1- First book of 2025 finished!
I believe this was an MMD rec, and I enjoyed it but it wasn’t a top pick for me — just a bit too long, and at times I found the protagonist kind of annoying, but didn’t feel like that was supposed to be the case, if that makes sense. Still, I found the immersion in the UU church world super interesting! (I read most of this book in 2024, especially on one of the flights back from Montana, but finished on 1/1!)
Goal for this weekend is to get a 2025 Books Page up. Question is whether I will retrospectively add my book list from 2024 . . . I’ll give that a maybe.
2- Possibly my favorite “2025 Habits” podcast ep so far: Dan Harris’s 5 ways to make it easier to keep your resolutions. Agree with 5/5!
3- Current nonfiction read: Minimalista by Shira Gill. I had the pleasure of interviewing Shira for BOBW a few weeks ago (ep here) and decided to go back and buy her first book mostly because I was dumbfounded and impressed by her project of cataloguing ALL (yes all) of her belongings.
Yes, it’s organizing/decluttering inspo. Yes, I need it. I have already been inspired to create a list of household projects to tackle over the long term (will do digital + share with Josh) and really feel ready to dig into some of the excess around here. (Today I will be doing my Q1 Seasonal planning so will try to figure out where exactly that will fit in!)
4- Goals Follow Up Item: I went and tried out a strength gym yesterday!! It’s close to the kids’ school and offers semi-private training which is way more affordable/realistic for me in the long term vs private. They tailor the sessions to your goals and build on basic lifts with the philosophy of progressive overload. I think this will be a great fit and I signed up for a month of 2 sessions/week.
They are flexible on scheduling so basically my practice will be to schedule the week before based on what I have going on. I think this will be the perfect blend of flexibility and accountability for me (a rigid week to week time slot would be very tough).
I got my BF% checked there via Fit3D (mixed data on accuracy, but hey, at least it’s something) and have a goal of improving body composition (not sure exactly to what extent, but it’s nice to have a baseline — and let’s just say I have plenty of room for improvement which is not terribly surprising considering the amount of strength I’ve been doing!).
In addition to possible aesthetic benefits, I’m hoping these sessions will be good for injury prevention, longevity, and running performance. I’m excited to start (hoping for some newbie gains, lol).
(If you happen to be local and want to know specifically where this place is, it’s here!).
5- I fixed my newsletter pop-up!! Several of you emailed me (thank you!) to let me know my newsletter pop-up was only showing a field for “name”. I was intimidated but ended up figuring out how to fix it! If you are not a newsletter subscriber, consider signing up — it’s free (of course) and often contains content that feels slightly too personal for the blog, plus you’ll always been the first ones to receive course registration info.
8 Comments
The strength training place sounds great. What does semi-private mean? Will you train with others? I used to work out with a personal trainer in the months leading up to our wedding. I was in the best shape of my life! But it was $$$$!!
I read Search and had similar thoughts. I think it was a bit over hyped by the time I read it. I just posted my top 12 books of 2024 so that might give you inspiration! I had a hard time winnowing it down to 12 as I read 100 and had a really great reading year.
Totally excited to read your list!
It means they design the routines individually but can be coaching up to 4 at once. So like they’d come by me and say “do 3 sets of lunges”, tell me the weight, demo the lunge, then move to the next person. Probably less form checks and “banter” time but I think seems like it would be really efficient. Will report back, I’m sure!
That is perfect I think! You know enough about form and such to not need complete 1:1 attention. Can’t wait to hear how it goes. Plus it’s a good accountability system to have to go somewhere. Us upholders can still benefit from outside accountability!! I would love to go to a place like F45 at some point when my kids are at more manageable ages/stages.
Semi-private training sounds ideal, honestly — a perfect mix of attention and privacy. I hope you love it!
As far as the benefits to your running — I rarely run these days but occasionally I run sprints on my treadmill. I find I am WAY faster without trying, because I have a lot more muscle mass. (My resolution this year is to do more cardio, lol. We have opposite problems!)
I really liked Search— I also thought the characters are older was annoying, but I DID think it was on purpose.
Loved seeing Shira catalogue all of her belongings! I feel like in the past few years we have become pretty minimal (for having 4 kids under 7), but did have to wonder about some major categories that seemed left out to me — I’m not sure how one lives without basic tools like a drill, hammer, nails, etc, but keeping all of those corralled and accessible has been one of my biggest organizational challenges! Spare batteries? Our office supply needs feel similarly more expansive than hers — what of the miscellaneous homework projects that require dot stickers and popsicle sticks and cotton balls? The plunger and toilet brush? Bikes and scooters and helmets and kneepads and cleats and special right-colored socks for specific activities?
But given her closet list she would probably feel the same way about my wardrobe. xD
hahahaha YES, agree with above! Maybe there are additional lists not included in that one post.
I’ve been doing semi private strength training for a year and I love it. The max class size is 4 but there’s usually 2 to 3 and we each get plenty of attention. As you say, cheaper (and actually more fun) than private lessons but way more congested than a full on class.