2023 in a Wrap

2023 was a big year. I turned 30! I had a baby! I read 56 books. I tried at least 30 new cookie recipes. I also watched 2 of my siblings move far away. I went through not 1 but 2 job layoffs with Andrew which lead to financial stress and lack of insurance. As a result, Andrew and I have grown closer. Andrew got to be around our newborn much more than he would have. There's a silver lining in everything. My word for 2023 is rollercoaster. We have had some high highs (Ahem Penny) and some low lows. I'm grateful I have my family on this wild ride with me.

My matching girls! Thanks Grannie for the outfits!

I could look at my cookie goal for 2023 and say I failed. I set a goal to make a new cookie recipe every week. There are 52 weeks in the year, so I should have tried 52 new recipes instead of just 30. 30 new recipes is still a lot! I think I even forgot to write some of the cookies I tried down, so I probably made even more. Confession-- sometimes I branched out and made bars instead of cookies. A few honorable mentions for your sake (you're welcome):

• Mel's Kitchen Cafe: Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies. Recipe HERE.
• Butternut Bakery Blog: 6 layer Peanut Butter Smores Bars. Recipe HERE.
• Mel's Kitchen Cafe: Salted Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies. Recipe HERE.
• Six Sisters' Stuff: S'mores Kiss Cookies. Recipe HERE. (This recipe I found before 2023, but after reading my blog, Andrew couldn't believe I didn't include it. This recipe is well-liked by many and I made it countless times this year.)
• Becca Jackson (If the Cookie Fits): Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies.

Recipe: 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 1 cup of applesauce, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a big scoop to scoop on to a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Should be light brown on the edges, and not gooey in the middle. (If using a smaller scoop, cookies will only need about 10 minutes of baking time.)

If you have a cookie recipe that is worth my time, please pass it along!

You do what you gotta do to get those cookies made.

This year I started a secret journal where I write down how I actually feel about a book (so nobody can read my review on Goodreads). I don't want to offend anyone. Here are my opinions--take them with a grain of salt. 

GOODREADS : MY YEAR IN BOOKS

Pages read: 18, 841

Books read: 56

Shortest book: "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret?" By: Judy Blume

Longest book: "Illuminae" By: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Average book length: 336 pages

Most Shelved: "I'm Glad My Mom Died" By: Jennette McCurdy

Least Shelved: "Lasagna Means I Love You" By: Kate O'Shaughnessy

My Average rating: 4.6 stars

Highest Rated on Goodreads: "Without The Mask" By: Charlie Bird ("Highest rated" surprised me. I disagree.)

My top 9 reads this year are (in no particular order):

• "The Many Lives of Mama Love" By: Lara Love Hardin-- This book is raw, a true story, and mind-blowing. A PTA mom gets addicted to drugs and this book is about her journey in jail. There are some f words and it is heavy, but oh so worth it.
• "The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett" By: Annie Lyons-- This book is heartwarming. It's about an old woman who is mad at the world. A new neighbor moves in and becomes her best friend. It is full of voice and I got to know and love the characters.
• "The Measure" By: Nikki Erlick-- This book made me think a lot. It's a great book to discuss, so if you read it, drag a loved one into doing the same. I proposed it for book club in 2024. I can't wait to hear if others would prefer to see the length of their string or not know. (The length of your string indicates how long you will live.) 
• "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers" By: Jesse Q. Sutanto-- This book is light and witty. The main character owns a tea shop and is nosy and notices details. I fell in love with the characters and laughed out loud lots. Is it the best murder mystery you'll read, no. Perhaps it's the funniest though.
• "The Housemaid's Secret" (The Housemaid #2) By: Freida McFadden-- This book is a thriller and I binged it. I enjoyed it even more than the #1 book in this series. After reading several of this author's books, I give Freida two thumbs up. Her twists are unpredictable.
• "Happiness for Beginners" By: Katherine Center-- This book is about a recently divorced woman who ends up going to a wilderness survival course. Nothing like the great outdoors to heal and teach you.
• "Carrie Soto is Back" By: Taylor Jenkins Reid-- This book is about tennis. In case you don't know, I am a big tennis fan. It brought me back to all the tennis tournaments I've watched. If you aren't into tennis maybe it is not your jam? This book has language.
• "Prison Healer Series" By: Lynette Noni-- These 3 books are considered fantasy. Say what? They're very mild/ light fantasy. Gobbled up the whole series. Gifted this at a favorite things party.
• "Lasagna Means I Love You" By: Kate O'Shaughnessy--This book is about a child who ends up in foster care. Mo yearns for family and finds it through the most unexpected way: recipes. The book lists actual recipes and ingredients and I even tried one as one of my cookie recipes this year. (The recipe was no good, but the book was great.)

Book Club Reads This Year:

• "The Afterlife of Holly Chase" By: Cynthia Hand
• "Dinosaurs A Novel" By: Lydia Millet
• "The Dance of Anger" By: Harriet Lerner
• "American Dirt" By: Jeanine Cummins (I had already read this book and didn't re-read it this year.)
• "The Inmate" By: Frieda McFadden 
• "The Downstairs Girl" By: Stacey Lee
• "Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1)" By: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
• "The Prison Healer #1" By: Lynette Noni
• "Digital Minimalism" By: Cal Newport

Cheesy Rom Coms I enjoyed and finished quickly:

• "This Time Next Year" By: Sophie Cousens
• "Hello Stranger" By: Katherine Center (some language)
• "The Love of My Life" By: Rosie Walsh (some language)
• "This Time It's Real"  By: Ann Liang

A book I started and didn't finish:

• "All the Ugly and Wonderful Things" By: Bryn Greenwood-- Ew. I got 88 pages in and stopped. It creeped me out and foreshadowed an adult/child sexual relationship.

Books I wish I'd skipped:

• "Not a Happy Family" By: Shari Lapena-- Predictable.
• "Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan #3)" By: Elle Cosimano-- Was in love with this series until this book came out. Sorely disappointing. 
• "The Anthropocene Reviewed" By: John Green-- So much hype. Not for me. I felt like the essays were random and unrelated. I wanted more plot.
• "The Inmate" By: Freida McFadden-- I have really loved her other books, but man did the plot at the end just get more and more far-fetched and bizarre. Everyone at book club agreed.
• "Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1)" By: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff-- Not my kind of book, but I stuck it out. Lots of characters and ships to keep track of. After hearing me talk about it (mostly complain about it), Andrew read it. I really sold that one apparently.)
• "A Place For Us" By: Fatima Farheen Mirza-- So slow and too long. When I finally got to the end, there was a beautiful message, but I wished for more resolution.

I'm not going to list every single book I read. If you're mad, come search my house for my secret journal. To all the books I didn't write about, I'm sorry. I liked you at least somewhat. And to you readers, please send your favorites my way.

A few other pictures from this month...

Gingerbread house decorating

Making sugar cookies

The zoo! 

Our kids had free passes (thanks PBS kids adventure pass) and we went on a $5 weekday, so we only had to pay $10 total to get our family in. Whew, it was a zoo. So so packed. We saw the Hartwells from our Pleasant Grove ward. I'm glad we didn't pay full price for this experience. The elephants and rhinos weren't there and a slide on the playground was closed. Once we rode the carousel, that's all the kids needed. We had a terrific time even with the endless crowds and near empty exhibits. After this excursion, Andrew suggested taking the kids out of school sometime next year to go to a popular place at a less popular time. Avoid going on December 29 (The last $5 weekday). 

While I wouldn't have picked all of the events that happened this year, they are shaping me into a hopefully better person. I've even branched out of my usual gym class (high fitness) and have now added a Barre and Surge class into my routine. I went to yoga too! What! 

Stay tuned to hear my intentions for 2024! I'll give you a hint... One of my goals is food related once again...