Good Girl Gone Redneck

Sunday, September 11, 2022

I Will Always Remember

Always so much to say, and never enough, never the perfect words. All these years later my eyes still fill with tears.

I hear the voices of the people I love, reacting to my telling them I was safe, or learning that they were. Me telling their loved ones for them.

I hear yelling in the street as we left our offices.

I remember the smell as soon as we stepped outside.

I see the bluest of skies and hear the sirens before I knew.

I remember the shoes I wore that brought me across nearly an entire city.

The hug goodbye with a friend as we went our separate ways after walking together for hours.

I hear the silence. And then the sound of the subways running again.

I feel my body collapsing into bed as I looked out my window at a skyline forever changed.

We'll never forget. We'll always remember. Those lost. Those who gave of themselves to save others.

May those who lost their lives that day, and in the days and years after, be remembered always. May their memories forever be a blessing. 💗

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Barking at the Moon, Tracy Beckerman

nonfiction, book review, books, dogs, pet owner, pet parent

* all Amazon links are affiliate links*

Let me start by sharing that I have known Tracy Beckerman since June of 2012.

While that doesn't remotely sound possible when I do the math in my head, I popped over to check my Lost In Suburbia review and realize, oh. Yep. It is true.

The fortune of meeting Tracy and getting to know her over the years has blessed me with her incredible sense of humor.

And when you pick up your copy (or Kindle/iPad/eReader of some sort) of Barking at the Moon, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Barking at the Moon is the tale of Tracy's first family dog, Riley.

*Disclaimer: a copy of this book was provided to me to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.

Riley was adorable. Riley was mischievous. Riley was the sweetest and goodest boi.

GAH. Look at his face. Y'all, I am quite certain I adore this dog.

Riley had a taste for socks and underwear, and, of course, most anything he could get ahold of. It also sounds like he quite often had what I refer to as the zoomies, and was just cute enough to get away with all of it.

What I love about Tracy, and her writing, is how real she keeps things.

So while we get to experience her introduction to dog-parenting, we also get a lot of human parenting experiences in the mix. And fish-parenting. Chinchilla-parenting. Lizard-parenting. Or is it considered grandparenting if the pet is your child's? I honestly don't know. I'm the fur-baby mama to all the pets in my home at the moment.

Pick up a copy of Barking at the Moon and you'll find yourself laughing, screaming (lizards eat bugs, y'all - don't ask - just read), and crying a bit, as well.

I know there's often a saying people share, that we don't deserve dogs.

I don't know that I agree, because most people I know love their dogs so very much and truly do deserve to be loved as much in return. But I do understand that sometimes the amount of heart they have - many people are just not worthy of that kind of love. /shrug/ It's a harsh truth, but it's still a truth.

Tracy and her family deserved sweet Riley.

They also deserved the love and heart of the dog that joined their family later on, just as sweet and cute and special. Meet Monty, seen below with a copy of Tracy's book about his predecessor.

Now, what you really want to know is how you can get your hands on a copy - right?

Barking at the Moon has been marked down over at Amazon, and you can get the Kindle version of the book for just $2.99 for the entire month of January.

$2.99 is a STEAL.

So go on and grab yourself a copy. And if you prefer to hold your books in your hand so you can fall asleep while reading without dropping an electronic device on your face [come on, I can't be the only one!], you can buy that there, too, by clicking the link below:

Barking at the Moon: A Story of Life, Love, and Kibble: paperback

And get to know sweet Riley. I promise you'll be glad you did.

Find out more about my incredible friend Tracy and her other books over at:

tracybeckerman.com

And for more snippets of entertainment and great photos, head on over to tracyinmidlife on Instagram. Be sure and tell her I sent you!

Saturday, March 13, 2021

The Call of Kilimanjaro, Jeff Belanger

nonfiction, mountain climbing, Kilimanjaro, movement, life-changing

*all links to Amazon are affiliate links*

With pandemic living as it is and has been, you may have noticed that I haven't reviewed a book in a while. So when given an opportunity to do so for this book, I was hesitant, but excited.

Hesitant, because I had no idea if I'd even be able to finish reading. January was FULL of books. I read seven titles. SEVEN. Now. Ask me how many books I completed in February. Go on. Ask.

Zero. None, y'all. So committing to a book was a bit of a tricky thing. Except I knew I wanted to read this one. And I'm really glad I did.

Let me offer you a disclaimer right at the start. And it goes beyond the "this book was provided to me by the author" typical blogger detail. Author and adventurer Jeff Belanger is a friend. And so I really hoped I would like his book. But opinions expressed have nothing to do with that.

Because I really did like his book.

The Call of Kilimanjaro: Finding Hope Above The Clouds was quite the journey.

And if you know me? You know that I am not even remotely close to being a climber.

So, it's no surprise that before reading The Call of Kilimanjaro, I could have never imagined the experience.

I could have never pictured what it meant to make your way up that high. What it would be like to be above the rest of the world, feeling as though you could practically touch the sky.

I could have never understood why someone would be courageous (foolish?) enough to find themselves in a place where they would be so extremely aware of their own ability [or lack thereof] to breathe in the thin air.

But not only did I learn why one would want to tackle such a literal mountain, I also learned that the mountain itself represented so much more.

I'm the sum total of my scars and my triumphs. I don't want to change those things.

- p. 7

You know how it is, when you're reading an ebook and you're able to highlight all the sentences that represent something to you? I read a hard copy of this book, and I do not tend to highlight at all when doing that.

Which is a very slight detriment to my review - because there were so many highlights to this book that left me assessing and reassessing my own life, my own growth, my own mountains.

But don't worry, as you can see, I have a few to share.

One important lesson Jeff learned in preparation for this journey jumped out at me early on.

That hike showed me how I sometimes move through life: focusing on the goal, the summit, the end of the project. And often missing a lot along the way. - p. 84

Oh. Hi. How many of us have been there? The destination is always more important than the journey. The focus direct. The need to achieve matters most.

How much do we miss when we don't avert our eyes from where we're headed? When we don't pay attention to the path?

Fortunately this revelation came early on in preparation for Kilimanjaro. And ensured that Belanger did not miss anything on that journey. Which, I'd wager, is why I'm able to share this book with you today.

Along with great detail on how he prepared for this climb, the descriptions and photos throughout the book ensure that we feel as though we are right there with him.

We meet the porters and guides. His fellow adventurers.

We take each step along the way. Without the effort. Without the training.

We feel the temperatures drop. The air thin. Hear the wind whisper.

We feel the weight of it all. Not just what he carries with him. But of his own body and movements, every choice that he makes and has made up to this point.

We feel and sense everything.

Because he shares it with us.

I know, you already know that. Or you think you do.

But I promise you this book will give you more than you expected.

Even if you never ever (not in a million years) plan on physically climbing an actual mountain - I mean, it's a VOLCANO, y'all.

This would be where I'd insert the wide-eyed emoji.

The journey goes beyond the physical. Jeff takes us to a place we can all relate to.

He reminds us ...

With real beauty, you're imperfect, you're scarred, you're misshapen, you're weathered, but you still stand tall for all to see. - p. 154

I thank Jeff so very much for that.

And I encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself so you can join him and take your very own journey.

Grab your copy of The Call of Kilimanjaro: Finding Hope Above The Clouds over on Amazon today.

Meet Jeff and learn more about his other adventures on his website:

Jeff Belanger: Exploring the Unexplained

Thursday, February 4, 2021

January: What I Read

I've decided to start a monthly series here on the blog.

I used to keep a very long list of all the books I've ever read. I still have that archived somewhere. And I do still track my reading on Goodreads.

But.

I'm going to post at the end of each month and share the books I've read.

Which (HOORAY!) I actually have done in January.

I also used to make a goal of reading 100 books every year. I never hit that goal.

So now I'm much more realistic and opt for setting a goal of 52. One book per week. If it's possible, it's possible, if not, I won't beat myself up over it. It's still okay. But it's nice to set a small challenge anyway.

And listen, my plan was to review each book. I really wanted to do that for you. And I will try to at some point, but if I don't submit and publish this post soon I'll be adding any books I read in February to the list. So. Bear with me and feel free to ask me my thoughts on the titles listed below.

*referral links are available for your shopping convenience*

BOOKS I READ IN JANUARY 2021

The Once and Future Witches, by Alix E. Harrow

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V. E. Schwab

The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

The Pull of The Stars, Emma Donoghue

Black Buck, by Mateo Askaripour

The Chicken Sisters, by KJ Dell'Antonia

Dear Justyce, by Nic Stone

Let me know what you've been reading so far this year! Can't wait to hear what you recommend. And be sure to tell me if you've read any of these titles and what you thought.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Peanut Butter Nutella Sugar Cookies.

It's Houseful of Cookies time again!!!

And I'll admit, I'm getting this shared right under the wire, folks.

I had a different plan, was missing an ingredient, and so I decided to go with simple and delicious, with a hope that y'all enjoy these just as much as I do.

Peanut Butter Nutella Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c peanut butter*

1 c sugar

1/2 c Nutella

1 egg

splash vanilla extract (optional, but makes it better)

Optional ingredient: caramel bits

* honestly, when it comes to peanut butter I'm going to suggest you skip the health food store kind - only because I don't know how well that will do!

Steps:

Mix together the peanut butter and the sugar.

Add in the Nutella.

Toss in an egg.

Add the vanilla extract (if you want to!).

Roll into balls and bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes.

Check on them in case you're unsure of how well they've cooked. I put mine in for a bit longer and one or two cookies burned at the bottom. No clue why those two acted up. But it's okay, they're still edible!

Honestly, the cookies taste even better with the caramel bits. You can pop a few in while the cookies are just about to cool, which lets them melt a little and sit perfectly.

You can also try melting them and drizzling on top of the cookie - which is delicious and also something I did not have the capacity for this fine evening.