A Few of My Favorite Things (2018)

I'm taking a page out of Oprah's book and sharing some of my favorite things from this past year!

Ninja Coffee Bar

Last year for Christmas, Ben and I decided to get a nicer coffee machine. At $200 it was definitely an investment, but we knew Black Friday would possibly lead to a good deal. Kohl's mis-marked it for $75 and even after pointing out the incorrect price, they sold it to us for the $75! We call it the Christmas Coffee Miracle. It's currently on sale on Amazon for $125 if you've got some Christmas money to spend. The frother is my favorite thing about it (as well as the reusable filter).  It's a little more environmentally friendly than using a machine with K-Cups which I appreciate. 

D. Whigham Ceramics

I lived with the Whighams (2 of my favorite years ever) and Danielle shared her dream of starting a ceramics business.  Well, this year it happened and it's the most gorgeous pottery ever (I may be biased, but browse her photos - you'll soon agree).  I love that the mugs are microwave safe (but not husband dropping safe).  I also have several succulent pots and the plants in them are happy dudes. Check out her Facebook Page and follow her on Insta.  Her throwing videos are mesmerizing (and oddly soothing).

Erin Condren Life Planner

After years of wanting a Life Planner then settling for a cheaper substitute that I ended up disliking and abandoning, I finally bought the planner of my dreams with birthday money this year. They are currently 20% off and you can save even more with my referal code.  It is the first planner I've owned that I truly keep up with because you can personalize it to a certain degree to be what you need it to be. 

Create 365 Planner Stickers

Part of the success of using the planner consistently is planner stickers.  I was a sticker junkie as a child.  Adding stickers makes just about anything more fun. I love the Create 365 line (also available at Hobby Lobby) and have a few different packs that cover all my planner sticker needs. 

Flair Pens

I also have metric crap ton of fun pens to use.  Flair Pens are by far my favorites for using in the planner, but I also love Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and Papermate Inkjoy Gel Pens.

Silhouette Cameo 3

Technically I got this in 2017, but really put it to use this past year.  I made all of our shirts for our Disney trip, various gifts, and wall decals for our new home.  It's fairly easy to use and the software plays nicely with Photoshop which I appreciate. 

Target Photo

I've gone old school and started printing off some of my photos.  Target used to use Snapfish or Shutterfly and the quality was dubious. Now that they've gone back to just Target Photo, the quality is great for 1 hour prints. I especially love printing 8x10's to hang up in our house and the quality holds up even for a larger print. 

Goodreads

By far my favorite app of 2018. It tracks your reading and lets you follow your friends to see what they're reading too (although, don't follow your high school English teacher unless you want to find out they read some pretty risque books). My favorite part of the app is that you can set a reading goal for the year.  I'm upping my goal this year a bit after reaching 500% of my goal this year.  Also, shout out to my school library and Waukee Public Library for keeping me well stocked on books this year!

Color Story

Color Story is my favorite photo editing app. It has lots of editing tools as well as filter and effect packs you can purchase if you like.  90% of my phone photo edits are done through this app (the other 10% are with Snapseed).  Need help with making the most of your phone photography? I'd love to chat about some of my favorite tips/tricks!

It took me a while to jump on the My Favorite Murder train, but I've more than made up for it by bingeing hard the last couple months. If you are a fan of true crime, but don't like super spooky, this may be your new favorite thing. Just don't listen to it when your home alone and in your basement.  That's a really poor choice.  Trust me. 

What are some of your favorite things you discovered this year? (or what you're looking forward to in 2019 - I'm looking at you Circular Saw that arrives in a few days)

The Year of Becoming a Reader

I've been a book nerd as long as I could remember. My family is a book family.  We always got books from the book orders. My pops took us to the library. I spent my allowance at Guzzardo's Book Nook on a regular basis. I once peed my pants standing in line to check out books at school because if I didn't check them out during library time I'd have to wait a whole week to get new ones.

Somewhere around college I became less of a reader for fun and more of a reader because I had to do required reading for coursework. I'd pick up books in the summer, but during the school year fun reading went out the window. By the time I started grad school reading for fun just wasn't happening a whole lot.

So.  This year I challenged myself to become a reader again. I set a goal of 12 books.  1 per month. I was worried that was going to be too much to accomplish considering I was averaging 3-4 books a year the previous few years.

Well.  This past week I hit 50 and I cancelled Hulu+.

So, I'm sharing some of my favorite reads from this past year in case anyone is looking for a good read (Or 2. Or 10. Or whatever.)

Best Non-Fiction

My mom and I watched the movie and were rolling from laughing.  A sweet friend let me borrow the book and it was a pretty quick read.  Just as funny as the movie and written by an  Iowa author.

Best Guilty Pleasure

This series is Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.  Is it a deep thinker? Definitely not.  Is it pretty cheesy? YUP. But, did I shotgun the entire series in about a week? Most definitely. 

Best Chick Lit

The movie doesn't follow the book 100%, but it's the rare book that the differences work in the book and is easy to understand why some things had to change for the movie.  The second one is sitting on my nightstand and am hoping to get to it before the end of the year! 

Best Historical Fiction 

This book and it's sequel, The War I Finally Won, were so so beautiful. Honorable mention to, Whistling in the Dark by Shirley Hughes.  

Best Self-Improvement

My word for 2018 was Lovely so this book paired well with my mindset for this year.  I love Annie F. Downs. Remember God is also on my nightstand to read pile. Follow her on Instagram. Listen to her podcast. Read her books. She's great. 

Favorite ICCA

I've read 13 of this year's ICCA books. With 20 total, finishing the whole list before the end of the school year should be easily accomplished. I've loved a handful of them, but this is the one that surprised me the most and loved the story so so much. 

Best Free Verse

I'm not a poetry lover so the fact that I've read more than one free verse book this year is just as surprising to me as it may be to you. This one had a sweet message and was a ridiculously fast read. 

Favorite Recommendation

This book is adorable. I won't spoil the surprising way it's written, but I absolutely loved it. It's a lighthearted falling in love story that's a quick read, but will leave you grinning. 

Book I Didn't Expect to Love So Much

This was a book fair purchase last year.  It's a hefty book and honestly, was a little daunting. It took me a while to get into it because I started it after reading a string of sad/deep thinking books and it seemed like this one may be a sad/deep thinking book. I powered through and ended up loving it. Such a wonderful message and beautifully written. 

Favorite Book of the Year

This book made me think.  It made me cry. It made me mad. It made me understand my privileges. It has stayed with me even though I finished it a couple months ago. I would recommend it to anyone. 

Book I'm Most Looking Forward to Reading in 2019

Michelle Obama is one of my biggest role models and I'm looking forward to reading her book...alas I'm like 24th on the hold list at my library so it may be a while! 

My goal for the coming year is 25.  Why not 50? Well, I don't know what 2019 is going to bring and I want to make sure I don't get frustrated with my goal (because I know myself and that's something I do). Feel free to follow me on Goodreads and suggest some of your favorite reads for me to read to make next year's goal!