Long Overdue Book Post

This post is long overdue, and I almost thought about just forgoing it....but I love having these posts to look back on (and because I often forget what I've read!). So without further ado, here we go!!

My favorite book from the first batch pictured above is Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The rest of that first batch were all pretty good, but nothing too special that stood out to me. The next batch pictured below had a lot more favorites! I typically love the idea of memoirs, but not the actual reading of them. ;) But I loved Educated! I enjoyed the first two books in the American Royals series, but I felt like Rivals was a bit of a let down. The series has kind of run its course in my opinion. I will probably still read the next book, but I'm not super excited about it. I read This Time Next Year around the start of 2022 (it is set on New Year's Eve/New Year's Day) and adored it! Becoming Mrs. Lewis was a bit of a slow start for me, but I ended up really enjoying it.

The first two pictures in the collage below were thoughtful gifts from my sister! Emily sent me Every Summer After & Meant to Be right before we were embarking on our journey to Alaska this summer, which was just so thoughtful of her. Since 99.9% of the books I read are hard copies from the library, I didn't have anything to take with me on the trip. So I got to enjoy those two books as we travelled across the country, and I loved them both so much! Once we got to Alaska, we didn't have library access quite yet so I purchased People We Meet on Vacation at Wal-Mart, and that was a fun, easy read during the stress of house-hunting. I have typically enjoyed all of Sally Hepworth's novels (The Secrets of Midwives was the first of hers I read if I remember correctly, and I loved it!), but I am enjoying them less and less each time a new one is released. The Younger Wife is her most recent, and it was just okay for me. Taylor Jenkins Reid's Carrie Soto is Back is one of my top reads as of late! I loved it so, so much & I think I appreciated it all the more after reading Andre Agassi's memoir Open (which I also loved!) a few years ago.

Okay, two terrible books from the collage below--do not waste your time on Searching for Sylvie Lee or The Summer Place. I kept hoping the endings of these two books would redeem them, but no such luck. I adored Nora Goes Off Script, and John Crist's memoir was super interesting to me. Katherine Center's The Bodyguard is another one of my tippy-top favorites! I loved it so much that I started grabbing every Katherine Center book I could from the library.

This last collage below is comprised of books I've read aloud to our kids recently or books that I read that aligned with our Marvelously Made philosophy. All of the children's novels included in the collage we loved except for Green Ember; that one was kind of a flop for us. As far as the parent books, Free to Learn was my favorite! I found myself stopping again and again to read excerpts aloud to Derek. 

Hopefully it won't be quite as long before I publish another one of these posts! We have a trip to Hawaii coming up soon & I plan to get lots of reading time in on the plane & on the beach!

January 2023

Happy New Year! I can't believe we're already over half-way through January.

We went tubing on MLK, Jr. Day & had the best time! This was a "first"for all of us, and whew!!! Those tubes really fly down the hill!

Another first for Brady & me--I enrolled Brady in a homeschool P.E. class this semester, and they offer a weekly Friday fun activity outdoors. The first Friday was a hike at North Fork, which is less than 10 minutes from our house. We loved it & then took Derek & the girls back to North Fork the very next day to explore more! 

I have followed the 1000 Hours Outside movement for the past few years as it beautifully aligns with the Marvelously Made philosophy; however, I never felt compelled to participate in the 1000 Hours Outside challenge as we typically spent copious amounts of time outdoors as a result of our family lifestyle, the Texas climate, and the design of our school. Fast forward to winter in Alaska when it's almost always cold & dark, and we have found ourselves indoors more than we'd like. So we are taking the challenge this year, and it is definitely helping us be more intentional in getting out even when we don't always want to. ;)

{Christmas thank you notes}

{we added a chess clock to our chess games at home, and it has been a fun new challenge!}

{I was looking at cards in Target & Brady brought this one over to me. "Who is this? Elvis or something?"}

{playing Tenzi}

{sledding at our city park}

{attempting to dig a snow tunnel}

Other notable events from the first few weeks of the new year....
--Derek took a trip to Japan for work. The travel time & time difference was a doozy, but it was such a cool experience for him.

--Our beloved Dawgs won the National Championship for the second year in a row!!

--Shelby joined a new-to-us flag football league. We initially enrolled her in the 10-12 year old division, but that age group was overloaded with players. They were asking for 12 year olds who were willing to bump up to the 13-15 year old division, which didn't have enough players. Shelby volunteered to move up & had an unforgettable first practice with her new team. Upon arrival, we discovered that the gym was mistakenly double-booked. The coaches held a quick impromptu informational meeting and said kids were welcome to throw around in the parking lot afterward. At the meeting's conclusion, I was headed straight for the car because Shelby was only dressed in shorts & short sleeves. Well, she grabbed a Columbia fleece jacket from a teammate & proceeded to practice for 45 MINUTES on a snow-packed parking lot in 18 degree weather/felt like 11 degrees. It was the most Alaskan thing I've ever seen, but Shelby had the best time & I think it really built comraderie amongst the team.

Christmas Day 2022

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Issiah 9:6

{Grandma & Granddad just recently visited Paris, so berets in the kids' favorite colors were in their Christmas boxes!}

It was such a happy Christmas! We enjoyed our time together & several phone coversations with our families in Georgia. Tonight we rang in the new year watching our beloved Dawgs win the Peach Bowl and earn their place in the National Championship game next week. 2023, we are ready for you!