my top ten thriller recs

I used to never be interested in thrillers or mystery books. I mainly gravitated towards young adult contemporary fiction, a little fantasy, or rom coms. But over quarantine, when we were home for so long and I started reading more, I discovered I really like thrillers. It has definitely become my favorite genre. I started out with more YA mysteries, then slowly worked my way into the more “adult” (if you would even call it that?) thrillers, and I always get so sucked into them! I’ve read dozens of thrillers over the past couple of years, but today I’m sharing my top ten picks. I have a huge Goodreads list of more thrillers that I want to read, and definitely let me know if there are any of your favorites I need to add to the list!

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current cookbook: fall recipes to try!

Something about the weather cooling down and it getting colder just makes me want to bake and try new recipes. I like cooking and being in the kitchen in general, but I absolutely love the feeling of baking cozy fall recipes and cooking with friends or family on a cold day. I think a lot of fall recipes are geared towards all things pumpkin and apple, which I love, but I also love making cookies, soups, pasta recipes, and using fresh vegetables for harvest salads and things like that. Today’s post is a big roundup of some delicious fall recipes I want to make over the next few months!

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nyc recap + photo dump

It’s been a few days now since I got back from New York, but I am still missing it so much. It was a quick trip, but we really took full advantage of our time in the city and fit in so many fun things! My mom, sister, and I went to New York and met some friends there for a long weekend. Thursday afternoon I drove home from college and we drove to the airport, had two flights through the night, then made it to the city at around 2 a.m. Friday morning. We slept in a bit on Friday, then started our day and explored the city as much as we could! I had been to NYC the summer after I graduated, back in 2019. I really enjoyed it, but I think this time my trip was even better. I just fell in love with the city and everything going on there. I loved how we explored so many areas and we didn’t even see a fraction of all there was to see.

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september recap + october intentions

Happy October! I can’t believe there are only three months left of the year… that’s crazy to me. October really crept up on me, I didn’t realize how fast September was flying by until like the last three days of the month haha. I wasn’t feeling very motivated at the beginning of the month, to be honest. October first I was feeling kind of bleh and uninspired. But yesterday I really took the time to reflect on September and write out some intentions and goals for the month ahead. I love browsing Pinterest to find good journal prompts and ways to prep for the month ahead. I took 30 minutes to sit down, put some music on, and really brainstorm. It actually made me so motivated and excited for October! I really want to work on personal growth and discipline this month, and I’m excited to challenge myself to stay consistent with my goals.

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current thoughts vs. goal thoughts

I’ve been learning a lot recently about the power of our mindsets and how important our thoughts are for good mental health. It’s so crazy to me to realize how much our thoughts and mindset towards our situations change how we look at things. If we have a positive attitude and see each day as something to be grateful for, we are inclined to look for the good in every moment and find more things to be happy about. If we instead wake up every day bracing for the worst and finding negatives about every little thing, our days will always be sad and upsetting. Our thoughts have so much power over how we experience life. By changing our thoughts and choosing to have a positive outlook on life, we are literally changing our reality. We are choosing to find the good in every situation and be grateful for our lives, instead of focusing on the negatives. How cool is that?!?

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fall 2021 bucket list

The day has finally come. Today marks the autumn equinox, it’s 73 degrees outside, and fall is in the air. Ugh I’m so happy. I walked out to my car this morning to head to a coffee shop to do some homework and stepped into… cool air? It’s like the weather changed overnight. I did my homework while sipping a chai latte, walked to class with a light breeze blowing, and found a recipe for pumpkin bread to make this weekend- it’s been a good day. Haha if you can’t tell by now, I am very happy for this fall weather, and I really want to take full advantage of this season and all it has to offer. I feel like I always make a fall bucket list and get so excited but never actually do anything on it, and this year that’s going to change. I tried to make my bucket list realistic and think of things I’ll actually do, and hopefully I can convince my friends/roommates to come with me as we check things off 😉. Read on for my fall 2021 bucket list!

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my favorite ways to work out

I’ve pretty much always been active, ever since I was a girl. I started playing soccer when I was three years old, and ran cross country/track and played soccer all through high school.  I loved running so much, and being on the cross country team was definitely one of my favorite parts of my high school years. When I graduated and went to college, I definitely missed the discipline and motivation that came from being on a team. I went from having practice at least once a day, if not twice, to having no coach tell me when or how to work out. I definitely still love movement though, so it’s been fun to challenge myself and set my own goals when it comes to getting exercise. I’ve tried lots of different workouts and different types of classes, but I definitely have a few favorites!

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my fall 2021 reading list!

I know, it’s only the beginning of September and fall hasn’t “officially” started, but I’m already so excited. Fall is definitely one of my favorite seasons, I just love how cozy it feels: the baking, pumpkins, the weather, everything about it. I hate that in Mississippi there’s barely even a fall, because I feel like it feels great outside for about two weeks, then the leaves turn dead and it’s immediately cold. Anyways, might as well start celebrating early to enjoy it while it lasts, right? I don’t know if it’s just me, but fall = reading in my mind. I love the idea of cozying up on a pretty fall day with a good book. The other day, I went through my Goodreads list and found a bunch of books that I want to try to read over the next few months. These aren’t necessarily fall themed or anything, but most have been on my “to-read” list for a while and I’m ready to work my way through them!

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september goals + august recap

I think August was probably the fastest month of the year… but then again, I feel like I say that about every single month. I had a pretty good month in August! Half of it was filled with rest and soaking up my last couple of weeks of summer, then the last half I moved back to college and was immediately busy with school, organizations, and hanging out with my roommates. While I’m definitely not over the fact that summer is officially over and there’s no more “free time” to just chill and not have any priorities, I’m looking forward to throwing myself into the college routine, and of course, fall! We had two days of “cooler” weather this weekend, and even though it was only 70 degrees, it made me so excited for autumn. But here we are back in the 90s by lunch, so we’ll see if it actually gets cooler anytime soon.

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the love list vol. 1

Hi guys, happy Monday! Sorry for no blog post the past few weeks, I’ve been super busy moving back into school and I just started classes last Wednesday. If you didn’t know, I’m a junior at MSU with a major in PR and a minor in Marketing. So far, I really like my classes and I’m really interested in everything we’re learning! I’m taking 18 hours this year so I’ll definitely be busy, but I’m excited for getting deeper into my major and taking classes I actually enjoying. Anyway, today’s post is a new series I want to start, called the Love List. It’s basically a big favorites roundup, with everything I’ve currently been loving. I feel like it’s a fun way to do a mini life update while also sharing recommendations!

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august themes + intentions

Hi!!! It’s been a minute. I’ve had such a busy summer and had so many fun things going on, but I’ve definitely neglected my blog for the past few months. I finished with my sophomore year of college at the end of April, then went on a little beach trip with my family and worked for a couple of weeks in May.  Then, in the middle of May, I started my summer job at a local camp, which was a new experience for me! It was really hard at first but I ended up loving it. I was a counselor for a range of ages throughout the summer, but my favorite were the 16/17 year old girls. Then, last week, my sister and I went on a mission trip with our church to El Ocote, Honduras! I’ve been twice already, but I haven’t been in three years, and it was so cool to go back and see the people of the village again. Now that we’re back home, I have less than two weeks before I move back to college, and I’m starting to get back into a routine and productive mindset.

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march goals + intentions

You guys, I’m so happy that it’s March! I definitely wouldn’t call March one of my favorite months by any means, but it is a glimmer of hope after a long, cold winter. I absolutely hate the cold and the gloom of the winter, and it really gets me down sometimes. March to me is a transition month into warmer weather, springtime, sunshine, and new growth, so I’m very excited! I don’t know if this happens to other people, but I feel like I get so motivated at the beginning of January, then get overwhelmed with stresses of school and the gloomy weather and kind of fall off track. I always love a start of a new month to set new goals and new intentions, but especially when it’s also about to be the start of a new season! Last week it was suchhhhh good weather. It  got up to 80 degrees on Sunday, and it makes me so excited for it to be warm full time. I’ve been brainstorming new creative ideas, trying to start new habits and hold myself to them, and stay focused with my health goals. I just really want to use this month to work on myself and get in a good routine with my life!

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my recent iced coffee recipe

A year ago today, I never would have thought of writing this post. I used to never drink coffee, I hated the taste and never grew up drinking it. While I still am not obsessed with it, I’ve gotten more into coffee over the past few months and have been experimenting with different combos! I only drink it a couple times a week, if I’m especially tired or have a busy day ahead. I’m not huge on the taste, and definitely couldn’t drink it black, but I’m making progress at least, haha. Back in Christmas break, I was drinking it with a sugar free vanilla creamer and one of those sugar free vanilla syrups. It was definitely delicious, but it masked the coffee taste completely and just had a bunch of fake sweeteners and additives. I’ve slowly been trying to wean myself off of the different syrups and flavorings and try more natural ingredients. I find that my stomach feels much better and I’m actually starting to get used to the taste!

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january recap + favorites

Does anyone else love reading people’s current favorites and things they’ve been loving recently? Whether it’s watching someone’s insta story about their recent favorite books or talking with a friend about what show they’ve been watching, I love getting recommendations and learning about new products. My sister and I actually just planned out a podcast episode going into detail about lots of our recent favorites, and it inspired me to do a blog post about it as well. If you didn’t know, I have a podcast, Seasons Podcast, and I’ve been getting so inspired recently and just posted a new episode! Be on the lookout for the next episode with my sister, but for now, enjoy all my January faves!

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