A Little Piece of JONES

 Radium Girls by Kate Moore- This was a fascinating story about the history of Radium and the sad story of the girls who worked with it. Really made you think about what we are using today that might turn out to be harmful and also just the way society works and how hard it can be to make your voice heard.

Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton- Loved learning more about the life of this brave and pure of heart woman. Inspiring to stand up and ACT for what is right and true and good

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery- No words needed. My book club did not appreciate this the way I wanted them to but I was delighted to read my favorite and savor in all the best moments and quotes.

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson- I loved this book. So much food for thought and really inspired me to keep house. Written from a Christian perspective it gave so much meaning and depth to the basic things we do and stripped away guilt about needing my kids to be independent and do it all themselves. It's good to care for those I love. 

21 Day Husband Project by Kathi Lipp- Didn't care for this at all. It was a book club choice. I did a lot of the challenges in my own way but not my thing, not Justin's thing, I would not recommend this.

Mandy by Julie Andrews- Delightful little story! Read this in the summer while I would sit with Tanner and put him to sleep for naps and bedtime. Just a lighthearted cute story.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell- This was a long old English novel and I enjoyed it. I couldn't read books like this ALL the time but I do enjoy them. Made me think about the roles of women in society and constraints and rules around them then verses now. Also good themes of loyalty, love, honesty, and coming of age. 

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin- This was a murder mystery novel that was really fun to read. Another one I told lots of people about after reading.

Dracula by Bram Stoker- I have been wanting to read this for a while and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Great writing but not complicated or hard to follow. Just enough suspense and spooky vampire without being scary or disturbing or graphic. It was old so no language or inappropriate content. Loved this one and have been telling lots of people to read it. Also checks off those classic stories I am trying to make my way through.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling- It had been a while since I read this and it was fun to do this for book club. I wish I could keep going and read all the series because it has been a very long time since I read some of the later books. But Harry Potter is a classic and always a great story to read and talk about.

Till We All Faces by C.S. Lewis- This was a retelling of an old myth/legend type story. So many layers of meaning and symbolism in this one. I really wanted to dive into this with my book club but of course nobody actually finished reading it so there was no discussion that day. Lots of food for thought about who God is, how do you know Him, idols, self-honesty and awareness, perspective and how much that changes your life understanding, etc. 

12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose- I have started trying to read the books my boys are reading in their English classes. So this was inspired by that. I really enjoyed it because I just did jury duty which was a fascinating experience and so this felt very real to me. 

Old Fashioned On Purpose  by Jill Winger- I'm lukewarm on this. Not my style of book but it was well done and did inspire me to try some recipes and such. Not a topic I struggle to embrace so I don't feel like I learned a lot from it but for someone looking for a book in this topic it would be a good choice.

French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon- This one was interesting. I didn't care that much for the book itself, and I especially don't care for the author. However the concepts introduced struck home for me. Some I already believed and tried to live that definitely strengthened those (like not snacking all the time and teaching kids manners and patience around food), some things were new ideas and some I wanted to learn from and incorporate and others I could leave behind. But definitely a book that made me think long term- I bring these topics up in conversation often and wish more people followed some of these rules.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson- Another English class read. It was neutral for me. Not bad, not that inspiring or captivating. Some interesting things. It's written in poem form, it's about a black girl who grew up during the civil rights time and just the story of her life. It stayed pretty removed from a lot of civil rights issues though and just portrayed what life was like at that time.

Fast Like a  Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz- Another book that stuck with me. I found this book to be so fascinating. Lots of great science in it and motivation to have healthy eating habits. Next to reading the French Kids Eat Everything book, these will make you reconsider your relationship with food. I have done quite a bit of intermittent fasting since reading this. I could do a whole post about this but I'll just say I'm a believer-this works. Makes me feel great when I do it. Makes my aches and pains go away. Lots of good stuff here. 

 Somehow I missed 2022? I might go back and figure that out. I should have it written down somewhere.

I didn't do a lot of extra reading this year but I did a little and I read all my book club selections. Here goes:

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo- I'm actually not quite done with this. We did this for book club and took 2 months. I was the only one who tried reading the full version. I have absolutely loved it! I read it solely for 2 months and then have been reading it in between for the rest of the year. I wanted to have it done by the end of the year but just didn't make it. I often times read it while I blow dry my hair, but I don't make very fast progress that way. I probably have about 200 pages left still. I loved the Waterloo section, even though most others thought it was pointless. This one can speak for itself-it's a classic.

More Than a Body by Lexie Kite- This one was interesting. I started out not knowing if I was going to like it and agree with her perspective. But by the end I did really enjoy it. It was very eye opening about how other people think about and view their bodies and the very real social anxiety that creates for them. A lot of things I liked and had many discussions about. One of them being her view on modesty. I'm also hyper aware now about giving compliments about how people look and try really hard not to do it. 

Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde- I actually didn't read this one. Life was pretty crazy in April. I was sleep training Tanner, he was recently weaned, trying to get ready for our big trip to Hawaii, helped Lindy move across the country, spring sports, etc. I also got called to be YW President during this month. Life happens. I was sad to miss out on this one though.

Pyschology of Money by Morgan Housel- I was disappointed by this book. It wasn't what I expected and I felt like it focused almost solely on investing psychology and not all aspects of money psychology. It did have some good chapters and interesting insights though. Justin and I listened to this one together and had some good conversations as a result.

Educated by Tara Westover and Educating by LaRee Westover: I had read Educated before and loved reading the same story from the mother's perspective. This book and story is fascinating and has so many levels of things going one. I tried not to judge lifestyle and instead focus on how two people can be in the same situations and view it different based on age, knowledge, viewpoint, emotions, etc. I also felt like the mom wasn't totally honest in her book and got the impression that she wasn't at liberty to speak freely.

Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten: Probably my favorite read all year. I absolutely loved this delightful story. There is a reason this is a classic and Walt Disney chose to create this story as one of his first animated movies. The book is a must read in my opinion. And beautiful testimony of God throughout but especially at the end.

A Good Girls Guide to Murder: This book caused quite the stir in book club. Its different than what I normally would choose to read but I did it for a friend. I definitely didn't see the end coming and did not solve the mystery on my own. Even when sometimes I thought I had it figured out. It made a good October book. Some language in parts that I could have done without.

Quit by Annie Duke: This book I felt neutral about. Just not my favorite type of read but again there were some really interesting and though provoking points about why we stick with things longer than we should and changing our mind frame around quitting something.

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkein: This is a delightful book with illustrations to match. The perfect Christmas read. It made me sad as the stories progressed and his children aged and then eventually it ended because his kids were all grown. A gentle reminder of how fleeting these moments in time are when my children are all small and the magic of Christmas is strong. 

Unsouled by Will Wight: This series came highly recommended and I have to say I was disappointed. I found the storyline and characters flat and underdeveloped. Somebody said it was better than Harry Potter and that is a strong no for me. We listened to this together and Matthew has continued reading the series. I recently listened to another of the books in the series with him and felt the same. It was just flat.

The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn: This book was FASCINATING. I still bring it up in conversation all the time. We talk doctrinally of Satan and his followers being here and this book brought to reality what that means and looks like. Super interesting. A little dull at times, definitely not a page turner,  but I would highly recommend and worth the read. 

A little bit of a disappointing year in the book department for me. My book club is evolving into reading more self help and informational type of books than I would prefer but I haven't decided to quit yet. I'm hoping this year to do more of my own personal reading on the side but that can be tricky with time. Read the scriptures, read book club books, read on my own, on top of all my daily responsibilities. But I'm gonna try. 

 I wanted to write down and document all the events leading up to Tanner's birth before I forget. I wish I had had the time to do this 3 weeks ago, but here we are. 

My due date was March 17 ( St. Patrick's Day). My last two deliveries had come 10 days early, so March 7. State basketball tournament was March 2-5. The joke all along had been that I just needed to wait for basketball to end and then I could have a baby. Then the team didn't make it to state. I had been planning on going to Boise with Justin because it felt too close to stay home in case something happened. I would rather have the baby in Boise with Justin there than in Cottonwood alone with all the kids. Then we didn't have to go to Boise after all. But as it got closer we were still really wanting our trip to Boise so we decided to throw caution to the wind and go anyways. We made sure to pack my hospital bag and the baby car seat just in case. We had a lovely weekend and no spontaneous baby either. When we got home Sunday night I was ready. It was go time. I had a doctor appointment that Monday morning in Lewiston and was fully expecting to be back sooner than later. She checked me and I hadn't really changed or dilated much but she stripped my membranes. I did my grocery shopping and was definitely feeling crampy. We had a really busy day though so I wasn't able to do a big walk like I wanted to. We had piano lessons and 4-H after school that went all night long. So Tuesday I was ready to make it happen. Of course a cold front moved in and it was freezing cold and windy outside. But I bundled me and Addy up anyways and set out to go for a long walk. We barely made it down the lane before turning around and coming home; it was just too cold. Trying not to be discouraged I decided to walk stair laps through the house. (With 2 full flights of stairs I had a good route going.) The boys had basketball practice that night at the elementary school so I walked laps around the hallways while they practiced. 

I had cleared my schedule that week so each day I was searching for things to keep me busy and occupied. Wednesday I cleaned and mopped and vacuumed and walked a few stair laps all day long. The kids were so excited for me to have the baby and they would walk stairs with me and really wanted me to go into labor. So did I. I wasn't stressed or anxious or even totally miserable, but I knew baby could come any time and the waiting game is a constant mental occupation. Thursday Justin was off so we did a few errands and then went to the Aux gym and I walked all around the gym for a little over an hour. By this time everything was tired and starting to ache and I said I've done enough. This baby will just come when it's ready. On Friday Tami came up because the boys had a basketball tournament in Kendrick the next day. I had really been hoping to not have to go, but since no baby had come yet I got to go. I couldn't stay home because how would I get to the hospital an hour away if I went into labor? So I went. We had to leave by 7 am Saturday morning to make the 80 minute drive up to Kendrick. Then I sat in bleachers for 12 hours of basketball games. At lunch we had a little break and we took a walk along the river to a park and played for a bit. Then more bleacher sitting until 9 o'clock that night. Then the 80 minute drive home. It was a very very long day for me and I was SO swollen by the time we got home. We got home about 10:45 and got the kids in bed. I fell asleep on the couch while Justin stayed up to watch the BSU basketball game. We climbed into bed about 12:30.

Just before 2:15 I woke up thinking I had peed a little. I layed there for a minute deciding if I should really get up and go to the bathroom or not. As soon as I relaxed again a little more came out. So I got up to go to the bathroom and when I sat up there was a lot more fluid than I had realized. So I went to the bathroom thinking maybe my water broke. But there wasn't that much liquid and it wasn't still leaking or anything so then I wasn't sure. Maybe I had just peed my pants. I cleaned up and climbed back in bed wondering if I should wake Justin up or not. I decided to let him sleep. I would know soon enough if my water had actually broke because I would either go into labor, or I would sleep soundly the rest of the night.  After a few minutes (2:27) I had a contraction. It was strong and crampy and I knew right away it was a real contraction. But it didn't last very long-so I waited. I had a couple small pains but nothing really happened after that. So I finally turned my light off and layed back down. 2:41 I had another good contraction. Then 2:46. Again a couple small pains and then another contraction at 2:52. At this point I knew it was real. I got up and wrote down my contraction times. We had some packages delivered on the front door step we hadn't brought in that night and one of them was my nursing sleep bra I had been waiting for so I got