Book 3

I finished book three for the year:

This was a really interesting read that looked at da Vinci's biography through his habits of mind and the daily practices he used to stay creative. I have been fascinated by him for a while, and this provided a lot more insight into his journals and process rather than just his work. Highly recommend!

I am hoping for some extra reading time in the next few days. We have a winter storm headed our way, and if it hits the way it looks we will be home for a while. Fingers crossed we don't lose power and just have a cozy few days.

 

What a Season

We finished the regular wrestling season last night. I honestly don't know what his overall record is, but he finished the season as the 144 starter and we saw a lot of this:

Thankfully, his worst injury was some gnarly mat burn:

And he finished his regular season with a pin last night:

And this team, they are Conference Champs:

More importantly, they are the best group of guys. I have loved watching them cheer for each other, grow together, and just generally be hysterical. 

I still have to look away from the mat occasionally, but I love being there to watch Evan do his thing, and I'm a little sad we only have one more year of these shenanigans.

 

BINGO

Last year, instead of resolutions Issa proposed we make New Year's BINGO boards. Instead of one big thing, we put a goal in each square. Over the course of the year, you put a star in the box when you meet that goal. I ended up with two bingos last year:

None of us imagined that we would be able to check every box, but it was fun to set the goals and then watch the progress over the year. This year, we made boards again. Some of the things that didn't get accomplished last year moved over. Some goals were just released. It's good.

This morning, I was able to put another tally on my board. One of my columns is a series of reading goals, and I finished book two this morning:

This is a professional development book that our campus is reading together. I'll be very interested to see where the discussion takes us tomorrow!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We are reentering the world after a wonderful two weeks of Christmas vacation. We fully leaned into the 12 days of Christmas and a nice slow start to 2026, and I think this may be our new rhythm for all future Christmases. 

The weekend before Christmas, the kids and I made cookies for the neighbors. Evan has become the sugar cookie king:

Issa did the sprinkles, and I did the packaging:

They were a great delivery team:

On the 23rd, we went to Nana's to make cookies there. This trio made short work of it:

Christmas Eve was the return to Nana's for pajamas, mashed potato bar, and gift exchange:

Christmas morning was just the four of us:

The older the kids get the smaller their gifts get! It's also a much later start. I had time to set the table and make gingerbread scones before they were even stirring:

Santa Paws came, and Buddy has not let this bone out of his sight since:

Bella was a big fan of her new stick, too:

Evan got a really cool tool set:

And Issa got her very own gel nail set:

We spent Christmas day trying to new recipes and enjoying a mocktail bar. I think the nut loaf was the unexpected hit of the holiday!

Right after Christmas, Evan came down with the crud. We initially thought he just strained his voice at a wrestling match, but he started coughing and then slept for almost two days straight. All of us got a little stuffy and run down, so we spend the time between Christmas and today just being cozy. There were hot cocoa bars, movies, crafts, and did a ton of reading. I finished books 31 and 32 of 2025 and book one of 2026!

Book 31 was a recommendation from a colleague:

The story follows three characters whose stories intertwine about halfway through the text, and one of those characters is an octopus. It took a while to get to know the characters, but once their stories started to merge I was hooked!

Book 32 has been on TBR pile for a while:

I love Jen Hatmaker, and this is a really powerful memoir. 

Book 1 was our next book club read:

I was very grateful for my one Russian literature class in undergrad for this one. It's been a while since I've been in Russian folklore, but I am so glad for the time back in that world. This is the first book in a series, and I think I will end here. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not attached enough to the characters to continue on, and this book ends with everything tied up in a nice little bow.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the time with my people in our cozy home. I'm planning to make more time and space for this--just being.
 

Updates

Life continues to be a bit of whirlwind! Evan is wrestling his little heart out. He is having a great season, and his team if currently 15-1, which is amazing:

In the midst of the the crazy, I am really trying to soak in the Christmas season. I'm living for the twinkle lights, and we made a special trip to McKay's to pick up Christmas vinyl. There is just something different about the crackle of records and familiar voices:

I also finished Book 31:

This is book two in the second series by one of my favorite authors. I love these characters and the relationship between them, and I know she has almost finished book three!

 

Book 30

I finished book 30 for the year yesterday:

This is the third book in this world. It's not really a series, but there is some character overlap among the books. All of the books are sweet love stories in a really interesting world, and this one absolutely did not disappoint. I didn't see the end coming at all, but it was absolutely perfect. These have a space on my forever bookshelf. 
 

Cancelled Plans

Brad and I were supposed to go to a UNC game yesterday. One of his friends got some comp tickets, and we were both really excited...until yesterday. We would have had to use a park and ride, and we were looking at a six hour minimum adventure. It's been a long week, and I just didn't want to deal with big crowds and navigating all of the things. So we cancelled.

We went to the grocery, ordered pizza, and decorated the tree:

The naked tree was making me sad, and unpacked all of the ornaments is always my favorite part. This year, we bought fake popcorn and cranberries from Williamsburg and only put non-breakable ornaments on the tree. We just didn't want to tempt fate with Bella.

Today, we have a snow day, so I'm grading by tree light and snuggling the pup. Sometimes cancelled plans really are the best.