After last month of working, Darby told me that this month I need to work less and pay attention to him!
Life Update
December 5: Mom informed us that Dad only has 3 cancerous lymph nodes! Yay! He’s experienced a few bumps and side effects, but they were minor and resolved within a few days. He’s still feeling great, and he’s gone throug 3 cycles so far! His fourth one is on the 7th.
Outings/Fun/Food
December 3: Boots and Good Co. have a new drink with eggnog! I worked a little bit here on a Saturday to make up for work I was behind on. It’s an eggnog macchiato, and it was pretty good. Although, the eggnog was at the bottom of the cup, so it would’ve been better if I stirred it every time before drinking it. Still, it was good! I ordered my iced Snickerdoodle again as well.
After I did some work and returned home, Stephen and I ordered food from a little Italian restaurant that’s beside Boots. I didn’t read his messages before I left to place an order, but we placed the order and went to the pet store with Darby before picking it up. Nashville Pet Product had a sale, and Darby hit the jackpot!
I ordered the antipasto salad, and there was so much of it! I know these are so easy to make at home, but I never buy the ingredients.
Later that night, Stephen had me go to a stand-up comedian with him. It was not my thing, but he had a nice time.
I bought these to try after seeing them at Sam’s Club when I went with my mom last month. These are a bit pricey for how many you get, and they’re whole strawberries. I wish they were in strawberry slices because it’s hard to bite into them, but they hit the sweets craving!
December 5: Stephen wanted to go see a local band that was playing a set at a coffee shop. This cool mural was in the parking garage.
Before the band played, we went to Koi Sushi & Thai for dinner. We split a Mongolian Beef and ordered these sushi rolls: salmon skin, Jackson, and Florida.
The salmon skin roll was so crunchy, and it tasted amazing!
There was a fancy thrift store, Buffalo Exchange, right next door. I found the cutest cut-off sweater for $7 and an overall dress for $15.
The coffee shop was a nice little place. I ordered an iced Naples and Stephen had a Chai Tea Latte.
This parking garage had a pretty design on it.
December 7: I did some more work on this rainy day, and, you guessed it, another iced Snickerdoodle!
December 9: I was craving Tropical Smoothie Cafe and ordered a Thai Chicken Salad and a Red Sangria smoothie with an edible straw. The edible straw was cool, but it broke whenever I tried to stir the smoothie and I had to use a metal straw.
December 12: I made some Death by Chocolate for some people in our apartment complex. I made two batches: one for the maintenance staff here, the other for neighbors and friends.
December 16: Good Boots and Co. made the best iced Snickerdoodle!! I’m still dreaming of this particular one.
December 18: Alexis came to visit, and we exchanged Christmas presents!
She made me this cute little sweater mug from her work:
We ate at 615 Chutney for lunch. It was a little awkward because they sat us at a table directly in front of the live singer.
This was my first time dining in and the first time she’s ever eaten here. It was really good! I enjoyed trying a little bit of everything at the buffet.
Afterward, we went to get coffee at the Well. We both ordered an iced Santa’s Pub.
We stopped by Ulta, Petco, and Home Depot for some small things. The succulents they had must have been newly shipped because they were gorgeous and looked so healthy! I wanted to save them all, but I restrained myself.
December 22: The weather messed threw us off. We were going to leave on Friday morning, but since it was supposed to snow and the temperature was going to drop below freezing, we left Thursday afternoon.
What a cold week this was! It was freezing, but it seemed like the perfect Christmas weather, only it didn’t snow.
Mom wanted to have the brightest tree for Levi, and I think she succeeded. There were twinkling lights, and it looked pretty cool seeing it reflect off the wall.
Darby was excited to be back!
December 23: My parents wanted to have breakfast at Pop’s Restaurant, and my mom cooked for like two days straight it feels like.
December 24: My dad, Haley, and I did our annual Christmas Eve shopping. We had Panera for breakfast. Their espresso machine wasn’t working, and neither was the heat!
After shopping with Dad and Haley, Stephen and I spent the rest of the day with Stephen’s family to celebrate Christmas. We arrived back at my parents’ house around midnight.
December 25: CHRISTMAS!
I woke up at 7 AM, which is late compared to when we’d wake up at 6 AM growing up. Now that we’ve established a new Christmas routine, we can sleep in a little later.
Also, I don’t even know what time my parents woke up, but my dad made his dad’s famous gravy. I’m not a big gravy person, but I will eat this stuff by itself, haha.
There was so much more food, but I didn’t get a photo of it all. White salad is my all-time favorite dessert. It is delicious! I’ll have to make it and share it sometime.
We spent the 25th and 26th with my family, then the 27th and 28th with Stephen’s.
My brother Nick brought his computer and my siblings, cousins, and I played Jackbox Games. I’ve played it once before, but I didn’t enjoy it due to the other people playing. This time around was much more fun. Still, it made me a little nervous because I’m not really witty, and I get super nervous playing games with other people.
We played one game where we came up with T-shirt designs and my design won. 😜
My sister-in-law created the slogan.
Can you tell what I was trying to draw? They were supposed to be a macaroni and a fusilli noodle, but my sister said they looked like bacteria running away, haha.
December 26: Haley and I went on a coffee run to 7 Brew, which is a new drive-thru coffee shop that opened in Kingsport. I ordered a medium iced Blondie and it was really yummy!
Haley ordered an iced Caramel Macchiato, and it was delicious. I’ll have to order that next time! My parents, Haley and Reece, and Stephen and I ate at Stir Fry Cafe for dinner.
I didn’t take a photo of everyone’s food, but I couldn’t resist getting my Tofu Curry Basil Noodles again! Unfortunately, this time was a miss since they were really that spicy, and there needed to be more curry seasoning. I still liked them, but they’ve made better.
Stephen’s ramen wasn’t that good either. The noodles seemed overcooked and starchy, and the pork belly was not the best. He won’t be ordering that again, but that’s okay. Sometimes restaurants that don’t specialize in ramen are indicators of how it’ll turn out. He said he really appreciated Otaku Ramen after eating this ramen!
My mom ordered quesadillas, which is one of the meals she enjoys getting. Reece ordered the same thing. Haley ordered the Firecracker Shrimp, and my dad ordered fried rice.
Downtown was pretty with all the Christmas lights.
December 27: To the Hawthorne household in Chilhowie, VA! We stopped at a coffee shop called The Girl & The Raven. I wanted to be adventurous and try something completely different. It was called an iced Golden Latte. Stephen ordered a Mocha.
I don’t want to sound mean, but what I ordered was the worst coffee I have ever had. It didn’t even taste like coffee—not even a hint of it. I tried to drink it, but I only had a few sips. It was my mistake to order a drink with honey in it, but the turmeric seemed like it overpowered any redeeming taste.
Oh well. We’ve stopped by before and I liked the previous drink, but I know not to ever get that again. Stephen enjoyed his Mocha at least!
This photo of Darby and Luna is so cute, but don’t be fooled. Luna couldn’t handle Darby and his playing, so it was a hectic time trying to keep Darby away from her. He was so sad that Luna and Teddy didn’t want to play with him!
Darby loved running around on the hill! It was nice seeing a clear sky.
December 28: We ordered from a pizza restaurant in town. I ordered a Greek salad and it hit the spot.
At 5:30 PM, Stephen and I went to visit his friend Alan and Alan’s fiancée, Tricia. Darby got to play with their corgi, Edie. They loved running around and playing, only Edie was in heat recently and probably gave off some pheromones. 🫠
For dinner, we ate at Southern Craft Barbecue. We didn’t check the time they closed and went in at like 8:50 PM or so. There were still people in the restaurant eating past closing, but we had no idea and felt so bad. The former waitress in me was mortified knowing this. We felt terrible once we realized they were technically closed.
Stephen was so hungry that he ordered two sandwiches!
I didn’t take a photo of Alan’s order, but he got a burger of some sorts. His order was incorrect, but he still ate it.
We didn’t realize they closed until after we had finished eating and noticed people were leaving and no one was coming in.
The barbecue was delicious, but we’ll definitely go there at an appropriate time.
We had a change of plans and ended up leaving to come back to Nashville on Thursday night! It was the first time we ever drove back at night, but I liked it. Stephen drove, thankfully, since I was dozing off. We stopped at a gas station so we could fill up on gas, and he bought a Monster to stay awake and he got me a White Chocolate and Caramel Cappuccino from one of the gas station coffee machines. I forgot how good those are!
We left around 10:30 PM and made it home by a little after 2 AM. I was so tired, but I’m glad we got through the drive so we could spend Thursday cleaning up and getting settled.
December 29: I needed to buy some more milk since we only had a bit left, and I was paranoid about not having milk at all. I stopped by Dunkin’ for a coffee, plus I tried the avocado toast since it was a free with an offer I redeemed.
For dinner, we ordered from China Panda, which I absolutely love. Stephen tried another dish to give it another chance and ordered some Beef Fried Rice.
Chinese food still wasn’t spectacular for him. 😢 I had a mini feast and ordered egg drop soup, egg rolls, and Singapore Mei Fun. I ended up eating Stephen’s leftover fried rice, so I was set for a few days since it was so much food!
December 30: I went to Boots & Good Co. to do a bit of work to be somewhat productive. I got Stephen McDonald’s since I was planning on eating my way through the leftover Chinese food.
Other than that, not much else happened on the couple of remaining days of 2022!
Books
I surpassed my original book reading goal of 50 books, woohoo! Since I’m already behind, these will be short and sweet.
- Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens
- themes: chick lit, romance
- rating: 4
- Some things could’ve been omitted, but it was an entertaining read. Laura was a bit extreme with holding on to the mystery man’s suitcase, though. Everyone gets a HEA, but one couple seemed like a random pair that was just thrown in for the sake of a happy ending.
- Follow Me by Kathleen Barber | Instagram review
- themes: thriller, mystery, suspense
- rating: 3.5
- Audrey was super cringey, especially when she talked about her followers and Instagram. I don’t think she’s that stupid and oblivious to not notice when her computer’s camera was on as he stalked her, but for the sake of the story, I’ll run with that.
- Portrait of a Thief by Grace Di. Li
- themes: mystery, thriller(?), LGBTQIA+, Asian American identity
- rating: 3.5
- Not sure why Goodreads has this listed as a thriller, but I added that in there.
- Yes, the plot sounds ridiculous for four college students to break into museums and return stolen Zodiac heads to China, but the plot was heavily centered around what it means to be an Asian American in America. Some of their insecurities resonated with me. It was a fun read! I liked the small bits of romance as well.
- Tell Me An Ending by Jo Harkins
- themes: science fiction, dystopia, fantasy, mystery
- rating: 3.5 stars
- This book felt was super long and it could’ve been shorter. I was super intrigued by the synopsis, and I was even more curious about Oscar’s story to find out why he didn’t have many memories. It was kind of annoying how he continuously ran away from the people at Nepenthe.
- I’m nosy and wanted to know all of the memories that were erased by the MCs, but one is left unmentioned. I guess it kind of hints at what it could’ve been to leave it for the reader to figure out, but I wanted clarity.
- Slight spoiler: Two characters’ memories and lives were heartbreaking to find out. Not a complete happy ending, but I enjoyed it.
- Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
- themes: paranormal, suspense, thriller, mystery, horror
- tw: transphobia, racism, misogyny
- rating: 3.5 | I originally rated this a 4 but bumped down to a 3.5.
- The ghost story was what interested me, but things really took a turn and soured things for me. The pictures were an amazing touch for this book, and they really complemented the story. I didn’t mind the train wreck of an ending, but there were a few gross element involved as we got the big reveal. I wish it would’ve went another way and ended differently. I stayed up until 2 AM to finish this book, so it was a fun read, but, again, the big reveal was a miss for me and an awful element to weaponize something already difficult for some people.
- Whisper Island by Carissa Ann Lynch
- themes: locked door, mystery, suspense, thriller, crime
- rating: 3
- There is a typo on the very first page! Oh, that killed me. Second mistake was saying Alaska was 4 hours ahead of Tennessee. Alaska’s time zone is behind Tennessee.
- I figured out the killer right away. Everyone has a secret and ran away to this island for 3 or so months to escape reality. Their dreamy, fun escape lasted 4 days (or less for some).
- It’s a revenge story. Alluding to everyone’s secret started to annoy me. Out with it! I’m fine with the mystery of it the first and second time a character brings it up, but I was bored by the next few times—and they weren’t that big to me. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t really rooting for any of the characters.
- I was so excited to read this book, but it was underwhelming to me.
A little bummed that this last batch of books wasn’t filled with books I loved, but I’m looking forward to reading the many books I still have on my TBR list!
Orders
December 8: Darby’s order from Halo arrived! I bought him new wet food to try, and he absolutely loved it. He also really loves the chicken hearts.
December 13: Because I’m a very weak human being, I bought more succulents. The lady asked if I was interested in a Var. Blue Latte, which is a super new hybrid that has been sold to a few sellers. She sold a pup to me for such a good deal! Also, she had another ultra rare succulent, Variegated Machucae, “Baby Fingers.”
The Var. Graptopetalum Blue Latte is struggling (😢) at the moment. The three big, thick leaves have fallen off and I think it was getting stem rot, so I chopped the stub of a stem. I’m really hoping it pulls through. I’m quite excited about the Var. Baby Fingers!
December 21: I bought an Variegated Echeveria Blue Surprise from a flash sale, and it’s stunning!
A corgi friend’s mom started making homemade dog treats, and Darby and I picked them up from Birdy’s parents’ house! For the month of December, she was making batches of treats for free and Darby loved them all!
December 23: Since we left a day earlier, we had to pay to have the shipping address of another succulent I ordered. It cost more than the actual plant, 🫠 but I’m glad it made it safely!
This lovely succie is a Variegated Pachyveria Powder Puff! I can’t wait to see how it’ll look in a few months.
That’s All for December!
It was hectic, and I’m sad this time of the year is over because it’s one where we got to see our families more in a short amount of time. Hopefully we’ll be able to plan a weekend to visit in the spring.
If you’ve been keeping up with me, you’re a star. I’ll find a way to say thank you someday!
How was your December?
