Currently

Reading - I've read a few books lately. I finished Saving Mrs. Roosevelt by Candice Sue Patterson which I thought was pretty good. 

And I also just finished re-reading a couple of books: Everywhere to Hide (I liked it just as much the second time around as I did the first!) and All Manner of Things by Susie Finkbeiner (I also enjoyed this just as much as I did the first time around. It's just such a beautiful book!)

Watching - Dateline, Shark Tank, Undercover Boss, Home Town, Fixer to Fabulous, The Chase, The Amazing Race (so glad this show is back on again!). 

I've also been watching The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+. I was starting to get a little disappointed with it but this last episode was really good!

Eating - I made these peanut butter cup fudge brownies a couple of weeks ago and they were not as good as I was hoping. I halved the recipe since I was the only one eating them but they were just okay. The ganache was too heavy on the brownies which made them really gooey. I mean, I like a gooey brownie and all but these were even too gooey for me. I liked the peanut butter part though! 

I liked the idea and I think I would make them again but use my own brownie recipe and maybe use a chocolate buttercream instead of ganache.

Working on - I actually started working on a scrapbook page today. It's been quite a while since I've done any scrapbooking and one of the things I wanted to work on this year was doing more of that.

Finishing - Cleaning and organizing my room. I've gone through my closet and dresser and gotten rid of some things, sorted through some boxes, dusted, rearranged, and just done lots of tidying up! I'm about finished now and I'm glad to have that task done.

Buying - I haven't really bought much lately, but I did order some coffee from Peet's last week. The Ethiopian Fancy is my favorite but I also ordered a couple bags of the Baridi blend to try.

Trying - We tried a new-to-us burger place last week for dinner. We went to Wayback Burgers and thought it was pretty good. It's definitely not the best burger I've ever had but pretty good for the price. Definitely better than a fast-food burger but not as good as maybe a restaurant burger. And it doesn't beat The Habit (one of our favorites!) since they sadly don't have any locations near us!

What have you been up to lately?

2021 in Review

January

In January I shared quite a few posts. One of my first posts of the year was of our hike to Catawba Falls.

Travel-wise I shared our drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as our visit to Luray Caverns.

I also shared several 2020 recap-type posts, which included: 2020 in Review, A (almost) Year of Photo A Day - 2020, and A Year of Flowers.

February

In February I started off the month by sharing my January Photo A Day pictures.

I shared some of my recent beauty purchases and my recent purchases.

I also shared a review of the book When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin.

March

In March I only shared two posts. I shared my February Photo A Day pictures and a review of the book Unknown Threat by Lynn H. Blackburn.

April

My first post in April was a Currently post. I shared a review of the book Is It Any Wonder by Courtney Walsh.

I also shared my March Photo A Day pictures, My Favorite Reads From 2020, and Part 1 of our visit to see the cherry blossoms at the National Arboretum!

May

I started off the month by sharing Part 2 of our visit to the National Arboretum to see the cherry blossoms. 

I also shared my April Photo A Day pictures, and Part 1 of our visit to the Norfolk Botanical Garden!

June

In June I shared Part 2 of our visit to the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

I also shared my Recent Purchases and my review of the book The Nature of Small Birds!

July

I started off the month by sharing my June Photo A Day Pictures.

Some other posts I shared were a Currently post, my review of the book Woman in Shadow, and some pictures of the Late Spring Flowers at the Norfolk Botanical Garden!

August

I had a lot going on in August so the only post I got up was my July Photo A Day pictures.

September

I didn't post at all in September!

October

My first post in October was a Currently post. Followed by my August photo a day pictures. I also shared our last two visits to the Norfolk Botanical garden. (Post 1 and Post 2), my September photo a day pictures, and our Fall decorations.

November

I only posted once in November, and that was to share my October photo a day pictures.

December

I only posted a couple of times in December, but I started off the month by sharing November photo a day pictures.

I also shared our hike in the DuPont State Recreational Forest as well as my last Friday Favorites of the year!

2020 in review

2019 in review

2018 in review

2017 in review

2016 in review

2015 in review

What were some of your favorite moments or highlights from the past year?

Friday Favorites

Hello and welcome to my Friday Favorites! Today I am linking up with Andrea!

1. I stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up this bouquet of flowers for my first bouquet of the year! The last couple of years I've been purchasing a bouquet a month and it is something I look forward to each month! I just really enjoy having flowers around.

2. On Saturday I spent the day cleaning and organizing my room as well as going through some boxes. We were supposed to be getting snow or ice sometime that day or night, so we just planned on staying home all weekend. 

So I figured that was as good a time as any to do some cleaning! I went through pretty much everything (closet, dresser, boxes, etc.) and found some things to get rid of or donate. 

Later that day I made some chili and cornbread for dinner. I hadn't made chili in quite a while, so it was nice to have on a cold winter day! I typically like making chili and soups during the fall and winter, but it did't even get cold here until December! It was still in the 60's all through November!

3. I mentioned last week that we were supposed to be getting snow over the weekend and I woke up Sunday morning to 6 inches of snow on the ground! It was really windy and was sleeting all day long, so I felt bad for the kids in the neighborhood who were probably wanting to get out and play in it!

4. I was at Target and got these cute Valentine's day mugs. I saw them last year and didn't get them, but I kind of regretted not buying them so I was glad I was able to find them this year! They're only $10 for the 2 of them!

5. In case you missed it, on Monday I shared my Year of Photo A Day and on Wednesday I shared about when we hiked the Glassy Mountain Trail!

Hope you have a great weekend! Do you have any weekend plans?

Hiking the Glassy Mountain Trail

Back in November my mom and I drove up to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site to do some hiking. We hiked several of the trails, one of which went to to the top of Glassy Mountain. (Mountain is a term I use very loosely here. Being from the Pacific Northwest we have a very different definition of what a mountain is!)

But anyways, we mostly wanted to see the fall colors. We had gone for a hike a couple of weeks prior and the colors weren't quite there yet, so we were happy to see during our drive up that the trees had really turned! 

Pictures really don't do it justice. I had never seen trees as colorful as these! It was so pretty! The way the light reflected off the leaves cast a pretty golden hue on everything. 

We really enjoyed the colorful leaves even though the view at the top of Glassy Mountain wasn't quite what we were expecting. You could see out for a long ways, but the view was mostly obscured by the tall trees which was a bit disappointing. 

There were very few people out on the trail which made it nice for taking lots of pictures and we still managed to get in a little over 5 miles. 

Were you able to enjoy any of the fall colors this past year?