Sister Coffee Date! at the Beach

 My sister and I planned to hit The Blend at the Beach in August before it closed for the season.  Turns out Saturday was their last day- so we made it happen.  Not quite the quiet peaceful coffee date and walk on the beach we had pictured. But it turned out to be an epically great day with the nephews, and my sister. 💖

I had a hard time sleeping Saturday morning and was awake from about 3 am until just before my alarm went off for our long run, naturally.

Waiting for the sun to come up.

I took the dogs on a super fast walk and then headed to OLP for our long run.  My sister met up with us too.  I ran with Laura and Becca but it was a cruddy, grumpy run and I could not wait for it to be over, most of the time trailing behind them. But I did it.

After I got back home Laura and I made our plans to head to The Blend at the Beach.  Evan was napping, whenever he woke, she would come pick me up.

I took a shower and then took a coffee and book time out to work on my attitude!

We headed for the beach, despite it not being a very "beachy" day.  We marveled at lake, normally calm as we drove and once parked stepped out into what felt like a wind tunnel. So crazy!

We decided our first stop would be somewhere for lunch, as the coffee shack didn't have much in the way of eats.

Isaac took my picture in front of a fountain we walked by.

We had a great lunch at Eddie's.  Laura had a fish sandwich and I had a Rueben. Isaac went with a giant pancake.  It was all delicious and that staff was so kind.

 

Then we walked up a couple blocks to the coffee shop.

We took advantage of Isaac's photography skills for a pic together.

Laura had coconut iced coffee and I had salted caramel cold brew. 

This beach also has a tiny carnival/amusement park. Isaac wanted to go on a ride but didn't find any that struck his fancy.  Laura ended up taking him into the arcade for a couple games.  It was not stroller friendly so I walked some laps outside with Evan.

Then we finally made it to the beach! Windy as it was, it was still wonderful.

Isaac had a blast jumping the waves.

Evan got in on the action a little too.

It was a fantastic day, I went to bed exhausted but much lighter than I woke up in that morning!

Running catch up

The mornings are shrinking and we are not happy about it.  Note* that is a streetlamp not the sun as we not-so-patiently waited for it to be light enough to head out.

Followed by iced coffee- these seasonal K-cups from Aldi are the best!
Hoping to stock up before the disappear!

Saturday I had a great long run with my sister.  We ran 9 miles in 2 hours and talked about all the things. 

Tuesday I had the stomach bug so my next run was this morning and it felt pretty great, all things considered.

I love this spot so much!

A couple other random things- next book club pick! Sept 14 7 pm on Zoom.

Last month we read If I Run by Terri Blackstock.  I had to immediately listen to the next two books to find out what happened! I think the last one If I Live was my favorite.  Maybe its just because I like it when things are wrapped up. ;-)  I listened to most of that one Tuesday while I was sick.

In other completely random news I found out last week that a roller rink is coming soon to our area! I'm so excited! 

Happy Thursday! 

July Reading

All Through the Night by Tara Johnson    7/2    (print/library)★★★★

I took a break from The Covenant of Water to quickly read this book.  I read it over the weekend and loved every second.  Set in DC and Virginia during the Civil War.  This was my book club pick for this month.

We’re all going to perish at some point. We must live with abandon for as long as the Lord sees fit. 

Penelope sniffed. "Miriam always says to pray pacifically."

Cadence smiled. "She's right. I imagine if we offer up specific prayers, the Almighty will answer specifically. What would you like to pray specifically for?"

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese 7/5 ★★★★★

I loved this book! I really love big fat sweeping novels, even if I don't read them much. I loved this book from the very first page. So much that after finishing it I wasn't ready to leave the characters behind and flipped back to the beginning to start anew. 

It takes place throughout much of the 1900's, covers 3 generations in India. So much heartache and tragedy, but also the resilience of human spirit .  I especially loved seeing Big Ammachi's faith woven through this story.

I'm also enjoying Oprah's Supersoul Podcast series with the author.

The chaos and hurt in God’s world are unfathomable mysteries, yet the Bible shows her that there is order beneath. As her father would say, “Faith is to know the pattern is there, even though none is visible.”

She’s forgotten what it’s like to see so many at worship, to feel bodies all around, to be part of the fabric instead of a thread torn from the whole.

Digby watches a middle-aged couple navigate the packed dance floor; they’ve been married for so long that their bodies have left impressions on each other.

Rune decides he will simply not worry about contagion. Lean not on your own understanding. Let God worry.

The Postcard by Anne Berest, Tina Kover (Translator)    7/14    (eBook/hoopla)

This is a heavy, hard read.  I probably would not have looked twice at it if it was not a MMD Book club pick and in the SRG.

I have read many books set during WWII and the Holocaust.  I still can not fathom how anyone can treat a fellow human bring in this fashion. 

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, it seems like it ended abruptly to me. 

Ladies of the Lake by Cathy Gohlke    7/16    (print/own) ★★★★

I pre-ordered this book because the cover called to me. I very much enjoyed it. Four girls who become fast friends at a Connecticut boarding school in WWI era. It is all historical but goes back and forth between the time when the girls are in school and 20 some odd years later in 1934.  There is a bit of mystery, something happened to cause a rift and estrangement that slowly unfolds through the pages. A story of hope, forgiveness, fresh starts, found family. It left me feeling happy and hopefully.  I may re-visit for a book club pick next year.

Side note: one of the girls is an orphan from PE Island who apsires to be an author and loves LM Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables. I much enjoyed this little bit of the story as well.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor    7/18    (Kindle/library)

I picked up this book to fulfill the Set During the Roaring 20's prompt on my 52 in 2023 challenge.

It is a retelling of The Great Gatsby told from three women's perspectives and also a homicide detective. I found it entertaining and engaging, it makes me want to go back and read The Great Gatsby again! 

Grief, she told me once when she was talking about Charlie, was forever. An endless, winding river.

That was life, wasn’t it? Everything you could never believe happening to you, happening just like that, right before your very eyes.

Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge by Helen Ellis    7/19    (audio/library) ★★★

I listened to this audio book because it was on the MMD SRG this year.  It is a short funny little book, part essay part memoir on marriage. Overall I enjoyed it but didn't really stand out in anyway.  I have to say the first chapter on snoring was probably my favorite. 😂

Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson    7/24    (print/library) ★★★

I very much looking forward to this book as I loved her pervious novel, Meet Me in the Margins.  I did enjoy this story but not as much as the first.  Its a pretty light, fluffy rom com.  Big city social media influencer is going through a fall from grace and popularity.  She takes a job doing social media at her uncle's park in rural Montana, in the dead of winter mind you.  It was entertaining and fun but over all not one that will stick with me.

The Sea Keeper's Daughters by Lisa Wingate    7/26    (Kindle/library)★★★★

The conclusion of the Carolina Heirlooms series.  I feel like maybe I should have read these books closer together to catch how they intertwine.  They do well as stand alone novels too.  I very much enjoyed the journey of this book. 

Whitney's restaurant is in trouble, when she gets the call her estranged step father is in the hospital after a fall.  She heads from her home in Michigan to the Outer Banks to care for him as well as sort through some of her grandmother's possessions in hopes of solving her finical straights.  She discovers many ripped up, ripped to shreds letters from her grandmother's sister she never knew about.  She becomes invested in piecing these letters and Alice's story back together.  I almost feel like I was more invested in Alice's story told through these letters as well.  She was traveling through Appalchia recording stories of people in the back woods.

Life is a process of storms and rebuilding, of fires and regrowth, of loss and gain.

Sometimes, even when you’ve spent years ignoring God, there are places where his fingerprint and his intentions seem absolute. Take a breath, look around, a voice seemed to be whispering. None of this is here by accident, and neither are you.

Mr. Bass Carter causes me to wonder . . . how different is that history when seen from the fields and the lowly slave cabins?

I now understand that my purpose here is at once much greater and much smaller. As small as the tale of one human life. As great as the moment when one man finally understands what it is to walk in the shoes of another.

Fervant by Priscilla Shirer    7/27    (print/own)★★★★

I read this as part of my devotional time this month.  Very good reminder of the power of praying fervently and intentionally.  A reminder I very much needed.

Because this is war. The fight of your life. A very real enemy has been strategizing and scheming against you, assaulting you, coming after your emotions, your mind, your man, your child, your future. In fact, he’s doing it right this second. Right where you’re sitting. Right where you are.

“Nothing—nothing!—is too far gone that your God cannot resurrect it.

Marriage stands for the creation of unity among two people who were once separated in every way before love reached out and found the other—the way God reached out and found us, and covenanted with us, and loved us, and despite who we are, despite what we’re like, still loves us. This image, more than almost anything, is exactly what the enemy wants to denigrate.

In prayer you gain your strength—the power to gird yourself with armor that extinguishes every weapon your enemy wields.

The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand    7/27    (audio/library)

This was a fun, light summer read or listen as the case maybe.  My first by this author.  My sister was listening and said she was really enjoying it so I picked it up too.  A wonderful engaging cast of characters I truly enjoyed getting to know.  Including Grace a ghost of a maid who was killed in a fire in the hotel back in 1922.  I found the ending particularly satisfying. 

I happen to believe, Chadwick, that even the biggest disasters can be cleaned up, and I’ll teach you to believe it too.

When deep August arrives, a certain melancholy sets in, the kind people get on a Sunday afternoon.

Total: 10    2023:  57

Kindle/Ebook: 3    Print: 4   Audio: 2  *The Covenant of Water was read in all three formats

Library: 7  Owned: 3    Borrowed: 0

Unread Shelf: 0 (read 3 I own but were read as soon as purchased.)   Purchased: like 6 maybe? 😂

50 States Challenge: I added Montana (Famous for a Living), Connecticut (Ladies of the Lake), and Massachusetts (The Hotel Nantucket) this month.  Still a ways to go!

It's good to be ALIVE

It's a gloomy Monday here and I think the pups have the right idea!

 Yesterday our church changed back to having just one service and it made me feel so happy to be sitting with my family again! I love this place and these people with all my heart. 💖

We sang this song yesterday, it brought me to tears and has been playing in my mind ever since.

Then I spent the afternoon finishing the book club book for Thursday. It's so good!  I planned to wait until after bookclub to start book 2 but once I finished this one I had to move onto the next one in the series.

Saturday morning I met up with my sister for my long run.  It felt great to run with her again.

Saturday evening we attended a surprise party to celebrate my step-mother-in-law.  It was spectacular.

Hope everyone had a good weekend! We sure did! 💕