Christmas Time

Honestly this holiday season has been a bit lonely and sad for me. The Christmas season is usually a time to gather with friends and family for various social gatherings (book group, cookies exchanges), a time to go to different Christmas activities (Wolf Trap holiday sing-a-long, the holiday market in downtown Washington D.C., or watch A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater), and a time to sing Christmas carols at home and at church etc. It's been weird and lonely not being able to do most of these things.

Although I haven't been able to do most of my normal stuff for Christmas, I have been able to do some things this December. 

Earlier this month, I walked around Burke Lake. (Not that walking around the lake was Christmasy but it's still an activity I did this month). 

My roommates and I made gingerbread houses. This was my first time ever making a gingerbread house so don't judge me too harshly. ;)

It snowed! Yay! Since I had nowhere to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. (It snowed one day and the snow was pretty much melted a couple of days later, but I still enjoyed it!)

My roommates and I decided to visit the drive-thru temple lights. It took us about a half an hour to get through because of the line of cars, but it was fun. The lights were pretty!

I visited Colvin Run Mill. Once again not a Christmasy thing to do but I had never been there before and it wasn't too far from my house. After I visited Colvin Run Mill, I parked at Meadowlark Gardens and walked part of the perimeter trail around the gardens.

I went to the dentist for a root canal the day before Christmas Eve. (I was so nervous about the root canal that I was crying at the beginning of the appointment and the dentist and her assistant had to speak words of comfort to me.) (This is what my face looks like when half of my mouth is numb.)

I've been reading a lot, watching movies, calling family and friends to chat on the phone, working, going on walks, writing in my journal, singing a long to Christmas carols at home, preparing for my sacrament meeting talk (that has now been postponed twice for various reasons) etc.

Funny Shows

So this pandemic has been tough in more ways than one (the understatement of the decade). I've cried more since the pandemic started than I have in the last 5 years combined. It's been a rough adjustment to what life is now, but I'm getting used to it. I miss many aspects of what life was like before the pandemic, like going to the theater, going to the library, being able to visit people in their homes, not having to wear a mask whenever I leave my house etc. etc.

But there have been positive things about this pandemic too; I've been spending more time outdoors; I talk to my family on a more regular basis; I see some of my friends more often (outside and socially distant); I've been reading a lot etc. 

As I've been learning to adjust to what life is now, I've needed some laughter in my life (I mean I've always needed laughter but especially now). Sometimes the laughter comes when talking to certain family members or friends. Sometimes it comes looking at funny memes about Covid life. Sometimes it comes while reading certain books. Sometimes it comes with funny music videos. Sometimes it comes when watching certain TV shows or movies.

I know the things I find funny, other people may not. But here is a list of shows that I think are funny and have helped me through this pandemic.

The Goldbergs (Hulu, currently watching)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Hulu, currently watching)

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC)

Perfect Harmony (NBC)

Miranda (Hulu)

Never Have I Ever (Netflix) 

The Good Place (Netflix)

The Masked Singer (Hulu)

What funny shows are you watching?

Hallmark Movies

I love watching Hallmark movies at any time of the year but especially at Christmas time. :) I've watched them throughout the years whenever I've visited someone who happens to have a Hallmark channel. I now have my own subscription to a live TV service that has three Hallmark channels and I can DVR them and I love it!

I love Hallmark movies and I acknowledge that all of them are cheesy but some are cheesier than others. And although I used to watch as many as I could, I now am a little more picky about which ones I will watch the whole way through.

I've been thinking about which Hallmark movies I like the best and will watch over and over again and I think there seems to be a certain formula that I like. I tend to like the movies where both of the romantic leads are single (no love triangles) and they both live in the same town (no just visiting their hometown for the holidays). Don't get me wrong, I have exceptions for this formula but in general I think that is the case.

Here's a list of some of the Hallmark movies that I enjoy:

Christmas 

The Mistletoe Promise

Operation Christmas

The Nine Lives of Christmas

The Christmas Ornament

It's Christmas, Eve

Two Turtle Doves

Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy

A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love

Christmas Getaway

Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays

On the 12th Date of Christmas

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater 

A December Bride

Other times of year

The Last Bridesmaid  

Love at First Bark

Recipe For Love

Bottled With Love

Falling For You

 

Are there any Hallmark movies that you recommend?

Gratitude

Since it's November and our prophet, President Russell M Nelson, encouraged us to do this, here is my gratitude list. (In no particular order). 

(President Nelson actually encouraged us to post on social media for seven days but since I don't post very often on social media this is as close as it's going to get to what he encouraged.)

I am grateful for my family. My parents and siblings are some of my best friends and I am so grateful for them. 

 

I am grateful to be an aunt. I love my nieces and nephews near and far.

 

I am grateful for my friends. My friends have kept me sane during this crazy pandemic time. 

 

I am grateful for my bookshelves. They hold and keep my books, scrapbooks, journals and playbills etc organized.

I am grateful for my car. I can run errands when I need to and can just go for a drive when I need to get out of the house. I've cried many a times in my car.

I am grateful for my own bedroom. I need a place that I can be by myself in a house where three other people live too.

I am grateful for heating. It is getting colder outside and having heat in the house and my car is awesome. :)

I am grateful for my bed to sleep on. My bed is pretty comfortable and I'm glad I don't have to sleep on the floor.

I am grateful for my clothes and shoes and socks. I like being modest and warm (in the winter time) and clothes and shoes and socks help me with both of those things. :)

I am grateful for the ability to read and write. There are many things I couldn't do if I couldn't read or write. (For instance writing this blogpost, doing my job, reading books.)

I am grateful for books. They can transport me to a different world for a little while. 

I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. It brings peace to my soul.

I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I am grateful for my computers. I watch movies and do personal things on one of them and I do my job on the other one.

I am grateful for the GPS on my phone. My GPS has brought me to many destinations in an efficient manner. :) 

I am grateful for the library. Before the pandemic, I loved visiting the library. Now during the pandemic, I've been using the library by checking out Kindle books and audio books.

I am grateful for large grocery stores where I can find all of the food items I need in one store. I've lived places where I had to go to separate stores to find the different items on my food list.

I am grateful for a washer and dryer in my house. I've lived multiple places with coin-operated laundry and one place where I had to do my laundry by hand. 

I am grateful for hand lotion to keep my hands soft (especially during the winter). 

I am grateful for music. Sometimes music helps me in ways that nothing else can.

I am grateful for musicals. I love music and I love watching musicals.

I am grateful for electricity. There are so many things we couldn't do without electricity. (For instance, use a computer and the internet, use the microwave, have lights in the house at night time etc).

I am grateful for indoor plumbing. I am so glad that I do not have to go to an outhouse when I have to go to the bathroom. 

I am grateful for cookbooks (online and physical). I have found many delicious recipes on recipe blogs and in cookbooks. 

I am grateful for sanitary products to help me through that time of the month.

I am grateful for toilet paper (all of the time but especially this year). ;)

I am grateful for doctors. I am so glad there are people out there who are willing to be and are smart enough to be doctors.

I am grateful for grocery store workers and other retail workers who continue to serve us during this pandemic. (What would we do without them?! Seriously. What would we do without them?!)

I am grateful for people who sell masks. I don't know how to sew and I've had to buy a few masks this year.

I am grateful for my job and that I can do it from home. Not everyone can do their job from home during this pandemic but I'm so grateful that I've been able to.

I am grateful for mixbook.com. I've made 5 different photo books during the pandemic and I'm glad that mixbook is so easy to use. 

 

I am grateful for cookies. I love baking cookies and I love eating cookies!

I am grateful for my slow cooker. I have made so many dishes in my slow cooker and I love it. I stick the ingredients in in the morning, turn it on, and then voila, when I'm done with work, dinner is ready. :)

I am grateful for nature. Nature has always been a place of solace for me but especially now during this crazy time, being able to get out in nature more and discover new places has been a life saver for me. 

There are so many things I am grateful for and there is no way that I can name them all. As hard of a year as this has been, there has been good in it too. :)

Wolf Trap Trail

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been trying to find new places to hike not too far from me. In my searching, I found that there's a trail around Wolf Trap. 

I decided to give it a try and I ended up really liking it. Shari joined me again for this hike.

 

The trail took us behind Wolf Trap, a side of the theater that I had never seen before. 

And we ran into some water. (Don't worry there was a bridge to cross the water.) :)

Sometimes the trail wasn't very well marked and it was hard to know which way to go but we found our way around. And although we were never far away from civilization, it felt like we were in the middle of nature.

The picture above is not an example of the not well marked part of the trail. ;)

 

It was a nice morning for a hike!

We ran into the Children's Theater in the Woods. I had also never seen this part of Wolf Trap before. It was so picturesque!

We also walked around on a trail across the street from the theater that took us to this little lake. Look how pretty that red tree was!

I've been enjoying my Saturday morning walks in new locations. They're keeping me sane during this crazy time.

Walking

At the beginning of the pandemic, I would sometimes go a couple of days without going outside. Going outside (even going on walks) made me anxious. I did go on walks occasionally, I was just stressed the whole time (which is the opposite of what a walk should do, in my opinion). 

As the pandemic continued on and I realized it wasn't going away anytime soon, I decided I needed to get outside more than I was. So I went on more walks around my neighborhood and found that going in the morning, there was less people out (so it wasn't as stressful going on a walk).

It's been about 8 months since the pandemic started and I walk a lot more than I did at the beginning of this craziness. I still like to walk in the morning (because less people) and in my new neighborhood I feel like most places I walk I can distance myself from passing walkers.

During the week and on Sunday, I'll stick close to home, but now I'm trying to find new places to go on Saturday mornings.

So far I've walked around Burke Lake twice and Lake Accotink once and I love it! I love having a change of scenery and they have nice wide trails to walk on.

The pictures in the post are from my recent hike around Lake Accotink. 

 

 A great blue heron hanging out on the dock. :)

Isn't it beautiful?!
 

 

Most walks I go on by myself but sometimes I can convince one of my friends to join me. Shari joined me on this walk at Lake Accotink.

Birthday!

 My birthday may or may not have been last week. :) It was a good day!

I went on my morning walk that day and ran into this in my neighborhood (which I had never seen before). It made me giggle. :) (I love all of the clever Halloween decorations people have come up with for 2020.)

There was a knock on the front door while I was working at my computer in the basement that day. That rarely happens (especially during the day). I looked out the kitchen window before opening the door and saw this edible arrangement. My brother, P, and his family sent it to me. It brought a large smile to my face! :)

Since there was so much fruit (and I was worried it would go bad before I could eat it all), I shared with my roommates. It was delicious!

 

A few days before my birthday, I was reminded of Kiki's Delivery Service (which I had seen before and really liked). I wanted to watch it again but there was no way to do it without paying for another streaming service (which I didn't want to do) so I bought the blu-ray. I received the blu-ray in the mail on my birthday. :)

I decided I wanted pictures of myself taken on my birthday. One of my roommates agreed to be the photographer and we went to the backyard and she took pictures of me.

One of my roommates offered to make cake or cupcakes for my birthday so I found a recipe that looked good to me and then sent it to her. 

The cupcakes were delicious!

Marshmallow inside of the cupcake!

Yes, I blew out candles. 😱

 

After we ordered take-out from Artie's for dinner, we watched Kiki's Delivery Service to end the evening. Overall it was a good day!

I received many text messages and calls on my birthday from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. I also received a few cards in the mail. 

I felt very loved on my birthday and I'm grateful for my family and friends.

Nature

I feel like I need to write right now, but I can't focus enough to decide what I should write about. For now, just enjoy these beautiful nature pictures I've taken in the last week.

One evening, I went out to my car to get something and this was the sky that greeted me. Isn't it beautiful?! (Taken on Friday, October 16, 2020)

Same evening as the picture above.

The last couple of mornings it has been foggy outside. I like fog; it can make things look cool. :) (This picture was taken this morning.)

The sun was coming up in that direction and the fog sure made it look magical! (This is also from this morning.)

I just thought this tree was cool looking! (Taken this morning.)

I also really liked this tree! (Taken this morning.) 

 

Autumn time is the best!

Books

I've been reading a lot recently but at the beginning of the pandemic I hardly read anything. Reading took too much brain power. At the beginning, all I could do to stay sane was watch movies and TV shows that could help me forget what was happening in the crazy world. It was a stressful time (and it still is stressful but in a different way). 

Now, though, I can't stop reading and I love it! Here's a list of books and the ratings I gave them (on goodreads) that I've read or listened to since the pandemic started. (Ratings are out of 5 stars).

The Merry Lives of Spinsters by Rebecca Connolly (3 stars)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (3 stars)

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson (3 stars)

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (4 stars)

The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand (3 stars)

The Spinster and I by Rebecca Connolly (3 stars)

Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis (audiobook) (4 stars)

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl (audiobook) (4 stars)

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall (4 stars)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (audiobook) (4 stars)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (audiobook) (4 stars)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (audiobook) (4 stars)

Dark Angel by Robert Kirby (4 stars)

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audiobook) (4 stars)

School for Spirits by Aron Lewes (2.5 stars)

The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour (audiobook) (3 stars)

By the Book by Amanda Sellet (3 stars)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (4 stars)

The 7-1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (audiobook) (3 stars)

The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (audiobook) (2.5 stars)

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)

Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom (5 stars)

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss (4 stars)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (4 stars)

Have you been reading recently? Do you have any book recommendations?

Burke Lake

This past week I've been thinking about where I could go for a walk to have a change of scenery. I didn't want to go too far away and I had to feel okay about going there by myself. I narrowed it down to either Burke Lake or Great Falls. I chose Burke Lake. 

It's about a 5 mile loop hike around the lake and it's beautiful! I've been there before but it's been awhile. 

 

There were a few pops of color here and there for the changing of the leaves, but I'd like to go back in a couple of weeks and see more of the autumn colors. :)

If you look closely you can see a great blue heron in the water!

I love this shot because you can see some of the autumn colors!

Isn't it beautiful?!

I took my time going around the lake and I'm glad I went earlier in the morning because it got more and more crowded as the morning went on. I think next time, I'll go even earlier. 

But I'm really glad I got to go this morning! My soul needed it. My soul really needed it.