Why November is my Favorite Month

You guys, it feels like life won't cut me a break recently. I wrote this blog post below in preparation for LAST YEAR'S November. But so much has happened to turned my life upside down (again.... you know how it be), that here I am posting it a year later. 

I think if I were to re-write this post, there would be some differences in tone and even style of writing, so I will spare myself all the editing and just post it as-is. 

So here you go! Pictures are all from this year (2026).

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For most of my life if you asked me my favorite month, I would have said "April! And secondly... October!" I always wanted to get married in April (And I actually did!). I love the Springtime flowers, how the world is awakening with new vibrant and lush green grass and leaves, the deep greens which especially stand out during a rainstorm!

Yep, don't get me wrong, I still LOVE the month of April. As well as October! 

But man, I didn't realize all these years, how much I was absolutely SLEEPING on November!! 

I think the very beginning of my appreciation for November started in 2019. That was a great season for me personally. I was feeling very independent for the first time in my life. I began expressing myself through makeup and finding my personal sense of style. I had a car that I loved and felt like Saint Louis was my oyster to drive around places and restaurants I wanted, go to jobs that I liked, and talked with more people.

I also was finding out my own personal tastes in music, after years of feeling sheltered in that area, which was a long time in coming. 

Also during this season, I even got a random job at a bowling alley that someone offered me, JUST BECAUSE I COULD, JUST BECAUSE I WANTED TO! I ended up having some great memories at that job, my favorite of which was bartending! I should write another post on my bowling alley times sometime. (2026 Amaris here. I DID write that post! Here it is!)

I have very distinct memories of driving to and from my various jobs during November 2019, and listening to my grungy punk music, and early 2000s indie/alternative, while admiring the cloudy skies and the dark auburns and greys of the leftover Autumn colors after the vibrancy of October. 

The next two Novembers were a little harder, which is why they didn't stand out to me as much, especially with what I was going through. In November of 2020, I was feeling burnt out and exhausted from my year of distance from GOD, and feeling relationship fatigue for trying and failing to be in ... like 5 different relationships (I THINK 5, could be more or less?? Lol - I was a mess).

In November 2021, I had found my husband at that point, we were engaged. But we were going through a lot of turmoil with our families (especially mine) which added a layer of stress and mental anguish over everything. I was having nightmares and anxiety attacks at work. It was seriously awful. My husband and I DID have our engagement photos that month however, and I love how they perfectly describe the AESTHETIC of November that I have grown to love so much! 

Skipping ahead a few years - I didn't really start to come to love November until 2024 - last year. It was the first time I didn't see November as a transition month from happiness into depression. My whole life, I hated Winter. Dark, depressing, cold, horrid Winter. Where no sunlight ever reaches (except on the occasional magical snowy day which I DID love), and where happiness cannot penetrate. It's a really bleak and sad outlook on one of God's most perfectly crafted seasons of this Earth. 

In 2024, I was on a journey. A journey to heal from the wounds left by my family, and discover how I could be a better person because of and in spite of those things happening. I was also discovering my personal sense of a healthy lifestyle. I grew up fairly healthy - but, like many young adults, I had to deconstruct my view of health and reconstruct it into something that is helpful for my life and my family and my mental health. 

Through my health journey I truly discovered the value and blessing of seasons. First of all, seasons are everywhere! And they are built in by GOD to help us honor our bodies in the best way possible. ESPECIALLY for females. The female has built in seasons with her cycle, and her entire life. 

No one season is better or worse than the others. Each one has it's own benefits and opportunities to become more in tune to your body, and more in tune with GOD spiritually. None of them are "bad". Sure, some might produce unique challenges, especially when first learning about them. But these are blessings and opportunities to learn, which yield great results further on! 

This same thing goes for the seasons of the year. For the first time, I looked forward to Winter with excitement - I realized that this culture and society has everything backwards ... it's all "GO GO GO" for Christmas time, and the "rest" is not valued at all. In 2024, I saw each month go by and drank it all in, as if it was my first winter. 

For the first time, I intentionally prioritized resting, reflecting, and pondering on gratefulness, while looking ahead to the changes coming, and being content and happy where I was at. 

I also purchased local produce when I could in order to "eat with the season", and had a few small and intimate get togethers with people I care about. I truly cherished and relished it. 

This mentally ended up carrying me all throughout the Winter. I plan to have the same mindset this winter. Because I learned that a mindset is something that you choose with intentionality. 

I can't choose what happens to me of what is going on in my life - good or bad (usually). But I can choose the mindset I have.  I can choose whether to be genuine and authentic, and trusting on GOD. I can't choose that I feel sick all the time with this pregnancy. (2026 Amaris here again... I am not pregnant! The pregnancy was 2025 me! LOL) But I can sit back and enjoy the season that GOD gave! 

So after all that... Here are some top reasons why November is now my favorite month. 

☆ The temperature is perfect for most of the month. Since I had a baby and my hormones have changed, I especially prefer cooler weather, but have always liked the crisp cool of Autumn!

☆ My husband's birthday - we always enjoy this and try to do something special every year!

☆ It's Twilight Saga Month - My husband and I have a tradition to watch Twilight movies, one each week, every November. It's something to look forward to, and often we do it in the name of my husband's birthday!

☆ It's Fall time, but without the yucky halloween. Halloween is done and gone - and I don't have to have the yucky gore and evil stuff in my face everywhere I go, and scaring my toddler. BUT it's still Fall-y enough that I can enjoy the season for a bit longer!

☆ Thanksgiving month. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, if not THE favorite of mine. It's much less marketed and commercialized, because it's about being thankful for what you have... which is a message that doesn't sell which is probably why you don't see so much of the cultural hype for Thanksgiving as you do for Christmas and Halloween. 

☆ Perfect month for hiking. My absolute favorite month to hike. The temperature, the Fall-y vibes, Castlewood State Park is the beautiful that time of year - in my opinion.

☆ The aesthetics - To me, November is the grunge-y alternative month of the year. And the aesthetic fits that vibe. It's often more foggy and grey, but still with a little color. My favorite. You might say it has the emo vibes (aka, Bring Me The Horizon weather).

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2026 Amaris here again. The post cuts off here. But honestly, I think that about covers it. Life is crazy, so, I will leave you for now.

What are YOUR thoughts on November? 

Do you like November or October better? 

- Amaris  ☆ // 

Tales From my Bowling Alley Days

The Good, The Interesting, The Bad, and The Lessons!

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✶ Memories Of My Overall Employment ✶

✰ It was a cold night in November of 2019 when I was working as a cashier at the Manchester Home Depot. I checked out a middle aged gentleman who chatted with me kindly (I learned later he was Bob).

• He asked: "are you looking for a job?"
• I said: "maybe...?"
• He asked me how much I made.
• $11.50.
• He asked: if you could make $13 an hour, would you come work for me?
• I said "...Maybe...?"
• He gave me his card, and told me to swing by the bowling alley after work. 
• "ok".

I wasn't going to do it. Truly, I wasn't. But, rather impulsively, I decided to drive over. I thought to myself: "if I don't see this Bob guy immediately, I will leave". There he was at the front. He took me to the bar area for an "interview" (He basically just asked me to work for him). I started working in the evenings, part time for $13 an hour.

✰ My first night, Bob bought me an entire pizza to welcome me, and I ate the whole thing in one sitting! Everyone was shocked cause I was S K I N N Y at the time. Little did they know I ate like that all the time! 

A picture from the time period

✰ My boss Bob was a big fan of teasing. When he found out I was homeschooled, he would tease me about it (nicely, it was all in good fun). My first night, he was teasing me about being homeschooled, and that I was "sheltered". Later that evening, I made an office reference and he didn't know what I was talking about. So I sassed him: "Who's sheltered NOW"? It made all the other managers go "OooooohhhHHH!"

✰ They let me clean out and organize their closets and storage areas. I didn't mind, cause I liked to! 

✰ After I met Cody and we got engaged, sometimes he would wait outside in the car for 8 hours, waiting for me to get off work so we could drive home together. Incidentally, my boss Bob told me he and his wife used to do that too. He said it's all part of being in love! 

✰ One night, Bob went a little too far with his teasing (accidentally)! Every night, he would set the closing alarms (which had a 90 second timer for everyone to leave and the doors to be secured) before I was fully ready with all my belongings (phone, keys, water bottle, etc.), and it was his way of teasing me cause I had to scramble to gather my things in time.
I was fine with this joke UNTIL: One night he did it, and I accidentally left my phone. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until I was in my car and everyone else had driven away!!

I could not contact my boss.
I could not call my mommy.
I didn't even work the next day.

The next time I worked, I said... "Bob, we are done with that joke". He never did it again.

✰ I was one of, if not THE most efficient people at the front desk. Not only was I really fast with the buttons, but I was also really good at explaining the pricing. As a result, customers were much less confused, which I always felt proud of.

✰ I got to write my own schedule and they just kinda let me (Bob was pretty chill if you haven't noticed). My Full Time job was Home Depot. So Bob let me schedule myself based on my availability. I guess he trusted me cause I didn't abuse this... I was pretty faithful and consistent. 

✰ About two years into my employment, I was encouraged to apply for a salaried position as an assistant general manger. I interviewed with the district manager as well as Bob. Apparently the interview went well, because Bob told me the DM said "that was one of the best interviews he'd ever conducted". I ended up turning down their offer in favor of pursuing my goals at Home Depot. 

A picture from the time period

✶ I Learned All About Bowling! ✶

✰ Maybe as no surprise, while working at the bowling alley for 3 years, I learned a lot about bowling technicalities and culture. Did you know that the lanes are oiled with this giant machine, and some patterns are harder to bowl on? The hard patterns they apply for the pro leagues. For everyone else, they apply the "easy" pattern.

✰ During my employment, I started bowling a lot myself, since employees received discounted games.

✰ Occasionally, I was allowed to go in "the back" behind the lanes and watch the pinsetters. Sometimes when the alley would close, I would walk between the lanes and look at all the pinsetters up close. I felt pretty cool being able to!

✰ While working, I was grateful for my employee discount, because I learned that bowling can be EXPENSIVE. During my employment, at most they were $19, PER GAME, PER PERSON! PLUS SHOE RENTALS!! Weekdays, they had specials (thankfully). The moral of the story is - DON'T GO DURING PRIME BOWLING HOURS.  Unless you're like, rich or something, don't let me tell you how to live your life. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

✰ If you know about bowling, you know about leagues. Leagues were fun and you came to know the same people every week. It was a pretty cool community and culture. It felt like the bowlers and employees were all a big family as one.
When I was a kid, I thought that getting 2 or even 3 strikes in a row is dang near impossible. But at this job, I learned that a perfect 300 game is fairly common amongst the pro leagues!
I also learned that there are basically three different types of leagues - a "serious" professional league, and the "just for fun" leagues, or "special" leagues, where people with disabilities would play. 

Bible study before my shift one day!

✶ Working the Holidays ✶

✰ Whenever the week between Christmas and New Years came around, I would take vacation at Home Depot so I could work extra long hours at the bowling alley. I did this cause it was fun, I got extra money, AND I liked to help Bob out, because it's the busiest bowling week of the year!
I would usually be given free food all week too! Choosing my own hours, I would typically work over 8 hours a day during that busy week. Back then, I had seemingly endless stamina, so the long hours were more fun than tiring. 

✰ On Christmas Day, 2019, I worked in order to avoid family drama. A guy who liked me at the time came to visit me on Christmas day and brought me a book as a present, and I thought that was really sweet. 

 My husband Cody during the time period

✶ Bartending (My Favorite!) ✶

✰ One day, Bob asked me if I wanted to cover some bar shifts, since they were short handed. It sounded fun, so I said "yes". On my "training night" let me make my $13 an hour base pay on top of tips. I ended up making $400 just in tips my first night ... on a THURSDAY! All the customers were so nice that night about me being new! 

✰ I only had one or two times where I had to deal with someone drinking too much. Both times, I talked to Bob. This one dude kept ordering drink after drink, at one point I was serving him some water and he was trying to order another drink - I straight up interrupted and said a straight-faced, deadpan "no"! His friends got a kick out of that response. 

✰ Once, a woman and her family came to the bar. They were celebrating with drinks and bowling because she had just beat cancer. With Bob's approval, I surprised her with a fun, fruity alcoholic drink to congratulate her! She loved it. 

My room during the time period

✶ The "Questionable" Stuff... ✶

✰ I never got a raise in my entire employment. I made $13 ever. To be fair to Bob, he tried to get me one. It was the District Manager who continuously turned it down. Saying "I didn't work enough hours per week".... which didn't make sense because even a part timer should get a raise after minimum a year of employment. 

✰ For a while, we had a new manager working with us. He was creepy and kept flirting with me, even though he had a girlfriend. I eventually had to report him for touching my butt "by accident" (he didn't last long. He had it coming for lots of reasons).

✰ Every night,  the very inappropriate "What Do You Mean" music video by Justin Bieber would come on the lane screens at 9pm (The company's intention was that they wanted their centers to be more adult-focused starting at 9pm onward. Problem was, a lot of times kids were still present even during the late hours). Employees had the capability to change the song or pick a song in our software twice per hour, as enforced by corporate. Every night I worked, as soon as the music video came one, I would rush change it to "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd instead. Always that song, every time. 9pm, each shift. It ain't much, but it's honest work (meme reference).

✰ During my time working at the bowling center, I got myself in trouble by flirting too hard with too many people who flirted with me. I had never been taught about male and female attraction, sex drive, dating, or really any part of dealing with men in the wild. So when guys were giving me attention, and I LIKED IT, I foolishly reacted positively by reciprocating, not realizing that by reacting this way, I was sending a message that I was "DTF", as they say.
I had to learn this the hard way. I did not know how to speak up for myself and say "no". Thankfully, now I know better.

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A hike I took during the time period.

I really enjoyed my time at the bowling alley. I look back on it with fondness. I learned a lot of lessons during my time. I think it's safe to say that I was a very different person by the end of my employment, and I like to think that my coworkers noticed, and hopefully gave the glory to GOD. My life definitely revolved around GOD a lot more by the end of it! 

I ended up quitting because I reached the point where I didn't need the job anymore, and my life had changed so drastically (for the better) that I didn't want to spend all my spare time at a job just because I had nothing better to do. I was with Cody at the time and we didn't need that much extra finances, so I went back to doing only Home Depot full time, and no extra part time job. 

✰  That's All, Friends! ✰ 

~ Amaris // ☆

A Quick Hello

 My Friends, 'tis I! 

Man, did I go into the summer with the best-est of intentions to post regularly every Wednesday! But alas, each Wednesday came and went and there was no post from me. I would say "I'm sorry", but am I? It's my blog, my summer, my life after all! And it's been a good summer so far! 

The unexpected beauty of my Home Depot store

I don't have a formal post structured for this right now, I just wanted to pop in (even tho it's not a Wednesday) and give a random update to say that I am still alive, and I have every good intention to start posting regularly again soon. I already have several posts in the works, I just need to pull the trigger and get them finished up! 

So... Life? 

Life with the baby is absolutely precious. My little Abram (aka "Aber", aka "Aber-diah") is almost 6 months! Malachi my eldest (who turned 3 in June), absolutely adores him. He loves talking to Abram, cuddling with him, giving him a paci when he cries, and just helping with him in many ways. I have to monitor his... "aggressive" love sometimes, but it's all well and good! 

Espresso tonics have been my go-to lately!

In other news...

I randomly decided the other day that I was DONE living in a non-painted, undecorated apartment. Our apartment is painted with the really cheap, flat builder paint, and has been scuffed pretty much as soon as we moved in. I am painting it over with higher quality satin stuff. At least starting to. I painted the very first drop of paint yesterday in our bathroom. We now have a teal blue/green accent wall. The color was "Summer Dragonfly", by Behr. It's absolutely gorgeous! Not just cause it covered all the gross looking scuffs and dirt marks on our wall, but cause the color brings such a lovely life to it! 

In the very near future, I have even MORE plans for paint, and even have another one bought already. 

Soon, I shall update this blog with some photos to see what I've done! 

Was feeling "Tumblr-Girl-y" LOL (Don't worry I wasn't actually driving here)

The other piece I mentioned, decorating, is something I'm finally doing too. A few years ago when we still had two full-time incomes (mainly 2024), I was on Facebook Marketplace frequently and collecting decor here and there that I personally liked. With the plan to put it all up once I get the final furniture I wanted and had a solid plan for paint colors and the full look. Well, as you know, the money changed, and the purchasing slowed down, and the priorities shifted from finding the last pieces of furniture to making sure the major bills are paid. 

So, I realized that if I didn't "bite the bullet", as they say, and just jump right into some colorful paint even WITHOUT a full plan, then it was just never gonna happpen. I mean, we've been at our place for 3 years. I'm tired of living in a plain white-ish walled asylum with scuffy marks everywhere! 

MORE unexpected beauty of my Home Depot store!

Already the change in the bathroom has improved my mood and overall feeling of our living situation. Because of course, my greatest desire is to have a house. But... .this makes things, shall we say, bearable! 

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Well friends, I shall leave you for now. I just wanted to come in and say "hello" to let you know that I do indeed still live and breathe as surely as the sun rises and sets, however long the sun may last beyond MY lifetime. And I shall return to the regularity of posting very soon indeed. 

Life in Motherhood

In the meantime, I hope you are all well, your summer is going splendidly, and your relationship with yourself, GOD, your family, and nature are the best it could possibly be. 

~ Amaris // ☆

Just a Few Pictures (A Blog Post Draft From 2015)

Digging into the archives again! This was an old draft that never got published. 

When I first started blogging, I didn't have a phone. So I used to take photos with a digital camera for my photos. Well, here are two of those below. I think I was planning to make a full post with "aesthetic-y" photos, like the kind you would find on Tumblr in the 2010s. And well, I only took 2 of them before life changed, I got a phone, got older, and this draft was forgotten and gone forever.... until now, that is! 

So really, for no other reason than to just "share an old draft cuz it might be interesting a little bit", here it is, unedited, exactly as written 10 years (or so) ago....

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Taking pictures is so much fun.
I don't even have an expensive camera, but I still love to take pictures.
I've been piling up on aesthetic kind of pics lately, and I don't know what to do with them, so I'll just post 'em here.
Enjoy.

Note: All of these pictures are mine, taken by my own camera and (slightly) edited using Irfanview. If you would like, feel free to use them however you want (you can even pin them) I only ask that you don't claim them to be yours. Thanks! :) 

This is a very old slide of my great grandparents, who passed away years before I was born.

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Well, that's it folks. (Yes, that's literally it LOL. Not much I know! It's very obviously a little unfinished. But I just didn't feel right deleting this one... or modifying it 10 years later, when I'm a completely different person.). 

I hope you all have a wonderful day. 

p.s. Should I get a tumblr???? Instagram came into the picture and kinda tried to be/took over tumblr, but it has gotten too big for its britches (cause Meta ruins everything they get their sticky paws on), and I, like many people, have a desire to go back in time to the simpler times of the internet. When the social platforms wasn't "enshittified" as much as now. Honestly, that's a whole rabbit hole. Heck, maybe I'll just take up scrapbooking. Ok bye.

~ Amaris // ☆

A Day In My Life (as a stay at home mom with a toddler and new baby)

Good day Friends! 

I don't know about you, but my daily routine has changed greatly and frequently in the last couple of years, what with the addition of two new children, job changes, and other typical schedule changes!

I thought it would be fun to share what a typical day (weekday) is like for me on a regular basis. Not only to share with those who are interested in knowing, but I would like to look back on this and remember what things were like for me at this point in time (when my routine has changed even again many times over in the future)!

At this point in time, I am still adjusting to life with a new baby (who is almost 3 months old), and only doing what I feel capable of, as I am still healing from my C-Section and pregnancy. I would like to add some more things to the typical routine and have been doing so slowly. But for now, this is what things look like. 

I also would like to express that I rely more on the order of routine rather than the time that something happens. If I focus too much on time, it gets too stressful too easily, having the added stress of being "late" for my morning coffee or "early" for playtime, and whatnot. So instead I focus on "what comes after this activity"? Regardless the time of day it is.

So here you go, this is how a typical weekday plays out for me as of recent days!

𖤓~𖤓~𖤓

𖤓 Start the Day with Breakfast! 𖤓

Not surprisingly, every day starts with breakfast. Typically, my husband is already left for work when we get up. I start by getting my toddler Malachi some yogurt for breakfast. He always has Greek yogurt and I will add some berries to it, whatever I have on hand. Sometimes it's diced strawberries, blueberries, or even something frozen. I make sure he gets fed first. He is capable of feeding himself with a spoon while sitting at our table. While he is doing that, I will make my breakfast. Which, recently, has been a serving of cheesy grits (I am obsessed with grits - I think I got my love for them from my dad), and either a bagel with cream cheese, or a small yogurt. I will change what I eat for breakfast every few weeks, as I like to have the same thing for awhile before changing. Before the grits and bagel/yogurt, it was scrambled eggs with vegetables and some grits on the side. Who knows what it'll be next! 

The usual: Greek Yogurt and Strawberries!

𖤓 Time for a Walk! 𖤓

After we have done breakfast, we'll always go on a walk around our apartment complex. Recently, since I have a new baby, I will bundle him up in a wrap and I will hold Malachi's hand. Sometimes I will let Malachi roam free close by me, there are a few larger areas with just grass that isn't next to any roadways or moving cars, so I let him have the freedom to walk on his own a bit. We always like to look at nature and objects as we go along. There is a "pinecone patch", which is an area underneath some pinecone trees. If we see some ants or insects, we will pause to look at those too. I enjoy taking our time on the walk and letting Malachi dictate what we stop and look at. Not only does it kill more time in our long day at home, but it's a great way to slow down and practice gratefulness for the simplicities of life! 

This is my new profile picture for the blog! I think I look very mom-like here. 

𖤓 Next, Coffee Time! 𖤓

After we get home from our daily walk, it is coffee time. I will make myself an iced latte with flavor depending on what syrups we have. This morning, I experimented and made a Salted Maple Blueberry Pancake Latte (blueberry syrup, maple syrup, pinch of pink salt, few drops of cake batter extract, few drops of vanilla extract - it was FANTASTIC). But we also have an Earl Grey syrup and Strawberry syrup right now. I always make an espresso "shot" with our Aeropress, using this video as a guide. I let Malachi help me measure the beans, press buttons to heat up the water on our electric kettle and to grind the beans, and to do some stirring. It's a special little bonding time. I always let Malachi have a little taste! While I'm drinking my coffee, I let Malachi do some sensory playin our kitchen sink with water, cups, and the used coffee grounds from the Aeropress. 

My daily delicious coffee!

𖤓 Lunch aka "Nonch"! 𖤓

(Malachi pronounces "lunch" like "nonch"!) I always prepare Malachi's lunch first. A favorite, recently, has been mac-n-cheese (which he calls "Mocky-Cheese"), but I also usually have homemade nuggets in our freezer ready to easily heat up, as well as a number of other things that he likes to eat depending on what I made for the family that week. Almost always, I will have some fruit and/or berries on the side that I chop down to size. While he is eating his lunch, I will usually do some dishes and/or make my own lunch. I sometimes eat my lunch with him, but I have noticed he eats better when he is eating somewhat privately. So I usually do a little housework while he is eating. 

Chicken with rice and broccoli, with a side of cheese and pomegranate seeds (they were in season at the time this photo was taken)

𖤓 Quiet Time! 𖤓

Immediately after lunch, we always do quiet time. This is when I give Malachi a graham cracker, and he does some solitary play in his room for 2 hours. I come get him half way through to use the bathroom, and give him one more cracker. During this time, I have my own "quiet time" although it looks different than Malachi's. I usually do 1-2 hours of my work from home admin job on the work laptop. I also might blog, do housework, play with the baby, do some screen-time (like watch a movie), eat "forbidden snacks" (foods that I couldn't eat with Malachi around, such as ice cream), or do other things on my To Do list. SOMETIMES - if I am very lucky, Malachi will put himself down for a nap during quiet time, then it's EXTRA quiet time. Quiet time is my favorite time of day ◡̈ 

A quiet cup of tea for quiet time

𖤓 Play Time! 𖤓

Depending on when quiet time happens, it may or may not be very close to when my husband gets home from work. So the time of day at this point really determines what we do for the rest of the day. Regardless what it is, we do it all together. Sometimes it's playing with toys, reading, doing an activity (like repotting plants together) or just hanging out cuddling on the bed. We do this until my husband gets home. 

Repotting a new plant! Malachi loved scooping the soil!

𖤓 Daddy is Home! 𖤓

This is another time in the routine where the activity really varies. My husband always takes a shower and makes a coffee with Malachi when he gets home. After then, frequently we will all go out on a walk together, or to the playground, and/or go to the store to shop for whatever we might need. We do this until dinner time and bedtime.

Checking out a new book we got at a book fair! 

𖤓 Dinner then Bed (for Malachi)! 𖤓

After our activities for the day are all done, around 7pm or 8pm, we put Malachi for bed after doing dinner. He can brush his teeth with minimal help, use his tiny toilet all on his own, and get dressed with help. Daddy will read a chapter of Scripture and then we will leave him to it. He has been pretty good about going to sleep once we leave the room, with no wake-ups in the night. We always give him his water bottle in case he's thirsty in the night. 

My three boys <3

𖤓 And that about wraps it up! 𖤓

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my routine! 

This routine structure is very helpful for both me and Malachi. It's helpful for me because my mental health does a lot better when I have some type of structure to my day and to my life. Of course with flexibility for when things happen or when things change. But having something right after the other helps me get through the day. For the easy days, and the hard days too. 

It's helpful for Malachi because, as a toddler, he thrives on routine and knowing what comes next. Having a set routine helps minimize acting out because of boredom or not understanding expectations. And he is really good at knowing what we do throughout the day! As soon as we are done with our walk, he is asking about coffee. As soon as we are done with lunch, he is asking about quiet time - so on and so forth. He knows! He's a smart kid, and it takes the extra work off me to have to explain every bit of every day, because it's automatic. 

Malachi checking out some flowers.

Of course, things are not always this way - this is just a typical weekday. Weekends are much more of a free-for-all. Also, sometimes Fridays are a little different, as I usually keep the car that day (which allows us to do different things out and about) and we usually run to get coffee in the morning before I drop off my husband to work. 

In any case, I hoped you enjoyed reading about my routine!

Do you have a daily routine that you go by? What type of things are included in yours?

Let me know your thoughts on my routine in the comments!

~ Amaris // ☆

It Needs to be Said...

Hello, my blog-reading friends!

I wanted to take a post to specifically address something that, whether we like it or not, affects all of us in the current technological landscape. Something that is, unfortunately, almost inescapable on the internet at this point in time. 

That's right, I'm talking about AI. 

Recently, if you have been on the internet AT ALL, you know that ai is absolutely and completely EVERYWHERE. Every single website, it seems, definitely all the major ones, have some type of ai "help tool" or search engine for users. 

I'll be straight from the get-go. I am not here to write a full post about the goods or the bads or the uglies of ai. I'm not here to stand on a soapbox, or preach anything about anything, or compare opinions or moralities of any of this. Heaven knows that it is a crazy wild west out there with ai, what with how it's used, whether or not it's truly helpful in some ways, the data center controversy, the artist theft, and much, much more. 

My intention is not to address any of that in detail today. I simply wanted to assure each and every reader, that this IS, and HAS ALWAYS BEEN, an AI-Free Blog. And I intend to keep it that way. 

What I'm not saying is that I've never pulled up ai to help me figure out a word or two to use based on what I'm trying to express. It has been used as a dictionary/thesaurus and search engine type tool multiple times. But I have never and will never ask ai to spit out a full blog post for me. I believe that would be disingenuous, and frankly dishonest. Dare I say, even unethical. Not to mention it takes away one of the main purposes of this blog, which is to HAVE FUN by writing posts!

When you visit The Storybook Journal (which has been around for longer than 10 years at this point!) you are coming to read a slice of Amaris, her psyche, her ramblings, and her life. Me, and only me, Amaris (...though, if you look back far enough, I used to call myself "Phoebe" on this blog! My mom had me scared that someone was going to read my teeny tiny, barely-a drop-in-the-unimaginably-vast-bucket-that-is the-internet-blog and come and stalk me just based on my name... LOL). 

So anyways, what I'm saying is, despite the changing technology landscape, past, present, and future, this blog will remain the same as it always has. It will continue to be a digital journal, with ramblings of life and its emotions, ups, downs, and complexities. Another one of many (though still unique) perspectives of life, GOD, love, happiness, feelings, books, movies, coffee beverages, family, and marriage. 

And I seal this with a typed promise on my sidebar, which reads: 

"This is an AI-free blog"! 

This is my promise and vow to you, the reader! 

☆~☆~☆

There is one other note I had to convey, on a different subject. 

As you might know from recent previous posts, I had a baby in February (hooray!). And with the pregnancy craziness and the birth craziness, of course then followed by the newborn craziness, my posting schedule for this blog has gone a little awry. I WAS doing every Wednesday to post, and it was a pretty good schedule for me. My plan is to get back to that again, now that my schedule and routine is settling in with the new baby and my new normal! I know that I don't have very many regular readers, and that's ok. But for the readers I do have, I just wanted to remain communicative. I have been guilty of getting wrapped up in life for months at a time without even looking at this blog, much less opening up the drafts to write a post. But I wanted to continue posting on here somewhat regularly because it is a source of great enjoyment for me, as it has been for 10 long years! 

That all being said, I know I am a little late this week and am posting on Thursday. But I wanted to share that my intention is to do Wednesday every week, so that can be something we can all look forward to!

☆~☆~☆

Well, that is all, my friends. Thank you for reading. Thank you for coming back to my blog, again and again, to peek into my tiny corner in a sea of internet blogs, in a day and age where blogs are somewhat antiquated and dare I say, even out of style! But despite all that, thank you for being here, and thank you for reading! 

Until next time. ◡̈

~ Amaris // ☆

Showing Off My Bag Pins & Patches!

 I first got my Fjällräven Kånken bag in 2018. I needed a bag, and I liked the style of those particular bags. I went with a nice neutral brown, with the purpose of having it always matching my outfit and my style. I also intended from the beginning to deck it out with patches, pins, and keychains as I came across them. 

The Full bag, in all it's glory - including all pins and patches up to this point! (Sadly, the yellow tassel on the right came apart shortly after this photo, and had to be discarded).

But, I purposefully avoided seeking out pins and patches intentionally just to collect. I only wanted to include pieces that meant something to me personally. And so, over the past 8 years, I have slowly and thoughtfully added the pieces that are on there now. Sorta like a mobile scrapbook journal but with pins & patches. As a result, I have a bag that means a lot to me, has seen me through many seasons of life, and isn't chock-full of meaningless over-consumed trinkets. 

As an aside, this item turned out to be an incredible purchase as the bag has held up amazingly well, and I think it's one of my now-favorite Buy It For Life items!

Anyways, I thought I would set aside a post and give you a little tour of what is on my bag, and what each thing means! 

~*~*~*~

✧ I ❤︎⁠ Boro Pin

This button came from a coffee shop called Boro Coffee Co. that me and my husband and oldest son visited when we went to Pennsylvania to visit my father who lives up there. The coffee itself wasn't the best, but it was a sweet trip that we took with my dad and we enjoyed the outing, and this button is a great item to remember the trip by. 

✧ MABOI Missouri Pin

This is a very special keepsake pin coming from my dad. I always get a little forgetful when I think about what the pin is EXACTLY about, so here are my dad's words: "MABOI is a Missouri organization of about 400 members, mostly in the St. louis/St. Charles area. Building officials, building inspectors, fire marshals and fire inspectors, plan reviewers are all members. I was a member for 30+ years and also served on the board of directors. I was President 2000-2001." -My Dad

✧ Sump Coffee Pin

The skull is modeled after Scott, the owner and founder of Sump Coffee. Below is a coffee branch and a portafilter.

This pin showcases one of my favorite coffee shops in Saint Louis: Sump Coffee. This shop is a favorite because I've been there the most times after Course Coffee. They have really quality drinks and also the shop aesthetic is so cool! If you're ever in the Saint Louis area, you gotta stop by this one. I will say, they switched to dark roast not too long ago and so I don't like the taste of their coffee as much as I did in the past, but they will still deliver a quality cup that's worth stopping by.

✧ Boy Scouts Patch

This is one of the only patches in that the design itself has nothing to do with me personally. This patch is special because I found it in an antique shop in Hannibal, MO on a little weekend trip in October of 2018 and thought the aesthetic matched the bag perfectly. I also just really liked the patch itself and it was a great take-home souvenir for the trip!

✧ The Mud House Button

When my husband Cody and I first got married, we did our honeymoon around Saint Louis, trying many different coffee shops in our area of Saint Louis and Saint Charles (there are a lot!). We called it a "CoffeeMoon". One of the places we stopped at was The Mud House in Saint Louis. I love that I got this button to not only remember the place, but I like having a button to remember the CoffeeMoon by. 

✧ American Flag Patch

I don't remember exactly where I got this patch. I believe I got it at an antique shop. I have no idea why the flag is backwards, I can only guess it was sewn wrong during production. The symbolism in this one is obvious, in that it reflects my American heritage!

✧ NASA Apollo 11 Patch

I had a cool NASA pin on the day we went to this attraction as well, but unfortunately it broke awhile back and I had to remove it from the bag. 

This is a really cool patch that I got at the Saint Louis Science Center in August of 2018. They were doing a special exhibition about the Moon Landing and Apollo 11. It was a really cool event and they even had the full Apollo 11 Command Module on display! I have always been fascinated by space facts and space exploration, so this patch not only commemorates the cool trip to the Science Center, but also my love of space in general!

✧ Vertical Harvest Bible Chapel Gold & Silver Pins

From age 8-ish to age 18-ish, I attended Harvest Bible Chapel, Saint Louis West location, which was part of a larger chain of church plants in the US, originally stemming from Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, led by James McDonald (former pastor), none of which is any longer actively existing. At our church location, they gave one pin to those who had been there 5 years, and 10 years. I don't remember which finish (gold or silver) was given to which tenure. But, somehow I still have both pins even though it's been 10 years since I even went to that church. I must say it wasn't my favorite church experience, but I went there during the formative years of my teenage years and thus the church and especially the bible study experiences I had there had a great impact on my walk with GOD and on me as a person. So, I look back with general fondness on the whole period. 

✧ Home Depot Associate of the Month Pin

Definitely the most damaged item on the bag, this is one of two Home Depot related items on my pin. I received Associate of the Month recognition a handful of times throughout my employment since 2019. I have always loved working there and enjoyed being with the people I get to meet while working, both customers and fellow associates. This pin commemorates my time at the stores, and working from home for awhile too!

✧ Home Depot Platinum Patch

This one the threads are coming off a little bit, I need to go over it to secure it onto the bag!

This is the second of the Home Depot items on the bag. When you do something as an associate worth recognition, leadership will, at times, award a "Homer Award". It comes with a patch and a little paper with what you're being recognized for. Every 3 homers received equals a small bonus on the next paycheck as well! And every 12 homers is a milestone called the Platinum - with the Platinum you not only receive a small cash bonus, but you get to pick a prize from a collection of goods (So far, my three Platinums I chose - a knife set, an air fryer, and a food processor. They have items to pick other than kitchen items, but I always go for those! Yes, I still use all three!). The next time I reach 12 total homers, I will receive a Diamond, which is the highest award you can receive. Apparently you get an even nicer prize choice, and you get a pin with a real diamond in it. That will be a great future pin to add!

✧ MAMA & Stay The Course Keychains

These are the two keychains I currently have on my bag. The first one, Mama, is from a care box that was sent to me by a friend when I was pregnant with my first son, Malachi. I love having it on the bag, because being a mama is obviously a huge part of my life and who I am now. The second one is from Course Coffee Roasters, which I have praised on the blog many a time before. It is one of several pieces from Course on the bag, to commemorate my love for that place!

✧ Garnet Birthstone Angel Pin

I love that I have a birthday in January. I feel like a lot of people are born in May, June, July, you know, summer months. I don’t meet that many people who have birthdays in January, and it just makes me feel special because I LOVE Wintertime. Obviously, a January birthday is part of who I am, so I have this angel pin that has garnet, which is the January birthstone. I have no idea where I got this pin, but I think it's really cute and precious! It's the only "blingy" item currently on the bag. 

✧ Blueprint Pin

This pin is another from a local coffee shop. This one is from Blueprint Coffee. I personally don't go there anymore, but I still like the pin and like supporting local coffee, so on the bag it remains. I do love the brake shop location, though, it has similar vibes to Upshot Coffee Brake Shop in St. Charles.

✧ Flower Pin

This one is one of my favorites on the bag, and it is the largest! It has three pin backs to it, it's so big. This one I got at one of my favorite nurseries here in Saint Louis. Rolling Ridge Nursery in the beautiful Webster Groves area. I have purchased several plants there, and one day I found this pin there on sale, and knew I had to get it! This pin signifies not only my fondness for a specific plant shop, but also my love for house plants in general (should I do a house plant tour next??).

✧ Teleo Coffee Pin 

This is yet another local coffee shop pin. This one is for Teleo Coffee in Kirkwood, which we have been to several times. They have a really admirable set of values as a company, their mantra is "love your neighbor", and they are very community and locally focused. I also love that the pin kind of also represents the Kirkwood area, in that my dad used to live and work there before he moved to Pennsylvania in 2022. So in that way, Kirkwood is very dear to me!

✧ Course Coffee Patch

This is another of the three items on my bag dedicated to Course Coffee Roasters. They no longer sell this patch, and so I'm glad I picked it up when I did! What I would really love, however, is if they would make a patch of their compass logo, as that's my favorite design associated with their branding. But for now, this patch will do!

✧ St. Charles Patch

This is one of my favorite patches on the bag. This patch very obviously symbolizes my home and heart as a Saint Charles, MO resident. Me and my husband met in Saint Charles, fell in love, married, lived, and raised babies in Saint Charles, and it is truly a home to us! I am very happy to live where I do, and also happy that it is so close to the county I grew up in of Saint Louis. I got this patch at Joy's Collective Market, an antique and vendor market on our beautiful Main Street. 

✧ Course Coffee Button

Ok, this is the last of the Course Coffee items on the bag! Lastly, is a button. Again, I would love this design as a patch or a pin, because I prefer patches and pins to buttons... but still, I'm happy to have this button and wear it proudly on the bag!

✧ Bird Patch

This pretty patch represents two things for me. First, my love of nature and wildlife/birds. I grew up birdwatching thanks to my mother who put out birdhouses and bird-feeders for us kids to look at and help maintain. As a result, I have a pretty good knowledge of the different bird species and an appreciation for birds in general! The other thing this bird represents is my employment at my very first job, at Michaels, for that is where I got this patch. Having got the job when I was only 17, I did a lot of growing up at that job, and had fun and benefited from the learning experiences. An additional thing I love about this bird patch besides it being so pretty, is I'm really happy with the placement! The tail fits perfectly in that little space between the pocket and the zipper, and the feet look like they are perched perfectly on the bag's front pocket, which I think gives a lot of character to the bag's trinket layout. 

Well friends, that wraps up a tour of my bag decorations! 

I haven't added anything new to the bag in a couple of years now. Again, I try not to go out of my way to find things just to collect and consume. I wait until the natural process brings me a new thing here and there that proves itself worthy of being on my bag (how many times have I written "bag" in this post?? LOL!!). 

ALSO, I wanted to give a shout out to THESE PIN BACKS that I got on Amazon. I had so many issues with the regular pin backs that each of my pins came with. They were constantly breaking and falling off. But since I got the better pin backs, I have not had a single problem breaking or failing me in any way. So... if you are wanting to collect pins on something, I highly recommend those pin backs in the link!

Anyways....... Let me know if any of the patches, pins, or buttons stands out to you in any way. I am very curious what you think and if you enjoyed the bag tour!

That's all for now - 

~ Amaris // ☆