2019 Books So Far

I saw a tweet back in December where someone asked for suggestions for books they couldn't stop reading. That kickstarted my reading hobby which has been suffering since having my first baby in 2013. This year I have read/listened to 21 books! And there have been some great ones. If you want to follow me on Goodreads, where I keep track of my reads, you can click here.

I want to share some of my favorite reads of the year here.

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1. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sánez

This is the most beautiful story I have ever read. I cannot stop thinking about it. It ended up on my to-read list because the audiobook is read by Lin Manuel Miranda, and I'm so glad I found it! Its about two boys growing up and finding their place in the world in El Paso in the '80s. 

2. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

This is nonfiction. Stevenson is a lawyer who found the Equal Justice Initiative. He works with inmates on death row, those who were sentence to life in prison as a juvenile. He has argued and won cases in front the Supreme Court. His book was truly eye-opening for how the justice system in the United States is not completely just to all our citizens. There is also a young adult version of his book. 

3. Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

This needs to be listened to. Music is such an important part of the story and the audiobook uses music to tell parts of the story. The book follows a harmonica as it travels from a boy living in Nazi Germany, to orphans living in New York City, to a girl and her family living in California during World War II.  

4. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is a book of essays where the author is writing to his son about race in America. I don't feel like I have words to describe how critical it is for White Americans to read this book, but White Americans should read this book. Toni Morrison calls is "required reading." It is eye-opening to read how life can be so different for someone who lives in the same country as me. Read it. (I listened to it and it is read by the author.)

5. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This is another book that was a great audiobook. There are different voice actors for the characters which makes the story come to life. In this book, a toddler escapes to a graveyard after his family is murdered in the middle of the night. The residents of the graveyard agree to raise him and the story follows him as he grows. 

Do you have any books you can recommend? I am adding to my constantly growing to-read list.

Staying Active During the School Year

I do a fairly good job every summer of working out consistently. Then school starts and I am entirely too exhausted to do anything when I get home and then I lose my momentum from summer and... I could list all the excuses I have for not being active, but I am not letting myself use those excuses this year.

My goal this year is to work out 3 times a week and to be active any day that I don't work out-either a walk or playing outside with my kids.

Usually my goal for working out is to lose weight. While that would be a nice side effect, it is not my main goal. Any one else feel the effects of aging? I feel like I am still young at 32, but...I am so tired at the end of the day and I wake up with sore muscles. I realize that taking care of myself now is important for my health in the long run. I also want to set an example for my children.

Here is how I will stay active this school year.

1. Remember my WHY? (See above)
2. Make a plan for the week. Look at my and my husband's schedules and plan which will be work out days. 
3. Change into my workout clothes as soon as I get home. 
4. Do something that I don't hate doing. (See below)
5. Repeat

Now, sometimes I really hate working out so if I force myself to do something I hate, it won't last long. I don't have a gym membership and I have two small children at home. I also hate running.  I also cannot wake up early in the morning. I have found a few things that work for me.

• Blogilates
• Cassey puts out a new short work out video every week and she has a huge library on her YouTube Channel. She has a lot of other resources that I haven't used yet. What I like most is the song challenges. These are 3-4 minute videos (the length of a song) where she focuses on one exercise. I can convince myself to do 4-5 videos. I always say I'll just do 3, but then what's one more?
• These are some of my favorite ones. Shape of your Thighs, Sore-y Not Sorry Abs, Inner Thighs Workout, Ab Climber. 
• She also has workout plans for the month. I love that she puts a video out every week because it is usually what convinced me to work out on Mondays. 
• Jillian Michaels (Amazon Affiliates Links Used Here)
• I had some old work out DVDs that I found while I was decluttering this summer. I like the Shed and Shred and Ripped in 30,  and Killer Buns and Thighs. These workouts are hard, but she has modified version of some of the moves and I always feel like I did a good workout afterwards. You may need weights for this; I only have 5 pound weights. 
• Yoga
• This is something I just started. This will be for the days when I can fee like I am too exhausted to get a workout in, but I still want to try something. I am not good at yoga yet and I am not flexible. I downloaded a few apps on my phone that go through a program. Daily Yoga, and Yoga Studio. 
• I did this on the first day of school last week. I had spent the day running around the school and I was exhausted. Also, my kids expected dinner! So I was laying on the couch and decided my body needed something. I downloaded the Daily Yoga App and did 15 minutes of the Stiff Joint routine. 

There it is. My workout plan. Next thing I need to get down is eating better. I will not do supplements or any multilevel marketing thing. My problem is eating too much, but that's for another day.

How do you stay active during the school year?