May Wrap Up

Books! So after I dropped everything to read The Raven King, the first Trials of Apollo book, The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan came out. I left everything where I dropped it, more or less, to listen to that book. See where my priorities are? Apparently with The Raven Cycle and Rick Riordan's books... Sometimes I'm amazed that I make any progress on my TBR pile.

As usual, most of these have been reviewed on my book blog.

Books read this month:

• The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. Oh my gosh. I am so in love with this series. I have no words. And Ronan and Adam's love story warms my heart.
• Demigods and Magicians by Rick Riordan. Collection of three short stories where Greek and Egyptian worlds collide.
• March by Geraldine Brooks. A take on Mr. March's story from the classic Little Women.
• The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan. New series starring mortal Apollo in all of his bisexual glorious-ness.
• Cress by Marissa Meyer. Took me forever to read, but really enjoyed it.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Very good book set in the Grisha universe. Interesting characters.
• The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. A book following three friends for their last year of high school--a much better read than I was expecting.
• The Selection by Kiera Cass. The story of 35 girls competing to win the hand of the crown prince.

Challenges completed this month:

• A book you've been highly anticipating: The Raven King
• A short story: Demigods and Magicians (it's three short stories, that counts right?)
• A stand alone book: March 
• A book someone recommended to you: Cress
• A book by an author from your country: The Hidden Oracle
• A book with multiple points of view: Six of Crows
• A book with a beautiful cover: The Selection

Favorite book read this month:
The Raven King, I just loved this series so much. 

Least favorite book read this month:
The Selection. I was less than impressed.

Book haul:

I was pretty good this month, only three books!

In other news, dance is going well, it is still fun and good exercise. I went on a couple of dates with one guy and I have been enjoying that. I trained in my new position at work and feel like an official lab tech now. Overall, things are pretty good!

Big Steps

After some conversations with my counselor (and my mom and my dance instructor... like, really?) and some soul searching and research of my own, I have decided to put myself out there and try dating again. By again, I just mean, try dating, because I did very little of that um... ever.

I did quite a bit of reading, looking for advice, tips, and personal accounts. How long is long enough? How do you know you are ready?

I won't lie, I knew I wasn't ready for a long time. And actually, when I initially started to look into dating and started to create a profile, I totally freaked and knew that I wasn't quite there yet.

After some time and more thinking, I decided to try again. I did more reading and looked specifically on eHarmony. I figured, working nights and no social life leaves me next to no chance of meeting someone and that this would help me "weed out" the ones who are not serious and not interested in the same things I am. Plus my counselor and I discussed it and she thinks that I have come a really long way and that it is a good idea. So with her approval, I decided to try.

I went through, what seemed like, a never-ending mourning period. All of the sudden, about 3-4 weeks ago, something (I have no idea what) changed. I suddenly started feeling so much better, more motivated and less depressed. I have only had a couple of sad periods since then (and both were brief). The relief is incredible. I wish I knew what happened, but I am so glad that it did. I would attribute some of it to counseling and some of it to dance (which makes me more happy than I thought it could). Even a couple of my friends who saw me in the past week or so told me that I look and sound so much better.

This is a pretty big step for me, but I feel like I am ready to look for a new, meaningful connection. I would like to have that bond and that closeness again, but with someone new and who is, hopefully, a better fit for me.

It's still really new, but I am feeling fairly optimistic. (And I have my first date coming up pretty soon, and I am actually excited. And a bit nervous, but mostly excited. We went through the eHarmony communications and eventually exchanged numbers and have been talking/texting every day for extended periods of time. It's been pretty wonderful. We will see how it goes!)

So there you have it. Does anyone out there have any advice for me and other people like me? Any hazards of online dating to avoid? Stories and experiences to share? I would like to hear them! And maybe sometime soon, I will even have some advice and stories to share.

April Wrap Up

I totally derailed this month! I started strong and then ended up reading waaay too many books. I am still working my way through Cress. It's been months. The book is good, I just keep putting it down to read other things. Like The White Cliffs. Or Demigods and Magicians... And then I was about a third of the way through Six of Crows audiobook when The Raven King was released at which point I dropped nearly everything to listen to that audiobook because OH MY GOD IT'S FINALLY HERE. I'm not finished yet, but it is SOOO good so far. I'm so in love...

Anyway...

April Book Haul

My copy of The Raven King that I ordered. Doodled in my Maggie Stiefvater herself! I love it!

Books read this month:

• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. I LOVED this book and was so excited for the last book to come out this month.
• The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller. I was reminded of this when I read Born With Teeth. My copy belonged to my great grandmother, so it's pretty special.
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Interesting sort of growing/coming of age story about twins Noah and Jude.

Favorite book read this month:
Definitely Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Least favorite book read this month:
Probably The White Cliffs? If only because poetry isn't my go-to genre.

Challenges completed:

A poetry book: The White Cliffs
A book with a colorful cover: I'll Give You the Sun

In other news, dancing continues to go well and I am still loving it.

I have also been feeling better, especially the last two weeks or so. My sad days are finally getting fewer and further between, and when I have them, they aren't as hard. I am feeling better about myself and my situation. There is still some hurt, anger, and bitterness there, but it is, amazingly and suddenly, more manageable. I'm so relieved. It really does start to get better.

I got a couple more rats, which some of you have seen and heard about. Introductions are... proceeding. I've been reading articles and getting tips from other rat owners. I need them all to get along!

I have some other news, but it is a bit different and I am going to save it for a separate post.