Currently: February 2024
Wedding coordinating, demigods, and Valentine's Day!
February Recap
February feels like it has gone by so fast and been jammed packed in all the best ways. Jackson and I had a very sweet and lowkey Valentine’s Day, which I feel like fits us perfectly.
At the beginning of the month, I also had some of my friends over for a breakfast for dinner Galentine’s party, and I have not laughed that hard in a while. It was the perfect girl’s night, and I am so very thankful for them!
Then, over President’s Day weekend, Jackson and I took a quick little trip to our favorite beach town for the weekend. It was a little rainy and a little cold, but we really love the beach in all weather. We saw dolphins, deer, and even an armadillo. Plus, we caught a beautiful sunrise and sunset in our last 24 hours!
This month I also started the processing of coordinating my very first wedding for a friend - she is the best! I am so excited about stepping into this new adventure and putting all my planning and organization skills to such a fun use!
Overall, February was a really special month, and I am so thankful!
Check out past editions of Currently here.
Reading
This Article by Kate Eskuri - I found this article really inspiring. Kate talks all about experimenting with habits and goals, making it more like a challenge or even a game rather than another thing on your to-do list. It is less pressure and more fun!
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center - If you have read any of my previous Currently newsletters, then you have probably heard me talk about at least one Katherine Center books. I finished this one at the beginning of the month and absolutely loved it! It is a fake dating romance between a famous movie star and a female bodyguard. I think this will become one of my favorite romances ever, and it is closed door!
The Do-Over by Lynn Painter - This book has a Groundhog Day plot where the main character relives Valentine’s Day over and over again. So, reading this around both Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day week was perfectly atmospheric. The book is young adult, so it is closed door. I loved the sweet high school romance in this book and the touch of magical realism with repeating the same day. I read this book in one day!
Watching
Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney Plus - Reading the Percy Jackson books growing up honestly felt like a rite of passage. If you are Gen Z, then you probably feel the same way. Watching this show was so nostalgic and brought back all the memories of reading these books when I was younger. I can actually remember what they smelled like. The show is only one season right now, but I think they are planning to make a season for all the books in the series! I will be watching!
The Family Plan on Apple TV - After we finished Percy Jackson, Jackson and I didn’t really want to start a new show. So one night when we wanted something to watch, we picked this movie instead. It has action but also a family storyline, so I feel like it appeals to everyone. It was clean and fun, and we really enjoyed it!
Listening
If We Don’t Have You by Gateway Worship - We sang this song at church a couple weeks ago, and I have been playing it in my car non-stop ever since. I encourage you to go read all of the lyrics, but the main phrase in the chorus is “This means nothing if we don’t have you.” I have just let that become a cornerstone in my life this month - that nothing I do means anything without Jesus. This goes for my work, my relationships, every big decision and every seemingly small one.
Children Today are Under Relentless Supervision by The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast - I have always known that playing outside is important and beneficial for children, but this episode taught me so much about why that is true and how important movement is to a child’s development.
Call Me Candid with Lilly Ann and Haley - I followed both Lilly Ann and Haley on social media completely independently of each other, and then this month, I stumbled across a podcast of the two of them together! They only made a handful of episodes back in 2020, but I have been loving going back and listening to the old ones!
Doing
Choosing Joy - At the end of January, I started reading the devotional, 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life. It is all about the power of our thoughts and positive thinking, based on Philippians 4:8. Because of this, I have been trying to be more intentional about what I am consuming, and I have been trying to consciously be more positive.
It is hard work. But it has been so worth it!
Simplifying My Phone - In the same vein with monitoring what I am consuming, I also spent all morning this past Saturday simplifying my phone. I probably do this once every few months where I unfollow people on social media, turn off notifications, delete apps and contacts I don’t use, and reset the different focuses on my phone.
At school, we tell our students all the time, “This is a tool, not a toy.” And I feel like that I have been trying to preach to myself about my phone. I tried to set it up to where it functions very well as a tool but is hard to use as a toy.
Movies Over TV - Lately, Jackson and I have been choosing movies to watch instead of TV shows. TV shows are hard because many of them are so long. They seem never-ending, and once you start, it is hard to stop. Movies have been a fun way for us to watch something new and different together, and not get sucked into the cycle of watching “just one more.”
Quote
This quote comes from a book I just started reading called How to Be Here by Rob Bell.
“There’s a great Latin phrase that helps me make sense of the wonder and weirdness of creating a life. Ex nihilo means out of nothing.
The ex nihilo of art and design and music and odd sculpture and bizarre television shows reminds us of the ex nihilo-ness of our lives - we come out of nothing. And we’re here. And we get to make something we what we’ve been given.
What kind of world are we making?
What kind of life am I creating?”
Thank you so much for reading! Talk to you next Monday!
Take care,
Caroline
I’m ready a good historical fiction book you recommended, “Beneath a Scarlet Sky.” It’s about a young Italian solider who helps Jews escape Italy during WWII and becomes a spy for the Allies while serving in the German army. It’s an excellent read!