Currently: Peace & Quiet

Current Book

Current Song

Ava Max has a new song!

Current TV Show

Current Audiobook/Podcast

Finally finished A Dance with Dragons!

Current Drink

Finally found a sparkling water I enjoy! Downside - it's expensive, ugh, ha!

Current Food

Brent saw his uncle over the weekend and brought me homemade beef jerky.

It is incredible!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

Holy toledo, these are so good!

Current Outfit

Current Celebrity Crush

Gabriel from Emily in Paris

Current Mood

I have been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to decide ha.

The kids are back in school, so I think the best descriptor is...

appreciating the quiet.

Current Anticipation

Spa Day with my mother-in-law is FRIDAY!!!

Current Wishlist

To not be #67 on the wait list for the latest Cormoran Strike book, sob!

Current Movie

Some fall movies I'm excited about!!

Current Picture

Having a hard day, Paige? {grin}

Movie Review: Top Gun Maverick

I waited and waited to go see Top Gun Maverick because Brent had been saying for years that he wanted to see it. But then he never would commit to going, sigh. So I decided to go by myself last week!

Plot: After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging advancement in rank that would ground him.

Review: Oh my gosh, I loved this! It was the perfect amount of nostalgic cheesiness BUT also had a good plot that I was very invested in. Lots of great characters, it was funny, it was full of heart, and it also had lots of action and excitement. I'm not surprised it is now one of the all-time top grossing movies! So, so great!!

Napa Wine Time!

At the end of July, the adult Gurleys took a trip to Napa! My father-in-law loves Napa {he and my mother-in-law go probably yearly}, and we were excited to spend time together without the little Gurleys interrupting. The guys played golf one day and the ladies shopped, and we all hit up a bunch of wineries. Lots of great food and great time together.

A cocktail to kick-off the trip!

How excited do I look? Ha!

Our first day was largely a travel day with our big event being a delicious dinner at a local, farm-to-table restaurant {that also had their own gardens that provided a lot of the vegetables} called Brix.

The view from the patio, it was incredible!

The gardens were incredible!

The Gurley girls!

Friday the guys played golf and went to a winery and then hung out at a bar. The ladies went to Korbel and Sebastiani and shopped in Sonoma.

We loved Korbel!

The grounds were gorgeous!

We had the 'Bubbles Flight'!

I was in love with these succulents.

We didn't take any pictures at Sebastiani or lunch in Sonoma {which were both great!},

but we did have some yummy ice cream!

The main building of the resort

Friday we went to 2 wineries as a group of 6 - Duckhorn and Del Dotto. They are wineries that focus on red wines so not my forte but still lots of fun to all be together.

Grapes selfie!

The Gurley family!

Del Dotto was really neat because you 'thieved' from the barrels. Again it was red wine, so my end consensus was 'this one was the one i hated the least'. But Brent found a wine he really liked and ordered a few bottles.

We hung out on the patio at the resort the rest of the evening enjoying wine...and cocktails...and shots... Maybe not the smartest decision with a flight the next day!

Just a little silly after some shots! Ha!

We flew home the next day to get the kids, and I might have had a bit of a hangover, ugh! {grin}

Big thank you to my parents for keeping the rugrats while we were gone!

Back to School 2022 Questionnaire

We are off to school! It's our last year with all 3 kids at our beloved Montessori school, sob. Trent is starting 8th grade {his second year in the Bluebonnet Adolescent Community}, Drew is starting 4th grade {her first year in the San Antonio Upper Elementary Community}, and Paige is starting Kinder {her third year in her beloved Sassafras Primary Community}.

First Day 2021-2022 School Year

We're continuing our tradition of the night before school questionnaire that we filled out last night. The kids had fun answering and looking back at their past answers. I love that they still enjoy doing this and humor me a little!

*********************************************************************

Favorite Color:

Trent: blue

Drew: navy blue

Paige: pink

Favorite TV Show:

Trent: One Piece

Drew: LDShadowLady and Katherine Elizabeth {YouTubers}

Paige: LDShadowLady

Favorite Movie:

Trent: A Silent Voice

Drew: Stardust

Paige: Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Toy:

Trent: my phone

Drew: Slothy

Paige: Kate her koala stuffed animal

Favorite Book:

Trent: Berserk, One Piece, Vinland Saga

Drew: Baby Blues

Paige: Owl Diaries

Favorite Food:

Trent: McDonald's

Drew: pickles

Paige: peaches

Favorite Place:

Trent: Nana and Papa's house

Drew: wherever sloths live

Paige: home

Favorite Part of School:

Trent: a certain someone

Drew: everything

Paige: my friends, my teachers, and the paperwork [I died when she said this]

Favorite Part of Summer:

Trent: Nana and Papa's house

Drew: all of it except for my broken arm

Paige: hanging out with my family

Favorite Holiday:

Trent: Christmas

Drew: New Year's because it's right before my birthday

Paige: Christmas and Easter

Favorite Thing to Do with Mom:

Trent: intellectual conversations

Drew: snuggle and read books

Paige: snuggle

Favorite Thing to Do with Dad:

Trent: everything

 

Drew: when he makes me into a sandwich [he squishes her between pillows]

Paige: go to the gas station

Favorite Thing About Trent:

Drew: that he's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me

Paige: that he plays with us and turns me invisible

Favorite Thing About Drew:

Trent: 1 in a million that she's not being annoying and will play a game with me

Paige: that she plays with me all day long

Favorite Thing About Paige:

Trent: nothing

Drew: that her annoyingness isn't contagious

What are You Going to be When You Grow Up:

Trent: I don't know yet

Drew: a sloth rescuer

Paige: everything

Who are You Going to Marry:

Trent: a certain someone

Drew: I don't know

Paige: Judah

How Many Kids Will You Have:

Trent: none

Drew: 2

Paige: 8

Last Day 2021-2022 School Year

We had a good summer, but I am 100% ready to get back into a routine! Wishing everyone out there starting school this week a great start to the year!!

Broadway Across America: Mean Girls

It's been since before COVID that I have seen a play or musical! Such a tragedy, and one I'm glad to have remedied last week. I was able to go with my mother-in-law and her friends who have season tickets each year. I love that when one of them can't go they offer up the ticket to each other, and I get invited from time-to-time.

 Plot: Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Review: Wow, was this fantastic! I was a little nervous about how this would play out as a musical, but I had nothing to worry about. The music was GREAT, and this translated really well from movie to stage. It wasn't 100% the same {which it didn't need to be} but the heart of the story was there, and almost 20 years later, it's still such a good story. The cast we saw was extremely diverse, which I loved seeing, and I also thought the way they used LED screens as part of the background was really good. This was truly a top-notch production!!

I've been talking to some friends about getting back to going to the theater more often, and we've got some shows coming up that look great, I'm so excited!

21 x2

I had the second anniversary of turning 21 last Friday. {grin} I had a great day with a mix of introverted and extroverted activities - perfect for me!

Woke up next to this little girl!

I had to work a little bit {yuck but such is life}, but then took the kids to my in-laws about 11:00 - they offered to keep them overnight, yay!

Cake waiting for me made by Drew and my mother-in-law, yum.

Spoiler alert - they made another cake, ha.

I went to jazzercise and then got a chai and a pedicure.

When I got home, I got changed to go to the pool and made a wine spritzer. Susie met me there, but we forgot to take a picture.

Happiness in a Yeti

THEN...Kristen surprised me! She had originally told me their family would be out of town, but then she ended up staying home. I was getting ready in the bathroom and heard someone coming in but assumed it was Susie. When Kristen walked into the bathroom, I died!! The best birthday surprise!

We had dinner with Riley, Susie, and Kristen at my favorite restaurant and then met up with Karin and Kelby at a local bar.

Guy's table

Girl's table

SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!

Had a great time celebrating my 26th birthday with this guy!

Really looking forward to another trip around the sun!

July 2022 Book Review

Another great month of reading! I read 12 books across a variety of topics - historical fiction - including 2 about WW2, racial injustice, nonfiction, romance, YA...AND 2 of them were even physical books! Who am I? Ha!

I'm struggling with what will be my favorite of the month as I have 4 I gave 5 starts to! I think I'm a pretty generous rater because I read things that sound good to me, so I usually like them, but this month had quite a few EXCELLENT reads!

The Office BFFs by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey - I love Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, their podcast, and anything to do with The Office, so this was a huge win for me. Some of the stories I've heard on their podcast or in other Office related things, but that didn't really take away from the book for me. Loved all the pictures they shared - literally hundreds - and all their stories. It felt like having a conversation with friends! If you are a fan of The Office, you'll love this!

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren - I generally enjoy everything written by Christina Lauren, and this was no exception - while not my favorite of theirs, it was still good! It's a semi-typical romance trope {young lovers that got separated by misunderstanding and run into each other again years later} but also different since it's set on a western style treasure hunt. It was cute, a little cheesy, and I didn't like some of the characters, but it ended up cute overall!

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan - This was our work book club selection of the month - WW2 historical fiction set in Italy. I've only read 1 other Italian WW2 book, so it was an interesting perspective I didn't know as much about. My struggle with this one was the writing wasn't the greatest. It was a really good story with 'fine' writing.

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood - The 3rd {and final} of the STEM novellas Ali Hazelwood released this summer - my least favorite of the 3 but still adorable! I'm so excited for her next full-length book!

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray - BFBC selection of the month! YA Fantasy set in an Africa-type country. This was really awesome! I thought it was solid world building and engaging characters, and I'm really excited for the 2nd book!

The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle - This was a delight! Imagine a Harry & Meghan like couple moves next door and you fall for their bodyguard. That's this story but add in the fact that the heroine is super quirky and there some really solid representation of mental health. Fun and steamy!

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - Oooh this was good but also so hard to read. Another book we should all read to learn about and come to terms with another aspect of the racism in our country. This is historical fiction about a juvenile facility in the 1960s and the treatment of the Black boys who lived - and died - there. It had a pretty crazy twist at the end that I wasn't expecting too! Incredible writing and a heart-wrenching story.

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune - Continuing a streak of incredible books that I read all in a row. This story alternates between the present and the past as 2 teens meet and fall in love - in the past - and reconcile after not seeing each other for more than a decade and confronting their past. I could NOT put this down and read it in 24 hours. Loved, loved, loved it!

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - This was my kind of quirky! I have learned I like Fredrik Backman but don't love him as much as others do. Well, Bonnie wrote the type of quirky story that I fell in love with. I loved these characters and their story so much. It followed a mom who is a chemist but the star of a cooking show in the 50s and everything she had to fight against for her rightful place in the working world. It was maybe a smidge overhanded in the 1950s sexism {but how would I know given I didn't live then?}, but the whole thing was just about perfect.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I never read these as a kid, and I bought the series for Trent a long time ago...and he turned his nose up at them. Drew and I started the series, and she loved this one. She and Paige {when she would listen} found Laura and Mary's life fascinating, and I really loved reading this with them!

A Knock at Midnight by Brittany K. Barnett - Holy moly. This was INCREDIBLE. This is the author's memoir of growing up with a parent with drug addiction and how she basically stumbled into being a lawyer working against unfair sentencing. Her resilience and drive are an inspiration, and I cried numerous times {super fun on the plane with a stranger to my left}. Not only is the story itself mind-blowing, but her writing is beautiful and touching. You can't ask for anything more in a book.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff - My 2nd WW2 historical fiction book of the month and another story I knew little about - women spies! I thought this was slow to begin but then really picked up and then I wasn't ready for it to end! It felt a little rocky to me at times, but overall, it was pretty enjoyable!

I am up to 75 reads for the year so will probably end close to my 2021 read count of 124 - looking forward to what the rest of the year brings!