Lora's United States of Whatever

Here are the goals I set for 2021: Read 50 books. Continue to read more nonfiction. Read like a writer. Gather a list of lines I love from the books I love and use these lines to inspire my writing. Here's what I accomplished: I read 66 books . About one-third of those books were nonfiction books.  When I read using the Kindle app, I highlighted lines that I loved. However, I didn't use the lines to inspire my writing. I mostly highlighted lines that were relatable.  My Picks for Best Books of 2021 I devoured every fiction book I read by Taylor Jenkins Reid this year; however, Malibu Rising was my favorite! I loved the struggle and perseverance of the main character, Nina. Her journey to finding her true self left me reading "just one more chapter!" “I don’t think what you’re born into says anything about where you’re headed.” - Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising     Really, though, every book I read by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a page-turner. If you're looking f...

"Reading gives us someplace to go when you have to stay where you are." - Mason Cooley I've always loved losing myself in a book, but this year, I truly lived by the above quote. From heading to Chicago and D.C. with Michelle Obama in her autobiography,  Becoming, to heading back in time to the 1940s in New York City with Vivian in City of Girls , I went places this year. The comfy corner of my couch and favorite yellow throw were my travel companions. My time was not only spent traveling, but it was also spent challenging my thinking. Many of the nonfiction books I read this year challenged my perceptions about racism. I learned so much about how my experiences have shaped my thinking and how that thinking needs to evolve.  Here were the goals I set for reading in 2020: Read 36 books Read more nonfiction Try at least one audiobook.  With the help of a global pandemic, I crushed those goals.  I read 58 books this year.  Out of 58 books, 17 were nonfiction. I li...

June's Adoption Day - April 4, 2015 Five years ago, we adopted June. When we saw her in her crate outside of PetSmart, she stole our hearts. Once we heard that she had been adopted and then given back, we knew we had to adopt this Jack Russell mix. She resembled my best-dog-ever Lucy in so many ways, but I quickly realized that she actually had just two of Lucy's traits - she is small and mostly black. The second we brought her home, she bolted from our garage! Greg took off on foot and I jumped in the car with Izzy to chase her down. Twenty minutes later, we captured her. Greg and I looked at each other and had an idea of why she was returned by another family. As we got to know her better, we realized just how smart June is! She was potty trained, knew how to use the doggy door, and, man, can she play fetch! The Jack Russell in her really shined through! Then, she began digging... digging holes all around our fence line. One evening, we heard a knock on our door. It was...

Over this past year, I've read 31 books, not including the many picture books that comprised the majority of my Amazon purchases! #teacherprobs Five of the 31 books were nonfiction; two were historical fiction. The majority of my reads were fiction. When it comes to books, I definitely have a “type”. Give me a great thriller, and you’ll find me on the couch for the next 24 hours! Here’s the books I read in 2019: The Innocent Man (NF) True Places The Tattooist of Auschwitz (HF) Magic Hour Stories From Webb (professional) Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Picture Perfect Magic Hour Valencia and Valentine   Nine Perfect Strangers We Got This.   (professional) Killers of Flower Moon (NF) Educated (NF) A Boy Called BAT (children's) Those Girls False Step Pieces of Her Run Away Where the Crawdads Sing The Polygamist’s Daughter (NF) The Wife Between Us Girl, Stop Apologizing   (motivational) I am Watching You The Woman in the Window The Silent Pa...

Teaching Izzy to ride a bike may be one of the most challenging things Greg and I have done thus far as parents! Back when Izzy turned five, we got her a bike with training wheels. She was great with those training wheels and even proceeded to ride her bike into the big pond down the street! (That's a now-hilarious story for another day!) Once we took the training wheels off, we were faced with so many frustrations; Izzy struggled with balance, and we struggled with patience. People of Wal-Mart A few years later, I read about a bike camp in Katy for children with disabilities, immediately signed up, and was placed on a waiting list. For three years, we remained on that waiting list. This year, I started reading through their website. I found the protocol used for teaching children this skill, and I thought, 'hey... let's give it a try!' As I read through the instructions, it made so much sense. (Directions here if you want them!) We made a beeline for Wal-Mart an...

Last summer, we added cacti to our landscaping in the backyard. This desert look really wasn't my style, but as the cacti began to grow, I was amazed. This ugly, prickly, green plant sprouted buds everywhere! Each day I waited and waited and waited for them to bloom. Finally, a beautiful yellow blossom appeared. In the midst of the sharp spikes was this stunning flower. A few days later, the flower was gone, and, in its place, a new stem began to grow. I was obsessed! I started researching cacti and even learned how to transplant a cactus stem to grow a new plant. You can imagine my excitement when my transplanted cactus began to thrive! This simple cactus reminds me so much of the ugly, prickly, unexpected mess that life brings us. We may not understand at the time why that spike... the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, medical issues, a strained relationship... is a part of our life. But if we wait patiently, we will begin to see a bud forming, the beginning of something new....

Time. It's not moving fast enough, or it's moving too fast. We want it to speed up and slow down all at the same time. I find myself looking forward to the next holiday break and the next summer break all the while not realizing that precious moments are slipping, like sand, through my fingers. Winter 2007 #pregnantforever I'll never forget when I was pregnant with Izzy. I thought I would be pregnant FOREVER. And really, I was! I was pregnant for 41 loooooooong weeks. I seriously thought that she would never grace us with her appearance. I was so over being pregnant. Then, all of a sudden, she arrived on the one snowy day in Charlotte, North Carolina, and our lives have never been the same. My mindset shifted to the next thing... Man, if she could just sleep through the night... if she could just roll over... if she could just start crawling... I was ready for the next big thing that would make life with an infant easier. Before I knew it, she was a toddler! Even tho...