Still Truckin'

I've been quite the busy bee the last month and a half! All the usual minutiae of life, plus a few big events thrown in have conspired to keep me off the computer. So here's what I've been up to (I promise I might talk about books again someday):

• I have met (and exceeded!) my 2013 goal! As of today I've finished 105 books! So, while I'm not going to quit reading for the rest of the year, it's nice that I don't have to worry about rushing through any of them. It also gives me some time to fine tune my goals (as previously discussed) for 2014. In addition to my reading goals, I'm playing around with some other projects I'd like to undertake over the next year.
  
  
• I welcomed my new nephew to the planet! He's awesome (of course).
  
  
  
  
• I added a new state to my list with my visit to Texas! This makes 21 officially checked off. I've got a few others which are questionable...but I have particular requirements for counting a state. Simply driving through a state without doing anything doesn't work for me, and neither, of course, does sitting in an airport. I don't want to just physically be in a state (in that case I'd be much closer to 30), I want to experience something, to see something of historical or geographical significance, to get a feel for the unique vibe of a place. If I'm just going to do the same sort of things I can do at home, what's the point?
  
  Visiting the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas with my cousin - It was especially interesting because she and I both recently read 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I love when history and literature and travel all collide!
  
  We also visited the stockyards in Fort Worth - and I tried my hand at being a cowgirl...or at least looking like one.
  
  
  
  

  In San Antonio, we took some time to remember the Alamo...I must confess this is a part of U.S. history that I don't know much about, except that we're supposed to remember it, haha. But that's one of the things I love about traveling, it sparks an interest in learning things that I never experienced in History class.