Blogger Love v.2

On Monday, after spending most of my day cleaning, making freezer meals, oh yeah, and Mommying a precious baby boy, I plopped down on our couch completely spent to catch up on blogs. When Chuck came downstairs on his dinner break, his eyes bugged out taking in the sheer number of tabs I had open on my laptop. So many good posts this week!

Without further ado, here were my favorite posts of the week:

Big Boy Room + Nursery Update by Schue Love | I need Natasha to come decorate my entire house, because her style is flawless. I love how she's designed her two boys' rooms!

20 Books by Shauna Niequist | Book posts will always have a spot in my heart, but Shauna's choices were totally on-point.

There's a Shark in the Toilet! by Running from the Law | Sara posted her favorite responses to the question of what lies parents tell their kids- some of them are downright hilarious!

Sallie & Perkins: What We've Been Up To by Love, Fun and Football | We took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University a couple years ago, but I'd by lying if I said we've 100% applied what we learned. Erin's financial posts are so encouraging and give me the motivation to be get out of debt, FAST!

European Superlatives: Part 1 by We Took the Road Less Traveled | I've got full-blown wanderlust, but travel blogs have a tendency to bore me. I loved this cute, fun way to highlight the highs and lows of Casey's European travels.

Why Do Moms Always Talk About Coffee and Wine? by Scary Mommy | You can pretty much guarantee there will always be a post from Scary Mommy in my favorites of the week. You can also guarantee that not a morning has gone by since having Charlie that I have passed on my regular cup o' joe.

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What are your favorite posts this week?

5 Tips for Making Pre-Baby Freezer Meals

One of the best things I did to prepare for life with a newborn was to stock my freezer with easy-to-make casseroles. Life with a new baby is overwhelming, and once the food from friends and families stopped coming, I was left to my own devices. Here are a few things I learned in my quest to become that mom:

1// Invest in disposable baking pans

Whether you're making freezer meals for yourself, or for a new mom friend, whomever is on the receiving end will appreciate having virtually no cleanup! Sure, it may be more wasteful, but with a new baby, you'll be lucky if you get 5 minutes to yourself to eat, let alone wash a heavy baking pan. Personally, I bought in bulk (my local Kroger always has Buy 2, Get 1 Free sales) and skipped out on buying pans with lids. I found that the lids just take up more room in my freezer and cost more than regular ol' aluminum foil, so it really wasn't worth my while.

2// Schedule your prep time

I know this sounds seriously Type-A, and believe me, I'm not that person either. But trust me on this one, it will make your life so much easier. Before I go grocery shopping I pick about three recipes I want to make and buy all my ingredients the day before I plan to prep. Generally, Saturdays or Sundays are my best bet, and I will spend 4-5 hours in the kitchen making everything at once. It does require some commitment, but you get everything out of the way all at once and then you have enough food to last you for goodness knows how long! I make sure to clean as I go so I don't get bogged down by a messy kitchen and lose steam. 

3// Double your recipe

Why spend more time making a recipe twice, when you can spend the same amount of time making double, triple, or quadruple the original amount?! I always double my recipes and make two pans of each dish. Saves me a ton of time in the long run!

4// Substitute the healthy stuff whenever possible

If you're breastfeeding, it's important to make sure you're giving your baby the best nutrients possible! One of the drawbacks of making casseroles is that more often than not, they're not very good for you. Cream-based soups and loads of carbohydrates are all too common. I try to seek out recipes that can be both healthy and yummy. Then, I try to make healthy substitutions whenever possible. 

If a recipe calls for ground beef, I always use ground turkey instead. I also try to incorporate more veggies into my recipes. If a lasagna recipe calls for diced onions, I might also add some bell peppers, zucchini or eggplant. Greek yogurt is a great stand-in for sour cream and you can skip those packets of taco seasoning that are loaded with sodium and just opt to use your own spices.

5// Label, label, label!

Mommy brain is real, folks. When it comes time to pop one of your bad boys' in the oven, you don't want to be scouring the internet trying to recall your cooking directions. Once my pans are assembled, I tear off a piece of aluminum foil and record the type of dish, oven temperature and length of cooking time with a Sharpie before I wrap them up. This makes my job much simpler when all I had to do is pre-heat the oven!

Here are a few of my favorite freezer meals I've made:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole | Six Sisters' Stuff

Shepherd's Pie | True Aim

Lasagna | Happy Money Saver

Chili Dog Casserole | The Weary Chef

Tuna Casserole | Skinny Mom

>>> See more on my Pinterest board <<<

How to Create a Nursery When You Rent

Many moons ago, I made the decision to attend a private, Christian university. While I look back fondly on my college experience, my four years there left me with more than just an undergraduate degree. Yup, you guessed it. Student loan debt for the win.

Chuck and I are counting down the days until we can chip away at our debt and afford to own a house of our own, but until then...we are renters.

When the time came to think about creating Charlie's nursery, I was bummed that I wasn't going to be able to do all the fun, Pinterest-y things I wanted to. No painting. No installing new light fixtures or shelves. I felt a little bit limited, but I wasn't giving up hope.

I envisioned a not overly baby boy-ish nursery that somehow incorporated my love for Uganda and I think I did a pretty good job. Here are some of my tips for creating a fun nursery when you rent:

TEXTILES

It was amazing what a difference adding some valances and a rug made in brightening up our stark white second bedroom. To avoid being completely whitewashed, I tried to pick out bold colors and a fun crib bedding set with coordinating window coverings and changing pad cover. I like to think that my color palette complimented the white rather than working against it.

DECOR

Lucky for me, I'm a master with spackle. While we won't be installing any hardcore shelving or large decor, I figured a few small nails wouldn't hurt and can be easily filled in when the time comes for us to move. I stuck with a lot of decor I already had since we were working with a really small budget and added a few small things here and there. My favorite addition was the birth announcement canvas I made at TinyPrints.

PLACEMENT

I felt that by placing my limited decor asymmetrically, it made the bare walls appear to be a little more dynamic than they actually are.

COLOR

My number one takeaway from trying to decorate a stark-white boring room? Don't be afraid of color! I tried to infuse color wherever I could (as evidenced by the bright red paint job Hubby did on our dresser).

With those (amateur) design tips in mind, check out the finished product!

 The nursery is Charlie-approved!

As of now, Charlie still sleeps in our room and we don't have any plans to move him until he starts sleeping through the night. Which gives us plenty of time to still check a couple remaining items off our to-do list, including putting up some kind of mobile, hanging a tapestry behind his crib and finding a bookshelf or storage cubes to put against the wall near the doorway. But as someone who has never decorated a room in my life, I think it turned out pretty well!

SOURCES

Bedding Set, Changing Pad Cover and Valances // Mudhut Baby Collection @ Target (No longer available)

Jenny Lind 3-in-1 Crib // Target

Shermag Glider and Ottoman // Target (Grey, no longer available)

Rug // IKEA (No longer available)

TARVA 6-Drawer Chest // IKEA // Safety Red Paint // Sherwin Williams

Birth Announcement 12x12 Canvas // TinyPrints

Globe, Woven Baskets, Frames // Pre-owned

Chalkboard Crate and Wooden Masks // Gifted

Blogger Love v.1

Is there anything better than stumbling upon new blogs to love? That's how I felt when I discovered Meagan at All the Joys and as it happens, Meagan loves to spread the blogger love, too! I'm so excited to join up with her weekly link-up to share my favorite blog posts of the week:

We are Having a Baby BOY! by Gratefully Inspired | If you haven't noticed yet, I've got babies on the brain and I'm so happy that Denise will be joining the Boy Moms Club!

5 Resources for Free Books for Reviews by hellorigby! | I'm so thankful Jenn shared this. I immediately signed myself up with Blogging for Books.

World's Worst Mother-in-Law Ever by Coffee + Crumbs |  Yup, this will be me.

Book Pairings by Flowers in my Hair | I'm all about new book recommendations. I added Oryx and Crake to my to-read list based on her pairing with The Hunger Games.

18 Crazy Things I Said While Up With the Baby by Scary Mommy | Seeing as I apparently birthed a vampire baby who insists on waking every 2 hours to nurse, I needed this so bad. I LOLed throughout the entire thing.

What I Want You to Know about Loving your Adopted Baby by Rage Against the Minivan | As someone who has always dreamt of adoption, this is something I always wondered about. It was so brave of this Mama to put into words her bonding experience with her adopted child.

Dear Harper by Hippie at Heart | Candace is one of my favorite bloggers ever. The way in which she writes with such honesty about her journey as Harper and Finley's Mommy is the absolute best.

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Which posts have been your favorite lately?

How Pregnancy Confirmed my Faith in God

I remember sitting in the back of a Child Psychology class my junior year of college while my professor (who remains one of my favorite people ever) began talking about child development from conception. After the sperm and egg meet, the process of cell division occurs. Most of us remember from high school science what cell division looks like, but she introduced the class to an entirely new concept: cell differentiation. (Stick with me, I promise I'm going somewhere with this). Now, I'm not a science-y person by any means. But this new term stuck with me- I was fascinated by it. Basically, after the fertilized egg begins the process of cell division, cell differentiation takes place, where individual cells start taking on the characteristics of the specific cells they will become. In fact, a clump of cells will start randomly beating to form the baby's heart. No one knows how or why these cells, which are no different from any other cell, instinctively know to begin pulsing. They just do. This was the first time in my life when I thought of pregnancy as a seriously divine process.

Fast forward about six years. I found myself knocked up and experiencing all the ups and downs of this process. There were days when I hated being pregnant. Most days, if I'm being honest, I hated what I sensed as being a lack of control over my body. But every once in a blue moon, I would have this moment of clarity where I realized that my body knew exactly what to do. Without any effort on my part, my body was feeding, growing and nurturing this little child in my belly. It was as if there were some sort of divine being presiding over the process and controlling each step as it happened.

Then came the delivery. From a purely physical standpoint, the fact that every single day since the dawn of humankind, women have been able to push out a watermelon-sized human out of a grape-sized hole is a miracle in and of itself. But this was not what truly struck me about Charlie's birth. 

For weeks and months I was terrified that my lack of maternal instinct and kid-friendliness would doom me as a mother. I felt a complete disconnect with the little parasite growing inside my womb and I feared I would be the first mother in the history of ever who would never be able to figure out how to love her child. Even as I moaned, groaned and screamed my way through pushing my child out- there was zero attachment.

Then it happened. Charlie was born. He cried that first cry and I was hooked. Through absolutely no effort on my part, I was hopelessly in love. Not familial love. Not romantic love. But an all-consuming, unconditional, I-would-do-absolutely-anything-for-you kind of love. Toward a person I had known approximately one second. The only way I could describe it, is that the instant Charlie was born, it felt that someone reached into my body and grew my heart three times its original size. (Just call me the Grinch). All of a sudden, I had this enormous capacity for love, without losing the love I had for Chuck, my family, my friends in the process. It was miraculous, sublime and divine. 

I am not the kind of person who regularly recites Bible verses. I attend Church maybe once or twice a year. But becoming a Mom, experiencing the miracle of pregnancy- has been all I will ever need to convince me the presence of an all-mighty, omnipresent, loving God. I honestly wouldn't know how else to explain this new love of my life. 

By the Grace of God alone, I am one blessed Mommy.

9 Months, 40 Weeks, 280 Days

I wasn't always the best at keeping up with my pregnancy "bumpdates," but I'm so glad that I documented what I was able to when the chaos of life didn't get in the way. Now that my oven is officially bun-less, it's so surreal to look back on my 9-month journey and see the changes my body went through to bring Baby Pep into the world. Pregnancy was not my favorite thing in the world, but I won't for a second say that it was anything short of miraculous. As un-fun as weight gain and heartburn were, I'd do it again in a heartbeat for my Charlie. Words cannot describe how much I love that little squirt.

Just for kicks, here's a 40-week comparison:

5 // 6 // 7

8 // 9 // 10

11 // 12 // 14

16 // 17 // 18

20 // 21 // 22

23 // 26 // 28

29 // 30 // 31

32 // 34 // 35

37 // 38 // 40

Man, pregnancy was such a wild ride. A ride that I am fine with not taking again any time soon ;)

First Date Since Baby for the Win!

I never really liked Valentine's Day until I was married. Mostly, because I was glaringly single every year prior and was not a fan of being made aware of that fact. I still think it's a bogus holiday that plays to the habits of our consumerist culture (*stepping off soapbox*), but Chuck and I have now been together for 4+ years and I'm onboard with any excuse for romance at this point.

God bless my husband, because he's the sweetest, most well-intentioned man in the world. But the whole gift-giving thing is not one of his strong suits. He wants to be good at it, but most years he overthinks things, gives up and does something half-assed at the last minute (I love you, baby!). This year, however, seeing as we've been in the throes of newborn chaos and have spent shockingly little time together, I think my darling hubby realized that this Valentine's Day was going to need to be special.

It wasn't until after we left the house that we realized Daddy had spit-up on his shirt!

On Friday afternoon, after a very lazy morning, he watched the baby for awhile so I could shower and get dolled up. Then he went out to "run some errands" (subtlety is also not a strong suit). Upon his return, I was handed a bouquet of gorgeous flowers and a personalized box of chocolates from our local candy shop. Not long after, we dropped little Charlie off with his Nonnie and Papaw for the evening and I was whisked away to Valley Vineyards, a local winery about 30 minutes away. 

Daddy was the DD so Mommy had a fantastic night sampling wine and getting a tad bit tipsy for the first time in over a year (it was well worth the massive headache I had the next morning). We grilled steaks on their indoor fire pits, I discovered a new love of raspberry wine and we enjoyed hours upon hours of beautiful, uninterrupted adult conversation. We were the last couple to leave the establishment (and on a complete high, I might add). It's so easy to forget how much we genuinely enjoy each other's company in the mud and muck of everyday life. Valentine's Day 2015 was one for the books and we left the dinner table that evening with a promise to make monthly date nights a priority in the future because we need to make sure we stay besties fo' life.

We even got to take a private, self-guided tour of the wine cellar!

The Name Game

Chuck and I honestly didn't 100% decide on Charlie's name until about a week before he was born. Through no fault of my husband's- I was just too indecisive! I couldn't figure out how people knew what their baby's name would be months before they were born. I had favorites, sure, but I felt like 1. Naming a human is a HUGE responsibility and 2. How would I know if the name fit until I met him?

After bouncing around many an option, we landed on Charles Davis. It meant a lot to Chuck to have our son named after him, and I was on-board under the condition that he be called "Charlie." I have probably given Chuck a complex with how many times I've told him how much I hate his name. The two things that come to my mind when I hear "Chuck?" Upchuck. Ground chuck. Gross. 

Charlie, on the other hand, was a name I loved and at the end of the day was the only name I could actually picture calling my son (besides Baby Pep, of course). When my Grandma passed in September, I wanted to name our baby after her. If we had had a girl, she would have been little Vera, but of course this is not how things went down. Davis was my Grandma's maiden name, so I thought it was the perfect name to incorporate for our little boy's middle name.

As much as I love Baby Pep's name, there were a few honorable mentions that I was reluctant to give up. These are some of the names that didn't make the cut: 

What are some of your favorite baby names?

Do you think we made the right choice (especially given my affinity for old people names)?

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Tomorrow is the last day to enter the #BuyLocal Giveaway and win a $20 gift card and 4-pack of all-natural wax melts!

Charlie's Valentine's Day Photoshoot

Despite the fact that I love getting pictures taken to document big life events, I honestly hadn't given Charlie's newborn pictures much thought. They approached us in the hospital, right after he was born, but charged an arm and a leg so we quickly dismissed that idea. Fortunately, my sister-in-law referred me to a friend of hers from high school who was doing Valentine's Day mini-sessions. Our first family photos + Valentine's Day + $50 = #winning for the Stuckert party of 3 who is currently living on one income.

Tina Ruble Photography did such a terrific job. She was so easy to work with and had a great eye for detail. But most importantly, our pictures turned out ADORABLE. We're definitely planning to see Tina in the future!

See for yourself...

Gah! I know I'm biased, but do I not have the cutest baby ever?!

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Don't forget to enter the #BuyLocal Giveaway for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate + a 4-pack of all-natural wax melts! 

Giveaway ends Friday, 2/13.

#BuyLocal Giveaway | $20 Gift Card + Wax Melts

One of my favorite things about my small town is the community campaign to shop locally. Not only do you know you're getting a great product from someone you can trust, but you feel good knowing that your dollars are going right back into your own local economy. With Spring just around the corner, I can't wait to walk into downtown and peruse all our local businesses and today I'm so excited to introduce you to two businesses located right in my hometown!

First, is The Beekeeper's Daughter. 

This local business specializes in making beeswax melts to leave your house smelling amazing. I was lucky enough to receive two of her most popular scents, Welcome Home and Good Morning. As someone absolutely addicted to peppermint, I could not get enough of how great they smelled. The awesome thing about her wax melts is that she uses no synthetic fragrances or petroleum by-products. Everything in them is natural- beeswax, coconut oil and essential oils! 

Second, is Strength & Dignity Clothing Boutique.

I cannot tell you how happy it made me that this sweet boutique opened up right down the road! Strength & Dignity offers the absolute cutest clothes without a completely over-the-top price tag. I absolutely fell in love with the Mint & Black Winter Cardigan she sent me. It is so warm and cozy! My favorite part is that the sleeves actually fit my gangly, long arms. I can never find sweaters that reach to my wrist- it's ridiculous!

 (Clearly, modeling is not my forte.)

The best part about these two shops? They're giving away some awesome swag to one lucky reader. To win a 4-pack of wax melts from The Beekeeper's Daughter and a $20 gift certificate to Strength & Dignity Clothing, enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will be announced Monday, February 16! Good luck to all :)

Why I Want to Be a Penpal

When Chuck asked me if I minded if he paid a visit to his parents the other night, my very first thought was, "Are you going to take the baby with you?" You see, I could wax poetic for days about how much I love my little poop machine, but my relationship with my son has not changed my personality. I am still an introvert through and through. This means, that I recharge and gain my energy by solitude and alone time. There is very little solitude with a newborn, so I cherish these evenings of Mommy's Me Time. I read, I catch up on Netflix (I just started Parenthood- why did no one tell me?!) and this past Friday night, I read emails.

Not recent emails, though. I sifted through the folders I had created 2, 3, 5+ years ago with messages saved from friends, family and loved ones. I'm not sure if I'm strange for hanging onto them, but 2 of my most frequent correspondents, my Grandma and my friend, Frankie are no longer with us- so I love the occasional nostalgia that arises from remembering their immortal words.

The most recent of my lengthy exchanges with my pen pals, was around 2010-2011, and they pretty much all abruptly stop. I couldn't point you to any specific reason. I had graduated college, and maybe life just got in the way. I think this was also the point when my Grandma's health began to decline and she slowly stopped using her email. Regardless, I miss it. 

As evidenced by this blog, I live and breathe to write. Where words fail me in verbal conversation, they flow out of me, faster than I can keep up with most of the time, whenever I feel the gentle nudge of a keyboard beneath my fingertips. I want to rekindle my love of letter writing. I want to become a penpal again. 

I guess that's it. My proclamation. I am hoping to reach out to some old, yet near and dear friends of mine and write what's on my heart. I want to cut the small talk and move beyond new jobs and weddings. I want to write about how motherhood has changed me, how I'm at a standstill in my faith, how I miss being young(er) and standing in the crossroads of terror and wonder at the endless possibilities before me. I want to bare these parts of my soul to a friend and allow them the opportunity to entrust parts of theirs in me.

And I will.

1 Month as Mommy

Back in the day, I used to post bi-monthly marriage updates titled as "_ Months as Mrs." Hard to believe that my posts about learning how to better love my husband have since evolved into a place where I can document my journey in becoming a Mom.

As of January 26, my little one is one month old. The fact that I have a son, let alone one who's been around for 30+ days is still totally and completely unreal to me. I know most bloggers commemorate these baby milestones by talking solely about their wee one, but because this is my blog and I'm a little bit self-involved I wanted to talk more about my milestones as Mommy.

MATERNITY LEAVE

I always swore I could never be a stay-at-home Mom. I have this need to believe that the work I do is somehow positively impacting the world and making a difference and my current job allows me to do  just that. It truly is my dream job and there's definitely a part of me that misses it, but I totally get the SAHM thing now. My house is clean, our freezer (and bellies) are full of homemade yumminess and spending my days providing for my sweet, sweet baby are so much more fulfilling than I could have anticipated. Unfortunately, with my amount of debt, staying at home with Charlie will never be an option for me, but I can totally see why so many women before me have given up successful, lucrative careers to "just be a Mom." Being home with my baby is so stinking rewarding.

BREASTFEEDING

Another thing about motherhood that totally surprised me. I had read so many blog posts written by bloggers who had babies who refused to latch and/or who struggled with mastitis and sore/cracked nipples while I was pregnant that I prepared myself for the worst. From that very first latch shortly after Charlie was born, he was a pro. As our favorite nurse said, I've got "a good setup" for breastfeeding (i.e. the Godzilla nips mentioned here) and it's been going really well. The physical part aside, though, there is this totally emotional part of breastfeeding that I was completely unprepared for. It has allowed me so much time to bond with my son and it's just a gosh darn good feeling.

MATERNAL INSTINCTS
Apparently I have them after all- who woulda thunk? I'm still hopelessly awkward and uncomfortable with other people's kids and I don't think that will ever change. But everything that everyone told me before having Charlie was correct- it really is different when it's your own. I can sense when he's tired or overstimulated. And I can't help but get a little clingy when others want to hold him. I have to remind myself to chill out and silence the little voice in my head that screams, "that's my baby!" Clearly, I have issues.

POSTPARTUM RECOVERY (Skip this part if you don't want to know the gory details!)
The first two weeks were kind of hell. I briefly mentioned my recovery in my Pregnancy Truths last week, but it's been a rough road. I know that I'm fortunate that unlike a lot of Mamas I didn't have to get a bunch of stitches. I did, however, get a hematoma (ruptured blood vessel) and some killer hemorrhoids from pushing my little man out. I spent the first weeks hopped up on vicodin, unable to sit on my bottom and in a whole heck of a lot of pain. However, by Week 3, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and I can finally feel myself returning to normal. I can't wait to get the go-ahead to get back into working out. I've legitimately missed running!

BABY FAT
I was also fortunate to only put on about 22-23 pounds over the course of my pregnancy so I lost virtually all my pregnancy weight after delivering Charlie. That being said, my body does not look anything like it did pre-pregnancy. I have this pooch that, try as I might, is virtually impossible to cover up. Also, I don't know why or how, but somehow through the magic of pregnancy, I lost what little waist I had, so my torso looks like a rectangle rather than an hourglass. I'm hoping running will help with this, but if it doesn't, I had a baby and I have a husband who still finds me as attractive as ever, so I'm going to embrace my new Mommy body.

As for Charlie...

EAT. POOP. SLEEP.

That pretty much sums up Charlie's first month as a newborn. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to the days when he can actually do things. It seems like if he's not sleeping or eating, he's crying. And as much as I love this little booger, the baby crying is awful. That being said, there are a couple little things I've been able to pick up on: like the fact that Charlie is an awesome bath-taker. We've been closing the bathroom door so it gets all nice and toasty in there and he sits in his little tub, as happy as a clam. I've also noticed that he's been great about following sounds. I was making a Pop-Tart the other morning and as I started the timer, I watched Charlie's eyes follow the direction of the *tick, tick, tick* of our toaster oven. He also loves his Vitamin D supplements. Since he's not getting any direct sunlight and Vitamin D isn't transferred through breast milk, we have to give him a little squirt with an eye dropper every day and he makes the funniest faces when he tastes the cough syrupy-flavor.

STATS
As of Charlie's 1-month appointment, he's up to 7 lbs, 12 oz and 21 inches. This leaves him in the 5th percentile for height and weight, but because he was such a peanut when he was born and his growth is still on track, his doctor isn't concerned. He is, however, in the 25th percentile for his big ol' 37 inch noggin. As my Mom said, "the poor kid is never going to be able to find a hat that fits!" Both Chuck and I knew to expect a big-headed, ginger baby with our genes, so that's no surprise! He's still in NB-sized diapers and clothes, but we'll probably make the 0-3 month leap this month.

That's Month One in a nutshell. 

Happy 1 Month, Baby Pep.
You have made your Mommy and Daddy so indescribably happy.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a copy of Team Us: Marriage Together.
Winner will be announced Friday, February 6!

Winter Book Challenge: January Check-In

With a newborn baby on my hands, reading has been kind of hit or miss. Some days I'm bored to tears and read for hours on end. Other days, my time is spent cuddling and soothing a pouty-lipped baby and I don't know where my time goes. Regardless, as of January here's where I'm at after the third month of Megan's Semi-Charmed Winter Book Challenge.

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules. | The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (January 4, 2015)

10 points: Read a book written by an author who has published at least 10 books. | Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (December 11, 2014)

10 points: Read a book of short stories. | My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins (December 23, 2014)

10 points: Read a book with a food in the title. | Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan (November 8, 2014)

15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you. | Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (January 11, 2015)

15 points: Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language.

15 points: Read a book written by a local author (either an author from your state if you live in the United States, or from your country if you live somewhere else).

20 points: Read a "bookish book" (in which books play an important role, e.g. the setting involves a bookstore or library, a major character is an author, or a book that celebrates reading and books. (Examples: The Book Thief, The Shadow of the Wind, The Thirteenth Tale, etc.) | Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (January 7, 2015)

20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title (e.g. north, south, east, west or any combination of those). | East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Currently Reading)

25 points: Read a book from a genre you don't usually read. | The Woodcutter by Kate Danley [Fantasy] (November 19, 2014)

25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title.  | Yes Please by Amy Poehler [Muse] (November 22, 2014)

30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, brunch).

PREVIOUS POINTS: 80
TOTAL POINTS: 120

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However, not only was I crazy enough to commit myself to this 4-month Book Challenge, but when I stumbled upon Erin's Book Challenge in December, I couldn't miss out on the fun, so I also signed myself up for this second challenge running from January-April. Here's how I'm doing on Challenge #2:

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5 points: Read a book, any book that is at least 200 pages long. 

10 points: Read a book that begins with the “A”, “An”, or “The”. | The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (January 4, 2015)

10 points: Read a book with a two word title.

15 points: Read a book with an animal in the title.

20 points: Take the first letter of your first name…Read a book that the title begins with that letter.

20 points: Read a book set in any country in Europe. | The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (Currently reading)

25 points: Read a book from the NPR’s guide of great books from 2014.

30 points: Read a book by a favourite author that is not a re-read.

30 points: Read a book by a comedian or comedic actor. | I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert (January 16, 2014)

35 points: Read a book about science, discovery, or a scientific process – non-fiction only.

PREVIOUS POINTS: 0
TOTAL POINTS: 40

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I'm also happy to say that for the first time, I can finally link up with Lauren for #ORYS (also known as Operation Read Your Shelves). Both Fahrenheit 451 and I Am America had been gathering dust on my shelf, so I was pumped to be able to check them off my list. The fun thing about tackling my neglected books, is once I'm done, I donate them to my sister-in-law's Little Free Library. When it comes to reading, I always try to pay it forward! :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a copy of Team Us: Marriage Together.
Winner will be announced Friday, February 6!