Amy Scott's Thoughts

February Fun! February 16, 2022

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Getting Creative,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 2:13 pm

This last week was full of fun! I love holidays and any reason to celebrate. Valentine’s Day definitely was celebrated over the course of the week as well as on Monday. Jeremy surprised me with a 4-pack of pizzas from Lou Malnati’s in Chicago as a Valentine’s gift. Such a special and thoughtful treat! The pizzas arrived last Wednesday and I made one that evening. I couldn’t wait until Valentine’s day! The package came with dry ice to keep the pizzas frozen, which meant our evening was spent playing with dry ice. The kids had a blast! It was just as exciting as the pizzas in the package.

On Thursday, I promised to take the kids to the park after school. I thought it would be cloudy, but I didn’t anticipate that it would be foggy/misty. The park was damp but mostly empty as a result. The kids got super wet despite the towel I brought along to dry things off. My mom joined us for this outing and after the park we took off for the library. Mom treated us to a fast food lunch on our way home. It was a fun morning out and about – even if it was chilly and damp. Those of us in the PNW don’t let a little wet and chill keep us inside (okay, some time it does, but not all the time).

After a wet morning on Thursday, the skies cleared. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were beautiful. False spring as it is known around here. I enjoyed walking outside each day to get my steps in and my daily dose of vitamin D. Jeremy spent his days doing yard projects and the boys happily worked alongside him. When they weren’t tagging along with projects, they were in the drainage ditch near our house building dams. I’m so thankful the sun came out and we all got to appreciate the great outdoors!

Super Bowl Sunday was a highlight of the weekend. I’m not super into football, but the food is usually what gets my attention. My parents picked up a family meal from Olive Garden so our Super Bowl food consisted of lasagna, salad, and breadsticks. There were chips to munch on and Costco bakery items for dessert. I made some Valentine themed sugar cookies and contributed them to the game day goodies. Jeremy and my dad watched the game in one room while the boys played video games in the other room. After halftime, I excused myself to head home for some quiet time. The sunset on my walk home was lovely and really the best part of the evening (or maybe it was a tie with the breadsticks).

Our Valentine’s day celebration on Monday was fairly simple. We got the boys special boxes with Hershey Kisses inside. We picked up Power-Up Packs for their LEGO Super Mario characters. The fire suit makes a little flower appear on Mario and Luigio. It was fun take on chocolates and flowers for our little Valentines. I made mini bundt cakes for dessert and Jeremy picked up a heartbreaker pizza from Papa Murphy’s. Cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s is definitely our boys’ love language. We had a bottle of sparkling cider left over from the holidays and we enjoyed our meal by candlelight. Nothing too fancy, but lots of fun!

Between the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and a three-day weekend coming up, February is full of fun! After an unusually quiet month in January, February seems to be a step in the direction of good times and community. The pandemic has given me fresh insight into into how much fun the little celebrations can be. I don’t take the small things for granted quite as much. They bring so much joy to our daily life!

The very best kind of frozen pizza! And the fact that it’s heart shaped makes it even better!

Fun with dry ice and dish soap. When the bubbles popped it would release the steam from the dry ice. Super cool!

Another day, another heart shaped pizza!

Dinner by candlelight! It wasn’t dark outside yet, but it was still fun.

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Friends, Family, and Neighbors February 8, 2022

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 2:49 pm

For almost two years now, our lives have been scaled back, especially socially. Our circles are smaller these days. I sometimes grieve the “good old days” while simultaneously seeing the benefits of our current choices. This week was a good example of the blessing of community. I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity. Even if our community is smaller, it is still good!

Friends: This weekend, I had lunch dates with both of my forever friends, Christa and Maggie! Words can’t adequately describe how life-giving these friendships are to me. The range of topics we cover in a lunch date is always fascinating. At some point, we might be near tears with the intensity of the conversation and then at other moments, we are laughing a bit too loudly (or at least, I am). Getting to see both of them in one weekend was amazing!

Family: Our families are such a source of support, friendship, and love in our lives. My parents will invite the boys down to play video games a few times a month. They often do this on Wednesdays (when Jeremy is at church), so I am completely alone for about an hour. As an introvert, that one hour of solitude fills my soul in a way very few things can.
This weekend, Jeremy’s parents offered the boys a spur of the moment sleepover. Not only did the boys have a great adventure, but Jeremy and I are were equally excited for uninterrupted time together. Jeremy was kind and drove me up to my lunch date in Tacoma on Saturday. Not only did we get to have that extra time together, but he also knows that I don’t love driving and he wanted to bless me. He is seriously the sweetest! (Side note: between the lunch dates and time with my hubby, I probably used two months worth of words in two days. So much talking, so much fun!)

Neighbors: Our friends moved in just down the road over the holidays. We visited them yesterday at their developing homestead and got the update on their building plans. When we drive by, we often comment on how things are progressing with their property. We are thrilled to have friends right down the road since we live in a rural setting (any visit to a friend’s house usually requires a 20+ minute drive). We were walking to the mailbox when these friends drove by the other week. It’s so nice to have a familiar face to smile and wave at! It’s a joy to welcome them to the neighborhood!

Our time at home has been and still is meaningful. So much of our life happens under this roof and it is a good life. Whether is homeschooling in the morning, eating together in the evening, or watching a show (currently the Olympics) in the hot tub before bed, our family has enjoyed this extra time together thanks to pandemic life. But equally, we love our people and we are thankful for our community. It’s a delight to do life alongside our friends, family, and neighbors!

Late night snuggles with an 8 year old who should have been asleep…

Owen likes to bring toys to the table if they fit with the lesson.

Meeting Nana & Papa’s new neighbor! Big cow!

Yes, we just had a playdate together, but… it’s been months since we had a mom lunch date!

Helping Grandpa with a project! At least Jeremy was… I’m not sure about the boys. I think they might have just gone over for treats.

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Birthday Baking, Books, & Boosters February 1, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 5:48 pm

I had fun thinking of the alliterations I could use for this post. Like bestie birthday brownie baking, books, and boosters. That title felt a bit long, so I shortened it a smidge. I love a good alliteration, especially if it sums up my week so well.

The week has some highlights. One being a book swap with a friend. About once a month, we swap books from our home libraries. I love it! It’s fun to talk about the books we share as well as catch up on life. This time I was able to make the book swap while Jeremy watched our boys. It was such a special treat! Kid-free/mom-friend/book-time is amazing!

The other major highlight of the week was my forever friend, Maggie, came down with her kiddos for a birthday celebration. Maggie and I share a birthday month, so we played up celebrating us! I haven’t done a ton of baking this month, but I made up for it one day. I made chocolate chip cookies, a brownie cake, and brownies without frosting for our time together. Maggie and I have been friends since we were 16 and I love that we are still celebrating birthdays together at 36. Her friendship is such a gift! It’s also fun that our kiddos are becoming buddies. Maggie and I have sacrificed a bit our friend time to have more family outings over the last few months. While our conversation is often interrupted, it’s a joy to watch our kids play together. On this particular play date, the kids thought they saw an “X” in the yard, so they started to dig for treasure… by our septic! Luckily, I clued into their plan before anything degusting was unearthed! There were lots of giggles when I explained they wouldn’t be finding treasure in that certain spot in our yard.

Other than the book swap and the birthday play date, our week has been pretty low-key. Jeremy got his booster on Thursday and the side effects gave him an off and on fever all weekend. We all did our best to be quiet and keep a restful vibe around the house for Jeremy’s sake. On Friday, I took the boys on an errand to the library and to get Papa Murphy’s pizza. There is nothing quite like stocking up on pizza and letting it be at least 3+ meals over the weekend. As a special treat for being quiet, I got the boys Mini Murphs. They are take and make pizza kits with personal sized pizzas. The boys loved the experience of assembling their own pizzas and declared them the best pizza they’ve ever eaten. Owen now thinks he is qualified to work at Papa Murphy’s. He just might be right.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, all the extra time at home has created plenty of reading time. I’m loving my new Kindle Paperwhite. At one point this last month, I picked up a paperback with small font and immediately wished I could make the font bigger like on my Kindle. This is 36, folks. I’ve also had a lot of fun pre-ordering books. I have new releases arriving in February, April, and May. I need to find a new release to order in March so I can create my own book of the month vibe. In case you are wondering what books I’ve pre-ordered, here’s the list:

Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie – Release Date: February 15
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working by Shauna Niequist – Release Date: April 22
Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White – Release Date: May TBD

Okay, I should wrap this up. My hubby is home from work. We’re having orange chicken tonight in honor of Chinese New Year. No recipe to share here. It’s the boxed stuff from Costco. Tasty, though, and it’s a staple in our meal rotation. We’ll walk to the mailbox afterwards to get some fresh air and daily steps. Simple times, but good!

Fun fact: I put this birthday banner up for every birthday celebrated at our house (unless it’s the boys’ birthday party when I go with a themed one just for them). I’m a big fan of birthday décor.

My version of a brownie cake! Happy Birthday Month!

I got up and someone stole my reading spot!!!

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What I’ve Been Reading – January 2022 January 31, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 1:21 pm

I hit a personal record for books read in a month this January! It was the perfect combination of plenty of time at home and plenty of books to choose from. It also helps that most of the books I read took only 3-4 hours to complete. While my list is heavy on fiction, there is some non-fiction thrown in for diversity. Sharing just my rating of the books is going to be very hard. I have so many words about books! So. many. words. Okay, I will share a few words, but not all the words. I’m trying to scale back.

I’ve been using My Reading Life: A Book Journal by Anne Bogel. One of the suggestions she made for reading more is to read the complete works of a favorite author. I decided to do this with Jenny B. Jones this month. This led to me reading her murder mysterious series (a new genre for me) as well her YA series. I appreciate Jenny B. Jones’s southern sass and hilarious supporting characters! Her books are always a fun read. I hope to use this same approach by completing the works of Roseanna M. White in the near future.

A new-to-me author this month was Emma St. Clair. Jenny B. Jones recommended her new release and I was intrigued. I’m currently working my way through her Love Cliché series (I know the title sounds ridiculous, but I love clean rom-coms). They are laugh out loud funny and a PG version of a Hallmark movie. I hit the rom-com genre pretty hard in January and I’m not even a little bit sorry. Anne Bogel recommends you read what you love and I love love!

Top Picks for January

Non-Fiction: Single, Gay, Christian by Gregory Coles. I discovered this book after reading People To Be Love by Preston Sprinkle and researching pastoral position papers on The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. While the topic makes me a bit uncomfortable, I want to learn more. Coles story is well-written and vulnerable. It was a short, but impactful read. I would recommend it anyone looking to hear a personal story behind what might be considered a hot topic. Through the same research, I discovered Space at the Table: Conversations between an Evangelical Theologian and His Gay Son by Brad & Drew Harper. Brad Harper is a professor at Multnomah University where I went to college for two years. Small world! I hope to read Brad and Drew’s story in February.
Fiction: To Treasure an Heiress by Roseanna M. White. I love historical fiction! The reason I picked this new release as my number one choice was partially because of the bonus content beyond the book. White offered a book scavenger hunt where you had to search for answers inside the book to unlock a secret page on her website with bonus content. Such fun! I’ve enjoyed learning about the English Isles of Scilly through White’s works. I can wait for the final installment in this series, especially since I got a sneak peek of the first two chapters on the secret page. My runner up for fiction would be A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This book had so many feels! It was sad, sweet, and hilarious. I loved watching the sense of community develop between Grumpy Ove and his eccentric neighbors.

The Book List for January

Since I’ve started using Goodreads again, I will use their rating scale. 1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing.

Non-Fiction:

Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys by Stephen James and David Thomas – 4 stars
Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity by Gregory Coles – 5 stars
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally by Peter Scazzero – 4 stars
Try Softer: A Fresh Approach to Move Us out of Anxiety, Stress, and Survival Mode–and into a Life of Connection and Joy by Aundi Kolber – 4 stars

Fiction:

In a Holidaze by Christiana Lauren (holiday romance) – 2 stars
Engaged in Trouble by Jenny B. Jones (Enchanted Events Series) (murder mystery) – 3 stars
Royally in Trouble by Jenny B. Jones (Enchanted Events Series) (murder mystery) – 3 stars
Fanatically in Trouble by Jenny B. Jones (Enchanted Events Series) (murder mystery) – 3 stars
To Treasure an Heiress by Roseanna M. White (The Secrets of Isles Series) (historical fiction) – 4 stars
Short Stories: A Mixtape by Jenny B. Jones – 4 stars
Wild Heart Summer by Jenny B. Jones (rom-com) – 3 stars
So Not Happening by Jenny B. Jones (A Charmed Life Series) (YA mystery) – 3 stars
I’m So Sure by Jenny B. Jones (A Charmed Life Series) (YA mystery) – 3 stars
So Over My Head by Jenny B. Jones (A Charmed Life Series) (YA mystery) – 3 stars
In Between by Jenny B. Jones (A Katie Parker Production) (YA rom-com) – 3 stars
On The Loose by Jenny B. Jones (A Katie Parker Production) (YA rom-com) – 3 stars
The Big Picture by Jenny B. Jones (A Katie Parker Production) (YA rom-com) – 3 stars
Something to Believe In by Jenny B. Jones (A Katie Parker Production) (rom-com) – 4 stars
Can’t Let You Go by Jenny B. Jones (A Katie Parker Production) (rom-com) – 4 stars
Forever Your Girl by Jenny B. Jones (A Katie Parker Production) (rom-com) – 4 stars
Just Between You and Me by Jenny B. Jones (contemporary fiction) – 4 stars
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman (humorous/friendship fiction) – 4 stars
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (YA historical fiction) – 4 stars
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – (Children/Youth Sci-Fi) – 3 stars
The Buy-In by Emma St. Clair (Graham Brothers Series) (rom-com) – 3 stars
Falling For Your Best Friend’s Twin by Emma St. Clair (Love Clichés Series) (rom-com) – 3 stars
Falling for Boss by Emma St. Clair (Love Clichés Series) (rom-com) – 3 stars
Falling for Your Fake Fiancée by Emma St. Clair (Love Clichés Series) (rom-com) – 3 stars

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Marathon January 25, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 4:23 pm

I probably shouldn’t use an athletic metaphor. I’m the least qualified human to talk about anything sports-y. I wasn’t sure if I would post this week. I didn’t have too much to say (which is never true, but sometimes it feels that way). This month has been fairly quiet and low-key in some ways ( household volume is not one to them). Processing this month brought a marathon to mind. I’m in the middle of one…. or a few depending on how you look at it. I wouldn’t know from experience, but I’m guessing the middle of a marathon looks a lot like putting one foot in front of the other and carrying on.

The first marathon we are in the middle of is homeschooling. Last week we wrapped up our 2nd quarter. We are officially halfway done with the school year! Woo hoo! Last year, the middle of the school year felt like a major milestone. Now in year two, the halfway point got a little less fanfare. It’s still a mile marker worth celebrating, though. We give money rewards for school quarters – as long as they go well. The boys used their dollars to buy LEGO Super Mario character packs. No shocker there. It’s their current obsession.

The glamour of homeschooling has worn off a bit in this second year. Last year felt magical and this year feels… average. I’m not sure how to describe it. Maybe the honeymoon phase is over. Homeschooling is still great with so many benefits. I love our daily routine. I enjoy being a part of my kids’ education. Teaching Graham to read has been harder than I expected. A did a very un-Amy-like thing and scrapped his reading program when we came back to school in January. We’re back to the basics and taking things slower. I think it’s helping. We are currently using BOB books and the corresponding workbook for our new reading program. Graham is super into books so we are reading together a lot as well. I’m hopeful we are building a good foundation for not only reading skills, but also a love of reading.

Owen schoolwork take a bit more time this year and that’s been an adjustment. He’s favorite subjects are still science and social studies. One of my greatest joys this year has been watching Owen fall in love with reading. Most days during quiet time, he will devour a short chapter book. I’m having a hard time keeping up with his need for reading material. It’s a good problem to have! With the help of our local library and Thrift Books, I’m doing my best to keep him excited about reading.

January has had a different vibe. The weekdays have been fairly quiet as we adjust to being back to school and having Jeremy back to work (he was on Sabbatical for the month of December). Getting back to routine has been good, but certainly not flashy. Lots of ordinary days around here. 3/5 weekends in January have been/will be dedicated to getting the COVID vaccine or booster. The boys got their second vaccines earlier in the month and we kept the weekend low-key just in case of side effects. This last week was my turn to get my booster. Thankfully, my reaction wasn’t was strong as the second shot, but I still developed a fever, body aches, and a headache that lasted the entire next day. Jeremy was kind and took the boys on a big errand adventure so I could rest in a quiet house. I might have been sensitive because of my headache, but it sure felt my family yelled everything that day instead of using their inside voices. The vaccine marathon wraps up this weekend with Jeremy getting his booster. Again, our weekend will be set aside for recovery in case it’s necessary. It’s not fun taking care of business like this, but I’m glad it’s almost behind us.

January has been a mix of getting back to routine, wild weather, and vaccines/boosters. My birthday and post-holiday book shopping has certainly been a bright spot in the month. Walking to the mailbox for a package of books, playing a family game after dinner, watching the Great British Baking Show in the hot tub at the end of the day – these are a few of the highlights of our quieter days. It might not make for thrilling writing material, but I’m in the midst of a marathon. I won’t judge the middle. I’ll just keep going. One foot in front of the other – hoping and praying that I’m heading in the right direction.

Labyrinth has become a family favorite! The boys used LEGO Super Mario characters for a more authentic experience.

Forgive my tired eyes, this was taken on booster day. Graham found me reading and went to grab his own book to read with me!

Weekends around the house are great for blanket forts

Reclaimed my living room by moving the forts to the bedrooms.

My Thrift Books package arrived! *Book Girl* for the book lists, Wild Things for future reference, *Just Between You and Me* because it was a great price and buying it was the only way I could read it, *A Name Unknown* because I randomly own book three of this series so I hope to buy cheap copies of the other books to complete the set!

Learning about the tectonic plates with frosting and graham crackers. Science can be sweet!

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A Very Bookish Birthday January 18, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 5:43 pm

Friday was my 36th birthday! I love birthdays! I adore a day where I get to set the plan and pick all the places to eat. Mostly birthdays are about food for me, but this year, I had another theme – books! I’m definitely heading into 2022 and 36 with books on the brain. My birthday plans this year revolved around visiting bookstores in Portland, OR as well as stopping at a few other favorites like Target and Costco. I love a trip to the big city!

My first bookstore of choice was Powell’s City of Books on Burnside. The flagship store of the Powell’s empire is funky and fun. Jeremy helped the boys each pick a new book (their children’s department might be my favorite part of the store) as I wondered quietly through rows of books. If visiting one Powell’s wasn’t enough, I also visited their Cedar Hills location and the Amazon Bookstore. It was a really good day! To be cozy while reading, I updated my sweatshirt wardrobe and came away with a super cute reusable cup from Starbucks. It was a victorious and very Amy shopping day! So many favorite things!

To make our outing a bigger adventure, we opted to spend the night in the city. Our boys are always up for a hotel experience especially if there is a pool! We planned to take off the next morning for Camp 18 in Elsie for breakfast and a day at the beach. However, our beach plans changed due to a tsunami advisory. We still made it to breakfast at Camp 18, because we have priorities, and food is high on the list! Instead of heading to the beach, we ran some errands and took off for home earlier than expected. January has been wild! The first weekend had compact snow and ice still on the ground. The second weekend had flooding and now the third weekend had a tsunami advisory. Kind of makes me wonder what might happen next…

Our trip was sandwiched between family dinners with my parents and Jeremy’s parents. I feel very loved and celebrated! Like I said, food is a big deal for me when it comes to my birthday. I am always grateful when I don’t have to make dinner! The birthday menu (spread out over the weekend – it feels important to say that) included my favorite foods like pizza, orange chicken, mac and cheese, French toast and waffles. Chocolate, lemon, and red velvet cake were also consumed! Plus, a free birthday drink from Starbucks is always a treat!

I’ve also been book shopping online. I pre-ordered a new release from one of my favorite authors, Roseanna M. White. I also placed a Thrift Books order. I will admit that I’ve never been a fan of “used” items, but I’ve recently found a fondness for used books. First, they are cheaper. Books have gotten expensive and buying used gives me more bang for my buck. Also, I now like the look of an aged and well-worn book. Gives me cozy vibes! Thrift Books has quickly become a favorite for me. Not only do I get a great price on used books, but they have a reward system that allows me to earn free books. I’m all about free books!

Okay, indulge me one more bookish moment, I also reorganized my bookshelves yesterday. My system was loosely based on genre and it wasn’t working for me anymore. I decided to arrange alphabetically author. This was fairly simple with fiction because I have so many series’ in my collection. Non-fiction took a bit more work, but I like the finished project. I have room to grow my home library and a logical place for my future purchases. Also, I got rid of quite a bit of dust that was hiding behind all my books, so it was a fresh start in more than one way!

Now that all the big birthday celebrating is behind me, we are looking at a business-as-usual/have-to-be-a-grown-up type week. A three day school week means the workload is heavier and we have to focus more. I have my COVID booster coming up on Thursday. Nothing like heading into the weekend with the potential of feeling crummy. I’m optimistic the good book vibes and leftover birthday cake will carry me through!

My mom is so sweet! She orders me this chocolate cake from Safeway each year and it’s become a birthday tradition. A yummy tradition!

Watching for the streetcar in downtown Portland

Thankful for this man! He made my birthday/bookstore dreams come true!

Pool time! I’m not a water bug, but after my time in the hot tub, I love watching these guys play!

These are a few of my favorite things! Books from Powell’s, journals and two sweatshirts from Costco, cup and two sweatshirts from Target!

Reading his new Magic Tree house book from Powell’s

Graham was very excited to take his new Christmas game over to Nana & Papa’s. He aske me to take this picture.

Graham thought I was making an obstacle course for him with books!

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Thoughts on Reading in 2022 January 11, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Recollections,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 4:43 pm

The start of 2022 has mostly been spent at home. Last week was set at a slower pace so we could get back into the school routine. Our weekend plans were slightly altered by local flooding. My childhood home was flooded in 1996 and though I live on a hill now, flooding raises my anxiety level and stirs uncertainty. My appointment to get my COVID booster was rescheduled because the pharmacy was closed due to flooding nearby. Our boys were able to get their second vaccine dose over the weekend as the area reopened. We went into a very empty Safeway afterwards to find celebration donuts. Even though the shelves were almost bare, there were donuts in the case. Praise the Lord!

The major highlight of this last week for me was packages arriving filled with books and book-related things! I used Christmas cash to invest in a Kindle Paperwhite, an assortment of books, and two journals. One journal is a reading journal. I’ve kept lists of what I’ve read yearly, but I’ve never journaled about my reading. I am looking forward to using this journal as a companion to my reading year. It has space to document 100 books and I’ve decided 100 books will be my reading goal for 2022.

I’ve been thinking about my reading life – what it’s looked like and what I want it to look like. In 2020 and 2021, I read more books than I ever expected. To expand beyond my limited home library, I’ve taken to following the recommendations of others. This habit of asking around has led me to many books that I loved and some I didn’t. I wish that books came with ratings like movies. If a book has too much language, violence, darkness, or sex, it makes me uncomfortable. I had a light bulb moment as I was reading in my new book journal (My Reading Life: A Book Journal by Anne Bogel). Anne suggested that you search for content warnings online before starting a new book. I can’t believe this didn’t occur to me before! I hope to be a more informed reader in 2022. Not to focus on the negative, I read many great books I loved with no reservation. I also don’t share this as judgement of those who might hold different reading tastes than my own. I’ll still be asking for recommendations. I’ll just do more research in advance of placing a library hold.

I mentioned in my last post, I plan to change how I blog about reading. Instead of sharing a short paragraph about each book I read in a month, I’ll change to a list with a star-rating. I’ve started using my Goodreads account again and I plan to use their star-rating system. I have so. many. words. when it comes to books and my monthly posts have gotten too long. I’ll share about my favorite non-fiction and fiction books of the month with reasons why beyond the star-rating. There is a comment section on each post, so if you ever have a question about a book I list, please feel free to ask and we can dive into a deeper conversation on that title.

I am also excited to be a part of a new book club with a few friends (we technically haven’t met yet, but we’re working on it). One of my friends came up with the idea of meeting once a month to talk about books – any book. It could be one we’ve read recently or in the past or one we’re eyeing. It can be hard for moms to all read the same book at the same time and come ready for a discussion. This will take the pressure off of finding material we all like and completing it on a timeline. I love hearing about what others are reading and I can see my to-be-read list growing as a result. I also love talking about my current reads. I’m positive this will be a good outlet for me in more than one way!

As you can see, I’ve thought quite a bit about reading in 2022. I want to be intentional with my reading and my time. I read for both pleasure and growth. I want to have a diverse reading life. Some of the most impacting books I’ve read have been by people very different from me. Seeing the world through their lens has been life-altering. I don’t want to shirk from books that make me uncomfortable. I just want it to be for the right reasons. All this talk about books has me excited to share my reading list with you at the end of the month. I’m certainly starting out 2022 with plenty to read. I’m in book heaven! Woo hoo!

It’s been a slow photo week. But in the theme of books, this is the new book we are using for art. The kids love Mo Willems and they are having fun drawing their favorite characters!

Jeremy made homemade soup and bread on Friday! Very impressive and tasty!

Wrapping up dose number two! So proud of these brave kiddos!

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Happy New Year! January 4, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Parenthood,Recollections,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 11:48 am

We made it to 2022! This week is back to school for the boys and I and back to work for Jeremy. We loved our month of December with Jeremy on sabbatical. Our family had so much fun with all the Christmas activities and celebrations. Like most, we weren’t ready for the vacation vibes to end. We have an intentionally quiet week at home to help us ease back into routine.

We wrapped up 2021 with a shopping trip to Portland. Even though the roads around our house were snow/ice, the freeway was fine and the roads improved as we went south. The stores were hit hard by Christmas, low staff, and low stock. The snow certainly didn’t help. The boys each got LEGO sets and then we hopped online to shop for the items that were missing in the stores. Mostly, we just wanted a day to get out of the house after a few snow days. Our shopping tradition after Christmas isn’t about the items we purchase, it’s about spending the day as a family in the big city.

Our weekend was all about snow and family. We celebrated my sister’s birthday on New Year’s Eve. Jeremy attached the sled to our riding lawn mower and that became a big hit on Friday and Saturday. We had some of the cousins (and their parents) over on Saturday for games and snow fun. After we played at our house, we dropped the kiddos at Nana & Papa’s house and the parents went to see the newest Spider-Man movie. I haven’t been to the theaters since Frozen II in 2019! It was good to get back to the movies, but I honestly love streaming at home just as much (probably even more). It was a treat to go on a double date and have some kid-free time with other adults – this rarely happens in my world.

As I reflect on 2021, I am grateful. The beginning of the year started quietly with COVID restrictions and stay-at-home orders revived. We celebrated Jeremy turning 40 in the spring with a “spring break” trip to Oregon. We thrived in homeschooling and wrapped up preschool for Graham and 1st grade for Owen with a family celebration at the end of May. Our summer was full of local-ish adventures. We visited the WA/OR coast, Mt. Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We enjoyed swim lessons in the month of August. We started our second year of homeschooling in the fall. The boys turned 8 and 6 in October with family adventure days to the Space Needle and Top Golf. November was our magical trip to Disneyland. December wrapped up the year with Jeremy’s sabbatical filled with family time and Christmas adventures. Despite the hardships of living in a pandemic world, our family experienced so much goodness in 2021.

Thanks to the pandemic, my expectations for goal setting have gone way down. Last year, my goals were to beat my 2020 reading total and to decorate sugar cookies once a month. I succeeded in both those goals and had a blast investing in my hobbies. As I look to 2022, my current goals are to read the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings books for the first time. They are on most recommended reading list that I encounter. I’m ready to find out why. I plan to change how I keep track of my reading and how I rate books. I will also tweak how I blog about my reading this year. My one serious goal for 2022 is to get back to church in-person. I have reservations about in-person church, but it’s important that our kids get back into a faith community. Because of homeschooling, it will be beneficial for them to be in a classroom environment with peers again.

That about does it! Wrapping up 2021, welcoming 2022. I don’t know what’s on the horizon for 2022. I am believing that the same goodness I found in 2020 and 2021 will be present in 2022. God’s faithfulness never falters. Life has taken unexpected turns with the pandemic, but I’ll just keep doing the best I can with what I’ve got. God can work with that. He makes up the difference. I can go into 2022 knowing that God goes with me – before me, beside me, behind me. I am not alone and I can do this with him.

Introduced the kids to World Market. The boys fell in love with this chair. Our big purchase from this store was coconut syrup from Hawaii.

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What I’ve Been Reading – December 2021 December 30, 2021

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 11:33 am

Ending the year at 178 books read. I beat my goal of 138 which was one more than my 2020 total. I beat my new goal of 175. I have no clue if I will ever read this many books in a year again, but I am so thankful for this reading year. Reading has taken on a new level of meaning in my life and is truly one of my greatest passions.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – This Swedish author and his novels came highly recommended. His name and this title were popping up again and again in my reading circles. I really enjoyed this book and I plan to read more of his work. I will say that the novel started slow for me and unfolded like a mystery or a puzzle. I wanted all the pieces to come together faster and that is how this book hooked me. The cast of characters is unexpected and original. I was crying by the end. It all wrapped up so beautifully and yet I didn’t want it to end.
The Christmas Cat, An Irish Christmas, All I Have to Give, The Christmas Dog, A Simple Christmas Wish, Christmas in the Alps by Melody Carlson – I tried to read as many Christmas novels as I could this month. As a result, I barely watched any of the Hallmark Christmas movies. I just couldn’t manage both. Sorry, Hallmark! Melody Carlson’s Christmas novels are short, sweet, and heart-warming. The same vibes of a Hallmark movie with slightly more plot. These novels helped grow my reading total by quite a bit because I could read through them in less than a day.
Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis – This looks like a holiday/wintertime novel from the cover. There is a snowstorm that leads to the main characters meeting, but really no holiday vibes. I enjoyed the plot of this novel. It was well-developed and interesting. However, it was a bit too PG-13 for my taste. It was a good story, but left me disappointed in parts.
Finding Father Christmas, Engaging Father Christmas, and Kissing Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn – I own these as eBooks and decided to purchase used copies to add to my RJG collection. I’ve been a huge fan of Gunn since middle school and my bookshelf is full of her novels. I felt these works needed to join my home library. These Christmas stories are a favorite that I will return to in the future for both Christmas and mystery vibes.
Echoes & Sunsets (The Glenbrooke Series Books 3 & 4) by Robin Jones Gunn – While waiting for books to arrive at the library, I reached for The Glenbrooke Series to keep me reading. I read the first two books last month and I’m now halfway through the series (for probably the 5th or 6th time). This series is my comfort reading of choice. With the small town of Glenbrooke being the connection point for all these stories, I love the world that Gunn creates and how she brings her characters together.
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson – A friend brought this book over for me to look at and I promptly requested it from the library. This book is all about the power of reading and what books can do to transform our lives (which totally speaks to my soul). It’s also filled with book recommendations. Since there were so many book lists included, I might have to pick up my own copy to use as a reference when I need a new title.
Sweet Right Here by Jenny B. Jones – I’ve enjoyed Jones’ novels, but this one wasn’t one of my favorites, if I’m being honest. I love the Sugar Creek cast of characters that Jones has created. I’m all about revisiting fictional communities and adding layers to stories I’ve already read. This romantic comedy felt a bit superficial in the attraction of the main character. The storyline around veterans, therapy, and unresolved father issues added depth to the story and salvaged the more shallow moments for me.
The Complete Christmas Stories by L.M. Montgomery – I got this collection of short Christmas stories for free on my Kindle app. It’s a personal goal to read all things written by LMM, so I added this to my Christmas reading list. The first short story wasn’t a happy Christmas tale, but the rest were inspiring, humorous, and uplifting.
The Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo – This YA Christmas novel takes place a tourist town where a famous movie was filmed. The tourist details set up many of the activities featured in the book and create the work environment for the cast of characters. The two main characters have secret interests which they discover about each other when they accidently grab the wrong phone. This novel was sort-of-holiday-ish and had a good message about being honest, especially with those you love.
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss – A women decides to put herself out there through a dating organization that sets up 12 dates before Christmas. The dates as you can imagine turn out to be a disaster and in the plot twist we all saw coming from the start, the main character finds that love was under her nose the whole time (not a spoiler, the back of the book says so). I enjoyed moments of this book, but it was too PG-13 for my liking.
Begin Again: The Brave Practice of Releasing Hurt and Receiving Rest by Leeana Tankersley – This book was on a recommended reading list for Enneagram Type Ones. I watched a MOPS talk by this author a few years ago so I decided to give the book a try. It was honest, deep, and healing. It felt like a sacred conversation. The philosophy of “always we begin again” was enlightening for me as I process engaging again in a world changed by the pandemic.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks―Super Easy!: 120 Shortcut Recipes for Dinners, Desserts, and More by Ree Drummond – No joke, I read Ree’s cookbooks from cover to cover before I cook from them. She is hilarious and her cookbooks include so much about her life and family, not to mention the pictures! Her cookbooks are an experience even if you never make a single recipe. I adore the concept of super easy with store bought shortcuts and simplified recipes. I’m not a great cook, but PW inspires me (or at least entertains me)!

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A White Christmas December 28, 2021

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 6:00 pm

The week has been full of Christmas celebrations and snow! I put all those cookie cutters I mentioned last week to good use and made sugar and gingerbread cookies. It was fun to decorate them all with different frosting colors, icing tips, and sprinkles! I loved the variety!

On Christmas Eve, the boys opened their presents from Jeremy and I. They both dove into their new books and we played their new board games as a family. It makes my heart happy to see gifts being appreciated. We attended a candlelight Christmas Eve gathering at church. Even though Jeremy is on sabbatical this month, we went to support Nana and Aunt Patty in the bell choir which performed before and during the gathering. Christmas Eve also featured a matinee of The Polar Express and breakfast burritos for dinner (a holiday classic, right?).

Christmas morning came early for us… and not because of kids eager to open presents. It started to snow overnight and this led to a power outage at 2:40am. Since we sleep with fans for white noise, we all wake up when the power goes out. The house becomes too quiet and suddenly we can hear all the house noises. Who knew that silence could be so loud? We struggled to sleep and got up at 7:00am to a very dark and chilly house. The boys opened their stockings from Santa by flashlight. Jeremy got the generator running so he could make coffee and we could use the microwave for cinnamon rolls. The power turned on about 8:40am which gave us enough time to take hot showers before heading out for the day. Our drive down the hill was a bit snowy, but once we hit the main roads, it was fine. We spent Christmas day at my grandma’s house with family. We left a bit earlier than we originally planned, but we wanted to make it home in the daylight before ice and snow made the drive a challenge.

On Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with the Scott family. The drive to Nana & Papa’s house was slow thanks to more snow and ice overnight. We had breakfast together before diving into a very LEGO Christmas (for the kids). Nana is super talented and made pajamas for the whole family. We took a special family picture in our new comfy clothes. We played some games, nibbled on leftovers, and tried to find a place to sled. It was very picturesque to have a White Christmas celebration with family. If only the snow didn’t make traveling so tricky. We stayed for an early dinner and said farewell before dark for better travel conditions.

Our plans for shopping after Christmas have been postponed. It’s our tradition to head down to Portland after Christmas to spend our Christmas cash. With the roads being compact snow and ice and the freeway being tricky in parts, we’ve decided that shopping isn’t a necessity. We can wait for better conditions. After a couple of days traveling in snowy weather, it’s been nice to enjoy a few snow days at home. The boys have happily built their new LEGO sets and played with them for hours. Between the snow and LEGOs, we’ve been well entertained.

I didn’t really believe we were going to have a white Christmas, but it did indeed happen. It was pretty and magical, but also a bit of a hassle. It certainly made for a memory! Especially the Christmas day power outage! We actually lost power again for an hour and half yesterday morning as well. Now I’m praying throughout the day – partially thanking the Lord for heat and asking that the power please stay on! We have plans for the rest of the 2021. We’ll see if the snow continues to change them or if we’ll end the year with bit more activity!