Hello All! First things first - I would like to apologize for my absence this past month. Life has been a bit busier but I also found out that several of my blog post links on Pinterest weren't connecting to the specific posts they advertised but instead to just the blog itself. When investigating I found that my website has been deleting several of them and the ones lost were ones I did not have saved/backed up in any way. I was a little discouraged, which left me rather unmotivated when it came to writing new posts. I will now be backing up all of my posts just in case, but I am excited to be back and writing again!

Now that that is out of the way, below are some of the books I've read/am currently reading during this new year and a little about each one. I have been keeping up through the free website goodreads.com so that I can keep track of my reading this year, as well as accomplish my goal of reading 26 books in 2020. If you are already on Good Reads or plan to join and want to be friends feel free to add me here.

French toast is one of my favorite breakfast dishes. Its' heavy sweetness, as well as the wide variety of french toast outcomes make it a very versatile dish. Two weekends ago Adam and I bought an apple cinnamon brioche loaf from the Walmart Bakery section and really went to town. The results were phenomenal, so I wanted to share. Check out our recipe, and know that you can substitute the bread for any brioche loaf you have available.

A holiday season does not go by without Adam and I trying to bring some of his Italian heritage into our kitchen. My favorite is the recipes stemming from meals in Southern Italy and the coastal cuisine! For our small break between Christmas and New Years we made a night at home to cook a delicious meal together similar to ones Adam and I have had when visiting his dad's family. We had a blast making it, and the leftovers were just what we needed to last until we left for our next adventure.

While we finished this meal with a tiramisu and a cup of espresso, we did not make the tiramisu ourselves. We are hoping to try our hand at it in the near future, so be looking out for a recipe post sometime this spring!

I am someone who consistently checks flight prices for places Adam and I are wanting to go, and this past July it really paid off! I scored really cheap flights from the Dallas Love Field Airport to PDX in Portland, Oregon, a place Adam and I have both wanted to go for quite some time now. It fell during a slower time for both of us at work and we were able to book a hotel in downtown/the pearl district so we would be in the middle of it all!

As we were planning we noticed a lack of things to do during winter months/the end of the holiday season. A lot of our friends asked why we would go somewhere so far north in January when it might snow or be really cold in general. After visiting I can say that January was a BEAUTIFUL time to visit, and if you are ever able I would definitely recommend! We had an absolute blast, and the weather was perfect. If you are looking to visit Portland, Oregon during January, or maybe just in the winter in general, here is a brief schedule of what we did and why you should check it out. It is important to note that we based a lot of things/scheduling on location and hours they are open, as well as our own jet-lag from the time difference.

Overall we had an incredible time in Portland. With the fun nature-side (and honestly so much we did not explore) as well as the great food and fun vibes of the city itself I can't wait for the chance to go back. We didn't even do half of the things we could have, but I wanted to share for anyone traveling there, especially in the winter months, looking for fun stops and things to do. Coming from Oklahoma the weather was beautiful, a consistent flow between 40-55 Fahrenheit (much nicer than the 22-60 Fahrenheit fluctuations in Oklahoma).