Best Books of 2023

I’ve read some really good books this year! I finished at a respectable 89 books and I met both the number of books and the book challenge goals. Top genres are sci-fi romance, fantasy/sci-fi, historical mystery, YA, and romance adjacent (which includes a variety of genres with a small romantic subplot; many of my books are in overlapping categories). The YA is a bit of a surprise, but it includes the Spy X Family manga that I borrowed from my nephew. 61% of the books I read, I purchased. And 58% were paper vs electronic, which is opposite from last year, but I did read a bunch of stuff off my shelf so that could be why. 

I decided against listing any web comics this year. My favorites were on hiatus most of the year and others I loved have completed. I’m still reading them, but have gone back to waiting and reading multiple episodes at a time rather than following daily/weekly. It worked for me this year. I’ve learned that anything I think will happen for next year, will probably not, so I’m just rolling with it.

The ones I own in paper

And here’s my list for 2023:

The Wonder Engine and Thornhedge - T Kingfisher - She’s just one of my favorite authors and I love her books. Her writing is comforting.

Spy X Family Vol 8 - Tatsuya Endo - These manga are just consistently cute but I really loved this one. I love the anime as well.  

Know My Name - Chanel Miller - Hard to read but so worth it.

Annapurna: A Woman’s Place - Arlene Blum - Such an interesting look at an expedition to Annapurna. Told from a woman’s perspective, since the whole team were women, it really got into details I’m always curious about, but books by men never mention: logistics, being away from family, etc. 

Float - Kate Marchant - I found this book through the webtoon that is being drawn right now. It’s not perfect but it hit the spot so much and I loved it. Perfect book at the perfect time.

Sally-Ann - Susan Scarlett -I discovered Susan Scarlett (a pseudonym for Noel Streatfeild) this year and this was my favorite. Such a cute, old fashioned romance. I read it multiple times. 

Evil in Emerald, Terror in Topaz - AM Stuart - I just really enjoy this historical mystery series, and Emerald had a real-life character that I might be related to. I’m so happy that she’s decided to self publish another book. 

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Sea - Susan Casey - I loved this non-fiction book about the depths of the ocean. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

The Bookshop on the Shore - Jenny Colgan - The male lead bugged me a bit, but I got over it pretty quickly and it turned into another perfect book at the perfect time. 

Divine Rivals - Rebecca Ross - I saw this on GR and saw it was included with Kindle Unlimited so I downloaded a copy and then didn’t read it. And then I decided to just check it out and I wasn’t even 20% when I bought the hard cover and pre-ordered book 2. Loved it!

Honorable Mentions:

Dragonsong - Anne McCaffery - This was a childhood favorite that I re-read. I still love this book. Wasn’t really a fan of the other Pern books, but this one I read many, many times. 

Circe - Madeline Miller - This one frustrated me and made me think and I’m still thinking about it. And the ending was just so perfect.  

Lavender House - Lev AC Rosen - This was a great mystery and I ate it up. 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare - Another childhood favorite. It’s simpler than I remember, but what from childhood isn’t? I still love it. 

 

Merry Christmas - Late

I had a nice Christmas. It was very low key and spent with my family. We did our dinner and gift exchange on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day I went to my mom’s house and we made French toast for breakfast and panini’s for lunch and put puzzles together. Then I went home and took a nap. I also took today off work and my nephew came over and we went to a couple book stores. Then, I took down my Christmas tree and decorations. It had been up for over a month so I figured it was ok. I left out a couple things that are more winter than Christmas.

It’s been a nice holiday. As we close out the year, I will be working from home a couple days and spending my evenings possibly cleaning out some spots in my house. I’m ready to close out the year quietly and start the new one a little lighter. 

Monday Morning

Some mornings are worth getting up for. Today as I left my house for work, I opened up my garage and there was a white coat of frost over the grass, trees, and pretty much everything. It was really quite pretty. I couldn't see the mountain because of a layer of fog. I'll pretend it was only fog and not also inversion/pollution. The drive to work was foggy as well. The nice kind that still lets me see where I'm driving. And then when I pulled off the freeway, I noticed that it was actually snowing. Or really thick fog? It was sticking to the ground and cars, super fine and soft. I kind of really love winter.  

I'm completely ready for Christmas. All the gifts have been bought and wrapped and yesterday I delivered treats to my neighbors. I made spiced applesauce bread in fancy baking cups and caramels. I was trying for raspberry caramels like Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory does. These are not them. I used 3 teaspoons of extract and it's not enough. There's only a hint of raspberry. They are still really tasty though. Next time I try it, I'll use raspberry oil instead. 

Anyway, it's going to be a busy week to get through both at work and home, but then starting Friday afternoon, I plan to relax and just have a Merry Christmas. 

Book Goal: Finished

I completed my book reading goal today, officially. I met my # count a few books ago and today I’m at 82 books read so far this year, and all of my different subsets complete: 7 nonfiction, 3 “classics”, 10 paper books I already owned, 5 non-romance, 5 diverse authors, 6 kindle already own, and 5 childhood favorites. I have some thoughts on the whole thing. 

At the beginning of the year it seemed like such a fun challenge and I was excited to find books to fit in each of the categories. It ended being a bit of a bother because I felt I couldn’t always read exactly what I wanted to stay on track with the goal. Hitting 78 books was never really the problem, but getting them in the categories did end up taking some thinking about and pushing off other books. 

I have 958 books on my kindle currently and a lot of them are unread. Going through my kindle was like taking a trip back in time and I can see periods of my life in those books. A lot of books I have read had forgotten about and others I remember buying them and thinking I absolutely had to read them and now I look at them and my tastes have changed and I’m not interested at all. I didn’t even look through all of them to pick out stuff to read so I know there is probably so much I have completely forgotten I have there. 

I do have quite a few paper books sitting on my shelves that I haven’t read and some of the books I really thought I would read this year, just never really appealed. And a couple of them felt like a huge weight was lifted because I finished them. I finally read Circe by Madeline Miller which I had purchased, purged, and repurchased. And now I’m keeping because it was so good and gave me things to think about. LOL

I really like reading non-fiction and will keep reading it. Finding diverse authors was interesting. I did have to make an effort, but there is so much out there to choose from. I initially thought that finding 5 non romance would be hard because I gravitate to having a little bit of romance in the majority of the stuff I read. Turns out it wasn’t that hard. 

I picked some good childhood books to re-read and a couple of them I still love so much. I was surprised to find that Harriet the Spy had a good bit of fat shaming in it which I never noticed it as a kid. I still have all the nostalgia but not sure that one really holds up so well. 

I did find myself looking for smaller books, just so I could keep up, especially with the classics. I didn’t want big tomes this year. It kind of feels like cheating although there is nothing wrong with books of any size. 

So I’ve decided next year there are no goals. It’s going to be a free for all and I want to see where it takes me. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try new things, but I want to feel free to put books down if they aren’t working, or pick up a really big novel that takes me a month read. I still have a bunch of books on my shelf that I never purge because I’m going to read them “one day”. Well maybe that day will come next year. So my Goodreads goal will probably be somewhere between 12-24 books. Very small just because I like to click on that link and look at my books but I don’t want it to feel restricting at all because I just want to read whatever, whenever. 

Now I’m going to spend this snowy, wet evening with my Christmas lights on and re-reading comfort books and celebrate that I hit my goal and it was good for me to do this year. I found new books and authors and old favorites, which was really the whole point of it all. 

Holidays

Ha ha ok so I put up my Christmas tree today. It’s the earliest I’ve ever done it but I was just feeling the vibe. My soul has been craving that cozy, old fashioned, childhood Christmas feeling. Peace on earth, goodwill to men seems really hard to find this year so I’m making it inside my house. I started with a new candle warmer that looks like it belongs in a Christmas village and went from there.

It’s been a drizzly, cloudy, lovely fall day. My mom and sister and I went to buy our poinsettias this morning. We get them from a place out near the freeway that I don’t know if many people know about. They sell them every year so I assume they make some money off of them. I hope so. Going into the greenhouse filled with poinsettias is one of my favorite things. It’s so hard to decide. So I basically don’t. I knew I wanted a big red one, but then I got 3 smaller ones in different colors as well. They just make me happy.  

When I got home and got my new plants in their place, I just made up my mind to decorate. I’ve still got the Fall/Thanksgiving decorations out (all 4 of them ha ha) and put out the Christmas stuff too. It just seemed like the perfect day with the drizzle outside. 

I’m still not quite ready for Christmas music, that can come later. But I’ve got some cozy going on now, at least. I also made lasagne soup for dinner and have a baked potato soup planned for tomorrow. What I really need now is the smell of wassail in my house. Pretty sure I have a wax melt that flavor. I’ll have to get it out. 

Anyway I have all next week off work and I’m looking forward to it. Thanksgiving week is probably my most favorite time of the year. 

Sitting in the Sun

It’s Sunday and I’m sitting in my favorite place to be on a Sunday early afternoon: my library. The tree outside my window is a mixture of green and yellow and the tree next to it has already dropped all its leaves so the sun is coming inside. My plants are loving it and I’m eating it up as well. I’m trying to absorb all I can. I don’t get seasonal depression, but I definitely feel it sometimes that I’m not getting all the light I probably should be, as I go from home to office to home again in the dark. 

I’ve seen a few people with Christmas decorations already up and one of the radio stations is playing Christmas music 24/7. It’s still a little early for me for that, but I’m actually feeling quite positive about the holidays this year. I’m looking forward to them. If this stays with me, I’ll probably even put up my Christmas tree this year. I have this week for work and then I’m on vacation the entire week of Thanksgiving and am looking forward to it for sure. 

I’ve got 5 books left to read to meet my reading goal (and 2 books to read the # of books for the goal) and I’m feeling pretty good about it. There are 7 weeks left in the year and I’m halfway done with a book that counts towards the 5. The goal started out pretty fun, and I’ve been pretty happy with the books I’ve read because of it, but it has made me feel a few times that I couldn’t read what I wanted to, or that I had to read something else to stay on track. So I’m playing around with the idea for next year that I read one of the old classics or massive historical-fiction tomes sitting on my shelf and leave it at that. Just have a free for all and not really care what I read. Sometimes that makes me more adventurous, sometimes not. I’ll see what I feel like as 2024 gets closer. This year I found a new non-fiction writer that I want to read more of for sure. 

Time Change Blues

Last weekend I talked my mom and sisters into not being productive at home and we went shopping. I honestly could have gone, got what I needed, and been back home before we even left, but what's the fun in that. As it was, we got to a busy shopping center in the middle of the day and had lots of traffic and people to deal with. But it was still fun. I just wanted to get out. It was a warm day and the sun was shining and I really enjoyed it. 

Then my mom reminded me it was daylight savings. I didn't really notice it on Sunday. I was just home doing my thing and it got dark when it got dark. Monday, we all went to my niece's high school play and I definitely noticed that it was almost dark when I left my house at 5:30. I have to get used to driving in the dark again, I guess. 

Today, it's just dark because clouds. I had to get up for an early meeting online and and I've been able to work from home with the window open a bit to hear the rain. It's so nice, even if it is chilly. How many is too many cups of cocoa? 

The holiday season will be in full swing before I know it. I'm trying to balance everything and enjoy the fall and have gratitude for so many good things in my life, but also be aware of things I can do around me. I can't truly help most of the world problems right now, though I've given some money to a few causes, but I can make a difference where I am. 

Presidential Barbie

So it’s only been about 2 years or less since I started following SharonSaysSo on Instagram, but I like her content and it’s one of the places I get my news from. She also does a paid book club that I’ve done 2 “semesters” of and have really enjoyed. I only do them when she picks books I’m interested in reading or meeting the author (online, of course). Anyway, I saw that she was coming to Utah to speak. My sister also follows her and texted me to see if I wanted to go. She was able to get us tickets and last night we drove down to UVU for the event. She’s a great speaker and I had an excellent time. I just love the idea that no matter what your political beliefs, everybody can get involved in making the government and communities in which we live better. That normal, everyday people can make a difference. That was the gist of her message last night. Anyway, well worth the trip down there on a “school” night and worth only getting 6 hours of sleep last night. :)

This is the only picture I took. She said she was dressed as Presidential Barbie, which is hilarious. 

Expensive Weekend

Well, life definitely happens when you least expect it. Last Friday night I noticed that my fridge was leaking something and then Saturday morning, there was definitely water on the floor underneath it. I decided Friday night I was probably just going to be getting a new fridge if that one was dying so I did some googling and scheduled a junk service to come pick up the old one. I wanted it gone to be able to clean up the floor. They came really quick on Saturday. I got up early to go get a cooler from my sister and my mom dropped off hers as well. After the fridge was taken, I spend some time mopping up water and cleaning my floor as well as organizing what was going in the coolers. I have already thrown away 2 garbage bags of stuff (all my condiments!) and I know I will be throwing out more. Luckily, my mom and neighbor took a few things I didn't want to lose.  

I went to look at fridges and ended up getting one at Lowes. Since I was there, I purchased a new garbage disposal. My old one stopped working a few weeks ago. And since I was there I also bought a new microwave as well. The one I have has been making weird noises when it goes on and I just decided to do it all now. On the plus side, all of my kitchen appliances are now new and they all match once again. 

My fridge gets delivered today and my microwave, tomorrow. I'm really grateful that things have worked out as well as they did and that it happened on the week I'm home. Fingers crossed that I measured correctly and everything fits. :)

Yesterday, my mom and sister and the twins went for a drive to see the autumn leaves. They've peaked in Logan canyon, but were still really beautiful. Tons of people were out doing the same thing. Of course, I didn't get any pictures of the red and orange leaves. LOL It was really nice to get out into the mountains for a bit though.

Back Home

After 2 work trips back to back and getting sick for the 2 days in between the trips, I’m so happy to be home. I still have one more work trip this month, but I’m going to enjoy being at home as much as possible. It’s only Thursday, but tonight I’m going to do my typical end of week routine with popcorn and a movie just to get all cozy.

I was just in Las Vegas for a conference, which was not so cozy. So many people! I had a good time with my coworkers and activities, but that most definitely is not my normal scene and I’m so thankful it’s not.

The Sphere was kind of cool, but I have to ask myself why it was needed in the first place? :)

I'm not completely ignorant of pop culture, so I had heard of Diplo but....yeah I'm not one of the cool kids. We had our consultants take us out to dinner and didn't go to the club until around 10:45 (the event was put on for us and was supposed to end at 11:00). We were just going to pop in for a minute. We ended up staying until 11:30, when it actually ended, and it turned out to be pretty fun. Clubs are most definitely not my thing and never have been.

Anyway, I am grateful for all the opportunities my company gives me and I work with great people. 

 

Fun Weekend

I started my weekend on Friday and took my nephew to Fan-X. He's starting his mission and we won't be able to go again for a couple years if everything goes according to current plan. This was my second year going with him and even though it always sounded like something to avoid for crowds, I have a good time. I'm not a cosplayer myself, but I do love seeing how creative everybody is. Plus, he has a good time with his costume. 

In a couple years, I'd like to go again and take some of my other family. Maybe I'll brave going on Saturday instead of Friday. This year, I got my geek satisfied when I found a Spy-X Family t-shirt to buy. Although funny thing is, I was wearing my Edward Gorey t-shirt and somebody stopped me to talk about it. Most people don't know who he is anymore, but he's a writer and artist and I've been to his house turned museum on Cape Cod.

When we got back to my house, we got busy watching Attack on Titan. We had about 13 episodes to finish season 4. Normally, I'm the person that says enough! so I can go to bed. But this time I made us stay up to 2 AM to finish them. LOL The funny thing is, we aren't done. There is still a 1 hour special to watch, plus another longer episode not yet out. I'll be watching those on my own to see how it ends. It definitely isn't my favorite anime, but we've had a lot of things to discuss over the course of 4 seasons. I have to say it has been a lot of fun.

And the primary program was on Sunday so that is over and I can relax about the songs now. I did make a few mistakes but not terrible ones and the hardest songs to play went off really well so there is that.

Next up, I still have some travel weeks coming up for work and in between I'm trying to enjoy the Autumn. The leaves are starting to change and the days are getting shorter. I'm loving it. 

Reading Goal Update #2

We’re on the downside of September. I’ve had my windows open in the mornings when I’m at home and it’s been so nice. I had moved all my long sleeve shirts, sweaters and cardigans to the back of my closet. I had to go find a cardigan this morning. I love this time of year!!!

I’ve got 13 more books to read for my book goal, and finishing that will also put me at my number of books for the year so I’m doing pretty well there. I haven’t finished any of my categories, but I’m really close. 

• Nonfiction: 6 of 7 finished
• Classics: 2 of 3
• Already Own Paper: 6 of 10
• Non-romance: 3 of 5
• Diverse Authors: 3 of 5
• Already Own Kindle: 5 of 6
• Childhood Favs: 3 of 5

I have some ideas for October/Halloween reading that would check off a couple more if I go that route. I’ve enjoyed finding some interesting books from diverse authors that I might not normally have read. Plus, it feels so good to have finally read a few books that have been sitting on my shelf for years.

Pretty Conservatory

I spent most of this week traveling for work. I flew in and out of the Cincinnati airport with a co-worker. The meeting finished early on the last day so we took a detour on the way to the airport to Krohn's Conservatory in Cincinnati. It's not really big, but very nicely done and very peaceful feeling. Well, maybe the dinosaur section isn't that peaceful. :) 

It was a nice week, but I'm happy to be back in my own bed. 

Perfect Morning

I’ve had what I consider to be the perfect morning. I woke up on my own with no alarm clock and got to lay in bed listening to it rain for a while. Then I got up to get ready for the day and started some laundry. I opened the windows a bit to let in some fresh air. I took my breakfast up to my library and sipped hot chocolate while I read a book. It’s a wet, drizzly, cloudy day and one of my favorite types of weather. I’m very tempted to go for a walk in it. I think I will. 

And Now, September

Yay! Summer is over, even if not quite officially. Even if September 2 doesn’t look or feel any different from August 31. It’s here. Fall will officially be starting soon. 

Peaches are getting ripe and I will soon be eating my fill. I met my sister at the farmer’s market this morning. It was my last time for this year’s summer market. I got a few ears of corn, strawberries, and some dried tart cherries. I figured those would be good for fall/winter. My mom has already given me onions and carrots. I still haven’t been in the mood to cook at all, even though I really need to. Again, cooler weather will be here and soon I can make soup. Ha ha it’s like I feel like fall will solve all the problems. It’s not true, but I seriously love the last 4 months of the year, October and November being the most favorite. 

Random August

I'm very happy to be half way through August. I'm trying to enjoy the last week before the school zone starts up near my house and I have to leave for work on time because of traffic. But I'm ready for hot, dry summer to be over. I'm anticipating fall so badly. I have a few work trips coming up, but in between them I'm going to be loving my favorite season. I know, I know... September isn't really all that different from August in reality but I just don't care. 

I'm trying to think if I've even done anything lately but it seems like life has slowed down a bit now. I'm going to try and get to the farmer's market a few more Saturdays. Peaches are coming on and I want to eat a lot of them. Yum!

Day "Camping"

I am still a little coughy/stuffy nosed but those things sometimes linger. On Saturday, I didn't care and went up to the Uintah's with my sister and her twins. The kids call it camping, even when you don't stay overnight. The temperature was in the high 70's which is probably the warmest I've felt there. We did something new and did the little .5 mile hike to Fehr Lake. It was a nice, easy hike and the view was worth it. We want to go back because there are lakes also at 1 mile and 1.5 miles. A 3 mile loop would be a nice day hike with more of the kids. 

The fish were jumping in the lakes and everywhere there were wildflowers. It was a really nice day.

Summertime Sickness

It's been 100 degrees outside and somehow I got sick. Last Saturday I woke up with a dry throat but didn't think too much of it since I sleep with a fan on and it's just really dry right now. But later in the day I definitely had a sore throat. So it's been 3.5 days and I finally feel like I'm getting over it. I've done almost nothing in those days. I've been working from home and getting only little things done because I just haven't felt very good. Last night I finally slept through the night. 

I think it's only one more night and then fireworks are illegal again. We can light them 3 days before and after the 4th and 24th holidays. We had a nice summer rainstorm on the 24th around 11 which made me happy and I figured the fireworks were over for the night. Nope, they lit them after the rain at 1 am. Fireworks can be fun and pretty and all that but I'm not the biggest fan of them in my neighborhood after 11. 

So yeah, I'm complainy and a little grumpy right now. This is the part of summer I really don't like and my least favorite time of the year. Being sick doesn't help it. One more month to get through, even though September isn't all the better in the beginning, at least it means summer is coming to an end. 

Girl’s Camp

I can’t believe July is half way over. The hot, hot part of the summer is here. I’ve had the week off work for girl’s camp. Earlier this year I very reluctantly said yes to the bishop when he asked me to be camp leader. Part of it had already been planned out but I worked on planning the rest of it and started going to YW activities when I could. Truth be told I was dreading it a lot. I still didn’t know most of the girls and it’s been a long time since I’ve had to be with people for 3 days straight. 

I spent Monday grocery shopping and picking up coolers and other things for camp. I was exhausted (I had help and it was still a lot of work). Then we left for camp Tuesday morning and came back Thursday evening. One of our priesthood leaders knows a guy who has a big house in Idaho that they use for camp outs and family reunions and things and when they aren’t using it, they let youth groups use it. We had 20 people and the 12 girls and 6 women leaders stayed in the house. It was big and had everything we could possibly need, including fire pit in the back yard. Our 2 priesthood leaders camped in the front yard away from the house. We unpacked and got everything set up when we arrived and then had lunch. We spent the afternoon playing some group games and then had craft time. Some of the girls painted, some made bracelets or things with beads, and friendship bracelets. Later that evening we did dinner and then had a camp fire and s’mores. 

Wednesday we let the girls sleep in a bit because of course they were up late the night before. The family whose house we borrowed also had a big pond that they have all kinds of things at: a huge slide, trampoline, canoes and kayaks, etc. The pond was ours for the day and they spent a good 4 hours or so playing in the water. After a late lunch, we had a few other things planned but the girls were tired and a few were sunburned so instead we ended up with nap time and more craft time for those who wanted. We did tin foil dinners and Dutch oven cobbler for dinner that night. Before the water park, we had made a simple 3 ingredient, no churn ice cream. The ice cream and cobbler were a big hit. I have to admit, it was very very tasty. I was quite pleased I had thought to make the simple ice cream. :)

Thursday we got up earlier and after breakfast we had our hike. The leaders thought we would be on a dirt road, but it was an actual trail up the mountain. Since I’m slow and out of shape, I was in the back prodding the complainers and slow hikers. LOL  After the hike we had a brief stop back at the house and then drove over to the Niter Ice Cave. I had found out about it by looking at google maps and the girls had said they wanted to go during one of our planning meetings. I was not sure what to expect, but I had a blast. It was muddy and you had to walk carefully but so much fun. The cold air felt great. It was just a walk out and back of maybe 200 yards or so. The walls are graffitied in a lot of places, but there are spots where you can see big chunks of ice and whatever minerals are in the rocks make the ceiling glitter. 

After lunch, we had the girls do a bake off and they divided into 2 teams and made cupcakes from scratch, decorating them with a pioneer theme. 

And then it was finally time to pack and clean the house so we could go home. It was 2 hours of chaos but eventually, we were all in the car for the trip home. As we left to caravan home, the priesthood leaders were in the first car and I was second that time. Ahead of me he started swerving on the road and I didn’t know what he was doing but I thought I’d play along so there was a line of 5 cars swerving back and forth on this deserted country road. In my car we were laughing, and I know in other cars the girls thought it was fun. We stopped at the first Maverick gas station was passed and that’s when Brother Taylor asked what we were doing. He had been swerving to check that all 5 of the cars were on the road. In my sleep and caffeine deprived mind, I thought we were just having fun. LOL I’m still laughing over it. 

I will be honest and admit that I had a really good time. Of course, we did have to prod some girls and deal with some complaining and a few minor injuries, but overall I am really glad I got to go. I still have some unpacking to do and I can’t say that it’s been the most relaxing week, but it’s been worth it. 

Happy Fourth!

I can’t believe it’s July already. I’ve had a long weekend. Since the holiday is on a Tuesday, I took Monday off as well. It’s been a really nice break. I haven’t done that much. I go to girl’s camp next week so I’ve been working on that. I’ve got a pile of stuff in my dining room already. I know I shouldn’t wish away my time, but I want it to be over. Not that I don’t think I’ll have a good time, it’s just not something I’m super excited about doing (but probably will be good for me to get out of my comfort zone). 

Yesterday my nephew came over so we could watch Attack on Titan. It’s his favorite anime and manga and we’ve been getting through it slowly. He wants me to finish it before he leaves for his mission so we are trying to speed things up a bit. Yesterday we had 16 episodes to finish season 3. Oh my gosh. That was a lot of tv watching, even when we forward through the credits. We took a break after 8 episodes and got dinner. Then the universe decided to intervene and my power went out. :) It was out for about 2 hours and I made him go on a walk with me. It was muggy and overcast because of storms, but also cool enough that it felt so good to walk by the river. We saw a beaver swimming and dragging tree branches into the water so it was kind of fun. Then the power came back and we finished up season three about 10 pm last night. I told him after camp we can start on season 4. LOL I need a break from whining teenage cartoon boys as well. 

Life is good.

Reading Goal Update

Well, the year is almost halfway over and I’m looking at my book reading goals. So far, I’ve read 39 of 78 books so I’m pretty well on track. My mood to read new books has really come and gone quite a bit this year so I actually don’t know if I will hit that goal. I’m feeling a bit ambivalent about it. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of web comics and re-reading both comics and other books.

I’ve read 21 of 41 of my actual reading goal, so I’m doing well in that regard as well. Surprisingly, I have almost completed my non-fiction goal. I’m happy to have discovered my love of non-fiction. It was just a matter of find the right kind of non-fiction. Diverse authors is where I’m struggling. I've got 1 out of 5 there. Then classics and childhood favorites are also lagging behind. Funny, because I thought non-romance would be my hardest to fill and I’m halfway on that one. I’m still enjoying trying to make this goal. It’s been fun to look through my bookshelves to see what catches my mood. 

Duran Duran Concert

I went to the Duran Duran: Future Past concert tonight in Salt Lake City. I had SO! MUCH! FUN!!

I heard about it on the radio a couple months ago and just knew I had to go. Duran Duran is one of the bands of my childhood. This is a silly memory but my cousin always wanted to play house and I didn’t really care for baby dolls so I always told her that we could play house as long as we were married to members of Duran Duran. Ha ha ha. I still have their greatest hits CD and guess what’s going to be playing for days to come. 

Anyway, I heard about it and checked with my concert loving friend and she couldn’t make that date so I checked with my theater loving friend and she said yes. We have a season pass to the theater but both of us have decided we need to watch for fun concerts now as well. 

The opening acts were Bastille and Nile Rogers and Chic. We got there and found our seats in time to hear like the last Bastille song and the only one I knew. I truly have no idea who Nile Rogers and Chic are and didn’t recognize their music, except that Nile Rogers wrote a ton of songs that I do know and they sang a bunch of different stuff so it was pretty fun. 

Then it was finally time for Duran Duran a little after 9 pm. They started with Wild Boys and ended the encore with Rio. In between they played all my favorites with about 4 songs I didn’t really know. It was fantastic. Simon can still sing and John Taylor is still on the guitar. Nick Rhodes still on the keyboard. Roger Taylor was on drums. 

It was a seriously good time.

Road Trip UT-CO

I’ve had the week off. I went on a road trip with my sister and her 3 year old twins. My sister is my favorite travel buddy and we haven’t been on any trips like this since the twins were born. She’s been a few places, and I’ve been a few places but not together. It was really fun. We did have to cater to the kids a bit but it wasn’t a problem. And if they had a few hard spots, she got to deal with them. I only got impatient a few times when I was tired or hungry, and I didn’t get tired of being with them, which made it even better. 

We started by dropping the dog off at my other sister’s house (Thanks Anna!) and headed south. 

By the time dinner came we were in Moab and found a food truck park. The kids had corn dogs and Amy and I split a falafel wrap and a gyro. Both were excellent and it was a nice break. 

We spent the night in Monticello and in the morning headed to Mesa Verde National Park. I had reserved tickets for the guided tour to Cliff Palace 2 weeks earlier and we had the 2 pm tour so we had time to get there and explore a bit beforehand. 

Spruce House

Cliff Palace

We didn’t walk/hike too far since we needed the kids to be able to do the stairs and ladders on the tour, but still had fun looking at the sights.  The Cliff Palace tour was good and I’m glad we were able to do it. The kids thought the stairs and ladders were an adventure. They got antsy as we listed to the ranger but after we got to a certain spot, we were able to leave when we needed to. Strangely enough, I thought the ladders and stairs would be in the “palace” itself, but you don’t get to do anything but walk by it, which makes perfect sense because it is a sacred place to the people and their ancestors. But there are very steep stone stairs and a few ladders to get in and out of the place. 

After Mesa Verde we headed to Durango, CO. The kids fell asleep in the car and didn’t wake up until we got to the hotel. We had a great time in Durango. Again, we did things the kids would enjoy as well as checking out the town. We spent some time every day at a park so the kids could play. It was just so nice to be outside. Plus, we had fun in the hotel swimming pool. And we got to see the Silverton train leave the station. We had already decided that even the shorter train ride would be too much for the kids at their age but they had fun watching it leave. 

Then when we left to drive home, we went up the mountains to Silverton. The San Juan mountain range is really beautiful. They still have snow and we saw a bunch of “waterfalls” as the snow was melting and running off the cliffs. 

Storefronts in Silverton

Of course after the fun in the morning, the rest of the drive home felt super long. I got home just before 10 pm and got to sleep in my own bed again. But it’s been a great week and I got to mark another place off my travel list. We would totally love to do it again one day when the kids are older. 

Spring has Sprung!

Hard to believe that a month ago we had snow. Now we have blossoms. I do love the changing of seasons. 

Fairy Garden

Pinterest finally got to me and I broke down this year and made myself a fairy garden. The plants are supposed to flower as it gets hotter so I'm hoping I choose well in that regard. It was fun to do. I have it on my back porch because I thought it would be fun to look out my kitchen window and see. And it is. The only problem is I'm too short to see that angle very well. LOL so if I stand at my kitchen sink and get on my toes and try real hard, I can see it. 

Earth Day

It’s been a very nice day. I’m not sure that I actually saw any sun or blue sky. It’s been overcast and a little drizzly in spots. That didn’t stop us though. I started the day meeting my mom and sisters and a few of their kids at the library where they were giving out packets of lady bugs for Earth Day. We’ve gotten lady bugs a few years now and it’s always fun for the kids. This year they gave them to the adults as well. Mine got donated to another niece who couldn’t come which I’m cool with.

Then we all headed down to a huge nursery for plants and flowers. I was trying so hard not to go overboard (and succeeded!) that I actually have quite a bit of space in my flower garden still. However, it’s still a little cool and I’m not sure how many of them will survive so we’ll see how that plays out. My biggest score was that I found a gargoyle for my garden. I’m very happy about that. I’ve wanted one for years but only ever saw them online so it was hard to tell size and stuff on some. I’m not putting it out yet because spring is barely here and I want the trees and bushes to actually have leaves on them, but it will go out maybe next month. 

It’s been fun. While I do enjoy winter, I’m glad spring is finally here. 

Happy Easter

One week ago, even just 5 day ago, you never would have guessed it is Spring. Even on Friday, I was joking that you didn’t need to color eggs, just hide the white eggs in the snow. And today, I have 1 tiny patch of snow left on my lawn. It most definitely feels like winter is finally over. 

Today we had only 1 meeting in church and it was mostly music. It was really nice. I played the piano for the primary kids to sing a song. We were a little worried after the last practice, but they sounded so great and knew the words pretty well. Then I also played a hymn for the bishop to sing and he sounded really nice as well. There were other musical numbers and they all did a great job. It was a really nice way to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of the Savior. 

I took a little nap and now am just reading/wasting time as I wait for dinner to finish cooking. We will have family dinner next week but I’m making a nice dinner today. Pork roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and rolls. And I made a chocolate raspberry torte for dessert. Luckily, all of it freezes so I can enjoy leftovers later. 

My Library

I think my library is finally at its endgame. There will probably be tweaks to the plants and random things on the shelves in the future, but I think it's set up exactly the way I want it and has all the shelves it is going to get. My last piece came in the mail today and it's a painted sign that says Library. I got it from a shop on Etsy and I love it. LOL I had a gap on the wall and needed to fill it and now it's perfect.

Don't mind the snow outside. It's coming down like...well I don't even know. It's been snowing since sometime last night and hasn't stopped. I'm guessing another 6-8 inches where it's laying. It's pretty wet. 

Look at that empty shelf space, though. :) Plus, a couple stacks are being purged, I just haven't done it yet. 

I've got a picture of Anne and Diana, a quote from Jane Austen (both also from Etsy), and JW Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott on my walls. All literary references. A comfy chair and foot rest. Minky blanket. Plants. I especially love the teacup plants I have scattered about. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. I foresee some happy evenings spent there in the future. 

Where are you Spring?

Ah Spring! How we love you. I'm sorry for all the allergy sufferers out there. I don't know if this weather pattern makes it better or worse. My biggest annoyance with spring is the little bugs that try and come in my house. Haven't had that yet this year. I guess that's one good thing. 

Yesterday, I woke up to basically a blizzard outside. Once it stopped snowing, it was kind of a nice, wet  day. My nephew had spent the night so we could keep watching Attack on Titan and we waited until the roads were cleared before I sent him home. So we got the entire of season 1 finished. 

Then this morning I woke up to another 5 inches or so. I decided today was a good day to work from home. And maybe file my taxes. 

The current view outside my window. And it's still coming down. LOL I'm wondering who prayed the reservoirs would fill up in just one winter? And yet, it's still quite pretty. It truly hasn't gotten warm or dry enough for most signs of spring to show up. Maybe next week? I have a few days off so it would be nice to have a tiny bit of sunshine. Just saying.