Tuesday, July 25, 2017

5 Things

I saw this post by Heather at Heather's Hurrah, and I decided to steal borrow its structure to share things that have been going on with me since I've been mostly absent from the blog game. 

Most of you know, I went home to Texas for a visit in late May.  Here's 5 things I did while there:
  1. ate a lot of food
  2. visited family
  3. fed the family cows
  4. shared some quiet with my stepmom
  5. saw niece 2 graduate high school as valedictorian

In honor of my niece's graduation, my mom, my niece, my sis-in-law, and I shared a getaway in San Francisco.  5 things touristy things we did there:
  1. rode a double decker bus for a bus tour around the city
  2. visited Muir Woods
  3. drove the world's most crooked street
  4. rode a trolley car
  5. had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf
Here's 5 pictures from that fun time:





5 people I've been lucky enough to see:
  1. had a meal, a chat, and some laughs with these beauties, Rachel from A Nesting Nomad and Kristen from See You in a Porridge:
  2. shared a meal in Texas with this gal that I've known for 25+ years, jenn from quirky pickings:
  3. while in Cali, I got to see my stepsister, her lovely husband, future bambino, and fur baby:
  4. shared a girls' getaway in Sonoma, CA with two of my most favorite people in the world, college friends, Katy and Kari:
Okay, that's six people, but they were all worth mentioning.

I absolutely adored Sonoma and would happily go back and spend time there again.  Here's 5 reasons that I fell in love:
  1. wine tasting rooms
  2. cute cottages with beautiful gardens
  3. independent shops with shop cats
  4. good food and near perfect weather
  5. a Friday night farmer's market that seem to bring locals and tourists together
Remember when I had a pile of books that I was happy to give away to share with other readers?  Well, I'm doing it again.  I send it to you for free!  The only catch is that I encourage you to share the love, pay it forward, and give it to another when you're finished with it.  First come, first serve.  5 books up for grabs:
  1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
  2. Lie in Wait by Eric Rickstad
  3. Violent Ends edited by Shaun David Hutchinson
  4. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  5. The Cleaner by Paul Cleave

Hold up, wait a minute.  I've got more books to give.  How convenient is it that I have 5 more on offer?! 
  1. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
  2. An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire
  3. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
  4. Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos
  5. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

I've read 5 books for Book Challenge by Erin 7.0 (goodreads group, facebook group, my reading list), and I have 5 more to go to complete the first round of the challenge.  These 5 books are next to be read:


Speaking of my book challenge, I'm breaking away from "5 Things" to give a shout out to the reading rock star known as Bev from Confuzzledom.  She's the first to complete our challenge this time around.  Way to go, Bev!

Now, tell me 5 things going on with you!

15 comments:

  1. I had no idea you knew Jenn until I saw you post a picture with her. That's cool. :) It looks like you had a blast back home, hun. xoxox

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  2. Love your travels! I visited Napa and only went to one winery and restaurant in Sonoma but you are the second person to love Sonoma so I will definitely spend at least a day there on our next trip. I went to a cat winery, but now I need some cat stores!

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  3. Glad you got to take that trip back home and get some family time. Your nieces are beautiful!

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  4. Great job, Bev!!
    Your trip home sounds like it was awesome :) And California is SO colorful!! I love your family's cows. Something about cows is just so relaxing. Lol. Is that weird?
    I love when you do book giveaway! I'm 100% swamped with my book challenge, though. Haha!

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  5. It looks like you had an amazing time back in the States! I've only been to Sonoma once but it was beautiful. And yes to the adorable cottages with the gorgeous gardens. I wanted to climb into a hammock and read a book! I just finished my second book for the challenge last night and feel a bit behind. But plenty of time, plenty of time ... right? Congrats to Bev for being a reading rock star!

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  6. I used to feed the cows when I was younger!
    I felt like I was doing so good getting through books, but I've hit a slog (mostly because of nonfiction book and a 20 hr audiobook (which I am enjoying, it's just tedious)).
    I love SF. My ex's grandmother has a house there and I loved going to visit her and being in the city.

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  7. Let's see...5 things going on with me:
    1. I'm completely over this special session in Texas and the general acceptance of discrimination surrounding it.
    2. I'm also over the heat.
    3. #1 and #2 have led to me looking for and dreaming of jobs in Washington state
    4. I'm gearing up for the gymnastics judging season, which starts in 2 weeks.
    5. I'm obsessing over the return of Game of Thrones and trying to convince the husband to dress up as Jon Snow for the finale.

    If you need to get All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood off your hands, I'll gladly take it. It's been on my list awhile :)

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  8. Love this post, obviously - because of the format and the update!!! So glad you had such an amazing trip back to the US and it must have felt so good to be there for such a special event in your niece's life. I've only finished 2 books for the challenge, but I'm mid-way through 2 more and getting there!!! Summer reads are taking over my life ;)

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  9. It looks like you had the best time on your trip home, and I know that I'd want to eat all the food as soon as I got back to Texas too! And hooray for blogger meetups and getting to catch up with old friends! Chris and I still haven't made it to Sonoma, but I hope that we'll get there one day! I mean there's wine, so how could I not love it, right! I also hope that you like The Glass Castle! I really enjoyed it last year, and can't wait for the movie to come out!

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  10. I loved SF & Muir Woods. I'm glad you got such good time to spend with so many of your people!

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  11. So jealous that you and Kristen got to meet!!! How fun! Sonoma would be a fabulous place to visit, one day....one day! Sounds like you had a wonderful time visiting your family!

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  12. oh my gosh, am i too late on homegoing?! any time i try and get that from the library i am a million people down the list and when i get it, i can never get to it in time. i forgot to get the other book from you. i'll pay for postage! We are okay looks interesting, did you like that one? i don't remember what it's about? i know i could look at goodreads but eh.
    love this post, love the format. you did so many fun things on your trip home!

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  13. My favourite thing about this post is that your family owns cows <3 I mean, the rest of the stuff is amazing too, but cows!

    I haven't read the last book you sent me yet so I will be good and let someone else have a chance this time ;-)

    I am trying to think of 5 things to tell you but I can't. My work has mainly been work, work, work recently. Three and a bit weeks to go then I'm off for a whole two weeks!

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  14. Love this! I liked her post too! It feels manageable. Love that you are giving away books again. :) seems like you had a great trip!! :) Happy to say I've finished two books for your challenge so far, which is about as "ahead" as I've ever been with it. haha I tend to get distracted by other books. Like what I'm currently reading... LOL XO - Alexandra

    Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things

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  15. If nobody has requested it, I'd love Violent Ends!

    It sounds like you had some great vacations and met some awesome people. Nice! I only went away once this summer and it was a weekend in Chicago - it was fun, but I'd love a more relaxing vacation.

    -Lauren

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