2017 Booklist: Part One

Every year I try to get my thoughts together and make a list of all the books I want to read in the following year. Now, this list almost always changes as the year progresses, books get added, they fall off the list, I read part of one and hate it, I re-read Harry Potter 8 millions times, but its a good baseline. This year, following the last week of madness in our country, my list has undergone perhaps one of the biggest overhauls ever. I have always been curious and pushed myself to learn about different topics but this past month has scared the crap out of me. Seeing the level of ignorance and fear that is in our world today, and witnessing first hand how it combats love, acceptance, and progress has lit a fire under my butt to learn as much about the state of our world as possible.

With that being said, my book list is basically shot to hell and has now split into two lists (because obviously some 'fun' books will still be required). So here we go...

Learning List:
1. The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein)
2. Dark Money (Jane Mayer)
3. White Trash (Nancy Isenberg)
4. This Changes Everything (Naomi Klein)
5. Six Degrees (Mark Linus)
6. Listen, Liberal (Mark Frank)
7. Hillbilly Elegy (J.D Vance)
8. Field Notes From a Catastrophe (Elizabeth Kolbert) She also wrote The Sixth Extinction, which I loved!
9. The Big Picture (Sean Carroll)
10. Strangers in Their Own Land (Arlie Hochschild)
11. The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
12. Freedom is a Constant Struggle (Angela Davis)
13. We Should All Be Feminists (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)


What are you reading? I would love suggestions on other relevant reads!
Em

The Elephant in the Womb...I Mean Room...

I want to take a minute today to talk about how surprised I was to see that there were several women that I know personally who posted on social media in the last couple of days saying that they didn't feel like the Women's March was inclusive to all women. This honestly shocked me, and also shook me to my core because as much as I try, I can't fathom why a woman wouldn't be able to understand how important it is to have comprehensive reproductive rights!

My understanding is that the real concern some women have about this movement is that is advocating on behalf of those who are Pro-Choice. For a person who is Pro-life, I can see how this would make it seem as though you are not welcome or included in this movement. But I firmly believe that this isn't true. The real issue here is that bipartisan politics have made us all think that being pro-life and pro-choice are polar opposites.

This unnecessary but unsurprising labeling forces us to take sides. But how can we be expected to take such a black and white stance on an issue that is so subjective? Human life is involved and there is no way that one decision can be made in an office somewhere in Washington, that will be effective and right for every situation.

Pro-choice is not anti-life or pro-abortion. Being Pro-choice is acknowledging that abortion is a difficult, multi-faceted, complicated, and subjective issue that should not be regulated by the government. Being pro-choice is being in favor of a woman's right to choose what is best for her and her family in that specific situation. Are you really pro-life if you are in favor of bringing a child into this world where they are not going to be cared for in the best way possible?? What about if the fetus isn't viable or has a terrible illness that would bring pain and suffering to the parents and the child itself? Or if the life of the mother is at risk?? The point is, these decisions belong to the women who are EXPERIENCING them. Who are we to judge and regulate other peoples bodies?? No person has the right to control another persons decision to bring another life into this world.

If you are truly Pro-life, then it should be a priority to ensure that EVERYONE has access to affordable contraception, reproductive education, and healthcare. THAT is being pro-life. Not debasing and judging women you don't know about a decision that is already incredibly difficult.

The biggest difference that I see between people who are Pro-choice and Pro-life is the word CHOICE. I do not judge my friends who believe that no fetus should ever be aborted. But I do disagree with them. Does that mean that I advocate abortion in all situations? Of course not. But I do respect my fellow women enough to know that they know their bodies and their situations better than any politician in Washington does.

I would never judge a woman for getting an abortion, in any situation. I would also never judge a woman's decision to carry a baby to term, in any situation. And THAT is what being Pro-choice means to me. I respect you and your decisions. All I'm asking is that you do the same.

Let's take away the ridiculous coined terms 'Pro-choice' and Pro-life'....what are we left with? Thousands of unique, complicated situations that are being over-simplified, or just over-looked, by a bunch of politicians. We need to slow down, think, and truly understand what it is that we are arguing about.

I would like to be given the freedom to decide what is best for my body and my family, and I want all women to have that same freedom. Simple.

Oops..kind of fell off the map there :)

I'm having a hard time deciding how to even start this post because it has been over a month since I last wrote and so much has happened both in my personal life and on a national scale since then. Obviously I was displeased and shocked by the results of the presidential election. Like so many others, I was unaware of how divided our country is and how easy it is to be blinded by the bubble we live in. Luckily, I've been brought up in a situation where everyone is treated equally no matter their religion, skin color, sexual orientation, or nationality is. However, I can see now that I have taken advantage of the fact that not everyone has the same open minded up-bringing that I have. I'm not going to harp on politics right now, but it's important for me to say that no matter who our president is or who our elected officials are, I will do everything in my power to support them when they support and protect ALL Americans, and I will defy and fight against them whenever they don't.

So! Now that the giant, misogynistic, racist elephant is out of the room (sorry! I'm really done now...) let's catch up! I've been back in Durham for about a month and everything is going great. I've been able to visit J down in Texas twice, but I definitely can't wait for the holidays so we can spend more than a couple of days together. Work is amazing! I forgot what it's like to sell houses in a town where the market never slowed down...it's also been such an uplifting thing to get back to work for my family business, which given recent events, I am ever more proud to be a part of! #girlpower

Wedding planning is insane, and it's probably a miracle that my mother hasn't killed me yet and vice versa. This whole wedding would never even happen without her, so thank god she continues to put up with my less than ideal method of getting stuff done...aka waiting until the last minute and then winging it. We are officially TWO MONTHS, I repeat TWO MONTHS away from this shindig and I am getting so excited. Meteorologists are calling for a super snowy winter so maybe we will even have a white Christmas AND wedding!!

I never posted the after photos of the house but I promise I will do a whole separate post on that when I get around to cleaning my house real quick aaaaand taking pics ;)

But I think that is enough of me blabbing for now. I will do better with the updates!

<3

P.S Super cool App for staying up to date on your local representatives, current bills, and news is called Countable...check it out! Let's keep the dialog open and try to fix these issues together by learning more about ALL of the demographics in our country. There is no place in America for hate and discrimination. Stand up for your neighbors. Speak out against hate. Keep your heads up!