Reading: It's funny when I look at my book journal to see what I read this year and when I did all my reading. I managed to read 28 books this year, mostly while nursing at various hours of the day and night, but there were definitely peaks and valleys in my book habits this year. I read a ton on various vacations with my folks this year because I had help with the kiddos and wasn't interrupted every five minutes. But apparently I didn't finish a book between October at mid-December. I have 4 started but none that have been finished. Maybe because of holidays, birthday parties to throw and other late fall busyness! I read a ton of Liane Moriarty's books this year--now having read all of hers that have been published. I took a break from parenting books, and didn't read much theology this year. As I look back on my list the titles that stand out as favorites were mostly non-fiction. The Boys in the Boat is probably the best book I read this year in terms of one I could not put down. It was this book that made me let my preschooler watch an extra show each day just so I could read without being interrupted because I HAD to know what happened. Such an unexpected book to fall in love with but I cannot recommend it highly enough! Orange is the New Black was another non-fiction book that has stuck with me--giving an inside look at the prison system that saddened me a great deal and brought to light things I had never thought of before. My favorite fiction of the year was probably The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes or Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty--both were wonderful stories I got completely lost in.
Watching: Charles and I finished watching The West Wing at some point this past year, and knowing how much I loved it a friend of mine gave me season 1 of The Newsroom as a new baby gift back in December. It's also written by Aaron Sorkin and I adored it! I haven't seen the other 2 seasons but I LOVED the first one. Late this fall we decided we needed another show to binge watch together and started Friday Night Lights. We are into season 3 right now and both so sucked in--such a great show that I admit took me most of season 1 to feel really committed. Over Thanksgiving weekend we flew through season 2, watching 3 episodes a night after the kids went to bed. On my own when he isn't home I'm jumping around between re-watching Parenthood on nights when I just need something familiar to multi-task to, and The Good Wife which I am loving but have to be in the mood to concentrate in order to watch. I'm only in season 1 so I'm still figuring out the characters and plot lines. Thank you netflix and amazon prime for making it way too easy to get sucked in to stories! Nashville is the only "live" show I still watch weekly--this is the year of Connie Britton apparently!
Other favorite things from 2015: Plan to Eat.com This is something I heard talked about on so many podcasts this year and finally in November I checked it out. It's a subscription based website (I think it's $40 a year, but I got it on black Friday for $20 for a year) that lets you import all your recipes from various places around the web--Pinterest, people's blogs, your email account, recipe books) to create ONE online space for consolidating all your favorite meals. Then each week you drag and drop your recipes onto a calendar to create your menu plan and it automatically creates your grocery list for you. All I have to do is go through the list and mark off the items I already have and then add the staples we're out of and I'm all set to head to the store (the list can show up on your phone). I love it. I love having one space for all my recipes and how easy it is to menu plan rather than scrolling through numerous pinterest boards or cookbooks. I still love my cook books and if I try a recipe I like I take the time to add it to my plan to eat recipe box so it's right there the next time I want to plan a menu. If menu planning is stressful for you, I'd recommend checking it out!My new boots. I've never owned boots before. Now I do and I'm kind of obsessed.
She Reads Truth. This app for my phone and website is an absolutely beautiful and wonderful way of doing daily devotions. There are all kinds of different series available through the app--their advent one was gorgeous, I've done some short series on hymns of the faith, and their January series begin a study on Genesis. I can't recommend this app enough! The devotions are short enough to be do able for a mom while nursing a baby, in line at car pool pick up or while laying in bed with a little one at night. 
My new Eco Vessel water bottle. I got so so tired of water bottles leaking, not fitting in my cup holder, and sweating all over everything. So I actually devoted time to research and found a bottle I am kind of crazy about. It fits in my cup holder, it's dual insulated and keeps ice frozen for 24 hours, has a wide mouth for filling with ice but a separate smaller mouth piece for drinking. I adore it. I pretty much take water everywhere I go so it was absolutely worth the investment to get a bottle that didn't drive me bonkers! 
Caribou Coffee's stainless steel coffee tumbler. If you have a friend who loves coffee and is about to have a baby I'm starting to think that rather than gifting baby blankets or onesies a new mommy might appreciate a treat for her. And for me with baby number 2 I realized quite quickly that I NEVER got to drink a cup of coffee while it was remotely warm. So when I was at my parent's back in February I splurged on a dual insulated coffee tumbler for myself and oh my goodness! It keeps my coffee warm for hours! Which is pretty much how long it takes me to drink a cup these days...Definitely one of my favorite things of 2015.
EPantry.com: I discovered e-pantry through the Sorta Awesome podcast and I think the fact that I love it so much makes me a bit of a nerd. But I'm okay with that. It's an online company that sells natural cleaning products and household products like soaps, detergents, paper products, hygiene items and so forth. After a few months of you ordering various things it starts to intuit when you'll run out of something and add it to your next month's order (you get an email before the order ships so you can always go in and add or remove something you do or don't need). I love that it's a small business, and tries to bring high quality natural items to you for a discounted price. And I'm a nerd enough to love it when a new box of cleaning products arrives on my porch :) I'm learning that life is made up of a few big moments but a lot of tiny, mundane every day moments like drinking coffee, cleaning our homes and preparing meals. As I look back at 2015 these are simply the things I found that I loved, things that made life a little easier, sweeter or more fun in our household. Happy New Year friends!
