2023 Word

 So my word of the year this year is Love!!  In the grand scheme it sounds like a crap word when I have love, but the love of non person stuff.  I want to get back to the things I love, the things that bring me joy.  I want to review more and be more open with my reading.  I want to try and blog more and center myself in those things that bring love into me.  So with that May 2023 bring me Love in my Life, my mind and my soul.  

2019

So I failed again but Calvin is in school a few days a week and I just added a reminder to my calendar  to alert me to post once a week.  So here is hoping it works.
So I decided to take my reading goal into a different way this year instead of genre challenge I took it simple and am doing a book number challenge (The GoodReads one where I want to read 150 books this year and I’m doing one with Calvin we are shooting for 400 books).  I can already see a huge difference I’m at 71 now and Calvin and I are at 87.  I am throwing in some it’s time to let them go books.  I’m weird and can’t get myself to read the last book in a series, if I don’t read it then it’s not over right.  But I decided this year enough was enough and I needed to let them go so I want to do 12 that’s nothing crazy so far I’ve done 5 and I’m working on finishing up some series that I’m behind on.
My word for the year this year is Serenity!

This is a huge thing I have struggled with lately and with having to make some changes for my health this will be a big help for this year.  

2018 Word of the Year

Last year was a miserable fail at blogging, this year I will strive to be better.  I’ll add some reminders to my phone and my planner to kick my butt in gear.

In 2009 my friend Alayna told me about One Little Word and I picked a word that little did I know would hold as much power as it did.  I have picked a word every year since (Strong, Remember, Organize, Brave, Faith, Happy, Sparkle, Create and Kind).  The idea is to pick a word that represents what you want to focus on throughout the year.  2017 held a moment for me that really hit home my word for me I was in the Charolette Airport in line at Starbucks and a pilot got behind me.  I had a 3 hour layover and he was obviously between flights I told him to go in front of me and we chatted while in line when we got to the counter he bought my drink,  I thanked him we waited and talked more then parted ways.  I went and sat down and something in me told me to go back to that Starbucks (which if you are ever in the Charolette Airport the Starbucks by gate E11 is the one you want to go to) the pilot knew a guy who worked their and I got him to come talk with me for a moment and asked if I bought the pilot a gift card would he see that he got it when he came through again.  He politely told me he would and thanked me for thinking of the pilot.  I bought the gift card and proceeded to write the pilot a note telling him how I was struggling emotionally (I was flying because my grandpa had just passed away and I was having trouble seeing things as not being gray and he showed me Kind was still out there).  One simple act letting a pilot go in front of me in line reminded me of something I had lost sight of in my most difficult time and this amazing man proved to me that Kind was still out there.  I left that experience with a different outlook.  I got my soul refilled by a stretch of road in Alabama that holds that home feeling for me and always makes my steps a little lighter.  I was able to see positive in a negative situation and without that experience I doubt I could have.

So it’s Word of the year time and it was one of the furthest things from my mind in November and December coming up with a word.  I knew I needed one but with everything going on I just didn’t have it in me to think about it.  On the 29th I took a few moments to myself and sat just sat and it hit me Balance!  I had completely lost my balance in life, with family, my Posh plus upcoming subbing potential everything.  How could I ever expect to find my peace and fix my inner me without balancing my life so this years goal is balance.

Reading Challenge

So normally I am up on my Reading Challenge Game but this time I've been a major slacker.  So far I have picked my Goodreads Challenge 75 books (not too high since I am finding I am reading longer books thanks to GR trackers at the end of the year) and PopSugar Reading Challenge.  The PopSugar Challenge is always a favorite and seems to get added onto my list year after year.  I also found a challenge for Calvin and I to do, but am still on the hunt for at least 1 more because I'm a stickler for a least 3 so I have variety.  Once I get them all figured out I will blog about each one.


https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3108859-beka

2017 Word of the Year

A few years back my friend Alayna introduced me to word of the year, and I figured sure why not give it a try.  The idea is to select a word for the year that represents what you want to focus on throughout the year.

So my word for 2017 hit me hard but then I started second guessing my choice for a word.  It was one of the simplest words I have ever choose and I didn't know if I felt it.  Then I had a truly ah ha moment after a friend posted a touching blog piece on her cousin fighting to take his daughter home with him because the surrogate had changed her mind.  All thankfully worked out for my friends cousins but the video she shared about his struggles reminded me why I choose my word in the first place.

So I have been doing word of the year since 2009 and my word Strong and because of the instant need in my life for that word it propelled me to continue doing it every year with Organize, Remember, Brave, Faith, Happy, Sparkle, Create and bring me to my 2017 pick

Much thought and dwelling was spent on picking this years word.  More so than any other year I have picked a word but deep in my soul this needed to be my word for 2017.  So no matter where 2017 feels the need to take me my word has a path for me and I know deep down that it's what my year will truly need.

What a fast two weeks

Wow we made it through another party for Kyrie.  I always feel like I have nine zillion things going on for her party that I don't get much else done.  Then I had a sick little guy so I'm finally getting around to blogging about my Crafty Minion Party Creation and then of course uploading pictures to FB and then updating here.  The little guy and I have been trying out different wraps with our woven and we are loving it. 

 I am trying to convince Seth that Calvin and I need this Natibaby Harry Potter Woven wrap.

Calvin seems to love our Kangaroo time and his face lights up whenever he sees our wrap.  Dance continues on and seems to be filling more of our time up.  Kyrie will be performing in a few short months at a basketball game.  And is getting in extra rehearsals for it.  She also has another band concert coming up so we hear lots of flute music around the house.  Good thing it's the flute and isn't too loud and that she is good at it.  Zee is looking for other activities to fill up her time she badly wants back into Girl Scouts (we told her in the fall because it is on dance night now) and she is also interested in bowling club.  We have to look into that today when we pick her up and make sure we don't have a time conflict.  My little babies are growing up and I'm not sure I'm as ready for it as they seem to be.

My Dearest Kyrie

My Dearest Kyrie,

               Today you turn 11, and I have to explain to you why this is so hard for me.  Every time I look at you I see this little girl.

The girl with the curly hair, the free spirit, the child who insisted that rain boots and shorts go on a day without a cloud in site.  My little 4 year old Kyrie adventurous, talkative heart full of love.  I know I hold you too close, give you hugs when you want to push me away and wish you would stop getting older.  I also know one day you will go off to college, have a career, get married and have a family of your own and every day puts us closer to that future.  I just want to keep you little, so the world won't jade you, so I can protect you from everything.  So please be patient with your mom as I hug you a little more than you like.  I'm just trying to hold you little as long as I can!

Rare Moments With Kyrie

Since Kyrie's birthday is coming up and clothes are the best gift ever for her at the moment, we went out and spent her birthday money from Nana.  We had just a Kyrie and Mommy day.  A rare event even before Calvin came along.  It took a little while but she warmed up to the idea of shopping with Mom and actually having to talk to me, so that by lunch she was just talking away about all kinds of things.  We ended up getting her party decorations with a gift card I found while I was cleaning up my scrapbook stuff.  I have some invitations to make up and some eyes to add to things to make them look like Minions but no big decorations this year.  She is going with a Movie Party, Minions and wants popcorn and cupcakes.  So not too much work for Mom.  We had a blast and hopefully it's something I can keep doing with her and she enjoyed it as much as I did.

We did a couple stores got all we needed and then we did lunch.  It was a blast!!!  Afterwards we came home and the kids and I watched the Minion movie.  Such a great way to spend the first couple days of the New Year.

2016 Word of the Year

Once again I'm doing a Word of the Year.  This has brought me so much peace and clarity since I started doing these.  As everyone around me focuses on Resolutions that end up getting forgotten or pushed to the side.  I choose in 2009 a different path I picked one word I wanted to achieve out of the year.  The idea came from Ali Edwards.  Since 2009 I've had Strong, Organize, Remember, Brave, Faith, Happy, and Sparkle last year.

So I held off posting my word till it was actually 2016 and of course I've had my word since before Christmas and have hashed it out with my good friend Alayna .  And after some self reflection and seeing how meaningful Sparkle was to me last year.  I have choosen   

I feel profoundly attached to Create.  I've fallen so far behind on my crafting of any type. Christmas made me notice the most when all I made for a gift was a mismatch sock snake for the dog.  So with a new little addition to our scrapbook collection I think I need to focus more on creating.  Creating scrapbook memories, creating memories with my children, creating a more (to steal a phrase from the Bloggess) Furiously Happy me.  I think this is the one that stands out to me the most especially after using Happy as one of my previous words of the year.  I need to Create in my the person I feel comfortable with all the time and not revert back into myself or feel like I have to shut down around people.  

After reading all of these "I'm so glad 2015 is over it was awful posts".  I have noticed a change in myself. I thought back at my year and all I could see was the memories I wanted to stick out the ones where I was Happy.  We were blessed with Calvin and even if being pregnant with him kept me sick at every turn that's not what I take away from it.  I take away this amazing boy who loves me unconditionally, who smells like baby soap and gives some of the best little heart squeeze type moments.  I have two AMAZING daughters who despite one being older than I wish she was I couldn't ask or more.  Little Moments stand out and make me realize the impact I make on them.  Being able to be there for them at every turn.  I was fortunate enough to see my Mom twice this year.  Once when I flew down to watch my little brother graduate and again when she flew up here after we had Calvin.  Yes I wish we all could have watched Austin graduate.  Yes I wish that would have been an option but instead of holding onto that negative I relished the time I got to spend with him and my Mom.  Don't get me wrong my year was probably anything but perfect we had our downs but I choose to focus on the ups when I reflect back at it.  Maybe all I needed was a little Sparkle to make me see that the littlest moments SPARKLE the most.

Wow

So I fully wanted to keep up with this better this year but morning sickness (which lasted all day and all nine months) was brutal.  So let's see if I can play catch up.

January ~ Kyrie turned 10, I know it's hard to think she is that big.  I still think of her as my little girl in rain boots and shorts on a day with no clouds in sight.  But then I will probably always think of her that way no matter how old she gets. 

 February ~ Seth and I found out that horrible "flu" I thought I had was from being pregnant.  As well as celebrating our 12 year anniversary.  So we prepared ourselves and the girls for welcoming another bundle of joy.  As you can see the girls were beyond excited when we told them the news.

March ~ Little Miss Zee turned 7 and decided on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Ginger Turtles as she calls them.  So Mommy had a lot of party prep to squeeze in along with trying not be sick so much.  And get things ready for my friend's baby shower that I was making owl decorations for.  And we got a ultrasound date scheduled for McKenzie's birthday along with her message of "It will be a brother I already have a sister" we were a little terrified to find out on her birthday but it worked out  in her favor and she got what she wanted.  And we could have a little boy. Don't worry about Zee's expression she wasn't thrilled with Kyrie getting to hold the sign too, she wanted a brother.

April ~ April brought us Easter, Zee's actual party with her friends a broken washing machine and a basement disaster.  Thankfully Easter and Zee's party went without any problems we even managed to squeeze in dance pictures in April for recital.  And Zee graduated speech now we have two girls out of speech. 

May ~  May is always crazy it is recital month.  Dance consumes us in May but the girls love it so we go with it.  Plus this was Zee's first year to be able to dance with Daddy and Kyrie.  We got the washer replaced (we just had to suffer till it could be delivered) so it was a lot of cleaning up water pouring out of the washer while I did wash. 

June ~ June brought me leaving Seth alone with the girls for a week and a half while I flew out to Texas to watch my little brother graduate high school.  Of course Murphy's Law and it was his first time without me and we had three deployments worth of disasters to make up for apparently.  So the lawn mower, and stove both caught fire while I was gone. 

July ~  July went a little slower for us.  We had the baby shower and little odds and ins visits places but not much because the doctor didn't want me far away because Zee was only 2 hours of labor.  We did manage to get up to Bangor and get school clothes shopping accomplished.  We had to shop at teenage stores (really when did Kyrie get so grown  up).  I also managed to get all of the baby shower stuff made before the big day.

August ~ And finally the month we had been looking forward too.  Calvin decided to be like Zee and came rapid 3 hours total and we were holding our big boy.  He passed both girls in size and weight coming out at 9 pounds even and 21 and a half inches long.  And he came to quickly for any type of medication so I did it all natural and we actually liked our third option of nitrous instead of an epidural or a local.  But the babies are done for this family we are happy with our three.  We brought him home and Lucky seems to have quickly taken to him.  And loves night time feeding because it means extra love for him from Daddy.

Let's hope I can keep up better the rest of the year!!!

Birthday Time

Birthday Time is upon us once again.  Kyrie picked her theme and now I am scrambling trying to make it happen because she can never find a theme they sell anywhere.  So I busted out the Cricut and made up some invitations that look like her Hip Hop shoes for dance only in Pink and Black Zebra print because what else would she have.  Then I have been waiting on the punch I ordered from Amazon to show up so I could make some bottle cap necklaces for favors, to go along with the fishnet fingerless gloves and the sunglasses we picked up.  And that will complete favors.  I still have to order the cake, make the banner and print up a few decorations but we are going fairly low key this year since she is having her party at the Dance Studio.
Ten has brought along a whole new world of changes she now wants to FaceTime her BFF after school and on the weekends.  We are also going through the how far can I push phase and she is not coming up with answers she likes.  But nothing has changed so she will quickly realize she is still expected to clean her room, do her homework before anything else and so on.
Seth's gift showed up and he already opened it and loves it.  It is so very fitting of him.  It's a hoodie from Dysfunctional Vet that says "Leave Me Along".  I couldn't have found him a better gift.

2015 Word of the YEAR

Since 2009 I have been participating in One Little Word by Ali Edwards.  I've gone through a wide variety of words starting out with Strong, Remember, Organize, Brave, Faith, and Happy last year.  This year I am taking my word to an entirely different place.  For the last year I have toyed with the word "me" and I've realized I need more Me in my life.  So when I sat down and started thinking of my word the first thing to hit me was

 I feel it fits so well into the Me path I so desperately need to take.

Merriam-Webster defines

¹spar·kle

 verb \ˈspär-kəl\

: to produce small flashes of light

: to perform very well

: to be or become bright and lively

  I know in the years we have lived in Maine I have let everyone and everything Dull my Sparkle.  I can see it in everything and I don't want that for myself anymore.  I don't want my girls growing up and thinking it's okay to let people dull your sparkle.  So I am going to spend 2015 embracing my SPARKLE and letting it shine bright.  

Banned Books Challenge

So as I was searching for Challenges I came across the Banned Books Challenge and who am I to turn down Banned books.  So I knew this Banned Books Challenge over at Buckling Bookshelves was perfect for me.  

RULES: Any book that has been banned or challenged counts. Books can be any format, any length, and can overlap with other challenges. Graphic novels, children's books, picture books are all fine -- any book that has been banned or challenged works for this challenge.

WHERE CAN I FIND BOOK SUGGESTIONS? There isn't one specific list to work from, but there are many different resources you can check out for ideas:

• The ALA's lists of frequently challenged books. There are multiple lists split up by author, year, decade, and a separate list for classics, so there are a lot of options from all different genres.

• GoodReads has several listopia lists on the subject -- this is particularly helpful for identifying books you already have on your shelves if you are a user of the site.

• The Banned Books Week Facebook Page is great about reporting current information on bans and challenges.

• I wrote posts last year about three Banned Book Victories as well as Additional Banned Books Resources including some information on challenged graphic novels.

• If you learn about a book getting challenged in the news, on a book blog, around the web, or wherever else you get your bookish news, it's fair game. One book that made headlines last year was The Miseducation of Cameron Post -- it doesn't need to make any of the big lists to count. And if you learn about a new incident, I'd love to hear about it!

LEVELS: Below are the levels you can choose from. Changing your mind is OK -- you can go up or down in level at any time. I said low-pressure, remember? I'm not the book police, I promise.

     Making Waves: 1-2 Challenged Books
     Trouble-Maker: 3-5 Challenged Books
     Rabble-Rouser: 6-9 Challenged Books
     Rebel: 10-14 Challenged Books
     Leader of a Revolution: 15+ Challenged Books

So I am going to go with Trouble-Maker and let Miss Zee help since she loves her banned books too.

1. the handmaid"s tale
2. Fahrenheit 451
3. coraline
4. the absolutely true diary of apart time indian 

Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2015

I signed up this year for a Series challenge but like how this one sounds more.  It gives me some flexibility with books that are not completely finished that I am reading so I signed up for this one over at Socrates' Book Reviews.

Choose a level....

Level 1 (Novice series reader) - Complete 1 series.
Level 2 (Testing the waters) - Complete 2 series.
Level 3 (Experienced) - Complete 3 series.
Level 4 (Expert series reader) - Complete 4 or more series.

I am going to start with Level 2 completing 2 Series.  

Georgina Kincaid
Lonely Lace
Courtney Crumrin
Tantalize

2015 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

I participated in the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge this year and have already outdone myself so of course when I saw it was going on again I signed on up.  So if you want to sign up to go here. 

Levels:

• Getting My Heart Rate Up: read 1–5 more books (or 250–1,499 more pages)
• Out of Breath: read 6–10 more books (or 1,500–2,749 more pages)
• Breaking a Sweat: read 11–15 more books (or 2,750–3,999 more pages)
• I’m on Fire!: read 16+ more books (or 4,000+ more pages)

I am going to start with Getting My Heart Rate Up since I read almost 100 books this year.

Im at 92 so far 

You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2015

Even though I am setting my Goodreads and Shelfari goal for 80.  I am going to push past that with this challenge, hopefully I can make 100 and blow the 80 out of the water.   It's going on at Book Dragon's Lair.

1. There are several levels to choose from
   Level 1: 100 minimum
   Level 2: 150
   Level 3: 200
   Level 4: 250 or more

I am going with Level 1 with 100 books

I am at 92 so far 

Full House Reading Challenge 2015

I loved doing the Bingo board this year and I don't know if I will black it out but I am two books away.  So when I saw this board over at the Book Date I figured I would try it out for 2015.

1. Library Book
2. Novella
3. Author Outside your own Country
4. Won or Borrowed
5. 2nd book or more in a series ~ Secrets and Lace

1. A top book of 2015 for you
2. Setting that you now want to visit
3. Book by author you really like
4. Book set in Northern Hemisphere
5. Been on your TBR "forever"

1. You heard about the book online
2. Award winning
3. Free choice
4. Debut novel by author
5. Published in 2014

1. Set in the Southern Hemisphere
2.  First in a  series
3. Published 2000-2013
4. Published pre 2000
5. Type of book you rarely or never read

1. Published in 2015
2.  A Keeper
3.  Outstanding Hero or Heroine
4. Author new to you
5. You love the cover

2015 Bookish Resolutions Challenge

It's sure going to be a year for "new" things.  I came across this challenge and figured why not.  So I found the Bookish Resolutions Challenge over here and signed up.

Rules:

1.    Create between 1 and 5 resolutions related to books/book blogging (there are examples below but you can make up your own)

2.    If you have 2 or more resolutions than 1 can be unrelated to books/book blogging

3.    Create a sign up post and add it to the Linky on this post (sign up before Feb 1st)

4.    On the 30th of each month (and the 28th for February) create an update post about your goals and add the post to the Linky that will be on Laura’s or My blogs

5.    This is a year long challenge, so you can’t add resolutions that could be done in a day these must be year long goals.

Book Resolutions 

1.  Read 80 books ~ 1 of 80 read 
2.  Finish to publish date 3 series
3.  Read 12 chapter books with Zee
4.  Read 5 books out of the To Read Book Binder
5.  Blog at least 2 time a month

Tweet your progress to #BookishResolutions

- See more at: http://www.becausereading.com/2015bookreschallenge/#sthash.vrmtTTUU.dpuf

2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I did this challenge from Bookish last year and loved it so much.  It kept me more to my list (of course I did stray away from it because who wouldn't when so many great books keep coming out).  But I did knock out around 40 books off my list.  It might have been more but I don't remember off the top of my head.  So I knew I had to do this challenge again.  So if your TBR pile is as long as mine swing on over here and sign yourself up too.

How many books are you planning to read for this challenge?

1-10 A Firm Handshake

11-20 A Friendly Hug

21-30 First Kiss 

31-40 Sweet Summer Fling  

41-50 Could This Be Love?

50+ Married with Children

I am going to shoot for Sweet Summer Fling this time!!!!

Schedule

January

• Read-A-Long (poll will go live 12/18/14)
• Vote for March read

February (Evie)

• January - February Wrap Up
• Announce March's read and schedule

March

• Read-A-Long
• Vote for May read

April (Debbie)

• March - April Wrap Up
• Announce May's read and schedule

May

• Read-A-Long
• Vote for ​July read

June (Debbie)

• May - June Wrap Up
• Announce July's read and schedule

July

• Read-A-Long
• Vote for September read
• Giveaway

August (Jessica)

• July - August Wrap Up
• Announce October's read and schedule

September

• Read-A-Long
• Vote for November read 

October (Tiffany)

• September - October Wrap Up
• Announce November's read and schedule

November

• Read-A-Long

December (Andrea)

• November - December Wrap Up​
• Giveaway

2015 Library Challenge

Love me some library time and even though I signed up for a different Library challenge for Zee and myself, I am signing up for this one too.  I think I will combine all of our books since we read most of them together for this one.  Plus with our library looking at growing and it is one of the girls and my favorite places (yes, even though all of us own e-readers).  I figured we would love this.  We are constantly going in and finding a new audio book for while we are in the van, or even music cds for a break from the radio for awhile.  The girls also love checking out movies, and Kyrie's new thing is graphic novels.  She has blown through those lately and has even moved upstairs to the adult section with a few ya's or no not yet's from me.  So if you want to join me hope on over here and sign up too.

 1-5 check outs in 2015 – NOVICE

6-11 check outs in 2015 – ROOKIE

12- 16 check outs in 2015 – INTERMEDIATE

17 – 22 check outs in 2015 – SEASONED 

23 – 27 check outs in 2015 – EXPERIENCED

28 + check outs in 2015 – GOING PRO!

I think we will shoot for intermediate with this one.  

1. 1. The Book of Life
2. 2. Hobart 
3. 3. Smile 
4. 4. The Problem Child
5. 5. Odd Apocalypse 
6. 6. Chasing the Prophecy 
7. 7. Seeds of Rebellion
8. 8. The Wishing Spell
9. 9. Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me
10. 10. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang 
11. 11. Princess Posey and the Tiny Treasure 
12. 12. The Lonesome Gods 
13. 13. Coraline
14. 14. Anya's Ghost 
15. 15. In Odd We Trust 
16. 16. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Guilty Pleasure Vol 1
17. 17. Odd is on Our Side
18. 18. N. P. H. Choose Your Own Autobiography 
19. 19. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Guilty Pleasure Volume 2
20. 20. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter The First Death 
21. 21. Foiled
22. 22. Courtney Crumrin & the Night Things
23. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
24. American Vampire Vol 1
25. Out of the Easy
26. I Was a Teenage Fairy
27. American Vampire Vol 2
28. True Blood All Together Now
29. Unwritten Vol 2
30. Fever Moon The Fear Dorcha
31. Unwritten Vol 3
32. Unwritten Vol 4
33. The Hobbit Graphic Novel
34. House of Odd
35. True Blood Tainted Love 
36. Beautiful Creatures The Manga
37. The Imposters Daughter 
38. Pink Smog
39. Awkward Family Photos
40. Courtney Crumrin & the Coven of Mystics
41. Blood Roses
42. Kalona's Fall
43. Courtney Crumrin & the Twilight Kingdom
44. Cursed Foiled Again
45. The Bad Beginning 
46. Courtney Crumrin's Monstrous Holiday 
47. Through the Woods
48. Courtney Crumrin The Witch Next Door
49. The Game of Thrones Graphic Novel Vol 1
50. Courtney Crumrin The Final Spell
51. Guilty Pleasure
52. Pippi Goes on Board
53. A Game of Thrones Graphic Novel Vol 2
54. The Laughing Corpse
55. A Game of Thrones Graphic Novel Vol 3
56. A Wrinkle in Time Graphic Novel 
57. The Amulet of Samarkand The Graphic Novel
58. I Am Malala
59. Aesop's Fables
60. A Midsummer Night's Dream
61. Tantalize: Kieren's Story
62. The Witches
63. Psyche in a Dress
64. Milk Eggs Vodka
65. Olive Kitteridge 
66. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story
67. How to (un)cage a Girl
68. Macbeth
69. The Christmas Box Miracle
70. The Christmas Box