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!

Let's Bust a Recap : Stories I Wrote When I Was Young

Well, we're diving back into recaps with my little brother's self-published book! That's right. We have a couple of writers in the family. 

I started reading this collection of short stories back in March when I still lived in Florida and bare feet and tank tops were a normal part of my life. (Pro-Tip of the Day: Always carry a book with you everywhere. This photo was taken waiting at the airport to pick up my dad whose flight ended up being delayed a couple hours.)

Stories I Wrote When I Was Young consists of nine short stories that my brother wrote when he was a kid. This is actually the first collection of short stories I've read in its entirety. I own several short story collections, but they're not the books I naturally gravitate toward. So this was a fun introduction to the genre. 

This book was released on Amazon on February 1st, and obviously I bought it the same day. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the quality of the book itself is really nice. Reagan did a great job with all the formatting and the book feels good in your hands. It's the perfect size for a paperback and easy to read.

Now the stories themselves? Wow. The first couple stories about a killer bear, Reagan wrote when he was only 9 years old. In the very first story, you have this brilliant literary gem:

"But when I looked at her again, I could not help feeling that I had feelings for her."

I mean, if that doesn't evoke some serious emotion, I just don't know what will. 

But in all seriousness, the best part of reading this book is seeing the progression in the stories as Reagan grows as a writer and starts to flex those muscles. The stories are arranged in the chronological order of when he wrote them so the growth is clearly evident. Having grown up in the same house with this kid, I could easily pick out what influenced him, but his imagination and originality unquestionably shine through. While several of the early stories had me rolling my eyes hard or chuckling with amusement, by the end of the book I was genuinely interested in the plots of the last few stories. 

As far as recommending this book, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, my brother created this and I'm proud as a mama bear of him and his book and all of it. I want everyone to buy a copy and for him to become fabulously rich and support me in my old age. On the other hand, all these stories tend to the horror side of things. There's not a single story that doesn't contain a violent, bloody death. There's more than a little profane language, and the crude and immature references to sex are not my jam. My brother didn't share his writing with me when we were kids because I didn't like that kind of stuff. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. Can I recommend it? Not without specific caveats. If you're looking for pure amusement, a study of a young writer's developing talent: yes, read it. Laugh, roll your eyes, enjoy the journey. If you're looking for brilliant writing and plots that will blow your mind and make you think: this isn't your book. I mean, he wrote these stories between the ages of 9 and 16. That has to be taken into account. As someone who personally knows and loves the author, my favorite parts were his dedication to our parents, the foreword and acknowledgements. I enjoyed discovering a side of my brother that I missed out on when we were kids. I was already out of the house when he was writing a lot of these stories, and being able to read them now has generated a lot of hysterical conversations between us the last couple months. I'll treasure this book for that.

And now for a little fun. I told my brother that I would rank his stories from my favorite to least favorite. So here we go, one through nine, best to worst. 

1. Terrorist Academy : This was actually one of Reagan's earlier stories, but I immediately liked this father/son tale, and it remained my favorite for the rest of the book.
2. The Violet Blossom & Dreams : For second place, we actually have a two-way tie. I really can't decide which of these two later stories I liked the best. One, an Indiana Jones-esque adventure tale and the other, a sci-fi action story: they couldn't be more different but I legitimately enjoyed them both.
3. 24 Hours : This crazy story about a boy getting stuck inside a locked-down building on a school field trip actually had me screaming at the characters not to be so stupid at certain points.
4. Predator on the Roof : This Jurassic Park set in an American high school type story had me rolling.
5. The Bear & The Bear Returns : Fifth place isn't so much a tie as it is the fact that it's hard to separate these two stories which involve the same characters. 
6. Grover Estate : This teens-get-stuck-at-a-creepy-serial-killer's-mansion story prompted a phone call where I asked my brother if he actually needed counseling when we were kids. 
7. Terror at the Door : Dead last. This story would have ranked 5th if it weren't for the disgusting sexual tension that was introduced halfway through that completely grossed me out and ruined the whole story for me.

There you have it. Nine stories written by a kid with a need to create. I can't wait to see what my brother does next, and I can't wait to read your first full-length novel, RP. Love you forever.

Hotel Del Coronado circa 2011

Buy Stories I Wrote When I Was Young here.

Pumpkin Carving 2020

It's the end of another month, we're getting tantalizingly close to the end of this insane year, and I have nine books sitting in a stack in my book nook waiting to be blogged about. (One from April still!) But it's Halloween and that means forget the books: it's time for our annual pumpkin carving post!

This year's venture turned into a family affair and we had a beautifully sunny Florida day to carve our pumpkins. 

~ready to go~

~three nieces joining in~

~scooping out the guts : always the most fun part~

~carving in progress~

This year, Cody thought doing a "Welcome" pumpkin would be particularly appropriate so that any trick-or-treaters would know to stop by our house, and I opted for some ghosts steaming up from a witch's cauldron. I loved how both our pumpkins turned out.

Our cutie nieces went for classic faces and with a little help from mom and dad pulled off some funny, friendly pumpkins. 

We had all the fun.

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2020

Oklahoma

Back in May of last year (I know what you're thinking: She's so on top of her blogging game. Thanks. I know.) we took a quick 4-day trip to the middle of the USA to see my amazing litter sister graduate from her flight training at Vance Air Force Base and receive her wings. 

If right now you're thinking, "Man, I'll never know anyone that cool or that pretty or that talented"...well, you're right. 

We flew into OKC on Thursday, May 30th and drove about an hour and a half to Clinton, OK to visit the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. The sky in Oklahoma is big, the land is flat, and the roads are next to empty. You feel like you can see for miles and I loved driving there. We found the museum, and it's one of the cutest little spots I've ever seen.

We spent as long as we wanted going through the exhibits, and it was just as much fun as it was interesting and educational. I would definitely recommend a stop here if you're passing through and looking for something quick and fun to do.

As you make your way through the museum, the exhibits are set up by decades from the 20s to the 70s and it is retro and nostalgic and pure Americana.

Right next door to the museum, you can take a peek into this shoebox soda shop which popped up all along the Mother Road during the 50s and 60s. 

After we finished exploring the museum and buying all our Route 66 souvenirs, we stopped for lunch at a Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy Store (which I had never heard of but apparently there are almost 300 of them throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas), and I had one of the biggest burgers I've ever eaten.

After we filled our bellies, we hit the road again to drive the 2 hours to Enid where my sister lives.

My mommy-in-law got to do this state with us!

The rest of the weekend was all about family and celebrating my awesome sister. And one of the craziest things ever is that the other guy in her class getting his wings was a boy I used to babysit when he was little. (Yes, I feel old, but also could not be any prouder.)

I mean, look at those two. Come on.

Oklahoma gets a bad rep for being boring, having nothing to do, and being in the middle of nowhere. A total flyover state and other such nonsense. But it will always be one of the most special states we've visited because we got to see my sister get her wings which is something she's been working towards for years. We're Vance Proud and we loved being in Enid, America.

Oklahoma : done.