embrace winter bucket list - january update
Back in December,
I wrote a blog post
about how I planned to
embrace winter this year
instead of fighting it tooth and nail
which is my normal method of madness.
So far,
I have tried curling (which was fun
but I failed miserably at…),
looked at lots and lots of Christmas lights,
baked chocolate chip cookies…twice…
(and yes, passing someone else the
ingredients and occasionally
setting the timer
TOTALLY counts as baking cookies….
they are my rules, after all.)
But this weekend,
I got to cross snowshoeing off my list. :)
If I was 100% honest with you,
I was a little nervous about this.
I am not exactly what one would call
coordinated
or
athletic.
But it was a beautiful, sunny, warm day
and I honestly had
so
much
fun.
And I was sooooo glad I brought my camera.
And extra socks.
There was hot chocolate with marshmallows,
a sunset,
and I didn’t fall once!
This “embrace winter” thing is not too bad.
:)
now….what can I cross off the list next?!
friday i'm in love...
I was going to come here and do my usual
friday i’m in love post
but somehow
i got sucked down an alice in wonderland rabbit hole of
searching for
(and getting incredibly excited about)
the following things:
building a doll house
how to deconstruct & re-construct a blythe doll
i want ALL the calico critters
also little people
and bella grace magazines
plus a new hot chocolate recipe
and cute skates
so i can build a light box
and a doll house (which brings me full circle).
Do you ever have those moments though?
Where you are kind of bobbing along, doing your every day thing
and slightly inspired by the world around you
but then, all of a sudden, it’s like you wake up
and EVERYTHING is inspiring…
shades of light,
music,
the color of the sky,
random you tube playlists,
the book you are reading,
ads for kids clothes,
snippets of conversation in the mall…
literally everything suddenly makes you want to
grab a paper, pen, saw, scissors, keyboard, chainsaw…
you feel excited
about
everything.
That’s how I feel…right now.
I like this feeling.
I want to keep it.
:)
(also, this little guy
had a friday adventure of his own…and
went to the vet today…but he is ok! Yay!)
tuesday truths...in 2020
♥ the truth is I am still using winter photos from 2018
because I have not gotten out with my camera in
forever and that makes me a little sad.
♥ the truth is I spent a ridiculous amount of time
creating a color coded spreadsheet to help me
determine how I should spend every second of my time
because I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed and
worried that I can’t do everything that I want to do.
♥ the truth is…the color coded spreadsheet
made me feel so much better. I like having a plan.
♥ the truth is I wish I had a big bag of chips right now
but instead I know I have to get on the treadmill in 16 minutes
because that’s what color coded spreadsheet told me to do.
♥ the truth is…I still feel pretty optimistic that 2020 is going to be
a big year for me…I have plans…and blueprints…and goals…
and a fancy color coded spreadsheet.
#stansgottaplan
:)
whatcha readin'? 2019 round up
Once again, I did not keep up to date on
all the books I had read for the year
and am forced to do a
2019 round up of the stragglers.
:)
My goal last year was to read 25 books
and I read 29!
which would be more impressive to me
if the year before I hadn’t read THIRTY SIX!
Anyway…my goal was 25 and I did beat that
so let’s place our focus there, shall we? :)
Here is a quick round up of the 10 I didn’t write about yet
(and please forgive the brief descriptions…I am going
by the book notes I wrote while reading each book):
A WEB OF ANGELS Lillian Nattel
♥♥♥♥♥
Disturbing but beautiful writing.
THE WEIGHT OF INK Rachel Kadish
♥♥♥♥
It took me a bit to get into it…
but the uncomfortable tensions between
the student & teacher caught my attention..
and kept me going.
It took me a long time to finish.
The history & philosophy bogged me down in places
but the writing was so beautiful that I kept going…
DAISY JONES AND THE SIX Taylor Jenkins Reid
♥♥♥♥♥
"But at some point, you have to recognize that you have no control over anybody and you have to step back and be ready to catch them when they fall and that’s all you can do. It feels like throwing someone you love out to sea and then praying they float on their own, knowing they might well drown and you’ll have to watch.”
Eff. That cut right into me.
Also…just gave this 5 hearts and haven’t even finished it.
(this was taken directly from my book notes. I loved this book.)
IN PIECES Sally Field
♥♥♥♥♥
I kind of love Sally Field. I really started loving her in the show
Brothers and Sisters. The memoir was very well written and
there is so much more to her than I ever realized.
THE HUNTRESS Kate Quinn
♥♥♥♥♥
I was very excited about a 2nd book
from the author of the Alice Network & this
definitely did not disappoint.
I especially loved how it make me see 2 sides
of a coin…how a person may do things in
extreme situations that otherwise, they may have never done.
CIRCE Madeline Miller
♥♥♥♥♥
I really, really enjoyed this version of Greek mythology.
MAGIC HOUR Kristin Hannah
♥♥♥♥.5
I love this author. I was very caught up in it
from beginning right til very end.
Good quick kinda light read.
BITE THE STARS Eliza Clark
♥♥♥♥♥
I picked up this book in a book sale
& loved it. And oddly enough, I can’t link to this Canadian author
from Indigo…but can find it on Amazon. That surprised me.
From my notes:
”Read like poetry…but also like swallowing shards of jagged glass…
so sad and painful.”
THE ALL GIRL FILLING STATION LAST REUNION Fannie Flagg
♥♥♥♥♥
I totally did not expect to really like this
but I friggin’ LOVED it. It almost made me cry in public.
Another happy book sale find!
CRAZY RICH ASIANS (1) Kevin Kwan
♥♥.5
Meh. It was ok. Pretty light and airy and fluffy and…meh.
But…I am reading the 2nd one so…what does that say about me.
Haha.
Even though I read more books in 2018 than 2019,
I think I am going to continue with setting my book reading goal
one book higher than the previous year…so
my goal for 2020 is 30 books.
(Although we all know that, in my heart, I am really going to be trying to beat 36…haha)
And my favorite book from 2019 if I had to choose just one…that’s a hard one.
I had a lot of 5 heart books in there. But I am leaning towards
Daisy Jones & the six (which is being made into a movie!!)
and Where The Crawdads Sing.
If you had a favorite books from 2019, I would love to know about it!
I LOVE book recommendations! :)