Essentially Ash

Monday, October 19, 2026

Awe Monday! Creekside Kisses

Awe (Awww) Mondays is hosted by Comedy Plus! Just post a photo that makes you say AWE! and link up.

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Tag, You're It: The Bookshelf Tag

I don't know where I found this one, I forgot to mark it and it's been in my drafts. Sorry.

1.) How many bookshelves do you have?

Oh uhm, a lot. Three in the loft, five in my room (two of them are stacked square shelves), the girls have one in their room, and then Finn has three in his room. My parents have them in most of the rooms downstairs too.

2.) How many books are on your shelves? Or how many do you think you have?
I myself own about 700, the girls probably have 100-200, and Finn has about 400. I did own over 1k, but I had to get rid of a bunch when Indie joined our family in January.

3.) How do you organize your books?
By however they fit ATP. In my room I have a shelf of series that I own the complete series (The two that are stacked), another shelf has all graphic novels, another has my favorite books. One in the loft is just all my other books just kinda..stacked. The other is the girls books, which is also just stacked. I have one that has the girls seasonal books, and then on the cabinet there is containers in rainbow order that have the rest of the girls books.

In their room is the books we read A LOT.

Finn's are by how they fit in one, the other is his non fiction books, and the third is his graphic novels.

4.) What is the oldest book on your bookshelf?

I have The Little White Bird that is from 1902, it's the one FROM 1902, so it's not just another version of the one published then.

I also own Frankenstein that is a more recent version but it was published in 1818.

5.) What is the newest book on your shelf?
I don't actually have an updated list of my books, but the most recent I have on my list is How to Survive a Horror Story published July 8th, 2025

6.) What is the longest book on your shelf?

H.P. Lovecraft the complete fiction at 1,098 pages

7.) What is the shortest book on your shelf?

Negan Lives at 36 pages

8.) What is the predominate genre on your shelf?

Probably thriller tbh.

9.) Have you done a bookshelf tour?
Nope, I posted a video of some decor on my big shelf but that was it.

10.) Go on a random number generator and talk about the book that number lands on

I got #427. Which is Snotgirl, Volume 2.

It is the second book in the Snotgirl graphic novel series.

Snotgirl is a series about a girl named Lottie who is a social media star and she has bad allergies so they call her snot girl. It is just a weird fever dream drama comedy graphic novel. I rated this one 4 stars and read it back in 2019. I have read the first three in the series and have the 4th on my TBR.

11.) Do you have any merch or decor on your shelves?

Yes, on all of them basically. In my room I have my collectible books, some mugs, some figurines, some things Finn has made me, on another shelf is my gnomes and fairy garden, the other is my bedside table, so it has my lamp, charging tower, etc.

12.) Show us your bookshelf!

Noooope. Everything is a mess right now, and I have Halloween decor out. I will post a bookshelf tour once the holidays are over. So watch out for that!

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Dewey's Readathon October 2026- Hours 1-6

First quarter DONE! Whoo! I hope everyone is having so much fun!

Here are my updates!

Hour 1:

Photo challenge:

Book and Drink

Hourly question:

Check out my last post for the opening survey

Photos taken:

Books read:

What I've done:

I made breakfast and that's about it!

Hour 2:

Photo challenge:

Stack your physical TBR as high as you can

I don't have a physical TBR right now, so I stacked the girls!

Hourly question:

Q: What character do you relate most to right now?

A: Evie sage! She's chaotic, weird, and slightly feral. And I live life like that.

Photos taken:

Books read:

What I've done:

Read. Got the girls ready to leave.

Hour 3:

Photo challenge:

Current or favorite snack

Hourly question:

Q: What's a book you loved that you would never re-read again?

A: Ooh, that's so hard! I think almost every book I would re-read. I guess maybe something like Hidden Pictures, because it's hard to get that WOW twist after reading it the first time.

Photos taken:

Books read:

What I've done:

Colored and took the girls to TotBox

Hour 4:

Photo challenge:

Staying healthy with a book

Hourly question:

Q: If your current read had a soundtrack what song would be on it?

A: Okay okay, so this is super fun! For the book The Door to 1998 these are a couple songs that I think fit the vibe:
Mad World by Gary Jules

1979 by Smashing Pumpkins

Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Tiny Tim

Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell

Sweet Dreams are Made of These by Eurythmics

Photos taken:

Books read:

What I've done:

Hour 5:

Photo challenge:

Cozy blanket, pillow, or socks

Hourly question:

Q: What's a book everyone loved that you just can't get into?

A: Oh my.. Hmm..

One by One by Ruth Ware

I'm Glad my Mom Died- I finished this one, but hated it

Fifty Shades of Grey- Hard no

The Bell Jar- So boring. DNF'd

There's a ton more, however, these ones are the first that came to mind.

Photos taken:

I didn't take any this hour, I was cooking.

Books read:

What I've done:

Cooked and ate.

Hour 6:

Photo challenge:

Your current bookmark

I don't read physical books, so no book mark. Have a selfie instead.

Hourly question:

Q: What's your favorite opening line from a book?

A: I don't.. have one? I guess one of the most memorable to me is Twilight "I'd never given much thought to how I'd die.."

Photos taken:

Books read:

What I've done:

Read. Sat. Cried. Lol

Total books read this readathon:

Coloring pages done:

Diamond paintings done:

Zero

Bingo board updates:

I'll check after my nap lol.

Dewey's Readathon October 2026- Intro post

I have been waiting for this ALL YEAR. I love the Spring and Summer readtathons, but it's not the same as the fall one. The fall one I get so excited because it's usually cool, you can definitely feel the fall in the air. It's spooky and just perfect for a readathon.

I even rescheduled my daughter's birthday party so it wasn't on the same day. Well that wasn't the only reason I did, but it was a big reason.

If you don't know what Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon is, it's exactly what it sounds like. You read for 24 hours straight. You can read the whole time, or not. It's a fun time.

You can search for Dewey's 24 hour readathon on Instagram, Facebook, or Goodreads!

Introduction:

What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I'm in Texas!

Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Hmmmmmm. The Door to 1998 or It Came From the Woods.. Or Dead Fake.. Hmm.

Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am a stay at home homeschool mama to three kiddos. I have one biological child (13), 2 angel babies, and 2 adopted daughters (2 and 3)

I'm a photographer, gardener, blogger, gamer, Christian, geek.

How many Dewey's Readathons have you participated in?

A lot. I've been doing it off and on since like 2011 or so.

If this is not your first Dewey's Readathon, what are your favorite things from past Dewey's readathons? Are you trying anything new or different this time?

I always loved the past games. Some that I loved:

Book your face- Post a photo of a book lined up with your face!

Like this:

Also drawing book covers from memory was a lot of fun, stacking books to make the titles into poems, color cover challenge (Posting books what are only certain colors), random page (Pick a random page in a random book and post it), pet parade (Show off your pets), madlibs are always fun!, shelfies, strange reading poses challenge (See what the weirdest position is that you can read in and post a pic), book staging challenge (Where you stage a book and take a photo), cover escape (Post a cover of a book that you'd love to escape into), top ten readathon favs (Things you love about the readathon)

I could honestly keep going on and on! I remember in years past we had so many things to post about!

I'm not really doing anything different this time except taking the girls to TotBox!

What are your goals, and what are you looking forward to during this Readathon?

My goal is to read for 24 hours, obviously. I'd love to read all 18 books but honestly I'd settle for like.. 15? Something like that.

I'm looking forward to reading, snacking, and posting.

What are you looking forward to eating and drinking during this Readathon?

I'm most excited about all my seasonal coffee drinks and the apple pie french toast casserole

Are you sticking to our official Readathon times or adjusting for your schedule/preferences/etc.?

I will, as usual, probably start Friday night and I will technically continue into Sunday if I am able.

Here is the ACTUAL opening survey (The ones above are past ones)

What part of the world are you reading from today?

Texas!

What hour does/did the readathon start for you? Will you be sticking to the official time?

It starts at 7 AM. However, my toddler woke me up at 5:30 am so I already started. I am still going to try to make it until 7 am Sunday, but I got two hours of sleep last night. So I doub it.

What are you most looking forward to during the readathon?

Reading while having me time, I have coloring books, diamond painting, and video games!

Are you reading alone or with a reading buddy?

I will be reading with my toddlers, my mom, and my husband once he's off work.

What challenges, if any, are you expecting to face during the readathon?

Well, I am solo parenting (Besides my parents) until hubs is off work, so watching the toddlers while reading is always fun.

I am also already exhausted, so I don't know how much I'll get done.