Christmas Wish Came True

In November, I told all of you that I wanted one thing for Christmas.

To Go HOME

Well guess what? We went to West Virginia for Christmas! We got to spend a glorious 8 days and 7 nights in my hometown. It was great to spend time with family.

Presley got to spend his first Christmas in my hometown.

We hit up all the local places to eat.

We opened presents.

And we just enjoyed being together.

It was the perfect first Christmas for Presley.

What I Watched in 2018

I was on maternity leave for three months so that helped me burn through some shows. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Altered Carbon and Jack Ryan. I liked Altered Carbon so much so that I watched the entire season one twice. I can't wait for Season 2! I also got sucked back into the life of Jersey Shore. I can't believe how crazy those people are still! But hey... they entertain and they make that money. 

I started watching season 2 of Making a Murderer. I got lost in the blood breakdown but I'll catch up again. I'm still waiting on them to be released! I firmly believe that Brendan was coerced and did not partake in the crime.



I need to watch season 3 of Man in the High Castle but I still firmly believe that Joe doesn't want to be a Nazi. I still have faith in him.

 

I can't say enough about the Bodyguard on Netflix. I was sad to hear that it was meant to only be a one season, mini series. I am happy to report that they are in talks for a season 2. I just thought this was so well done and really entertaining. 

Who killed Sister Cathy? I'm still waiting to find out. I hope those women never give up. I wonder if it was that male priest? Was it the cops? Who was it!? How has time gone on all these years and they still don't know.

What did you watch in 2018 that you loved? Am I missing out on a show? Let me know and I'll add it to my list.

2018 Reads

Every year I try to read as much as I possibly can. I feel the feeding your mind with stories other than the ones you see on television can be a good thing for your brain. While some people read a lot of self-help, non fiction, etc, I for one am a fan of fiction books. I love a good mystery. This year I didn't know how reading would go for me since I was due in February and I didn't know what life with a newborn would be like. I'm happy to report that I'm finishing the year out with 22 books read in 2018. Was this my highest year total ever? No... but that's ok!


Here's a look at the books I read in 2018. If you want to see any of the books I've read in other years click the tags at the bottom of this post.

 

 

 

I'd have to say out of these 22 books that the top three for me was The Closers, Ready Player One and Altered Carbon. I loved the Netflix show of Altered Carbon and the book is very much the same. I love the Michael Connelly Bosch series but The Closers was probably my favorite one so far that I've read in the series. Ready Player One was a surprise for me. I didn't plan on ever reading the book or seeing the movie. When my husband gave me a free copy of it that he got through work, I thought OK I'll give it a try and the book was amazing. The movie was just OK for me.


The books that I had the hardest time finishing was The Running Duck (the movie Cobra is based on this book). I thought I would love the book since I love that movie but the book was FAR different than the movie. The book wasn't horrible but I can tell you this... Stallone did a great job of adapting the book and making it into a far better movie.

Happy Reading in 2019! I've already got some books lined up on my shelf and ready to go.

What will you be reading in 2019?

All I Want For Christmas

Maybe it's because I'm another year older and another year wiser but what I'm really asking Santa for this year is to go home for Christmas.


Living 2,433 miles away from family is hard. Living that many miles away at the holidays is even harder. I've lived in California now since August of 2012. That's going on 7 years and I've been able to go back for Christmas for all of them except two. Last year I was seven months pregnant and wasn't able to fly the long distance. We vowed that I'd get home this year again for Christmas. There's only been one other time I hadn't made it home for Christmas and that was right after our wedding. We had just seen everyone 11 days before so we stayed in California for the holiday. This year we just went home for Thanksgiving so I'm really hoping we can get back there again for Christmas. That's all I honestly want. I don't need gifts, I just want the company of my mom and being able to sit in her living room, look at her Christmas tree and play with my son in front of while a Christmas classic is playing in the background.


Is the flight rough? A little. Is it worth it? Yes.


With a 9 month old, you feel like you have to pack everything and the kitchen sink. Trust me, you definitely feel that way when you're lugging the car seat, pushing the stroller, with your diaper bag while carrying your breast pump and lugging your own clothes from the car rental through the terminal but in the end it's all worth it. This last trip was Presley's first time to West Virginia. He actually did really well on the flights (there isn't a straight flight from Sacramento - Huntington) and the car ride to the house (almost 3 hours). He loved being at my mom's house. He loves to interact and play with my mom (which I love).


So yes... that's all I want for Christmas. While people Christmas day will be posting pictures of their fancy purses, headphones, new shoes etc. I'll just be hoping to spend the holiday with my little family.


Do you find yourself wishing you could go home for Christmas if you are far away? I know some people want anything but to be home at Christmas time and the holidays.

Why I'm Mad at My Favorite Author

I love to read. I love nothing better in the winter to curl up under a blanket, eat warm food and read a good book. My favorite author for over two decades now has been the New York Times Bestselling author- Stuart Woods.


I can remember being at my mom's work when I was about 14 reading the book Choke.

Surprisingly, I wasn't a big reader till then. My poor mother would buy me book after book because I would like the cover art and then I would never read them. That all changed the day I read Choke. I loved the book and started reading all of his books that he had out at the time. I also expanded my reading and kept going.I've read now, every Stuart Woods book that he's written including his autobiography, Blue Water, Green Skipper. That's saying a lot... definitely if you aren't into sailing.


Since I had a baby earlier in the year in February, I got a little behind on my reading and I've been playing catch up. I'm about 8 books behind in Stuart Woods books and I've been slowly catching up. I'm currently reading Indecent Exposure and I've noticed something in the last few books which started to really annoy me. Just hear me out...


The main character in his book is Stone Barrington. He started out as a NYPD police detective but took a bullet to the knee so we went to night law school, passed the bar, got a lawyer job and worked his way up from there. That's all good and well. That's a relatable kind of guy. As the books have went on, he's started become the 1% and I'm sorry but I can't relate to having lunch on a yacht with the President, Former President and the Secretary of State. I also can't relate to having half a billion dollars, private planes, houses in multiple states and a son who's a movie producer. That made me a little sad.


When I first started reading those books Stone and his main friend Dino were both down to earth, somewhat relatable characters. Dino is still a little relatable but he's become an afterthought in the books who seems just around for short phone conversations and dinner dates. What happened to the days when they were actually friends and would have good ol' capers together? I miss the old Stone Barrington who didn't have millions of dollars at his disposal, who didn't hang out with the Presidents and white house staff constantly, who went out and found himself involved in normal affairs and crazy antics.


Maybe it's a sign of the times? Is this what people want to read? About someone else being a half billionaire? I miss the old Stone and Dino. I miss Stone going out a solving crazy things that happen and getting Dino in on it. I guess nothing can ever stay the same.


I've got about 8 more books to read to be completely caught up so maybe in one of these he'll go back to being semi normal.

18 Summers

A few months after Presley was born, I heard a story that stuck with me. It basically came to the fact that you only get 18 real summers with your children. Yes, you'll spend time and other summers with them after their 18 but those first 18 are the most precious. As children become adults they get their own friends, want to do their own thing, move away, start jobs, go to college etc. The moral of the story was to enjoy and make the most out of those first 18 summers.


I heard this right as we were going into the summer months. This summer Presley was a baby. He may never remember the trips or the stories or the sights but the memories for his mommy and daddy and the photos will live on forever. So what did we do? Well I booked a vacation.


Presley's first trip was to Lake Tahoe for Mothers Day.

Then we jumped on a plane and went cross country for July 4th to our Nations Capitol. He did really well on the flight to DC but the flight back to California was a different story. He was starting to get a little head cold so that didn't help either. Thankfully he didn't get full blown sick and was just a little stuffed up for a few days.

While summer may have came to a close, we have trips lined up for the rest of the year. Next up is Disneyland next month. While I've been to the one in Florida, this will be my first time going to the one in California. Since I've lived out here 6 years now, I guess it's about time I visit. Haha! Wish us luck on the theme park adventure.