What's New?

Why is it so hard to jump back into blogging after just a few short months of poor blogging stride? It seems the longer you go without regular blogging, the harder it is to just get going again. Well, to get going again, I've thrown together a set of lists. One is a list of things that are bugging me right now--mostly relating to blogging or my lack thereof, and the other is a list of things I'm pretty excited about lately. Nothing Earth shattering on any front.. just.. well, life. It happens. Oh and I also threw in two of my favorite photos from last week (taken with my iphone 4S). I think they're super adorable and I hope they make you smile as they did for me. :)

I took this photo last Friday morning while out on an early weekday morning bike ride. It was the cutest, coolest blimp I've ever seen in my life! Just darling. It made my day. ;)

It's a Despicable Me Minion blimp!

Things that are bugging me right now: 

• Not blogging regularly OR keeping up with your blogs. 
• Admitting that I'm not very good at read-alongs. Anna Karenina, The Winter Sea, Stardust and now The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I've not kept up on a single one of them, although I at least eventually finished The Winter Sea and Stardust, even if not on schedule. Currently working on Wind-Up, which I am determined to finish this month. It's long. And weird. And of course the read-along is over already.
• I haven't written reviews for some really good books I've read lately. Unless you happen to visit me regularly on goodreads, you probably have no idea of what I've even been reading! 
• I've barely participated in weekend cooking at all this year. I miss it! 
• I've stopped chiming in with Joy's Reader's Workouts. I haven't even been logging my workouts on my little fitness journal blog, See How She Runs very well lately, either. 
• I still haven't written a post on my fabulous little trip to Iceland back in March. 
• It looks like I'm not going to get around to re-establishing my backyard vegetable garden AGAIN this year. And the deer are already munching the perennials that are barely a foot tall. Do I even want to battle them for a few handfuls of tomatoes? I don't know if it's even worth it. 
• Finally, I'm not happy with my body image lately. I exercise all the time and eat healthy foods. Unfortunately I also love sinful foods such as baked treats and ice cream. Even homemade and made with natural ingredients, these foods do not promote weight loss. Duh. I know this. I even know what to do. I just need to find the discipline to put my money where my mouth is and practice what I preach. I'm really tired of being in this place. 

My girls had haircut appointments one evening last week. By the time we got out of the salon, a few of the streets downtown were closed to traffic for a car show. As we walked to our car, we spotted this darling little girl walking her dogs. So incredibly cute! (Her mom is just outside the frame of the photo.)

Just out walking her dogs
at the car show downtown. 

Things that I'm psyched about lately: 

• Numerous exciting milestones for my girls this season--some have taken place already, but most are upcoming over the next several weeks. For Anna, my 14 year old: being awarded her Girl Scout Silver Award--the highest award a middle school aged scout can earn; her first semi formal dance; an overnight school field trip; her dance recital; and 8th grade graduation. For Maria, my 18 year old: her last school orchestra concert ever (she's been playing the violin since 4th grade!), senior prom, high school graduation and then off to college in September! 
• Our upcoming summer vacation to some very faraway places. Excited but also a little nervous. More about our destinations soon. 
• My Bingo card is filling up nicely (one of my 2013 Reading Challenges). I don't know why this makes me so happy, but it feels really good to check off those squares. I've checked off a few more since my update in April and the next update will be around July 1, but I'm making progress! Such a fun challenge. You guys should join in.. if not now, definitely next year. 
• Speaking of reading, I've decided to re-read a favorite series of mine. Well, re-read the first couple of books in the series that I already read several years ago and then catch up with all the other books before the final book in the series comes out in August. Any idea what this series is?
• I started using Feedly for following blogs. So easy to use, organized AND best of all? Everything is synced between my laptop and phone so I always know where I left off reading blog posts. I don't accidentally read stuff twice or miss anything! I mostly use it on my laptop, but it's the most fun to swipe and read on the iphone. What reader are you using these days? 
• Instagram love. I'm having so much fun documenting my days with daily photos and it's also become another social community through which I've met so many fun and interesting people from all over the world. You know how blogging has connected you with people with whom you have stuff in common but you would have never met otherwise? I'm finding the same thing through instagram. It's been great.      
• Spring has finally sprung around here! I love the warmer and longer days this time of year brings. More time to play outside.. for me this is primarily in the form of biking but also in yard work. I wish I could say I've been playing in the dirt planting and growing things, but at this point, it's mostly been more of the work variety--mowing the lawn and doing some residual clean up from last fall and winter.

So what's new with you? 

Go ahead and share something that's bugging you lately AND one thing that's got you excited too. 

I want to know!