What's Making Me Happy - 7/22

Since I've been travelling the past two Fridays, I haven't had a chance to share happiness in a minute, but I'm excited to return the feature to the blog.

First up, I finished Gilmore Girls!

In case I haven't mentioned this, I somehow made it to my thirty-third year of life without ever watching Gilmore Girls. Now that I'm through the whole series, I'm really, really not sure how I made it this far without ever finding my way to Stars Hollow. Everything about this is totally my jam!! I loved literally everything about this show (well, except Mitchum Huntzberger because he's the worst). Anyway, it was so, so great. I also think I'm now maybe supposed to declare a team, and if that's the case, I'm totally #TeamJess. I'm super excited for the revival to be out soon (and that my wait will be so short) and love that this show is now part of my life. #starshollowforever

And then, as Gilmore Girls was coming to an end, a friend told me I just had to watch Crazy Ex Girlfriend. And y'all, Y'ALL, this show is so great. It's part comedy, part musical, part angsty young adult drama which equates to everything I ever wanted in a show. Here's one of my favorite jams entitled "I Have Friends"

(What's that you say? You want more? Here's "Having A Few People Over")

(Just one more? Okay. Here's "I'm A Good Person")

And then, of course, there was the part of this week where the Royals got to go the White House to celebrate their World Series win, and it was just the most amazing and wonderful press conference ever. I cried . . . again.

Finally, I had a chance this week to step back in time for a bit. My friend Lindsay is getting married, and she asked me if I had all the info from when I used to do Wedding Wednesdays (Sidebar: For those who don't know and/or remember, for the year leading up to my wedding, I asked wedding-related questions only on Wednesday on facebook to get some crowd-sourced advice on how to make a wedding happen). I had intentions of putting all this info together at some point post-wedding, and I just never did. So, I figured Lindsay's ask was the perfect time to finally do this. It was such a fun trip back in the time machine to see what people offered up each week. It even made me nostalgic for the days of wedding planning (although I'm still a way bigger fan of being on the other side of that process.) 

2016 Reads - #77 - 80

With these books, I'm officially over eighty for the year which is b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

Finding Audrey was Sophie Kinsella (of Shopaholic fame)'s take on YA. It focuses on Audrey who has anxiety and how she navigates the world. I really enjoyed the way she wrote about the topic with humor and sensitivity.

Catalyst was okay. Here's the deal - Laurie Halse Anderson wrote Speak. Speak is all kinds of amazing. This book takes place in the same high school. It was an interesting story, but I have to come to terms with the fact that anything this author writes just won't compare, so I have a tricky time evaluating it without thinking about that book, and that's just how it is.

Orphan Train was phenomenal. As a kid, I loved historical fiction, and this took me back there. The really amazing thing about this read is that it went between the past and the present and tied the stories together really well. I didn't know anything about orphan trains, so it was especially interesting. Highly recommend checking this one out to all.

The Last Star was the final book in The Fifth Wave series. The only downside to this read is that the details from the second book weren't as fresh in my mind, so remembering character arcs and such was a little tricky. Down the road, this will probably be a re-read, so I can truly soak it in.

What's Making Me Happy - 7/1

This week was full of lots of K-State connections. I'm always so rejuvenated and happy when I get to reconnect with my K-State family, and this week I had three chances.

First, I went to Indianapolis for a training and ran into two former students who are now consultants for their national fraternity. One of my favorite things to do is to see where students go after my time advising, and these two are doing some great things!

Then, yesterday when I went to get the mail I was so surprised to find this Kansas-themed treat by dear friend Jenni to commemorate five years since we started working together. I'm so thankful to have her continued friendship.

And then (AND THEN!) I ended last night talking to my good friend, Paul. Paul worked with me during my first year at K-State, and if I had to pick a dream team of people to work with, he'd be my #1 pick for sure. 

Even though I'm no longer in MHK, each one of these moments and encounters was a reminder of what a wonderful place K-State is and how lucky I am to call it my forever home.