365!

greetings!

well, i did it!  365 blog posts in 2015!  it is my major accomplishment for the year.  it feels so good to have done it.  it feels so good to be done with it.  i am glad i did it and glad i don't ever have to do it again.  i have lots of goals and plans for 2016, but 366 blog posts is not one of them (hey!  it's a leap year!).  not to say i won't be blogging.  i most certainly will!  it will just be more in the 233 posts on the year range like 2013 and 2014.  that is a much more manageable amount.

happy new year to you all!  thanks so much for spending time with me in 2015.  it has been a great year.  here's wishing a very wonderful year ahead to everyone.

much love,

doris

p.s. thanks to my friend christy for the festive kitties.  i stole the image off her facebook feed.  not sure where it came from originally, but it looks to be vintage.  ;)

cocoa daisy: january daisydori insert

got my january planner all set up just in time for the new year.  lots of talk about goals and plans in this one.  bring it on, 2016!

cocoa daisy: january mini mini

a super quick flip through of a very mini mini album created with the january day in the life cards from cocoa daisy.

top five favorite youtubers of 2015

not only do i make a lot of youtube videos these days, but i watch exponentially more of them, often with my traveler's notebook in front of me and my kitty in my lap.

these are my top five favorites so far.  i am always looking for new favorites if you have any to suggest.

palest blue - midori, filofax, hobonichi
my life mits - midori, hobonichi, living in japan
anna brim - planner/journal variety, british lifestyle
ali brown - midori, hilarious southern girl
fleurdevlog - charming couple, british lifestyle, makeup stylist on her main channel

there are lots more that i love.  this was a difficult decision.  you can see the rest of my subscriptions HERE.

top five youtube videos of 2015

perhaps you've noticed, but i've gotten into making youtube videos here recently too.  this one has 3,600 views and counting.  i really can't believe it and don't know why this one has so, so many.  its my very first video with my midori traveler's notebook and the first month cocoa daisy began offering the daisydori inserts.

i have never really enjoyed scrapbooking on video nor have i been very good at it.  i was tickled to find out that it's actually fun in the traveler's notebook.  this is my first attempt at a "journal with me" type video.

and this is my second.  i need to make more of these in 2016!

here is a junque journal diy with a delightful cameo from my 12 year old son at the end.

and my most recent planner set up and walk through!

top five nature photography outings of 2015

i really got into nature photography this year and it quickly became one of my favorite things to do.  i thought it would be hard to pick five favorites, but actually it was not.  there were five epic moments that really stood out to me immediately.  the first one i thought of was this early morning in the mist.  just wow.

and then there was that time that i encountered a hummingbird in the wild.

i was so psyched to finally encounter the elusive tennessee monarch.

there was that one time that g and i went to washington d.c. by ourselves.

and that little piece of paradise that i found in florida this past october.

top five books of 2015

i only got halfway through my goal of 52 books this year.  hoping to make a better attempt next year.  i feel like i didn't love a lot of the books i grabbed this year either.  not sure why.  just bad luck probably.  this one i absolutely loved though and also out of the easy by the same author.  really lovely books recommended to me by my high school librarian.

this one was given to my by my elementary librarian.  it was a very well written southern mystery.

i mean, that title.  stand up and be counted!

this will always be my favorite, no matter how many times i read it.  i was glad i decided to read go set a watchman though.  i thought it was a very excellent commentary on the times we are now in.

so glad to have men skippyjon jones this year.  he is delightful.