Living a Joyful Life

In April, I ended up reading four books which considering I had only read one book as of April 20th, I'm pretty proud of. Here are the books I read in April 2025: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave (Book #5) –Elle Cosimano My Rating: 4 stars  If Goodreads had a half star system, I would have rated this book 4.5 stars. Another fabulous novel in the Finlay Donovan series. I think this series would make a great TV show on a streaming network. The novels are always so fun and entertaining. I love the relationship between the main character and her nanny/best friend/room-mate as well as the relationship between the main character and her love interest. Check & Mate –Ali Hazelwood My Rating: 4 stars I love Ali Hazelwood’s novels so much. This was a YA novel. Do I like or know anything about chess? No. That didn’t matter though because I loved the storyline. I loved the relationship between the main characters. I also really loved the relationship between the female main character an...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Fries & cheesy bread Tuesday: Chicken with rice & veggies Wednesday: Salad I'm not sure about the rest of the week. What I'm Reminiscing About... My trips to the lake. What I'm Loving... My family came to visit for a week and I loved spending time with them. I've also been watching a lot of sports (baseball, college basketball, NBA). What I've Been Up To... Watching sports/TV/movies, spending time with my family. What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... Filming & uploading videos for my YT channel. What I'm Excited About... I won second place in the Men's March Madness Bracket challenge. If Duke had beat Houston in the final four, I would have won first place for the second year in a row. What I'm Watching/Reading... Watching: All of the sports, TV shows, movies, and two Netflix documentaries. Reading: I read 4 books this month. My book blog post will be up next we...

  Currently… (What I've Been Doing Lately)   Celebrating: Winning second place in my March Madness Men's bracket challenge Drinking: My typical drinks: Iced coffee, water, Propel, Olipop Eating: Salads Reading: I finished Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave (book 5 in the series) by Elle Cosimano the other day and haven't started a new book yet.  Listening: A playlist I found on Spotify that has music I loved as a teenager. It's a been a fun nostalgic throwback. Watching: Men's & women's March Madness, MLB (Let's Go Mets), NBA, regular tv shows, Netflix Wanting: All of the stickers/planner acessories & books, as per usual. Haha. Loving: Spending time with family. Feeling: I'm always feeling so tired. Welcome to life with a chronic illness. Buying: Barebell Protein Bars, Peace Tea Iced Teas. Excited About:  My family visiting soon! Planner launch season for Erin Condren & Callie Danielle! Grateful For: My amazing ...

  Here are the books I read in March: While we’re Young –K.L. Walther My Rating: 4 stars (really 4.5 stars but Goodreads doesn't have a half star system) I always love all of K.L. Walther’s novels. Her novels are always so fun to read. This book is told from multiple POV’s and it worked perfectly. If you’re looking for a great YA author, I highly recommend K.L. Walther. Deep End –Ali Hazelwood My Rating: 5 stars I love this book so much. This novel was such a fun read. I enjoyed it from the start. I also loved that the sports that were focused on in this book were diving and swimming. I was on my local swim team growing up and if any of the high schools I attended had had a swim team, I would have tried out for the team. I loved this book so much and I didn’t want it to end. Not In Love -Ali Hazelwood My Rating: 5 stars Another fabulous novel by Ali Hazelwood. I love the relationship between the main characters and I loved the relationships between the main characters...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Pasta with meatballs Tuesday: Caesar salad I'm not sure about the rest of the week. What I'm Reminiscing About... I'm still reminiscing about my two trips to the Caribbean. I wish it was summer right now because if I can't be in the Caribbean ocean, I'd take the pool or lake. I just love the water. What I'm Loving... Watching college basketball. I am in a March Madness Bracket Challenge with my brother, nephews and a bunch of people they know. Last year, I won it all. Right now I'm in 5th place going into this week's games that start tomorrow. What I've Been Up To... Watching lots of college basketball (both men's and women's), reading, filming for my YT channel, going to physical therapy appointments for my hip (unfortunately, they don't seem to be helping). What I'm Dreading... Pollen... it's been so bad here and my allergies are a mess even with being on two allergy medications. What...

  Here are the books I read in February 2025: The Rival –Emma Lord My Rating: 4 stars Emma Lord’s novels never disappoint. She knocks it out of the park in every novel she writes. This story focused on two rivals who compete over academics and pretty much everything else. Not only are they rivals but they have grown up together because their parents are best friends. This novel focuses on the start of their college journey and it’s a doozy. I highly recommend this book and all of Emma Lord’s novels. If Goodreads had a half star system, I would have rated it 4.5 stars.   Dinner with Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show –Bethany Joy Lenz My Rating: 3 stars I was really looking forward to this book as Bethany Joy Lenz is one of my favorite actresses (she was one of the stars of One Tree Hill which is one of my all-time favorite TV shows and she’s starred in a lot of Hallmark movies and some Lifetime movies that I love). So this book was a good read but not a favorite....