Snapshot from Along the Broken Road: January 2011

A photo of me:
Ummm...oops?

1) Candle scents this month:
Fall Festival. Mountain Pine (I did not like this one. At all. I tossed it after about half an hour.). Gingerbread. Red Berry & Cedar. French Vanilla. Frosted Pumpkin. Gingersnaps. Christmas Wreath. Hot Apple Pie. Hazelnut Coffee. Welcome Christmas. Oatmeal Cookie. Sparkling Snow. Mulling Spices. Christmas Cookie. Moonlight Harvest. Christmas Cupcake. Vanilla Caramel. North Pole. Mistletoe. Boo-nilla (yep, I raided my Autumn stash).

2) What I am reading this month:
Blogs. Articles. Magazines.

3) Top three songs I was drawn to:
"Remember When," Alan Jackson. "At the Foot of the Cross," Kathryn Scott. "Bless the Broken Road," Rascal Flatts.

4) Movies I saw:
Finding Nemo. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The Town. First Knight. The Bourne Ultimatum.

5) Favorite tv moments of the month:
Grey's Anatomy: Disarm: There were actually three scenes in this episode that really got me. The first one was when Derek is giving Meredith a difficult time for continually leaving the OR to update the wife of their patient. I loved her reaction when she told him what it was like for her to be the wife left waiting, how personally she takes this part of her job now, and how while he & Cristina have been helping each other cope, everyone seems to have forgotten what she went through too, and how she's done nothing but take care of everyone since the shooting. The second was the scene when Mer asks the family members who are waiting on the shooting victims to come up to the bridge & see the assembled members of the college holding a candlelight vigil & singing their support outside the enormous glass windows of the hospital. And the third moment was when Jackson swallows his hatred of the shooter whose surgery he could not bring himself to assist in & remembers that the scared broken mother sitting alone in the corner needs to be treated like the mother of any other patient. The kindness he shows as he crouches before her & provides the comfort of knowing her son has not died was just incredible.

6) Something yummy I made:
Devils food cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

7) Restaurants where I ate:
No restaurant dining at all this month. We did attend the local pig fest though. Yum!

8) Something that made me cry:
The story of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the amazing voice, who has been given another chance at life. And all the stories that came out of the terrible mass shooting in Tuscon.

9) A goal I had for this month:
To get my planner set up & functional for the new year. I am very pleased with the tweaks I made & we are off to a promising start.

10) This month I looked forward to:
The return of new television episodes.

11) Something I want to remember about this month:
Sometimes you accomplish more when you set just a few small obtainable goals, slow down your pace & take time to breathe, than when your To Do List is a mile & a half long, moving at breakneck speed in 38 directions at once.

12) A photo I took this month:
My camera & I have not been on the same page this month. I didn't keep a single image I took. Blah. I hope February proves better. I have a list of ideas I want to work on, so maybe that will help? And of course, the one time I was really feeling inspired, I didn't have my camera with me. So, all I have to show for January, I already shared: