Thankful Thursday

Wow!  That week went by so fast.

And to be honest I'm glad it is over.

 December 25th through February 13th is always such a roller coaster for me.  So many memories, so much happiness, and so much sadness fill those weeks.  

I am filled with relief and thanksgiving when I make it past February 13.  I feel like I can be normal again.  I'm sure Andrew is thankful for that too.  LOL.

The first chapter of my research paper was due Friday.  This semester has actually felt like I am in grad school.  That stinkin' research paper is kinda stressin' me out.  I'm thankful to have that first chapter behind me.  I feel like it has helped me start to figure out what I'm doing.

And I'm presenting for the first time ever at a conference next week.  I'm starting to feel a little better about that.  I am so thankful for all the people who have told me I'm going to do awesome.  That encouragement has been a huge blessing.

So yeah...I feel like everything hit all at once and I'm thankful to be coming out on the other side of this past week.

Speaking of presenting next week...

I have to bring my own projector and all the technology things.  This has me a bit nervous and I'm terrified that I will blank out and forget how to hook something up.

I borrowed a projector from school and Tuesday night Andrew gave me projector lessons.

I am so thankful he knows all about this stuff and is willing to help me.

He has been a huge encouragement when it comes to this presenting thing.

You can translate that as he hasn't let me cancel my plans to present.

Because there has been more than one occasion where I wanted to chicken out.

And on a totally different note...

The thing I'm most thankful for this week is a better than expected surgery outcome for my Daddy.

He had surgery on his left shoulder Monday.  

His shoulder was not as bad as they originally thought.  Surgery was pretty quick and recovery should be less painful than originally anticipated.

He is doing well and for that I praise God.

Be sure to hope over to Miranda's blog and read her post as well. :)

Reading Goals

A few years ago I set a goal for myself to read 52 books within the year.  I was teaching 7th grade English at the time and was reading lots of young adult novels which made it fairly easy to meet and surpass my goal.  

For one reason or another it seemed like I read less and less books each year after that which makes me sad.  I have always loved to read, but lately it seems I tend to pick up my phone rather than a good book.  

This year I decided to see if I could meet that goal again.  

52 books in a year.

A book a week.

Thanks to snow days and sick days I am off to a great start.

I have finished 6 books so far.

I am keeping track of my books with Good Reads.  I have tried to use this website once before but didn't really see much purpose in it.  I'm still not sure I see all the benefits of it, but I'm trying it again.  I don't write reviews for the books that I read so I'm mainly using it to keep track of my books.  

I'm currently trying to read through all the books that are sitting upstairs on a bookshelf.  I have books that I've had for several years and have never read.  It is time to remedy that.

One of those books is Alibis in Arkansas.

I bought this book probably five years ago.  I found it on a clearance rack for $5 and bought it for no other reason that the setting is Arkansas.  I read it over the weekend and really enjoyed it.  Well worth the $5 I spent all those years ago.

Christian novels are my comfort zone.  

This year I want to read more nonfiction...biographies, parenting books, teaching books.

I hope to read at least one nonfiction book each month.  

In January I read It's Not What you Think by Jefferson Bethke

and The Connected Child by Dr. Karyn Purvis

Neither one of these were 5 star books in my opinion so I'm hoping February will bring a great nonfiction read.

Any suggestions?