A Look Back: May 2016

I've been meaning to try out some monthly wrap-up posts for ages, but I never seem to get around to it. Today, though, just so happens to be June 1. And I just so happen to be sitting in our hotel room on base with nothing to do while Jarrod's at an appointment. So -- let's give it a shot!

The Month

May was an unusually jam-packed month for me! The big thing, obviously, is that we moved to Hawaii. I spent a big chunk of April and most of May with my parents in Colorado as part of our military move from Ohio to Hawaii. Jarrod was taking a month-long class in Florida, and it was so very nice to actually get to spend some time with my parents and brother! Jarrod met up with me in Colorado mid-May and we had about 10 days there before we headed off for Hawaii last Wednesday, a week ago today.

Here are some highlights:

*I started May off with a visit to Dallas to see my best friend, Katie. We've known each other since 9th grade -- that's 17 years! I had a great little trip to see her. She's a zookeeper and was fostering some wild baby raccoons who were displaced by construction at the zoo, and they were just about the cutest things ever. As if that wasn't enough adorable, she was dog-sitting a goldendoodle puppy and I just fell in love with him! We also went to Fort Worth to see the daily cattle drive, got cupcakes at the famous Sprinkles, and went to Waco for a day where we visited Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Market, the Dr. Pepper Museum and Waco Mammoth National Monument (which was so, so cool!).

*My mom and I went to a painting class and played around with alcohol inks, which was a really fun girls' night! (Picture above.)

*My brother Andy graduated from my alama mater, Colorado State University, with a business degree. Being a military spouse I miss out on a lot of family events, but I was lucky enough to be able to attend this one!

*We helped Andy move from Fort Collins to his swanky new apartment in Denver. That doesn't sound all that fun, but we managed to work some excitement into the day. I dragged Jarrod to The Loopy Ewe, a huge and amazing and wonderful and awesome yarn shop in Fort Collins. (I had the self-control to only buy three skeins of yarn!) We also ate at Big City Burrito, a college favorite that I have to hit up every time we're in Colorado. (Their potato burritos are by far the best burritos I have ever eaten.) And we went to Voodoo Doughnut in Denver, a shop that has all kinds of fun and wacky and inappropriate donuts.

*Jarrod and I took a little getaway to Walden, Colorado, way up in the north-central part of the state, which just so happens to be the moose-viewing capital of Colorado! We saw probably 20 moose -- only females and young'uns though, no males. But still, I was absolutely thrilled to finally see moose in the wild. Bucket list -- check!

*Before we left, we made sure to gorge ourselves at all the chain restaurants we're going to miss here in Hawaii: Red Robin, Texas Roadhouse, Jimmy John's, Firehouse Subs, Chick-fil-a, Sonic. And I did a lot of Kohl's shopping -- another store we don't have in Hawaii. :(

*We -- and our mountain of luggage -- headed to Hawaii last Wednesday. Unfortunately, our second go-round in Hawaii isn't off to the best start and I am so very looking forward to being settled in so we can actually start enjoying ourselves!

The Books

Books finished: 6

Favorite book: "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik

Biggest let-down: "The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer

Currently reading: "June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (loving it so far!)

Had to put down: "All the Winters After" by Sere Prince Halverson (but I WILL get it again once I get my Hawaii library card! I made it about halfway through and it was getting good!)

Books added to to-read list: 7

Books added to maybe-to-read list: 10 (eek -- too many!)

Favorite Bookstagram: (below) I love the way this picture came out -- and it features a few of my favorite things: the Hogwarts crest, a book map and tea! The book was "A Gathering of Shadows" by V.E. Schwab, book 2 in her Shades of Magic series, and I totally enjoyed it. It's just a delightful series with some fun characters and an epic good vs. evil battle -- oh, and four parallel universe Londons! I highly recommend it! (find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay)

The Blog

Favorite post: 2015 Travel Recap: Colorado Part 1: Lost Lake and Pikes Peak  It's so fun reliving the memories when I put these posts together. (That's no excuse for not doing it many, many months ago, though. This trip is from last September!)

Favorite link-up post: My Summer 2016 Reading List  I'm the world's biggest sucker for lists about books. And I always have the best time putting together these quarterly reading list posts. It's a fun sense of anticipation to decide what you want to (try to) read for the next few months!

Book reviews:

"Jane Steele" by Lyndsay Faye (5 stars)

"The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer (2.5 stars)

"A Murder in Time" by Julie McElwain (3.75 stars)

"Black Rabbit Hall" by Eve Chase (3.5 stars)

Monday Musings weekly wrap-ups:
May 2: Snow, snow, snow and tattoo inspiration
May 9: Dallas trip = raccoons and tacos
May 16: Andy graduates, good books, yarn writing
May 23: Walden pictures + donuts and yarn
May 30: Aloha from Hawaii; rain sucks but it makes pretty waterfalls