July Books..A long list and two books I just don't like

We are over halfway through the year and I'm about halfway through my goal of 50 books. Which, given that I was at 12 books a month and some change ago, I consider this real progress.

Okay, so the problem with reading so many books this month is that then I have to tell you about them but then also, I have to admit that there are two books I COULD NOT GET INTO. Two very popular books I'm seeing everywhere and I don't really like them? Thoughts? I really thought these would be 6-star reads based off of what I've seen on social media. Any thoughts on Mad Mabel and This Story Might Save Your Life?

But here's what I did finish in June/July: 

TL;DR-- Read Ask for Andrea if you like thrillers. It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell is a solid new release this summer. 

The Ex by Shalini Boland 4 stars

A domestic thriller that takes place in the UK. Exactly my cup of tea. 

Unreliable narration and the timeline is part of the narrative so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I was correct in my assumptions. 

It's available on Kindle Unlimited with the audio included so I recommend that. 

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter 3 stars

I can only do so much with a Karin Slaughter book. She's just not for me. This was on some highly recommended list and it was on sale in June so I got it on audio. It was fine, it was twisty, but it was super depressing. More drama than I cared for and too much going on. If you like her books, you'd like it. I think it'd make a good movie or mini-series. 

Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston 2 stars

I didn't mind First Lie Wins, her book two years ago. This one was absolutely thrilling for the first few chapters. Then I didn't care. It went off on a turkey trail with other characters and a whole second plot and I didn't know how I was supposed to keep track of it all. It was weak, to be honest. There was nothing I cared about. The first chapter in particular was REALLY good. I couldn't wait to see where it went and then.....fizzle. Nothing. I'm apparently in the minority though with the Goodreads reviews.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 2.5 stars

We listened to this in the car. Wells liked it well enough. 

But. I don't like it. It's famous, sure, but it's actually full of plot holes. And the sci-fi is weak when it comes to visualization. I suppose we could watch the movie (I feel like I told Wells we would do this and then I forgot...). I just don't like it as a book. It's very character-driven, not world-building driven. I didn't know how much more I could take about how hapless and hopeless Meg was and how *clearly* autistic Jamie seemed to be. 

The last 1/3 of the book is so rushed after the first 2/3 was so slow, and it's a very unsatisfying ending. 

The concept: great. The execution: not. I worry that when we insist books like this are classics that kids must read, we're going to disappoint kids. 

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis 4.5 stars

In case you think I have something against children's classics, I don't. The Magician's Nephew was wonderful. We listened to this on audio. I'd never read it before so I downloaded the entire series of Narnia and this is the only one we got through before I needed a break from kids' books in the car (lol). 

This is the prequel everyone needs to read. It's going to be a movie next year and I'm excited for it. I would 100% take Wells to the theater for it. We both really liked it. 

C.S. Lewis is such a good writer that there are no plot holes. It's fantasy and it's world-building and it's about characters but it's about the narrative. I could visualize it so I'm excited to see what it looks like on screen (Greta Gerwig is debatable on what she does with films so we'll see). 

If you've read or watched The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew will answer every single question you have about how Narnia came to be. I admit I have not read *past* TLTWandTW in the series, but The Magician's Nephew should be required reading for elementary school. 

This is a niche topic but I'm counting it. I read Making Words Stick for some summer professional development. It's about best practices on how to teach in alignment with the Science of Reading. I highly recommend if you are a teacher of any grade level or a parent of young kids.

Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding 4 stars

I like Robyn Harding books. They, I think, usually take place in Washington state. Some say that they are over-the-top but I think I've read them all now and I enjoy them a lot. The story moves along quickly enough, there's more showing than telling, they're twisty without being tropey. I recommend this. It's on Kindle Unlimited. This one is about a mom who doesn't fit in and makes friends with the most popular mom at the school. It goes layers and layers deep though.

Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks 3 stars

This was a crazy story. Also a domestic thriller in the UK, told from multiple POVs and it was layers deep. You don't really understand the meaning of everything until you get to the last quarter of the book. I recommend, but there's a lot being thrown at you in this book. 

The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith 4 stars

A UK thriller but much more involved and has a bit of true crime culture added to it. This one requires you to just suspend your belief a bit but it's one of those stories where no one is who they seem. I recommend it for a twisty-turny read. 

Ask for Andrea by Noelle W. Ihli 5 stars

Ugh, so good. This was such a sad story but such a GOOD book. Everything about it: the multiple POVs that tie together, the title actually has meaning, and the characters. There were moments where it reminded me of Intensity by Dean Koontz. It was a thrill-ride I had to finish in one sitting. Some of the supernatural bits got to be repetitive but I don't usually do supernatural elements in my books so that's a preference thing. 

Whoever edited this book did their job very, very well. I read it in one day. 

Forget You Saw Her by Noelle W. Ihli 4 stars

The prequel to Ask for Andrea. Also good. Very sad altogether. Again, lots of supernatural elements but the narratives and the multiple POVs all come together and serve a purpose in the end. At the moment, I'm blanking on the title's poingnantness. I don't know if there's a deeper meaning behind it. 

My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney 3 stars

I've had this hardcover from BOTM since spring. Mav chewed it up a bit. I finally sat down to finish it after I've seen it recommended over and over again on social media. 

It definitely pulled me in once I got going. It was interesting the way the characters came together in their storylines but.....I think she threw a dart at a trope wall and hit the square that said "everything, all at once". It was too much. I was left confused at the end.  

My favorite by Alice Feeney will always be His & Hers...it's on Kindle Unlimited if you haven't read it!

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell 4 stars

I am a Lisa Jewell stan. This felt like it was a combo of plot points from Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs, both 5-star recommendations from me in years past. 

I really did enjoy it but there was a lot going on. I can see how some reviewers were left confused or like they just got hit over the head with a bingo board of plot points. It was a very busy book. Non-linear timelines and multiple POVs within the timelines: Good luck. 

But, really, I liked it. 

Memes and Honey Lavender Salted Iced Latte

I had to let Instagram go for a couple of weeks for the sake of my own sanity. What that tells me is I need to cull my feed and somehow curate the information I'm getting through that godforsaken app. Easier said than done, right? Maybe that'll be a project for this coming weekend. I miss my friends there but I'm tired of having information fed to me via the algorithm, instead of choosing what I want to see.

 --Things I don't like: whiny moms trying to juggle working with daycare/camp scheduling, moms who send their kids to 4-6 weeks of camp, overdone trend posting with the trending audio, anyone saying you get only 18 summers with your kids, anyone talking to me while they're driving, content creators in general, asmr anything.--

---Things I do like: book recommendations, pet photos, life updates, truly funny reels, and recipes.---

Anyway, I've gotten into finding recipes on there. I adapted this and made it my own. We do have a nespresso but this is better with instant espresso and, dare I say, it's coffeeshop quality for much, much less. I'm not saying I have ADHD but I also am not very sensitive to caffeine...I am able, on any given day, to drink a cup of coffee and go back to sleep. I did this a lot when the kids were very little babies and were up at 5am for the day...I'd have coffee, put them down for a morning nap at 7am, and then go back to sleep for 2 hours. 

All that to say, this espresso powder works for me and has a nice kick to it. Perfect for that 2:00 pm pick-me-up (adrenal cocktail*, if you will). 

Honey Lavender Salted Iced Latte
makes 2 servings, cut in half for 1 drink

4 teaspoons espresso powder
1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons honey

2 pinches SEA salt (about 1/4 teaspoon total)

Mix the above ingredients in a mug/cup and stir well (or froth) until the espresso powder and honey are dissolved.

Add to a blender bottle or shaker with:

1 cup milk of choice

2 teaspoons lavender syrup --if you have a pump bottle, do 2 pumps of syrup

Ice

Shake and pour over ice.

These are red wine glasses. Judge away. 

I don't have fancy glasses for iced coffee and I don't like my regular drinking glasses very much. Don't we all just drink out of water bottles/tumblers anyway? On my list for maybe this Christmas since we're settled for a few years is new glasses for such frivolous uses...gin and tonics and iced lattes.

*A health-wellness influencer trend is to not drink caffeine at all and instead have an adrenal cocktail consisting of orange juice, coconut water, salt in the afternoon for a jumpstart. I cannot stop laughing at that. This is the same crowd who is 25 and childless and/or has babies or toddlers who sleep through the night. 

Scott was traveling and went to see The Odyssey. I asked him if he ever read the book. He's like "it's a movie". I said "no, like it was written by Homer" and he's like "oh, no I didn't, did you". I said "yes". 

We read excerpts of it in 7th grade and then I read it again in college for a Greek history class. Does anyone else remember actually reading in college? I feel like I was reading constantly with all of my history classes.

I can't believe we've lived in this place for 2 and a half months. I feel like we moved in yesterday and also it looks like we moved in a week ago in a lot of ways. It's always so much easier to settle into a rental because you don't have to fix/change anything. 

I saw a reddit post saying that influencers are different than content creators and, sorry, I don't buy that line. They are exactly the same. The CCs just haven't made it big enough to be an influencer but that's always their goal. 

A rare Universal Thread Win + Amazon Lately.

Last week, I talked about how I got these flat mary janes because I need some closed-toe, warm weather, kind of business casual shoes. I got them in the mail last Tuesday after I posted and then....didn't love them. I like them, but I didn't like the way they fit and I didn't like how they felt. Also, the look felt off to me. They could be worn, of course, but I envisioned the blisters that would likely result and that was enough to make me return sixty-some dollar shoes. I don't need to bleed all over them. That's for the under-20 dollar shoe range. 

So, I went to Target's app to see what they had. They had a very similar flat mary jane for $35. I was totally annoyed and disillusioned by Target's selection of shoes last fall/summer so it never occurred to me to look there; I ordered these on the app and I think there was a discount so I believe I got them for $30. I threw them into an order with all of the kids' school supplies. 

But anyway, they're a winner:

(This is where we'll take a deep breath and appreciate the groutwork the previous owner did on the tile. He owns a general contracting business. When I show the rest of his handiwork, at some point, you'll continue to be impressed.)

Meanwhile, Pinterest showed me this collage the other day and I almost cried:

It was 100 degrees yesterday.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Most of our Amazon orders for the past few months have to do with the pool. I can put together a separate pool post if anyone is interested...having a pool is quite a journey and we feel like there's a whole new section of our brains that has grown and filled with knowledge...we literally knew nothing about pools before this summer! 

So here's the other Amazon stuff that's worth mentioning:

Vacuum storage bags. This brand is a winner. I needed them for sleeping bags/comforters. I'm more impressed by this no-name brand than I've been by the name brands. I didn't use the pump, but used the vacuum nozzle.

Celtic sea salt. I heard this was a good brand. We ran out of the last kind I bought over the winter so I gave this to Scott for Father's Day. I started making these honey salted lattes and it's excellent for that. 

I had to give in and buy new rain boots since my costco-made Hunter boots fell apart last year. I always shop with #fall in mind so the plaid was the obvious choice. 

I got this tshirt because it was in a Facebook ad or something and it's fine. It was $7. It's a little thicker than I wanted to get for summer. I'd say it runs true to size. I got a medium. It comes in every color imaginable so it's not a bad deal.

I got these erasable gel pens based on an Instagram recommendation and I love them. They are perfect for my teacher planner. They write smooth, are a fun design, multiple colors, erase well...definitely the best I've found. 

One more find among the actual sea of pool stuff and tools that Scott has been ordering...

Sutton has been dealing with "hangnails" which is anything she perceives as not a perfect fingernail. It's become a bit of a fixation, to be honest, and I'm hoping it's just a phase...she's starting to grow out of it a little, but we were at our wit's end. 

Scott ordered her cuticle oil and called it "hangnail medicine". 

She uses it 5-7 times a day, I'm pretty sure. 

But as long as she's not screeching for help over a hangnail and can solve the problem herself now, I'm okay with it. 

My nails are a disaster so I should start using it too. 

Linking up with Fashion Files!

Good, Bad, Ugly: Renting in Kansas

For the last year, we had a rental house in Kansas. We knew that we weren't going to get rid of our house in Missouri because we didn't know how long we would be stationed in Kansas. If he was given some random overseas assignment after few years here, the kids and I would've gone back to Missouri, for example. We're too far into this military life to keep selling everything and starting over. The rental in KS was always going to be temporary while we figured out what was next. This past winter, we essentially decided that we'd be staying here pretty much for the rest of his career so we decided to try to buy a house and settle in.

Our lease was June 16, 2025 to June 30, 2026, so we knew if we were going to buy, we needed to get it going in March/April so we could plan a move in time. Timing was weird also because Scott was out of town for multiple weeks in May and June. 

Here's my final thoughts on our rental, now that all is said and done:

right before we handed in the keys

The Good:

The company we used was really easy to deal with. I recommend them if you're coming to the Leavenworth area. Send me a message!

Great neighborhood. Good location. Easy access to pretty much whatever within 5-10 minutes. 

Lots of kids for Wells to play with. He gained a lot of independence and physical strength this past year. Age 7 was good for him. He learned how to problem-solve, climb a tree, and ride a bike too. He also, ahem, learned to defend himself using both words and actions. 

Fenced-in yard, 3 car garage, split level with a sub-basement, and basically as much storage as we could possibly want or hope for, so it was a real find for the price.

The Bad:

The steps in a split level can be annoying. This was our first experience in a true bi-level house and I'm blown away by the amount of wasted space because of all the steps. We were actually lucky in that we had a 3 1/2-car garage so the house had a much larger footprint and the bedrooms were really big. 

The kitchen had very little counter space and the counters and cupboards could've done with updating. 

The sliding glass door track was bent so the door was a struggle to open and close, and the ugly vertical blinds were also half-broken. 

I wasn't crazy about the washer/dryer....it's always nice when there's a set in a rental but they weren't the best. They left them for us to use but said they wouldn't maintain them and it was all up to us if we wanted them. So we used them and they weren't working great by the end of the 12 months. 

There was a tankless hot water heater. This wasn't the worst because apparently there's benefits but it was a hassle. An unpredictable hassle. 

The Ugly:

The backyard turned into a flooded, muddy mess when it rained. Dog paws were impossible to keep up with. The kids couldn't use the backyard for anything because we didn't want them tearing up the grass that we when we were able to keep it growing. They honestly needed a structural engineer in there to fix the slopes and grades and reconfigure everything behind the house. 

A lot of the drywall work in the bathrooms was new; they had been updated just last summer before we moved in. Unfortunately, it wasn't done well because within a month or so, doors stopped closing because the headers were bad and shifted. Drywall cracked up above the door frames. Scott initially tried to fix the doors but the problem was the framing inside the walls and he said you can't fix that without busting into the walls and starting over. So we lived with three doors that literally didn't seal/close/lock and now I guess that's someone else's problem. It sounds bad but I don't know that they could've/would've fixed it anyway. I don't think it's a priority for most landlords (the owner had done the work himself before the management company let us move in and they're not local). It would've been a very involved and messy process.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be honest, the doors not closing in the bedrooms/bathrooms and the muddy backyard were my only real complaints. I didn't hate the place at all and absolutely would've stayed another year if this stint in Kansas was going to be temporary. As it is, we're settled in for now but never say never. 

If I were shopping the #NSale + shoe-buying

I haven't seen any Nordstrom Sale posts yet on the blogs, so I went over to the site to see if there was anything interesting. I never actually buy anything but it gives me ideas of what's out there...I'm positive this is first where I saw a Longchamp many, many years ago and then got one for my birthday that year.

Unfortunately, this year, there is not one single bag I would even consider buying. Usually they have a few nice ones but everything is "sponsored" by The Sak and my opinion is that The Sak makes the ugliest purses known to humankind and why is Nordstrom letting them take over the sale?

Take yourself to Nordstrom Rack instead and buy one of these cross-body bags ---I have it in camo bought brand-new with tags from Poshmark and I love it. I paid slightly more there because I really wanted the camo. I had a slightly bigger version in black that I bought in 2016 and I used it for years, but the strap is starting to fall apart after 10 years of regular use. 

Concerning shoes, I do have my eye on Ugg slippers this year. If they are still available when the peasants are able to shop, I might get these because it's a good deal. I saw them, or a style similar, at DSW for $95 last fall. This would be worth it. I haven't seen this color before and I like it. 

I do like these a lot: 

I'm sure I could find something more cost-effective when #fall comes around but I really am starting from the ground up with boots. I don't have any that aren't slightly falling apart. I haven't bought boots that aren't strictly snow or rain boots in probably 5 years. (I bought those great waterproof chelsea boots from Target last year and Maverick chewed up the back of one, so their use, now, is limited.)

I love this: 

I'm sure I could find a chambray shirt anywhere but I have truly worn out the one I bought at Aerie last summer, so I could use a new one. 

I haven't bought new shoes that weren't slide-on sneakers or sandals in awhile. Actually, it seems like I'm always buying new shoes but shoes aren't exciting to me. They serve a purpose. I don't care about them. 

I bought these in two colors from Walmart because they are easy for spring/summer/fall. They were $9 each when I got them...the prices fluctuate! I got camo and navy. 

I got these Reef sandals in Vintage Oasis, which I do absolutely love. 

I got these $12 slides from Target because I'm eeking another season out of my Bombas (I wear them around the house every day) and didn't want to pay $50 for another pair this year. I wanted to have some backups. These are better than the Arizona Birkenstocks (I literally threw mine away they were so awful...I tried to make them work for a few years; they were slippery and squeaky when wet--a texture-sensitive person's nightmare--and then the label wore off pretty quickly), but not nearly as nice as the Bombas. 

Then, since I'd bought two pairs of sneakers last fall and they have been worn day in and day out, I need a new pair. I'm that weirdo who won't pay more than $70 for sneakers though and they have to be actually comfortable. I discovered that the perfect walking shoe for my foot is the Nike Revolution. 

So I ordered these ones from Famous Footwear (I had a coupon) and then I ordered these Mary Janes to try and then I bought two pairs of wedges...while non-working/summer Kristin can survive with one pair of sneakers, I need a little variety for the school year. The total for all the shoes I've bought in the last two weeks is $170, which doesn't seem that bad? 

Again, Scott will say I have a lot of shoes (I don't) but they all have different purposes and shoes do not excite me in any way; they are a means to an end. Come October I will look for two pairs of boots I think...I finally threw away my much-loved booties from 2019 because they were way too worn down and stained and I'm pretty sure I got my $29.99 worth. ----just thinking about this stresses me out...I really do hate buying shoes so that's a conversation for another day. 

So many people, men and women, love buying shoes. I cannot be the only one who sees it as an actual task, right?

Linking up with Fashion Files!

Friday Favorites. Photo Catch-Up

1. Today is Wells' birthday! I'm not sure how he's 8 years old. 

2. It took a few days, but I painted the kitchen and the dining room area. It was pink before. Before that, as evidenced behind the refrigerator (which I still need to pull out to paint behind...), it was lime green. 

This is Sherwin Williams Eventide and I love it with the wood stain and I like the floor too. It's a distressed looking tile. We are going to replace the cabinets this fall-ish and I'm looking for a color; some sort of creamy gray? I don't know. Not white, not gray, not cream, but something in between. 

I was trying to decide between all of these for the wall color. 

3. The days were it rains are my favorite days because it's usually not 101 degrees in the shade. 

5. The most I'm willing to venture into outdoor play before 5pm is to get the mail. 

6. She still wants the race car cart. Wells isn't too heavy but he's officially too tall for it. 

7. Right now the kids are sharing a bedroom so we set up bunk beds (I mean, I didn't, Scott did) that were in our house in Missouri. Saves a lot of space. 

This *gestures around* is my organization project to tackle next week. Being a military family means repurposing everything all the time--this rug had been in our master bedroom in our Kansas rental. 

8. I haven't posted memes in forever. Here's what I found in my screenshots:

(That sums it up)

Linking up with Friday Favorites!