January Book Report

I dove hard into my goals this month. One of them is to read 52 books this year. I took off a good chunk of that goal by reading 5 books this month and starting a 6th (which I'll be reading all year long). 

The first book I read was A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny. I've long been a fan of Chief Inspector Gamache and this book did not disappoint. The book starts with Chief Inspector Gamache as he takes over charge of the Sûreté academy and continues as all these books do with a mystery to solve. The underlying current of sadness and hope belays Penny's personal dealings as she deals with her husband's dementia and what that means for their life together. I highly recommend starting with Still Life, Penny's first novel and reading through to this, the 12th installment of Gamache.

I'm taking part in Coffee & Crumb's Year of Creativity this year. January was spent on Inspiration and a few books were recommended to us. One was Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I listened to this last year and had to listen to it again. Her words are inspirational and always get me thinking. We listened to part of this on a road trip and even Scott was intrigued. I believe everyone should read this book to open up their lives. 

My next book was The Trespasser by Tana French. I've been reading French's books for years and always get sucked into them. The Trespasser is told from the viewpoint of Murder Detective Antoinette Conway. It starts out slow and honestly could have had about 20% cut but I really dug the story. Her case looks like a simple domestic violence murder but quickly starts to twist and turn before the stunning conclusion. 

Gillian Flynn wrote a short little book called, The Grownup which I devoured in one evening. We were in a hotel and I couldn't read my book due to all the lights being off so our kids could sleep. I, however had The Grownup on my Kindle app and got to reading. This is another thriller (I seem to have had a theme in January) where the tale takes you on a windy road. I'm hoping that Flynn is busy at work on another book because I'm ready for it! 

Stephen King's On Writing was another recommended piece in the Year of Creativity. I've had this book on my bookshelf for a few months so I was more than ready to dive into it. I loved hearing how King's childhood shaped his writer life and made him into who he is today. I also loved reading his advice. It was pretty eye-opening to hear that he edits his pieces just a few times. I always get this impression that writers are editing and re-editing their pieces which is just not my style. I'm a write a crappy first draft, edit and then turn it in kind of writer. 

I heard about the book, Year Between Friends: 3191 Miles Apart by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes in a podcast while we were vacationing in Hawaii last December and quickly put it on my wish list. My best friend saw this and sent it to me for my birthday. The writers said they hoped people would read the book as each month came so that is what I've decided to do. I read January in January and will be reading February in February, etc. I won't be writing about this book every month. The stories across 3191 miles always touch me. They remind me of my other best friend who lived in England when we began writing each other and now resides in Arkansas. This book is my way of keeping both my best friends in my heart and hopefully will inspire me to send them more snail mail. 

Yearly Book Total: 5/52

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means if you buy something from a link, I receive a very small percentage back. 

Taking Action, Reading and Acts of Kindness Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

How to Take Action and Stay Sane in the Trump Era

How to Read Like a Pro

February Acts of Kindness

Obama's Book Recommendations

So You Want to Protest: A Beginner's Guide

Monthly Goal Check-In (January)

Seriously, it is the end of January and I'm not sure how that happened! The last two weeks have been extremely distracting and I've been busy politically. Additionally, I have made great progress on my 2017 goals this month. 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 24 times in January which means I have 193 more workouts to complete this year. 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity - This month was all about inspiration. I spent most of it finding inspiration and reading. I spent a few evenings with the workbook and thought about where to find my inspiration. I pretty much learned that I need to let it in. I need to sit quietly and let it come to me. That is really hard though. You can see my photo essay here.

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - January's Roll was taken at Greenlake when it was frozen over and glorious! I was pleased that most of my shots turned out too. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I didn't work on this goal this month. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket. I knit 3 squares this month before getting sidelined with PussyHats. I have 33 of the 60 total squares to go and it is looking good!

6. Read 52 books. - I read 5 books this month and will post a book report later this week. This means I have 47 books to read to achieve this goal. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I settled on a color to paint the kitchen and bathroom. I started the prep work on the kitchen and plan to paint it in February. We also started discussing a basement remodel so I've spent some good time on Pinterest gathering inspiration. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I started gathering images into (private) albums on Flickr so I can make books from there. I have about 4 years of images to sort through but I'd like to get a few books done with my free coupons that expire in March. 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community - I went to the Womxn's March with my family on 1/21 and have been busy calling/writing my representatives. Scott has also started being more active and went to a march by him self recently. 

10. Learn how to make a really good stock - This has been incredibly successful! I have totally conquered Chicken and Veggie stock. I look forward to attending pork and beef stock in the coming months. 

Bonus Goal: Grow two new crops in my garden and add some chickens to my flock. - These goals can't really be addressed until Spring though I am pouring over seed catalogs and making plans. 

Week in Review - 1.28.17

It's been a rough week. Not because of anything personally but because I'm having a hard time processing the new administration. It's been 7 days and I'm emotionally outraged and drained. Scott and I have been talking a lot about where to put our charitable funds and volunteer efforts. 

Exercise

Exercise was great this week. I went to SoulCycle on Sunday which was fun. It's a bit too far away to be a consistent workout for me though. The current location is in Bellevue which is a 30 minute drive with no traffic and at least 45 minutes with traffic. I went to boot camp three times and took two Barre3 classes which puts me at 22 workouts for the year. 

Food

Food has been a power struggle with the kids lately. In an attempt to amuse myself, I've started taking pictures of the meals they've rejected and posting them on Instagram. I have been vastly amusing to myself and others seem to be getting a kick out of it too. I've put the whole series on Flickr. 

I ordered from Acme Farms + Kitchen again this week. I got a salad kid, a mini ready meal, a basics pack and some Oat Pancake mix. All of it has been delicious! 

I neglected to mention this really cool smoothie pack that I got from Metropolitan Market last week. They sent me their new Smoothie fruit mix, Ellenos yogurt, Almond milk and a protein pack (which I used and didn't photograph so my usual protein powder is stepping in here). Maggie has been digging smoothies so I've been making them a lot more. I love how filling they are as an afternoon snack. I've been making some for after my boot camp workouts. I make them the night before and put them in the freezer. Then I leave them in the car during my workout and they are ready to drink by the time I'm done. Yum! 

The Girls

Maggie had her 36 month screening done at Parent Trust and was deemed awesome. I've been taking the girls for developmental screenings since birth and have been reassured many times. The screening did help catch Molly's slight speech delay and then we were able to get quickly up to speed. 

Otherwise it was a pretty regular week for us. Molly asked for an at-home day on Friday so we hung around the house which was actually pretty nice. They destroyed the den and I got the living room purged. I'm on a big "Get Rid of Clutter" kick right now. 

Other Goings On

It's been rainy and cold around here so I haven't been the best about cleaning out the chicken coop. In the winter, they like to nestle up in their laying boxes which means they quickly fill with chicken poop. I never worry though because they aren't laying eggs. Well....they started laying eggs again over a week ago but not in their boxes. They built a nest in the clean part of their coop which I discovered when I went out to do a massive coop clean out. So now I'm battling with the chickens to start laying in their boxes again and hoping they haven't gotten a taste for chicken eggs. 

Last Saturday, we joined the Womxn's March in Seattle. It was profoundly moving and something I'm so glad that we did with the girls. I wanted to show them that you fight for what you believe in. While I know I'll be joining in more protests and making more noise, I'm not sure that we'll be including them in every protest. However, I will be teaching them how to speak up for what you believe in.

Project 52 - Week 45

Maggie and I headed to the car wash this week to try to unearth parts of my car that haven't been seen in months. I spent over an hour vacuuming with her help and the car has downgraded from hazardous waste disaster to natural disaster. Maggie loved sitting in the passenger seat as I washed the mats and the rest of the car.

Week in Review - 1.21.17

It's been a busy week but a fun one. I think I'm finally hitting my groove with 2017. It's going to be a hard political year but I'm hoping that it is a great personal one full of growth and involvement. 

Exercise

One of my goals this year is to complete 217 workouts in 2017. I am well on my way with this one. I decided to hit it hard in January to get myself back into the habit and front load my goal in case of unexpected hiccups (illness, vacation, etc). I'm currently at 16 workouts for the year so 201 to go! 

This week, I did three boot camp sessions, one FlyWheel class and one Barre3 class. I am BEAT especially since I did boot camp and FlyWheel on the same day. Exhausted does not describe how I felt on Wednesday afternoon. However, I am also feeling stronger! 

Food

After my FlyWheel class on Wednesday, I still had some time before I needed to pick up the girls so I headed over to WanderFish Poke on Cap Hill. It's been on my list to try for awhile and it was so good! I can not wait to go back again for some delicious poke!

I decided to try out Acme Farms + Kitchen this week. They offer free local delivery of local food directly from the farmers. I love this idea and ordered their salad kit along with a trial size of the Locavore Box. It's not cheap but it is delicious, local, healthy food!

And per our usual, I got our organics box again this week. I'm struggling to decide how to best use the fruits and vegetables. I meal plan monthly but don't know what is in my box until the week before. Sometimes the veggies match up and sometimes they don't. Also sometimes the vegetables go bad quickly. Like if I don't use the lettuce on the day it arrives, it gets all wilt-y and ends up with the chickens. 

The Girls

The girls had their 6 month check up at the dentist and I'm just thrilled that they love it there so much. No cavities and yes, we were told to floss more. Dentists love flossing! 

Otherwise, we have spent the last few weeks getting everyone back on schedule with sleeping, eating, school dayts and at-home preschool learning. We were doing Simply Learning but she's gotten busy and is switching her format to include The Peaceful Preschool. I checked it out and love the premise so we are also switching to The Peaceful Preschool curriculum. I'm pretty excited about some of the offerings. Can't wait to work this into our lives! The girls are still going to preschool at their school but this is just some additional activities for those long afternoons when I'm tempted to let them watch TV for much too long. 

Other Goings On

My Coffee & Crumbs Year of Creativity class has kicked off and I am LOVING it. This month the focus is on inspiration and I'm finding that I am too busy and don't allow creativity to find me. I'm working on slowing down and opening up to creativity. I finished re-listening to Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic this week and I could listen to it again and again. I actually put it on in the car during our weekend road trip and Scott was intrigued. I'm going to have him listen to it too. 

Most of this week was spent knitting Pussy Hats for neighbors and friends doing the Womxn's March today. Scott, the kids and I will be marching! 

Stories Published

Seattle Refined: Maui no ka oi (Maui is the best)
Seattle's Child: 25+ Indoor Things to Do with Kids At-Home & Around Seattle
Seattle's Child: January/February SHOP 

Project 52 - Week 40 - 44

I got really behind on things in December so today's Project 52 is catch up day!

We met some preschool friends for the Christmas Ships on the private North Beach beach. We live so close but don't have access so it is nice when others include us. 

Christmas morning was wild as usual and so wonderful! We spent the remainder of the day in quiet activity after the excitement of the morning. 

I took the kids to Target to get some supplies for a blog post and decided to document our trip in front of the sign. 

Maggie and I had to go to the community center to meet up with the person who hit and ran my car the previous week. This stuffed beaver was too much for us. In this photo she is telling me about how the beaver is dead. 

We took a weekend trip to the Washington Coast and stayed in this great little hotel. It was made for photos!

I love watching the girls bother Scott when he is trying to sleep. It's a highlight for me. 

Missed Connections, Creative Children and March Tips for Parents Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

Missed Connections for Parents - I laughed so hard, I snorted coffee out my nose. Totally worth the stinging pain. 

Anyone taking their kids to the March on Saturday? I am and so this guide from Activist Mama is incredibly helpful!

How to Raise Creative Children

15 Parenting Hacks to Get You Through 2017

29 Achievable Things in January

**I took an accidental hiatus from sharing my weekly links but I'm back at it!** 

Film #1

One of my goals this year is to shoot a roll of film, once a month. I used Kodak UltraMax 400 Speed in my Nikon 35mm for my images this month.

A few weeks ago, I headed to Greenlake. I had heard it was frozen and I needed to check out the scene myself. It was gorgeous and a few of my photos captured this beauty. I'm already excited about this project and about the film lab I've decided to use. I asked Kirk of Mastin Labs where he develops his film and he confirmed my thoughts. He goes to Panda Lab on Queen Anne which is where I took my film. I especially love that they were able to send me the film scans via WeTransfer. I still need to pick up my actual film but I loved receiving them in my email. Without further adieu, here are my favorite images from this month. The full set can be seen here.