Monday, January 04, 2021

2020 Reading List

 

2020 Book List

89. Clouds in my Coffee by Julie Mulhern 

Guaranteed to Bleed by Julie Mulhern 

Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson 

The Deep End by Julie Mulhern 

85. The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein 

One Second After by William R. Forstchen 

The Shameless by Ace Atkins 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 

80. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron 

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom 

The Sinners by Ace Atkins 

The Fallen by Ace Atkins 

The Innocents by Ace Atkins 

75. The Redeemers by Ace Atkins 

The Forsaken by Ace Atkins 

The Broken Places by Ace Atkins 

The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins 

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey 

70. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center 

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian 

To the End of June by Cris Beam 

Broken Crayons Still Color by Shelley Hitz 

The Reckoning by John Grisham 

65. Long Bright River by Liz Moore 

The K Team by David Rosenfelt 

Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan 

Benefit of the Doubt by Neal Griffin 

Stand Your Ground by William W. Johnstone 

60. Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison 

The Connected Child by Karyn B. Purvis 

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith 

Dragonfly by Leila Meacham 

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 

55. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith 

Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon 

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter 

Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine 

Deception Cove by Owen Laukkanen 

50. The Ranger by Ace Atkins 

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith 

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith 

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

45.The Fever by Megan Abbott 

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen 

The Litigators by John Grisham 

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson 

Gale Force by Owen Laukkanen

40. Juror #3 by James Patterson

Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell 

11/22/63 by Stephen King 

Upon Further Review by Mike Pesca 

The Chef by James Patterson 

35. One Good Deed by David Baldacci 

Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak 

The Warning by James Patterson 

Without Warning by David Rosenfelt 

Down to the Wire by David Rosenfelt 

30. Fade to Black by David Rosenfelt 

Blackout by David Rosenfelt 

Heart of a Killer by David Rosenfelt 

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien 

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell 

25.The Guardians by John Grisham 

Rescued by David Rosenfelt 

Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt 

Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt 

The Trapped Girl by Robert Dugoni 

20. Collared by David Rosenfelt 

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt 

Dogtripping by David Rosenfelt 

Outfoxed by David Rosenfelt 

Who Let the Dog Out? by David Rosenfelt 

15. Hounded by David Rosenfelt 

Unleashed by David Rosenfelt 

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin 

In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

10. Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt 

One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt 

Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt 

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 

5. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes 

Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt 

Her Final Breath by Robert Dugoni 

Play Dead by David Rosenfelt 

Dead Center by David Rosenfelt



Sunday, January 03, 2021

Thursday, December 31, 2020

An Exciting New Year's Eve

Carolyn is recovering from having her wisdom teeth out so we had a low-key NewYear's Eve: Mexican dominoes and watching the ball drop on TV

 

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Christmas Day

I was afraid Christmas Day would be weird not being at home. I regretted not bringing a little tree with us! But it was wonderful-which goes to show it's always about the who, not the where. 
Coleman got a roaring fire going for us.
And the mini disco balls were a huge hit?
Santa always brings a game :D
And one of Carolyn's gifts required safety goggles!
Coleman enjoyed his book choices this year
And Jim REALLY likes Carolyn's beret. Hmm...Christmas idea for next year?
This year's puzzle was an especially fun one. Challenging but not impossible!
Christmas Day is made for napping.
Success!
Food

Breakfast: Sausage Egg Bake

Appetizers: Crab Cheesecake, charcuterie, Sausage Cream Cheese Dip

Dinner: Two Sauce Lasagna

Books

Jim: The Man Who Knew: Alan Greenspan

Christian: A Visual History of Lego Mini Figures

Coleman: The Mamba Story (Kobe Bryant) and Greenlights 

Carolyn: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

Andrea: 100 American Women Who Changed the World

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve found us at Grace Episcopal Church.
We were so happy to be able to worship in person!
It is a BEAUTIFUL church! 
Inside
and out!
There were hundreds of these needlepointed kneelers. I wanted to take pictures of them all!
Carolyn and Blake
There was a live Nativity scene and Santa Claus!
After church, we had drinks at a rooftop bar with the Suiters while waiting for our reservation. Dinner was at Burwell's and had five enthusiastic thumbs up! Coleman ordered their signature meal-and cooked his own steak on a 700 degree rock they brought to the table. We also tried Beef Tartare... 3/5 Brauns liked it. I was NOT one of them.
After dinner, we went back to the villa and put on our PJs. This year's Christmas shirts were appropriate times three!
Christian said he needed dress socks-Carolyn was happy to oblige!
Coleman's wrapping paper of choice never disappoints.
The bodysuit Aunt Amy gave Carolyn was not well received by the three men of the family.
A flurry of texting their displeasure to Aunt Amy! :D

Playing the game Aunt Amy sent the boys
And we finally were all together to watch Merry Madagascar. 
Happy Julianuary!
Our sweet dog sitters sent us this pic. Apparently it snowed on Christmas Eve at home. Lucy does not seem to be a fan!

Kiawah Island

We did something completely different for Christmas this year! Our friends offered us the use of their condo on Kiawah Island over Christmas and we decided to take them up on it! We haven't been away for Christmas since 2000, when Coleman was only six months old.

We left on Wednesday (after flying home from Oklahoma on Tuesday!) Santa's sleigh guided us there!
This may be one of my new favorite places. The island is BEAUTIFUL. 
The villa is in a golf resort and Coleman was pretty stoked to see the courses, even if he didn't get a chance to play any of them.
Christmas afternoon, we took a walk over to the beach. 
It was freezing cold
but we got some cute pics!
The ocean course (where the PGA championship will be played) overlooks the ocean.
The 18th hole
It was nice to get away and exactly what we needed!

I mom, therefore I blog.