• Books

    {Audiobook Review} Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering

    As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support Thank you to NetGalley for the audio version of this book for review.  I chose to review this book because the book blurb caught my attention. I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and I thought this might be an interesting story to listen to while driving between campuses. I wasn’t wrong. BOOK DETAILS Title: Bye, Baby Author:…

  • Photography

    3|52: Still Life Self Portrait

    PHOTO INFO Nikon D850, 50mm lens 1/100 | f/1.8 | ISO 500 THE STORY This one was harder than the self portrait. I’m so not any good at flat lays and I tried several times, until I finally went with what I know and appreciate: coffee. I started drinking coffee when I was about eleven. We were living in Italy and both my parents were preachers, so they’d spend a lot of time talking to people after service. They’d talk so long that the hot chocolate and tea would be gone before they finished, so I’d start on the coffee. I’m also a hobbyist photographer, so I wanted to show…

  • Style

    What I Wore: First Day of School

    As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Classes started last week and, y’all, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the first weeks of school. Everyone is buzzing with that fresh start energy, you know? And, much like when my kids were little, I felt the need to go school shopping. I bought a new planner, some pens, and, of course, a new dress.…

  • Photography

    2|52: Intention

    PHOTO INFO Nikon D850, 50mm lens 1/2000 | f/1.8 | ISO 1000 THE STORY My goal for this week was to try to capture a bit of the light streaming through the dining room window. Bonus capture: my sweet girl, Bleu, taking a nap. ABOUT THE 52 WEEK PROJECT I get ambitious at the beginning of every year and start photography projects that I never finish. This year will be different. I will complete this project because I want one of those pretty little end-of-year photographic wrap-ups that I see on Instagram. So this year I’m going to try real hard to finish this challenge hosted by Sue Bahen with…

  • About Me,  Fun Stuff

    Where Bloggers Live: How I Stay Warm in Cold Weather

    As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Hey, Friends! Welcome to 2024. Can you believe we’re in a new year? It really does feel like it all passed so quickly, right? I won’t make any promises for this year. I never seem to follow through and, quite honestly, I’m tired of apologizing for it. So I’ll make every effort to just be and do better…

  • Fun Stuff

    10 on the 10th: January 2024

    Hey, y’all, hey! How’s your 2024 going so far? To watch the news, you’d think 2023 had a meeting and was like “Yo, it’s time to square up” because 2024 came in kicking butt and taking names. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come because *whew* I’m already over it. On a personal level, things are exhale a giant of sigh of relief I came in to 2024 waiting to have a breast ultrasound because my mammogram showed “areas of concern.” Talk about stressed. Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing but a bunch of cysts, but the waiting… I’m glad it’s over. Other than that, things…

  • Photography

    1|52: Self Portrait

    PHOTO INFO Nikon D850, 35mm lens 1/20 | f/1.8 | ISO 1250 THE STORY EDITED TO ADD: Second scan was fine. Just a few cysts. Thank you for the prayers and warm thoughts. In about 1/2 an hour I’ll have an ultrasound of my right breast because my mammogram showed an “area of concern.” All through the holidays, there was this little bit of heaviness. What if? I’m already a card carrying {scar bearing} member of the Cancer Survivors Club. I’m good. I don’t need to renew my membership. Anyway, I wanted to capture the anxiety I’m feeling, but none of the images quite captured what I’m feeling. I wanted…

  • Books

    My Home Office and Reading Nook

    Happy New Year, Friends! I hope you had a pleasant holiday season. Ours was nice and simple. We stayed home, as we always do. The kids called and FaceTimed throughout the holiday break, which was nice. I always enjoy any time that I get to spend with them — either in person, online, or on the phone. They’re hilarious. Even when they’re roasting me {which is often}. MY HOME OFFICE I also spent a bit of time rearranging my home office. I’ve been wanting a space that I could use as both an office and reading area, while accommodating Bleu and Lola. When  you enter through the back door of…

  • Books

    Audiobook Review: The Women by Kristin Hannah

    As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Thank you to NetGalley for the audio version of this book for review.  This is it, my last audiobook review of 2023. And, y’all, I don’t think I could’ve chosen a better book. I felt connected to the characters in this novel in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time. I’m a veteran of the…

  • About Me,  Fun Stuff

    Where Bloggers Live: My Favorite Christmas Decorations

    As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. I’m the laziest of Christmas decorators. When the kids were little, I couldn’t wait to put up the decorations. Of course, this is no surprise, as kids tend to make things magical. Once they moved out of the house, I still decorated but it was all last minute. This year was no exception. I literally put up the…