WEverb12 #5-9

 During the month of December, I'll be participating in #WEverb12. Every day they'll post a new question or prompt that will ask you to reflect on the past year and what you're looking forward to in 2013.  You can answer these questions on your blog, Twitter or even Instagram so if you're interested, sign up!

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5: Fellowship [HOPE]

What community has engaged you most this year and what did it you get out of your participation?

This is easy! The book blogging community. I started off my blog last year, not really expecting it to turn into much of anything. I figured I would write about my life, talk about music and post book reviews every once in a while. But then as time went on, the book reviews started to take over and I loved being able to express my opinions on about them to the Internet (granted, I had about 5 readers max at the time). Then something changed over the summer.  I went to BEA, friends like Estelle supported me on her blog, I started talking to other book bloggers who also showed support. Everyone's just been really nice to a newbie like myself and it feels great to to hear a total stranger say - I love your blog. It's such a small thing but it's guaranteed to put on a smile on my face every single time. Plus, it's fun to talk to people who get your love for books and will geek out with you over them. When I started this blog, I had no idea that this kind of community existed and that I'd make friends through it. It's definitely been one of the highlights of this past year. 

6: Cook [LIVE]

What was your best recipe/dish of the year? Share it!

It's been a while since I've tried any new recipes but for Thanksgiving, my cousin's husband asked me to make a green bean casserole. I had never made or even tasted this dish before but I wanted to cook something so I said yes. I decided go with Paula Deen's recipe and like with every recipe I try, I follow the directions exactly. (This always makes my mom laugh.) It ended up being a big hit with my family! So much so that I'll be making it again for Christmas. 

7: Enliven [GROW]

Was there a book or article that inspired you to make a change in your life this year?
What was the source and what did you change?

I am going to have to skip/cheat on this one. I keep staring at my computer screen and I can't think of any specific book or article that inspired me to make changes in my life. Besides, I think I tend to be more inspired by the people around me. Like watching one best friend changing her career path and succeeding, another who relentlessly and confidently pursues jobs when her current one makes her unhappy and another going for her baking/culinary dreams. Or friends that write so well that it inspires me to be better, or my sorta kinda cousin who is so into fitness and trying to new things that I end up joining along right with her. It's the people I love and admire that are the most inspiring to me. 

8: Respond [LISTEN]

Do you actively listen to your inner voice/conscience?
Describe a time this year you heard and responded to it.

I don't want to come off sounding like a goody-two-shoes but honestly, I feel like I'm always listening to my inner voice or conscience. I'm always lost in my thoughts - whether it's daydreaming or worrying or just thinking about everything in my life. So I hear my conscience loud and clear. If anything, sometimes I wish I could turn it off. I spend so much of my time trying to please everyone. I'm the typical people pleaser. I hate to inconvenience others and the thought of someone potentially being mad, annoyed or disappointed with me can be extremely upsetting. I get consumed by questions like, did I say or do something wrong? Is this person tired of dealing with me? I always want to do the right thing but sometimes, I'm not sure I always do the right thing for me. Or I do and then I worry about what the people I care about think. Basically, every once in a while, I kind of wish that I had a mute button for my inner voice. 

9: Triumph [CREATE]

How were you challenged by a project or goal this year? What did you learn from it?

At the beginning of the year, I decided to set a personal goal of reading at 100 books this year. It's December now and since then, I've increased that challenge to 150. I'm only 6 books shy of meeting that goal and it feels pretty great. Even though I read fast and often and everyone was telling me that I could do more than 100, I had my doubts. I really did. So it's exciting to be so close to the finish line. I think this goal challenged me in a lot of unexpected ways. For one thing, last year I had a tendency to read a lot of dystopian/fantasy/sci-fi young adult books. But I wasn't going to read 150 of just that genre this year. Knowing I had this goal in mind, I started to explore contemporary YA and some adult/romance. Even other ways of find books was a challenge. I mean, could you imagine BUYING all those books? I'd be broke. I started going to the library, getting ARCs and borrowing books from friends. I don't think I learned anything new from this goal. But it was an affirmation of the joy I find in reading and that I want to set another goal like this for next year.