January books

 Last year, I set the goal of reading 25 books over the course of 2023.  I was able to read 41 and really enjoyed each genre and story that I was able to mentally consume.  I have decided to set the goal this year for another 25 and see how it goes.  I am excited for the new stories that will come my way that I will get the chance to enjoy!

I read Laura Tremaine's book " The Life Council" last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  "Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First." was actually her first book.  I loved the personal stories that she shared with the anticipation, preparation, and prompts to share your own stories with those in your life and circles.  There are ten chapters with 10 topics and I really thought they were thought provoking to think of the story that God has written in my own life and the way that is playing out in my daily activities.  I would recommend it as an easy read with the plan that you will that some time for self reflection in the process.

This book was a debut by the author Jeff Zentner.  It is a story of coming of age of Dill, Lydia, and Travis, the three high schoolers in a tiny town in Tennessee.  The boys have extremely painful home lives and how they live in try to survive in the midst of it.  The author developed the characters so well and how the story unfolds was so well written. It would be one to look into before reading it, but I am so glad that I did.  I love stories that allow you to have windows into lives that you would never encounter. It had a redemptive ending but it was pretty painful up to that point.  I cried but I did think it was really well done and worth it.

I love books that give practical tools and unpack simple ideas for large life impact.  James Clear lays out 4 laws for creating habits, as well as using them in the inverse to break bad habits.  He gives tools for assessing your current habits and helping to evaluate the habits you participate in every day.  Discussing small changes that you can do every day that will set a trajectory for big change is an exciting idea and the book was very thought provoking.  It was one that I recommended to Kit to read too.

I asked my sister for a book recommendation and this book was immediately thrust into my hands. Van Pelt develops this beautiful story and characters that initially have no connection and then their lives are weaved together, all with an octopus named Marcellus at the center of the story and the hero of bringing family together... The ending is so enduring... I strongly recommend it! 

This book was highly recommended to me.  It's a mystery with a maid named Molly at the center of it. You can tell that Molly is neurodivergent and it makes the story even more exciting and interesting as the case unravels. There were twists, surprises, discoveries, and redemption and so many moments that make you stop and  I love a story like this that has highly developed characters and I would say that Nita Prose has done such a great job with that. The author created such a beautiful story  I believe you will enjoy it.  I would absolutely recommend it.

This book was recommended to my by my sister.  It about how the author, a journalist, decides to focus on being present on her son's senior year of high school. She shares stories she wants her sons to learn from, things that she learned from her sons, and the things that all moms know in their hearts: It goes SO fast... I may have cried and really loved the opportunity that this book gave me to reflect on my own journey on motherhood.

This book was recommended on two book list recommendations I found from authors that I love.  The story is cliche and there is some language that I don't think added to the story, but the way the author wrote the narrative between the main character and her little sister (Both adults) was very enduring and was my favorite part of the book.  The ending is as you would expect and it takes place between New York and a small town in the South which make for fun backdrops. Overall a fun read.

You can't miss me...

 Our kid's kindergarten teacher lives in our neighborhood.  She and her husband walk and ride their bikes in our neighborhood early in the morning.  We always see each other and sometimes we talk and other times we just wave.  We have done this for at least 6 or 7 years! Right after the new year, they saw me and gave me a reflective vest so that I wouldn't get hit.  I had them worried that I always wear black.  I felt so loved!

So Mary and Marty, thank you for thinking of me!

And to everyone else on my loop, here we go!

Also, you gotta love the house that is hanging on to Christmas cheer going strong!

Champions

 This last weekend, Eden and her teammates won their All-Star tournament! First place.  Undefeated. They are heading to San Diego!  We also got to have our Mia and Papa on the sidelines...❤︎

We are so proud of our girls!

Eden is having the time of her life!

A first for us...

 We have a friend from church named Ashley that is a sports physical therapist. Ryder recently pulled something in his knee and so we had the opportunity to see her.  SHE IS AMAZING!

She took such amazing care of him... We have a pulled adductor muscle and left with a comprehensive plan on how to strengthen out athlete... 🖤

She was his Sunday school teacher when he was in kindergarten.  She is the absolute best and cares for Ryder so sweetly...

My girl...

 Eden gave me a note in my lunch last week at work... I might have wanted to cry... It feels like yesterday I was putting notes in their lunches!

She has the most tender heart!

That time Eden took a ceramics class

 She took an after school ceramics class.  She made a Taylor Swift bobble head and a mug for me:

The figurine without the head completely freaked me out...Ha!

My mug...

She is the best! I love watching her create!

carb loading

 Kit has gotten back into making bread.  He had taken up this hobby during covid, with the rest of the world.  It's so fun to have fresh bread, but I will be honest, I almost had some PTSD from the pandemic...😂

His routine is to keep it in the fridge during the week, and then he takes it out on Thursday, feeds it, then we bake a loaf over the weekend.  It is so good!

He's the cutest...

Rainy Weekend...

 This last weekend we had lost s of rain, so here were some highlights of laying low...

Eden played one game on Saturday morning, then the second game was cancelled, but not before Kit could be in charge of snacks...

Ryder was the Assistant Ref and it was pouring by the end of the game.

Thes rest of the weekend was for laying low and time at church on Sunday.

Ryder let Eden game with his friends:

We snuggled our bunny and watched Project Runway while Eden crocheted and I played solitaire:

Ryder had a sleep over with a best buddy and had the best time...

A really sweet weekend for us all!

thinking ahead to 2024

 I have never really been a person for new year's resolutions.  The word that I have been praying over is stewardship. In relationships, our home, our finances, time, my mind...etc. Two things that I did last year was to make a goal for a number of books on all sorts of topics and learnings to read and to walk as many days a week that I could. So like last year, I decided to set the goal of reading another 25 books (Last year I made it to 41!) There were so many books that challenged my thoughts and that I learned from! I also set the goal to walk 1000 miles.  I walked over a 1000 miles last year, mostly while praying or listening to books. I want to make the goal again.  I love to think of how the Lord can use disciplines like these to challenge and change my mind and heart... 

So here we go!

new routines

It must be Thursday.

I have made a new routine for work: I do flights of stairs to shake off pre-shift jitters. 

I use the time to pray for my patients and my co workers and the shift ahead.  I think it has been helping calm my mind! 

date your spouse...

 Last Friday we had our first official date day of the year (minus our anniversary...) We sat on our couch and watched instagram videos while drinking our coffee.  We talked about how we are doing and what we are feeling and what we are needing as we go into the new year.  We ate at a favorite local spot.  

I swear, it doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together... I never want to stop dating my spouse.

soccer

 We are playing lots of soccer right now and the kids are LOVING it... 

I never want to forget how special it was so just sit on their sidelines and cheer them on while they did something they loved...❤︎

Also, while we were at a game at a school in Costa Mesa, we were greeted with these wall murals:

We all loved them...

MLK

 Last year I was introduced to this book by MLK, a compilation of his sermons on love and it challenges me every time I read through it. In honor of today, I reread some of his work. It has again challenged met to intentionally and purposefully pursue Christ and love others while fighting for the marginalized, those without a voice...

 

routines...

 Over the month of December, I would love to read by the Christmas tree.  I have missed it since we took it down.  I have now moved myself by our fireplace and I light candles while I read...

I love slow mornings...

It must be Thursday...

Here we are, another year, another shift...

Time with my girl...

 Last week, Eden and I had our dentist appointments.  Our dentist is located by Fashion Island, so we took some time to walk around...

Anthropologie candle sniffing is a favorite, and Eden wanted to use her Christmas money for a LuLu Lemon purchase. 

She was so excited about her purchase:

We ate lunch at Wahoos and then headed to Ulta...

I loved these moments with her.  I am not a shopper and wouldn't choose this as a regular activity for myself, but seeing her have so much fun walking around and just looking around, it was so sweet...

I love that I get to have moments like this with my daughter!