Currently: July 2023

What I have been loving in July 2023!

Welcome to the very first Currently newsletter - a collection of all the things I have been enjoying in the past month! I am planning to write this style post at the end of each month. I am sure it will evolve as I figure out what I want to share, but right now I am planning to include a monthly recap, as well as my favorite things I have been reading, listening to, watching, and doing from the past month!

So on the eve of August, let’s chat about July!

July Recap

July has gone by so quickly. I feel like, especially being a teacher, the summer has just flown by. We spent the first week of the month on a quick trip to Johnson City. A few days after that, I drove to Knoxville to visit my old college roommate. Then, we celebrated three family birthdays in one week.

If you read last week’s newsletter, you know we spent one week of the month traveling and with family after the passing of my grandmother. Right after that, my brother and sister-in-law were in town.

Overall in July, we spent time with friends and family, worked, and enjoyed the gift that is AC.

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Reading

In July, I read a few more books than I usually get to during the school year. I thought I would share a few of the ones that I loved and that I think you might love too. If I wanted this newsletter to be many pages long, I would tell you all my favorite parts and everything I learned from these books. Instead, I will just leave you with a brief description, a favorite quote, and/or my own personal thoughts from all of them.

• Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer by Tyler Staton

  • Description: This is a non-fiction book exploring the power of prayer, as the author breaks down the phrases of the Lord’s prayer to help us more deeply understand how we should pray.

  • Personal Thoughts: This book gave me new perspectives, inspiration, and practical tools for my prayer life. It was very powerful and I highly recommend it to anyone!

  • Favorite Quote: “Prayer itself can make us anxious because it uncovers fears we can ignore as long as we don’t engage deeply, thoughtfully, vulnerably with God.”

• Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter

  • Description: This fiction book is about a woman who attends her sister’s wedding and is reunited with an ex from her past. Due to unexpected circumstances, they end up spending more time together as she brings her vision of her own bookstore to life.

  • Personal Thoughts: This is a great breezy, summer rom-com!

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

  • Description: This fiction book I believe has been popular for a while now, but I just got around to reading it. It is about a woman who attempts to kill herself but wakes up in “the midnight library.” Here, she is shown the things she regrets from her life and a million variations of what her life could have looked like if she had made different choices. As she lives some of these parallel lives, she realizes maybe the grass isn’t always greener?

  • Personal Thoughts: This book was so thought provoking for me, and I thought it was very well-written.

  • Favorite Quote: “The prison wasn’t the place, but the perspective.”

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Listening

Podcasts

I was never a big podcast listener until I got married. My husband loves podcasts, and because he seemed to enjoy them so much, I decided I wanted to as well. Since then, I have found countless podcasts I look forward to listening to each week. But I also try not to get overwhelmed by the amount of content I feel like I “need” to consume. I could write a whole newsletter on podcasts I love, but for now, I will leave you with two of my favorite most recent listens.

• The Ellen Fisher Podcast: “Why the School System is Failing our Youth | Home Education and what to do instead with Matt Beaudreau”

  • This is a long one, but I found it to be worth the time. Ellen and Matt chat about what the purpose of education is, why they love homeschooling, and common concerns about homeschooling (socialization, college, etc.).

• Healthier Together with Liz Moody: “The Secret to Finding Your People, Having More Meaningful Gatherings, and Creating a Community You Love With Priya Parker”

  • This podcast was such a fun listen! I feel like hosting and how to create an engaging event is not something I know a lot about or have ever done; however, it is something I find so fascinating and would love to get better at!

Music

Honestly, there has not been any specific song or artist I have been loving this past month. However, what I have been listening to a lot are all the mixes that Spotify makes you. The dinner mix and morning jazz mix have been great as I am cooking dinner or doing morning chores. I have also loved listening to the your top songs 20__ playlists. It is truly amazing how powerful music is and how listening to songs that you have not heard since you were 16 can really take you back. So whatever mood you are in or activity you are doing, type it into Spotify, and I bet you there’s a mix for it.

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Watching

TV

This month, Jackson and I finally got around to finishing the series, The Chosen, by Angel Studios. It is so well done and so thought provoking. I highly recommend watching or re-watching it!

This past week, I also watched the new season of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix. It is such a wholesome, summery show, and I really enjoyed the overarching themes of close community and chasing your dreams that this season offered.

Youtube

Just this last week, I found a new creator that I absolutely love. Her name on youtube is Abigail’s Cup of Tea. She shares all kinds of reading content on her social media, and watching her videos has made me so excited to read! She has also given me a ton of book recommendations that I am looking forward to diving into. Overall, she has a really sweet spirit and is someone I feel like I would be friends with in real life!

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Doing

This will be a space where I can share a few things that I have really enjoyed doing this past month - new habits, hobbies, or activities. For July, I have two.

The first one is counseling. I struggle with some anxiety, and while I went to counseling a little bit off and on in college, I always thought I did not really need it and that it wasn’t really helpful, at least for me. However, over the summer, I decided to give it another try. I found a therapist I really like, and turns out, it is so helpful! I have found way more to talk about than I ever thought possible, and I have found a strength in myself that I never really knew existed before. I will probably write a whole newsletter sometime about counseling, what I am learning, and why I think it is beneficial, so I will spare you all the details for now!

The other thing I have really been enjoying this month is incorporating more yoga and stretching into my daily routines. Jackson has been wanting to increase his flexibility, and I have found stretching, focusing on breathing, and doing yoga flows to be so relaxing for my body and my mind. I hope to make this part of both my morning and evening routine - maybe even my lunch break too!

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Quote/Verse

To end off this newsletter, I thought I would share a quote or verse that resonated with me this past month. Maybe it will give you some inspiration or something to ponder as we step into August. This particular quote is from Lisa Wingate’s book, Tending Roses, which I am still finishing up right now.

“But is life a success when it doesn’t include time for after-school talks, and curling up to read books on winter nights, and weaving daisy chains in the summer? Is it a success when you have all the big things but none of the small ones? Is it as it should be when everybody grows up and moves to opposite coasts and doesn’t care if they ever see each other?”

Thank you for reading! I hope you found some inspiration or maybe something new to listen to! Let me know if you also like any of these things or if you decide to check them out!

Talk to you next week.

Take care,

Caroline