instead, i want to go over a couple of recent highlights that stand out in my mind:

- i hit 1 year of working at my current job in May // how did that even happen? graduation feels like it was just yesterday, but i guess that's what happens when post-college life! 

- ran my first ever 5k // while i was really looking forward to it, my time wasn't all that great (~34 minutes) i think this was mainly due to the run being a pretty big one. there were so many people participating, i felt closed in and lost my pacing

- picked up longboarding // i went to California in April, i believe, and tried surfing for the first time. it was amazing. i'm so bummed that Florida doesn't get the waves Cali does or else i would be getting my butt kicked in the water with a board! so, when i got back home i thought what else can i do in the meantime that is a bit like surfing? long/skateboarding seemed good to me- and so far i'm loving it!

- i lost my phone while on a trip // now, how is this a highlight you might ask? actually, it really isn't. it was a huge bummer and dampened my trip. i ended up calling it an early night. but, it made me realize that you don't need to have your phone out at all times waiting to capture a moment. let things be. 

- i've been attending church regularly // this is pretty personal to me, but it's been a huge factor in my life. i'm still trying to get the "hang" of it- attending on a weekly basis- but i find great comfort in it. 

- reading was put on the backburner // i kind of went on hiatus with reading. i caught myself buying books that were stacking up on my bookshelf. with no room to put them, i made myself a promise to not buy anymore books until i finished what i had. so far, it's been going good, but i've been uninspired to pick up anything. recently though, that changed. last book i read was The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson which was a great summer novel!

- Venezuela made it pretty far in the Copa America // Venezuela is not known for it's amazing soccer skills but this year we have been doing pretty well. i am super impressed! unfortunately, this came to an end tonight against Argentina (4-1), but we put up a good fight and that's the best you can do. 

and that's that! i was also contemplating adopting a cat because i fell in love with my cousin's barn cat, but that idea was quickly shot down. 

i've been doing more thinking about my future lately and trying to feel things out, but i think that's more of an ongoing discussion we all have with ourselves, right? 

i might come back and post pictures- if my phone decides to work (it completely shut down on me this morning and won't turn on). 

i hope whoever is reading this is having a happy Saturday. i encourage you to jot down some of your own 'highlights' and share them with me :) 

xo Alex 

i hate neglecting my blog like this. so many weeks have gone by and all you see on here is 

s  i  l  e  n  c  e

it's wrong, and i feel horrible about it. 

so, what's been going on? well, i've been in a bit of a reading slump. i tried to read some of the books i have on my TBR pile that i mentioned before. the thing is that many of them are YA books, a genre that i have not been in the mood to read whatsoever.

i want to get back into reading classics and literary fiction (a broad genre, i know). i want to pick up more mature content, become lost in intricately written stories, delve into current events told from another perspective, and read more business/self-help books. 

i sound like a true adult. but, believe me, i am definitely a child at heart. and i have gone through this stage before- back in high school. back then i had more free time to do anything and read everything. so, like any other typical high schooler, i would read economic books and classical literary material. the usual. 

but when i left for university i lost some of that momentum because schoolwork at that level will suck the life out of you and let's face it, there are other things to do, people to see, events to go to.

when i started to realize i was forcing myself to read the books on my current TBR pile, i immediately stopped. i knew that wasn't the answer to my slump. instead, i've been slowly circling other potential books i've been meaning to read, feeling them out and scoping out their summaries to see if perhaps they will ignite my reading frenzy.

and even though i've sort of been putting down YA in this post, i will say that there has been 1 book i've read and finished this year- the first and only one in fact; it is Juliet Marillier's The Caller, the last book in the Shadowfell series. 

it was amazing. i've been reading this series since 2014 and it took me a while to finish because i kept putting off buying the last book. when i saw it on BookOutlet i knew the time had come to finally conclude this beloved fantasy series.  Marillier did a fantastic job of joining all the loose ends and neatly tying everything up. 

if you have not read this series, heard about it or been in the mood for some fantasy: PICK THIS UP. you will not regret it (only until you became enamored and realize you will have to end the series sooner or later). 

what do you do to get out of reading slumps? i would love some tips/suggestions!