Friday Faves Edition 68

Friday Faves.

Edition 68.

It’s been forever since I’ve been here with a Friday Faves.

However, we are quickly approaching the end of 2018, so I wanted to pop in with one last round of Faves.

(psst…I am Amazon affiliate, which means that there could be product links in this post which will earn me a small commission at no cost to you should you choose to purchase something at Amazon.)

No.

Sorry.

Winter doesn’t fall into my faves.

I just wanted to pull out one of my snow photos from the archives since I’ve had snow this winter and anticipate some more before it’s all over.

Reminder.

In case you missed it or if you’re still on the fence (see what I did there), I just wanted to remind you that it’s not too late to join in on some challenges for January.

Challenges, you say?

Yep.

Here’s the Reading Challenge.

And January’s monthly challenge, which is going vegan (or some form thereof if you want to join in on your terms. It’s your life. You do you!).

Cookies.

Me like cookies.

I really feel like Cookie Monster around this time of year.

Miss Sunshine and I l-o-v-e to bake cookies.

Mmmm…

If you were here I’d gladly ask you to save me from myself offer you some of these tasty treats.

Snapchat Filters.

If you frequent my blog often enough, you will find photos of me with Snapchat filters. I don’t even Snapchat, but I love their fun filters.

Usually, they get shared over on my Instagram stories. A different version of this one was shared there, but you all get the sillier version.

Christmas.

My middle son was not home this year for Christmas. It was a little strange and the first time one of my children haven’t been here for the holiday. I’m glad he’s off having a fun time, but I did miss him. We had a nice Christmas with the remaining two and kept up our family traditions.

Social Media.

I’ve been scarce around social media.

Intentionally.

This is a time for me to square things away as I go into the new year and any remaining time is reserved for my family.

However, I always like to see what are considered to be my “top nine” Instagram posts of the year.

In case you’d like to see, here they are:

View this post on Instagram

An interesting mix. I do love some. I think some others in my feed might be better, but the algorithm gods and finger taps have spoken 😉. Thanks for all the love this year. • • •#topnine #topnine2018

A post shared by Amy Lyon Smith (@bedlamanddaisies) on Dec 22, 2018 at 4:51pm PST

The algorithm gods have not loved me over there and I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the platform this year as I would find myself basing my photography skills and, on occasion, my mental space on how many likes I received.

I have moved on to a much better space. I love the intention of the platform and will choose to interact with the wonderful people that I’ve met over there while not letting it affect what I believe to be true about myself.

Binge-Watching.

I watch very little TV.

In fact, we did away with cable just a few months ago.

However, I needed a break from all the mentally taxing work that I’ve been doing. So I picked up season one of The Handmaid’s Tale.

My mother recommended the book (hence the reason that it’s listed under “book recommended by someone with great taste” on the 2018 reading challenge). I read it during our trip to Scotland this past May.

Unlike most people, I had no clue what the book was about. Sometimes I prefer it that way. The tale is shocking and I was definitely shocked since there were no preconceived notions about the storyline. However, it drew me in and I couldn’t put the book down.

I felt like the show followed the storyline very closely. That’s an important quality to me. Plus good acting. And they nailed that too.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Now I just need to get season 2!

Hiking.

I like to hike.

I’ve been needing some hiking shoes.

The hubby got me a pair of Merrell Moab’s for Christmas.

I’m still testing them around the house because I made the mistake of thinking my last hiking boots (the ones in the photo) were fine and they dig into my Achilles tendon when I hike downhill.

2019.

I’m sure I’ll be back to share lots more about our holiday season.

And I’d love to know what you’ve been up to over your holiday season.

If you missed the top 10 posts of 2018 for Bedlam and Daisies, check them out in this post.

While I’ll be back to comment and read, this will be the final post of 2018.

I’ll see you in the new year!

Let your light shine!

Amy