Cozy Winter Break Reading.

One of my favorite things about winter break is having time to read. I have spent a ton of time reading this winter break and I wanted to share some of the books that I read. 

Finding Our Balance

I am a gymnastics super fan and this is a book written by a fellow gym fan who I follow on twitter. It follows three girls training for the Olympics. It's fitting since the Olympics are this coming year and I follow all of the gymnasts on social media and love seeing their preparations. This is a young adult book for the language and some content but I give it a 5/5.

What She Left Behind

This was our book club book for this month and it was AMAZING. I didn't know what to expect and it totally blew my expectations. It goes back and forth between two characters, Clara and Izzy. Clara is sent to an insane asylum by her father in the 1930's and it follows her time there. Izzy is a foster child who is helping her foster mom, a museum curator, go through belongings of patients at the now abandoned asylum. I highly recommend this book, not only is there some fascinating historical information but there are also great characters and a plot that keeps you guessing.

Quaker Summer

This book was a Christmas gift with one of my friends. It is about a woman on her journey to find her purpose and get closer to God. It examines quite a few big questions that I think many people ask themselves. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed it. It is part of a series called 'Women of Faith' and I'm looking forward to reading more. 

Have you read anything good lately? 

Weekending: happy 2015!

Happy 2015!

Friday

My fiance took Friday off so we were able to relax and enjoy the day together. One of my friends was here visiting all week so I took her to the airport in the morning. 

Saturday

I went to zumba with one of my friends and it felt so good to be back in the gym. Zumba is by far my favorite exercise class. After class we went to Old Navy because they had yoga pants on sale, I got two pairs. Having new clothes always makes me want to work out because then I get to wear them. 

I came home and spent the afternoon working on my Masters and then grocery shopping. I'm trying to make some new healthy meals but I'm not the best cook so it's a struggle. This is my attempt at meal planning:

Saturday night we went to Fantasy Lights which is where they put a ton of lights at a local amusement park and open some of the rides. It was only $10 each and one of our other friends want to go so we went, and it was a lot of fun! It was nice to do something different.

Sunday

After church we went and visited my Grandad. He is going to build us a bed to match the nightstand and dresser he made us when we moved into our apartment so we brought him pictures of one that we liked. We spent the rest of hate afternoon just relaxing and watching football.

I can't believe winter break was over. It was such an amazing two weeks. I always dread going back to school after long breaks but I know it won't be as bad as I think, I just need to go in with a postiive attitude. 

....6 months until summer! 

Linking up! 

Weekending: WINTER BREAK!

We made it! Congratulations to all of my fellow teachers, two weeks of freedom! 

Friday Night

We met up with some friends and tried this new BBQ place in our town, Dickey's. It is a casual restaurant and was really good. I had chicken with mac & cheese and waffle fries...talk about carbs. They also had free ice cream. It definitely isn't a healthy restaurant but it is delicious! 

We came home and put on our PJs and watched tv. It was so nice to relax knowing that I have two weeks of relaxation ahead of me. 

Saturday 

We went shopping on Saturday morning and I think I can officially say that I am done! I love shopping so knowing me I will still shop a little bit more but I'm trying to make the money I have last until the end of the month so we'll see if I can restrain myself. I really love giving gifts (it's totally my love language) so it's hard not to buy things. 

Saturday night we went to a play at a local church, Scrooge. It was SO GOOD. I have seen it before when I was younger but I haven't been in probably 8 years or so. There was plenty that I didn't remember and my fiance loved it. I told him we are starting a tradition of going to a Christmas play each year so this was the first one. 

Sunday

Church is so magical in December. There were a ton of people there and I love the songs that we sing. It was a great service. Afterwards we went to my mom's to hang out for a little bit and then came home to finish wrapping all of our presents. We will be taking them all to my moms for Chirstmas but we have them under our tree at our apartment right now and I love looking at them all.

In the afternoon we went to our family friends house to have Chirstmas wiht them. They have 12 kids, yes, 12 of them, but they are the most well behaved sweetest kids I've ever been around. My mom started buying them gifts three christmases ago and it has gotten bigger every year. Seeing their joy when they open presents is the best. We also had a huge meal and sang lots of Christmas carols. It was such a magical time. 

The best part about today is that there is no dreading of school tomorrow! I love my job, but Mondays are always hard, so I'm excited that tomorrow is filled with hanging out with my best friend doing some wedding planning. :) 

Linking up with Meghan!!