And just like that

 2020 is ending.  What a crazy year it has been.

My devotional this morning was filled with such hope.

This week I have been on vacation and it has been wonderful.

Monday I woke up with a headache and ended up watching Bridgerton on Netflix.  The whole first (and only so far) season.. I LOVED it.

Trying to squeeze in one more read this year.  I read about half yesterday, we'll see what today holds.  It might be my first book of 2021 instead.

Tuesday I got ready to head out for my first run since before Thanksgiving- naturally these two caught me and insisted on a walk.  At which point I made the discovery both their regular leashes were in Rhett's truck! At work, you know 20 or so miles away. Yikes! 

They were already riled and and eager to go.  After some fast thinking and mild panic- I realized Chance's harness leash had a clip on both ends.  Normally it clips to a belt around my waist.  I clipped the other end to Bruno.  Held on in the middle and hoped for the best.

 

 

They were exceptional well behaved and we survived! Although I did realize later on, my hand was a little raw from holding the leash that way with two very strong dogs.

They were two happy pups.  Then I headed back out solo for two snowy miles. So my grand total for December miles will be some where around 4. (eye roll).  Oh well, Laura and I have been doing youtube workouts everyday since the day before Thanksgiving (minus Christmas Day and the day after).  So at least there's that.  Looking forward to getting back to logging regular miles again.

Today I have a running date with my sister- for the first time since August! We are jumping whole heartedly into Half Marathon training for the Earth Day Half in April- fingers crossed for an in person event!

I've been thinking a lot about New Year and 2021 and the person I want to be... more on that coming soon.

Christmassy Things

 Our Christmas was wonderful! Different in ways but wonderful!

The girls and I finished up Christmas shopping on the 23rd... right on time for me! :P Afterword we got hot cocoa from Dunkin and drove around town looking at Christmas lights.  My heart finally started to feel Christmassy.

Christmas Eve our service was a little different this year- we had  a drive in service (with FIREWORKS) and it was raining!  As fates or The Good Lord would have it, my best friend parked right behind me and I stood out in the rain chatting with her for so long through her  mini van window.  Only the 2nd time I have seen her since MARCH because of all this COVID craziness.  I finally got to meet her little dog, they adopted the week before everything shut down. 

After the service we had soup and chili at Mom and Dad's.

Our Christmas Tree...

I awoke early on Christmas morning, prepared our usual Christmas breakfast.  We feasted and opened gifts.  Mom and Dad joined us later on for Christmas dinner.  

The kids insisted on having the traditional Christmas fire on the TV screen- despite our real and beautiful fire place (which did have a real fire in it later on). 

In the evening the kids disappeared to their bedrooms with their Christmas treasures.  Rhett and I watched Christmas Vacation in the living room, feeling thankful and cozy.

Saturday we gathered with my siblings to celebrate at Mom and Dad's.

I made my first attempt at a charcuterie board.

Before- a little intimated-

The key is to just dive in... I don't think you can do it "wrong"...

As usual we had quite the buffet spread.

We also celebrated our December Birthdays- Hannah and Becca.

It was a fantastic day filled with love and laughter! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Merry Christmas from the LaForte Family.

Some things from the last week or so...

This girl turned 14! I can not believe it!

Some festive reading... 

Christmassy mask...

The girls decorated some ugly Christmas sweater cookies last night. Aren't they fantastic! 

The girls and I also had a lot of fun shopping together on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night I got to snuggle with little nephews and watch The Polar Express. One of my favorite Christmas movies.

This reminder from my sister of a Christmas past when I was feeling particularly grumpish last night.

I haven't been feeling super duper Christmassy. Kinda just going through the motions. But this morning I read this in one of my devotionals-

"Christmas like the Sabbath is a state of being."

Reminding myself- to just let go, breathe and enjoy the season. And sometimes you just need to sit back and take stock and realize things are pretty wonderful after all.

We survived!

Quarantine is over! It appears as though we all escaped unscathed.  Today we happily rejoined the real world again.

Saturday Rhett brought home our Christmas tree (his quarantine ended last Monday.)  The girls and I happily decorated it after dinner, while watching Elf.

 Yesterday was pretty chilly.  So Rhett build a fire, and this spot felt so festive and cozy.

I made yet another batch of sourdough croissants this week- the best one yet!

This past week I had two (virtual) book club meetings- it was nice to connect with my friends during our seclusion.

For the Church book club we read Hadassah.

This is the next selection- The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson.  I had hoped to get it from the library too- but I was 12th in line so I broke down and purchased it.  

I read another Christmasy book by this author last year and really enjoyed it.  So I am looking forward to this one as well.

The next weeting is January 7 via zoom so really anyone can join in... Let me know if you're interested. =)

FC Book Club- we read Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine- I read it in like a day because quarantine- I could.  But it really is a page turner. It does involve a rather gruesome serial killer- be forewarned. The first chapter is pretty shocking. I was not prepared.

It is also a series and I am waiting for the next one to come in from my library.

 Our next selection is Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys. I downloaded it from library on my kindle as soon as LS announced it and am really enjoying it.  

And a bonus read- The dovekeepers : a novel by Alice Hoffman. (Waiting for me now at my library! AND I can actually go pick it up! It's the little things!)

November Reading - Part 2

Here's part two of my November books. The last two weeks have been in quarantine.  So I finished 4 books in the last week of November  alone.  Bringing my 2020 total to 95 books  - so its looking like I will be beating my 2019 record of 100 books.

7- The Whispered Word by Ellery Adams 

This was the 2nd book in the Secret, Book and Scone Society series- it picks up right where the first book left off.  A young scared runaway, calling herself Abilene, is discover hiding in Nora's bookshop.  The 4 friends work together to investigate a suspicious death in town as well as help Abilene.

This book makes me just want visit my local bookshop, read and bake all the yummy things. It makes me feel warm and happy and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

"She believed books had the power to heal. She believed that carefully chosen words and well-crafted phrases could gift readers with the ability to let a painful past go—to turn the page and start a fresh chapter in their lives."

8- The Invisible Life of Addie LeRue by VE Schwab 

I heard a lot of hype about this book.  I liked it.  It's a tad long and took me awhile to read but I enjoyed it.

Addie basically trades her soul to be immortal, but the cost is no one remembers her. As soon as she leaves their sight she is forgotten.  Which as you can imagine can be a bit of a problem.  She also can not leave any type of mark, say her name or tell her story.  

“Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives--or to find strength in a very long one.” 

“March is such a fickle month. It is the seam between winter and spring—though seam suggests an even hem, and March is more like a rough line of stitches sewn by an unsteady hand, swinging wildly between January gusts and June greens. You don’t know what you’ll find, until you step outside.”

“Do you know how to live three hundred years?” she says. And when he asks how, she smiles. “The same way you live one. A second at a time.”

9- Love Lettering Kate Clayborn 

This book was on MMD Summer Reading Guide - I started reading it way back in the early summer and just never got into it.  I'm not sure why.  I let the kindle loan expire and never picked it back up.  I started reading it again mid November and tore through it in just a couple days.  I guess I was just in the mood.

It's set in New York- there's just something about books set in NYC I love.  Meg makes her living with hand lettering, making custom planners and such.  Reid, is a math guy and hates New York.  She embarks on a project with him to help him fall in love with New York, as she did, and also help her with her creative block.  This story is just as much about friendship and finding your people as it is love and romance. And I love that.

“The point is . . . sometimes fighting isn’t about leaving, it’s about staying. It takes practice to get it right, and it’s painful, but if you want to stay with people, you do it.”

10- Crazy Stupid Bromance  by Lyssa Kay Adams 

I loved this latest installment of the Bromance Book Club.  I didn't find this one quite as laugh out loud funny as the previous two...although maybe it was my own frame of mind.  I did love the story just as much as the previous two.

This is a friend turned romance story.  Alexis and Noah are best friends- The Bromance Book Club Convinces Noah to join them so he can move his relationship with Alexis forward.

“I don’t care what it’s about. How many times do I have to tell you that I am never joining your book club?”

I am really excited to read the next book but alas it doesn't come out until July.  It features, "The Russian" and I can not wait to learn his story.

11- Hadassah: Queen Esther of Persia by Diana Wallis Taylor 

This was our book club selection.  I really like reading Biblical Fiction. It makes the Bible come much more alive to see the familiar characters as real people.  While I know this account is completely fictional- it was fun to read about the could be love affair between Queen Esther and King Xerxes.

This month: 11

Total read in 2020: 95

Kindle: 5 Print: 5 Audio: 1 

Library: 9 Owned: 2   Unread Shelf: 2 print - 0 Kindle  Purchased: 1

Did you miss part one- Check it out -->HERE<--