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small daily habits

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Hello! Some of y'all know that this year will be a big travel year for me, mostly back-loaded to the second half of 2024.  Oregon for the first time, Seattle and a nearby island for a wedding.  Then we've got all first-time visits to London, Amsterdam, and Brussels... ...and last but not least, Paris for the Olympics! Plus some smaller visits to see friends or attend weddings later in the year :) Before I embark of these whirlwind adventures starting in July, I want to appreciate the beauty of some little things I do every day. These are habits I keep or luxuries I have in my current home that I will not necessarily take with me or have consistent time for when I travel. looking at the lake! on a walk, from the rooftop, and even from my desk while working! taking my laptop to work from my local cafes or outdoor spaces listening to the combination of city sounds and nature sounds around me calling or texting friends and family, telling them I love them walking to a bar, restau...
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ASAP Book Reviews: 2023 Edition

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Welcome back to Jo Jo's ASAP Book Reviews  (As Short As Possible) 2023 Edition It's already that time again,  since I posted my 2022 reviews a year late- in November 2023-  I want to get my 2023 book reviews up during this first quarter of the year 2024.  Goal Setting: In my last post , I mentioned I had a numeric goal for 2022, to read 28 books, and I barely made it to half (19). It's good to have goals, but it's also quite freeing to not hold yourself to it if you realize you have to or want to prioritize other things.  I would have loved the satisfaction of surpassing my goal, but it was also my last year of grad school, when I was reading hours a week for class, so I did not feel guilty for  not  hitting my "fun reading" goal. I accomplished other similar goals like journaling [almost] every day and writing ideas for children's books. In 2024, I'm not setting a reading goal at all.  At times when I can't choose what to read next, just for fun,...
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ASAP Book Reviews of 2022

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2022 ASAP Book Reviews If you’ve read my book reviews before, you’ll know I try to make them As Short As Possible! Unfortunately I let this slip on my to do list until almost the end of 2023. These will be even shorter than usual, because I'm about a month away from writing my 2023 book reviews.  GOAL = 28 READ = 19   It feels great to accomplish a goal you set for yourself, or a challenge among your friends. However, it is also liberating to excuse yourself from not hitting a number on a list. 2022 was the year I finished grad school! I read bits & pieces of at least 7 other books for school, not for fun, but I enjoyed a lot of the content and I learned a ton last year. Other things I did to strengthen my mind in 2022:  Went to therapy sessions Took classes in effective communication, leadership, and user research Wrote a 31-page Capstone research paper on the user experience of Airbnb for travel nurses Facilitated community building activities for my coworkers Plann...
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Puerto Rico, isla hermosa

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Puerto Rico, isla hermosa Beautiful island, lovely island *queue Rita Moreno and/or Ariana DeBose singing "America" from either of the West Side Story movies. Here is a list of some  famous people   from PR, in case you didn’t realize. I’ve had this drafted since the day we got back in mid-December (last vacay of 20222!). In order not to delay it as long as I did for Ireland , I’ll share it now, while I’m in the Auckland airport getting ready to fly over to Sydney to continue my first trip of 2023 :)   A lot of the pictures really are worth a thousand words, so you can also just scroll through and look at all of them if you’re not feeling like reading! I hope my travel stories help you have a great Puerto Rico trip, or if you’ve been there before, you can give me tips for my next visit there. I will 110% be back there as soon as possible, and I certainly wouldn’t mind living there for a short time! I know there are some political and economic issues that I’m not super inf...
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The Emerald Isle

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At long last, a TJM recap of our wee holiday to Ireland in June 2022. ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 For each of the 3 cities we visited, I'll give you my typical 3 TJM blog favorites. 1) a favorite item or place for FOOD, 2) the same for DRINKS, and 3) I'll share a Traveler's Tip. I'm also adding an "honorable mention" activity for each city, and a "best story", because damn we just had a ton of fun! ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 ☘️🍀 First, a general statement before we go on this journey.  It rains all the time all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. (ok, not constantly. But way too much.)      Like it or not, it's just a fact. Pack accordingly.       City #1: DUBLIN Food: potatoes & chowder (anywhere and everywhere. Any form of potato, and any variety of seafood chowder). Sidenote, with our first sit-down lunch, bowls of soup, & local pints came our first introduction to the lack of urgency in Dublin. Brace yourself to look up a place on Google Maps, walk ther...
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