Our House in the Middle of Our Street

a cozy night by the fire reading I read a lot of great stuff in March! Here's the list:  * Still Alice by Lisa Genova - I loved this book. It's about a Harvard professor who is diagnosed with early-onset, progressive Alzheimers.  It has everything I like in a novel: relationships, direct description (no slogging through flowery prose here), an amazing plot, well-executed writing, and a sweet ending. I would definitely read anything else Genova has written or writes in the future, and I appreciated her structure and her terse description. This book helped me understand the disease so much more than I knew. When doctors or professionals write books and stay within their field of knowledge, it does so much for a book, and this one is in that category (she has a Harvard degree in neuroscience). Four bright stars, and I'm watching the movie soon! * Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison -- I read this memoir by former playboy bunny girlfriend in about 24 hours, b...

view of beautiful Vancouver from Science World, even in dense clouds The clouds are starting to give way to clearer skies, some of the flowers have started blooming, and the birds are out chirping. It's much easier to have a better mood when Spring is arriving- no matter where you're living! I have to admit there is no where else I'd rather be in the late Spring and Summer as Beautiful British Columbia. Although I know I'll crave a good thunder and lightning storm in early Summer (and I won't get it), and I'll say around mid-August, "just ONE day of rain for a change, please!", the weather is mild, the humidity is non-existant, the beach is calling, and the view of the clear skies over purply- gray mountains is breath-taking. As of February 24th, we've been living in the Pacific Northwest for three years. Pretty soon, Ani will have spent the same amount of her childhood here as in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, which is a surprising...

view from the top of Mount Thom A few weekends ago we knew the clouds would part (at least for a little while) on a Saturday morning and I practically ran the family out of the house to get a hike in. We haven't been hiking in the last few months due to rain, family obligations, or just general laziness, but this was a hike that promised to be both quick and yet challenging, and it lived up to that Mount Thom is in Chilliwack which was a 35 minute drive for us each way because there was very little traffic. The site notes say that it only climbs 375 m in elevation, which I was surprised by, because that hike was, with the exception of maybe 2-3 small slopes, a very vertical climb. Maybe I was just huffing and puffing because we hadn't been out for awhile. It was a busy trail even though we left very early in the morning, but when we were descending the mountain around 11AM, there were probably 70+ people going up, so going early was better! trying to find Cultu...

Fort Langley river houses      * Currently trying to cook my way through this delicious (and I mean delicious ) cookbook.   *Every Tuesday on my 20ish minute drive back, I'm listening to my favorite reader match-make books with others on her new podcast!   *The newest obsession of mine in expensive children's clothes that I'll never buy. Could it be they'll take over my love affair with Tea? That plaid top with snaps!   *When I seriously need a good laugh about this year's election...   *Every prayer and hopeful thing she writes, but this week, this one .   *I just caught up on the first season of Invisibilia , and I'm hooked. You've got a few more months before they start season 2, plenty of time for those hour-long episodes.   *My kids are starting a coding subscription and I'm super excited for it to be a part of our curriculum next year!   *Can. Not. Wait . (Summer 2016)   * Rise of...