Anniversary #20 Or Two Decades, Really?

If you read last week's blog post, you know that I'm behind in my holiday posts. Today I thought I would write about my twentieth anniversary . . . a month and a half later.

 

My husband, Dan, and I celebrated our twentieth anniversary this year. I like to tell people we were married at fifteen.

Our anniversary falls during the Christmas season, and since it's one of my busiest times of year, filled with school concerts and music performances (I am a musician/music teacher, after all), Dan and I often celebrate it in pieces throughout December. 

So, how did we celebrate our anniversary this year, twenty years into our marriage? 

 

Mostly, the same way we celebrate it every year. And that's fine with me.

 

BTW, how could it be two decades, already? Oh yeah, we were married when we were fifteen.

 

Anniversary Activity #1: We visited the Indian Creek Plaza lights in Caldwell.

 

Anniversary Activity #2: Dan created a special "Anniversary Playlist," consisting of songs that were popular twenty years ago and songs from "pivotal" (according to us) rock concerts or musicals we attended throughout our marriage. It took us weeks to listen to the whole thing.

 

 

Activity Anniversary #3: We used to eat at our favorite downtown Boise restaurant, Asiago's, but it closed last year. This year, we ate at Alavita, another great downtown restaurant full of pasta.

 

 

Activity #4: We didn't get out to the Botanical Gardens, but we did drive through "Christmas in Color."

 

 

 

 

Activity #5: And of course, we spent about a week in Sun Valley . . . before Snowmageddon. As you can see from the pictures, there wasn't a ton of mountain snow at that time.

 

 

Fun Fact: Dan and I spent our honeymoon in Sun Valley twenty years ago. 

 

I guess, for us, it really did happen in Sun Valley. 

 

And I don't mean that in a dirty way . . . 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Turkey Day 5K 2023 (Two Months Late!)

I am obviously behind in writing my holiday and winter blog posts. Today, I am going to travel back in time to a couple of months ago and tell the story of our somewhat derailed Thanksgiving Day plans. 

(Squiggly finger sounds . . . doodle loo doodle loo . . . #WaynesWorldReference)

 

Right around the time my husband, Dan, and I were scheduled to travel to Eastern Idaho for a quick Thanksgiving with family, a winter weather advisory was issued for all of the areas we would be driving through.

 

 

The problem was I didn't have any flexibility to arrive earlier or leave later because of my rehearsal schedule for Elf  (I was in a musical), and the days and times we could get away and needed to return fell right in the middle of the advisory. 

We watched the local weather reports for two days, hoping it would change or that one of the meteorologists would tell us what we wanted to hear. 

 

Eventually, we decided the risk wasn't worth it. When Dan, who usually enjoys driving in the snow, mentioned it was an awful lot of driving in potentially hazardous conditions, that settled it for me.

 

 

Despite our disappointment in missing the annual Twin Falls Turkey Trot tradition and a family dinner, we managed to have some fun.

 

I didn't have time to prepare a "real" dinner, but I happened to have ingredients on hand for a tuna noodle casserole.

 

And I had already baked some Hello Dollies for the trip, only the best dessert ever. (I should have made them for the Hello Dolly cast when I was Irene Molloy two summers ago.)

 

 

 

Then we signed up at the last minute for Boise's Turkey Day 5K.

 

 

Boise's Thanksgiving fun run is just that, a lot of fun. 

 

This year, 3000 people registered. The run winds around the North End, a really cute downtown neighborhood that we all wish we could afford.

 

No one dressed up as Native Americans–thank God–something we did, in fact, witness the one time we ran in a Turkey Trot in Eastern Idaho.

 

What I did see were a few people in turkey costumes and a certain local Pulitzer Prize winning author who ran past me and ended way ahead of me at the finish line. I was a little starstruck by that one. Dan was pretty impressed too. (We might be slightly nerdy, fangirling over an author.)

I also saw some rollerbladers on the route. A few of them were also dressed up like turkeys. Keep Boise Weird . . .

 

 

 

Dan and I ended 51st and 87th in our age groups. I am not ashamed of this. I am a middle-aged woman with tennis elbow in both arms. Anything above 2999th place is a win for me.

 

Of course, Dan actually beat me, but a girl can dream (see image above).

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Reading Challenge 2023 (A.K.A. The Year I Failed To Meet My Goal)

 

I did not, in fact, read 23 books in 2023. By the time my Goodreads tracker told me I needed to read 4.5 books per week for the rest of the year in order to meet my not-very-lofty goal, I decided it was time to scale it back and read a few short stories.

 

 

I did, however, read 20 books in 2023. I'm going to aim for 20 in 2024 again and probably for the rest of my life . . . at least until I retire. It was a cute trend while it lasted, the whole match-the-number-of-books-to-the-year thing.

Yes, I know some people read 100+ books a year. Obviously, I am not going to be reading 100 books a year right now. I mean, I haven't even updated my blog since September (until today . . . bwa ha ha). 

 

My husband, Dan, read, like, two books this year, so I'm still better than him.

 

 

Pity party aside, I did love my year of reading. That's the important part, right? 

 

Fun fact: I've already finished my first book in my 2024 challenge. You'll have to wait until next year's blog post to find out what it was though.

 

Becky's 20 Books of 2023

 

JANUARY
1. Henry and the Paper Route by Beverly Cleary
Notes and Favorites: Henry’s enthusiasm over the prospect of getting a paper route brought back memories of the heyday of the print newspaper. It was a nostalgic read for this daughter of a journalist and former newspaper employee (as I worked my way through college).

2. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Notes and Favorites: "Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun." Aristos Achaion . . .

FEBRUARY
3. Henry and the Clubhouse by Beverly Cleary
Notes and Favorites: I enjoyed that this installment also included several Ramona and Beezus shenanigans.

4. The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Notes and Favorites: I needed this book at this point in time, such a twisty, dark ride, fun to read, and not too taxing on my brain and emotions.

MARCH
5. Ribsy by Beverly Cleary
Notes and Favorites: This clever installment in the Henry Huggins collection switches perspectives between a lost Ribsy and the humans he encounters in order to tell this sweet story about the loyalty and friendship of a boy and his dog.
 

6. Barrel Fever and Other Stories by David Sedaris
Notes and Favorites: David Sedaris enlists his hilarious sister, Amy, to help read these early stories and essays, making listening to the audiobook especially worth it.

 

APRIL

Nothing. I finished nothing this month.

MAY
7. The Mouse and The Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Notes and Favorites: This one is different from her other books about animal protagonists because the animal and human can talk to each other. It's also a bit more adventurous than Cleary's other books, with some excitement at the end!
 

8. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Notes and Favorites: A love letter to libraries and books, and oh so relevant in this era of book banning and library vilifying . . .

JUNE
9. Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
Notes and Favorites: Still as charming as the first in this series, this sequel could be subtitled "Ralph Goes to Summer Camp."

10. Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
Notes and Favorites: If the last book could be subtitled “Ralph Goes to Summer Camp,” this one would be “Ralph Goes to School.” On a side note, I love how Beverly Cleary always portrays public school teachers in such a positive light.

 

JULY
11. The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
Notes and Favorites: “We are all indebted to the women who have given us life. For without them, there would be no music” (p 20).

 

“There is no textbook, no manual to refer to when in need of emotional guidance. It is a process that cannot be controlled, and you are hopelessly at the mercy of its grip, so you must surrender to it when it rears its ugly head, no matter the fear” (p. 185).

12. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Notes and Favorites: While beautifully written, I couldn’t get past the disturbing themes of sexual assault resulting in love. Toward the end of the book, the protagonist (who I’ve come to believe we are not supposed to necessarily like) even engages in Lolita-ish pedophilia/incest, after many years of sexual coercion (because women just need a little convincing).
 

Of course, I’m pretty sure Márquez is comparing love to plague, sickness, and disease throughout the book, and none of the marital or extra-marital relationships are great, so perhaps we’re not intended to root for the two main characters' reunion in the end anyway.
 

Maybe I should have read One Hundred Years of Solitude. I’ve heard that one is less rapey, more magic realism.

AUGUST
13. Make it Stop by Jim Ruland
Notes and Favorites: I bought this book from the author, a pretty well renowned rock journalist, at a music festival in Nevada. It was the most fun, fast-paced book I read this summer. And I'm crossing my fingers for a sequel and/or a movie.

SEPTEMBER
14. Reckless: My Life as a Pretender by Chrissie Hynde
Notes and Favorites: My favorite part of this memoir was Hynde's insights into the British music scene.

 

 

OCTOBER
15. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Notes and Favorites: "As soon as there's an unquestionable truth there's no longer a myth" (p. 542). 

 

More modern in some ways than The Night Circus, Morgenstern builds yet another enchanting fairy tale universe. This is the second homage to books, libraries, and storytelling that I have read this year, definitely timely in light of recent book bannings.

NOVEMBER
16. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Notes and Favorites: I reread this as research for our 5th and 6th grade spring musical. I wonder if anyone else thought Willy Wonka was a little kinder in the book than in other adaptations . . .

DECEMBER
17. The Mer-Child: A Legend for Children and Other Adults by Robin Morgan
Notes and Favorites: This was a charming and poignant short story by one of my favorite feminists (now a podcaster), very Little Mermaid-esque infused with modern social commentary.
 

18. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
Notes and Favorites: This Wonka iteration was more sci-fi than the original. Is it weird that I missed the bratty kids and obnoxious parents from the Chocolate Factory?
 

19. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Notes and Favorites: This collection includes “The Santa Land Diaries,“ so I couldn't pass it up this time of the year. Some of the other stories are a little morbid for Christmas time–LOL. I still enjoy his nonfiction essays best, and this collection also includes a few of those.
 

20. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
Notes and Favorites: I edited my reading challenge goal to a nice, even 20 books and found this awesome short story by none other than the twisty Gillian Flynn. It was a great way to end the year! 

 

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.