The GOOD of 2020

 There has been much loss this year. I have spent a lot of time lamenting that. I wanted to end the year on the positive. So below is my list of some of the GOOD this year

My parents 50th Anniversary

My youngest son got to be in the pit orchestra for the first time

My Husband was home from his detail due to Covid . That meant he was here for Easter and we hadn't planned on him being here.

We replaced our deck and made our hot tub legal. I also successfully grew grass. The dirt patch now has grass

I got to do a lot of hiking with my boys

I got to do a lot of walking and hiking with my friends. 

I grew a lot of flowers

I made a lot of dough. I learned how to work with sourdough. Still is a work in progress. Sourdough waffles are the bomb.

My youngest is a Senior in High School

We got fish or I mean my youngest did. Fish TV or staring at the fish tank is relaxing

End of the Roll 2020 - Inappropriate Thoughts Round up

In my weekly round-up I have been sharing some inappropriate thoughts. I thought I would put all my inappropriate thoughts in one place this post.  These are all the things I feel like we should probably not say but I have been thinking for most of 2020. (Don't come at me BRO, I will turn off the comments in a heartbeat) 

I don't understand tele dentistry. I feel like this is a scam. You can't zoom into someone's mouth. 

Stop telling me what to do. I feel like there is to much covid propaganda and too much misinformation. We got freeway signs us to social distance. My own radio dash also reminding me to mask up. We are being constantly bombarded by this. I GET IT!

I feel like we are in some Covid indoctrination camp

I am going to avoid you if you don't have your mask up over your nose . Don't be a Kilroy.

All these arm chair sleuths and no one can figure out what happened to Carol Baskins husband.

We really like certainty. Well I do.

I reject your new normal. I will settle for," it is what is is for now." I refuse to live under these conditions one second longer than necessary.

The President/President elect is not your messiah. Stop worshipping them. 

So you all want more government after all of this. 

I am tired of technology especially technology you have to use to access other technology that doesn't work

Why do murder hornets have to take up residence in my neighborhood? I was paranoid all summer where our backyard was the only place to go.

I dislike the smell of sanitizer and I am pretty sure there are going to be lawsuit commercials in the future that are for side effects from sanitizer.

I don't want to do anything remote except maybe hike to some remote location in 2021.

***These are my own personal thoughts which I know are inappropriate.

Genealogy Goals/Resolutions

The picture above is of my Grandma. I just had to share.

I love researching. I have had a couple goals or things I was actively researching in 2020. I did make some significant breakthroughs this year. These 3 things I am still actively researching and will probably still remain goals in 2021 in my genealogy research. Plus I am on a smaller quest for a photograph of a great great grandfather. Above all I will still be collecting the stories of my ancestors wherever I find them because that is what I find interesting. I do plan on participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks when the prompts move me. The prompts are helpful in discovering or sharing stories I wouldn't normally.

One thing I was researching is Pappy's mother and any possible siblings for Pappy. I found his sister. He only briefly met her after the war. The only thing he could remember was she was married to a serviceman and had a beautiful baby daughter. I was able to find a name but quickly hit another brick wall.  The name I believe is La Vera Sandstrom born 1924? She is pretty much a ghost in my research only showing up in her mother's obituary and 1940 census she shows up granddaughter , Vera Groshong, at her maternal grandmother's house.

Secondly, I had found a relative with a criminal pass. Originally I was only to find out a few facts of the case. The relative was eventually exonerated. I have since found out the details of the case from various newspapers. It is more siliceous than first glance and details make me wish that I didn't know the details. I have mixed feelings about the discovery and I have more questions. I am not sure what to do with the information that I do know or if I should pursue more information. There is more information out there including a box of information from the Iowa governor's office. I am curious about the exoneration and there was another involved in the crime that was never prosecuted as far I can tell. I am not going to share the name here as the sensitive nature of the crime.

I also am still researching where in Germany exactly my Great Great Grandfather on my father's side came from. I have some newer information so I would like to go back through some ship manifests from a port I haven't checked specifically the Port of New Orleans.  I am going to put the name out here in case anyone else is researching this- John Lendman or John Landman 1839- 1914

Lastly, I would like to find a picture of my Great Great Grandfather James Mitchell (1841-1929) who served in the civil war and was captured. So many of my relatives are named after him. He was so revered. I do think a photo exists . It would be interesting to lay eyes on him. 

Entry Way Refresh

 I repainted my bench and table in the entry way. My husband made a new seat out of salvaged bleacher board. and I stuck a cable round on top of the table. I can't find a old picture but the bench was white with yellow trim and the table was gray. As imagined this bench was getting a lot of abuse so the chippy was starting to look not great.

Christmas Tour 2020

The song "Too Much Time on My Hands" keeps running through my mind. It perhaps have applied to my Christmas décor. Christmas might have thrown up in here. We actually have a our tree in a new place in our family room got to switch things up like after 15 years. Though it was hard to get a good picture of it here.

I made a little gallery wall with free pintable's. We have a whole evergreen tree thing going on. I bought nothing for this wall. Some of the printable's are from Blesser House. I made the deer picture with the help of my cricut. I had a huge frame so I cut out a winter scene.

I only got a few of the shiney brites out. Just enough to go on my candlestick collection. I didn't put out all of them

I got out the manager complete with dog teeth marks on the sheep. I have a whole post on my shelves.

From my family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Elf Garland aka Snowflake Garland

 For many years I have done an "Elf" inspired garland in my kitchen nook. I just realized it had basically evolved into a snowflake garland.  So I decided last week to "Elf" my son's desk.  So inspired by the Elf movie, I whipped up some packing peanut and paper garland and whipped out some battery powered lights.

The House that Lars Built did a total Elf inspired decor with one ream of copy paper. It was fabulous. It is pure Elf.

31 Bests - Days 9 -13

I still believe in this project more than ever but I have fallen behind. I wanted to share some more of my bests. More information about 31 Bests - more pages.

I copied this from another Project Lifer's page. I think this should be the cover page.

Weekly Roll

Last week we walked through our town's pioneer village lit up. It was beautiful and all socially distanced. Usually they have all the buildings open to the public. They pivoted to a very beautiful lighted displays. In the last couple of year's they have put in ADA compliant sidewalk. It was just perfect. It helped me get in the spirit of Christmas.

Linky Love

Elevator Lady Cookies - Anyone ever made these. They sound delicious. I love the story

Motherhood in America is a Multilevel Marketing Scheme - Interesting article and a lot of truth

Sourdough Saga

Oh yes we had a sourdough saga. We misplaced a whole loaf of sourdough bread. I had left it on the counter after getting it out of the freezer because I had made multiple loaves. We looked and looked. We thought maybe the dog had eaten it, seriously. However we just didn't look far enough in the freezer. It was lost for 2 days. 

Experimental Cooking

I tried a new pork chop recipe from a genuine cookbook not via the internet. The recipe was smokey maple pork chops with pecans and it was delicious. It is similar to this recipe

Weekly Roll

 

Oh 2020, it just keeps rolling on. Doesn't it?   

What am I binge watching on Netflix

Virgin River

The Crown - though the more current it gets the more uncomfortable it gets to watch. Maybe it is just me

Criminal Minds - My oldest and I like to binge watch this in the afternoon. However lately I have been having some scary dreams so might have to take a break from this. We are in season 4.

Dolly Parton, Here I am - Dolly is amazing. I loved this. 

Holiday Home Makeover with Mr Christmas - I enjoyed seeing the transformations

Holidate - Probably not appropriate for kids but cute

I have been influenced

One of my favorite instagrammers, Venison for Dinner posted a skillet cookie in her stories that she made not to long ago. I have given it a go and YO! It is delicious. Recipe is from "The Pilgrim Life". It is the perfect after dinner treat and comes together quickly. Recipe calls for coconut sugar but I substituted brown sugar.

Christmas/Winter Shelfie

Miniature trees are really popular this year. Most of my trees are from Target dollar spot this year. The miniature houses are also from Target. The large glass trees are vintage and I have picked them up in the last couple of years. The giant wooden trees my husband made me. 

Looking for more of DIY version check out these trees if you have access to scrap wood and a saw

Scrap Wood Trees by Crafted by the Hunts

DIY Scrap Wood Trees by Love and Renovations

For us that want low cost and have paper and scissors

3D Paper Christmas Tree -love how you can add a battery operated tea light

Kids Origami Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving Weekly Roll

Well in the season of well stocked toilet paper and full pantry's. I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely all be it different. I thought I would offer my weekly roll early so you could enjoy after your turkey dinner.

Inappropriate Thoughts

This darn puzzle took us 7 flippin months to do.  We received it from my Mom who got it from someone else. It ended up with one missing piece. We even had to use a magnifying glass to complete the darn thing. There is itty bitty writing on the puzzle. I am seriously going to put this darn puzzle in the TRASH.

Is anyone else doing puzzles?

Linkage

There was a rare snowy owl spotted in a Seattle neighborhood. We spotted one in 2012 in our neighborhood.

Is Gratitude the Secret to Happiness?

Can you Find All the Squirrels?  It is a bit tricky

People have tracked down the mystery monolith - I kinda want to go find it

Sourdough Update

We had sourdough waffles for breakfast on Thanksgiving. I am continue to make some loaves every week.

31 Bests - Days 5-8

 Becky the owner of Project Life spotted this project to do during November. These are some things that make me the most happy or my 31 bests. These projects can be found at the hashtag #31bests on Instagram. I am a bit behind. Find my previous post about this project here

Weekly Roll

Anyone else's hands drying out from the sanitizer and colder temps. I saw this Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion Sanitizer and I am giving it a go. I thought it was a genius idea. My hands feel great. 

Remote Learning Update

Fish and Stick the minnows are still alive. The end of the quarter was last week so no more aquaculture. He picks up 2 new classes this quarter Contemporary World Problems and Photo Design. A whole semester of classes are done in a quarter.

Inappropriate Thoughts

I am another year older. Yeah me I made another trip around the sun. I really had an awesome day and even better week. I can't complain. We finally have our family under one roof and that makes me ecstatic. 

What I Read November

 Well my reading has slowed to crawl.  But I did manage to do some reading. I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit. Check out what everyone else is reading.

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

Annika Rose is a English Major at the University of Illinois. She is awkward in social situations. Her roommate helps her out a lot. She enjoys the chess club and meets a boy there she likes. This boy Jonathon brings out the best in her but something happens (read the book) and their relationship is severed.  This is a book about a female character with Asperger's - high functioning autism. I thought the story was told well. It is a bit steamy so if that isn't your cup of tea this book isn't for you.

31 Bests - Days 1-4

 A lot of people do gratitude posts for the month of November. I saw a post on Modern Story Instagram about another instagrammer - Emilybellefreeman whose grandmother kept a list of 31 Bests.  These were things that lifted her heart. I thought I could do that with the project life app (scrapbooking app). In the screenshot above it explains a bit how to make a scrapbook page in project life. So here is the beginning of my 31 Bests.

Wordy Wednesday

 

I think my current letterboard covers alot. Like not today Karen and Not Today Satan etc. 

Weekly Roll - Happy November

Found the leaf above on a hike in the Deception Park area. It was just stuck in the branches. It feels very Halloween.

 I engaged in some experimental make ahead meals this week. I made taquitos.  They were delicious.  I made a double batch. I think I have 45 frozen taquitos. This is mainly for my son's as I shouldn't eat lactose intolerant and it contains onion, garlic, and chili's so it is out for my husband. I think I could make them relatively husband safe by omitting a lot of stuff. They would be somewhat bland. 

Did you survive the full moon Halloween?

Remote Learning Update

Nothing really exciting happened but this coming week we will be half way through the semester.  That is something, right. Above is my son's fish tank he put together for his aquaculture class.

Sourdough Update

Just have been minding the dough. 

Inappropriate Thoughts

I have been practicing some Christmas music on my keyboard. I know it is way early BUT it is making me happy. It is a sorry not sorry kinda thing.

Weekly Roll

Hawk perched on fence near house

Well I feel like I fell off the planet. I had the worse sinus infection imaginable about 2 weeks ago along with a pizza burn to the top of my mouth. I seriously can't make this stuff up.  Also because of the burn and mouth breathing ended up with thrush and yeast elsewhere.  I am on the mend - THANK GOODNESS

 REMOTE LEARNING UPDATE

I had a chance to listen into my son's advisory class. They meet once a week. I want to say the kids aren't OK. I am glad they had a chance to vent. I think some of it was general teenage angst but there is sadness and anger too about remote learning. I know we all are just negotiating this the best we can. It doesn't look like high school will be going back 2nd quarter. They have started to bring back elementary kids this week starting with kindergartners and special needs students.

On a happier note my son got to help clean up the aquaculture center at the high school. In above picture he was pretending to be the Jolly Green Giant. Below he is holding a crawfish.

Inappropriate Thoughts

How the heck do they do remote dentistry? I saw that advertised at my Bright Now. Yeah I had to go to the dentist for the thrush and burn. Also my dentist is now charging a $10 covid fee. It would be okay if I saw them doing anything different other than only having 4 chairs in the waiting room which they won't let you wait in. I mean can you make a Bright Now look any more austere than it already is.