General Highlights:
March was a long month! In cliche fashion, it started with a snow/ice storm and ends today with blue skies and daffodils. Also predictably, I’ve spent these weeks embracing March Madness. At the beginning of March, the Tigers beat Louisville for a second time this season! We went on to win our first round tournament game, but then lost to Virginia. Last weekend, Memphis hosted the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, and I went to the games with my dad – more on that later!
The community band I’m part of performed a historically accurate John Philip Sousa concert (the director was even in character as Sousa). We had a blast, although I practically needed to ice my arms afterwards. Also, I’m part of a women’s resource group at work, which hosted a panel of influential local women for Women’s History Month. I got to talk to (and Twitter-befriend) several of the ladies, including the MC, Memphis news legend Mearl Purvis!
In family news, my grandfather had some scary health problems and my mom went to Miami to help him. She’s been gone for almost a month, but is on her way home now because he’s doing much better!
Read and Reading:
I’ve gotten in over my head with galleys and ARCs (as you can tell by the plethora of review posts lately), so most of my reading time has been devoted to those. But one of my spontaneous choices this month was Beyond Boundaries, a helpful book that I wish I’d had five years ago. More about it in the monthly book post.
TV/Movies:
I saw Divergent (with my dad in tow, even though he doesn’t read) and LOVED it. The casting was great and I had no objections to the few changes made. Shailene Woodley really gave Tris her due, and Theo James made Four even more yowza than he is in the books. A+. I never expected to feel so resonant about this story, but the more I reflect on it, the more meaningful it seems to me.
How I Met Your Mother ends tonight. So don’t bother me between 7 and 8. I’ll be busy weeping (hopefully happy tears).
Music:
I’m not a regular purveyor of iTunes’ free songs of the week, but Ana Tijoux’s “Antipatriarca” is pay dirt and has been in heavy rotation during my workouts. Yeah, it’s in Spanish, but I love the lines I can understand. Maybe I can get my Spanish back via her music! Also, after loving The Bridges’ “Pieces” and their EP Our Monster for years, I finally downloaded their only full album, Limits of the Sky. Great stuff.
Video:
Cute local school kids star in this video shot at iconic Memphis locations. Prepare to be filled with joy!
Cooking/Eating:
After a friend asked to borrow Shauna Niequist’s Bread & Wine, I started reading through it again. Now I feel like I could subsist solely on Shauna’s recipes for the next several months. I started last night with a fully loaded, delicious salad.
Oh and I discovered that Whole Foods’ organic instant oatmeal makes regular instant oatmeal taste like sawdust. I don’t know how there’s so much room for improvement in such a basic food, but YUM.
Beauty:
When I ran out of my usual leave-in conditioner, I decided to try Beautiful Curls organic leave-in conditioner with shea butter. I’m a month overdue for a haircut, and I’ve still gotten tons of compliments on my hair since starting to use this stuff! The smell was off-putting at first, but now I don’t even notice it.
Random Happiness:
♥ Generally I don’t talk about work here, but I was happily surprised to receive a great evaluation from my boss – AND a cost-of-living raise, which was a huge answer to prayer.
♥ I also received a very affirming, encouraging e-mail about my writing/this blog from a kind pastor I met this month. It came on a morning when I was feeling really low and discouraged, and there’s no doubt in my mind that God used this man to speak to me. It meant so much. I’m still pretty emotional about it.
♥ Almost five months out from my Eye Crisis, I finally got a clean bill of health from my eye doctor! I still have to wear glasses a few days a week, but I suspected this would be the case and am okay with it. I’m just happy to have healthy eyes and more flexibility to wear contacts!
♥ Oh, and this has nothing to do with me, but my all-time favorite Tiger D.J. Stephens got signed (temporarily) to the Milwaukee Bucks and logged his first minutes in the NBA last weekend. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. Congrats D.J.!!!
On The Blog:
In March I posted about blessings and failure, how change is part of being alive, and an update on my cat Peach who has IBS. (After everything I’ve been through with her, I want to share my knowledge.)
Posts I Loved:
♥ My friend Esther on Huldah: A Mysterious and Extraordinary Biblical Woman
♥ Just Adela: Coffee With God & Being Enough
♥ Conversion Diary: What I’m learning about choice and gratitude from not skipping songs on my iPod
♥ Amanda Williams at Deeper Story: In Which I Grow Wings
♥ Amber Wackford: When the Only Way Forward Is Open
♥ Paul Heggie: Vulnerability Sucks – But It’s Worth It
♥ Through A Glass Darkly: The Path Before You
♥ Sarah Markley: All The Small Things
♥ Little Did She Know: Creating Life
♥ 800 Miles off of Beale: Gravity (I still haven’t seen this movie and am not sure I want to)
♥ And for levity, Suburban Turmoil: Let Us Rise Up and Bridge the Gaps… in Public Restroom Stalls. This is a daily annoyance for me and I’m glad someone finally spoke up!
Out of curiosity, what is the smell on the leave-in conditioner? You mean like a chemically-bad smell, too strong, or what? :)
It has sort of a Crisco smell, but it’s not bad. It was just a big change from the perfumey conditioner I usually use!
Looks like an awesome month! I think I need to give Divergent a try! I keep thinking about it, but then I end up picking up something else! Great post!
Thanks! I recommend it!
So… what was your take on the HIMYM finale? I cried like a baby and LOVED it. Thought it was a perfectly beautiful and fitting end to a show I love. I know lots on FB were unhappy. Curious what you thought :)
Count me among the unhappy. I’m still upset today. :( I’ll probably post about it later this week once I’ve had time to absorb. Glad you enjoyed it though!
I can’t wait to see Divergent. I wasn’t an avid HIMYM watcher but I did try to see most of this season and watched last night. Definitely underwhelmed so I can only guess as to how you felt!
Yes, I’m still recovering!!
So much goodness in one post – thank you! :) Wrote down a lot of your blog post links that you loved. (And links to a few of your own posts that you mentioned – they look fantastic.) I’m excited to see Divergent – enjoyed the series, and the 1st book was my favorite.
Thanks! The first was my favorite too. Even though I loved all the books, the ending was sort of a letdown.
Thanks for sharing the restroom post, which made me smile and nod.
It was a public service! :)