New Year, New Goals! Perspectives for 2024

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Susan and Whittney set their intentions for 2024 and discuss their goals, one-word themes, and plans for what they want to accomplish this year. 

Website: susanandwhittney.buzzsprout.com
Instagram: @susanandwhittney
Facebook: The Conversation with Susan and Whittney

Episode Transcript

Susan (00:32):
Whittney, you're the kind of friend who made me tear up
with the perfectly selectedChristmas gifts from Longwood
Gardens, one of our favoriteplaces.
When I saw the magnet with myniece and nephew's favorite tree
house on it, I lost it.
There's something so specialabout that tree house.
I have so many memories of beingthere with my niece and nephew,
so thank you for the verythoughtful gift.

Whittney (00:50):
Sus, and you allowed me to be there with your niece
and nephew at their favoritetree house, which I thought was
so special.
So I'm so glad you liked yourpresent.
I had a great time picking itout for you at Longwood Gardens.
Sus, I also got a verythoughtful gift from you.
You are the kind of friend whogets me a gift that combines two
of my favorite things, a nicemug that play pays tribute to my

(01:13):
love of reading and of TaylorSwift.
And most importantly, it has astraw.
I've been enjoying so manychilled beverages in it.
and it's, it says swift T-E-Alike tea tea and so I can't wait
to have some iced tea in it.
I have not enjoyed iced tea init yet, but you know,, more to
come.

Susan (01:29):
That's so nice, Whittney.
The straw is clutch.
You need a straw.
I think it's been proven thatyou do drink more when there's a
straw.
Just makes it easier.

Whittney (01:38):
Yes.

Susan (01:38):
And Whittney, I heard your little subconscious pun
when you said that it playstribute, like play like Taylor
Swift, a musician.
I mean, I think it just slippedin.
So I did play and play tribute.
I think both

Whittney (01:51):
I, think you're think, I was channeling you there the
present from you so.
it was

Susan (01:57):
There you go.
Well, I'm glad you like it.
So Whittney, happy 2024.
Welcome to our first episode ofseason four.
Uh,, We pointed out in our lastepisode of season three that
sort of like a little play onwords there.
It's season four in 2024, sowe're excited to be back and I
can't believe it's season four.
Can you.

Whittney (02:15):
Honestly, we've done this four seasons now, that's
crazy.
Especially when we were talkingabout this for so many years
before we even got started.
It feels like, it just flew byonce we got started, so that's
so exciting.
It's great to be back.
Um, I'm excited about what we'regonna talk about in this season,
and I hope our listeners aregonna be really excited about it
too.

Susan (02:35):
So in today's episode, we're going to discuss our 2024
one-word themes, our new readinggoals, and what's going on in
our lives lately.

Whittney (02:43):
We're also going to announce what I think is one of
the most exciting episodes wehave every season, which is this
season's book club read withDevin Hamilton, your sister.
It's gonna be our second episodeof the season and we're already
pretty excited for it.
I

Susan (03:00):
Yes, definitely.
So we'll talk about that alittle bit later on in today's
show.
But first, let's talk about howwe're surviving and thriving.
How is 2024 going so far?
What's going on in your life innew Hampshire?

Whittney (03:11):
Thanks! I'm really excited to be back home in New
Hampshire, for a little while.
I had a lot of holiday traveland some work travel and you
know,, it's just so nice tostart getting back into my
normal routines again.
And I think one thing I wouldsay that I'm realizing recently
that's working for me is, I'mgonna call it the power of

(03:33):
reflection.
So normally at the beginning ofa new year, Nate and I review
our goals from 2023 and we talkabout, you know, what our goals
for 2024 would be.
But this year because therewere, there was a lot of travel,
not just for Nate and I,together over the holidays, but
then also I had to work travelpretty much immediately at the

(03:54):
beginning of the new year.
We didn't really get to do thatyet.
So we're doing a little bitlater than normal, but I think
it's always helpful to reviewthe past year and what worked
and what didn't, and use thoseinsights to help you, make plans
for the the coming year.
And so that's something that Iam leaning into.

Susan (04:15):
When you reflect with Nate, like how do you do that?
Is it like a written exercise,you just have a conversation?
Do you have sort of a structuredway of how you do that, or is it
just a free flowing reflection?
I'm curious.

Whittney (04:26):
So in the past we would just make our list of
goals.
We would usually do it on NewYear's Day for the coming year.
And when we would make ourgoals, we would also just review
what we accomplished from ourprevious year of goals.
And sometimes it was just thatsimple where we didn't think
about anything else.
But then we also startedrealizing that there's a

(04:49):
difference between personalgoals, like things that I wanna
do just for me in the comingyear, or he wants to do just for
him, and things that intersectfor our family or our household.
So we also started making a listof house goals.
which in general we're not asgreat with the house goals.
So I think one of the insightswe're having that keeps coming

(05:11):
up is that we need to elicitmore help with house goals.
Like, we're not gonna renovateour house or anything Like,
that.
We're not those people and wejust need to kind of ask for the
help when something needs to befixed, et cetera.
But yeah, so a lot of times it'sjust like goal review is how it
started.
But this year, we haven't hadmore in depth conversations yet.

(05:32):
But I wanna kind of go back tolike, why, like why do we wanna
do this thing?
Because I think.
Seeing the motive, likeunderstanding why you wanna do
something can help motivate youto figure out how to do it.
And then, you know how, likebeing honest with yourself,
like, how is this gonna getdone?
Am I gonna be the person whodoes this or am I gonna ask for

(05:54):
help?
Or you know, is there anotherway we can kind of hack this
project so it's not as difficultor it will actually get done.
Because there, there have been acouple things on our household
goals list in particular thathave kind of languished for a
few years.
And so clearly our approach tothem isn't working right.
So we have to rethink that.

Susan (06:16):
Yeah, that sounds like a really smart approach.
I agree with you.
We were talking offline beforewe started recording about
eliciting help for things.
I mentioned that I recently puta post out on the Nextdoor app,
which is a community messageboard looking for an affordably
priced cleaner who could come tohelp with some light cleaning,
maybe like Twice a month orsomething.
For me, like I'd live in anapartment.

(06:37):
I'm by myself.
You know, um, so it's not like amassive undertaking necessarily,
but for me with having theweekend free of, you know,
finally get a day off, I don'twanna spend the whole time
cleaning.
So I'm looking to have somebodyhelp me out with some of that.
And speaking of like theseprojects that have been on the
to-do list for a while, I, Ican't tell you the last time I
cleaned my microwave on theinside or even like wipe down my

(06:59):
fridge.
And this is not to say I'mliving in like filth or
anything.
like it's not that bad.
There might be like some butterthat splash in my popcorn on the
inside or like, one time sauceexploded.
But it's not really that bad.
But I just don't wanna do it, behonest with you.
'cause I just don't feel like Ihave the mental capacity.
And I'm sure it wouldn't be thatbig of a deal, but I'd rather do
something else for my life thanclean my microwave.

(07:22):
Particularly because it's justme.
If I was living with otherpeople, I'd probably feel a lot
more inclined to wanna get thatcleaned up for somebody else
really.
But I would love to have helpwith different things like that.
And I actually had a lady comethe other day to just take a
look at my apartment, just tosee if that would be a job she'd
wanna take on.
And I was showing her like allthe things I've been putting
off.
Like I can't tell you the lasttime I dusted all the baseboards

(07:44):
in the apartment.
And I'm sure it would take menot that much time, but honestly
I just don't really, I'd ratherdo other things.
I'd prioritize other things.
So it would be awesome to havesomeone just do those little
projects that I don't have timeto do.
Think It's a great idea to findpeople to help you with these
things.
It just takes that mental loadoff.

Whittney (08:02):
Yeah.

Susan (08:02):
So I definitely encourage you to do that.

Whittney (08:04):
And I think a lot of times, we feel guilty asking for
the help.
like we should be able to knowhow to do this.
Like, I know growing up, myparents, basically they did
almost everything themselves,right?
My dad knew how to fix prettymuch everything, from cars to
something on the house, or likesomething needed to be added to
the house half the time he builtit himself, you know?

(08:25):
And so I think that that's astandard secretly I've been
holding Nate and I to whenthat's just not our reality,
right?
We're not gonna put a porch on ahouse ever in our lives.

Susan (08:36):
No.
No.
And you know, you can think ofit as supporting the economy,
like you're paying somebody todo a service and that, that's
helping that person too.
You can't do everythingyourself, so I definitely
support you eliciting help.
And that's something I've triedto put at the forefront this
year too.
Like, there's certain thingsI've been wanting to do, like
even just little painttouch-ups.

(08:57):
I probably could do some ofthose myself, but, um,'cause I
actually did paint the apartmentmyself.
But sometimes you do just needto have someone come in and get
it done because if it's nothappening, there's probably a
reason why it's not happening.
'cause you just, maybe it's notimportant to you, it's just too
much of a mental load.
Whittney, speaking of cleaning,I wanted to give you a shout out
because a while ago, not sure ifyou mentioned it on the podcast,

(09:19):
but you mentioned it to me, youhad recommended this book, How
to Keep House While Drowning byKC Davis.

Whittney (09:24):
Yes.

Susan (09:25):
I don't know if you've read it,'cause I haven't even
checked in with you about this,but recently, like in December,
I listened to this book onaudio.
The author herself reads it.
It's maybe only like four hoursor so, maybe even three hours.
It's pretty short.
Um, I found this book reallyhelpful.
In fact, I'd like to listen toit again.

Whittney (09:43):
Yeah.

Susan (09:44):
So I wanted to give you a shout out for putting that on my
radar.
Did you ever read it?

Whittney (09:48):
I did, I still have not read it.
It's still in my TBR, but Iwatch her KC Davis' TikTok
videos.
She's on TikTok at@domesticblisters.
We'll just give her anothershout out for that because uh,
her TikTok content is prettysolid.
But I do use, in one of theTikTok videos, she talks about
the five things that are inevery room, and so I do use that

(10:09):
a lot whenever I'm feelingespecially overwhelmed.
Is it trash, and dishes, andclothing, and then things that
do have a place that you haven'tput them in their place, and
then things that don't have aplace.
And so what do you do with thethings that don't have a place,
right?
So every room has those fivethings.
And if you can clear those fivethings.

(10:30):
you're way ahead of where youwere and so I use that a lot,
but I still haven't read thefull book, so I'm glad you liked
it.

Susan (10:36):
Yes, and I do recommend the audio.
I know you're not so much of anaudio person, but it is nice
because the author does read it,so it almost feels more like a
therapist.
She is a therapist, actually,like a.
giving you tips.
It's not like a heavy lift tolisten to this.
It's not like you're listeningto fiction and have to like, pay
super close attention to theplot.
It's light listening is what I'msaying.

(10:57):
So I feel like you could listenwhile you're washing dishes or
just doing something around thehouse.
It's really helpful having hergive you this advice.
And her, chapters are veryshort.
It's just very short tidbits.
You could just listen to five,10 minutes at a time.
There was definitely some goodtips in there that I found
really helpful, includingrunning the dishwasher every
day.
So I'm a person who, since Ilive by myself, I might not fill

(11:19):
up the dishwasher really forlike a week.
That's the way I used to do it.
I would run it maybe like once aweek, maybe twice a week.
But I'm also a person who neverput pots and pans in the
dishwasher.
I usually chose to hand washthose.
In this book, she mentions like,just put everything in the
dishwasher, run it once a night.
That way you're not havinganything build up yes, it's
great that I wanted to hand washmy pots and pans, but in

(11:40):
reality, that's what wascreating clutter in sink.
So running the dishwasher everynight is something I've started
doing, or at least as, youknow,, maybe not every night,
but maybe every other day,whatever, has really been
helpful because now I'm nothaving all the clutter build up
on my counter and sink becauseI'm waiting for that moment
where I'm gonna wash all ofthem, um, and also you have to
unload it right away.

Whittney (12:00):
Yeah.

Susan (12:01):
But really that only takes like two minutes or
something.
So, um, That has been a veryhelpful tip.
um, The book has a lot of reallygreat things and um, I
definitely recommend it, so Irecommend it to you as well.

Whittney (12:13):
Yeah.
No, I, I was thinking the otherday when you were talking about
reading it, I think you had sentme a text about it that I was,
it was funny'cause I had toldyou about it and then I didn't
even read it yet, which I feellike is classic me.

Susan (12:25):
It's really small.
It's easy to take in.
There's things you can do rightaway.
And it also helps you to get ridof the stigma or the shame of
feeling bad about cleaning orabout like, somehow there's, um,
like a connection between ifyour house is messy, you feel
like you're a terrible person,or like you said earlier, like,
I should be able to do that.
There's so much guilt and stigmaattached to that.
And really she says, you know,throw that away.

(12:47):
If you have something on yourcounter that is not a reflection
of you as a person.
And I think that was reallyhelpful to think about that
stuff like this does not meanthat I'm a bad person.
I'm, you know, you're not evennecessarily a bad housekeeper.
Maybe you're just overwhelmedfor other reasons.
so that was helpful too, justlike the stigmas around
cleaning.
And there was one piece ofadvice that she said that's been

(13:08):
really helpful to me was noteverything has to be clean at
the same time, which is huge forme because I was always like, oh
yeah, now I got the kitchenclean, but now the living room's
a mess.
Like, I need to straighten that.
And it's like, no, maybe not.
It's really just the nature ofthings.
Not everything's gonna beperfect, but maybe, you know,
one space can look really good.
The space is okay for now.
Like, Not everything has to beperfect.

(13:29):
So it's like letting go of thatperfectionism.

Whittney (13:32):
Yes.
Well, and I think one of thethings that she says all the
time is"fill in the blank" ismorally neutral.
So she'll say like a clean houseis morally neutral.
You're not morally right orwrong if your house is clean or
not clean.
Right.
And then I think there'ssomething about like home decor
she was saying too, like anicely decorated house, that is

(13:52):
morally neutral.
Your house can be, you know, notdecorated and it's fine and
you're still a great person.
So I think that's also, I mean,you touched on it, but that's
one of the other things that Ithink helps with that
perfectionism is, just callingit out, like these tasks are not
morally good or bad.
Right.
If you do or don't do them, it,it has no bearing on how good of

(14:15):
a person you are.

Susan (14:16):
And even just requesting a cleaning person.
I said to you before, I waslike, well, I just, I have, you
know,, a small apartment maybe Ishouldn't need help, but you
know what, if I want help and Ican afford it, then great.
Then do it.
And that's what KC Davis says inthe book too.
She's like, if you can affordit, ask for help.
Who cares?
That will help you outsignificantly.
And I, it would be so nice forme to have someone deep clean
my, my house or do like themicrowave that I haven't had

(14:37):
time to do, and then I can like,maybe do something else during
that time.
It's, it gives you time back inyour life.
And yes, you do have to pay forit.
But you know what, sometimesusing your money for things that
are gonna make your life easieris, is, that's the whole point
of having money.
So you can use it to helpyourself or to live a life you
wanna live.
So, you know, I I don't thinkI'm gonna mind parting with that
money'cause I'd rather, insteadof keeping the money and being

(14:59):
miserable, why not use it andhave an easier time of things.

Whittney (15:05):
Yeah.
Well, I think it like kind ofties into what I'm hoping to do
for my year, which is kind ofgoing back to that reflection
like why, what are my prioritiesfor the year?
What are needs my priorities forthe year?
And do they include doing thesetasks ourselves?
Because if not, why shouldn't wehire them out?

Susan (15:24):
And along with the decoration idea theme here we

were talking about (15:27):
so a couple of years ago, I decided to redo
my deck.
I made this awesome nauticaltheme.
I bought rugs.
I have cute little nauticaldecorations hanging from the,
um, banisters I guess of thedeck.
Um, but it's very hard tomaintain that decor.
And I feel like I bought so manythings to make it look really
cute.
And then I realized I'm the onlyone that sits out there and no

(15:48):
one comes over.
And it's a lot for every seasonto take that stuff down and put
it back up.
It's great having thesePinteresty visions.
And I did get joy out of thatspace.
But sometimes you don't need thedecorations, you just need it
kind of basic the way it is.
Decorations create a lot ofclutter, sometimes a lot of
extra work.
'cause now I kind of am evenconsidering like, do I even
wanna have my deck furniture?

(16:08):
I don't even sit out there like,is it better just to get rid of
it and not have to worry aboutany of the maintenance?
So some, you know, it'ssometimes like wanting to have
something look really decoratedand nice just creates a lot of
extra tasks for you.
When it could be as simple asjust pulling a chair out in the
deck and enjoying it instead ofhaving to have it look perfect.
For who?

(16:29):
For me, but it, you know, Iguess the flip side is if I want
to maintain that beautifulspace, then let's have people
over to enjoy it with me so itcan be more of an entertainment
space versus just like all thisextra work.

Whittney (16:41):
Right.
Yeah.
Well, I think it's kind of likethe life you're living versus
the life you think you'reliving?
At some points, right?
Or like in my head, I am aperson who has people over, on
the deck a lot.
Your vision was I have this cutedeck, it's this one and it is a
beautiful space.
I've seen your deck.
Like it is a great space.
But you know, if you're not,like you're saying, if you're

(17:04):
not regularly inviting peopleover, then that is just, it's
becoming clutter to you.
It's becoming kind of a drain onyour energy, trying to think
about what to do with all thisstuff you got for the deck,
right?

Susan (17:15):
Oh yeah, it is.

Whittney (17:16):
It's not serving

Susan (17:17):
That's so true, and I actually haven't even sort of
taken down my deck yet.
This year I have these rugs thatgo underneath each sitting
space, and usually I try toclear that up before the winter
so it doesn't get moldy orwhatever with all the moisture,
well, snow that we don't get, Iguess.
But I do usually like to cleanit up just so it doesn't get
ruined throughout the year.
But I haven't even done thatyet.
Um, I just didn't have a fullday where I felt like I had the

(17:41):
time and energy to clean up thedeck, and now it's pretty cold,
so I don't feel like going outthere.
So I might just leave it be, forthe winter.
But yeah, I am, it's just a lotof extra maintenance that I
don't know that I need.

Whittney (17:54):
Yeah.
I mean, I understand, Like I wastelling you earlier, that this
year for Christmas, like I lovedecorating for Christmas.
Like it makes me so happy, liketwinkly lights like I'm all
about it, right?
I couldn't wait to like put mycolor scheme for my tree up, but
taking it all down, wears on me.
And so this year, we were gonnabe gone for two weeks of our

(18:16):
holiday time and we made thedecision not to put up outdoor
Christmas lights.
That felt strange to me becauseI love seeing the lights when
we're outside.
Now, when we're outside, it'skind of dark.
But you know what?
We didn't have to wait untilMarch to take them down because
they're covered in snow and iceand they don't work.

Susan (18:34):
Yeah.
Well.
An alternative could be to havesomeone do that for you.
Actually, my cousin has a lightsbusiness in Maryland.
He has a construction business,but that's like one of his side
things.
he will put up lights and takethem down as well.
I think that it's, it'sdifficult for us to pay someone
to do that,'cause it's like inreality we could do that
ourselves.
But again, I could, I could do alot of things and I'm not, so

(18:57):
sometimes you just have to bitethe bullet and have someone else
do it for you.
And it would be really, um, takethat stress off your plate your
plate.

Whittney (19:06):
yeah, it's one of those things that I only
recently realized is a businessthat people pay other people to
do.
So it's a good reminder thatyour cousin does that.
maybe it is something thatregular people and not
celebrities can

Susan (19:19):
Oh yeah.
And I think it's one of thosethings that you value.
If you love having your houselit up from the outside.
Otherwise maybe you could justget something that's an easier
fix.
Like I've seen some people do,the light projectors on their
house or just like some sort oflike little light feature on
your path or instead of like thewhole lights on the house,
candles in the windows.
That's something you can do fromthe inside.

(19:39):
So there could be solutions.

Whittney (19:42):
Yeah.
Actually one of the things,speaking of like figuring out
what matters to us, one of ourfavorite things about Christmas
lights outdoors in the winterwas that it kind of like lit up
our driveway a little bit or litup the path going into our
house.
We only really have like onelight on the outside of the
house.
Maybe we need permanentyear-round path lighting.

Susan (20:03):
Definitely.

Whittney (20:04):
and you know, that would solve it.

Susan (20:06):
There you go.
Whittney not too much excitinghappening in Philly right now.
Just kind of finishing up thesecond semester and, um, that's
kind of it.
I'm, I'm kind of just easinginto the new year.
I just got over being sick, so,um.
That's kind of, that's kind ofit for me.
But speaking of that, speakingof like the new year and easing
into our new things, Do youwanna talk about our new words

(20:26):
of the year?

Whittney (20:29):
Yes.
I would love to talk about our

Susan (20:31):
Alright, awesome.

Whittney (20:32):
I It took me a while to figure out which specific
word I wanted, but I will tellyou that my word of the year for
2023 was very helpful in helpingme choose my word for 2024

Susan (20:46):
Oh.

Whittney (20:46):
So my word for 2023 was listen.
And so I had to listen like,what, what is working, what is
not working?
What do I wanna do in the comingyear?
And so overall, one of thethings I knew I wanted for my
one word theme for 2024 wassomething that fit the theme of

(21:08):
paring things down to what'simportant.
Surprise, surprise, based on ourconversation so far today.
Right.
So I, one of the things that Iwas thinking about when I was
trying to come up with the wordis in our world today, there's
so much to do.
There's so much to think about.
There's so much to keep up on.
I mean, information is coming atus like a million miles an hour,

(21:30):
and there's way more content outthere than we can ever take in.
It's kind of an impossibleundertaking, right?
you can't ever keep up withwhat's happening or everything
that's going on.
So in the end, what is importantto you as a person?
What is important to you as afamily?
because you're not gonna be ableto fit it all in.
And so I had, a moment ofinsight.

(21:51):
I was watching Bravo, I loveBravo, you know this about me.
and there was an episode ofWatch What Happens Live, which
is the little Bravo talk showwhere they have all the
Bravolebrities on to talk aboutthings.
And Andy Cohen

Susan (22:04):
Bravolebrities?
Is that a term?

Whittney (22:07):
Yes, Yes, That's what they call celebrities from
Bravo.
So people who star on Bravoshows are

Susan (22:13):
That's great.
I love it.

Whittney (22:15):
Like it's a real term now.
You're gonna see it everywherebecause I've

Susan (22:20):
Okay, that.
And now I know you always keepme in the loop of what's cool,
so thank you.

Whittney (22:26):
Anytime.
Sus.
Anytime.
This particular episode wasKevin Hart and they were playing
this game.
They play games with the peoplewho come on the show.
So it's not alwaysBravolebrities, sometimes it's
celebrities who have a new moviecoming out or something, in
which case Kevin Hart has a newmovie coming out on Netflix like
very soon or something.
and so they played this gamecalled, does Kevin Give a Damn?

(22:48):
And it was just Andy asking himquestions like about popular
topics.
So for example, you have toanswer give a damn or don't give
a damn.
Right?
An example of a question was, doyou care about how public Taylor
Swift and Travis Kelce'srelationship is?
And he was like,"no, I don'tgive a damn." Andy's asking him
all these questions aboutpopular topics, everything from

(23:09):
pop culture to stuff happeningin the news, to stuff happening
in Congress, which he did careabout some of the things
happening in Congress that wereaffecting legislation.
But for most of what they askedhim, he just was like,"no, I
don't care about that.
I do not give a damn aboutthat." And I thought that was
kind of powerful because youexpect somebody like Kevin Hart

(23:31):
to like, you know,, at leastpretend he cares about those
things, Like on a TV show wherehe is like promoting something.
But like, he was just like no,like I don't, and if Kevin Hart
doesn't care and if he's justlike, I don't care about any of
those things, they're notimportant to me, Like, what is
my issue?
So that leads me to the word Ichose, which is focus.

(23:55):
So I would like to, in thecoming year, focus on what's
important to me.
And I chose the word focus for acouple of reasons, like focus as
the term specifically.
The first one is ADHDers, whichis what we call the group of
people who have ADHD.
They have trouble regulatingfocus.

(24:16):
I am an ADHDer, or we haven'treally talked about this on the
podcast yet, but in February of2022, I was diagnosed with ADHD,
in my late thirties.
It was kind of anearth-shattering revelation, but
also like one of those thingsthat made so much sense and
We've talked extensively offlineabout how, basically everything
kind of clicked into place forme once I, I got this diagnosis,

(24:39):
but because I naturally havetrouble regulating my focus,
that's part of managing my ADHDright?
is I need to figure out how toput systems in place and how to
set up the right routines andthe right health stuff so that I
can be able to regulate myfocus.

(24:59):
And then also in general, thisplays into my word, right?
What do I care about and what amI gonna focus on in the next
year?
I need to identify those thingsand then follow through on them.
So that was a lot

Susan (25:11):
Yeah, Whittney, I was really focusing on what you were
saying.
Honestly, I think this is reallyinsightful.
It's a great word, and I reallycan relate to what you were
saying.
There's so much informationbeing thrown at us, like on your
phone, for example.
You know, Constantly blowing upwith notifications and sometimes
that's really great.
Finding out something that'sgoing on in the world, maybe
particularly something localthat impacts your life Right

(25:32):
now, it's good to have theaccess to that, but other times
it's very distracting.
It's like too much.
You're constantly sort switchinggears I think our society does
make it difficult to focus.
There's just so much stimulusand there's absolutely no way
that you can consume all thatcontent.
Something this made me think ofis I saw a social media post

(25:52):
about when you get older yourealize that diet is not only
food, it's anything that youconsume from content to the
people in your life to justlike, even your habits, just
what are you putting into yoursystem in any capacity.
And I started thinking aboutthat a lot too.
Like, you know, what am Iputting into my body?
Like what am I spending my timelooking at?

(26:12):
Scrolling, what, what am Iwatching?
It's what are you watching?
What are you doing?
Who are you with?
That's all part of your diet andyou do have to control that and
put up some guardrails becauseif you would just let you know,
let it go wild, you it just waytoo much stimulation.
So I agree with you aboutfocusing on what matters and
maybe that does require you toput up boundaries.

(26:35):
You're gonna have to block outcertain things or maybe unfollow
certain things.
I had to do that at some pointin time, unfollow various things
on social media because Irealized that wasn't the healthy
diet I wanted.
Anyone could relate to itbecause we're all constantly
bombarded it's really animportant concept.

Whittney (26:55):
well, and you know, the word focus, I just thought
fit so perfectly with both, theADHD and everything I need to
think about to manage that pieceof my life.
And just in general, what do Iprioritize and what am I
focusing on and what are mygoals and

Susan (27:11):
It is definitely an active word.
You actively have to be doingsomething to focus.
It's not just gonna happen.
It does require you, like Isaid, to block certain things
out and set certain boundariesthat you can focus.
So I feel like there is gonna besome work involved in that, but
it's definitely a reallyimportant, idea to strive toward
this year.

Whittney (27:32):
Yes.
it's gonna be a hugeundertaking, but I'm hoping that
it can be kind of a foundationfor some things moving forward.
So this will be a one word themefor just this year, but maybe
I'll take some of it from 2024and just use it moving forward.

Susan (27:48):
Oh yeah, definitely.
I think this sounds really good,Whittney.
I love this.

Whittney (27:51):
What did you choose, because you have not told me

Susan (27:54):
The word I ended up going with is align, A-L-I-G-N.
And

Whittney (28:00):
Oh!

Susan (28:00):
Yeah, actually what first kind of got me thinking about
this is back in October Istarted going to physical
therapy for a knee injury that Ihad sustained.
It was basically an alignmentissue and I've, I've always had
some alignment issues just dueto my body and basic
biomechanics and the arches ofmy feet But apparently over
time, somehow I had developedweakness in my hips and that was

(28:22):
causing there to be like morepressure put on my knee.
I could go way down a rabbithole with how this all works,
but basically I started going tophysical therapy, spending a lot
of time talking with mytherapist about proper
alignment, you know, getting allthe muscles to work correctly so
everything's in a straight lineand my body's functioning
correctly.
My pain has now pretty much goneaway.
It's been magical, but that gotme thinking about aligning a lot

(28:44):
of other things in my life.
Over time there might develop aweakness in one area of your
life and that causes you to likeovercompensate in another area
or something's off kilter,right?
And I started thinking aboutalignment of my values and I'm
realizing I need to have career,relationships, my actions

aligning to things I care about: my values. (29:01):
undefined
I think over time, maybe Istarted spending a lot of time
doing something that doesn'treally align with my values or
maybe spending time with peoplethat doesn't really align with
who I am.
So alignment is, I really wannathink about like body and just
relationships, actions, thingsin my life.

(29:21):
Are they all aligning with kindof saying what you were saying,
like, what's priority for me andjust my values and who I am.
Like, does everything line upthe way that I want it to?
So it's kind of this bigconcept, but I think I feel good
about a checkpoint for me.
Like, you know, if I'm spendingtime doing something, does that
align with who I am at my core?

(29:41):
And in some cases I've realizedthat I think who I am at my core
is definitely not beingreflected in things that I'm
doing.
So it's kind of a reality check.
Actually the, the next questionI was gonna ask you, Whittney,
is how are we planning to putthese goals into place?
Like, I think in the past we'verealized that these words are
awesome guideposts, but in orderfor them to be effective, we

(30:02):
really have to have a specificplan with accountability.
So I'm gonna ask you aboutyours, but I was just gonna say
that for me, I think that I'mgonna take this goal at a micro
level.
like Each month setting up myplan for what I'm trying to
align.
So for January, I'm finishing upmy physical therapy.
My goal is to finish working onthe alignment of my body, and
then February there's gonna be adifferent focus.

(30:24):
So that's my plan.
What are, what are you thinkingfor how to make focus work for
you?
Big picture.

Whittney (30:32):
So really quick, for the 24 for 2024 list um, idea
that Gretchen and Elizabethinitiated for us, it's something
that I try to use every year.
I can't remember if it's stillsomething that works for you,
but One of the things thatGretchen recommends is breaking
your list into categories and sowhenever you're talking to me

(30:53):
about tiny milestones that alignwith alignment or align with,
align your word, that's kind ofwhat I was thinking about.
'cause you're talking aboutright now, you're focusing on
aligning your body like aphysical alignment and then like
maybe you'll have another theme.
So I'm curious to hear if youhave ideas for other themes,
like is career one of thecategories and then

(31:15):
relationships?
'cause I know you mentionedthose specifically.

Susan (31:18):
Yes, yes.
Um, career is one of them.
I'm very happy with teaching,but maybe there's some different
shifts that I could make.
I'm just thinking about somedifferent things I can do to
make my career align with myselfand other things that I value in
my life.
Um, but right now I'm reallyjust focusing on body right now.
I think as January winds down,I'm gonna start thinking about,
well, what, what makes the mostsense for my focus for February?

(31:41):
I do find that it's reallyoverwhelming when you think
about a word for an entire year.
I think things kind of get lostsometimes, and that's why I was
trying to focus on a microlevel, month to month.
And, what you said aboutElizabeth and Gretchen, which by
the way, that is Elizabeth Craftand Gretchen Rubin from the
Happier Podcast.
I just wanted to throw out thewhole name there.

(32:01):
I highly recommend that podcast.
I don't do a 24 for 24 list,which is like every year they
have the same number of goals asthe year we're in.
Like last year was 23 for 23.
I don't make 24 goals.
It depends, but I just made alist of how, how many it made
sense to me to have.
but I think just having it bymonth just makes it so much more

(32:23):
manageable for me.
What makes sense for right now.
For instance, I also need toalign my finances right now.
I'm usually very good abouthaving a budget and keeping
track of various subscriptionsor where my money's going, but
somewhere along the line in2023, I just got really busy and
my budget went by the wayside.
So that's another thing I'mfocusing on aligning in January

(32:44):
is all my finances and creatinga new budget.
Just kind of tightening thingsup.
So I dunno if I answered your

Whittney (32:52):
Also important

Susan (32:53):
questions there.

Whittney (32:54):
That was, that was perfect.
So, yeah, I always do the 24 for24 list, or last year, 23 for
23.
I don't always get all of themdone.
Like I know I'm never going toaccomplish all of them, but I
do, I do it because I can focustoo much on I said focus, I can
focus too much on things that Ishould do or need to get done

(33:16):
and not as much on fun things.
And so, the list makes me thinkabout fun things to add in
there.
So like, for example, one of thethings that I had on my 23 for
23 list last year was come visityou in Philly.
And then I did it and that wasreally cool.
Soon as I had that on my list, Iknew we had to book the

Susan (33:36):
Whittney, wait, why is that not on your list for this
year?
We were just talking offline.
We're not sure if it's gonnahappen this year.

Whittney (33:43):
I didn't make my

Susan (33:44):
I I was gonna say I didn't make the cut this year.
I'm just kidding.

Whittney (33:46):
No, I don't know.
Maybe you will.
it's

Susan (33:48):
That would, that would be fun.
We'd love to have, I say we allthe time, I think, cause I'm
including my sister in that.
'cause she lives somewhat nearto me.
We would love to see you.
But Yeah, no, I, have beentrying to include fun things as
well.
Like on my January list, one ofmy things was to finish watching
the Crown and I really want tostart watching the Gilded Age.
So even just as a way to focusin on what shows that I've like,

(34:12):
kind of had on my to-be watchedlist forever, like, and I even
said like, what book I wanted tofinish this month?
You know, just like these smallgoals.
But those are things I enjoy.
But it's definitely interestinghow when you put a, not a
deadline, but just you writesomething down, it does help you
to accomplish it as opposed toit just like floating out in the

(34:32):
ether So, and I'm almost donewith the Crown.
I have like half an episode leftto go.
So I, I did achieve that.
But, it's definitely good havinga mix of sort of the serious
things and then also fun thingsthat are going to enlighten your
month or your year as well.

Whittney (34:49):
Yeah, so I think, another thing that I am thinking
about, for my for focus to mixin with my 24 to 24 lists is,
um, what are things last yearthat seemed to regularly cause
me stress and how can, I focusin on those items And make them

(35:09):
better?
so is it just some advancedplanning?
Is there anything that I can donow that will, that future me
will benefit from?
Is there something I can put onautopilot to decrease stress in
the coming year?
and so I know one of the thingsthat I'm going to focus on that
you and I have talked about istravel.

(35:30):
So, one of the silly things thatI think sometimes.
People will tell you things andyou don't like absorb what
they're saying until you haveyour own light bulb moment.
And a good example of that is Irecently did not think of myself
as a person who travels a lot.
And Susan, you were telling melike, are you kidding?

(35:51):
Like, every time I talk to you,a, you're either traveling,
coming back from travel, orgetting ready for new travel.
But in my mind, I was thinking,I travel a lot between the
months of May and au August forwork.
And usually because Nate and Itry to plan a family vacation in
that time too.
And so that time felt reallyintense, but the rest of my

(36:11):
year, I would not have eversaid, oh, I'm a person who
travels a lot.
But this is false because everytime I see people, whether they
are you or other friends ofmine, I, this even happened in a
recent conversation I was havingwith my coworkers while I was on
work, travel with them.
They were like, why do you nothave TSA pre-check?

(36:33):
You travel so much.
And I'm like, I don't travel somuch

Susan (36:36):
You did

Whittney (36:37):
But when you, when you think about it, I travel a
minimum of four times in thesummer sometimes five to six.
Right.
And then also my other worktravel obligations, we have a a
spring travel obligation and afall obligation.
So even if that's only fourtimes in the summer, that's six.
I'm up to six now.

(36:57):
And Right.
now I have two additional worktrips planned.

Susan (37:01):
Great.
And, and not to mention that thefact that you do live in New
Hampshire away from the majorityof your family and friends,
you're, you have to count thosetrips as well.
Like over the holidays youtraveled to Pennsylvania to see
your family in like twodifferent places.
Correct.
And then you went to Longwood,so you were in like third place.
And then, if you would visit meor another friend you just
mentioned before, the Meetingthat you had, like two other

(37:22):
friends who have offered to haveyou come visit them.
So when you add in thosepersonal trips as well, it's,
it's, a really good amount oftraveling.
And Whittney, I can't tell youthe last time I've been on an
airplane, so, you know, I mean,my job doesn't require
traveling.
If you compare yourself to theaverage person, it's, it's a
lot,

Whittney (37:40):
Yeah.
But it's, it's one of thosethings where I was not realizing
the reality of my situationright in my head, I'm still a
person who works from home anddoesn't travel that much.
But, and like what you're sayingoutside perspective is like, no,
you travel a lot and why are younot doing things that would make
your travel easier, that wouldmake your whole life easier.

(38:00):
So like, TSA pre-check, it'sgonna be on my list this year
because why do I not alreadyhave it?
It doesn't make sense.
Right.

Susan (38:07):
I think that's a great idea to reflect on something
that hasn't worked in the pastor what can you do to make
something easier?
And that's why I put out amessage about looking for a
cleaning person.
'cause I was like, you know, theone thing that really bothered
me last year was like notcleaning as much as I wanted to
or spending a Saturday cleaningwhen I could have been doing
something else.
And so that's why I made thatchange.
So it's like that the Einsteinsaying that if you keep doing

(38:30):
the same thing, I think he saidit, maybe it was someone else.
If you keep saying or doing thesame thing over and over, you
can't expect a different result.
So you do have to put somethingdifferent in there in order to
have the situation change.
So good on you for noticing howmuch travel you actually do, and
hopefully you'll get that TSAprecheck.

Whittney (38:49):
Yeah, shout out to Ryan and Patrick at my work who
were like, come on, TSApre-check already.

Susan (38:57):
Yeah, Whittney.
I think it helps a lot of timesto quantify things like, I don't
know, not everybody is sort oflike a numbers person or like
sort of a mathematical person.
We're a little more likequalitative, but whenever you do
start to put things into time,you realize how long something
takes, or like how many timesyou travel, then you actually
can realize this truth aboutyourself.

(39:18):
Like, you know, even on theother end of the spectrum too,
like unloading the dishwasher,it seems like this terrible
feat.
And then if you would timeyourself, it's like two minutes.
So sometimes it helps yourealize that something's not
that much time or that it is alot of time.
So I do things sort ofquantifying things and writing
it down and helping you realize,you know, how much something

(39:38):
actually is, is a really goodtip for seeing like, you know,
what can you do to either makethat better or is it not that
big of a deal.

Whittney (39:45):
Well, and that's kind of why I hadn't done.
pre-check is the last time I hadlooked into it, it was right
around the pandemic and waittimes to get in to get your
fingerprints done was, was justlike months and months.
And so in my head I was stillpicturing it as a lot of work
for not that return oninvestment, when really now it's
a much simpler, easier process,and it's definitely gonna be a

(40:08):
return on investment because Itravel so

Susan (40:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, good on you for makingthat acknowledgement and working
toward that change.
So that sounds good for you for2024.
I'd love to transition totalking about our reading goals
now for the year.
So usually every year we discussthe reading goal that we've set
for ourself on Goodreads and howthat went and what this year
looks like in terms of reading.

(40:32):
So I guess I will throw to youfirst, Whittney, how did your
year go last year and what's,what is your goal for this year
in terms of reading?

Whittney (40:43):
So my goal for 2023 was to read 35 books.
I think it's the same as I hadin 2022.
I didn't read 35 books.
I was only at 33 at the end ofthe year.
And for the first time ever, Ididn't force myself to find two
like really short reads to wrapit up and have a win.
Because whenever I was lookingat some of my stats, well first

(41:06):
off I was thinking I'm tired andI just wanna relax.
And so I don't wanna like forcemyself to hit this goal.
but secondly, I was looking atmy pages read in 2023 and I read
11,436 pages in 2023.
I hit my goal in 2022, which was35 books.
Actually, I think I read 36books in 2022, but I'd only read

(41:29):
8,059 pages.
So this year, somehow I read3,500 more pages than I read
last year, which I think that'sstill pretty impressive.

Susan (41:41):
Yeah, the number isn't always indicative of how you're
reading year when, I mean, a lotof books could be short, but
they might not be that good.
I mean, yeah, I think you right.
Sometimes that's tough, but whoknows?
Is there a way to set a pagegoal versus a number of books
goal?

Whittney (41:58):
I was wondering about that.
I think that potentially wecould look into that because I
don't know if it's always justnumber of books or maybe I could
just make my own personal, like,here's how many pages I'd
roughly

Susan (42:09):
Yeah, that's true.
It's interesting now that yousay that The Goodreads really
does just focus on the number ofbooks because really you could
read only a handful of books ina year, but they might be tomes,
like for example, like Gone WithThe Wind is a huge book.
You know, I don't know offhandhow many pages, but something
like that is obviously a waybigger time commitment than some
of these sort of like fluffierbestseller books that we're
seeing all the time out there,you know?

(42:31):
Um, it sounds like you still hada really great reading year.

Whittney (42:36):
Yeah.
And also some of the books thatI didn't think were that long
actually were quite long.
like books that I was reallyenjoying.
Like One of those beard seriesbooks that I talked about a lot
in the beginning of the year,the Winston Brothers series by
Penny Reid.
My favorite book in that series,which was called Beard Science,

(42:56):
559 pages

Susan (42:57):
Oh wow.

Whittney (42:58):
That's kind of a big book.
it didn't feel that long'causeit was a very entertaining read.
So my average book length thispast year was 346 pages, whereas
in 2022 it was, let me pull itup, 223 pages.
So my average book length was, ahundred pages more.

Susan (43:18):
Yeah, and, and sort of similarly with myself, I
actually did hit my goal thisyear.
Honestly, I don't remember if itwas 30 or 35, but I actually
ended up reading, I think like42.
But some of them were shorterones.
Like even for example, thecleaning book that I referenced
earlier, that was only, youknow, a few hours worth of
listening, but that's stillcounted as a book toward the, in
December, I also listened to aChristmas Carol by Charles

(43:38):
Dickens and that that's only afew hours.
So I, toward the end of theyear, I did get in a lot of
shorter reads that helped boostmy number.
But I was saying to my sisterthat when I look back at all the
books that I read this year, alot of them were just sort of
three stars.
Like they were okay.
You know, I would rather readfewer really good books of value
and read more because I did fallinto the trap of, toward the end

(44:01):
of the year, I was like, oh, I'mso close to getting a high
number here, and I could listento some of these short stories.
And, um, Ann Bogel, who we loveher podcast, what should I read
next on her?
Um, I think one for emails thatshe sent out, she had a list of
like really short audio booksthat you can listen to in
basically a day.
So I listened to a couple ofthose toward the end of the
year.
And I have to say I didn'treally like them that much.

(44:24):
So yes, I sort of crammed in atthe end of the year to get a
higher number, but I didn'treally enjoy the content.
So again, I would rather focuson a better diet, to use my word
from earlier, a better diet ofreally good quality content
versus reading a lot of books.

Whittney (44:41):
What I'm hearing is that you're trying to align your
reading goals with your book,number of book goals.

Susan (44:50):
Yeah, definitely.
I, I just, I don't wanna read somany three star books just to
get another notch on my belt, soto speak.
I, I would just rather readsomething that's higher quality
and not worry so much about thenumber.
Um, I do enjoy that.
Good Reads tracks that for me,but I'm gonna try to be a little
more careful about what I'mselecting and making sure that

(45:10):
I'm putting something good intomy body to, you know, that diet
of books that we talked about.
So actually, I just startedlistening to, um, little House
in The Big Woods, which is thefirst little house in the
Prairie book.
I've already listened to thisbook.
I think my mom read it to me asa child, but my sister was
recently listening to thesebooks with her kids, and they

(45:31):
were constantly talking aboutthe books.
And so I was like, you knowwhat, this is a really, like,
high quality, like comfort read,just really wholesome.
And so I, I wanted to listen tothose books this year.

Whittney (45:42):
That's a really cool goal.
those were some of my favoritebooks growing up.
Shout out to Laura IngallsWilder.

Susan (45:48):
Yes, And it's so cute.
My niece and nephew refer to thebooks as Laura and Mary.
They're like, we wanna listen toLaura and Mary.
And, uh, anyway, just the pointof I want to consume more
wholesome content.
Those ones are relativelyshorter, I think.
So, you know, I might end upgetting, a good number of reads
out of that series, but it's,for me, I guess what I'm saying
is it's not so much about thenumber.
I just want them to be likehigher quality books.

(46:10):
Books that are actuallypotentially some classics, some
just really good, um, wholesomebooks that I can sink my teeth
into and not just like the nexthottest thing that's sort of an
empty calorie.

Whittney (46:24):
Oh,

Susan (46:24):
Yeah, empty calorie reads.
And I feel like so many of thesebooks that you see on
Bookstagram or Book Talk orwhatever are just kind of like
these trendy books by these likehot authors.
But I gotta say, like I've readsome of those books and they're
kind of like okay in the moment,but they don't leave any lasting
impact on me.
I just feel like they do feellike empty calories.
So I'm gonna try to shift awayfrom reading what something that

(46:46):
might seem like fun and trendytowards something that's a tried
and true classic.
Another example is I might liketo reread Anne of Green Gables
something that was just like areally high quality piece of
literature that brings happinessinto my life, even if it's a
reread.

Whittney (47:02):
So do you have an example of something that you
felt was empty calories as faras like, you know, like BookTok
or

Susan (47:10):
I'd have to really pull up my list here.
But I know there was something Iread by, I think it was Freda
McFadden, is that her name?
I'm trying to pull up my listquickly here in the moment, the,
It Happened One Summer book byTessa Bailey.
That one was okay.

Whittney (47:24):
I was just gonna ask

Susan (47:25):
I don't know, actually I liked the sequel.
I think that was, I said Iwasn't gonna read anymore by
her, and then I ended upenjoying the sequel.
But I guess overall it's notreally like,, didn't give me a
lot of caloric value.
It wasn't like a health food.
It was more just like fluff.
Like I was sitting on the coucheating chips, kind of Never lie
by Freda McFadden, that one, itwas okay.
I can see why people like it,but I feel like a lot of these

(47:47):
trendy books might be for peoplewho aren't don't wanna say this
to offend anybody, but I justfeel like they're just like
quick fun reads, but not reallyfor someone who values
literature.
I'm not a bestselling author, soI really shouldn't say anything
to take away from these writersbecause there is something to be
said for writing a book that isreally fluffy and gets people
interested.
I don't know.
I just find that, I notice thatpeople who maybe aren't an

(48:08):
English major or someone whoconsiders themself a true
reader, they like these fluffybooks, but someone who maybe has
a little bit of a higherstandard isn't gonna like that
kind of book.
So, I don't know.
Whittney, talk me outta the holehere.
I feel like I'm offendingpeople.

Whittney (48:23):
so I think it comes down to as, as an English major
who Actually often prefersfluffy books, which I'll get
into why in a minute.
But this reminds me of just whatare your priorities for reading,
right?
It makes me think of Anne Bogel,AKA modern Mrs.
Darcy, her book personality orreading personality quiz where,

(48:44):
you know, I think you got one ofthe things that you got for your
result there was like, you liketo learn when you read.
So something that expands yourhorizons in some way.
Maybe the comfort reads arereminding you of some nostalgia.
You're not just reading toescape.
Right?
Whereas my result for her quizwas, I like to read for
escapism.
So I like to read things thataren't my every day aren't my

(49:06):
normal, you know, scenario.
So I, a lot of times the morefantastical it is, the more
entertaining it is to me.
And I don't think you're thesame way.
You tend to be drawn to moreliterary fiction reads where
sometimes I can't, I don't havethe brain space for that right
now.
I, I thought too hard at worktoday and I would like to just
watch Bravo.
A lot of times I want the Bravoversion of a book, right?

(49:29):
I want it light and silly and Idon't always need it to be life
changing, whereas I think youneed your reading to be a little
more

Susan (49:37):
potentially.
Yeah.
I just like a little moresubstance a something.
And even if I'm learning aboutsomeone else's point of view,
like a person who's not similarto me, I just felt like with
some of the other books, it wasjust like a little too fluffy
where I sort of felt like maybeI wasted my time a bit.
but there is something to besaid for the fun books.
I even was talking to my sisterand I feel like she tends to

(49:58):
read a little book with a littlemore heft, a little more, even
more than me, more literaryvalue.

Whittney (50:04):
yes.

Susan (50:04):
And there were certain times where I was like, oh, that
sounds great, but I don't thinkI could read that right now
because I do just want somethinga little lighter.
So I think it's a balance oftrying to find something that's
lighter and fun, but it stillhas substance, which is why I
like Emily Henry, because I dofeel like it gives off the
feeling of being like, fun andfluffy, but there is depth.

(50:25):
Um, I feel that way about EmilyGiffin's books too.
She hasn't had one out on a bit,but I, I also feel like, you
know, they're very very, veryreadable, but I, I always feel
like I'm really like deep divinginto someone else's perspective
and I always, they have alasting impact for me.

Whittney (50:42):
I think for me, something similar is I like to
read a lot of historical romancebooks, but there are a couple
authors that really just somedepth into it.
'cause it's, you know, romancein general as a genre is pretty
formulaic, right?
Generally there's gonna be aHappily Ever After, which is
something comforting I findabout those books.
I know it's not gonna end badly,but there are a couple authors

(51:06):
that just kind of infuse someextra substance into that kind
of formula.
Examples that I can think of offthe top of my head are like
Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan, twoof my all time favorites.
Evie Dunmore, she does that aswell, where it's, not just a
fluff read, so it is more of theEmily Henry, Emily Giffin like

(51:26):
substance add to the formulaicnovel.
And so I understand what you'resaying there.
I get it.

Susan (51:33):
Yes, and, and I think, like you said, I like to learn
something.
So even historical fiction, likeLittle House on the Prairie, I
mean, I know it's based on reallife, but a lot of it in there
is fictional as Well.

Whittney (51:43):
Well, you're learning about what it was like to live
on the Prairie, because lauraIngalls Wilder did actually do

Susan (51:49):
Yes, absolutely.
so I do really enjoy books likethat.
So that's kind of where I'mcoming from this year, trying to
make some more, mindful choices,I guess, about what I'm taking
in and not just reading anythingthat's like the next biggest
thing.
So, in a way, kind of ignoringsome of the stuff I'm seeing on
social media, like everyone'stalking about this one book,
like sometimes I, I just haven'tfelt that those are good

(52:10):
recommendations for me.

Whittney (52:12):
Yeah, I mean, I, I know what you're saying too,
'cause even last summer, uh, myfriend Luis was saying, oh my
gosh, have you heard aboutFourth Wing this book that
everybody's talking about?
And I was like, what, what isthis Fourth Wing book?
Of course, you know a month ortwo later it was like
everywhere.
And I couldn't go somewherewithout seeing or hearing about
Fourth Wing.
But, I felt that way about thatone.

(52:33):
It wasn't on my radar initially,because, I wasn't really reading
a lot of that genre at the time.

Susan (52:39):
Yeah, so we'll see where this year takes us.
But speaking of books, Whittney,

Whittney (52:45):
oh yes.
Do you wanna do our reveal forour book club

Susan (52:49):
let's do it.

Whittney (52:50):
Um,

Susan (52:51):
Drum roll.

Whittney (52:53):
I'm announcing this book because I chose this book,
so if everybody is upset aboutthe book Choice, it's on me.
It's not on Susan or Devin.
I talked them into this.

Susan (53:01):
I don't get hate mail.
No one's gonna be like,Whittney, how dare you select
this book.
I think you're good.

Whittney (53:07):
Just in case, send the hate mail directly to the person
who deserves it.
so we're gonna be reading anddiscussing a book that's
actually fits with this BookTokconversation we just had, which
is A Court of Thorns and Rosesby Sarah J.
Maas.
So this is a book that prettymuch everybody I think had read
before we have, or a lot of bookpeople have read before we have

(53:30):
has a huge cult following.
This is the first book in thisseries and we're gonna dissect
it as, as our little, you know,

Susan (53:38):
Yes.
And apparently this book iswhat's called a romantasy.
So the, the romantasy genre,it's, it's something a little
bit different for us, or atleast as far as what we've
discussed in the past in ourbook club discussion.
So we were excited.
Devin and I were excited abouttaking on a different genre.
So thanks for that suggestionand we'd love to hear from you,
our listeners about this beforewe record the episode.

(54:00):
We have some time here.
You can send in any specificquestions or thoughts or
anything you want us to discussin our episode.
So if you're familiar with thisbook and have a lot to say,
please send us a comment orleave us a message

Whittney (54:12):
Yes.
Or even an email [e-mail].
Those are the main ways to tellus your

Susan (54:20):
Yeah, so we're excited.
Devin will be on with us for thenext episode, and we'll dive
into a Court of Thorn and Thornsand Roses.
Oh my goodness, I can't even saythe title.
Whittney I've been referring toit when I've been texting with
Devin about, it just saysA-C-O-T-R, which is the acronym

Whittney (54:33):
yeah, that's how people on the internet refer to
it.
For years I was probably seeingposts about it.
I just wasn't recognizing thatthey were about this book,
because that's how people referto it on the internet

Susan (54:45):
Yeah.
I'm excited to hear what ourthoughts are about this.
So, Whittney, it's been so greattalking with you today.
I'm excited that our season fouris underway.
I'm really looking forward todiving into this book next time
with you and Devin.

Whittney (54:58):
Yes.
I can't wait to hear what youboth thought about it, because
I'm still formulating what Ithink about it.
So can't wait to see Suze if youand I are aligned as usual and
Devin is not aligned, or I, Ijust keep using

Susan (55:13):
Yeah, it's a good word, right?
It's good, it's tempting.
It creates a nice mental imageof just everything in a row in
its place.
I recently finished the book.
I haven't shared any reactionswith you yet.
I did talk to my sister about itbriefly this weekend, but we
haven't really gotten into it,so that'll be fun when we do.
So tune in next time when wetalk to Devin about a court of
thorn thorns and roses