Casual Fridays

Exactly five years ago, Cody and I were smack in the middle of a roadtrip of epic proportions. We flew from Central Florida to Seattle, rented a car, and made our way down through Washington, Oregon, and California to San Jose where we turned in the rental and flew back home to Florida. One of the best trips we've ever taken although how in the world was it five years ago? Today I'm sharing this video Cody put together of our trip. 

What's the best trip you've ever taken?

Casual Fridays

September 1st? Already? Hardly seems possible. We only have four reading months left in 2023, and I decided that today would be a good day to take stock of what I've read this year, what's left on my 2023 book list, and how I want to prioritize my reading for what's left of the 2023 calendar. So to start: a few pertinent details.

• My original list for 2023 consisted of 40 books.
• As it happens, so far this year I have read 40 books.
• 19 of the books I've read in 2023 were from my original list.
• Which means 21 of the books I've read were not, and I also still have 21 books from my 2023 book list to finish.

So I've organized my beloved little library cart into four sections as a sort of (very loosely held) TBR for the remaining months in 2023. It's looking...ambitious, but not impossible so here's to sticking to my own books for the rest of the year, library holds be damned. 

The two books on their sides are the final two Wingfeather books in the quartet that Cody and I have been reading aloud together so those will be ongoing.

What books would you like to get to in these next four months?

Casual Fridays

Wow. It has been a hot minute since we've caught up around here. I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging since I started this whole thing, and let me tell you: the temptation to just throw in the towel is real because there is a stack of books waiting to be recapped sitting in my little home library and some of them still date back to last summer. We're doing great. I'm sneaking this post in today so that when I look back at the blog archives, it will seem like I only missed one month instead of three which is the actual truth because the two posts I published in May were technically scheduled and ready to go in April. Oy to the vey. Let's ease back in with a chatty Casual Friday, shall we?

First of all: hi. This is what we look like in case you forgot. And if you missed it, we've been North Carolina residents for over a year now. So this photo is basically in our back yard. We are nestled right in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and sandwiched between a national forest and a state forest. There's a waterfall around every corner.

And speaking of living in NC now: it snows here, y'all. We got nearly two feet of snow in January and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy because we were outside playing in it like a couple of kids. We were sledding down all the roads in our neighborhood, laughing and squealing like we were ten years old. All Cody's winter wonderland dreams came true, and you know what? Sitting inside by a cozy fire drinking something hot and reading a good book while there is a blizzard outside is not a bad life. Driving in it was terrifying, but we survived. 

In April, we went down to Myrtle Beach, SC for my littlest sister-from-another-mister's wedding. Funnily enough, this was the first time we've ever taken our dogs to the beach, and I think Cody had the most fun he's ever had on a beach in his life. Meggy was a beautiful bride, and her reception turned into a mini-Class of '06 reunion for me which was fun. I also convinced two of my BFFs to share an Airbnb with me so the whole weekend was basically one big party.

Also in April, my baby had a baby. I can't. I'm very "in my feels" about it, and you better believe I immediately drove down to Georgia to snuggle that little man. 

And speaking of being "in my feels" (as the kids say), my best friend and her babies came to visit a few weeks ago and I took her oldest out for a little date to one of my favorite spots and don't mind me crying into my Dr. Pepper over here while I stroll down memory lane remembering the day she was born. She's totally a teenager now and an amazing artist and writing her own books and somebody please stop time, for the love. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to May... 

...in May, I got to exercise my constitutional right to vote in the 2022 primaries. This was my first opportunity to vote as a resident of North Carolina. I'm so very grateful to live in a country where I'm afforded this opportunity. Even though politics and politicians can make me want to bang my head against a wall sometimes, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. God bless America. 

Also in May, Cody and I celebrated ten years of marriage. I actually got back into my wedding dress and my husband patiently indulged my request for a mini-backyard photo shoot. We watched our wedding video together, looked at photos, and went on our traditional date to Barnes & Noble and the Melting Pot. We also officially checked North Carolina off on our goal to #SeeAll50, but that's a post for another day. May is a crazy month always, and I blame my blogging failure entirely to that fact. Just in our immediate family, we celebrate three anniversaries and four birthdays. My brother and sister came in to celebrate our Mom's 60th birthday, but I have been strictly forbidden from posting the photos I took with them online. Oh wait! We did take a nice family photo at the Olive Garden. So here's that:

May also turned out to be my last month delivering packages for Amazon. I made it almost a full year. It was a good job, but I don't miss it. After a few too many less-than-safe driving experiences and being so entirely exhausted on all my days off, my husband and I decided the cons were starting to outweigh the pros of me having this job, and I gave my bosses my notice. I had great bosses, and delivering packages in the mountains of Western North Carolina certainly whipped my body into shape. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend being a delivery driver, but God provided for us through this job and I'm glad I was able to do it while it lasted. 

The first weekend of June saw us on a roadtrip to my beautiful Florida. Two of our nieces were having their first dance recital and there was no way we were going to miss cheering on those tiny dancers. We, of course, had to spend an afternoon with our boy, my sisters and I went to the beach for a day, and I got together with my book club. It was a jam-packed weekend trying to see as many people as we could and do as many of our favorite things as possible. (You know I came home with a stack of books from The Book Shelter.)

As I already alluded to, my best friend and her kids came for a visit the first week of July. Auntie Hannah had all the fun catching up with these babies. Our 4th of July fireworks got rained out, but that couldn't keep us down. We ate a lot of food, played a lot of games, and had a lot of fun. 

Y'all. I have a bush of the most gorgeous purple hydrangeas in my yard. Let me start this section off by saying I have the blackest of black thumbs. My house is where plants come to die. But these hydrangeas have been blooming on their own like crazy this summer and it has brought me no end of joy. 

And while we're on the subject of nature, deer and bunnies and all kind of fun animals hang out in our yard. We see them on a daily basis. There is also a mama black bear with two small cubs that have been making the rounds in our neighborhood, but I haven't caught them on camera yet. I tell ya: it's a whole new world for me up here in NC. We've gone from lizards and sand hill cranes and gators to woodland creatures, and it's a fun change. 

And one more backyard photo. Because apparently I'm turning into my mother and taking pictures of things like spiderwebs. Here's a handy link to when I recapped Charlotte's Web on the blog. You're welcome. 

Last week we celebrated my Gramma's 89th birthday. And because we are so redneck and Polk County people till the day we die, we stuck a giant match in her cake when we couldn't find any birthday candles. Gramma and I have been alone on the mountain a lot this summer because my parents and Cody have had to travel a lot for work and having her all to myself has been really special. We have a standing Wheel and Jeopardy date each night which basically keeps me going while Cody's away. 

Are you still with me? I know: this has been a lot. But that's what's been going on around here lately. I also have to tell you that Cody read Little Women (one of my all-time favorite books) and watched all three of our movie adaptations with me this summer. He loved the book, and was properly indignant over the liberties taken in the films. His favorite was actually the newest adaptation starring Saoirse Ronan as Jo. 

Anyway, I leave you with this photo of my puppies, because aren't they just the sweetest? Be on the lookout for some actual book recaps coming your way next week, and drop me a line telling me how your year has been going!

Casual Fridays

Well hello there! I've decided to jump back into blogging with a Casual Friday post. It's been over two years since I've done one of these, but there have been some major life changes happening since my last post and I didn't want to hijack a recap with a lengthy explanation of why I've been blog silent for the past two months. 

If you're hyper-observant and prone to haunt my blog, you may have noticed that my "About Me" section over there to the right of the screen has changed recently. 

If you're just a normal person who occasionally pops in, what I'm trying to get at here is......

WE MOVED.

That's right. After living our whole lives in sunny Florida, we sold our house o' dreams, packed all our belongings into that truck (well, that truck plus two trailers full of books and bookshelves, and no, that is not a joke), and moved to the tippy-top of a mountain in western North Carolina. We live in a house with a fireplace now and there hasn't been a day we've lived here that's gotten to 80 degrees Fahrenheit yet. 

On April 1st, my niece and I got to take our first big roadtrip together. She wasn't too sure about running down the side of the highway to snap photos in front of the state welcome signs, but I hope we made some memories she'll never forget. After ten hours in the car, and a lot of "Auntie Hannah, are we there yet?!"s we arrived and the unpacking began. 

Turns out, we had a little stowaway from Florida. After he jumped out of a box I was unpacking in the guest room and scared the wits right out of me, I continued to catch glimpses of him making his way from one end of the house to the other. After two weeks of co-habitating, he finally got a little too close to my bedroom and I caught him and introduced him to his new, much colder home outside.

But if you start to hear any news reports about how there's been a disruption to the ecosystem in Western North Carolina and Floridian lizards have started to run rampant, you didn't see anything.

We've hit a few unexpected and not exactly welcome snags—like having to completely replace the roof of our home before we sold it, having electrical problems in our new house which resulted in half the power being out for more than a week, popping a tire on our truck and buying four new ones, and hearing a mouse—or something—scratching inside of the walls where we live now. But all in all, we're confident God brought us here and we trust Him to keep providing for us. Even though I'm really missing our Florida fam, hot weather, and the ability to pick up and drive to the beach whenever I feel like it, we're starting to settle in here and I'm excited for this new phase of our life. 

Still on the To-Do List: find a job and find a church. We've visited a different church every single Sunday we've been here, and now that we are smack in the buckle of the Bible Belt, we could probably keep visiting different ones for a whole year. Say a prayer for us!

In other news, this being the first Casual Friday post in over two years means it's been equally long since I've shared some of my favorite things. I recently discovered Reese's Puffs cereal for the first time in my life and wow. I can't stop with it. It is my new addiction and I think I've bought like, three boxes of it in the last month.

Also, as of Wednesday, I completed my first ever viewing of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This has been my sister's favorite show for years, and much like she did with the Harry Potter books, she persisted in wearing me down until I gave in. My husband got the series for Christmas and I agreed to watch it with him. 

And I dig it. I should just follow all my sister's advice from now on. (Don't tell her I said that.)

Other favorites lately:

-puppy snuggles

-roaring fires on cold days

-listening to the wind in the trees

-having a dedicated library room

-Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy every night because our antenna picks it up clear as a bell now

These are some of the books I'll be recapping in the upcoming weeks so be on the lookout for those. (And yes, this photo was taken in our new home library. Be still my heart.)

What's been going on in your life lately? Have you discovered any new favorite things that are making you happy or keeping you sane? And why hasn't anyone told me about Reese's Puffs cereal?!

As always, feel free to leave me a comment, contact me via the "Contact Me" form on the righthand side of the screen, or respond to this e-mail if it showed up in your Inbox. I'd love to hear from you!

Easter Sunday 2021

Casual Fridays

It's 2019 and after getting January and February under our belts, I've created a grand total of 4 blog posts around here. Pretty sad considering that even the very first year I started this blog, I didn't even start till February and I made 10 posts that first month alone. But things are changing around here. I can't live to blog, y'all. It's a hobby, not my job. 

That being said, I do enjoy this little hobby and plan to keep it up. Just not quite at the same level I have in years gone by. I'll still be posting my yearly book lists and accomplishments, and the recaps aren't going anywhere. Starting this project has done wonders for my reading life, and I love that. I definitely still plan to keep blogging through our goal to #SeeAll50 (Cali post comin' atcha Monday!), and I love saving quotes that have struck me in my little Word for Wednesday posts. I'm sure I'll pop in with a Tuesday Confession every now and then, and I may crank out a Casual Friday post every once in a while to share some Link Love which is what I'm doing today. I guess what I'm saying is: nothing's changed. I'm just checking in and telling you that I'm not dead and there will probably be fewer posts from here on out. (Or maybe we're just going through a dry spell and things will pick back up again later.) Let's end this obviously well-thought-out stream of consciousness and talk about some links I've loved lately. 

@hannahisobelhancock : I have come out from under my rock and created an Instagram account. I'm sharing this first because this is why there will probably be very few (if any) Casual Friday posts from here on out. Casual Fridays have kindof been my excuse to share photos and talk about whatever I want so if you really liked that aspect of this blog, feel free to go follow me over on Instagram for your regular dose of my ramblings and cute pictures of my dogs. 

@booksugar : And while we're on the topic of Instagram, go check out my absolute favorite account. Maria takes the most gorgeous photos of her book collections and I can't get enough. 

Gifts for Booklovers : This gift guide for booklovers is perfect. My personal favorites (feel free to share this with my husband) are #1 (what booklover hasn't got bubbled up pages in some of their favorite books from reading in the tub?), #11 (I can envision exactly where I'd put this shelf in my house), #15 (because of course), #16 (which I would utilize on my new leaning shelf, duh), #29 (because how clever are these?!), #35 (perfect in and of itself, but if I could personalize the titles displayed—even better), and #38 (because how fun, right?!). 

Marry Me : Meghan Trainor's new music video (which doubles as her wedding video!) is the sweetest, and I love it. Even though the lyric "a fancy wedding's not for me" is absolutely hilarious given the video you're watching.

How Many Books Can You Read? : I found this article and corresponding test super interesting. I have no idea of the accuracy of it, but my results said that if I spent 20 minutes a day reading, I could read 26 books in a year. 

What Jane Austen Teaches Readers : This article on Austen's emphasis on readers and reading in her work was fun for this diehard fan.

Lip Sync Karaoke with John Legend : Jimmy Fallon plays the best games on The Tonight Show, but this one takes the cake. I died watching this. Please do more of these.

Little Tree Library : I can't. This is the best idea and the result is magical. Would love to visit and see it for myself.

Kindred Spirit Mailbox : And while we're on the subject, add this to my bucket list immediately. 

A Photo Appreciation of Libraries : Confession: I'm not much of a library patron. I prefer to buy and add to our home library. But these libraries make me swoon a little. 

Glitter Bomb Revenge : This is gold.

Yesterday : Movies coming out that I actually want to see?! 2019 comin' in hot. 

Poms : I am so there for this. 

In conclusion, I'm still here. I'm still reading. And I still love this tiny little corner of the internet. Here's a fancy picture I took for Instagram the other day of some of my blue books. Sharing here to show that I actually did get the books in the shot even if stupid Instagram cut the top and bottom off.

How has your life been in 2019 so far? What have you been reading? Have you read any of these blue books? Are you on Instagram? 

Casual Fridays

Y'all. I ate a salad as a whole meal this week. For those of you who have never met me in real life: this is major. I've been a salad hater all my life and if offered a salad on any given day my quick response is something along the lines of, "Salad is what real food eats" or "Bring me that chicken and gnocchi soup instead" or even just a basic, "Ew, yuck." But my husband is a huge fan of Zaxby's Cobb salads and every time he gets one, I always think it actually looks good. And this week, I got one for myself. Granted, I dumped salsa all over it because I have yet to find a salad dressing (outside of The Melting Pot's secret house dressing) that doesn't make me gag (which, come to think of it, is probably why I've never been a huge salad fan—who wants to eat dry lettuce??), but I actually really enjoyed it and would eat one again. It was super yummy. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

I discovered this song by Florida Georgia Line this week, and it's been playing on repeat ever since. Don't ignore the fact that I put the actual video in this post: hit that play button. You need this feel good jam in your life. Also, if you can write lyrics that make me think of my husband, you will get my money every time. Insert some hearts and other appropriate emojis here.

Cody and I started a new puzzle, and it might actually be the death of us. We may never finish it. If you want to come over and take a stab at it, be my guest. I've been tempted to just put it back in the box, but after all the agony we went through to get even this far, I can't bring myself to do it. 

So after my last post mentioning my home pedi struggles, my best sisterfriend Lyndsey (who is my personal hair/makeup/fashion guru) texted me that I needed to get this brand for a smudge free experience, and, as always, she was so right. Loving this brand and loving this color. (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Re-teal Therapy)

Speaking of feminine hygienic practices, I have two more things to relate. 1) I bought another Chapstick. Because I will never have enough and this Peaches-n-Cream one is my current obsession (along with that Florida Georgia Line song—have you listened to it yet?!). And 2) I gave up on the Native deodorant, y'all. It irritated my skin too much, and I finally realized there was no special way to apply it to avoid the irritation. If you don't have sensitive skin, I'd still recommend it. Their Coconut & Vanilla scent is the bomb.

Changing the subject, let's talk about something this blog is actually about: BOOKS. First of all, look at those pretty, pretty Penguin clothbound Jane Austen beauties. Personally, I would always rather buy 10 books secondhand than 1 quality new one, but I was telling my husband a few weeks ago that I'd eventually like to invest in a good set of Jane Austen's complete works, because currently my Jane Austen novels are all bound together in one paperback volume which is a little cumbersome to travel with (not that that's ever stopped me), and a few days after our conversation, this box set showed up at our door. Am I spoiled or what? I love that man for keeping me in pretty books. 

But since I just confessed that I'm a used book junkie, here's what I've found at The Book Shelter lately. And alert the media: last Saturday when I went, I walked out with just one book. My husband was so proud of me. Have you read any of these? I highly recommend Unbroken. It's one of the best biographies I've ever read. 

Let's catch up on some Link Love and call it a day.

100 Books to Read Before You Die : I love reading other people's book lists and lists of the greatest books of all time and just bookish stuff in general so I found this guy's process of creating this ultimate book list interesting, and I loved all the included links to the lists he used to help him create his own. 

Why? : This is heartbreaking. Every child should get a family. Politics are the worst, and the State Department sucks.

The Greatest Showman Medley : This is insanely good, and I can forgive him for not including my favorite song from the movie (Tightrope) because undertaking this at all is ambitious and he did it with impressive results. Mad props to this guy. 

Don't Be Yourself : The trend he addresses in this post has been bothering me for some time now, and I had been thinking about writing a post on this very topic myself, especially after reading Mere Christianity. But then I read this and thought, "He did it better. We'll just share this one." 

What have you been up to lately? What are you reading right now? 

And are you hooked on that S-I-M-P-L-E song yet??

Casual Fridays

So apparently yesterday was National Tell A Joke day. There's a day for everything lately. In honor of that, I will share my favorite joke from yesterday with you. 

Three conspiracy theorists walked into a bar.

That can't just be a coincidence. 

Tell me your best joke!

Casual Fridays

Happy Friday to meeeee! Here's my latest haul from The Book Shelter. I picked these up last weekend, and it's taking a lot of self-control to not drop everything and just sit around reading all day. I only have 7 books left from my original 2018 list so I should definitely be able to get to one or two of these babies before the end of the year. Have you read any of these? Which one should I read first? 

And here's a bonus shot of my Colonel-bud to send you on your weekend because he was just glamming it up on the couch and the lighting was pretty. You're welcome.

What are you up to this weekend?

Casual Fridays

I think today we'll phone it in and just do an extremely basic Currently I'm... post. Because at the time I'm writing this, it's nearly 1 AM and I plan to be dead to the world when this goes live in a few hours. Let's see what I can come up with in the next 15 minutes.

Reading...

... technically, nothing at the moment. And not just because I'll be asleep when this post goes live. I finished The Three Lives of James Madison on Monday, 31 Days of Praise on Tuesday, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (say that 5 times fast) last night. Never fear: I totally intend to begin Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis whenever I wake up. And Othello won't be far behind.

Watching...

... Bones. I'm beginning to lose count of how many times I've watched this show from start to finish, though, if we're going to be precise about it, this would actually only be the second time since the show only came to a complete close last year. I'm currently on Season 10 and loving it just as much as I usually do even though I'm super mad at a certain someone right now. (Can't say who because my mommy-in-law is watching the show for the first time and I can't give away any SPOILERS.)

... Alias. Oh yeah. We're throwing it back old school. Cody and I just picked up the first season at FYE and I am hooked. I never saw a single episode of this back in the day, but I am into it now.

... all the movies. Like, seriously, I have been on such a movie kick lately. In the last couple weeks alone, I've managed to squeeze in all five of the Mission Impossible movies (we're going to see the new one tonight!) along with Ladder 49, Cinderella starring Lily James, and First Daughter to name a few. And that's just in the last few weeks. Y'all. Someone stop me.

Anticipating...

... the Netflix release of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I mean, since I just confessed the movie kick I've been on and managed to mention Lily James in the same breath, I might as well come clean about this. I adored The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (more about that in a gushing recap to come), and I am psyched for the movie. Even though I just watched the trailer and I'm already feeling very skeptical of the creative license taken to make this into a film, I'm a fan of Lily James (and the rest of the cast I was catching glimpses of in the trailer) and I think it's worth a viewing. 

... Mission Impossible 6 tonight! (No, I will never call 4, 5, and 6 by their lame names, and yes, I know we pretty much already covered this in the last section, but it is now 1:08 AM: you get what you get.)

Eating...

... Publix buffalo chicken dip on Tostitos Bite Size tortilla chips. If you don't know the delicious goodness that is this perfect snack (or breakfast, don't judge me), then you aren't living. Get down to the Southeast and get on my level.

... Luigi's Lemon Italian Ice. Because Florida summer. 

... leftovers for days, y'all. I don't know why we seem to be in leftover heaven lately, but we have been and you won't hear me complaining. I think I've subconsciously been cooking in bulk just so I won't actually have to cook every day. 

Listening...

... to Relient K's Air for Free album. It's such a chill summer jam album, and I love it.

... to Train. Whatever album I land on. They're just my go-to. 

... to my entire iPod on shuffle. This is not something I typically do because I have over 10,000 songs on it or something crazy like that, but once every 6 years or so, I just get in the mood to have the whole thing on shuffle and that's the mood I'm in now. It's pretty fun.

... to Despacito. Honestly, I don't know the entire literal translation of this song, and if it's inappropriate, I apologize but don't tell me because it will be a very long time before I stop dancing around to this. 

Feeling...

... so very proud of my littlest sister who just signed her letter of intent to play college tennis on a scholarship because she is the bomb and doing it huge. (Also, I can't believe we're all officially and legally adults now. Is this real life? And can I possibly be this old?)

... bereft of sweet nephew snuggles. I need more in my life. Like yesterday. A six hour drive is too far away, and they're trying to take him to Germany?! I ain't doin' it.

... a teensy bit proud of myself because as of last night, I have read 26 books so far this year and 16 of those are even from my original 2018 book list. Not too shabby, and we still have five months to go. 

Loving...

... my family. 

... my friends.

... my church.

... my life.

... my bed. It's 1:32 AM, and I am done. 

What's currently going on with you?

Casual Fridays

Y'all. Casual Fridays have just died over here. Forget about it. So much time has passed. Where do we even start? I'll tell you where:

07/04/18

Because freedom and true love and the freaking 'stache. We spent our 4th of July eating way too much food and admiring Cody's magnificent facial hair. RIP The Mustache of 2018. Also, we played Euchre. Because I finally gave in and learned to play and now I'm addicted and can't stop. If you know this game, come play with me. 

Now for a proper bookish start to this post:

Here are some of the gems I've picked up at The Book Shelter lately. I think I've had pretty good self-control (considering the first time we went, I ended up with 14 books), but Cody's still a little fearful whenever I announce I'm heading for The Book Shelter. I've been back twice since that fateful anniversary trip, and along with all these fantastic books (including that Beth Moore Esther workbook which had nary a mark in it) I also scored the entire series of Parks & Rec on DVD. Because not only do they sell books, they sell board games and movies and video games—oh my! Have you read any of these? If I had to choose between Their Eyes Were Watching God, Rebecca, The Language of Flowers, or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for my 2019 book list, which one should make the cut? ("All of them" is an entirely acceptable answer.)

I'd probably be going to The Book Shelter a lot more frequently if I wasn't running off to the beach every spare day I get. Most of my trips have been solo, but I did manage to drag my BFF with me one day, and we ended up witnessing a totally casual wedding. (#memories) When we noticed they didn't have anyone to take a picture of the whole group, I sashayed my little bikini-clad body over to offer up my services as an impromptu photographer, much to the chagrin delight of my best friend. The family was very appreciative even though Christina wanted to melt into the sand. As you can see, my toenails haven't been entirely neglected this summer. That purple home pedi was flawless, but the beachy coral pedi was smudge city which has brought me to a new conclusion about smudgy pedicures: the nail polish brand matters. Anyone else find this to be true? 

I alluded to this in my God Is Able recap, but I didn't mention that my husband totally surprised me with these fun summery porch furniture cushions and they are making me so happy. Our porch chairs have been cushion-less since Irma, and I've been loving being able to (comfortably) spend more time outside this summer. 

06/04/18

I set a new world record Yahtzee score. (Ignore all of our confused faces, I was trying to figure out how to do a screenshot. #technicaldifficulties) But really though. 620??? That has to be a world record, right? Right?!

07/15/18

And speaking of my fellow Yahtzee Nazis (I just came up with that. Can I trademark it? Or is it offensive?), I squeezed in the quickest weekend roadtrip to see some of my favorite people recently. They're just extremely lucky I didn't smuggle my nephew home with me. Serious tears when I had to drive away from that baby. They're moving to Germany and even though they're really psyched about it, I'm still hitting my knees every morning asking God to make the Army change its mind. #sorrynotsorry Check Little Miss Thing eyeing her daddy like, "Gosh, you're so embarrassing, Dad!"

07/26/18

I got a few sweet hours with my other favorites yesterday. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are getting real good at faces-on-command. I treasure every second with these precious girls, and I hope they always love coming to Auntie Hannah's house. 

The puppies are doing good. Although between the two of them, I've cleaned up more puke this week than I would have preferred. Colonel likes to eat baby wipes so all trash cans have long been placed out of reach of either mangy mutt, but this week he managed to snitch two wipes that were literally sitting right next to me while I was changing a diaper and naturally they came back up a couple days later because baby wipes are not digestible, y'all. Don't eat them. Major regurgitated his breakfast Wednesday for no apparent reason. Perhaps he felt left out? The world may never know, and I am so over it.

Last summer around this time, I started a segment on the blog entitled "Adventures in Coloring" because my husband got me this insane grown-up coloring book. In the entire year since then, I have managed to complete two more pages. Two. And recently started a third. I'm obviously slaying. My hubby thinks the fish lips page doesn't even look finished because of how much I left white, but look at those teeny tiny scales, y'all! Haven't I done enough?!

I let some random stranger at a Fantastic Sam's hack up my hair a couple weeks ago because I was so bored with it, but, as is usually the case, I was immediately remorseful. It's hair. It grows. Whatever.

And if you've actually made it to the end of this post, I have a serious question for you. I have Mere Christianity and Othello lined up for my August reading, but I can't decide on which novel I'd like to tackle next. Should August include The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, or Song of Deborah by Bette M. Ross? Help!

Did you make it this far? How's your summer been? To sum up: nail polish brand recommendations, 2019 book list choices, Yahtzee props, coloring encouragement, August novel vote. Annnnnd GO.

Casual Fridays

First things first: I got a little "Currently Reading" widget on the blog! (It's the little things, y'all. And go me for even knowing what a widget is, right?!) Look over to the right of the screen and check it out. (If you read my blog on your phone, it's very likely that you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Web View" in order to see all the extras I have on the side of the blog. I wouldn't personally know because I'm back to that flip phone life, but that's usually how it works.) I created a GoodReads account solely for the purpose of getting that little widget for my blog. So if you ever just want to stop by and check on what I'm actually reading, you can! I'll do my best to keep it up to date. 

And now I will proceed to talk about my anniversary which may get me all sappy and romantic and braggy about my amazing husband so if that totally makes you gag, feel free to skip this part because I so get that. (But don't miss out on the crazy book haul which I will definitely be talking about later in this post.)

Our anniversary fell on a Saturday this year, and my sweetheart's schedule had him working the three days leading up to it (he's an emergency room nurse so his schedule is whack). So Friday night after another long 12-hour shift, he stopped by the store to pick up some goodies for our 4-day weekend. Usually, this means that he will walk in the door with flowers for me and I would be lying right now if I say that a teeny tiny corner of my heart wasn't a bit disappointed that that wasn't the case Friday night. 

However, I wake up at 4 in the morning alone in bed and go out in search of my husband. He intercepts me in the hallway and says he needed to get a drink of water or some such nonsense like that and sends me back to bed. Well, after several minutes of him still not coming back to the bedroom, I walk out to the front part of the house to find him arranging the most gorgeous dozen red roses you ever saw and setting up the table with this banner from our wedding day that I thought had never survived the drive away from the church. Enter scene of Cody being so exasperated that I ruined his sweet surprise and me having an emotional meltdown because I actually married the best guy on the planet and I can't even handle it. We ended up staying awake and exchanging cards (which were not identical but they both said "Happy You & Me Day" on the front—stop it), reading our love letters out loud to one another (more waterworks: we wrote these as a part of our pre-marital counseling and they are framed and hang in a prominent place in our home—even if you're already married and didn't do this, I highly recommend it; it's the sweetest), and dancing to our song (I warned you how sappy this could get, don't hate me). The whole morning is my new favorite memory and I never want to forget a single detail. 

I love you, Cody Aaron Hancock, and I don't deserve you. 

Anyway (for those of you trying to get past all the mush, here's where you should tune back in), later that morning, we drove out to Lake Wales to check out a new little used bookstore I've been hearing whispers about, and we hit the mother lode, y'all. We walked out of there with no less than 14 books, and that was only after me getting through one shelf. You guys, I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It's called The Book Shelter and they're only open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10AM-6PM, but you need to check it out. They have a fantastic selection (obviously), great incentives (we got a free book just for finding the silverfish—ask me what this means), and the prices are insane (to put this in perspective, the stack of books from The Book Shelter on the left side of the roses cost less than the four new books from Barnes & Noble on the right side of the roses). I can't even, and yes I'm going to list all the books we got because I know you want to know. If you decide to check it out, tell them I sent you. 

And now for the books. The stack on the left side from top to bottom are as follows:

A Walk to Remember : Nicholas Sparks

Hatchet : Gary Paulsen

Dogsong : Gary Paulsen

Mrs. Dalloway : Virginia Woolf

The Joy Luck Club : Amy Tan

The Devil in the White City : Erik Larson

Housekeeping : Marilynne Robinson

Lila : Marilynne Robinson

Gilead : Marilynne Robinson

The Idiot : Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Scarlet Pimpernel : Baroness Orczy

Love in the Time of Cholera : Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Beloved : Toni Morrison

East of Eden : John Steinbeck

And the new ones from Barnes & Noble because we don't just throw tradition to the wind even when we've already bought 14 books somewhere else:

Present Concerns : C.S. Lewis

The Woman in White : Wilkie Collins

I Am The Messenger : Markus Zusak

The Hunt for Red October : Tom Clancy

Cody only chose three out of all of these. I have a problem. We also walked down the street from The Book Shelter and finally spent a gift card I've literally had since our wedding. Six years seemed like long enough to hang onto it. And, of course, we had our date night to The Melting Pot and Barnes & Noble. Six years and it just keeps getting sweeter. 

The Melting Pot : 5/19/2018

Have you read any of the books from my list up there? Can you guess which three Cody picked out? Can you guess which two I've already read since Saturday?