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Short Story: It Hurts

February 17, 2020 Leave a Comment

They loaded up the boxes together. He carried the box of books, and she carried the pillows. Just as they had done every other time, she organized; he boxed. Together, they loaded.

Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the brick facade of the home they’d shared. Her pinky finger reached for him, as she’d always done, but then she remembered — this time was different.

He stood at the driver’s door, helping her in, and she touched his jaw then — feeling it tense below her palm.

Love still burned under this skin.

But their road together had ended. She wished there was anger or something — anything, but it was just sadness and so much certainty.

Would You Rather Questions – Part 1

February 13, 2020 Leave a Comment

If you guys have lurked my Instagram book review account, then you know that I have a tendency to post Would You Rather questions nearly every Wednesday. It fit in my brain. You know, WYR Wednesday or Would You Rather Wednesday! It sticks in my head pretty well, though I will admit that there have been a few Wednesday where I’m like, “OH CRAP.”

The trick with my Would You Rather questions is that they must be capable of being paired with an emoji (for the poll answer). Sometimes it’s a bit far-reaching, but so far I’ve been able to make it work!

Afterall, human. Anyway, I’ve decided to start collecting the Would You Rather questions that I make up on my own. Yes, sometimes I rely on other people’s lists, but I’ve also started to have fun brainstorming my own.

Would You Rather Questions

Holiday Would You Rather Questions

Would you rather be stuck on an ice rink and chased by kids or live in a miniature Christmas village for the holidays?

Would you rather be allergic to all holiday festivities, decorations, etc. (breaking into hives) or hear holiday music and be unable to stop yourself from screeching like you’re in horrible pain?

Would you rather build a gingerbread house that suddenly becomes the house you live in or have everything your house become sugar cookies?

Would you rather get trapped in a Christmas ornament until someone finds you or stuck in your favorite Christmas movie as your least favorite character?

Would you rather burn your tongue on every hot drink until it blisters or sweat uncontrollably when you eat holiday cookies?

Would you rather work in the retail industry on Black Friday (every year) or be stuck in an eternal loop of The Nutcracker?

Would you rather skip Christmas but keep the vacation day for any time you want it or get a week off for Christmas?

Would you rather travel back in time to meet baby Jesus or help St. Nicholas deliver presents?

Would you rather make your own holiday rituals or participate in age-old holiday traditions?

Would you rather celebrate Christmas in a different city/country every year with the same people or celebrate in the town you grew up in but with strangers every year?

Normal Would You Rather Questions

Would you rather have to run stairs 10x every time you see a set or do the chicken dance when you use the stairs?

Would you rather have a mirror be a teleportation device or be a truth speaker over your life?

Would you rather be able to speak the language associated with the food (for example, speak Thai if you eat Thai food) you’ve eaten or be able to eat whatever you want while having the body you want?

Would you rather author a book or market a book?

Would you rather be the hero or villain in a book?

Would you rather only be a reader or only a writer?

Would you rather read the same book over and over again or never read the same book again?

Would you rather become an actual book character for the duration of a book or a fly on the wall?

What’s your favorite Would You Rather question? What components do you think make a good question?

Okay, if you want to get in on the fun of Wednesdays (and book reviews), make sure you follow @CordiallyBarbara!

February 2020 Inspiration

February 3, 2020 Leave a Comment

Ah, February, the month that just feels like the longest month of the whole year. But 2020 gets an even longer February since it’s a Leap Year. So are you going to celebrate Leap Day in a fun way or will you just give it a cool head nod and move on? I’m not really sure how I will do it or not. Or is this an acceptable time to watch the movie Leap Year on repeat??? (after all, Leap Day DOES fall on a Saturday so you could just hide at home all day if you wanted to)

Anyway, it’s February, let’s get on with the inspo!

What I’m Being Inspired By

Current Jam:

Nothing makes me smile more than a song with big horns, bouncy tunes, and laughable lyrics. And, Kesha kills it with her “Potato Song (Cuz I Want To).” Sometimes you just need a lazy, ridiculous anthem that doesn’t take anything too seriously.

“I’m over the drama
I’m moving to a distant island
Where I’ll sleep all day
If I want to”

Current Food:

Okay, so do you love Nutella? Well, I think this is EVEN better than Nutella. YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT. This combination of cookie flavor with cocoa is just perfection. When I spread it across freshly-made waffles, I could swear that I’m eating a doughnut. And I don’t know about you, but doughnuts are just kind of the very best thing.

Current Read:

I’ve been doing CrossFit for over two years now, and it’s amazing to me that I’ve even been at this crazy sport that long. It’s gotten a bad rap for being tough with some crazy injuries, but it’s also an amazing community with powerhouse athletes. Yes, I totally watch CrossFit documentaries and YouTube videos…and yes, well, I’m so enjoying Dottir by Katrin Davidsdottir. I’m absolutely fascinated by the headspace required to be a champion and rise above failures.

Current Obsession:

A friend gifted this slim, lovely notebook to me while I was traveling Asia, and this beauty now is the home of tiny little fictional scenes. And every time I look at it, I want to just explore stories. It’s the best space. It makes me so happy. And it seems that for me to feel invited to creativity, I need beauty!

Current Quote:

Have you ever been in the place where you need to be strong enough to step away from something even as you don’t want to? It is so tough. Whether you need to say goodbye to a routine, job, person, place, coping mechanism, it takes such a weird strength because it doesn’t feel strong…it feels anything but strong. But you do it anyway. It’s fragile, scary. Real.

What’s Inspiring YOU?

So my dear loved ones, wherever you are in this fragile and volatile life, I hope you are constantly reaching for more–more growth, more wisdom, more kindness, more awareness.

May February offer you the space you need to dive into deeper questions about yourself while also surprising you with cathartic bouts of stomach-cramps induced by giggling bouts!