Family / Health / Books: Q1 2026
If you’ve been around a while, you know that I’ve sent a quarterly email called “Reading / Watching / Playing” in the past. For this year, I’m renaming it “Family / Health / Books” to better align with where our collective goals might sync.
So, with absolutely nothing to do with accounting, here’s what’s going on with…
FAMILY
One of my non-business focuses for this year is to make action movies and video games a priority. Seriously. Our youngest loves these things. I want to spend time with him. So now I love these things :o) This past weekend, we watched Free Guy (Disney+). It was a delightful blend of action / rom-com for both of us - a nod to the video game Grand Theft Auto (I may have spent some time on GTA in college…) and stars Ryan Reynolds**. Two thumbs up from me and absolutely worth a watch if you have a gamer in your family.
I also might have glued my eyes to the TV waiting for the rocket’s return in the Fortnite live event this weekend. This kid had better put me in the nicest nursing home one day…
HEALTH
As I turned the corner on 40 last year (hi, perimenopause), I’ve been digging into my own health on a whole new level. I’ve spent the past few months experimenting with HRT (hormone replacement therapy) with my doc and it’s been a fun and worthwhile experiment. A little of this…a little less of that…hey look, I feel way better.
And it appears I’ve won the rural medicine lottery. Rural healthcare is notoriously underserved, but my doc just finagled us a DEXA scan in our tiny town. I’m going to get my first ever DEXA scan next week at my wellness check. My data-brain can’t wait to get baseline data to pair with my Oura ring data.
BOOKS
I just wrapped up The Unmaking of June Farrow on audiobook for my local book club. While time travel novels aren’t my normal genre, I let my book club stretch my comfort zone. It was definitely a good listen, though I’m still not sure I totally understand it. This is why I don’t time travel.
Much more my genre…I also just finished The Gap and The Gain (really good baseline mindset book) and after years of being on my TBR list, just started The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (very Jesus-y, also very good. I’ve never related to a mega church pastor more than in the prologue of this book.). I took a two month break from business / self-help books and it feels good to be back.
I hope you are prioritizing whatever it is that lights you up outside of work.
Don’t forget to live,
Erica
**Okay, one accounting thing. Did anyone see that Ryan Reynolds is keynoting AICPA ENGAGE? Bravo AICPA, what a pick! He did a fireside chat at Intuit Connect a few years back and there were things I took away from that talk that I still use in my business today. If you’re going to be there, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Use code ENG2026 for $150 off if you still need a ticket. I’ll be there for a couple days, so come find me!
What’s Happening in Aligned
Recently Added to the Video Library:
Offering Advisory & CFO Services [1.28.26]
Anchor: Demo & Discussion [2.11.26]
Transitioning to Anchor [2.25.26] (Erica walked through how she did it last year)
Accountability Check-In
Tue, Mar 10th - 2pm MST > RSVP Here
We’ll talk through the past quarter and plans for your next quarter
Office Hours w/ Erica
Wed, Mar 25th - 11am MST > RSVP Here
Ask me anything or we can brainstorm as a group!
Question of the Week > How often do you intentionally sit down to reflect or plan for your firm? [annually / quarterly / monthly / I don’t have a cadence right now]
Current Discussions On > KPI dashboards, Anchor engagement letters, feedback on Double (Keeper), payroll software recs, clients wants her on internal email, and more!
Join the discussion with 170+ like-minded, non-scaling accountants / really cool humans in the link below. $75/mo, no commitment - come and go as you please :o)
Money back guarantee, if you get in there and don’t see the value. No questions asked.
More details in the link above.