The Mergenthaler Family

We had a lovely Christmas break except for the cold snap that gave me horrible flashbacks of our wind-chill winters in Iowa. I got my bi-annual haircut. My long hair was healthy, but it was just so long and felt kind of lifeless. I still pretty much do my hair the same as I used to. It’s just shorter.  We loved having Emily visit. She sewed a couple of dresses for Brooklyn, got me to do Pilates (and I was pretty sore for a few days), played games with us, did a ton of dishes, helped me teach seminary, and generally reconnected with each member of our family. We had lots of laughs and a few tears, per the norm. :) We snapped the annual pictures of kids in Grandma’s Christmas jammies which I have been forbidden to share, but since it’s our family blog and nobody actually reads it anyway, I’ll share. Hehe.  We missed Ricky, but enjoyed some fun conversations with him and his companion.  Oh, ya—Christmas story. That’s always a highlight.  Emily took the Megabus to New Yo...

I have always enjoyed reading. Of course, my reading habits have changed over time--less during my high school, college, and baby-raising years, but I never really stopped. I didn't keep a record of what I read until about ten years ago. This record has come in handy when acquaintances are discussing a book that sounds familiar. I have read so much that sometimes I get storylines mixed up. With a record, I can go back through my Goodreads account and see when I read the book and what I thought. It's also helpful when friends ask for recommendations. Lately, much of my reading is in audiobook form, which, with driving kids here and there and doing laundry and dishes, allows me to get through a decent number of books. I barely made my goal of 100 books this year, with some short stories and non-fiction works thrown in at the end. The following 20 books received a 5-star review from me on Goodreads: Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann I'm recommending this to all my friend...