You’d be proud of me and if you’re not, I don’t really care because I conquered a fear of mine.

Whenever anyone talks about eating at a restaurant alone or going to the theater alone, my usual response is, “I can never do that!” And truthfully, I’m not sure why I cannot do that. I guess being alone in public in that sense is weird to me. But I do it all the time when I’m at a coffee shop blogging and working while sipping or snacking on something. Same thing, right?

So on Friday, for brunch, I went to a restaurant, ordered a meal, and ate … with my book. All by my lonesome! There’s something so … I don’t even know what the word I want to say but eating by yourself at a restaurant is something else. For once, I wasn’t afraid of what people though. It felt nice and relaxing having that time to myself. And I couldn’t put my book down because for once I had time to read without worrying I had somewhere else to be. Maybe one day I will eat alone without any distractions … maybe.

Speaking of reading, I’ve finished two books this week. TWO! All thanks to audio books.

I’m not sure how I feel about audio books yet. They’re still quite new to me. I do know I fail at listening sometimes when I’m multitasking. I focus on the other thing more and would have to rewind. The only time this doesn’t happen is if I’m crocheting. One thing I do know about audio books is that I like it for when I’m driving and boy have I been driving this week/weekend. I still day dream though and forget I’m listening to a book once in a while.

I’m ahead of my goals I set for reading this year though so I’m happy about that. And conquering another one of my fears makes me that much more amazing. 2016 seems to be going okay so far and it’s only mid-January!

Darn cold weather makes my lips so dry. One of my favourite things? Using up an old chapstick and opening a new one. Yeah, I’m kinda weird like that. But it’s so purdy. And because of the cold weather, I’ve been loving sitting outside with a hot cup of tea, bundled up with a book. Reading use to be one of my favourite things in the world and I stopped due to being busy. But are we really ever busy? We make time for the things we love and I’ve started making time for reading again.

I came across Anchored to Sunshine last night and just fell in love. Sorry, Amanda, I hope I don’t freak you out with this post. Especially since we haven’t formally been introduced. Hi, I’m Mellie Dee and I am in love with the fact that you’re so in love with reading. Nice to meet you!

Reading through a few of her posts made me sign back into GoodReads (where you can follow me). Hopefully I update that throughout the year because I haven’t updated that thing in forever and I kinda wished I did. I end up having a digital version and a physical copy or I’ve actually read it before but didn’t remember. Such a waste of money.

I’ve told myself starting now, I am only allowed to read what I own (digital and physical copies) or get them for free. My new goal I just added in budgeting. The top shelf are all books that I have yet to read. Don’t be fooled, there are two layers worth of books there.

Luckily, there’s apps like OverDrive which Sissy told me about way back when. I’m not sure many people know about this but you can link your local library and borrow books that way … FREE of charge. Ebooks or Audiobooks. I’ve never tried audiobooks but after seeing how Amanda does it a lot, I’m giving it a try. I went and downloaded the app along with a book I’ve been wanting to read but felt was a waste of money to buy. I hope I end up loving this whole listening way because that would be amazing to get through all the books I’ve been dying to read.

I’m currently reading a physical book for when I am not busy working on other things and I’m excited to listen to another book while I’m at work. I’m not a great writer as Amanda so I’m not going to lie … I most likely won’t be doing book reviews and whatnot. But will probably update you all on if I finish a book. I even went ahead and signed up for GoodReads’ 2016 Reading Challenge. I set a goal for 15 books for the year but hope I exceed that. Thanks, Amanda, for getting me back on track.

Stay Positive and Think Good Thoughts!