Post Thanksgiving Link Love

Now that most of us have successfully survived Thanksgiving, It is time t get in the Christmas mood

Christmas Playlists 

Mom Closes Living Room Until Thanksgiving - I wonder if the living room was pristine for Thanksgiving and Mom will also make it off limits for Christmas. THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT GO THROUGH MY MIND

Micheal's Makers 2016 Dream Tree Challenge - If you need Christmas Tree inspiration, no need to look any farther.

 

Autism Linky

Free to be Me, Kinda

Psychological Damage Caused by Using Government Supported Disability Services

Including, Embrace,And  Support - How to be a Friend to a Family with a Special Needs Child - As always Ali has said it so well.  I am so lucky to have friends and family on my team. I couldn't  do it without them.

A Simple But Powerful to Destigmatize Learning Differences - This is so cool.  I wish my kids schools would have done that.  There is a lot of shame in having a learning difference.  That shame prevents kids from using supports.

Windy Walk on the Wild Side

View off of Chuckanut Drive

I decided for my birthday I would like to go for a drive.  We drove the scenic Chuckanut drive.  We grabbed 2 geocacahes along the way in which I managed to get muddy and wet shoes. It is the curse of the Pacific Northwest.

I had suggested driving to Anacortes but on the way we decided that we should walk the length of the Deception Pass Bridge.  It was something neither my Husband or I had ever done.  We had often stopped in the middle to admire the view.  The Deception Pass Bridge spans both Deception Pass and Canoe Pass. So we parked on one side of the bridge and began our adventure.  It was windy and a little disconcerting looking down 180 feet.   As we got close to the middle island, the wind seemed to pick up a bit but we decided to keep going.

Selfie with Bridge
Like my wind blown look?

We crossed over to the other side of the bridge the wind was at our back.  However walking the entire length back it started to rain and the wind really picked up.  We were having trouble walking.  It made me extremely nervous when my Husband grabbed both handrails.  The wind was whipping my hair so bad I couldn't see in front of me.  When I got home I looked up the wind forecast, the wind was gusting between 15 mph and 25 mph while we were on the bridge. YIKES!  Yep, we were the crazy people walking the bridge.

That was definitely a birthday adventure!!!

What I Read November

I read Lab Girl by Hope Jahern

I believe this was recommended by someone on Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit Link Up. I found this a fascinating read. I don't know any female scientists nor have I ever think of the challenges that gender might cause in he scientific exploration. I loved how frank Hope was about her challenges both professional and personal.

An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world

Lab Girl is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren’s remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom’s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done “with both the heart and the hands”; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.

Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.  (AMAZON)


WHAT IS UP WITH AUTOBIOGRAPHIES WRITTEN LATELY?  Tell me my YOUR story.  I don't want to be educated about the tools you used if it doesn't enhance the story.  I don't want to be educated about plants unless it increases my understanding of YOUR story.   I will say as it was used in Lab Girl it wasn't quite as clunky as it was used in Dirt Work and  Hammer Head. I do not like this used as a literary device.  I found myself wanting to skip those chapters and get back to the real story.  I want to tell editors that I picked this book BECAUSE I was interested in the author's personal story.

7 by Jen Hatmaker

Our bible study finally finished this. Jen Hatmaker has a lot of controversy.  Some of her personal views were a bit much for a number of our members of her bible study. Jen Hatmaker has been dropped from the Lifeway brand due to her views. We lengthen this study by doing the study homework together during our meetings.  I thought it was an interesting thoughtful study about excess in our lives and how to manage things that might become idols to us - social media etc.. We as a group thought her last two lessons were perhaps the strongest in the whole study.

Anyone else watching The Crown on Netflix.  Prince Philip - The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II would be a good companion read to The Crown.I had previously done on a post on books and movies that I felt complimented The Crown.  I admit I didn't know anything about Prince Philip.  What an interesting life he had before marrying Queen Elizabeth or Princess Elizabeth at the time.

I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit

Links I Love

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Global Art Project Comes to Griffintown Park

Hand-Picked Apple Harvest

What Can A Prickly Ball Teach You About Human Walls

Terrifying Photo of Giant Spider Nicknamed Charlotte - I am not a big spider fan.

BIG SHOT COFFEE SIGN

My husband makes these wonderful shot up picture frames from gun range target frames.  I convinced him to make this chalk board sign to hang above my kitchen sink.  My kitchen has a lot of coffee decor.  Hey, I lived in the Pacific Northwest where you can't throw a rock without hitting a coffee stand.  I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a catchy saying . I finally settled on "Home of Big Shot Coffee".

I traced the letters onto chalkboard. I used the technique found at Jenna Sue Design Co.  I used regular chalk on all the letters except the "O". It was a whole lot of chalk dust. I borrowed my son's pencil sharpener to sharpen the chalk to a point.  On the "O" I used a cooper chalk pen. After sitting with it for a bit we decided it wasn't popping enough and colored the "O" in with a cooper and gold chalk pen. We wanted the "O" to look like the end of a bullet casing. I have another post on Chalk Lettering for those of you who want to learn how to hand letter.

My husband also made me a really cool sunburst/half sun with roached target frames too.

Happy Veteran's Day

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

I feel so proud to have so many veteran's in my immediate family - My Dad, My Husband, Pappy, and Myself.  Thank You!

November Linky Love

Stop Doing These 8 Things for Your Teen This School Year - Note to Self I need to be meaner. I do make my kids make their own lunch.

10 Reasons A Hot Mess Mom is the Best Friend Everyone Needs

Rudeness Makes You Dumber - this is really interesting and lends credence to the fact also to the fact I tell my kids when your upset your brain shuts down.

Washington State Park GeoTour End

More than 10,000 people participated in the WA State Parks GeoTour over its three-year run - wow! (And that's conservative, based on account logs, not actual bodies.) The State Parks counts it as a huge success and has cemented geocaching as a positive recreational activity in the parks. (We've come a long way, baby, from 2002 when they wanted to ban caching!) - GeoTour Manager

Most Found:

2551: Iron Horse - Hyak
1024: Peace Arch
992: Fort Casey
766: Saltwater
743: Saint Edward

Least Found:

133: Fields Spring
159: Mount Pilchuck
163: Crawford
167: Camp Wooten
168: Steamboat Rock

Most Favorite Points:

174: Fort Worden
136: Potholes
125: Rosario Beach - Deception Pass
107: Peace Arch
97: Wenatchee Confluence

We were so excited as a family to participate in this geotour. It was great having our own cache at Peach Arch and we also found as a family 50 of the state park caches.

Getting Your Royal ON!

Me getting my Royal on for Halloween

I don't know about you but as an American the British Royals are interesting to me. With the release of the new netflix series The Crown, I thought I would do a little round up on Britsh Royals.  So Get your Royal ON!

I read The Royal We  back in 2015 but I didn't blog about it.

American Bex Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister Lacey was always the romantic, the one who daydreamed of being a princess, but it's adventure-seeking Bex who goes to Oxford and meets dreamy Nick across the hall-and Bex who finds herself accidentally in love with the heir to the British throne.  (AMAZON)

I really liked it but I just think that SO MANY people reviewed it that I didn't have anything to ADD.

Love the Lively Show Podcast that interviewed the authors of  The Royal We.


The Royal Night Out as well.  The true story behind The Royal Night Our.


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The Crown premeires on Netflix Nov 4 - TODAY - Yeah. More details from the DailyBeast