our church who took me under her wing this last summer and taught me how to safely can at home. I’m thankful to her for giving me the courage to try something new! On her recommendation I’ve read the safety guidelines from this book, and I’ve made and canned blueberry jam, apple pie in-a-jar, apple butter, and candied jalapeños. Hearing the pop of the safety lid on my jars is so satisfying.
What Didn’t Work
My reading was all over the place.
I found myself in a reading rut multiple times this year, and it’s going to take some evaluating to figure out exactly way. I read barely anything in the first quarter of 2024, and I was disappointed in my progress in the books I was reading. I suspect I was trying to read too many “stiff” books at once. Stiff books are challenging books, and I learned from personal experience that reading all challenging books means that when I am lacking the mental energy for that kind of book I just won’t read at all. Karen Andreola recommends having one “stiff” book, one moderately easy book, and one novel going at a time, and I think this balance is something I’d like to incorporate into my reading life in 2025.
I lacked the consistency to complete projects, especially in the summer.
My goal for the summer was to organize the ridiculous stack of papers stuffed into my nightstand shelf, and to print photos from previous years and get them into albums. I did neither of those things, and it was out of pure laziness. I need to figure out a way to consistently work on these multi-part projects in a manageable way. My current pattern is to spend one or two exhaustingly tedious days trying to complete everything at once, not finishing, and then avoiding continuing that project for months because the last time I worked on it was so tiring.
I didn’t save enough money.
In 2024 my focus was on being more aware of my spending habits, but toward the end of the year I decided to translate that into also saving more money. I have done much better at designating money for savings in the last couple months, but I could have helped the family out with various expenses if that had been a focus for more of my year. So in 2025, I am intentionally saving for some very specific things, and doing that will help me not only with shopping habits, but will bring more tangible benefits to my family as well.
I wasn’t consistent enough with vitamins and drinking water.
There are a few supplements that I need to be taking, per my doctor, but my consistency leaves something to be desired. I also have a tendency to reach for the coffee pot more than my water bottle, and I’d like to be better about hydrating in 2025.
Wasting too much time consuming media.
I often find myself turning on a Youtube video or a podcast “just while I clean the kitchen”, and before I know it I’ve wasted a couple hours fiddling around the house while I listen. That time could be used reading, or learning to crochet, or writing here. And don’t even get me started on scrolling on Instagram - I’m much better at controlling my consumption of social media than in the past, but there is still much improvement to be had. My goal is to spend more time creatively producing, and to have that outweigh time spent consuming this year.
As I look at this list, I’m excited to see what 2025 will bring. I hope this will be a year of more meaningful reading, getting myself organized, managing money more wisely, and enjoying my time with loved ones and friends. And I hope the same for you!
Leave me a comment!
What is one thing that worked for you last year, and one thing that needs to change?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
