As you know, I'm presently on a little European adventure and earlier this week I was in Amsterdam. (It's a beautiful city and you should go.) While I was there, I visited Anne Frank House - where she, her family, the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer hid from the Nazis for two years - and was completely inspired by the ambition and attitude of the 13-year-old. Having visited Auschwitz two years ago and cried an absolute river while I was touring the facility, I was prepared to feel the sadness of their situation, but I wasn't prepared to feel the joy [...]

As part of my resolutions for a more purposeful life this year, I have a goal to read 25 books and one of the books on my list is "You Are a Badass" by Jennifer Sincero. I finished it yesterday and it should be on the required reading list of anyone with a beating heart. I don't even know how I stumbled upon the book to put it on my Goodreads Want To Read List, but I know I was a big fan of the title. Who doesn't like to consider themselves a badass, if only on occasion? Someone who doesn't take any [...]

I made many goals last year and one of them was to read 15 books. I thought one a month - plus a few thrown in to help pass the time on vacation - was completely attainable. In fact, I thought I'd have no problem exceeding that goal and reading 20, if not more! Guess what didn't get crossed off my list? That's right...I read a measly eight books last year. How embarrassing.... Part of it was me not taking my goal seriously and waiting until the middle of summer to start doing anything about it. The other part is [...]