I didn’t read as many books in March since I was actually traveling, but still have eight titles to share. I also started an Instagram account to post these graphics, so I’m not sure if I’ll continue to post them here as well or not. Anyone who is interested can check it out at https://www.instagram.com/staciqcox/ I’m trying to limit myself to one quote per book, … Continue reading Travels in Literature: March 2024
Spring Break 2024: the year we went to Vegas, didn’t gamble a cent, and still hit the jackpot! The odds were in our favor thanks to two different school calendars that shared a single week for spring break. Las Vegas provided a central(ish) location to meet between Alaska and Nebraska, and the perfect springboard for a road trip through the American Southwest. Our flights were … Continue reading Canyon Country
Creating these book graphics cuts into my reading time, but it fills my creative tank and I’m excited to share this next batch! Here is this month’s lineup: Fiction: Lessons in Chemistry was my favorite title from last month. Its humorous, lighthearted tone made it a fun read even though it tackled some seriously gritty topics. The Eyes and the Impossible won the Newbery and … Continue reading Travels in Literature: February 2024
One of my favorite witches recently turned 50, and we celebrated her birthday with an outing to Six: The Musical. We were more than happy to trade our broomsticks for tiaras and spend an afternoon with the doomed Tudor queens. Our witch photo was taken over 12 years ago, but here we are today: three friends celebrating five decades at Six. We all loved the … Continue reading Queens for a Day
This year I’m going to select a single quote from every book I read, and create a promotional graphic with it. I’m posting the quotes on my library office window to showcase great writing, model reading, and spark conversations about literature with my students. (Also, for some nerdy reason, creating in Canva is one of my favorite emptying nest activities.) Here’s January’s lineup… Fiction: While I’d recommend all … Continue reading Travels in Literature: January 2024
We’ve been blessed to visit the Hawaiian Islands a number of times, but this January we enjoyed our first trek to Kauai. Most of our Hawaii trips go something like this: sleep in a bit, board a late morning plane in Anchorage, endure a bit of de-icing, and happily land in Maui six hours later. This time we flew on a red eye flight to Portland, hung … Continue reading Kauai Love
Our annual quest for the perfect Christmas tree is one of our family’s most sacred holiday traditions. Last December (in 2023) Sam was over 2,000 miles away in his first year of college, so plans had to pivot. Maggie was plenty capable of harvesting her selected spruce all by herself, but we sure did miss having our full team together that day. We brought the tree … Continue reading Traditions in Transition
The sky has been alive this month, from ombre sunrises over the Chugach Mountains to stunning sunsets reflected in the Turnagain Arm tide: I find it challenging to photograph the moon, but trust me when I say this Hunter Moon was a treat to watch rise over Cook Inlet. It made for a beautiful drive to work one morning: And northern lights, in October! The … Continue reading October Skies
In Alaska, fall is one of those “blink-and-you-miss-it” situations. Last summer’s deluge of rain kept things green longer than usual, but eventually our world turned golden. For maybe a week? It was still chronically wet outside, but I guess that’s why God invented raincoats. (Or maybe that was George Macintosh? One of those two.) Maggie was the lottery winner of the season. She made plans … Continue reading Falling into Winter
I use air quotes whenever speaking about the “Summer” of 2023. It is easily confused with Winter 2022, minus the daylight of course. Sure, we had to mow the yard instead of shovel the driveway, but the moral of the story is we wore the same coat for both chores. And a person shouldn’t need a coat to cut the grass. The saying “there’s no … Continue reading The Little Summer That Wasn’t
Profoundly Ordinary 