Living a Joyful Life

  Thank you so much to Farrah for hosting this link-up every month! Here are the books I read in April: The Housemaid -Freida McFadden My Rating: 4 stars  This novel was so great. It was a really great thriller with lots of twists and turns. This is the first Freida McFadden novel I've read and I definitely want to read more of her novels in the future. The Housemaid's Secret -Freida McFadden My Rating: 4 stars This is the second novel in the Housemaid series and I loved it just as much as I loved the first novel. I really like this author's style of writing. Heartstopper: Volume 5 -Alice Oseman My Rating: 3 stars I was in Barnes & Noble and decided to sit in the café and read this novel. I don't like to buy graphic novels because I read them in one day and I don't find myself wanting to re-read them. Unfortunately, there's a lot of graphic novels I want to read but my library doesn't have a lot of them. I need to make a list of the ones I want to read ...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Cheeseburger, fries, veggies Tuesday: Pizza Wednesday: Leftovers Thursday: Chicken, veggies, pasta salad Friday: Fried eggplant, sausage, veggies Saturday: Leftovers Sunday: Pizza What I'm Reminiscing About... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Loving... Spending time with my mom. March Madness. MLB. NBA Playoffs. Spending time with my cats. Reading. Spending tine with my bestie and her daughter. Planning and filming videos for YT. What I've Been Up To... Watching lots of sports, reading, filming videos for my YT channel. What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... My content schedule for May for my YT channel. What I'm Excited About... Baseball season being back, even though my team is playing horribly. I'm also excited about the NBA Playoffs (Go Knicks). I'm excited about planner launch season. I have placed my Erin Condren order and tomorrow I will be placing my order for my Callie Danie...

  Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes To Be Great -Dan Hurley with Ian O'Conner My Rating: 4 stars I really like Dan Hurley, who is the head coach of UConn Men's basketball (I'm not a UConn fan, I'm a Duke fan) and I was so excited to find out he was coming out with a book. I really enjoyed this book and getting a in depth look at his life and his coaching. Meet Me Under The Lights -Cassie Miller My Rating: 3.5 stars This YA novel was really good. I enjoyed it. Goodreads says " My Life with the Walter Boys   meets  The Notebook  in this small town baseball romance perfect for fans of Kasie West and Carley Fortune." I wouldn't compare this novel to The Notebook but I did enjoy it. I also liked that it was dual POV between the female MC and male MC/her love interest. Finlay Donovan Crosses The Line (Book #6) -Elle Cosimano My Rating: 4.5 stars Another great novel in the Finlay Donovan series. I love this series so much. Every book is just so fun ...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Fish & veggies Tuesday: Chicken & veggies Wednesday: Pizza Thursday: Late lunch. Friday: Mac & cheese from Trader Joe's Saturday: Breakfast for dinner Sunday: Corn beef, cabbage, veggies, and Irish soda bread. We didn't have our Irish meal on St. Patrick's Day because we had bloodwork scheduled for the following day. What I'm Reminiscing About... All of my trips to visit my nephews and nieces when they were growing up. I can't believe how fast time flies and how fast my nephews and nieces have grown and are growing up. Right now, I have 2 nephews and 2 nieces in college, nephew who is a senior in HS, niece who is a junior in HS, nephew who is a sophomore in HS, nephew who is a freshman in HS, nephew in 5th grade, and nephew in 3rd grade. What I'm Loving... March Madness! What I've Been Up To... My nephew and his basketball team won their county championship game and then they won the championship game ...

  Change of Plans –Sarah Dessen My Rating: 4 stars (really 4.5) From acclaimed and #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a romantic coming-of-age novel about an unassuming girl who learns to stand on her own while falling in love during a life-changing summer. This is Sarah Dessen’s first novel in a number of years and I am so excited to have a new release from her. This novel is expected to be published May 5th, 2026. I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads. I’m not allowed to really say anything about the book as it has yet to be published but I will say that I loved it so much and I really hope Sarah Dessen doesn’t have another big gap between publishing novels because I love her writing so much. I’m pretty sure I’ve rated all of her novels either 4 or 5 stars. Two Can Play -Ali Hazelwood (a novella) My Rating: 5 stars I loved this novella so much and  I really wish it was a full length novel. I loved the main characters and the secondary characte...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Pizza Tuesday: Chicken pot pie Wednesday: Cheeseburger, sweet potato Thursday: Pot stickers from Costco, vegetable, rice Friday: Pizza Saturday: Fish & pasta Sunday: Chipotle What I'm Reminiscing About.... My trips to visit my family, especially when my nieces and nephews were young. What I'm Loving... Spending time with my mom and my cats, watching the Olympics. What I've Been Up To... Cleaning and organizing my room, watching the Olympics, spending time with my mom and my cats. My pain is so bad. I've been dealing with chronic hip pain since 2017 and it's really debilitating. What I'm Dreading... Pollen season/spring allergies. I am allergic to pollen so it's not a fun time when the pollen arrives. What I'm Working On... Organizing and decluttering, my content schedule for Youtube for March. What I'm Excited About... My nephew N's team is in the playoffs for basketball. They won their first playo...