Snapshot from Along the Broken Road: March 2013

A photo of me:


1) Candle scents this month:
French Vanilla. Sugared Apple. Christmas on the Beach. Honey Blossom.

2) What I am reading this month:
I finished The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett), all 973 pages of it, and really enjoyed it, especially the last hundred pages of it. I also *finally* finished the last part of Knuckler: My Life with Baseball's Most Confounding Pitch (Tim Wakefield with Tony Massarotti). And then I moved on to a couple of easy, quick cozy mysteries: The Lies That Bind (Kate Carlisle) and Motherhood is Murder (Diana Orgain) - both the next in their respective series and fun reads. That puts me at four books completed toward my goal to read 25 this year. Now I've moved on to some historical non-fiction: Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever (Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard) - I started it just the other night and it's a real page turner!

3) Top three songs I was drawn to:
I've had the following three hymns stuck in my head for most of Holy Week: "My Song Is Love Unknown," "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded," and "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna."

4) Movies I saw:
Oz, the Great and Powerful - saw this at the theater and thought they did a really good job with it. The Ten Commandments - Easter tradition. The Bible (on the History Channel) - not really a movie, but a five-part mini series, but I really enjoyed it.

5) Calendar image for the month:
This is definitely how I remember March from my childhood: melted snow and rain make for mud, but it's too nice to stay inside!

We're just a month away from this glorious sight (as of the time this photo of the calendar was taken):


6) New recipe tried this month:
Well, I tackled six new recipes in January and another four in February. We'll just say I took March off, but I already have plans for April.

7) Restaurants where I ate:
Bob Evans. Olive Garden.

8) Five things I am loving this month:
1. Having a clothesline! There is something deliciously different about the way line-dried laundry smells.
2. "The Bible" on the History Channel. I've really enjoyed having some Bible stories refreshed and looking at some others from a different perspective I hadn't considered before.
3. These late blasts of wintry air. After a long, uncharacteristically hot January, I will take every last brisk morning and chilly evening.
4. Fresh Florida strawberries. So sweet.
5. Holy Week. I love each of the services, even the more sobering ones. Each has its own "personality" and each plays a specific and important role in my faith.

9) Three Five goals I had this month and three goals for next month:
1. Clear out ten magazines from The Stack. (Did eleven!)
2. Scan 25 more old photos. (I only did 6. Hmmm. Better than none, I suppose.)
3. Do one Pinterest project. (I used some Pinterest inspiration to decorate the shelf over the tv.)
4. Finish those two books and move on to something new. (Not only did I finish those two, but two more, and moved on to a third!)
5. Get the DVR cleared out to the point that only the most recent episode of a show might be lingering. (I managed to watch everything on that DVR except for three of the four shows that recorded before we exchanged the DVR for a different model! And I have since watched those three shows as well. I am current on every show or have only the most recent episode waiting to be watched! Go me!)

1. Flip through all of the current issues of my magazines, plus at least five more from The Stack.
2. Scan 25 more old photos.
3. Do one Pinterest project.

10) This month I looked forward to:
Trying out the new booths for Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival.

11) Something I want to be thankful for this month:
A husband that "gets" me. I watch so many friends and acquaintances struggle with feeling misunderstood by their significant other. I have been in that situation myself in the past. I am so grateful that T knows when I need to laugh, when I need to just be quiet, when I need a hug.

12) A photo I took this month: