books read in 2016

1-Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

2-The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times

3-The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

4-The Nightingale

5-The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

6-Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God

7-The Woman Who Stole My Life

8-The Girl on the Train

9-The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin

10-Library of Souls

11-The Miniaturist

12-Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse

13-Found

14-Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

15-Farewell to the East End: The Last Days of the East End Midwives

16-The Kalahari Typing School for Men

17-The Hunger Games

18-The Full Cupboard of Life

19-In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

20-Village of The Small Houses: A Memoir Of Sorts

21-Falling Free: Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted

22-Blue Shoes and Happiness

23-The Night Circus

24-The High Mountains of Portugal

25-The Nest

26-All the Light We Cannot See

27-The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own

28-Clutterfree with Kids

29-New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks

30-File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents Reports 1-6

31-Station Eleven

32-The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

33-Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn

34-Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

35-One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories

36-The Boston Girl

37-Packing Light: Thoughts on Living Life with Less Baggage

38-The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

39-The Book of Speculation

40-Victorious Mindsets

books read in 2015

It's that time of year, when I move the book list from it's little home on the right side of the blog into it's own little post.

here is the books read in 2014 post.

My goal for this year was 40, I reached 27.
It feels a little disappointing, then I figured that I read at least 1 book every 2 weeks.

I think that's pretty decent!!

Some of the front runners of this past year were:

Stern Men

Unbroken

The Martian

Why Not Me?

I've also gotten myself into a few new series that I love and now I have to wait for the next book to be released:

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Marywood Rose

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Dr. Thomas Silkstone Series by Tessa Harris

Here is the list in it's entirety:

1-Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

2-A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home

3-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

4-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

5-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

6-The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest

7-The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale

8-The $50 Home Makeover

9-Fahrenheit 451

10-The Devil's Breath

11-Yes Please

12-The Lazarus Curse

13-Flight Behavior

14-Stern Men

15-Gone Girl

16-The Boy Who Lost Fairyland

17-Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

18-The Shadow of the Raven

19-A Little Princess

20-Orphan Train

21-The Martian

22-The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unmapped Sea

23-What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

24-The Mysterious Benedict Society

25-Why Not Me?

26-A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned

27-Solo: A Memoir of Hope

Some real disappointments on the list included:

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - this one was an okay read, but something that just rubbed me the wrong way, was the author continuously mentions that "at least I never walked", to the point that he wanted to put it on his tombstone when he died. I felt that this was a complete missing the point of running as well as alienating a whole gigantic group of runners who are just starting or are using the 10min/1min way to run. 

Solo: A Memoir of Hope - I was just telling Thom that when I first picked this book to read, I thought it was about a girl who sailed a boat solo (I have no idea why!). I started to read it, and then when I mentioned it to some friends, they said "oh, Hope Solo, she's the soccer player from last summer". Hmmm? Apparently, when I pick books, I have no idea what they are actually about, and I also lived under a rock during the Women's World Cup.  So, once I knew about the semi-scandal involving Solo and read a few other articles, it changed the way I perceived this book. Obviously all biographies are biased to the person writing it, but the last half of the book felt a little phony.

This year, I'm aiming for 40 again (I've done it before right?!)

an intervention.

Wow. My book list this year is lacking. Big time.

It's so short and there are a few reads on that list that I did not even enjoy all that much.

It would seem that I can get sucked so easily into little games on my ipad. We downloaded a game for Isla, an Inside Out emotions game where you shoot emotion balls.... why do I even feel the need to explain this?

It didn't teach anything about emotions, except how internally upsetting it was to get stuck on a level for days at a time. To be honest the last level I was on, I was stuck on for 3 weeks. 3 weeks! On a silly children's game.

Remember how it was for Isla? Apparently it was for me.

And then I read this on Lil Blue Boo. And it was too real and too close to home and now I am done.

I also remembered a sermon from a few months back about doing things that are truly soul filling and soul restful.

And truly, tv and ipad games aren't cutting it.

So I am now trying to fill my evenings with reading, gardening and crafting-- I'm working on a few little projects in that area.

Even these past few nights have proven more filling (and restful!) than any straight tv night over the past few months.

I get it, I feel tired, I'm a full-time mom and wife with a full-time job and trying to keep up with friends and family part-time, it can seem like a lot. TV does seem like a relaxing mind numbing way to end my day,

But it hasn't been giving me the rest I've been craving.

And frankly, I don't really want my mind to be numb.

Books read in 2014

This past year ended with our house being sick, we had stomach bugs, then colds, then flus, all of us, pretty much one after the other.

This new year has started with me being sick. I have still been up coughing most of the last 4 nights.

Being sick is no fun.

It did however help me finish up my reading for 2014. 42 books.

42!

I did it! I reached my goal.... Wait! I just checked, my goal was 41! I beat my goal!

These were a few of my faves:

The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Beautiful
This book was beautiful. It was like a breath of fresh air to my house and, even more importantly, to my soul. Almost like a breath I didn't know I needed. It gave me peace and patience about my house. Nester gave me permission to take my time, to not strive for perfection. When I think about what I really want my home to reflect-care, peace, coziness, rest-it doesn't need me to have every thing perfectly done, everything in it's perfect space.

The 5 Love Languages of Children      
I borrowed this one from the library, but I think I may buy it. It has been instrumental in the way I interact with my girls. The book says that most children do not have specific love languages before the age of five, but I have been seeing where they tend to lean, and by recognizing these, I have been able to show them more love in a way that they feel and receive.


I also read a lot of children's and YA fiction this year, there were a lot I loved!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
This one captivated me from the very beginning. The author, Ransom Riggs, based this books around old photographs, weird and mysterious ones. He wrote the book based on images he had or would search out images to fit where he wanted the story to go. It is a time travel, mystery, love story filled with monsters and children and birds. oh it is wonderful. I read the second in his series as well, Hollow City, just as delightful, and now I am waiting for the third to be released
(there is also supposed to be a movie done by Tim Burton-be still my heart!)

I also started a series called The Incorrigible Children Of Ashton Place. I read the first two books. The quaintness of the settings and the lovely affections and proper etiquette of Miss Penelope Lumley, accompanied by the sweet wildness of her 3 little charges had me hooked from the get go! This is definitely a book meant for the younger than young adult group, but oh I have fallen in love with them. Their are two more loaded on my Kobo just ready to go.


And here is the full list of books read this year:

1-A Wrinkle in Time

2-A Wind in the Door

3-Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

4-Many Waters

5-Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

6-Found: A Memoir

7-Critical Care

8-A Swiftly Tilting Planet

9-The Book Thief

10-The Midwife of Venice

11-An Acceptable Time

12-The Third Wave

13-Charlotte's Web

14-Escape from Camp 14

15-The Silver Linings Playbook

16-The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful

17-Little House in the Big Woods

18-Notes From A Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in A Chaotic World

19-The Harem Midwife

20-The Anatomist's Apprentice

21-Beyond Molasses Creek

22-Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

23-Everything is Perfect When You're a Liar

24-The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

25-Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children

26-The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

27-The Five Love Languages of Children

28-Charlie and The Great Glass Elevator

29-An Irish Country Girl

30-Dad is Fat

31-The Dead Shall Not Rest

32-Still Lolo: A Spinning Propeller, a horrific Accident, and a Family's Journey of Hope

33-Divergent

34-Insurgent

35-The Girl Who Soared Over Fairlyand and Cut the Moon in Two

36-The Secret Language of Doctors

37-The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

38-Finding Ultra

39-The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place-Book 1: The Mysterious Howling

40-The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place-Book 2: The Hidden Gallery

41-Allegiant

42-Flea Market Fabulous



Books on the list for this year:
-A Million Little Ways (this was on last years list, but I did not get to it)
-Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All
-Simply Tuesday:Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World
-The Best Yes
-Making Habits, Breaking Habits
-Flight Behavior
-What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

I'm hoping to keep around the 40 book mark again this year. 

**this post contains affiliate links**

don't do it!

I know it's been a little bit. (june! yeesh.)

I just had to pop in because I added a book to the book list that I do not recommend.

Everything's Perfect when You're a Liar.

I thought it would be funny. I think it was supposed to be funny?

It was more like a weird story of growing up with a lot of pot smoking and swearing.

So... if you like that kind of thing, maybe this is the book you've been waiting for?

I didn't want anyone to think that my list of books is all books I've read and loved.

Most are. This one was not!!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Thankful Thursday!

we had a really busy week!

it was also a very very fun week :)

this week i am thankful for:

-the "big mess run" with great work friends and miss Meggie!

(we actually did the Run or Dye)

-small crafty art projects inspired by a Hallmark bag

-Annie! who helped me shuffle our upper cabinets around for a more open feel

(even the ridiculously gigantic square shaped hole made me laugh when we found it!)

-funny "to do" lists

-dinner with faraway friends

Thankful Thursday

this week i am thankful for:

-camping with friends who love our kids (and our kids lu-urve!)

-watching my uber-cautious daughter becoming more brave than i was at her age

-s'mores and this girl (even when she wakes up at 4:45 am!!)

-this dad and his small girls

-sunny summer days and sunsuits

-early morning time spent with Isla and in the Word

-love this girl so so much!!

today we also had a goodbye party for my friend Kerry.

she is a lovely co-worker/co-nurse of mine who initially replaced me on my first mat-leave.

she is moving to the states in a few weeks and we are all very sad.

i am so thankful to know her and to have worked with her.

i am also thankful that we were able to bless her with a lovely surprise present.

a little Pandora bracelet with some meaningful charms.

it has been a lovely week indeed.

and i am super thankful to be off to the spa with my girl Becky tomorrow!

woop!

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

-being back at blogging :)

-Isla attending a morning of Junior Kindergarten (how did that happen?!?!)

-voting with these ladies

-these lovely Toms from a thrift store! Holla!

-morning runs in sunshine

-and cutie cute tiny boots

National Running Day!

(let's pretend we celebrate this nationally here in Canada too, shall we?)

i recently watched this little gem:

i've been reflecting on my running journey since i started last July.

less than 9 months ago, i couldn't run back to my car in a parking lot without losing my breath.
fast forward to a week and a half ago:
i just finished my first 10k!

i signed up in the fall to do the Ottawa Race Weekend 10k.
i trained in the fall, (and then took a little break due to the ridiculousness that was the Ottawa winter),
and then picked up my training in April.

i am so proud of what i have accomplished.

my sister caught this picture of me in the sea of 12,000(!) runners.

{can you spot me?}

i was able to finish in 1:05:41.

a personal best!

then, this past weekend, i did a mud hero with 9 other co-workers.

so so so so fun!

the mud hero was definitely the more fun of the two (to be expected i suppose),
but the sense of accomplishment i felt when i crossed the finish line of that 10k?

amazing.

i have become addicted:
.to running.
.to the running community in ottawa.
.to racing.

it's wonderful and exciting and inspiring.

i am a runner and an athlete.



and i am a proud big sister!!
my sister ran the marathon the day after me.
some words to describe what it looked like to see those marathoners come around the 38km mark:

crazy . alarming . emotional . disturbing . inspiring . motivational . frightening

{here she is pre-race}

{i have medal envy!}

Thankful Thursday

this week:

-watching Isla fall in love with puzzles!! girl after my own heart!

{all by herself!}

-having my mom visit this past weekend

-talking to Auntie Rozzy on speakerphone and having Megan shouting "HI! HI! HI! HI! HI!"

       (we love our Auntie Rozzy!)

-family day pyjama day dance parties!

-my job

-having my lovely friend and co-worker Becky babysit last night... and i totally forgot to leave any kind of putting Isla to bed instructions... whoops! she feels like such an old friend that somehow i just assumed she knew the bedtime routine... even though it was her first time at our house! Sorry Becky!

-date night that turned into free meal date night because they forgot our order in the kitchen! i have no problem spending an hour chatting with my husband and get a free meal for it!!!

Thankful Thursday

this week I am thankful for:

-these lovely lasses. sigh.

-a 30th Birthday weekend away (for my bestie!) with 6 ladies and a baby: 

time to sleep in, eat good food, laugh, shop and reconnect

-Olympics!!!! Yay!!

-My mom coming in on the train today

-Isla. Here are some things she has said this week:

           "look, my breathing is dusty"  (in the cold)

           "Mommy? When I'm a woman, can I drive your car?"

           "You know everything don't you?" (to her Gramma Kiki)

           "Uncle Ryan is silly, huh?... And Uncle Noah... And Mike"

           "You came back!" (to me after I was away for the weekend)

         

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for:

-friends celebrating Thom turning 30 this past week :)

-Sunday mornings with rowdy worship and dancing and fun fun fun!

-seeing Isla run over and sit with Isaac and Auntie Mary on Sunday morning

-cuddles on the couch later in the day with my girlies

-getting out running after an almost 3 month hiatus! 

-also thankful for no longer blistering frostbiting-ly cold temperatures! sheesh!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

-a great retreat with the young adults last weekend--Megan and I joined them and had an amazing time, we laughed, we cried, we ate some good food!

-Megan doing awesome on the drive! Our first trip with someone other than Thom... Thanks to Uncle Noah for braving the drive with us!

-the school we chose for Isla to attend in the fall-- and the way God confirms decisions by having pt's rave about the school... total divine appointment!

-Breakfast date with Isla before going to check out her school

-New friends

-dinner out with my co-RNs-- love working with those ladies!

-and last but certainly not least! that my nephew is awesome.

yup, that's an 18 month old on skis.

no big deal.

Books read in 2013

So... my goal of reading 40 books this past year was apparently *ahem* a little ambitious.

I think it actually wasn't that unattainable but Thom put a Sudoku book in my stocking last Christmas, and while I breezed through through the first three quarters of the book, the last section, the diabolical section, had me stumped and I would pick it up and put it down and then pick it up and then threaten to throw it out and then pick it up again.

Finally in the second week of December, I tossed it. Unfinished, but no regrets on that one!

(oh and let's not forget that new "Harry Potter book" debacle!)

I think getting wrapped up in the Hunger Games trilogy really helped push me to stick to reading and let the Sudoku go for good.

Here is the completed reading list of 2013:

1-Loving Your Kids on Purpose

2-Animal Stories

3-This Will Be Difficult to Explain: And Other Stories

4-The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

5-Her Fearful Symmetry

6-"Who Could That Be at This Hour?"

7-Almost Amish

8-That Scatterbrain Booky

9-With Love From Booky

10-As Ever, Booky

11-The Help

12-The Power of Three

13-The Real James Herriott: A Memoir of My Father

14-Half Magic

15-The No. 1 Ladies Detective Angency

16-Castle in the Air
17-The House at the End of Hope Street

18-The Dog of the South

19-An Irish Country Doctor

20-The Hunger Games

21-Catching Fire

22-Mocking Jay

just over half of my goal.  Wop wop.

feels a bit lacking.  

I'm going to basically keep the same goal, but up it to 41--basically just so it feels like a new resolution.

My faves from this past year:

Fiction: The Hunger Games Trilogy 

Non-Fiction: Loving Your Kids on Purpose

I honestly thought I had read a lot more non-fiction, but I think I did some major starting and not finishing!!

On the list to read this year:

-A Wrinkle in Time Quintet

-A Million Little Ways

-Finding Ultra

-The Harem Midwife

Any more suggestions? 

Also, I am loving my new Kobo and love love love that I can download books from the library to read on it!

Thankful Thursday

i am thankful.

thankful for the people i work with.

thankful for new Church in the 'Hood beginnings.

thankful for a day that google helped troubleshoot small person sleep troubles (instead of those days that all the most unhelpful info is at the top of the search results!)

thankful for vaccines that keep people healthy. 

thankful for the OSC seed catalogue coming in the mail!

thankful for downloading library books onto my Kobo.

thankful for small people cuddles and smiles and love.

thankful for life.

Thankful Thursday

ahem.

excuse my little absence. no real reasons. just life ;)

thankful this day for family, a lovely Christmas, a new year and good friends.

thankful for this past year:

-old friends with renewed friendships (or first "real" friendships)
-watching Meggie and Isla become closer and enjoy their sisterhood and friendship
-growing closer to Thom, seeing our friendship and love get stronger and tackle more
-my wonderful job and co-workers
-new friendship with a "destined-to-be-friends" friend
-becoming a runner
-losing 30 lbs (say what!?!)


life is grand!

Thankful Thursday

today i'm just very thankful today for my family being home safe.

we had a pretty major tragedy occur in Ottawa yesterday.

a train collided with a city bus.

some people did not have their loved ones come home to them.

praying for peace and love and grace to all those affected by the crash.

Thankful Thursday

so very thankful this week for:

-date night! (and baby sitting swaps with friends who also have littles)-

-strong legs to take me running-

-Megan learning to say thank you all by herself-

-brunch on Saturday with the "Ladies and the Babies" (this is what Isla called it)-

-finding some cute pair of velvet skinny jeans and a polka-dot dress 

for Isla for a total of $5.23 at Value Village-

-Isla's first day of Sunday School *sniff*, she's in the 3-5 year old class, 

graduated from the nursery, where oh where did the time go?-

thankful thursdays

i've decided to start a little weekly thankful-ness on thursdays, it will help me remember to post weekly-insert sheepish grin here-

so thankful this week for:

-best friends having babies-my bestie Beth and her husband Pat just had their first little baby. and my oh my he is perfection, honestly the nicest baby i think i have ever seen!

-bonfires with friends at their amazing new home (on a tree farm no less!)

-strong legs to carry me while running

-a busy and fun long weekend filled with lots of visits with friends

-4 day work week ;)

-a stack of new books to read on my night stand


always so much to be thankful for!

a little secret

 i've been keeping a little secret around here... it feels big to me.  very big.
(it's not a baby)

i have recently taken up running... if you know me, you may gasp and/or snort with laughter.

i pretty much pledged to never run.

never ever ever.

if (and that sometimes has been a very big IF) i was going to do any physical activity, it was going to be a sneaky trick, as in it would be something that was fun and made me feel
like i wasn't exercising. like snowboarding, or wakeboarding or canoeing or maybe (maybe) going on a hike.

but running? no no no not ever.

 
then for some reason* in the past few months i started thinking about that "never ever never never never running"and i thought- maybe?

so i went all crazy town and decided to sign up for the color run, then i discovered that if you ran as a team, you could save $5, and me being just the little bit ridiculous that i
am, somehow i ended up being the captain of this team... oh my.

i downloaded an 8 weeks to 5K app on my iphone and finally mustered up the gusto to try it out on July 7th. Go me!

{after my first training run}

July 8th i trip over our computer cord, jam my toe so badly that i can't walk and end up needing an x-ray to make sure it isn't broken.

amazing, this is my real life.

so running gets put on hold for a few weeks.

then i started again. I have been going for a few weeks now and i find the first little run a bit daunting and then i get into it. it feels good, it feels fun, it makes me feel strong.
two weeks ago, for the first time, i did more running than walking.

{some post running pics... getting easier to smile after each run}

i am very very proud of me.

i also ran that color run two sundays ago, i didn't run the whole thing, but we ran at least half of it.
i also had miss Isla in a stroller, she wanted to be a part of the "big mess" run after she saw the promo video.
 

it made me feel like a real "true" runner.
i really and truly am enjoying my new found running legs and i am excited as to where they will take me :)