The Story Of Us

Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden Synopsis -  At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year but Vasilisa doesn't mind--she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil. After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows. And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent. As danger cir...

Sheep - Scottish sheep found in the Isle of Skye. Over 100,000 sheep inhabit the beautiful island.  To read more about our trip to Scotland click  here You can buy this print  here . Get Free Shipping with code BLOGGER Prints also available in larger sizes. Contact for more information and special requests. I am open to wholesale and licensing opportunities. Get in touch for more information.                    Etsy             Instagram             Twitter             Bloglovin   

It already seems forever ago but late March we found ourselves in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. We choose this coastal destination mainly because it was off season there.. so less crowds. It was approximately a 7 hour drive.. we set of Saturday morning and we reached Kill Devil Hills late afternoon. We rented this AirBnb . It was a condo, a walk away from the beach and tons of restaurants. And so beautifully decorated. We walked over to place a take out order at Bonzer Shack and walked on the beach till our food was ready.  Day1. We had breakfast at Stack em High and then off to Jockey Ridge State Park. It is a free state park and home to the tallest active sand dunes in the eastern United States. When we walked up the first little dune and entered the main park area it was a wow moment.   They ran around and flew kites. On the other side of the dunes was the Roanoke Sound. They had a small visitor center which was worthy of perusal. Our next stop was the beach near Je...

Where are you from? Pretty simple question. Good conversation starter. We get asked all the time.. and we reply, simply, New Jersey. And if it ended there... then no problem. Have a quick Jersey related convo, you've been there.. something about the Giants.. and we move on. But the conversation has actually never.. ever.. gone that way.  And we already know what the next question is going to be. 'No but really, where are you from?' Now in our brain we are contemplating whether you are just trying to start a conversation and because you are white and have never actually experienced racism you don't know that you are making us very very uncomfortable. Or are you going to be an actual racist and are going to tell us to go back to our own country.  Thankfully that is the worst we have ever had to experience.. but we know it can get so much worse and we don't know when that day will come that we will be spit on or punched or worse.. our children standing there next to us...

  Quiraing  - The stunning green landslip found in Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is said that the Quiraing is still moving. To read more about our trip to Scotland click  here You can buy this print  here . Get Free Shipping with code BLOGGER Prints also available in larger sizes. Contact for more information and special requests. I am open to wholesale and licensing opportunities. Get in touch for more information.                          Etsy             Instagram             Twitter             Bloglovin   

Lately I haven't been feel very motivated to blog. Every day pretty much feels like the last.. so not much to inspire me to write. The kids have been going back to school. They go four days a week.. mornings only. Meaning they are back home for lunch and then log in for virtual learnings in the afternoon. Those few hours in the morning of them gone is doing us all a lot of good.  Have you heard of diamond painting? The boys just finished their recent puzzles and they were looking for a change. So I bought one on Amazon to work on together. Their excitement didn't last long.. I think they find it too monotonous.. so now I do a few minutes everyday while I sip my afternoon coffee. I find it relaxing. We finally got around to finishing up M's office space. It was originally meant to be a formal dining room. We are really not formal dining room people. We redid it the first time in 2015.. you can see it here . We had fixed it up all by ourselves and were very proud of the first...

I started the year in a reading funk. I am not too picky a reader. I have a few genres I try to avoid but I try to keep an open mind. I'll overlook a few inconsistencies if it's a fun and thrilling experience. As we do with other forms of entertainment like movies and tv. ` The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle Synopsis - Twin sisters Iris and Summer are startlingly alike, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart. Cynical and insecure, Iris has long been envious of Summer’s seemingly never-ending good fortune, including her perfect husband Adam. Iris is called to Thailand to help her sister sail the family yacht to the Seychelles. But when she unexpectedly finds herself alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, everything changes. When she makes it to land, Iris allows herself to be swept up by Adam, who assumes that she is Summer. Iris recklessly goes along with his mistake. Not only does she finally have the golden life she’s always envied, with he...