May Book Report

I got my reading mojo back at the end of May. I read 4 books in just under 9 days and am ramping up for Summer 2017 Book Bingo!

The Sun is Also a Star" by The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon was a quick read and my first book for Summer 2017 Book Bingo. It fulfilled the  "Young Adult" category. I enjoyed this one but not nearly as much as "Everything, Everything". This tells the story of a young girl on the day of her deportation from NYC back to Jamaica and how she meets a young man who she falls in love with over the course of a day. 

You Might be an Artist If.. by Lauren Purje was the book I choose for the "Graphic Novel" category of Summer 2017 Book Bingo. I loved this book and enjoyed reading about the creative process. I spent a lot of time nodding my head and yelling, Yes! So True! 

The third book I read was for the "Recommended by a Librarian" category for Summer 2017 Book Bingo. The Girls by Emma Cline was a compelling read which reminded me of the Manson girls and Helter Skelter, the one book that terrified me so much I threw it in the garbage and thought about setting it on fire. I loved getting inside the mind of a preteen and her jumbled thoughts. 

I next read Turner House by Angela Flourney. It was both a Refined Reads for Seattle Refined and fit the "By an author of color" category for Summer 2017 Book Bingo. This was a fast and lovely read. It is a compelling story of a family (the Turner family) and their life in a Detroit house with 13 kids. My only complaint about this book is that I wanted more of the Turner family. 

Yearly Book Total: 22/52

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

Climate Change, Sunscreen and Books are This Week's Links From Around the Web

What You Can Do About Climate Change

Children And Sunscreen: A Guide To Summer Hell

Artist Embroiders Portraits of Women Using Cascading Thread as Flowing Hair

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

7 awesome page-turners your early readers really need to check out this summer

22 Exciting New Books You Need To Read This Summer

Monthly Goal Check-In (May)

Whoosh! That was May rushing right on by. We're almost at the halfway point in the year and I still have a lot to accomplish on this set of lofty goals. I did get a fair amount done this month though so I'm feeling good about this list. 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 25 times in May. I'm at 104 workouts with 113 more workouts to complete this year. I need to do 4 workouts a week to accomplish this goal. Summer travel is going to make this interesting!

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about noticing. I did a Day in the Life to notice my surroundings. We get so lost in our to-dos that we miss the details. The moments. I've also been doing 100 Days of B/W Photography over on Instagram which has made me slow down and notice the details. B/W photography can be tricky if you miss the details. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - Added another roll of film to my processing pile. I really need to get these developed. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I finished my preliminary swatch and am working on the other swatches. I have blocked out time to work on this project as I am getting it done this year. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I finished one square this month. I have completed 34 squares of the 60 total squares I need to knit. Maybe where summer travel will be hard on the workouts, it will be a blessing in the knitting arena? 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 4 books this month. This means I have 30 books to read this year and 22 under my belt. Book Bingo is really going to help these numbers! 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I pressure washed the patio, tidied the garage and started sorting the filing. I feel like projects are never-ending and I plan to paint the kitchen this month. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I'm still gathering my images. Five years of images takes a lot of time to gather and put in the appropriate albums. These books are going to be epic! 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community - I'm struggling with this one. I'm feeling disillusioned and I need to work hard on this goal. 

10. Learn how to make a really good stock 

Bonus Goal: Grow two new crops in my garden and add some chickens to my flock. 

Week in Review 6.3.17

It was a week. It was neither good nor bad. It was neither productive nor unproductive. It was a week. 

Exercise

I was able to get in 6 workouts this week - 3 boot camps, an easy hike, a barre3 class and a SHIFT class. I am really loving all this exercise though it feels like my body is sore all the time (good sore though).

I'm planning ahead for next week but discovered one of the classes I was planning to take is cancelled which means I need to get creative! I'm hoping the weather is nice so I can get in a walk around Greenlake.

Food

I've been enjoying food a bit too much so I started back on tracking. Summer is such a great time for salads so I've been enjoying them for lunch along with one of my favorites which is the shrimp - avocado salad from Family Fresh Meals. It takes minutes to prep and gives me a solid 3-4 meals depending on it Maggie eats with me or not. She is a shrimp fiend and steals my shrimp.

Logging my food means that I've upped my vegetable intake which is never a bad thing. I'm reminded that I love vegetables and eating healthy food but need to allow time to prep it and plan for it. It is honestly easier to eat crappy food but it doesn't feel as good as healthy food does. I also planned out our June menu so I'm ready for a month of good eats!

The Girls

The girls were a delight on vacation but have been terrors since then. It's been a rough time around our house but we did enjoy an awesome Friday afternoon with friends at Luther Burbank Park. The girls stripped down to their t-shirts and underwear and swam like mad. Afterwards they dozed while I drove us to opening day of the Phinney Farmer's Market. It's one of my favorites.

Other Goings On

I'm working hard on my mitered square blanket and really just want to get it done. I have been reminded that it is easy to carry around knitting which is helping with production. I knit two squares this week which is more than I've knit in months.

We found a baby fledging in our backyard the other day. She was so sweet and calm as I walked around her inspecting her for injury. She looked great so I figured she was just learning how to fly and kept the kids inside so she could have space. They kept wanting to check on her though. I had to herd everyone in when her parents tried to dive bomb us! 

Stories Published 

The June edition of Seattle's Child came out and my SHOP column is packed full of fun things to buy!

Memorial Day on San Juan Island

Every year, my family heads out on a short trip over Memorial Day weekend. Scott's birthday is around Memorial Day weekend and he loves going on adventures. This year we decided to head up to San Juan Island. We've visited Orcas Island and Suncadia in years past but wanted to branch out this weekend. The girls were super excited about riding the ferry and we got a nice, long ride!

After an extensive search, I settled on staying at EarthBox Inn & Spa which was just at the edge of Friday Harbor. The girls quickly settled in and claimed one of the queen beds as their own. The room was spacious and included a little kitchenette and a skylight. The skylight was beautiful until I realized that the sun sets at like 10 p.m. and comes back up at 4 a.m. around this time of year. The kids went to bed late and woke up early because the sun was up!

The hotel pool was a hit with the girls who insisted that we swim every day and then relax on the spacious patio afterwards. Their form of relaxation is completely different than mine. EarthBox Inn & Spa also had complimentary bikes which we had to skip due to the short legs in our group. Maggie's legs just couldn't reach the pedals! Luckily for us, we were right in town and walked to most meals and adventures. 

We took an early ferry up to the island and after checking into our hotel, we headed out to lunch. Our first stop was The Bait Shop for Fish and Chips! We pretty much ordered everything off the menu in an attempt to try everything - Shrimp and Chips, Fish and Chips, shrimp tacos, New England Clam Chowder, King Crab Bisque. I made a plate for myself of everything and it was so good! Maggie ate all the fish and even stole some right out of my hands. Molly went nuts for the shrimp tacos and Scott loved the clam chowder. 

After lunch, we roamed around town and visited a book store where Molly convinced me to buy her a book (I'll never turn down a book purchase). We explored some quite shops before checking out the Farmer's Market. I knew Scott was in vacation mode when he mentioned heading to the Farmer's Market, my one true love. They had the biggest pan of Paella being made which made me hungry even though I was already full from fish and chips.

After fueling up and exploring Friday Harbor, we headed back to the hotel to get the car. We headed north to Roche Harbor. The girls were fascinated by the wedding party being photographed while I mouthed to Scott, "We can't afford to encourage girlish dreams of a Roche Harbor wedding!" because you know that wedding was $$. Roche Harbor is on the northwest side of San Juan Island and is a sheltered harbor and resort. Facing Haro Strait, the resort is quite quaint but everything shuts early. We barely grabbed an much talked about ice cream before the shop closed at 3 p.m. 

We then drove up to Lime Kiln Point State Park where I heard whales could be found. Ever since our whale trip in Hawaii, I've been itching to see more. Unlike Hawaii though, whale tours on San Juan were crazy expensive, $100 a person. We hiked down the whale trail from the parking lot and set our eyes to searching. We roamed around and talked to the researchers in the light house. It is a beautiful park and while we weren't lucky enough to spot whales, we did get to see a Fox and Deer. 

We went to bed exhausted that night and everyone slept in! On Sunday we woke up and headed to Cynthia's Bistro for breakfast. I love tomato sauce with baked eggs but never get it. I ordered it from their menu and had chorizo added. It was so delicious! The girls had swedish pancakes and asked me to make some for them. I guess, I'll be working to learn how to make them.  We had a long wait for food but the waitress brought the girls a puzzle and they passed time by sticking their toys in glasses of water. Ugh! 

We next headed out to English Camp to explore. We hiked around and Molly found a rock wall to climb. She talked about climbing that thing for the rest of the weekend and even had us return on Monday to climb it again. I also had a nice chat with the woman working the informational booth and bought some National Park Passport Books for the girls. We're hitting up a ton of National Parks this summer so we'll be getting their books stamped. I'm excited and nervous about our summer road trip. 

After spending time at English Camp, we decided to explore American Camp on the southern side of the island. We headed to Grandma's Cove which a short but steep hike to the beach. The girls had the best time running around and throwing sticks in the water. Scott even found a snake to show the kids. 

By this time we were all tired and hungry and needed a bit of shade. We headed back to Friday Harbor for lunch at Market Chef. This deli makes mean sandwiches which filled our empty bellies right up. I knew the kids were hungry when they ate their sandwiches and stole our chips to finish off and then asked for ice cream. Since we were on vacation, we gave into their request and headed down to the ferry dock for delicious ice cream. 

We then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming at the hotel and "relaxing" on the patio. For dinner, we headed to Cask & Schooner where I enjoyed the Ploughman's Platter. 

I was so tired at the end of Sunday that the walk back to the hotel was seriously hard. As soon as we got back to the room, I got everyone changed and then crashed. Maggie decided to sleep with me that night which meant she slept on me. I was so tired, I didn't care. 

Monday was our final day on the island and Molly asked to return to English Camp. After breakfast at Rocky Bay Cafe, we headed back up to the camp. Molly wanted to rock climb again so we headed up to the rock wall. Scott found an easy, flat 2-mile hike and suggested we head out to do that. I got excited and headed toward the trail head. We got about 1/4 mile into the hike when Molly announced that she wasn't doing it and ran back toward the car. What a disappointment! I did however get to see an Eagle land on a tree above me. 

Since we weren't taking the ferry home until later and hiking was off the table, we had some time to kill. We ended up driving around the island a bit and then heading back to Friday Harbor where Molly convinced us to have another ice cream cone while watching the ferry dock. After some time spent in a park and walking around town, we were ready for our ride home. It was a great weekend and we are already looking forward to our next adventure! 

 

Mama, Workouts and a Summer Bucket List are This Week's Links From Around the Web

The Rise of Mama What do your kids call you? Mom, Mommy, Mama?

Her family had a slave, and she hopes we'll keep talking about it - Continuing the conversation

Getting Her Life Back  I admire Lisa Congdon and can only image how difficult this was to come public with.

Workout Ideas that are Perfect for Friends Workouts are always easier with friends!

The Books Kids Say Are the Best to Read with Their Moms Molly is just barely starting to read so I'm filing this away for later.

Summer Bucket List for Kids - We are so doing this!

Summer Book Bingo

Every year my heart starts to race when I realize it is Seattle Public Library Book Bingo time! Every year my friend, Laurie and I say we are not going to get obsessed. Every year we spend hours plotting out our bingo boards and exchanging ideas. I spent most of last Monday scheming and I'm pretty excited about my summer of reading! 

First things first, you can grab your Bingo Board on the SPL site. This year they also have a Kid's Book Bingo Board so get your kids involved! I've already told Maggie and Molly about our Summer Reading Adventure. 

I started my reading adventures last week and have already read two books! I'll be posting about my progress on Instagram all summer, using the hashtag #reebeckireads

There are 24 categories on the board and here are my plans (subject to change) for all of them! Well, most of them, I still need a suggestion or two so send them my way! Also the shorter the better, I need to read 24 books before Labor Day! 

Recommended by a librarian: The Girls by Emma Cline 

Choose a book by its cover: North Haven by Sarah Moriarty

You've been meaning to read: You are a Badass by Jen Sincero

Young adult: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Finished!) 

Biography or memoir: The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

Adapted into a movie: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (The movie, Arrival is based on this book!) 

Graphic novel: You Might be an Artist If... by Lauren Purje (Finished!) 

By an author of color: Turner House by Angela Flournoy

Recommended by an independent bookseller: Grocery by Michael Ruhlman

Set in another country: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Genre that is new to you: I'm considering H.P. Lovecraft for this category but am worried about the length of his books. Any good Horror books out there under 200 pages? 

Banned: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Collection of essays or short stories: Upstream by Mary Oliver

Published the year one of your parents was born: 1984 by George Orwell

Fiction: The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

About art or an artist: Frida by Hayden Herrera

A SAL speaker: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 

Reread a book you read in school: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Finish in a day: The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking 

Washington state author: A Year Right Here by Jess Thomson 

Poetry: Beowolf

Science nonfiction or science fiction: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

LGBTQIA author or character: Every heart a doorway by Seanan McGuire 

Recommended by a young person: Any young person out there read to recommend me a book? 

Week in Review 5.26.17

It was a week! We had sleep shenanigans, Scott's birthday, so many activities, a lot of cold brew tasting and a bunch of fun! 

Exercise

I was able to get in 5 workouts this week - 3 boot camps and 2 barre classes. I feel like I am back on my exercise game and while I am pretty darn tired, I am also so happy about it. We did this incredibly hard alphabet workout on Wednesday and I am still tired from it days later. Basically each letter of the alphabet has an exercise associated with it. You spell out your name or something else. My friend decided to just do all 26 exercises in a row. Her technique seemed a lot easier as I hunted for letters and added names to my name until time was up.

We are away this weekend but I'm already planning ahead for my workouts next week. I'll be heading to boot camp, getting in a barre3 class (I have one more pass left on my pack and it expires soon) and hopefully conquering a SHIFT class. 

Food

Scott's birthday was this week so the girls helped me make a carrot cake from Gimme Some Oven. The frosting was divine but my cake ended up a tad on the dry side. Next time I think I'll add a smidge more oil. It was really good otherwise and Scott was super impressed. I had fun baking with the girls even though it was a bit messy.

Maggie and I tried out the new Poke place in Ballard called Poke Square. It was really good! My only complaint is that they only have two sizes - Regular and Large. Maggie can pack away a lot of poke but that adds up so I would have loved to have seen a side or a small so I could get her raw fish (which is all she loves) and I could have had my own bowl. Instead I ordered a large and we shared. 

The new Amazon Fresh Pick-up location opened up which was perfect as I needed snacks and fruit for this weekend but had neglected to place a grocery order. I ordered our food this morning, selected a pick-up time and grabbed our food in just under 5 minutes. While I think I'll mainly use grocery delivery, I love having this option especially since there is no minimum and sometimes I just need $15 worth of groceries but I do not want to drag the kids into the store with me. 

The Girls


Sleep is still broken but the girls are so much fun. They made birthday cards for Scott this week and really concentrated on them. They helped bake him a cake and did a lot of work cleaning up the house.

Maggie is getting more excited about attending speech therapy and her language is getting so much better! She is so much easier to understand now and way less frustrated. 

The ballet recital is coming up in a few weeks and we are all anxious for it. I'm ready to be done with dance for the summer and the girls are excited to wear their dance costumes. 

Other Goings On

One of my new chickens started laying eggs and they are so wee. I believe it is Pinky Pie because Hai Hai is supposed to have green eggs. My neighbor is checking on the chickens for me this weekend and was excited to see the little egg. She loves birds so they are in for a treat!

Book Bingo is back! I have a post planned for Monday with details but I've been reading like a mad woman and planning my attack. Also my car strangely repaired itself. About a month or so ago, I thought I tapped my neighbor's skinny tree when I was backing up but then decided I was imagining things. I drove to the gym and then saw that the corner of my bumper was totally caved in. I was so upset! This week I came out of the grocery story and almost walked past my car. The bumper was almost completely back to normal! There is a small ding if you really look at it but the bumper is back to normal. I told Scott that procrastination paid off big time in this case. 

Photo Credit: Helsing Junction Farms

Stories Published 

Seattle Refined: Weekly Produce Box Roundup (with AND without a commitment)