Living a Joyful Life

  Here are the books I read in July: If Something Happens To Me –Alex Finlay My Rating: 5 stars This is another mazing novel from Alex Finlay. I love that his novels are dual POV’s. I did not see the twists coming in this one.   Rage –Linda Castillo (Kate Burkholder #17) My Rating: 5 stars This is the newest novel (#17) in the Kate Burkholder series. I love this series so much and I can’t recommend it enough. The novels are very easy reads so even though there are 17 of them, you’d be able to get through this series quickly. This is an Amish mystery series following Kate Burkholder who is formerly Amish and is now the Chief of Police in the Amish town she grew up in.   Mansion Beach –Meg Mitchell Moore My Rating: 4 stars (really 4.5) This is Meg Mitchell Moore’s latest novel. I really like her writing and I enjoyed this novel so much.   Call of the Loon –K. Sinko My Rating: 4 stars (really 3.5) This is the first novel I read by this au...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Salmon and salad Tuesday: Burger and fries Wednesday: Reuben & chips Thursday: Reuben & salad Friday: Late lunch (Chiptole) Saturday: Salad Sunday: Stir fry What I'm Reminiscing About... My trips to visit the lake during the summer. I've been going to this lake since I was a little girl. What I'm Loving... Spending time with my family, being at the lake. What I've Been Up To... Spending time with my mom, trip to visit my family, trip to lake with my dad. What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... Filming videos for my Youtube channel and planning out my August content for my channel. What I'm Excited About... I went to visit my family. During that trip, I went to the lake with my dad for 5 days. My dad, nephew Joey, and I went to a Mets game and we saw David Wright being inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame and have his #5 retired. David Wright is my all time favorite athlete and I w...

  Here are the books I read in June 2025: A First Time for Everything –K.L. Walther My Rating: 5 stars Another amazing novel from start to finish. I absolutely adore K.L. Walther and her writing. I loved everything about this book and this is definitely one of those books I wish I could read again for the first time.   Atmosphere –Taylor Jenkins Reid My Rating: 5 stars Wow, this book was incredible. I enjoyed it so much. I have loved all of Taylor Jenkins Reid novels. A significant part of this story was the relationship between the main character and her niece and I loved that storyline (and the other storylines in the book as well) so much. As an aunt to 10 nephews and nieces, that storyline really touched me.   The It Girl –Ruth Ware My Rating: 4 stars This is the first novel I read by Ruth Ware. I really enjoyed it. I totally did not see the ending coming. I definitely want to read more of her books in the future.   Love, Theoretically...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: PF Changs frozen meal Tuesday: Tacos Wednesday: Stir-fry Thursday: Leftovers Friday: Corn beef & cabbage steaks Saturday: Leftovers Sunday: Dinner at my sister's house: Salad, chicken cutlets, pasta, roasted broccoli What I'm Reminiscing About... I've been thinking a-lot about memories with my step-dad. My family and I lost my step-dad to his brave cancer battle in the beginning of the month.  What I'm Loving... Spending time with family and friends, spending time with my cats, reading, watching sports. What I've Been Up To... Spending time with family, bestie day with A & A on the 4th, out with my niece on the 20th. I've been watching lots of sports (MLB, college baseball playoffs & world series, NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs). What I'm Dreading... Waking up each day knowing my step-dad is no longer with us. I miss him so much. What I'm Working On... My blog content schedule for July and August. What...

Here are the books I read in May: One Golden Summer –Carley Fortune My Rating: 5 stars Another amazing novel from Carley Fortune. Since 2022, when her debut novel came out, her books have been my favorite book of the year each year. Her writing style is just so lovely. The setting of this book is my very favorite… it takes place at a lake. I cannot rave enough about Carley Fortune and her books and I highly recommend all of them. One Death at a Time –Abbi Waxman My Rating: 3 stars (really 3.5) I really enjoy this author. This is her latest novel. This was her first mystery novel and I enjoyed it a-lot. I didn’t see a lot of the twists coming.   Worth The Risk (Watertown University Book 1) –Clara Mott My Rating: 4 stars I really enjoyed this book. I really loved the relationship between the main characters. It was so beautiful to see how supportive of each other they were. I loved the relationships that the main female character had with their friends and that ...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Leftovers Tuesday: Grilled cheese & veggies Wednesday: Chicken, broccoli Thursday: Takeout Friday: Salad Saturday: Mac & cheese Sunday: Leftovers What I'm Reminiscing About... My trips to the lake, my happy place. What I've Been Up To... Family visit from my sister C, bestie day with my best friend A and her daughter A, reading, watching sports/TV/movies, spending time with family. What I'm Dreading... Something very hard that my family and I are going through right now. It's been a very tough year. If you are the praying kind, my family could use all of the prayers right now. Thank you. What I'm Working On... My YT content schedule for June. What I'm Excited About... Visit from my sister C, spending time with my bestie and her daughter, the Knicks being in the NBA playoffs. What I'm Watching/Reading... Watching: Regular TV shows, MLB baseball, NBA playoffs, Netflix, movies Reading: I'm about to start ...

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 ...