Friday Favorites in the Beginning of June!

Happy First Day of June!  Today I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals  as well as  Erika from A Little Bit of Everything  for Friday Favorites!  I have to remind myself every day that it is actually:

Planning

Next weekend I'm hoping to open up my above-ground pool and install the air conditioners.  Even though it is officially June according to the calendar, it was only in the low 60's yesterday so it's hard to believe that it's spring and that summer will ever arrive.

That super tall tree is my favorite tree in the world!

What I'm Reading

Now that I am retired, I am getting to read A LOT MORE!  Here are some books I would recommend:

Good Dirt

I already loved the book, Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson, and I loved this book just as much.  In Good Dirt, ten year old Ebby Freeman grapples with witnessing the murder of her brother in their family home.  This violent act dramatically defines Ebby's life.  When she has the opportunity to house sit a cottage in the French countryside, she grabs it!  Unfortunately, her ex-fiance who stood Ebby up on their wedding day,  shows up to rent the guest house.  

If you're looking for a new book, this is definitely a book to check out!

 A Book Of Longings:

First, I love all of Sue Monk Kidd's books.  Second, the setting of this book is during Biblical times. (One of my all time favorite books is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.).  Third, the premise of the book is that Jesus gets married to Ana ~ this book is Ana's story.  Ana is a woman who knows how to read and write which was very unusual at that time.  I highly recommend this book; it's a book that I love so much that I don't want it to end!

Check Out My You Tube Channe

I never expected to be a You Tuber.  Many of my students claimed to want this job as a career because of fame and fortune.  I'm not expecting any of that; I was just hoping to maybe help another teacher with virtual learning/teaching.  However, I continued recording the books I read to the kids during snack so there are plenty of videos to check out!

Remember to check out some other blogs here:

Thank you for stopping by the blog today!  Have a fun weekend!

Happy Mother's Day and Happy May!

Happy May!  I'm excited to link up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for:

Student Drawn Portraits

My student, Blessings, drew this picture of me, and the resemblance is pretty close.  Of course, I do appreciate the long, thick eyelashes Blessings gave me!

Even after retiring last June (how is it almost a year!?), I still have all these student drawn portraits ~ they are very special!

Playing Corn Hole:

Yesterday I was browsing around in T.J. Maxx when a pink box caught my eye.  I pulled it out from underneath a display, and it turned out to be a Corn Hole game with a donut theme!

For $40, I got a one of a kind game!  If you go online at T.J. Maxx, you can get a similar version with an American flag theme right here!  We were outside in the cool, damp weather playing

Spring?:

I remember to check the weather every day lately ~ just in the event that the sun might peek out.  Here in Massachusetts, it's been a very changeable spring with 

Plus, I'm trying to not wear winter clothes which is challenging due to the low temperatures and rainy weather.

Reading: 

I have been reading online books on the OverDrive app.

Right now I'm reading Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove.  

What I'm especially loving about this book is that the main character, Meredith, is 50 years old!  She decides to jump start her life by buying a lighthouse on the coast.  How cool is that!  If you're looking for an endearing book to read, check out this book! 

A while ago, I read a really fun book, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman:

 Eleanor is completely honest and sees everything in black and white terms until circumstances, beyond her control, force her out of her comfort zone.  She is forced to assimilate into "normal" society and experience "normal" social situations which cause her to blurt out her own viewpoints ~ which are so true and funny!  If you're looking for a book that you'll remember for years to come, check out this one!

Well, thank you so much for checking in today!  Please let me know what another good book would be!  

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Spring ~ hopefully the weather is more cooperative where you live!

Also, remember to check out more great blogs at:

Friday Favorites: Sunny Savannah ~ A Walkable and Historic City!

Hello there!  We recently came back from a five day trip to Savannah, Georgia.  If you like to walk and learn about history, you'll love Savannah!  Today I am linking up with Erika from A Little Bit of Everything and Andrea from Momfessionals for:

Savannah, Georgia

This was my first trip to this beautiful city, and it definitely lived up to its reputation!  We arrived on a Saturday at lunch time and hit the ground walking.

That day we visited Forsyth Park:

It's worth visiting for several reasons:  the beautiful fountain surrounded by flowers and watching the people walking by.  Not surprisingly, we saw many photographers taking pictures of their clients for graduations or proms.

After that we headed to Basilica of St. John.  We learned that a church becomes a basilica when it is recognized by the Vatican and has a special canopy to hold over the pope, if he ever visits.

This basilica is being renovated, but look at how beautiful it is inside:

This is called an umbraculum.   It is used to provide shade for the pope, just in case he visits.

We also went to Tybee Island which is about a 30 minute drive from Savannah.  We found a super deal on Trip Advisor for $95 which included round trip transportation from our hotel, beach chairs and umbrellas.  My favorite part of the beach were these brown pelicans: 

These pelicans dive bomb for fish.  When they land in the ocean, there's a big splash.  I could have watched them forever!

Here are some other highlights of our trip:

*Going on a ghost walking tour.  Savannah is a very haunted city.

*Watching giant container ships travel on the Savannah River.  Savannah is one of the busiest seaports in the US.  If you go directly north from Savannah, you end up in Ohio so all those containers can easily access the middle of the country.

That bridge in the picture goes to South Carolina!

That's all for now.  Have you ever been to Savannah?