We hope you enjoyed our December issue of This Awful Awesome Life. Thanks for reading and thanks for your continued support and understanding.  The vaccine is here and by spring it should be available to the general public. In the meantime, we must remain vigilant about wearing masks and social distancing. A new normal is coming, but we must be patient.

Let’s take a moment to remember the nearly 24.5 million cases of COVID-19 that have been diagnosed in the United States, the people whose lives have been forever changed, and the 406,000 American lives lost to COVID-19 in this pandemic.

Our new President, Joe Biden and our Vice President Kamala Harris have taken their oaths of office and are working to address the pandemic and save lives. We will be rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Our first soup in The Twelve Months of Soup is Chicken Noodle and we’ve paired it with a sunny Mandarin Orange Salad. We have links to both recipes, and I noted any changes we made. Linda Cahill has some great recipes for a healthy January, and we have an article about what produce is in season here in Pennsylvania and around the world.

Christian Joyce is back with four more albums for your playlist.

I have two book reviews this month and reading recommendations for kids and adults to get the year off to an excellent start.

In honor of Kamala Harris’ historic Vice Presidency, we have a quiz about the history of the vice presidency and past VP’s.

To commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we have ten memorable quotes plus the speeches, sermons, or books they appear in plus a photo collage of some of the highlights of his life.

Gift cards are always popular for the holidays, but what will you buy with the gift cards you receive? We have a few planet friendly ideas for items that can make your life easier.

How important is the setting of your favorite movie? In this month’s issue we share some iconic settings in the first of our 2021 series about movies.

Samantha Sayers has been missing since she disappeared on August 1, 2018 after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam was raised in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. Her family is exploring all avenues of inquiry to find and bring her home. In the face of such an enormous challenge, they have chosen hope. Please keep sending positive thoughts to Sam and her family. As promised, we will be displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam on the opening page of each issue of This Awful Awesome Life until she is home.

If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we can update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page. Thank you!

Please share our link, thisawfulawesomelife.com with your friends and family.

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Happy Reading,

Fran