Currently: DEC 2021 Edition

Hi Friends! 

It's been awhile. I was having to work extra hours for work, filling in for some people, and then I went away for a 10 day beach holiday with my family which was wonderful (although it rained most of the time *sigh*). Life doesn't stop. There has also been some other stressors and difficulties that have arisen in my personal life, and I've been having to take time to come to terms with them, and deal with it. 

All that to say, I will be getting some time off work (nearly two weeks?) over Christmas, and blogging is one thing I am hoping I can return to during this time. I have a stack of half finished posts in my drafts that I am excited about, and hope to get out to you shortly. In the meantime, here is a little life update of where I've been at lately, in bullet form because that's always fun. ;)

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Reading:

• "With Every Letter" by Sarah Sundin - I have just finished this one, and did really enjoy it! I rarely read that genre, but it was quite well done, and a sweet story. I'm a sucker for war romance stories, anyhow.
• "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan - this was a re-read for me. I read it a couple years ago and really grappled with what I thought. It's a challenging read - I don't agree with all of it, but it's a good thought-provoker. 
• "Alternative Shakespeare Auditions for Women" by Simon Dunmore - this is mostly just to educate myself more for auditions and theatre in the future. ;) I've already bookmarked some particularly good ones, and rather enjoy whispering them out loud dramatically.
• "On The Way Home" by Olivia Gwyn - this is a poetry collection book by a dear fellow blogger, Olivia! I purchased it off Amazon and I'm so eager for it. I've already read a third and can't put it down.

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Watching:

• Bleak House - this is the miniseries that BBC did years ago. It's a re-watch for me. The show is a little slow-moving (and so looong) but hey, that's Dickens. ;) Esther is such a dear.
• White Collar - it took us 2 FLIPPIN' YEARS to finish re-watching this darling series! My two older sisters and I have had such contrasting work shifts we struggled so much to find a night when we were all home and not having to go to bed early for work. But we finished it, and now I'm sad haha. xD
• Dune (2021) - saw this one in the cinema last weekend! It was actually really good! I knew absolutely nothing about the story - I hadn't even seen the whole trailer - but went with a group of friends. I was blown away by Timothee Chalamet's acting and let's just say I am now kinda obsessed with him.

STOP IT GUYS
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Listening to:

• Christmas music! - Duh. I posted on Instagram a couple of months ago asking for some recommendations and got some fantastic ideas from my fabulous friends. I purchased Josh Garrel's "The Light Came Down" album and Pentatonix's "The Best of Pentatonix Christmas", as a result. Also enjoying all Sleeping at Last's Christmas songs.
• Sunday in the Park with George - I listened to the entire soundtrack (and when I say listen to - I have to sit down and intentionally think through it all as I listen, so it's often a big deal haha). Very fascinating. Clever, clever music. I love admiring other people's creativity.
• Podcasts - always, all the podcasts. Particularly digging any and all "Whoa! That's Good" episodes. So encouraging and uplifting. I always come away with some things to chew on.

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Singing:

• Songs for a gig! - well, that has just passed, actually, but for a solid 6 weeks we were madly preparing for a 2 hour show with 2 setlists of our own choosing. 4 of my siblings (and myself) along with 1 of our friends formed the band, and we played a mixture of country, Bluegrass, gospel, blues, pop arrangements etc. A nice variety. I had 3 solos and multiple group songs. It was a great experience!
• I'll Stay by Riley Clemmons - this is a song I've been working on with my singing teacher and ugghhh, it's one of the hardest I've ever done. I've been playing around with different sounds using my voice, and specifically working on a controlled belt and this song has almost conquered me. xD But I'm so determined I shall get that belt downpat, some day.
• Solveig's Song - another song I'm working on with my singing teacher, on the completely opposite end of the spectrum haha. The timing has been very challenging for me, but it shall not defeat me. ;)

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Writing:

• Editing for work - I've been blessed with the opportunity to do some other tasks and responsibilities at my receptionist job. Now, alongside admin work, I'm also doing marketing and editing/proofreading for the company, and oh my goodness, I love it so much! Who knew editing could be so much fun.
• Journaling - always and forever. Journaling, bullet journaling... all the journaling.
• Blog posts - Well, hopefully. :D

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Appreciating: 

• Spring/summer rain! - Seriously, we haven't had such a wet spring for years and years! Flooding has even occurred and it's not even JANUARY yet, guys. Crazy. But I love the green outside and the storms that have been rolling in... even if that means I can't go the hydro classes I signed up for. *frowns*
• Coffee. So much. - Yeah, my coffee intake has really skyrocketed in the past 3 months. I think it coincidentally collided with when we were rehearsing for our gig multiple weeknights on top of my working the two jobs and doing everything else I normally do on top. That might be it. And now I just have it 'cause it's nice. ;D

Okay, I'm not quite up to Lorelei's intake yet ;)

• Quiet moments - they are few and far between, but I'm trying to be more intentional in making time to just be still, even if it's just a few minutes every day. It might sound silly, but I really struggle with this. I'm always go, go, go to the next thing, and run around with a mental to-do list in my head 24/7, but sometimes, it's important to rest, and breathe and speak a few words to God in the stillness. Especially outside, when the sun is setting.

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Struggling with:

• Single wings/kickback tap dance steps - so I'm ridiculous enough to be learning an intermediate/advance tap dance routine (but it's so fun, and it's a routine for Another Day of Sun from La La Land so how can you not?!). Within this routine are complex steps such as single wings and kickbacks etc. I was definitely NOT taught those in my beginner tap class, so I've watched countless YouTube tutorials on how to do them and some of them say it takes 2 years to get some of those steps and I'm like "heck no! I don't have time for that!" xD
• Saying no - Yeah, that's no secret. I suck at saying no, I also suck at making decisions. I'm not mature enough for this, guys.
• All the political drama etc happening right now - without going into further details, the current situation in Australia regarding a certain virus and restrictions that have happened, with lockdowns and societal exclusions... it's all just an absolute massive headache. And it's so political it's almost funny. But so infuriating. Australia is not in a good state right now and I've never seen it more divided. I don't think I've ever been more concerned about the future. It changes from week to week, and people are losing their livelihoods and freedoms and houses. It's awful.

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Learning:

• To choose a few things and do them well - ohh boy, that's a big one. As Jordan Lee Dooley often states, it's so important to steward your time, your resources and your energy well. And I've been very reckless about that. I want to do all the things, all at once. But I'm learning how valuable it is to cut down on a few good things, in order to make the most of what you DO have, and not give half-heartedly to everything. An example of that is, I will be quitting my cafe job at the end of the year (such a hard, sad decision :() and going part-time with my reception job next year, so I'm no longer exhausted trying to juggle two jobs.
• It's OK to not be OK, but it's not OK to not tell anyone - yeah, a bit of a mouthful. But true. This year has been one of the hardest - if not THE hardest - years I've ever experienced. And there have been many times where I wasn't OK, but found it hard to tell someone. And yet, when I do, everything becomes so much easier. And I wished I'd told them sooner. So to anyone out there who is finding life a bit too rough at the moment, this is your nudge to tell a trusted friend or family member, and reach out for some help and support. I PROMISE you won't regret it.
• You can't expect to progress if you're not prepared to commit and practice consistently - ain't that the truth. I'm a big achiever, but I'm also guilty of cutting corners to achieve things faster and perhaps less thoroughly, so I can get on to the next thing (especially when it comes to my hobbies). But that kind of defeats the point. So I guess this goes hand in hand with what I said about stewarding things well - carefully choose what you want to invest in, and steward it well, committing to doing it to the best of your ability, and consistently. 

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I could probably continue, but that will suffice for now. I've been keeping busy with work and singing and hydro classes and allll the Christmas parties and events hehe. On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you for Christmas right now? I think I'm about an 8, but it's inching higher with every day. Now I'm off to go wrap some Christmas presents! 

Let me know in the comments how you all are doing, and what's been keeping you busy!