September Reads {And Some I Forgot...}

September was actually a really slow month for me book-wise. I only read 2 books in September, but I remembered 2 I had read earlier this summer that I forgot to blog about, so at least this month isn't totally lame!

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - My book club buddy, Amy, lets me share her online library membership, and she had this one checked out and told me it was supposed to be good, so I decided to try it. And it was SO good. I love having friends with different tastes than me, it really helps me read outside my favorite genres {ahem chick lit and romance}. This book is hard to describe, but it jumps in time to different periods in time before and after a flu epidemic that wipes out the majority of the world's population and focuses on a few situations and how they impact the rest of the story. Very riveting and enjoyable - a little sci-fi, a little mystery, a lot of good story-telling!

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty - My 4th {of 6} of Liane's books. This one was my least favorite of her books so far, but even her worst is still a good read. This one was about the intertwining lives of triplets. One has a 'perfect' life {or does she?}, one can't find love because she is hung-up on the death of her 'perfect' fiance {or was he?}, and the 3rd finds out something shocking about her 'perfect' marriage {or was it?}. My biggest issue was that it took me a while to remember which triplet was which so it was hard for me to engage in the story at first.

Whole 30 by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig - My friend, Veronica, who did Whole 30 before me {and was the reason I decided to do it, her enthusiasm was too catching} recommended I get the book. I'm really glad I did, but I don't think you HAVE to if you want to try Whole 30. I would say most of the information can be found on the Whole 30 website {rules, etc}, but a lot of the WHY is expanded upon in the book. The book also comes with a lot of recipes, some of which I tried, but again, I also used Pinterest a lot, so you don't NEED the book.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand - This was a recommendation by a blogger I read and my first book to read by Elin. It was good if not great - a little too mushy and at the same time not what I expected {I was expecting a little more lightness but it got deep at the end}. I don't think I'll rush out to read more of her books, but they'll be great fill-ins if I don't have something else in mind.

What did you read this month? Anything I should try?

October Goals

I used to dread fall. I loved the endless days of warm sunshine and especially no school in the summer. As I get older, I really appreciate each season for what it is. I now LOVE fall. I love all that it represents. I love Halloween which leads into Thanksgiving which leads into CHRISTMAS!!! {grin}

Before I get off on a Christmas tangent {which is quite possible}, let's focus on the fall! First up, how did I do on my September goals?

1. Whole 30 - Have I mentioned I did Whole 30?  Big.Fat.Ha on that one! I am still doing a happy dance on that one. Day 31 I celebrated with a #whole30approved kombucha.

2. Exercise - Ugh, the bane of my existence. I worked out a little bit but not what I was aiming for. I think this will be a lifelong struggle, so I'll just keep trucking.

3. Go Through Pictures & Art - Brent and I sort of did this. What we decided was we don't really have a good plan for what we want to do in this house which is bigger and has a lot more wall space than our old house. So we're leaning towards hiring a decorator. We don't want the house to look like it was randomly thrown together {like the last one}, so I'm excited about this one.

4. Decorate for Fall - DONE ON SEPTEMBER 1!! And I've possibly bought 1 or 2 or 8 {eek} decorative pumpkins for my collection. Now it's time to add in some Halloween goodies.

One of many sets of pumpkins...I might have a problem?

Now onto what I hope to do this month!

1. Pumpkin Patch - I really love doing activities as a family, yet I am married to Scrooge who hates anything festive. He literally told me today {and I quote} 'Christmas is stupid.' {Brent, I dare you to say that isn't EXACTLY what you said!} I mean seriously, poor Drew has never even been to a pumpkin patch! So Brent has been warned that this is happening. His comment back was that it's football season. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ha. 

Our last trip to the pumpkin patch THAT BRENT WASN'T EVEN AT!

{Look at how little Blair was!}

2. Plan something fun for our anniversary - We celebrate ELEVEN years of marriage this month. What? The weekend of our anniversary, Brent is in a wedding out of town, so we will be going away for the weekend to San Antonio. So while we do have some required activities, we will have lots of free time for fun!

3. But get back on track! - I want to enjoy our weekend and our time together, but I DON'T want that to mean I fall off the wagon of Whole 30 eating.

4. 1:1 time with the kids - I think it's beneficial for each of us to spend time alone with each kid. I really enjoy both my kids, but I really get a kick out of them when I get some alone time with each of them.

And that's my list! I'm going to link up with Karen this month too. You know I love a good link-up!