Remember when he was just a baby??? Thu. | Dec. 22 – I Love … December #AMonthofFaves2016 – Favorite holiday festivities, favorite ornaments, home decor, places to go, holiday drinks, holiday eats, holiday themed reads I have a love/hate relationship with December. It’s the darkest month, it’s cold, it’s busy—but for all of that, it is a time to huddle up in the evenings and a time to think over the previous year and ponder the coming year. My kind of December involves mostly wearing pants of some kind but also short-sleeved shirts; a temperature that’s mild with maybe a couple of cooler nights here and there. I actually prefer…

Tue. | Dec. 20 – 5 Must Haves for Winter Survival – shout out your favorite brand or stores or favorite items Lotion: I don’t know about you but my hands are super sensitive to winter’s dry air, even here in humid SE Texas. I have two lotions that I alternate between at home, one is a homemade concoction that my mom made based on a recipe I sent her that uses coconut oil, cocoa butter, and essential oil, and the other is a run-of-the-mill scented variety from Bath and Body Works. I use the latter in the mornings before work and the former at night and whenever my hands…

Thu. | Dec. 15 – 5 Fave “New to Me” Author Discoveries or Audiobook Narrations This Year #AMonthofFaves2016 I read a lot of new authors this year but I think Roxane Gay goes down as an author to follow from here on out. Bad Feminist was my first book of hers to read and I suspect not my last. She has another non-fiction book and several fiction books out, including the soon to be released Difficult Women. I think Roxane will be on my to-read list for years to come. Mon. | Dec. 19 – Reading Outside My Comfort Zone #AMonthofFaves2016 – Surprise Find(s) This Year At one point this…

Day 6: Wed. | Dec. 14 – Best Changes We Made This Year #AMonthofFaves2016 – to your Day / Life / Routines / Blog / Habits Yeah, yeah, I’m behind. I got sick last week and then got busy so I need to play catch up! Forest has been in the family for over two years now and I still feel like I’m trying to adjust my life and routine. It seems every few months there’s a slight change with his development which alters our ability to do something, usually for the better, and then there’s another shift. It’s always subtle, like my ability to cook and bake more because…

Day 6: Mon. | Dec. 12 – The Most Unique, Weird or Most Memorable Book(s) Read This Year – not necessarily your favorite book because it could be memorable for how bad or how much you liked or disliked the characters. Most Unique/Interesting Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout: I wrote about this book in the August book report this year and I think I can put it down as one of the more unique books I read this year. I still do not like Olive, maybe liked her more in her later years, and I hated how she/(the author) said ‘Ayuh’, which is apparently a Down East Maine thing to…

Day 5: #WeekendReading {Picking Favorites} – Let’s support each other by sharing our faves from other #AMonthofFaves participant blogs, eg. your favorite posts, a book added to your reading list, or a blogger you just discovered This will be a mix of favorites and just plain must-reads! Favorite Blogs As I was going through my sorted blogs on Bloglovin’ I am realizing that so many of my ‘Must Reads’ never update any more. It’s terribly disappointing! +6512 and Growing: I found this blog a few years ago while blog hopping and have loved it ever since. The writer is from Durango, Colorado and typically posts once a week with a…

Day 6: Favorite Book to Movie or TV Shows #AMonthofFaves2016 – what were your faves; did you both watch the movie and read the book; which was better? Movies +Harry Potter Series +The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo +Pride and Prejudice 1995 +Little Women 1994 Full disclosure: I have actually never read the book. Yes, heap the shame on me now! +A/The Little Princess – Shirley Temple version TV +Outlander +Call the Midwife I read the first book and like the tv series much better! +Sherlock Another book I have not read. But, with Benedict Cumberbatch is there anything else needed? How about you?

Day 4: This Is How We Blog #AMonthofFaves2016 – – Essential Computer Programs, Browser Plugins, Websites and / or your blogging routine I started blogging back in 2002 on the old Blogger/Blogspot service, followed by a few jaunts to some hosted sites that my brother had, before going to Geocities and coding the site myself. In 2003 I took an online HTML course that helped me do all of that coding and by inspecting the HTML of other blogs I was able to eventually put something together. For a long time I coded my own RSS feed, too! That was a pain! Finally, in late 2009 I downloaded WordPress to…

Today I meshing Day 2 and 3 together since they both have to do with reading. As usual, links are not sponsored. Day 2: – 5 Popular Books Worth the Hype #AMonthofFaves2016 I’m going to mix books from this year and in the past that have been hyped that have been fantastic, in my opinion. Read This Year +The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins +Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert Read Another Year +The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson +Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer +Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Day 3: This Is How We Read #AMonthofFaves2016 – eg. Number of books read so…