Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Lukka heading down the hill at Cypress during sunset
The book reading was light this month as our local homeschool support group started up our ski + snowboarding lesson group which I am in charge of and that took a lot of my free time and energy. Also, two of my favorite shows started up again and with three episodes each under my belt, that's a solid 6 hours I would have spent reading, watching online! I rarely watch TV and tell most people "I'm not currently accepting applications for new shows" when someone tells me about a show I have to watch, but my favorites often come up with new season in the winter which is pretty much the perfect season for me to tune in. Anyway, onto the sparse list!

*A Light So Lovely by Sarah Arthur - The first book I finished in 2019, appropriately, was another Madeleine L'Engle biograhy, this one specifically about how she defyied all categories of Christianity, motherhood, writing, and imagination. I loved this one. I might buy …

view from the top of Salt Spring Island, BC
I always love making an intentional list for the year ahead, but as I've been reflecting on the past year in my personal time, along with reflecting on our past half of our homeschooling year thus far, I've staretd to jot some 'things' down for this year as in years past, but I haven't been able to fill up the whole list and I have no idea why.  Maybe it's that I don't feel I have the brain space, maybe because it's nearly Feb. 1st already and I'm feeling behind already, or maybe it's because I just haven't let it sit and stew enough. That's ok. I'm learning to just go with it. I have about half.  I add to my list in my bullet journal, I more than likely won't remember to edit this post but (shrug), Oh Well. Such is life! 
19 in 2019 (or, ahem, a few less)
1) Watch Lo & Behold technology docuseries with Lukka. We watched Cosmos last year and that was a wonderful experience for us bot…

looking into 2019 like
Yes, I totally used this photo at the beginning of the year, too, but I love it. It represents looking forward, of course, at the year to come, but also a great reflection of what happened within a year that just passed. 
There is nothing special about New Years to me, aside from the fact that I have, at one time in my life, been a big List Person. As the kids grow up and our days get fuller, them going this way and that, it becomes imperative that I write down some sort of tangible activities we can do together (or I can do on my own!), and experiences I want to be intentional about getting to. Science says writing things down means they are more likely to happen.  Even if I only get to half my list-half is better than zero any day!
So, here's my 2018 list, and here's whatactually happened: 
I tried to make an honest effort to be in more photos as opposed to being the one always taking them. I made Stefan do more selfies with me on date nights, and made…

a friend's beautiful built-ins!
I love writing book reviews, talking books with friends (or let's be honest, complete strangers), and reading and attending my book club. One of my favorite ways to reflect on the past year also has to do with books; making a Top 10 list. I usually average about 60-80 books per year. I could up it if I listened to audiobooks, but they're just too long, and I love my podcasts for doing chores and driving instead.  I can usually easily hit 60 on my own, but the other 15-20 come from reading aloud to the kids, something I rarely miss per night. This past year we hunkered down with the hefty 4,000+ pages of Harry Potter, so we had fewer read-alouds than normal, but plenty of pages. Here are the favorite books I read over 2018; there's something here for everyone. I only included books on this list that I hadn't previously read (so, no HPs, is what I'm saying, though at least 3 would be on this list otherwise!). It's fun to see th…

This reading month was a little crazy: no reading at all while finishing up a big project and then a lot of reading while taking a break from life for about a week, then sporadically through the holidays. A little unbalanced, I suppose, but I did finish enough good books for me to call it a decent reading month!

 I'll be back early January with my 10 Favorites of the year, along with what did and didn't happen on my 18 in 2018 list, along with a new one for 2019. Now, onto the book list:

*He Who Dreams by Melanie Florence - This was a quick little YA book that I saw was the Langley Book of the Year on an endcap and with the topic (pow wow dancing) and big font I figured I could read it in a few sittings. I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I'd pass it on as a recommendation. The language was a bit too simple though the theme was well-done and positively executed.

*Dear Farenheit 451 by Annie Spence - I laughed out loud with this book so much, and had zero expectations o…