WW: Year In Review

Love that this New Year's eve is on a Thursday again, that means I get to link up again with Mama Kat for my year in review. Thankfully this year wasn't nearly as much of a roller coaster compared to 2014.

This post is just a recap of the things I did in 2015. You can click the individual links to read the posts. I am also mixing it up with Shan's year in review that I did in 2008. I thought it was a fun one and a great way to incorporate more posts. =)

Happy New Year and welcome to 2015. January kicked off our New Year with (as always) resolutions. I don't think I kept any of them, but what else is new! I talked a bit about Mommy Wars, a discuss sparked by a good friend's letter and followed up once more here. My first Ipsy bag brought a few reviews. I wrapped up the month with a post about upcoming heart month.

Sorry, but I am not sorry. February brought my first "going, going, gone" with Jamberry. It's where we say farewell to the old catalog and hello to the new. A favorite post was the things I love about parenthood. My readers got to see how my day goes in my Day in the life post. The month was wrapped up with a Jamberry how-to on application and removal.

I realize I posted yesterday about Jamberry, but I am going to post again. March brought my first new Jamberry catalog. SO EXCITING. I answered 50 questions I've never been asked before. Essential oils were introduced into my life and changed the way I think about health in my home, I got to talk about my experience with DoTerra. Spring came in beautifully and I got a few great pictures. We also celebrated Mom's first birthday in heaven.

I have to share this here, even though it's another shameless plug for my jamberry business! April started with another Jamberry post. Makes me laugh now, but Jamberry has become a part of my life. It's only natural that it is a big part of my blog. Easter happened. Alivia turned six and I shared six things in my blog post. Music is a huge part of my life and I shared that a bit during writers workshop and shared ten songs. The month ended with McKayla's dental extractions to make room for her "big girl" teeth.

I am linking up this week for five minute Friday. In May I continued linking up for Five Minute Friday. Stephen's grandparents made their first trip to Boise. My first mother's day without my mom was celebrated. Mid-month I fell in love with a cyborg named Cinder. We started our container garden that didn't do well! May wrapped up with an interview with my girls. Always interesting to hear their take on things!

Alivia at her Kinder graduation 6-1-15. June creeped up on me and before I knew it, we were at kindergarten graduation for my baby. My grandmother's china finally made its way to our home. I talked about all the ways you know you are a mom. The girls surprised my dad and Stephen with special Father's Day presents. It became apparent how little I really know about my dad when I did a special Father's Day Tag on his birthday

It is a gift to be loved by so many here in Oregon. In July we got to spend some time in Oregon. We got to see my sweet niece Roselynn. The girls got to feed the ducks with their new cousins. Vacation Bible school gave the girls another opportunity to perform. They are naturals! Biggest news of the month was most definitely when Odin joined our family.

He has been snipped, chipped and vaccinated. Poor Odin was miserable the first part of the month, because we tortured him, trying to be good pet parents. The girls got new backpacks for school. Book reviewing became another new passion for me. Teacher meet and greets happened and McKayla's teacher is small just like her! We wrapped up the month with a visit from my best friend and the girls' almost cousins.

I was given a copy of this book in return for my honest review. More book reviews! I found NetGalley and had a bit too much fun requesting books to review. Natalie turned EIGHT! I celebrated my one year jami-versary and found comfort in finding penny's. September wrapped up with a surprise candle light dinner at home with my love.

Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die we can't remember who we are or why we are here. October started with me pondering this or that for a Halloween Tag. The girls and I read about The Good Dog. McKayla celebrated her first double-digit birthday. I participated again in the 31-days of free writes during the month of October and that's how I wrapped up my month.

One year ago today I started my 1000 gifts experience. November brought the conclusion of my 1000 gifts journey. I now have them all posted on a page of this blog. You can click the 1000 Gifts tab to see them. How to be Brave touched my heart in a way a book never really has. We learned that Natalie was being tested to see if she qualified for special education. Stephen and I celebrated one year of marriage.

After such a wonderful Thanksgiving, it should be easy for me to come up with five things I'm thankful for. I did a throwback Thursday (on a Saturday) for my amazing sister's birthday. December was the month we found out Natalie did in fact qualify for special education. We concluded 2015 with an amazing Christmas with my sister and dad and countless other family members.

How was your 2015?

2015 End of Year Book Survey

I decided to link up with Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner along with Inge with @ Bookshelf Reflections. All links in the following post will take you to my review either on this blog or goodreads. I also picked and chose the questions I wanted to answer. The whole thing can be found at the blog above.

Number Of Books You Read: 92 (this doesn't include the children's books I have read for review purposes. That would take me well over 100)

Number of Re-Reads: 0

Genre You Read The Most From: young adult, mostly fantasy

Best Book You Read In 2015?  I think that would be How to be Brave. This book really touched me in a way I wasn't expecting.

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? Somewhere in Between. I saw the cover, loved it, requested an advanced copy, read it. Wasn't all that impressed.

Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? I am going to go with the Lunar Chronicles. A bloggy friend of mine described it perfectly "When you tell people you are reading a story about Cinderella as a Cyborg... you are going to get strange looks. When you tell them you are becoming rabidly obsessed about a story about Cinderella as a Cyborg... yeah. It doesn't get much better, I'm afraid. But then curiosity might get the better of them, and they might read it, too. And when they become hooked, they will tell you - "I'm sorry I thought you were insane. This book is awesome."

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? Honestly, I don't know. I know that I share a lot about the books I have read both here and in real life but I don't get a lot of feedback on if people actually read them.

Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015? I would have to say The Selection series. Honestly, the review says it all: Not going to lie, when I first started this book I wondered what ask the hype was all about... I didn't love it at first page or even first chapter. Somehow, page by page, chapter by chapter it sucked me in.

Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? I would have to say it's the two autobiographies I have read this year: Yes, my accent is real and Bossy Pants. Loved them both!

Most action-packed/thrilling/un-put-down-able book of the year? Legend. Loved it so much that I immediately bought books two and three. 

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015? Entwined. Didn't love the book as much as I love the cover.

Most memorable character of 2015? I keep coming back to this series, but I can't help it! Most memorable character would have to be Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles.

Most beautifully written book read in 2015? The Upside of Iris. This one is because of the amazing art as well. The story just pairs perfectly with the words. I loved this one

Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015? The Girl in the Well Is Me. I thought this was such an interesting prospective and wonderful way to tell a story.

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? Lunar Chronicles. This one just blew me away. I'm sure you can tell from my reviews. If you don't believe me, check them out!! 

Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015? That would be the "hospital scene" in How to be brave:

And then, in the CCU

that last time:

the glare of the cold white walls

from the long fluorescent bulb

that fell hard against her 

grey skin

against the cold metal

and plastic wires. 

The mask on her face

the steady, careful pulse of machines, monitors,

mechanical boxes that lived for her

that sustained whatever was left. 

Her body was broken. 

She was like a butchered animal

with her arms limp 

and her chest heaving with the push of the machine. 

Her eyelids shifting, 

her feet trembling. 

Automatic responses, they're called. 

I wonder what was there, 

inside, 

the moments before her heart stopped. 

I wonder if she could hear what I said

how sorry I was

just so deeply sorry.

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015? That would be Pretending to Dance. Again. 

Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Somewhere in Between. This one left me wanting much more. 

Books I read in 2015

I will preface this post by saying, I am a reader. I love to read and I am quick. I finished a LOT of books this year. I bolded the ones that I loved. There are reviews of all the books I have read on GoodReads and a few here under "book reviews"

Adult Fiction Books

1. Angels Burning 
2. The Word Game 
3. The Big Girls Guide to Buying Lingerie 
4. Whispers in the Reading Room 
5. The Bronte Plot 
6. Twisted Webs
7. The Sister Pact 
8. Webs of Power 
9. House Trained
10. Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble 
11. My Secret to Tell 
12. Pretending to Dance 
13. Taking Back Sunday 
14. The Sea Keepers Daughters 
15. Bathsheba 
16. Impossible Magic 
17. Under the Ice 
18. I've got you Under my Skin
19. Killer Cupcakes 
20. Ordinary Angels 
21. A Daughter's Inheritance 
22. Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things 
23. The Deuce 
24. The Language of Sparrows 
25. For the Love of Livvy
26. Sunshine Hunter
27. Caught in the Middle

 Non-Fiction Books 

1. Birdies, Bogeys & Bipolar Disorder
2. 10 Ultimate Truths For Girls 
3. Yes My Accent is Real 
4. Blessed, Blessed, Blessed
5. Daily Wisdom for Women 2016 Devotional 
6. Mama Needs a Do-Over 
7. Bossypants 

Early Reader Books 

1. Blue in the Face 
2. The Girl in the Well is Me 
3. Lydia's Enchanted Toffee
4. The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs 
5. Scrap City
6. Sorry I'm Not Sorry
7. The Firma Twins & The Purple Staff of Death 
8. Franny and Toby 
9. Seaside 
10. Aliens on Holiday 
11. The BFG 
12. Miss Petitfour 
13. The Rabbit Ate my Flip-Flops
14. The Rabbit Ate my Homework 
15. The Gecko's Gate
16. Teagon of Tomorrow 
17. Into Corina 
18. Elora of Stone
19. What If 

Young Adult Books 

1. The Golden Braid 
2. How to Be Brave
3. Legend 
4. Until We Meet Again 
5. Wishing for you
6. I wish 
7. The Last of the Firedrakes
8. Undertow
9. Somewhere In Between 
10. Untraceable 
11. Lost Princess 
12. Masque 
13. Followed by Frost 
14. State of Grace
15. Splintered
16. Grounded 
17. Feyland 
18. Hope(less) 
19. Fairest 
20. Cress
21. Cinder
22. Scarlet 
23. Everblue 
24. Entwined 
25. V is for Virgin
26. The One
27. The Selection
28. The Elite 
29. Ascend 
30. Torn 
31. Switched
32. Betrayal 
33. Forbidden 
34. Reckoning 
35. Redemption 
36. Caught in the Middle 
37. Twenty Eight and a Half Wishes 
38. Before I fall 
39. The Fallen Star
40. Rae of Hope 
41. Shades of Doon 

Thankful Tuesday

My final Thankful Tuesday for 2015. Guess I better do something special right? lol. It's been a long year. A better one then the year before, but still long. This year I am thankful for:

1. Answers about Natalie and a plan going forward. 
2. Our sweet baby Odin. Makes every day just a little brighter. Even when he's naughty. 
3. My first year with my husband being such a blessed one. 
4. McKayla's successful dental surgery making her mouth more comfortable. 
5. Alivia's schooling being so amazing and "worry free" for mommy. 

What about you, what is something you are thankful for? 

Most Memorable of 2015

I am already planning a year in review, but Kate Montag has a link up I thought I would participate in this time. I am posting links to some of my most memorable posts from 2015. Always fun to look back and read what happened this year. Here are my top ten most memorable posts from 2015 (in my opinion).

1. We Remembered mom on her birthday 
2. My "baby" turned 6
3. McKayla had dental "surgery"
4. I fell in love with a cyborg Cinderella 
5. We got a dog
6. We met our teacher for the 2015-16 school year
7. Natalie turned 8
8. McKayla turned 10!
9. We celebrated our first year of marriage 
10. Natalie was approved for special education

What about you, if you had to make a list of the top ten things that happened to you this year, what would be on it?

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, wishing you the merriest of Christmases. We are safely in Oregon with my family and being spoiled rotten.

I pray the holiday brings you great joy and you are reminded of the reason for the season. Not just the baby in a manger, but the man who gave His innocent life so that we might live forever with Him.

Reasons I Love Winter

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. The prompt I chose this week is: List nine things you love about winter.

For those who know me, you know that I'm not a fan of cold or wet. To say this isn't a favorite season would be an understatement. That is why I think it's a great idea for me to list some reasons I love winter. Maybe it will help me feel better about it!

1. The view of the snow covered foothills is amazing. 
2. The way my girls cheeks turn all rosy when they have been outside. 
3. The cold days that make my coffee taste so much better then when it's warm outside. 
4. Christmas lights. 
5. Being able to watch the cute way my dog "prances" in the snow. 
6. Watching the snow falling outside (from the warmth of my home or work of course!) 
7. Advent at church. The symbolism is just a beautiful reminder of why we celebrate. 
8. Boot weather. I am learning to love boots! 
9. The adorable way my girls look in dresses with leggings. 

How about you, can you name one thing you love about winter?

This post inspired by:

Wordless Wednesday

Please ignore the basket of laundry waiting to be folded. And I hope my husband doesn't kick me for this one, but this is him and our sweet doggy Odin. They almost look like they are making the same face!

Thankful Tuesday

It is so easy to look at the circumstances of today and think about how bad your life sucks. Believe me, I know. Even on days when I write this post, I find myself complaining. What if I took all that energy that I spend complaining and spent it on being grateful instead? How much happier would I be?

This week I am thankful. I am thankful for:

1. finished Christmas shopping
2. the opportunity to go home for Christmas. 
3. a husband who is doing so awesome in school and is still willing to cook for me. 
4. an ex husband who is willing to work with me on visitation. He could be a total a** and not let me have the girls for Christmas, but he isn't. 
5. a step-mom for the girls who loves them as much as her own children. 

What is something you are thankful for this week? Leave it in the comments. 

12 Christmas Prayers

In just three short days I am heading with my family to Oregon. We are going to spend five whole days there celebrating and enjoying the company of family. Cannot wait!!

Found a little something worth sharing here

Special Education??

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Natalie was going to be undergoing some testing at school to see if she was eligible for special education through the school district. You can click the link above to read my first post about our initial meeting.

Yesterday, we had another meeting to discuss her results and the plan. Her testing was quite extensive and it is honestly a lot to process. I am going to copy part of her assessment here because it describes her problem in a way I can't: 

Testing using the KABC-II and CTOPP2 suggest long-term retrieval is an area of deficit for Natalie. The narrow ability of associative memory falls within the "below average" range and measures the ability to remember previously unrelated information as being paired. (the example that explained this best for me is that she has trouble pairing a letter with it's sound or symbol with a name.) Individuals with deficits within this area may have a difficult time being able to associate a letter shape to its name and sound. The narrow ability of Naming Facility is the ability to rapidly produce accepted names for concepts or things when presented with the thing itself or a picture of it (or cued in some other appropriate way). Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) is highly related to reading automaticity and accuracy. 

According to the report:

Phonological processing and long-term retrieval deficits adversely impacts Natalie's ability to fluently read and understand grade level material across all academic content areas.  

Processing deficits in long-term retrieval and phonological processing impact Natalie's ability to make use of phonological information when processing written or oral language, associate letter sounds with symbols and efficiently store and retrieve phonological information from memory. This impacts her fluency, basic reading skills and comprehension in the area of reading. 

After this testing it has been determined that Natalie has a specific learning disability and is eligible for special education.

I will honestly admit, I had no idea there were different kinds of special education. Every time I thought about special education it was the room with the kids who are physically disabled. This isn't that kind of special education.

Natalie will get focused help in her areas of need. Forty minutes each day will be spent with a special education teacher who will help her in the areas of reading fluency and reading comprehension in the resource room. This comes out to be about ten percent of her day. It was so important to me that she be in her classroom with her peers.

Along with her individualized education plan (IEP) she will have special accommodations made for her in the classroom. When they are doing her state reading test, she will be tested in a familiar place by a familiar person. While she is in the classroom she will have the following accommodations:

• she will have someone who will make sure she understands written directions
• she will have the opportunity to finish assignments and tests in the resource room
• her homework will be in chunks (from what I understand this means she will get parts of what the average student would get) 
• someone will read or re-read directions to her 
• she will have extra time to complete tasks/assignments as she needs

Her IEP includes two SMART goals. For those unfamiliar with the term, this means they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented and Time-bound. 

Goal 1: When given a grade level reading probe, Natalie will read 35 words per minute with 95% accuracy on three trials, as measured by charting by 12/2016. 

Goal 2: When asked to respond to a reading passage at her instructional level, Natalie will demonstrate her understanding of the reading selection by answering who, what, why, where, or when questions with support from the text with 80% accuracy on five trials as measured by work samples and/or tests, using teacher criteria by 12/2016

In December 2016 we will have another meeting to see how she is doing. In three years they will re-test her to see if she still qualifies. 

Natalie starts her work with Mr DeForest after Christmas break. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and I will keep you updated on what's going on with her and our family. 

WW: A Budget-less Holiday

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. The prompt I chose this week is: Describe how you would celebrate the holidays if it was totally up to you and money was not a factor.

I would love to be able to get my girls a few of the things they have really been wanting. I would love to be able to go home on a plane (1 hour flight) versus the eight hour drive. I would love to be able to take the time off to spend the girls' winter break in Oregon, enjoying the things the northwest has to offer in the winter time. The time with both my family and Stephen's would be especially wonderful if I didn't have to worry about the finances and how we would afford the time off. My girls wouldn't need to worry about what Santa could or could not bring to them, because his budget is my budget. They have been talking all month about how Santa can't bring computers. I told them he only brought imagination using toys to children. Electronics weren't really his thing.

What about you? How would you celebrate if the decision were all yours and money wasn't a factor?

This post inspired by:

Wordless Wednesday

Thankful Tuesday

Here are five things I am thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful for a church family that makes sure I am taken care of. We had a minor emergency on Sunday and I left without my purse. The people at church found it and got it back to me. SO GRATEFUL! 
2. I am thankful for my work family. I had to miss the Christmas party this year, but from the pictures it looks like they had so much fun. It's so important to like the people you work with and I sure do! 
3. I am thankful for the opportunity to review books for free. This has really helped me branch out and read things I wouldn't normally have the opportunity to read.  
4. I am thankful for my daddy and sister's help. They have been so amazing in helping me during this difficult time. Just over a week until I get to see them again!! 
5. I am thankful that my girls are so loving. Natalie made a card for our pastor at church on Sunday and gave it to her. Warmed my heart to see that sign of affection. 

What is one thing you are thankful for today?

FMF: Reflect

Reflect. It's something I try not to do much. I am an over-thinker and the more I reflect, the more I wish I could turn back time and fix something I messed up. Who says reflections have to be bad? I need to learn to reflect on my past and remember the wonderful things, the beautiful things, the special things. Pictures of reflections are my favorite. The scenery reflecting on a still pond is beautiful. Or even the sunset reflecting on the ocean's waves. Not easy to see but stunning no less. I want my reflections of my past to be like that. Like a picture I can't help but looking at.

I want someone to look at me and be a reflection of my creator. We are called to reflect his love to the world and I want to make sure that is something I am successful at. People might not understand why I am different, but I pray that it is God's influence they are seeing reflected and not the influence of this world. What reflection do you want to have? Maybe it's something we should all reflect on.

Linking up with Kate Motaung for: 

WW: My Friday

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. The prompt I chose this week is: Describe what Friday evenings are like at your house.

This is an interesting prompt for me because of the stark difference between the two options. You see, I share custody of my three girls with their dad. He has them one weekend, I have them the next.

Last weekend happened to be the one where they were at dad's house. Friday nights are quiet that week. I am usually home around 5:30 and my amazing husband already has dinner ready. We eat in the living room and watch some TV. There is a bit of conversation about how our days went, but mostly quiet. Our dog Odin is usually right on my lap. He misses me while I'm at work I think. Most Friday nights we hang out at home, watching netflix. We flip between his choice show and mine. I enjoy the crime dramas like NCIS or Bones. He enjoys the comedy of How I Met Your Mother or one of his DVD seasons of Big Bang Theory. Depending on how rough a Friday it was at work, sometimes I will crash early, but usually I stay up a little while and spend some time with the hunny. This Friday is a stark contrast to the Friday night we have with the girls at home.

A normal Friday evening with my girls: get home around 5:30. Stephen again has dinner ready (because he's awesome!) They eat at our tiny kitchen table, usually complaining about what they don't like that we are eating. For example, Alivia won't eat red sauce on her spaghetti, so she gets plain noodles with Parmesan cheese. So, after the dinner battle, the girls get a shower, they rotate in, so we start with two and then one finishes and the other gets in. Kid two finishes then kid three finishes. It works pretty well for us. We try to do something fun either Friday night or Saturday night so we sometimes have movie night. The girls pick a netflix movie or we will go rent one from Redbox or Hastings. With the movie they get popcorn and sometimes candy. It's special. Movie brings us right to bedtime, so they brush then head for bed.

Big difference in options!

What is your Friday like?

This post inspired by:

Wordless Wednesday

You can get your own festive holiday jams. Let me know if you are interested.

Thankful Tuesday

This time of year, there is lots of talk about what people are thankful for. I try and do this year round with my thankful Tuesday posts. Each week I list five things I am thankful for. Did you know that giving thanks can make you happier (click the link to see how, written by Harvard Health Publications) or you can also see four reasons why gratitude makes you happier (click the link to read) by Huff Post. Anyway, yet another reason to count your blessings. Here are five things I am thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful for results. Natalie had some testing done at school to see if she qualifies for extra help. We know that she does qualify, just waiting until the 17th to get more detailed results and figure out the plan. 
2. I am thankful for a church family who wants to spend time with you. My pastors took Stephen and I out to lunch Sunday and it was wonderful to spend that hour conversing with them in a comfortable setting. 
3. I am thankful for mild weather. We had a week where it was just FREEZING and we had an inversion so the cold wasn't going anywhere. Really glad that blew out of the valley. We have rain now but I'm okay with that. 
4. I am thankful that I work in a company that has opportunities for growth. 
5. I am thankful for our doggie Odin. Even though he is naughty sometimes, he is such an amazing addition to our family. He sure does love our girls and misses them when they are gone. This weekend there were some neighbor kids playing in our yard. You could see his ears perk up and he looked at me. I felt so bad having to tell him that it wasn't our girls. 

Happy Birthday Sissy!!

Today is my beautiful sister Colleen's 30th birthday!!

Sissy I am praying that you have a wonderful year and that many more follow. Thank you for being such an amazing sister!

Colleen and I - date unknown, waiting to ask someone who knows more then I do. :P

Lazy Day

I love a lazy Saturday.

One where we don't have anywhere to go and we can just enjoy each other's company.

One where we can go somewhere or not.

One where we can marathon watch Netflix and not freeze outside.

I love a lazy Saturday, just like the one we are having today.

FMF: Season

Joining the five minute Friday group today for some unfiltered writing. All you do is write. Five minutes of free writing. No editing, no thinking, just write. This week's prompt is Season. Be sure to let me know if you join, so I can read your post!

Tis the season, but for many, this season is hard. I am among those. While part of me is so happy to be able to celebrate the birth of Christ with my family, another large part of me is still mourning the loss of my mom. I don't know that any Christmas holiday season will ever be the same without her. This is my second season without her. In a way it feels just as fresh as the day I lost her. In others it feels like she's been gone forever. Of course, that is the much smaller part. Most of me is still in mourning. Friends who have lost a parent tell me that the ache never really leaves you. Kind of like when you lose a limb. You don't have the actual part anymore, but you have the phantom pains and aches that remind you of it's loss.

This season is the first for many people out there. The first celebration with an empty chair. As Christians, as people, I encourage you to reach out. Let them know you are thinking about them. It might cause tears, but those aren't bad either. Tears are healing. Sometimes all I wanted to hear was that someone had been there, that they were there for me, that they were a listening ear and shoulder if I needed it.

While I might be motherless for the rest of the seasons of my life, it gives me perspective that I never had before. I just pray that my perspective helps someone else see that things do get better. The loss is always there, but the memories are too.

This post inspired by: