Wishing you...

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

It's that Time of Year Again!

I was planning on having pictures for you, but somewhere in the past forever months, I misplaced my USB cord that lets me transfer my pics from my camera.

Anyway, I just wanted to give ya'll a little update. I'm putting up the garlands in my house for Christmastime today. I understand that you "shouldn't" decorate for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving, but I'll be out of town for Thanksgiving and I've been DYING for Christmas funtime to be here already. So, I'm starting today. Yay!

As soon as I find that cord, I'll have pics! Btw, this year, the tree's going to be red and gold. Joseph and I both agreed that we were going to change the tree up a little each year. This means that I'm gonna have to find some red and gold ribbons since I only have blue and silver from last year. Wish me Luck!

Thoughts from Isaiah

Go visit Rachel's blog to read what one of my younger brothers, Isaiah, had to say about today. I think you might like it.

Have you heard enough about books yet?

I hope that you aren't so sick of hearing about books that you just completely stop reading my blog. In fact, I'll even TRY to write a post without mentioning even one book some day, but today is not that day.

Yesterday I started a new project around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I began a spreadsheet. Not just any spreadsheet...this one has a purpose. I started a list of all of the books that I own. Just in my basement I have 453 books. Yes, that's right...I have OVER 450 books. I still have another 30 or more to add to this list.

Hello, my name is Hannah and I am a bibliophile.

During the Day

During my normal weekday, I work for a company that resells IT products to the Government. I have a love-hate relationship with this job. Ya'll know that, right? Anyway, I just got a "promotion" today. My title changed from Sales Operations Specialist I (one) to S.O.S. II (TWO). haha! I teased my boss about this. Told her that I've been waiting for that second "I" for two years. She just laughed at me and told me I was lying since I had only worked there for two years. Oh well, I guess she just knows me too well.

I need a new job. :-D

One Year and A Few Hours Later

It doesn't feel like it's been a year since I started this blog. But it has been. This past year flew by faster than anything ever has. Why is it that every year feels shorter than the year before it? Will it always feel like this? Cause if it does...I'm done growing up! For reals this time! I hate feeling like I just closed my eyes on my last birthday only to open them up on the next.

Now, don't get me wrong. I DO remember all kinds of fun stuff from this past year, but it has still gone by way too fast!

Well, here's to another fun year! It's gonna be a blast!

Updated Booklist for August, October, and so far in November

January

Sandry's Book ~ Tamora Pierce
Tris's Book ~ Tamora Pierce
The City of Ember ~ Jeanne DuPrau
The Mary Kay Way ~ Mary Kay Ash
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg ~ Gail Carson Levine
Teddy Jo & the yellow room mystery ~ Hilda Stahl
Teddy Jo & the ragged beggars ~ Hilda Stahl
Teddy Jo & the magic quill ~ Hilda Stahl
Land of Hope ~ Joan Nixon Lowery
Land of Promise ~ Joan Nixon Lowery
Boxers for Dummies ~ Richard Beauchamp
Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand ~ Gail Carson Levine
Ellen Foster ~ Kaye Gibbons

February

Coffee with Plato ~ Donald R. Moor
A Time for Witches ~ Lynne Hansen
Reckless Revolution ~ Lynne Hansen
Gilded Delirium ~ Jordan Stokes & Mattew Belinkie
The Mark on the Mirror ~ Margaret Sutton
A Thousand Goodbyes ~ Jim Hube
Coffee with Mark Twain ~ Fred Kaplan
A Member of the Family ~ Cesar Millan
The People of Sparks ~ Jeann DuPrau
Tanglewreck ~ Jeanette Winterson
Alanna The First Adventure ~ Tamora Pierce
In the Hand of the Goddess ~ Tamora Pierce
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man ~ Tamora Pierce
Lioness Rampant ~ Tamora Pierce
Trickster's Choice ~ Tamora Pierce
Trickster's Queen ~ Tamora Pierce
The Wednesday Letters ~ Jason F. Wright

March

Coffee with Shakespeare ~ Stanley Wells
The Good Guy ~ Dean Koontz
Shadowfires ~ Dean Koontz
A Wife After God's Own Heart ~ Elizabeth George
The Fairy's Return & Other Princess Tales ~ Gail Carson Levine
The Princetta ~ Anne-Laure Bondoux

April

City of Bones ~ Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes ~ Cassandra Clare
City of Glass ~ Cassandra Clare
Bloodhound ~ Tamora Pierce
Net Force: Virtual Vandals ~ Tom Clancy Miracles Happen ~ Mary Kay Ash
Flying Blind ~ Frank Peretti
Dragonsong ~ Anne McCaffrey

May

A Haunting in Williamsburg ~ Lou Kassen
The Lioness and the Lily ~ Barbara Cartland
Kiss from a Stranger ~ Barbara Cartland
The Kiss of the Devil ~ Barbara Cartland
The Complacent Wife ~ Barbara Cartland
Call of the Heart ~ Barbara Cartland
The Impetuous Duchess ~ Barbara Cartland
The Husband Hunters ~ Barbara Cartland
A Knight in Paris ~ Barbara Cartland
Beauty Is a Beast ~ Jane B. Mason & Sarah Hines Stephens
A College of Magics ~ Caroline Stevermer
Love In Pity ~ Barbara Cartland
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ~ Ian Fleming

June

Early Sunday Morning ~ Barry Denenberg
Hatching Magic ~ Ann Downer
The Great Good Thing ~ Roderick Townley
Treasures ~ Carolyn Ann Aish

July

Eight Cousins ~ Louisa May Alcott
Castles ~ Carolyn Ann Aish
Kingdoms ~ Carolyn Ann Aish
The Musician's Daughter ~ Susanne Dunlap
Rose in Bloom ~ Louisa May Alcott
Mark of the Demon ~ Diana Rowland
Coffee with Einstein ~ Carlos I. Calle
My Life in France ~ Julia Child
Civil War Hospital Sketches ~ Louisa May Alcott
The Black Tattoo ~ Sam Enthoven

August

Cobwebs ~ Karen Romano Young
Blue Moon ~ Alyson Noel
The Solitary Envoy ~ T. Davis Bunn & Isabella Bunn
A Sword to the Heart ~ Barbara Cartland
Dr. Franklin's Island ~ Ann Halam
Once Dead, Twice Shy ~ Kim Harrison

September

Fragile Eternity ~ Melissa Marr
Shad Run ~ Howard Breslin
The Kingdom Keepers ~ Ridley Pearson
The Mystery of the Million-Dollar Penny ( A Power Boys Adventure) ~ Mel Lyle

October

Twilight ~ Stephanie Meyer (second time reading it. gotta re-read since New Moon shows in theaters 11/20)
Coffee with Aristotle ~ Jonathan Barnes
Tom Swift & His Rocket Ship ~ Victor Appleton II
Naruto Vol. 32 ~ Masashi Kishimoto
Wild Magic ~ Tamora Pierce
Wolf-Speaker ~ Tamora Pierce
Emperor Mage ~ Tamora Pierce
The Realms of the Gods ~ Tamora Pierce

November

New Moon ~ Stephanie Meyer (see comment above about Twilight)
Alcatraz versus The Evil Librarians ~ Brandon Sanderson (MUCH better when my younger sister Rachel reads it aloud, but still pretty funny.)
First Test ~ Tamora Pierce
Page ~ Tamora Pierce
Squire ~ Tamora Pierce
A Rebel Princess ~ Barbara Cartland
Hangman's Curse ~ Frank Peretti
Lady Knight ~ Tamora Pierce

Obviously, these are not the only books that I will be reading in November. I am currently reading two books that I hope to finish by this weekend. I'll keep you updated for the rest of the year even though I am soooo close to hitting my goal of one hundred books read in a year.

Quick Update on my Year-long Reading

I know that most, if not all of you that read this blog are also my friends on Facebook, but I wanted to be sure to post something today anyway. (I'm trying to start a habit of posting every day.)

I am six books from my goal of one hundred books read between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. Ya know what that means? I'm going to surpass my goal. Saaaweeeet!

Welcome to November

Okay, so I realize that I've pretty much only written once a month for the majority of this year. What a lousy blogger I've turned out to be this time around. Oh well, Life happens. :-)

November is my birthday month. You might remember that from last year when I started this blog. I'll be 26 in 7 days. Weird. I'm only 4 years from being 30 years old, but I don't really FEEL any older than I did two years ago. Then again, I suppose I do because I do occasionally visit my parents home in Pennsylvania and when I do, I realize how much I've changed since I got married and moved to Virginia.

For example, I went home to PA on October 23rd for the weekend. While my parents home is still home to me, I did feel like I was out of place. I've never been the perfect daughter, but it was still odd to me that I am more willing to help my mom out now than I'd ever been while I still lived at home. (Epiphany! So THAT'S what's going on!....I'll have to explain that later. I will explain it though, I promise.) I suppose it's because I have a house of my own to run with three extra roommates that I understand more that there really IS that much work to do in even a very small house. There's always something that CAN be cleaned up, washed, or done. Unlike my mom, though, I don't feel driven to constantly be doing something in my own home. But I know my mom is MUCH more of a clean freak than I will ever be. So I do try my best to follow the rules that were laid down in my parents home when I was growing up. An example: the dishes get washed after each meal. My parents home is so small that even the smallest amount of clutter makes it seems even tinier. I sincerely dislike doing dishes; especially since I am the only pot-washer in my own home, however, I tend to be more willing to do dishes at my parents home now that I understand what my mom has always done for us. Please bear with me...I know I'm kinda rambling. I never really thought this through before and this is my thought process as I'm thinking it. (aren't you glad you can't get lost in a person's head? ya'll would go mad if you had to think like me for any length of time!)

Anyway, all that to say...I think I'm finally growing up. So much for being Peter Pan. I suppose my Definition still hasn't completely changed, but I can tell you that it is being revamped every day anymore. I think I like what it's turning into, but I'll have to get back to you on that one too.

Was there a specific time that you realized YOU were growing up?