Last night was the kick-off to my church's fall women's ministry/small group sessions for the year, and I couldn't be happier that I went.

Here's my small group for the year.
If you're an introvert like me, you know that sometimes the most appealing way to spend an evening is at home in your pajamas, nose in a good book or binge-watching your favorite TV show. This is why it's always a battle for me when it comes time to decide whether I want to join a small group at church.

To be honest, most years I've opted out. In 2014-15, I joined a fall/spring group and a summer group—and was so glad I went!—but then I skipped 2015-16 altogether.

This year, I've been somewhat isolated because for the past six months I've been between jobs, job-hunting from home. So it's going to be a really important step for me to have a regular commitment that gets me out of the house one evening a week.

And guess what else? When we were getting to know each other at the kick-off last night, we discovered that many of us are introverts. So we're in the same boat.

If you are on the fence about joining a group, whether it's a book club, small group or writer's circle, I highly recommend you give it a shot. You never know just how your life will expand and flourish as a result.

As for me, I can't wait to see what lies in store for our group as we dive into the book of Colossians together.
It's been awhile since I posted! The summer drifted by in a pleasant laze of trips to Grand Haven, learning to kayak both tandem and single, reading in the backyard or at the beach, binge-watching Netflix shows (The West Wing and Doc Martin), reading some more, and of course, job-hunting.

Oh job-hunting. These days I'm perfecting the art of the cover letter, networking like a boss on LinkedIn, and greedily gobbling up Forbes listicles about workplace etiquette, interview do's and don'ts, what you say with your body language, and best jobs for ISFJ personality types. (That's me!)

Here's me in my job-interview-ready fashion in July:


And here's today's interview look:


Oh and here's a picture of me kayaking for good measure:


I aim to start posting a little more frequently now that fall is here. In the meantime, hope you all had a great summer, and good luck to those of you who are starting school or who have kids starting school.