Changing my Definition of Life

Life is Ever Changing

2011-12-02T22:56:00.000-05:00

I mean, I knew that. Really, I did. But SO much has changed since September. And it all started with a statement made by my coworkers on Monday, October 3, 2011. I had spent part of the weekend before that work week up in PA with my family and had eaten all kinds of different foods that my body was no longer used to. GOOD food, but not necessarily healthy food. So it wasn't any surprise to me that I wasn't feeling quite up to par on Monday morning. Then, as I was talking to Catherine (a close coworker), Kim (our office manager) walked up to join the conversation. And I almost immediately felt sick to my stomach and started dry heaving. Grabbed for my trash can, but thankfully didn't need it. Take one Wild guess at what that statement was. Go ahead..You might be right. Kim looked at me and said...."You're pregnant." "No, I'm not," I replied "I think I just ate something funky up in PA this weekend."
"Nope. You're pregnant." Kim declared.

Well, knowing my body and how out of whack it has always been, I keep pregnancy tests on hand at home. So when my alarm went off Tuesday morning (Oct. 4th), I took a test. And sat in my bathroom for the next fifteen minutes bawling my eyes out.

I've taken pregnancy test many times before. My period is almost non-existent so I keep those test "just in case". They've always taken a full minute to show the negative sign. But not this morning. On October 4, 2011, it took less than five seconds for that test to show as positive. I was pregnant. And in shock.

I just spent the last 4 months working out, eating right, and losing 34 lbs. And now...I was pregnant. That meant weight gain. Life change. A Baby! I didn't know what to do other than sit in my bathroom and cry. I was elated...I was going to have a baby. I was devastated...I was going to gain all the weight that I had worked so hard to lose...right back. I wanted to talk to Joseph...but he was still asleep and is never fond of being woken up before his alarm. Finally, I stopped crying and went through all the motions that it took to get ready for another day of work. Finished in the bathroom, I took the dogs downstairs to let them outside, and I called my mom.

Of course, it was only 4:30 in the morning so she didn't answer. Her cell phone was turned off. So was the house phone. I had to call my younger sister. Only she didn't answer, her voicemail did. Then she called back, because her phone had woke my mom and my mom woke her up to call me back. In tears, and barely understandable, I told my mom that I was pregnant. She congratulated me, then because she couldn't understand me through my tears, handed the phone back to Rachel and went back to bed. Really, Mom!?! So I had to share my elation and mostly my fears with my sister, finally calming down after Rachel stated, "Hannah, if God is giving you this baby now then He must believe you're ready to be a mother. He knows best."

After Joseph woke up, I did share the news with him albeit still in a slightly hysterical way. (Since I had had time to work myself up again.) He decided I wasn't fit to work and made me call off sick. Joseph did the same and we actually spent a very nice day together getting used to the idea.

Wednesday found me at my doctor's office for an appointment just to confirm the pregnancy. Not like that was hard. After two positive home tests...I was pretty sure it was for real.

This coming Sunday will make it two months that I've known about my baby and I can't even begin to explain the changes I've already gone through mentally. I still think some days that I'm not quite ready to be a mom, but when that happens I just remind myself that I still have 5 months to go before the baby will be here. I remind myself that God DOES know what's best for me. That He is in control and He's not going to give me any more than I can handle. I'm so excited about my baby now. I can't wait to meet him/her. So, until that day, I'm calling him Squishie. Makes it easier than calling the baby an "it" since I don't know the sex yet. Joseph does want to find out, so that announcement will be coming, but until then...Squishie will remain my baby without a color. Though...I just have to say...if Squishie's a girl....I really don't want alot of pink. Like...at all!

Crazy Posting

2011-09-05T06:38:00.001-04:00

Ya'll may have noticed that my blog kinda got a bit overloaded with posts last night. You can blame that on or thank my sister for that. Whichever you prefer. She felt that I should copy over my blog posts from SparkPeople so that all my posts from anything were saved in one place. So I did.

I understand that to go from books to weight loss is a pretty drastic change in my blog, but since I haven't written pretty much anything at all since March about books, maybe it isn't so drastic after all.

I'll try to keep the actual weight posts to a minimum while copying over those that are more normal will continue.

Hope everyone is ready for Fall and that ya'll enjoy your Labor Day.

Why September is NOT my favorite month of the year anymore

2011-09-04T22:15:00.005-04:00

Thursday, September 01, 2011

I used to ADORE September. School had been in session for two or three weeks already and fall was in the air. Then, I grew up. And got a "real" job. And now...September is my LEAST favorite month. Let me explain.

I work for a company that resells IT equipment and maintenance to the government. September is the government's end of fiscal year. The month when they spend the most money. My job is to process the orders from the govt and to send the new orders to the vendors. It's relentless, mostly mindless work. I hate it on a normal day. In September, the work triples and quadruples. Breaks become a thing of the past. Eight hour days....what are those!?! Try 12 -16 hours on for size. My boss and her boss are insincerely sincere in their thanks and praise at the work getting done. What they're really saying when they say thank you in September is....why can't you work more hours in a day, and HOW did you NOT get all of your work done? Why didn't you ask for help if you were so far behind in your work? *Hannah's reply* Oh, you know...I really don't have THAT much work (sarcastically, of course). I really just like to talk my head off instead of work...no, wait...that's YOU!

Bitter? Absolutely. The thanks we do receive are all so two-faced and insincere that I have begun to abhore this job. One day, I'll get out of it. But, until that day...i'm going to continue disliking September.

exhausted and wanting a day off

2011-09-04T22:15:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Of LIFE. I'm tired, worn out and ragged. I honestly don't WANT to go outside for my cardio workout today. I really just want to crawl into my bed, under the covers and go to sleep. Do you think anyone would mind if I did? Well, other than myself? I'd hate myself for letting points for my House slip by me. So, I'll get going now. To make food for dinner and then make my way outside to get my 30 minutes over with. Then, it's a shower and early bedtime for me, baby!

Summer Term Week 9 Day 2 aka Tuesday

2011-09-04T22:14:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I scared myself this morning when I was getting ready for work. I opened my ring box to put on my wedding band and engagement ring and neither one was in the box. I panicked. Couldn't remember having taken them off last night before bed. When did I take them off? *sigh of relief* Oh right, I took them off in the car to put lotion on my hands when I was driving home from work yesterday.

Continued as usual with my morning preparations, put the dogs in their kennels, and headed into the garage to leave for work. As I backed out of the garage and down the driveway, I slipped my rings onto my finger. It was then that I truly realized just how much I need to go to Claire's at the mall this week. Claire's was recommended to me since they carry plastic ring guards.

Once again, I was struck with what I have already accomplished. I've lost enough weight already that my hands have slimmed down. If I shake my hands to get the last bits of damp off of them after drying my hands, my rings slide down my finger to the point of falling off. I may not see my weight loss in my thighs, hips, belly, or arms, but my fingers show it. And THAT is incredibly encouraging to me.

I know I've lost weight. My clothes fit looser and I can wear medium tops without any reservations, but I still don't necessarily see any physical changes. So knowing and seeing the difference in my hands keeps me going. My rings were re-sized right after my engagement to my husband to size 5, then re-sized again after I gained weight to a size 8. I'm hoping to get that size down to a 4 before I'm done. And, by golly! I'm getting there!

Weekly Weigh-in 8-29-11

2011-09-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 29, 2011

Good Morning, my loves! And believe me...it is a GRAND morning! I just got back upstairs to my computer after weighing in for the week and I am SO excited to share that I lost 3 lbs. last week. THREE! I've been pretty consistent about the weight I've lost since I came back to Spark People in earnest back in June. Each week has been between 1 and 2 pounds. The only thing I did differently this week is play outside with the neighborhood kids instead of doing the 30 Day Shred. I think I must have been starting to get stuck in a rut with the Shred. But that's okay, because I realize now that I can't rely on only one method of exercising to reach my goal.

Wish me luck this week, friends. I've been challenged to take my cardio outdoors this week and as long as the weather stays nice, that shouldn't be too hard mentally, but let me just tell you that playing with the kids leaves me with more bruises than I can even count anymore. Can't wait for this afternoon!

The Mirror of Erised or My Heart's Desire (8.27.11)

2011-09-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Saturday, August 27, 2011)

For those of you who don't know, The Mirror of Erised is a mirror from Harry Potter that shows the person that looks into their heart's greatest desire. The Challenge of Harry Potter contained a daily challenge of blogging about that topic this week.

I can't begin to tell you how hard this topic is for me because I don't really know that I even HAVE a greatest desire. I mean, aside from working a lousy real-life job, I am content. I have everything I need as well as the greatest husband a girl could ever ask for. I suppose...well, I suppose there is one more thing I would love to have.

Children. Of my own. I grew up in a family of seven children and therefore never lacked a playmate. However, I have a problem that my mom has never had. I have an irregular menstrual cycle. So irregular, that I've gone as long as two and a half years without a period that wasn't caused by pills. I honestly don't know if I am even capable of having children. And, my dears, I WANT children. I want a large family like the one I grew up in. Yes, I AM serious. I DO want alot of children. Call me crazy, but if God will provide the means to take care of them, what right do I have to limit the number of children He gives me?

This is why I began my weight loss journey. My lifestyle change. I got tired of making excuses about why I may never be able to have children. See, I don't have polycystic ovary syndrome. I don't have a hormone imbalance. I don't have any reason that I shouldn't be having a normal period. But I don't have one anyway. So, I figured, maybe it IS related to my weight. If I can change even that ONE thing...maybe it will help. Because I want to be a mother. I want to change smelly diapers. I want to teach my own children. I want to see them grow up. And not just in my dreams. For real.

This, my dear friends, is what my Mirror of Erised shows me. A large white house with a wrap-around porch with my husband and I standing on the front stairs to the porch surrounded by little brown and blonde haired children (boys. not girls). A few dogs thrown in the mix and my Mirror is complete.

If I can, personally, do nothing else other than change my lifestyle to be more healthy and more fit, than so be it. BUT, I WILL change. I WILL do everything I possibly can to actually own a REAL picture that matches what my Mirror shows me.

My Week in Hogsmeade (8.21.11)

2011-09-04T22:02:00.000-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Sunday, August 21, 2011)

Monday my friends and I from Hogwarts traveled down for a week long visit to Hogsmeade.

Tuesday, when we hit Dervish and Banges, I learned a little bit more about how the lack of exercise affects my daily routine as I did my first 30 Day Shred in about a week. Never realized how fast muscle went away despite reading about it constantly.

Wednesday at Zonko's Joke Shop, my coworker and I had more than a few laughs to help alleviate the stress of our job.

Thursday, when we visited the Post Office, I met a few more people from the House of Slytherin. Now THAT was probably my favorite part of the week since I hadn't met many Slytherin's since starting school at Hogwarts.

Friday, we stopped for refreshment at The Three Broomsticks, and let me just tell you that I don't believe I have EVER drank so much water in one day before! 17 cups of water had me feeling like I could do laps around a swimming pool at my work desk.

On Saturday when we stopped at Honeydukes' I didn't actually get to participate because I went on a date with my husband (a straight up Gryffindor!) to Pei Wei.

And Today....today we are at one of the bestest shops ever opened...Scrivenshaft's. This is the day I get to share with you what I did this week.

I think if I had to choose a shop that I needed to visit more often, it would have to be The Three Broomsticks. The chance to earn house points for every single cup of water that I drank in one day motivated me to help my house as much as I could. A visit like that every day of my time at Hogwarts would help me more than anything else. And you know..most of that would be because the more water I drank, the less food I ate. LOVED that!

After such a GREAT time spent in Hogsmeade this week, I am definitely looking forward towards our next term at Hogwarts. See, I'm planning on helping my fellow Slytherins win the house cup this year. Cause we deserve it!

Weekly Weigh-In 07/25/11

2011-09-04T21:57:00.000-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Monday, July 25, 2011)

So, I figured it would be a good idea to publish my weigh-ins each week if for no other reason than to see my progress in actual writing. Of course, earning a few more SparkPoints in the process doesn't hurt. :-)

This week, typical to me, I ate under calories almost every day of the week. If you had asked me before I started tracking my food how much I ate I probably would have given some super high number of calories and I probably would have been correct. My problem, I think is, with me switching to more nutritious foods, I am still eating the same VOLUME, but now, the volume is ALOT fewer calories. So tell me, how can I pump up my caloric intake without FEELING like I'm overeating?

On a brighter note, my husband is absolutely loving the new healthy me. But wait...not necessarily in the way you might think. He loves me because with my counting my calories, I've been cooking dinner. I hate cooking. I always feel like it takes too much time, BUT, I dislike this weight more than I dislike cooking. Besides, I've been able to find some pretty time efficient recipes so far this month. AND, it helps to have Joseph's iPod dock in my kitchen now so I can listen to my k-pop while I cook. K-pop makes Everything better. Oh, and the other thing that makes cooking enjoyable...FRESH vegetables. Like, FARMER fresh. Best part of the summer is farmers markets and BOY am I putting them to use this year!

Anyway, enough about everything else. Here are the numbers.

Last week (07/18/11) - 188.5 lbs.
This week (07/25/11) - 185.0 lbs.

Whoo Hoo!

In the words of my sister... (6.24.11)

2011-09-04T21:54:00.002-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Friday, June 24, 2011)

That's right, folks. I'm headed to Myrtle Beach on Sunday so the remainder of this week will be spent doing laundry and packing for the beach. Maybe just a little bit more shopping to to pick up those last minute items like SPF 15 sunscreen. I am so excited about this vacation. I've needed it for longer than I care to admit.

However, I'm just a tad bit worried about keeping up with my diet while I'm down south. I'm not worried about my exercise. I mean, I've got a computer and I've got my 30 Day Shred, but seafood buffets....YUM. I suppose I need to start researching now the number of calories in my favorite seafood dishes so that I can plan my meals accordingly even though we Will be eating out. Fun. Fun.

So, cheer me on my friends, I'm gonna need all the encouragement ya'll can spare, if you don't mind. Now, I gotta go pack!

Ridiculously Excited (6-23-11)

2011-09-04T21:53:00.002-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Thursday, June 23, 2011)

I don't own a scale. I don't WANT to own a scale. So normally, if you would ask me how much I weigh, I would tell you whatever I weighed when I last visited my family doctor. However, the building that my job is located in has a free gym and it has a scale. So I determined that I would try to weigh in for SparkPeople every other week. Today was an "every other". If you've seen my status you know that I weighed in at 195 lbs. That's 10 lbs down from what I weighed at my April doctor's visit. 10 lbs. in two months. For me, that's unheard of.

I can see daily, the impact my eating habits have on my energy levels. Since I've gotten back on SparkPeople, my eating has gotten healthier and healthier (ignore today's dinner). My coworkers have noticed and comment all the time if they think that I'm contemplating cheating on my goals.

When you put it all together, I'm losing weight and I'm feeling better. What more could a girl ask for?

To Stay Motivated (6-20-11)

2011-09-04T21:52:00.002-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Monday, June 20, 2011)

What I think of to stay motivated in no particular order:

My goal to be fit enough to run with my friend who runs cross country races for George Mason.

My Husband - the occasions when he tells me that I look really good

my future children (praying that exercising will help me even be Able to Have children)

My goal to be able to lift a full sized motorcycle with no help from anyone else

My dream of being able to fit into that perfect dress from college again. (even if i don't hit my end goal weight, i'll still be able to fit into that dress again)

Being and Eating Healthy.

Strengthening my back - I don't want any more problems with my back ever again

I know some of these goals are much more future oriented, but every one of them is reachable and THAT is my biggest goal...Having attainable goals and dreams. And making the ones that seem to be UNattainable...attainable anyway.

What is YOUR biggest dream/goal?

Trying to get back on track (6-13-11)

2011-09-04T21:47:00.000-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Monday, June 13, 2011)

I suppose I should start with letting you know that I have a wonky back. I don't know where it all started, but every so often I'll aggravate my back and throw off my whole workout routine. Of course I would go and do JUST that as soon as I get back onto SparkPeople. But, I'm determined to not let it discourage me. I can still do minor exercises and dumb bell exercises. But I MISS my long morning walks with my coworker. And I miss yelling "Go Bald" at Jillian Michaels as I struggle to remain upright in the side lunge in Level One of The 30 Day Shred. So, I'm going to suck it up, and try to do a little of the Shred today. My back's feeling better, but still not up to par so I'll have to watch it, but I just can't stand sitting around anymore. It's literally killing me.

In other words, pray for me my friends...it may get ugly.

The vegetable I hate eating (6-9-11)

2011-09-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

(Formerly posted on SparkPeople on Thursday, June 6, 2011)

I pretty much despise carrots. Ask my husband at any point and he'll quickly confirm this. In fact, he is always telling me that I NEED to eat carrots for all of the good they'll do my eyes. Honestly...I don't care. Carrots are dry. They taste nasty. They turn my fingers funky colors when I peel the outsides off. I don't even like them with brown sugar or butter. If I have to eat them raw, I end up eating more dip than carrot. At least, that's how I felt about them before lunch today.
I purchased a fresh bunch of organic carrots this morning because I really AM trying to eat healthier foods and of course I'm counting calories and such. About an hour ago (11:30ish) my stomach started going crazy for food and all I have here at work with me for lunch today are those organic carrots. So, I peeled three. Spooned out my slightly heaping 2Tbsp of French onion dip. And headed back to my desk. And I honestly have to admit, I'm eating more carrot than dip right now. These carrots aren't dry. They aren't leaving a funky aftertaste. They actually have a slightly sweet flavor to them. They DID still turn my fingers orange, but if I can eat carrots that I will truly enjoy?...I'll deal with the orange.
I guess the point of my post here is to say that sometimes stepping out of my comfort zone and reaching for the foods I typically avoid can be an eye-opening experience. Maybe I don't hate eating carrots after all!

What's the point of a blog when you never post?

2011-08-19T18:22:00.000-04:00

You can totally ask me that question. As long as you don't expect a clear answer. I love blogging, really I do, but I always find myself wishing I was busy doing something else instead of writing. I feel like I don't have anything interesting to contribute, so why waste your time while you read my drivel.

Oh, yeah, and the other reason I haven't posted....I've been busy changing my life. In MANY ways. My younger brother and my sister-in-law no longer live with Joseph and I. I've been SO much more active. I've lost 24 lbs. since April 2011. I went back to Spark People and I LOVE it there! I've not read nearly as many books this year as I did last year. Not even close. I've found that I've been able to avoid buying more books than I really need. I've visited King's Dominion for the first time. Joseph and I have found a new church that we BOTH absolutely love.

What about you, though? What have YOU done since we last chatted? Please spill. I hate that I've been so far away from you for so long.

Being Inspired

2011-03-09T06:43:00.002-05:00

My seester, Rachel, left me a comment on my last post about me inspiring her to post her journals just like I did. First, I'm not sure if she was being serious or sarcastic...it could totally go either way on that one. Second, she called me an addict. I would like to put forth that I am NOT an addict. I am inspired. Inspired by many random things, perhaps, but inspired nonetheless.
   When something catches my attention and keeps it for a good bit of time, I am inspired. When I hear a beautiful piece of music by an artist I have never heard before, I am inspired to find more music by said artist. When I find a new tea that tastes absolutely divine, my inspiration to try new teas is reaffirmed. When I read a particular genre and in turn fall in love with the story I am reading, I end up inspired to find more books in the same genre even if I don't typically read that genre. (This usually happens with sci-fi books.) And, when a sister calls me an Addict...I am inspired to write a post about inspiration. Imagine!
   According to Free Dictionary.com, Inspire has the following definitions:

   1. To affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence
   2. To fill with enlivening or exalting emotion
   3. To stimulate to action; motivate / To affect or touch
   4. To draw forth; elicit or arouse
   5. To be the cause or source of; bring about

   Reading those definitions makes me think past the easy, fluffy post that I started off writing. I can't help but wonder if I ever truly inspire anyone. It seems that the 5th definition is probably the most usual type of inspiration. But, wouldn't it be nice to be able to claim that you inspired people in the form of definitions # 3 and/or #4? I think it would be. How many people can claim the status of #3? Perhaps our parents? Probably politicians. Hopefully the Holy Spirit.
   Are we open for inspiration? or do we keep ourselves held back. Many times it is easier to be discontent with our lives, but still refuse to accept the inspiration from others that would push us to change. It's safer to reject inspiration. But What IF? What IF we accepted the inspiration from others around us? What would change? Would be become more outgoing? More focused on the goals we've set up in our lives? More likely to take risks?
   With these questions comes a fear of mine. Change. I don't really like change, but I'm beginning to accept it and to realize that it isn't as bad as I always thought it was. My coworkers are becoming huge inspirations to me when it comes to actually looking for a new job that I will enjoy. My neighbor inspired me to finally follow through with making those doctors appointments that I've needed to make for years now. My husband shows me by example and inspires me a little more each day to be less selfish of my own time. My sister inspires me to become a better writer. (even if, by better, I only mean that I write more often and that I write more meaningful posts.) Little by little, my inspirations are Changing my Definition of Life and I think I like it.

A Show of Journals

2011-03-08T16:03:00.001-05:00

Hi. My name is Hannah and I love buying and collecting journals. Thankfully, this is not one of my obsessions. I think. I bought a few new journals a week or two ago and looked up the manufacturer of once of them yesterday before I started work. In the Google search that followed, I found a blog entirely about notebooks. Picture after picture of this blog's readers notebook collections inspired me to photograph my own group.

This first picture is of the notebooks/journals that I will probably give away as gifts because I don't believe I'll ever use them myself. Out of the picture above, four were purchased from Target. The blue one with the birdcage. The purple butterfly. The Dubble Bubble and the Donald Duck. I had actually purchased two of the blue birdcage notebooks. I only photographed one because I was writing in the other at the time. This one being written in is the journal that helped inspire this post. The Passion journal was a gift but I have to admit I really don't like it that much (really hope i don't offend anyone by admitting that. eek.) and the blue circle notebook was an online freebie from a few years back. None of the notebooks in this first picture have been used at all.

This second picture shows the notebooks I plan on using personally sometime in the future. R2D2 has been around for many many years. I think I bought him before I even started college 10 1/2 years ago. Bumblebee is from when Transformers first released in theaters. Loved the character so much I had to have the notebook. The cherries just appealed to me. They're kinda preppy and totally cute. The red eagle/TKC notebook is from my job. The two smaller notepads with flowers are from the Target dollar spot. The red Fleur de Lis is from Borders and the green Celtic knot is from Barnes and Noble. The Dell laptop notebook was an end of the year gift from Dell to my company. Dell sent all of my teammates and I one. And the last two...the Penmanship and two patterned notebook are also both from Target. Have to admit I love both of them.

These above have been used/ are in use currently. The green beat up notebook at the top lists my Christmas gifts as I buy them each year so I can keep track of how much I'm spending on people. The Dots was used once in an emergency. The purple and black (at the top) has a written conversation between my younger sister and I in it. The wordy notebook right below it is my brainstorming journal. I have lists in there of pithy sayings from my family, license plates, ideas for blogging, etc. The Chess notebook is my Books Read journal. I have written down every book that I've read since January 2007 in that notebook. The map is for whatever I need it to be for while the colored clipboard notepad holder is just colored. I don't know that I've really used any of the actual notepad yet on that one. And last is the tiny little Moleskine notebook. It is actually a day planner that I've been using to keep track of my piano lessons in. I have also begun using it like a checkbook for my personal debit card.

And last, but definitely not least is my collection of college diaries and journals. I honestly started the diary in the top left corner when I was nine and never truly Finished the diary out before I started the next. In the folder next to the diary is my first real journal. The cover tore off from over use and even after having been duck-taped, I had to remove it and put the pages into the folder for keeping. After that journal came the black leather one which was a gift from Joseph, then Arwen, then the metal journal (which was my favorite). These were followed by the yellow and brown, the poppy, the blue flowered journal, and the Jack Russel Terrier notebook. The last entry in the terrier notebook was written a month after my wedding. I have not written in a journal since then until just yesterday. See, I think I'm going to try again. I used to love writing down my thoughts and the details of my humdrum life. Maybe I'll begin to love it again.

Do you collect notebooks or journals? If yes, do you keep a personal journal? How long have you done so? I'm completely curious to learn more about you, so please tell!

Meet Miss Ava Solbach

2011-02-28T19:17:00.004-05:00

On February 19, 2011, Joseph and I welcomed a new little girl into our family. Now, before you get excited and think that I had a baby and just was holding out on ya'll, let me tell you that Ava is a puppy. We adopted her from Operation Paws for Homes. She was rescued from a high-kill shelter in NC not long after she was born. Ava had a rough start to her life (she's 13 weeks old). Out of her litter, only three or four survived. They had all contracted some sickness from the shelter they were in. She was all skin and bones when we adopted her even though she had a clean bill of health.

Her first day home.

President's day. Third day after adoption. See how skinny she was!?

She loves to snatch whatever Rocky has right out of his mouth.

What messes, Mom?

MY dragon!

Sleepy baby

Now, if you look closely, Ava seems to have a foot growing out of her tummy. That's Rocky's back leg. She lays on top of Rock and he lets her.

Aren't they just SO sweet together??

A Hot day in February

2011-02-14T16:10:00.002-05:00

THIS is the temperature that greeted me when I left work this afternoon. It's February for crying out loud! It should NOT be 60 degrees outside!

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (2011-2)

2011-02-07T18:04:00.003-05:00

"It's Monday. What are you reading?" is a meme hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World of Books. This is where you list what you've read in the past week.

It's been a LONG time since I've participated in this meme, but I really wanted to join in this week. Partly since it's been a really good year for reading so far and partly because I miss my reading meme friends.

Without further ado, here's my list for this past week:

Kringle ~ Tony Abbott 1/30

The Lightning Thief ~ Rick Riordan 1/30

The Sea of Monsters ~ Rick Riordan 1/31

Beast Master Vol. 1-2 ~ Kyousuke Motomi 1/31

Backstage Prince Vol. 1-2 ~ Kanoko Sakurakoji 1/31

Boyfriends, Burritos and an Ocean of Trouble ~ Nancy Rue 2/1

The Titan's Curse ~ Rick Riordan 2/2

Moe Kare Vol. 1-7 ~ Go Ikeyamada 2/2

The Battle of the Labyrinth ~ Rick Riordan 2/3

The Last Olympian ~ Rick Riordan 2/4

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle ~ Avi 2/5

Lyddie ~ Katherine Paterson 2/6

Jip: His Story ~ Katherine Paterson 2/6

So, my goal this year was to read as many books as possible that I own that I either haven't read in YEARS or just haven't read at all yet. My total books towards that goal since January 1st: 33. I think I'm doing pretty well so far.

As for my To Be Read this week list:

I am currently finishing up I Am Number Four ~ Pittacus Lore and Under the Lilacs ~ Louisa May Alcott.

I intend to begin and complete The Lost Hero ~ Rick Riordan and possibly start on the other two books by Avi that I haven't read yet. If not Avi this week, then I'll read Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. (Not really looking forward to reading those two no matter how much I love Jane Austen.

What did YOU read this week?

Frank's Words of Wisdom

2011-01-30T10:55:00.003-05:00

"...you can make things go as you want them, if you only try hard enough, and walk right over whatever stands in the way. I don't mean to give up my plans for any man; but, if I live, I'll carry them out - you see if I don't."

~Frank from Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

Best Quote for Work Ever!

2011-01-23T08:11:00.002-05:00

"It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do."

~ Jerome K. Jerome

Mission Accomplished!

2011-01-10T16:46:00.003-05:00

This past Saturday night Joseph and I were over at my in-laws visiting when my father-in-law asked if we knew of any way to copy a video offline and save it on his computer. Joseph and I both had a few ideas as to how we could manage this feat, but none of our ideas panned out. This led me to resort to desperate measures. I clicked on the "Contact Us" link and copied the email address down. The following is what was typed and received after I clicked on "Compose" in my email account. (the following has been edited to protect the innocent and their emails)

Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 8:34 PM
To: Admin@RiverDogs.com
Subject: Request for copy of 2010 Season Hilights Video from RiverDogs Website

Good Evening,

I was wondering if it would be possible to receive a copy of the 2010 season hilights video showing on the RiverDogs website. My brother-in-law, M--- played for the team this summer and my father-in-law would really like a copy of the video for his own personal viewing. This would be a personal video only.

Please let me know if this is a reasonable and possible request. It would mean a great deal to M-'s dad to be able to add this video to his personal tracking of M-'s baseball career.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Hannah

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 7:21 AM, Dave Echols wrote:

Dave Echols
EVP / General Manager
Charleston RiverDogs

(Okay, so he didn't really write anything, but he DID forward my email to Noel.)

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 2:28 PM, Noel Blaha wrote:
Hi Hannah,

Please provide me with a mailing address and I'll send a copy on a disc to you.

All the best,

Noel Blaha
Director of Promotions
Charleston RiverDogs
www.RiverDogs.com

Of course I replied to Noel's email with my FIL's address and thanked her profusely. So, yeah. WOW. It was a shot in the dark, but it worked and I am SO excited about it!

New Year's Resolutions - Or, Why I Don't Make Any

2011-01-09T21:40:00.003-05:00

So, Joseph and I went down to Manassas together this afternoon to visit McKay's and Aldi. On our way down, I mentioned to Joseph that I was planning on curbing my spending of money on new books. Of course, he asked me what other things I had planned for this year. Or other things that I want to accomplish. (Basically, what were my new year's resolutions.) I had to admit to him that I don't make any new year's resolutions and thankfully, he didn't ask why. But, I got to thinking about it. Why DON'T I make any resolutions each new year? It's not that I think they're a bad idea. And, it isn't as though there aren't a few things that I don't do at the beginning of each year. I mean, I always make a point of praying that no birds poop on me each year. That prayer has been answered every year since I started requesting saving from bird poop.

No, I don't make resolutions because there isn't anything much more discouraging than failing a resolution. I've made the "lose weight" resolution. I've made the "eat better" resolution. The "be nicer to my family and coworkers", the "read more books", the "read fewer books", the "use the internet less and spend more time with Joseph", etc. The list never ends. But honestly, it never fails that I fall off the wagon and end up more discouraged afterwards than I had ever been before making the resolution in the first place.

Instead, I've learned to go with the flow and to choose to make up my mind each day. It's so much easier to make the choice daily than it is to choose to accomplish something in the long term. I know this doesn't work for most people, in fact, it probably doesn't work for hardly anyone but myself. But, it's okay. Because, for me, a goal is like faith was described in Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan - It's a daily choice. We have to CHOOSE to believe in something every day. In the same way, I have to choose to eat right every morning when my day starts out. If I eat a good breakfast, lunch is easier to eat and supper as well.

What about you? Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Or do you have a different method of accomplishing your long-term goals?

Question to the World

2011-01-06T08:01:00.002-05:00

So, I'm just going to jump right in and tell you how I feel.

I feel like my in-laws don't really like me. But, I'd like to get to know them better. They're both reasonably civil and sometimes even really nice, but there's always something holding them back. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly the most outgoing person on my own. I have to have someone to bounce off of. I tend to be the person that sits off to the side of a conversation listening to everything going on around me, but not really getting personally involved.

Here's the thing. My father-in-law just have a quintuple bypass surgery on his heart yesterday and I don't know much about it at all. Joseph isn't exactly one for talking about something like this and I feel weird calling my mother-in-law and asking for details now (that's it done and all). See, my in-laws didn't tell me about the surgery, Joseph did. My in-laws don't talk to me. So I kinda feel out of place in asking for information about something they didn't share with me on their own already. Would I be out of place in asking about it now? I don't want them to think I'm not interested in them, but it's just hard to show interest in someone that doesn't seem to be interested in me.

help! What should I do?? I need advice, please

I Laugh in the Face of My 2010 Reading Goal

2011-01-01T15:25:00.003-05:00

Hahahahaha! Take THAT you huge number known as 150. I smoked you. Fair and square.

Oh, by how many books, you ask?

Do you really want to know?

*mumbles* 118

You didn't hear me?

*a little louder than a mumble* 118

FINE! Since you keep insisting on being able to handle the truth!

I Read 268 books in 2010. That's Two Hundred Sixty Eight books. Wow. That looks even bigger than a larger font does. I should write my high numbers out all the time!

*pats self on back* Yes, dear, you did a good job. Now put your ego away and finish up the significant number of books that you started last month but never finished. You lazy bum!

September, October, November, and December Tally

2011-01-01T15:10:00.002-05:00

September

Clockwork Angel ~ Cassandra Clare 9/1

Quidditch Through the Ages ~ J.K. Rowling 9/6

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them ~ J. K. Rowling 9/6

The Education of Bet ~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted 9/7

Persuasion ~ Jane Austen 9/8

Maximum Ride: Volume 3 ~ NaRae Lee 9/9

Wondrous Strange ~ Lesley Livingston 9/10

The Man of the Desert ~ Grace Livingston Hill 9/13

October

The Mystery of Mary ~ Grace Livingston Hill 10/16

A Bride Most Begrudging ~ Deeanne Gist 10/22

The Adventures of Holly Hobbie ~ Richard Dubelman 10/25

Love in the Dark ~ Barbara Cartland 10/27

A Wish Come True ~ Barbara Cartland 10/28

Royal Punishment ~ Barbara Cartland 10/28

Moon Over Eden ~ Barbara Cartland 10/29

A Gamble with Hearts ~ Barbara Cartland 10/30

November

Look, Listen and Love ~ Barbara Cartland 11/2

Winged Magic ~ Barbara Cartland 11/2

For All Eternity ~ Barbara Cartland 11/7

Paranormalcy ~ Kiersten White 11/8

No Time for Love ~ Barbara Cartland 11/8

The Knight and the Dove ~ Lori Wick 11/15

Harry Potter: Film Wizardy 11/19

December

Bless Your Heart, Tramp ~ Celia Rivenbark 12/24

Tess and the Highlander ~ May McGoldrick 12/26

Emily and the Scot ~ Kathryn Smith 12/27

Jane ~ April Lindner 12/27

And that's a wrap, folks. The end of my 2010 Books Read list. I'll tell you my grand total of books read in 2010 in my next post.

Happy New Year, My Loves

2011-01-01T15:03:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon, 2011. Welcome to the world. It's very nice to meet you. I have a few requests, if I may, that'd I'd like to ask of you.

First, would you be a dear and go finish up my laundry, start my dishes, and take down my Christmas trees (yes, plural) and decorations around my house? I'd be EVER so grateful if you'd make yourself useful. Thank you.

Second, I easily surpassed my reading goal last year, so I think I'd like to take it easy this year. I'm thinking about merely reading through my own bookshelves with a very few new additions. Namely, the last books in series that I've had started for quite some time already. (Think, Percy Jackson in paperback.)

Third, If you could find it in your heart to help me remember to take a walk around my neighbourhood as often as possible, I might be willing to name you as my best friend ever. Maybe.

Fourth, Let's have fun together, 2011. I'm going to bet you are going to be my best year yet!

Love,

Hannah

A Weekend in Leesburg, VA

2010-10-18T19:37:00.003-04:00

I'm becoming a regular ghost writer. As in....I don't really exist to write. *snicker*

September and October are the WORST months ever known to anyone in the sales operations position in my current company. We work long hours and never seem to catch up on all of our work. Hence the reason I was so tired and non-existent this past month. But. Hopefully I'm back for a while now.

The past two weekends have been so much fun for me. My mom came down from PA to visit me both weekends. Last weekend we just hung out at my house because I couldn't really even stand up let alone walk. (I messed my back up again.) This weekend Mom and I went to the 72nd Loudoun Hospital Ladies' Board Rummage Sale. Would you believe they had an entire barn just full of books there!?! I ended up spending $17 for a huge box of books, 9 of which were Barbara Cartlands. P.S. Barbara Cartland's romance novels are my secret obsession. I also found a handful of old sheet music. Like 1920s and 30s old. Love it!

After the Rummage Sale we went to the Leesburg Outlets to pick up a few items. Of course we had to stop at the Yankee Candle outlet store. I found two of the most fabulous gift sets for under $10 each. Thing is, they are so fabulous I think I may just have to keep them for myself.

We then made our way into downtown Leesburg. My first time actually stopping there. I've driven through the downtown quite a few times, but have never had the time to stop and walk around. We had lunch at The Green Tree. The owner was our server! Really great food and such a cool little place. Once lunch was finished we wandered through the two antique stores across the street. Found an old skeleton key for Shayla at the first store and at the second store I found the crowning achievement of my entire day. Ready for this? I found a copy of The Vanishing Shadow with the Dust Jacket still on it! (that's a Judy Bolton mystery for those of you not in the know.) But, that's not all. I also found a Vicki Barr mystery and best of all! - The Finding of Jasper Holt by Grace Livingston Hill. Mom found that last one and I'm seriously surprised she still has any hearing left at all in her left ear. I think I honestly shrieked when she read the title aloud and asked it that was the book I had been looking for. Not too long after that second antique store, we decided it was time to head home. Well, technically it was my back and hips that made the decision for us. We are definitely going to be going back up there the next time Mom comes down for a visit though cause there are SO many other shops that we didn't even get to glance at that we definitely need to check out!

So, yeah. That was my weekend.

Oh. and then this afternoon, I shifted all my books around on my bookshelves. There aren't any more empty shelves left. *innocent look* No. I do NOT have an addiction to books. Not at ALL.

A New Kind of Test

2010-09-17T09:19:00.001-04:00

so, i just got a droid this week a i wanted to know if i could actually write a post on it. guess what...i can.

Tired

2010-09-11T18:28:00.001-04:00

Of everything. I need a break.

Out of Practice

2010-09-07T21:10:00.002-04:00

About an hour ago I posted my latest Facebook status which reads:

Hannah: Read The Education of Bet this morning and am working my way through Persuasion. After so much fluff (aka current YA fiction), Persuasion takes so much more brain power to read. I'm SO out of practice!

Then, I read and agreed with Tahereh's latest post.

Now, I'm wondering where I stand exactly on this. I adore YA fiction. Always have and probably always will. However, I find myself wanting to read more of the classics again. I'm only on chapter 9 of Persuasion right now. Why? Because each chapter is taking 10-15 minutes to read and comprehend. (That's 4-6 pages in each chapter) Terrible timing! I should be better than this. I USED to be better than this. I blame it on YA fiction. BUT, I don't regret my YA, so, what to do? I've got an idea and I would like to know if it sounds too crazy.

Since I've well passed my goal of 200 books read this year, I've got time to "waste" reading. Here's my idea:

I've got ALOT of classics on my new bookshelves that I've still not read even though I've had many for well over ten years. I think I should probably tackle reading them now that they're out in the open. How about for every non-classic that I read for the remainder of the year, I tackle a classic just so that I can actually say that I've read all the classics that I own? Sound like a good plan? This would allow for my YA addiction to be satisfied, while reviving the practice of reading and comprehension of all the OLD books.

Tell me...what do you think? "Good idea" or just "plain ludicrous...you'll never make it!"

August Tally 2010

2010-08-31T22:24:00.002-04:00

August is almost over and September begins the busiest month of the year for me. (Work and all that) It's funny, though, cause one would think that I would be trying to cram as much reading as possible into August since time will be tight in September, but I didn't really read alot this month. Here's the list:

Half Moon Investigations ~ Eoin Colfer 8/2

Gwyneth and the Thief ~ Margaret Moore 8/2

Puppy Love ~ Nancy Krulik 8/3

Material Evidence ~ Bill Kirton 8/5

Boys that Bite ~ Mari Mancusi 8/6

Stake That! ~ Mari Mancusi 8/9

The Grimm Legacy ~ Polly Shulman 8/29

The Hunger Games ~ Suzanne Collins 8/30

Catching Fire ~ Suzanne Collins 8/30

Mockingjay ~ Suzanne Collins 8/31

Wow! Did you see that gap of twenty days where I didn't finish one. single. book? I blame it on the bookshelves. and the visitor. and work. and piano lessons. and TV DVR. There's just too much entertainment and not enough hours in a day! Obviously, my blog hasn't exactly been one of my priorities again, but hopefully the bouts of silence won't last too much longer. We'll see.

In the meantime, Read as much as you can and let me know what you favorite book in August was.

July Tally 2010

2010-08-22T17:22:00.002-04:00

Yes, I realize we are almost through August and I am just now getting around to posting my tally for July. I have plenty of excuses for this, but I'm not going to give any. I don't want to say them and I'm sure you don't want to read them. Moving on.

July was a rather good month due to a few short books and a new manga series. And I mustn't forget my Barbara Cartlands.

Deathnote Vol. 1 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/1

Deathnote Vol. 2 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/1

Deathnote Vol. 3 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/2

Deathnote Vol. 4 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/3

Nightlight: A Twilight Parody ~ The Harvard Lampoon 7/4

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner ~ Stephenie Meyer 7/5

Deathnote Vol. 5 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/7

Deathnote Vol. 6 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/8

Deathnote Vol. 7 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/8

Deathnote Vol. 8 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/9

Deathnote Vol. 9 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/9

Deathnote Vol. 10 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/9

The Red Pyramid ~ Rick Riordan 7/11

Deathnote Vol. 11 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/11

Deathnote Vol. 12 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/11

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ J.K. Rowling 7/12

Never Laugh at Love ~ Barbara Cartland 7/19

The Unwanted Wedding ~ Barbara Cartland 7/20

The Incredible Honeymoon ~ Barbara Cartland 7/21

Moments of Love ~ Barbara Cartland 7/21

Wild Irish Roses ~ Una McManus 7/22

Can You Keep a Secret ~ Sophie Kinsella 7/23

Who Needs Boys ~ Stephie Davis 7/24

When It Happens ~ Susanne Colasante 7/25

Good Girls ~ Laura Ruby 7/26

Story of a Girl ~ Sara Zarr 7/26

How I Live Now ~ Meg Rosoff 7/27

Companions of the Night ~ Vivian Vande Velde 7/28

Model Spy ~ Shannon Greenland 7/29

Down to the Wire ~ Shannon Greenland 7/30

The Winning Element ~ Shannon Greenland 7/30

With a total of 32 books read, I definitely feel like July was a good month for reading. I can only hope that August goes a little bit better this last week cause right now...it's pitiful!

A Story of Anniversary and Unpacking

2010-08-21T22:33:00.002-04:00

Imagine my surprise as I considered the title of this blog post when I followed a hunch and googled "5th anniversary". This is what I landed on. Notice the traditional gift for a 5th wedding anniversary is wood. I'm pretty sure Joseph didn't know that when he stopped by Costco with his dad early this week and discovered the most beautiful bookshelves. Nor when he decided to buy said bookshelves.

Side note: it has been a wonderful five years of marriage already. Where HAS the time gone? I cannot imagine life without Joseph anymore. And I'm sure I don't want to be able to do so either. I certainly do love that man!

A very good friend from college, Josh, visited us this week so he and Joseph spent two evenings putting these shelves together for me once they brought them home. A HUGE thank you to him for his help!

The former residences of my book collection.

Schoolbooks. Computer and Programming (aka Joseph's). Non-fiction and Kids' books.

Fiction A-C

Fiction D - Y.

Series.

Aren't the BEAUTIFUL! It has been over 10 long years since most of my books have felt the stability of shelves for display. The vast majority of those years were spent in boxes. Granted they had be re-boxed many times over as I sorted through them multiple times looking for a particular book to reread, but for the most part, they stayed in the boxes.

The basement (where the shelves are) has a very homey feel to it now that I am loathe to leave. It was quite a hard decision to come upstairs to my room to get online instead of staying downstairs to continuously admire my new bookshelves.

The only downside to having all of my books visible - I can now see my many unfinished series that I am now itching to complete. This could very well mean the end of my pocketbook. Joseph will have to lock it away to keep me from spending all my hard-earned money on nothing but books.

Super Junior(슈퍼주니어)_너 같은 사람 또 없어_뮤직비디오(MusicVideo)

2010-08-11T17:35:00.000-04:00

Yet Another New Favorite

2010-08-11T17:04:00.002-04:00

At the beginning of May I was wondering around You Tube looking for music videos of Naruto music. Which I found. But, then, on the side I noticed a video for a song called Ring Ding Dong by SHINee. First, I was like, "SHINee. Really.?. What a name!!" But I decided to click on it anyway. And the world of Korean music opened up. I learned about DBSK. Big Bang. 2NE1. 2PM. 2AM. and many, many others. It didn't take long for me to create a new playlist on You Tube that was just Korean music. I completely understand that I CAN'T understand the music, but you know, that doesn't bother me. I understand the Feeling behind the music. And that enough for me.

My favorite Korean group is Super Junior. They are comprised of 13 young men. Yes. 13! Their music ranges from happy, bouncy to slow, and heartfelt. There's a few that have some pretty strong driving beats that can be kinda dangerous to drive to, but they're fun! Don't worry. I'll share my favorite video with you in just a minute. And you can then proceed to tell me that I'm crazy for listening to these guys. and I'll agree with you, then continue listening anyway. :-)

How NOT to Become a Vegetarian or "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner"

2010-07-06T19:43:00.004-04:00

"The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" by Stephenie Meyer - a rambling post of thoughts.

Let me start off by stating that I am not the biggest fan of Twilight. Not even close. In fact, I’ll be one of the first people to tell you that the Twilight books are quite poorly written. I’ll also admit that the story is quite addicting. I read the first three books in two days and the fourth in one. Then, I read them again and realized I was no longer impressed by the story of Bella and Edward and Jacob.

These facts did not keep me from reading The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. I wanted to find out just exactly what the story was behind the vampire newborn that Bella actually met for a few minutes. The book wasn’t long, but it was intriguing. I found myself wishing Bree would have been given the chance to live, but knowing that she was going to die at the end of the book made me look at her life more closely.

Consider the fact that this novella was written to give the actors in Eclipse an idea of how to portray the newborn vampires. The story is more of a behind-the-scenes look. And it fits that description well. You get an inside look at the happenings in Seattle during the recruitment of Victoria’s army. How Riley was able to keep such a large group of newborns alive. The superstitions that were passed on to said newborns. How the Bree and a few other specified newborns reacted to their new lives and surroundings.

I can’t say that I necessarily enjoyed The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, but reading it did give me a new appreciation for the confusion that Victoria was able to create and a new found dislike for the Volturi’s underhanded methods of dealing with “problems”. The one part that I have to admit caught me off guard was the way Ms. Meyer ended the book. It was actually kinda classy. You’ll see.

If you love Twilight, this is a great additional story to read for more details of the happenings surrounding the newborn army of Eclipse. If you don’t love Twilight, but you still enjoy the story as a guilty pleasure, reading this books is a pleasant pastime if you can stomach reading about a girl that you know will die in the end. If you hate Twilight, don’t even bother with it. You won’t be missing anything.

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

2010-07-05T19:26:00.003-04:00

Welcome to It's Monday, What are you Reading?, a meme hosted by Sheila at BookJourney. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in just stop by Sheila's blog and link up.

Read Last Week:

Goddess of Spring ~ P.C. Cast 6/28

Lawman's Redemption ~ Marilyn Pappano 6/29

Deathnote Vol. 1 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/1

Deathnote Vol. 2 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/1

Deathnote Vol. 3 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/2

Deathnote Vol. 4 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/3

Nightlight ~ The Harvard Lampoon 7/4

Currently Reading:

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner ~ Stephenie Meyer

The Red Pyramid ~ Rick Riordan

Planning to Read This Week:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ J.K. Rowling

I Want Candy ~ Kim Wong Keltner

Gwyneth and the Thief ~ Margaret Moore

So, it has seriously been three months since I have participated in It's Monday, but I'm really trying to be better about getting back in the groove. I slowed down my reading in the past three months as well as my blogging, but I blame it all on vacations and learning about new music and looking for a new job. However, that is all for a different post so, yeah, let's see how well I can keep up with my post from now on. Thanks for stopping by and....

What did YOU read this past week?

June Tally 2010

2010-07-03T20:48:00.002-04:00

So, I really didn't post again last month even though I really had wanted to and planned on doing so. In other words, I am currently a lousy blogger. Ya'll forgive me though, right? I mean, at least I Wanted to! Anyway, this post is for my reading in June which wasn't too bad. Not fantastic, but I was busy. and on vacation. Here it is.

Ripped at the Seams ~ Nancy Krulik 6/1

A Very Naughty Angel ~ Barbara Cartland 6/4

So Worthy My Love ~ Kathleen E. Woodiwiss 6/14

The Folk Keeper ~ Franny Billingsley 6/15

Every Storm ~ Lori Wick 6/16

The Body Finder ~ Kimberly Derting 6/16

Dear John ~ Nicholas Sparks 6/17

Bloodlust ~ Alex Duval 6/19

Initiation ~ Alex Duval 6/19

Ritual ~ Alex Duval 6/19

Legacy ~ Alex Duval 6/22

Pandora Gets Jealous ~ Carolyn Hennesy 6/23

Deenie ~ Judy Blume 6/24

The Princess & The Pauper ~ Kate Brian 6/24

Goddess of Spring ~ P.C. Cast 6/28

Lawman's Redemption ~ Marilyn Pappano 6/29

That's a total of 16 for June. Not bad with all things considered.

Oh yeah! About those Savings...

2010-06-25T20:52:00.003-04:00

The LOOT

So, I told you about how I went to Borders last week and spent $27.23 and actually saved $94.62, right? Well, the picture above includes all but two items that I purchased on that wonderful shopping trip. The other two items were books. I wish I could have showed you a huge stack of books with that kind of savings, but bearing in my mind my recently admitted addiction, this is an amazing find for me. Here's how I did it:

Two books (technically two books, but they were both actually two books in one, so it's really four books) - Originally $8.99 ea - On Clearance for $1.98 ea

Eight packs of Naruto Trading Cards - Originally $4.99 ea - On Clearance for $.98

One Naruto Bookmark - Originally $4.99 - 50% Off

One pack of Naruto pencils - Originally $3.99 - 50% Off

One tin of Naruto Trading Cards - Originally $14.99 - 40% Off Coupon

Two Naruto Trapper Keepers - Originally $19.99 ea - On Clearance for (drumroll please) $.98 ea. (I kid you not. My exact words to the cashier when he rang up the first binder - "Are you SERIOUS!?! Do you mind if I go grab the other one?" It was an amazing moment.)

And THAT, my friends, is how you save almost $95.00 at Borders in one shopping trip. You just have to be obsessed with Anime and Manga.

Pictures as Promised

2010-06-25T20:49:00.002-04:00

I am sorry I took so long to get the wedding pictures posted, but there was a bit of a hullabaloo over me posting these pictures elsewhere so I figured it was probably a good idea to wait a bit before posting them on here. Hope you enjoy them. In the pictures, Shayla and Titus are obviously the bride and groom. Ma is the redhead. The older couple is Shay's grandparents. And of course there was me. *grin*

Happy One Week Anniversary!

2010-06-25T20:38:00.005-04:00

W-Day 3:48PM - Recap

2010-06-18T15:48:00.004-04:00

Obviously the wedding is over now. Has been for four hours, actually. But let me just tell you - the stories I've got!!!

When I last left you, I was headed across the hall to help Shayla out with her makeup and hair. The makeup part went quickly and easily. We sorted out the colors Shay wanted to use and the perfect way to apply said colors. We went with light brown, blue, and purple. Very pretty. Once the makeup was taken care of, we moved on to the hair. Because Shayla has very, very thick, curly hair it needed to be blow dried. Since we had taken care of her makeup in her mom's room, Shayla just plugged her hair dryer in by her mom's dresser. And promptly popped the circuit breaker. Oh yes. The air conditioner shut off, the clock went black, and Ma and I just shook our heads and laughed. After the breaker was switched back on, Shayla dried her hair in the bathroom. Can I just tell you how much I wish that I had my camera with me when she finished?? She came back into the bedroom with hair straight out of the eighties! Hilarious!

An hour later, Shayla and I were shimmying her into her dress and pinning her in. Fixing a curl here, and a twist there. When all was said and done, we made our way downstairs to see the grandparents with 20 minutes before we were supposed to meet the Justice of Peace in the town park. Pictures HAD to be taken so with everyone else posing, I was doing my best to get them out the door and into their cars. My efforts did pay out eventually, though maybe not as early as I would have liked. (How do you say it, Mom?) We were "off like a herd of turtles"!

Ma, Shay and I were in the front car with the grands in the second followed very closely by Titus. All by his lonesome in the rear. I was in the front with the girls for moral support. Seriously. I was handing out tissues as soon as we sat down in those seats! When we finally made it to the park, we were passing flowers around, grabbing bags and cameras, telling each other where everyone else was headed. In other words, it was mild chaos. Down the hill we walked. Across the park. Coming from the other direction was the JP. It didn't take long for us to get started once I directed everyone to the best spot. (we had our pick and no one else seemed lucid enough to make the decision. *tongue in cheek*)

With the ceremony on camera (it only took a little over ten minutes), the pictures started. Thankfully, one of Ma's coworkers had stopped by with her really fantastic camera so she was taking pictures while I filmed the ceremony, then she continued taking pictures while I directed the majority of the groupings. Oh, and the best part? Amy (the coworker) was able to take pictures that included me. yay. *little happy dance*

After the pictures, Titus, Shayla, and I headed over to the town hall to get the application for a copy of the marriage certificate filled out. Once that was done, we headed home to change, then out to lunch at a really wonderful little seafood shack with Ma and the grandparents. Soooo much fun!

When lunch was over, we split up with Shayla's grandparents heading home to Massachusetts and the rest of us headed to town hall to pick up the, now ready, marriage certificate. From town hall we came back home where Shay opened the wedding gifts from her mom and we all visited with Shay's friend, Devon. Then, I came up here to write this. Oh yeah...while Devon was here, we all downloaded the pictures of the wedding from Titus' and my cameras. You'll see some of them in the next post.

So, yeah. Busy day. Beautiful day. Congratulations, Titus and Shayla. May you have a lifetime of happiness together!

W-Day - 8:15AM

2010-06-18T08:13:00.002-04:00

After my last post, I wandered downstairs to find Ma up and making coffee. Chatted with her for a few minutes before heading out the door for breakfast. I've been craving some Dunkin Donuts since we got up here this past Saturday. yummmy! On my way to DD, Shayla texted me her order. (shhh! don't tell Titus. he's against Shayla having DD right now. Something about it makes her hyper. I don't know WHAT he's talking about.) I'm not sure if the weird looks that I got while in the parking lot of DD were because I am all dressed and ready for the wedding, or because Titus' car has VA license plates. Probably both. Anyway, managed to get breakfast without any problems then headed back home. I was hoping to get the PT Cruiser through a car wash, but the wash wasn't open yet so I stopped at Market Basket instead. Grabbed Lysol cleaning wipes, Glass wipes, and paper towels.

When I got back to the house, Ma and Shayla were already putting Shay's bouquet together. Once I finished up my doughnuts, I helped out. Let me just tell you...this bouquet is GORGEOUS!! Ma did a phenomenal job. While Ma and I labored over the flowers, Shay took pictures so I'll have some nice ones to share at some point. Probably late tonight or late tomorrow. Don't worry...I won't forget.

After breakfast and flowers, Shayla and I went outside to do a little bit of cleaning on Titus' car. It looks SOOO much better now! Not quite night and day, but pretty close.

Shay's in the getting ready stage of the morning and I'm gonna be needed for hair and makeup soon. Maybe we'll be able to get Ma to take pictures of this part.

It's W-Day (Wedding Day) - Post 1 - 6AM

2010-06-18T06:00:00.002-04:00

Good morning, lovebirds! I woke up about 45 minutes ago to the continuing sunrise. It's looking like we're going to have a sunny day. Yes, there are clouds in the sky, but the world will not end because of clouds today. I think Ma, Titus, and Shayla all stayed up late last night, but having learned my lesson from my own wedding, I went to bed around 11pm. Of course, by the time Joseph called me to say good night, it was 11:45pm.

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone a hearty wake up before I start on my makeup. Hopefully it won't take long and I'll be able to sneak out of the house to grab breakfast before anyone else gets up and misses me. Then, I'll be taking the "getting ready" pictures during the parts I won't be directly helping with.

Wish me luck!

Where in the World is Hannah aka Loser Lucy??

2010-06-17T20:32:00.006-04:00

Where have I been? Gone. Away from home. Away from my husband. Away from my puppy. BUT...with my younger brother. With his fiancee. With his future (tomorrow) mother-in-law. In New Hampshire.

Shayla (remember her from last summer and over Christmas time?) lives in New Hampshire. She grew up here. She's getting married up here. Hence the reason Titus and I are here. I mean...it does kinda take a bride AND a groom to have a wedding. The wedding is tomorrow. (Which you would have known had you been paying attention earlier when I mentioned Titus' mother-in-law.) Anyway, right now is the first time I've been online long enough to even get on Blogger to write about it, this week.

Today, we (from now on, "we" will refer to Titus, Shayla, and I) went into N--- to Borders (a story for another time), visited TJ Maxx to find a sweater to go over Shayla's wedding dress (it has a halter top), and stopped at Wal-Mart to purchase the flowers for her bouquet and Pepsi for the after-wedding party. Did you know that there is no sales tax in New Hampshire? I didn't before this week and let me tell you...it's AWESOME!!!

Shayla wants red, blue or purple, and white in her wedding bouquet so I bought red roses, white chrysanthemums, blue (silk) hyacinths, and red/purple/blue ribbons. We'll see what works out best. oh! and there are supposedly these really cool red and white wildflowers on the side of the road near the house so I have to go out tomorrow morning and pick some to see if I can work them into the bouquet. Yes, mom, Rachel, and Alicia...you read that correctly...I am creating Shayla's bouquet. Of course, she'll have the last word about the exact arrangement, but I'm pretty sure I can manage to put something together for her. Flowers and hair DO seem to be the extent of my creative streak. Granted, I CAN do makeup too which is good because all three of those areas are falling to me. (PLEASE pray for me!!!)

The wedding is going to be super small. Just Titus, Shayla, Ma (Shay's mom), and Shay's mom's parents, and I will be there beside the Justice of Peace. Shayla and Titus figured the smaller the better which worked out well for them with the JP cause it cut his fee in half when they told him it would be no more than seven people. Gotta love that!

Anyway, I've got a list of things to NOT forget to do/take tomorrow so hopefully my part will go smoothly. My part being: get everyone out of the house alive and well. don't forget the tissues. pack the Tide to Go pen (they're getting married in a park and Shay is accident prone). flowers. hair. makeup. oh yeah! and Pictures. That's my job - to film the ceremony then to take as many pictures as I can get Titus and Shayla and her family to stand still for. (MORE prayer needed on THAT one!!) THEN, there's the belated graduation pictures to take with Shay and her grandparents once we get home from the wedding. Somewhere in there we'll throw in a little after-wedding party, more packing of Shayla's stuff, and tons more pictures along with short tempers, and, I'm sure, a few tiffs with me as the buffer. It's gonna be fun.

All that to say - here's my prayer requests for ya'll for tomorrow:

1. NO rain!! (it has rained EVERY day we've been up here this week.)
2. I don't forget anything that I need to do/take care of.
3. NO fights, tiffs, or lost tempers. (Shay's family is Irish and French...yeah, this one is VERY necessary.)
4. Flowers, hair, and makeup.
5. A good time had by all.

Promises. Promises

2010-06-17T20:24:00.002-04:00

At the end of last month I told Darlyn that I had enough stories to last me through all of this month's blog posts. That would be a post a day. As I'm sure you've noticed...that certainly did not happen. I can't even tell you why not. However, I am writing a post now and will write another as soon as I'm finished with this one.

This particular post is here to serve as a warning of a post to come. Today I visited Borders with Titus and Shayla in order to use up a 40% off coupon that I received in my email this week. I must say that this particular trip was definitely the highlight of my time here in New Hampshire so far and I've only got one day to top it so I'm pretty sure it's going to show as the best day EVER!

Here's a hint:

I SPENT - $27.23

I SAVED - $94.62

My promise? I solemnly promise that I am up to no good. Oh wait! wrong promise!

I promise that when I get home from New Hampshire (probably late Saturday night or sometime Sunday afternoon), I will write a blog post to tell you all what I bought at Borders today that allowed me to spend under $30 and still save almost $95. *pinky promise*

Are you jealous yet?

Oh, Friday! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

2010-06-03T22:26:00.002-04:00

1. Last work day of the week

2. Casual day at work. (my coworker and I are conspiring to wear our new company shirts to work together tomorrow. We may be the only ones, but at least we'll match and we'll make all of our other coworkers jealous over our great coordination. :-)

3. An entire day to enjoy my new CDs! I just picked up my CDs at the post office this afternoon and I LOVE them!

4. I'll have two hours in the morning before work to read my "new" Barbara Cartland book. My sister, Alicia helped me find it online while I was down visiting her. I ordered it on Monday and it was delivered today.

5. After work, I get to come home. Maybe run a load or two of laundry. Then I get to head up to PA for the weekend.

6. I'll see my Mama-san and my leetle seester and my Daddy and my leetle (taller) brother and my dog, Jack.

What is the best part of tomorrow/this Friday for you this week?

All sorts of Grand Plans with no Follow Through

2010-06-02T05:01:00.003-04:00

I had definite plans to write a blog post each day of this month. I was not going to fail in doing this. And then, yesterday happened. *smirk* It always does.

Work went fine. Well, as fine as work can go after a week's vacation and a long weekend on top of it. Of course I didn't want to work. Who would? Still, most everyone seemed happy that I was back at work and my work hadn't piled up impossibly high - just ALMOST impossibly high.

After work I went home and found myself relieved to not have to teach any piano lessons since my normal Tuesday students were still traveling home from their long weekend away.

Then, just about the time I was going to start my blog post, Ashley got home and all my plans went out the window. See, Ashley was in a rather bad accident yesterday on her way home from work. She just recently bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and hadn't been having any problems, but for some reason, yesterday her breaks decided to lock up at the worst possible moment. She ran into the back of the car in front of her and all but totalled her Jeep. Since the airbags in her vehicle deployed while both of her hands were on the steering wheel, her right arm was very sore and starting to swell. Immediate reaction from Joseph, Titus, and I - get Ashley to the ER or at least the Urgent Care center near us to get x-rays on her arm. So, Ashley and I headed out for Urgent Care. Of course, when we got there we discovered that the place had closed 30 minutes before our arrival. We went to dinner instead. Now, let me mention here that it was not Ashley's idea to get her arm x-rayed. She has broken her right wrist two or three time before and kept saying that it didn't feel as bad as it had when she had broken it before. "Better safe than sorry," I kept telling her.

We never did make it to the ER after finding Urgent Care closed. Instead we went to Target after dinner to pick up Alice in Wonderland. I did, however, make her all but promise me that she would visit Urgent Care in the morning if her arm was still hurting. Sheesh! I'll tell you...getting that girl to see a doctor is like pulling teeth without painkillers!

So, if you think about it today, please pray that everything works out quickly for Ashley. She needs a rental vehicle or a daily ride to work, she needs to get things sorted out with her insurance, she needs a day to relax after such a bad accident, and she needs to find a new vehicle - again.

Hi. My name is Addiction

2010-05-31T19:36:00.002-04:00

If you have read my blog for any length of time you may have noticed that when I do something, I throw my entire being into doing it. I don't really do anything in halves. This can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. Hence the reason I call them addictions. Most of my addictions last a few months at best, but there is one that began 4 1/2 years ago and hasn't slowed down yet.

This addiction is called Naruto. Yes, the anime/manga. I read it. I watch it. I have favorite characters. I collect the cards for the collectible card game. And I trade the cards. I also have just recently (read - this year) begun to collect other Naruto items. In an effort to share my addiction with ya'll, I took a few pictures of a few of my collectibles.

First, there is my calendar. Joseph actually found this one for me. And I love it.

Kakashi is May

Sai (pronounced "sigh") is June

A few bookmarks and collectible trading cards that I use as bookmarks

My new stash. Two pencil cases, pencils, a pencil sharpener (metal!), a posterzine (magazine of nothing but posters, volumes 1 and 2 of the Naruto Shippuuden soundtrack, and last, but not least, my favorite item of the bunch - Gaara (the figurine).

There you have it. My addiction is collecting Naruto stuff and honestly, this is one addiction I am NOT ashamed of. I actually really, really enjoy it! Of course, it DOES help that Joseph likes Naruto just as much as I do and therefore he is constantly helping me amass these wonderful items. *grin*

Here's my question for you: Do you have anything that you would consider an addiction?

I Just Realized

2010-05-31T19:34:00.002-04:00

That I have already surpassed my reading goal for this year. Talk about someone being a Blonde! I'm already 33 books passed my goal and I'm just now realizing it. Yes, I AM special.

May Tally

2010-05-31T19:21:00.004-04:00

May was another pretty good month for reading even though it wasn't such a great month for blogging again. I think I've got blogging covered for June, though. I've got alot going on, but still have lots of ideas for posts. Now I just need to bring them into being. However, this post is about the books that I've read this month, not about my lack of posts. Here's the list.

Ill Wind ~ Rachel Caine 5/5

Heat Stroke ~ Rachel Caine 5/6

Chill Factor ~ Rachel Caine 5/7

Windfall ~ Rachel Caine 5/8

Firestorm ~ Rachel Caine 5/10

Thin Air ~ Rachel Caine 5/11

Gale Force ~ Rachel Caine 5/13

Cape Storm ~ Rachel Caine 5/14

The Scots Never Forget ~ Barbara Cartland 5/16

The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith: The Underground Railroad ~

Nancy LeSourd 5/16

The Borrowers ~ Mary Norton 5/18

The Last Rogue ~ Deborah Simmons 5/19

My Invisible Boyfriend ~ Susie Day 5/19

Daughters of the Sea: Hannah ~ Kathryn Lasky 5/19

Love and War ~ Barbara Cartland 5/22

Scary Beautiful ~ Niki Burnham 5/23

Kiss of Death ~ Rachel Caine 5/23

Do-Over ~ Niki Burnham 5/29

How NOT to Spend Your Senior Year ~ Cameron Dokey 5/29

The Inheritance ~ Louisa May Alcott 5/30

Love Undercover ~ Jo Edwards 5/31

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree ~ Lauren Tarshis 5/31

That makes 22 books read in May which brings my yearly total to 183. Wow. That's alot of books even if I AM counting manga.

Watching Michael pitch against the Greenville Drive

2010-05-30T10:20:00.004-04:00

This past week Joseph and I drove down to Greenville, South Carolina to watch Joseph's younger brother, Michael (Mike) pitch. Mike is part of the Charleston Riverdogs baseball team. The bonus to going south to Greenville...my older sister and her family live down there so we got to spend time with them as well. Our vacation officially started on Sunday, the 23rd, but the first game was played Monday evening. It also happened to be the game that Mike pitched in.

Fluor Field - home of the Greenville Drive

Mike on the pitcher's mound

Another shot

Keeping the guy on first base from stealing second.

Concentration

Paris Mountain

2010-05-30T10:07:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday we went to Paris Mountain to feed the ducks and geese.

The mallard family

Rosie: "I want to hold your hand, Uncle Joseph."

Uncle Joseph: "Nope."

Rosie's "I wanna hold your hand" dance

Boy! That Uncle Joseph isn't very nice!

But he is a good follower.

One of the VERY hissy mama geese

Uncle Joseph playing the Pied Piper and bringing the hissing geese to the stairs so we can feed them without worrying about them trying to bite the kids.

Rose feeding her hissing geese

Following the leader aka Ethan

Rose getting a piggyback ride after tripping and scraping up her entire right leg.

Rose wouldn't smile cause her leg hurt too much so Ethan helped out while Anna laughed.

To the falls!

The falls over the dam

Mom with her eldest

Mom with her sweet baby

Fun at the Greenville Zoo

2010-05-30T09:52:00.006-04:00

Since Joseph and I spent this past week in South Carolina visiting my older sister's family as well as watching Mike's team play, we just had to stop by the Greenville zoo. Here are a few shots from our time spent there.

The giraffes were out and about when we got there.

Joseph was frisbeeing the "feed the animal" crackers into the giraffes' enclosure. The female was all over those crackers! lol

The male

Uncle Joseph discussing the tortoises with Anna and Rose

Rose running backwards into the Orangutan exhibit.

Rosie

Anna, Rose, Aunt Hannah, and Ethan

Uncle Joseph with Bella

Bella learning about slides

After the first initial scare, Bella was hooked!

Climbing the stairs up to Uncle Joseph to be sent down the slide to Mom again.

Bella girl

The Cliffs of Insanity and Back Again

2010-05-07T08:04:00.003-04:00

Dear Mama-san,

Things at my house are mild compared to what's been happening at your's while you've been away.

But, I'm sure you figured that already. I'm much better at doing dishes than Rachel is even if Joseph doesn't agree with that statement. I trust you've been teaching Anna and Rose how to wash dishes better than their Aunt Rachel can wash dishes. At least they'll be able to help you out when they come up north to see you next. You can banish Aunt Rachel to scupping the pupe instead.

I have to admit, mother, that I would personally choose groundhogs over musically inclined, tap dancing roaches and mice. Groundhogs are bigger and therefore less creepy and crawly. However, I will attempt to make an intervention call on your behalf. It's the least I can do if I wish to have you visit me again this summer, right? Prove my worth at holding your house together from a distance. I can do this. I WILL do this!

If I knew where the freshly poured cement is going to be I might be able to keep the local wildlife (and newly domestic life) off of it, but come on, Mom, you know it's just too much fun to pass up leaving handprints for the future. Remember...we all did it when the carport was poured. Of course, Mr. Byler (did I spell his name right?) probably did have something to do with us actually having left our prints. And it's not like Pinky will have the presence of mind to actually make her prints deep enough to stay, right, Pinky? (say yes, Pink...it might just save you from certain death when mom comes home and sees the prints you're bound and determined to make apparently.)

As for her being unruly - Mom, just THINK of what her kids are going to do to HER! *snicker* I can't WAIT to see that!

Can't say I blame her students for leaving the country. I'd be running too!! We may just have to get her that pretty purple jacket that we talked about last month and put her in her pretty blue room with the ONE window that overlooks her shiny things. This MAY save the lives of her students as I'm sure leaving her out of her blue room for one more day might drive them to absolute, distracted insanity.

No, my phone hasn't been ringing due to the two troublemakers still at home having been late to work. I finally blocked McD's and the school's numbers from my cell after one full weekend of them waking me up at 5 o'clock each morning.

I'll do my very best to help you out and get those two in line when I spend the weekend up north next week. Of course, with me going up there and you not being there I cannot guarantee that I won't help egg Rachel and Stephen into getting into more trouble once we've taken care of the bugs, dishes, mice, laundry, and rust stains.

You're the bestest mother in the whole world and I wouldn't trade you for anyone else.

Love you!

Hannah

We're Gonna Take Over the World

2010-05-04T18:45:00.003-04:00

We interrupt this show for a special announcement. The Brain and Sweeney Todd have taken over the world. Any person or thing that has a problem with this deal will promptly be called in for a special one time deal of a haircut and shave personally given by Mr. Sweeney Todd himself.

The question left floating through everyone's minds, though, is not how long it will take Mr. Todd and the Brain to find a new baker of meat pies, but What exactly is Pinky going to do now that the world has been taken over without Pinky's help?

It came to my attention this evening as I chatted with Rachel on the phone that I am the Brain and she is Pinky and she doesn't know what she's going to do now that I've taken over the world without her. People she needs a new hobby! Preferably one that still allows her to continue teaching her students during the day and writing crazy letters in the late night. That leaves her a few hours in the afternoon and evening that are free and open for new schemes. Then again, she DID just go to the library for a huge stack of books today so take those few hours and make them a few minutes that she'll have left over for her new hobby.

I think she should teach the new tenants of my parents' home tap dancing and piano lessons. There's nothing quite like musical cockroaches. She could have her very own musical troupe. I think this may be a winner, friends! However, on the occasion that she actually does follow her mother's instructions, she'll still need something new to do with her free time. That's where ya'll come in. What hobbies can you suggest for poor Pinky that will only take up a few minutes each evening yet still be ever so satisfying? Leave any suggestions in the comments. I'm sure she'll love all of them.

Missing Out on all the Fun :-(

2010-05-02T21:16:00.002-04:00

So, apparently my mama-san and my leetle seester, Rachel, have decided that the best manner of communication while my mom is visiting my older seester, Alicia, is to write letters to each other on their blogs. I have to admit that I feel a tad bit left out. Rachel doesn't ever write me cool letters like she writes mom. *pout* I suppose I'll just have to satisfy myself by reading their blogs every day and checking them CONSTANTLY in case one of them decides on a random update in the middle of the day. OR - maybe I'll write an open letter to the both of them here on my blog. Of course, I'll never match their level of coolness so then again, maybe I won't. We'll just have to see.

Love ya'll!

April Tally

2010-05-01T12:16:00.002-04:00

As you all, who have read this blog last month, know, I haven't been in a very reading mood. Well, not a very BOOK reading mood. However, I think I still did pretty well all things considered. I finished sixteen books in April. That's half of what I read in each of the former three months, but I also didn't read ANY manga in April. I did read a few graphic novels, but all of them were pretty good sized. So, without further ado, here is my list of books read in April 2010.

Tithe ~ Holly Black 4/1
Valiant ~ Holly Black 4/1
Ironside ~ Holly Black 4/1
Hex Hall ~ Rachel Hawkins 4/2
Hatter M: Volume 1 ~ Frank Beddor 4/10
Hatter M: Volume 2 ~ Frank Beddor 4/14
Marvel 1602 ~ Neil Gaiman 4/16
Fray ~ Joss Whedon, Karl Moline & Andy Owens 4/18
Wish ~ Alexandra Bullen 4/19
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 2 ~ Alan Moore 4/19
Hurricane Hannah ~ Sue Civil-Brown 4/21
Lessons from a dead girl ~ Jo Knowles 4/22
The Actor and the Housewife ~ Shannon Hale 4/22
The Song of Hannah ~ Eva Etzioni-Halevy 4/24
Sorcery & Cecelia ~ Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer 4/26
The Grand Tour ~ Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer 4/30

So, that's it. Not the best month this year, but I did get alot of other things other than reading accomplished this past month which is a feat in and of itself. Wish me luck for May!

What did you read in April?

I Barely Restrained Myself

2010-04-27T19:00:00.004-04:00

From doing a little happy dance right in the middle of Barnes & Noble when the sales guy pulled a copy of Kiss of Death off the shelf and handed it to me. I stopped at Borders first because I had a coupon for 33% off any book, but they hadn't even received any Kiss of Death books yet. (I understand that it was just released today, but STILL!!!)

BUT...Here it is! I've got my copy and the only reason I'm not reading it RIGHT. NOW. is because I need to finish the series I'm right in the middle of at the moment.

But, OH! I'm not done. While I was searching for Kiss of Death at B&N, I happened to notice THIS book on a middle of the store display. TADA!!!

I DID do a little happy dance for this one. I had totally forgotten that it came out this month too. It's a good thing that April was my month to stop not buying any more books. (although, to be quite honest, I didn't really stop at all anyway. I only just barely managed to SLOW my book intake by becoming quite addicted to my library again.)

Have any of ya'll picked up these two books yet?

Things that Go BOOM in the Night

2010-04-26T16:28:00.002-04:00

Last night we had the first full-blown thunderstorm of the spring here in Northern VA. (At least, the first that I've been awake/home for.) As I lay in bed watching the lightning flashes show through my blinds and curtains, I found myself picturing a few of my very rare childhood memories.

When I was little I used to be terrified of thunderstorms. I remember pulling the covers over my head so that I couldn't see the lightning flash and on the chance that I did see the flashes, I would carefully count the time between the flash and the roll of thunder that was sure to follow. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Four Mississippi. Five Mississippi. BOOM!!! It's okay, I would reassure myself. That lightning strike was a mile away. I was so afraid of lightning striking one of the trees across the street from my house that I would count faster just to convince myself that the lightning was further away than it actually was. What never failed to amaze me, though, was that while I was cowering in my bed, my older sister, Alicia, and my older brother, Nathanael, would be sitting out on our deck watching the lightning until Mom called them in to go to bed. I couldn't understand it. How could the lightning not scare them? Those trees across the street were close enough that if lightning struck one of them it would fall and hit our house. It would hit ME. In my bedroom. In my bed cause I was in the top bunk of the bunk bed that I shared with my younger sister, Rachel.

I don't remember how old I was the first time I sat on the deck to watch the lightning, but I'm pretty sure I was at least fifteen. I still counted to make sure the lightning wasn't going to fry me. Funny how that works. I mean, if the lightning was close enough to hit me, I wouldn't have been counting, but that fact never occurred to me. Not once. As time passed and I started college, summer breaks and summer storms found me out on the deck with a book in my hand. I would sit on the porch swing and read while the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled around me. When it stopped bothering me, I don't know, but I remember finding myself putting my book down to stare in wonder at the sky as it lit up bright as day each time the lightning came within a mile of my seat. Even in something as potentially devastating as a lightning strike, God saw fit to place a sense of beauty.

My favorite memory of sitting out watching a thunderstorm is one that was created in 2001. My family had gone down south to visit Alicia and her husband, Brian, to meet the first nephew/grandchild. I was enamored with Ethan and constantly wanted to hold him and entertain him. One day it started to rain so I took Ethan and a book out on my sister's front porch and while the rain was pouring, the lightning flashing and the thunder rolling, Ethan laid on my legs fast asleep while I read. Best day ever.

I cannot wait until Joseph builds our deck out back or a porch out front so I can sit outside and enjoy the summer storms again. Until then, I'll enjoy my memories and perhaps set up a lawn chair in my garage and read with the garage door open so I can smell the rain, see the lightning, and hear the thunder.

How to Get Back on the Horse...

2010-04-22T11:11:00.004-04:00

or which book to read after a two-week period of time where you've not really read any BOOKS.

So, a few weeks ago one of the blogs I read issued a challenge to read books that had your/my name in the titles. (I'll post more about that later.) I decided to give it a shot. This means that I went onto my local library's website and searched by keyword in the title. "Hannah" It shouldn't have surprised me, but the number of Hannah Montana books was Overwhelming! (BTW, I HATE Hannah Montana.) Anyway, I did see a few books that looked interesting and I immediately put them on hold.

The first book that I read from this new group of library books was started on Tuesday and finished last night. The title? Hurricane Hannah. by Sue Civil-Brown. The genre? Romantic Comedy. My reaction? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Literally. Like seriously LAUGH. OUT. LOUD.

The main character of Hurricane Hannah is Hannah Lamont and let me just tell you, that girl has got a MOUTH on her! (not a dirty mouth...just a mouth) Of course, as a romantic comedy there is a guy involved. His name is Buck Shanahan. Oh! and to keep things interesting, Buck is not the only love interest. The second love interest is an alligator named Buster. That's right. An alligator. Buster is the Highlight of this book through and through. See, Buster is the only alligator on the island that this book is set on. And he has decided that he (Buster) is in love with Hannah. So he follows her around. Like a lovesick puppy dog.

I wish I could read this book to ya'll cause it is SOOO funny! I had my coworkers laughing their heads off yesterday as I read bits and pieces to them. In fact, I have to bring the book into work again tomorrow to read some other parts to Stacey (my office mate).

The only problems I had with this book were the two (thankfully short) sex scenes. Because they were short I was able to skip right over them without a thought.

So, if you don't mind skipping over sex scenes and you are looking for an absolutely DELICIOUS book to lighten your world for a little while, definitely go check out Hurricane Hannah. My only recommendation - find a room where you'll be out of the hearing of anyone that is bothered by loud laughter. You're gonna need it.

What to do when you're so completely out of it

2010-04-20T07:47:00.002-04:00

First, you start the day out by calling off work. Then you make your husband do the same thing so that you don't have to spend the day alone. All by yourself.

Second, you make said husband drive you to Blockbuster to return the DVDs that were rented, to the library to take back the few books that you managed to read in the past three weeks, then over to Target to look for that blasted game - Boggle. (Neither Target or ToysRUs had that game. I'm bitter.)

Third, while at Target, allow your wonderful husband to talk you into purchasing a padfolio from the fantastic Liberty of London collection even though there is absolutely NO pink on the padfolio. Wait...you've got Sharpie markers at home and you AREN'T afraid to use them.

Fourth, take a picture of the front of said padfolio when you get home.

BLAH

Fifth, dig out those Sharpies and get to work.

BLING!

Sixth, sit back and admire your quick thinking and hard work. It only took two episodes of Smallville, and the entire Beauty and the Briefcase movie to finish the back. Now I just have to color in the front.

What do you think? should I have colored, or left it the boring original black and white?

I Want to Write

2010-04-18T17:54:00.004-04:00

I really do, but I keep drawing a blank when I try to think about writing something specific. Maybe if I write a post that has absolutely nothing to do with anything my writer's and reader's block will go away. Yes, reader's block. I just cannot get into any books right now. I have forced my way through two graphic novels this week, but that's it. In the past two WEEKS I've only read three graphic novels. Oh, and TON of online Harry Potter fan fiction. Like, twenty books worth of it. Who would have thought that I would actually be interested in imagining what it would be like if Hermione Granger married Severus Snape. Weird, I know.

On a different note, my mom came down to VA to visit and hang out this weekend. She came Friday afternoon and stayed until Saturday evening. Definitely had a blast with her. Always do. We went to the local library booksale together on Saturday. Then we visited the used bookstore in Manassas. Here's a random thought from my time with my mom. Do you have ANY idea how impossible it is to find an original version of Boggle? Like, seriously. Mom and I went to Target AND Wal-Mart and couldn't find it at either store. Both had an electronic version, but believe me when I say that it would never be able to handle the amount of play an original version would be able to.

I really need to catch up with all my blog reading too. I've been lurking on a few blogs, but for the most part I've not even read the blogs that I follow on a regular basis. How sad is that? I need to focus. That's my problem. Right now I feel like a little kid in a toy store. Too many toys, not enough time to play. *sigh* I don't have ADD, Mr. Policeman, but that bird that flew in front of my car was soo pretty that I just HAD to look instead of paying attention to where I was driving. I really didn't mean to hit the other car. (j/k I've not been THAT bad, yet.)

Anyway, I'm gonna go. See if I can convince my boxer baby to play fetch with me outside while the sun is still up. Gotta go grab a sweatshirt. Bye for now.

The Dog Days of Winter

2010-04-08T06:17:00.004-04:00

Yes, Winter. I mean, we've had some pretty crazy weather in Northern Virginia this year. There were a few days in the winter where it got rather warm. Since the dogs needed something to cool them down. They were given ice cream.

Rocky

Lily

Must. Show. Cuteness!

2010-04-08T06:10:00.002-04:00

Aren't they sooooo cute! The boxer is my Rocky (which I'm sure you recognized from former posts) and the pitbull is my brother-in-law's. Her name (the pit) is Lily. Isn't she gorgeous? Yes, the dogs sun bathe together in the front window. I just had to share.

It's Monday! What are You Reading? (13)

2010-04-05T05:36:00.007-04:00

Read Last Week:

Gettin' Lucky ~ Micol Ostow 3/29

The Sherwood Ring ~ Elizabeth Marie Pope 3/29

Song Quest ~ Katherine Roberts 3/31

Tithe ~ Holly Black 4/1

Valiant ~ Holly Black 4/1

Ironside ~ Holly Black 4/1

Hex Hall ~ Rachel Hawkins 4/2

Currently Reading:

Kissing Frogs in Cyberspace ~ Dianne Sweeney

lessons from a dead girl ~ Jo Knowles

Planning to Read:

Wish ~ Alexandra Bullen

So I didn't read as many books as usual this week, but if you've been reading my blog over the weekend I'm sure you know why. I got to go home to visit my family in Pennsylvania this weekend. While I was there I helped my mom start her very own blog. (I think I may have created a monster. heehee.)

What did YOU read this week?

My Little Seester

2010-04-04T20:18:00.003-04:00

If you've read my blog this weekend, you probably noticed this conversation that I held with my sister on my blog while watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on Friday night. You may have even followed the link on her name to her blog. At which point you may have seen her profile picture which has another girl in it. So, which one is Rachel? I'm here to solve the dilemma. Rachel is the one in the below pictures. She's my beautiful younger sister.

All of these pictures were taken LATE Saturday night so you'll have to forgive any red eyes. She was tired and I made her let me do her eye makeup. Doesn't she look fabulous!?!

I had her laughing so hard that she couldn't even keep her eyes open for the pictures.

No, she's not flying. She's posing like the conductor on the TV. Silly girl.

oosta! I LOVE my lips!

And I love my seester. She's alot of fun as long as you don't make her mad. Of course, I suppose the same thing could be said of me. Maybe it just runs in the family. LOL

Conversations with Rachel

2010-04-02T21:14:00.005-04:00

Hannah: Can I just tell you how happy I am that I get to be at my parents home for Easter weekend?

Rachel: Tell me - how happy?

Hannah: Oh, Rachel, if only mere words could describe my feelings.

Rachel: Oh! GROSS! YOU JUST KISSED ME!! You are waaay too excited!

Hannah: LIAR! Liar. liar. liar. I did NOT kiss you. EEEEEW! Now, where was I? Oh, yes. How happy I am to be home for Easter. Do you realize that I haven't been at home for Easter for 10 years. TEN. YEARS.

Rachel: Uh, wow. So are you saying I'm not kissable? Thanks. You've really helped my self-esteem. My sister won't even kiss me. Blimey.

Hannah: You? Kissable? Ummm. no. Stop interrupting my feelings of excitement. I shall have a magnificent garden party and YOU'RE not invited.

Rachel: It's still too cold and none of the flowers are blooming. I don't want to come to your garden party, you lumux. I wash my hands of this weirdness! I refuse to be followed by rocks.

Hannah: You know, not everyone is watching Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End while they read my blog. They may not know what we're talking about.
So, Rachel, what did you do today?

Rachel: Went to a Good Friday service this afternoon. Listened to the volume level in my house raise ten times louder than usual - my sister came home for Easter. SHE SMACKED ME!!

Hannah: Who smacked you? I think watching Jack Sparrow is messing with your mind, dear sister.

Rachel: You smacked me instead of kissing me! I'm over it. I feel for your readers though - if they've read this far.

Hannah: me too. They must be really bored tonight. Maybe they can come over and watch At World's End with us. They could have sooo much fun. I have to say, though, that Elizabeth Swan is the weakest heroine ever written into a movie.

Rachel: I can't wait for her inspiring speech that fails to inspire anyone except for those looking at her lips. Have I mentioned that she has weird lips?

Hannah: I don't know that it's her lips so much as the way she talks. It's ever so distracting. It's so pouty. Like in Sense and Sensibility. Whiny. Are you ready? We're gonna flip the ship, now.

Rachel: Up is down. Well that's just maddeningly unhelpful. Like most instruction manuals. Who read those anyway? Name one instruction manual more than two pages long that you've ever read? Digital camera? Cellphone? Anything? nope.

Hannah: What IS that!?! instruction manuals? yes, the swingset manual was longer than two pages. And Rachel, you can't call your students "bilge rats". That's just not nice.

Rachel: I was thinking of "bilge rats" as an affectionate nickname. A step up from "nincompoops."

Hannah: "Nincompoops??" Really? I need a pistol. hahaha A water gun! You know you shouldn't be so mean to your students.

Rachel: I'm nice to them. "We be nice to them if they be nice to us. *gollum, gollum*" Ooops, wrong movie.

Hannah: aye, darlin'. definitely the wrong movie. granted Orlando Bloom IS in both, but he's much better looking naturally. Oh dear. poisoned water. Now what are we going to do???

Rachel: I'm not sure I can survive any more visits from old seesters.

Hannah: *gasp* but. but. but. I thought you liked me! *tear*

Rachel: Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream.

Hannah: honey, YOU are a bad dream.

Rachel: Sweetheart, I'm your worst nightmare. "Your such a girl. You're such a little girl. I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you." Different movie. Ugh. This "Pirates" confuses me. Too many double crosses.

Hannah: Stop touching ME! I KEEEL YOU!!! oh wait. that's the wrong dvd too. But, I agree with Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

Now, I have to post this now. It's gonna be way too long soon.

Rachel: "Buh-bye. Buh-bye now. Okay. Are they gone? Is everybody gone?"

Hannah: And that was without a single drop of run. But, honey darlin', seester dear, "everybody" will never be gone. They're all only in your head. It will be okay. I'll get you a pretty purple jacket and put you in a pretty blue padded room with no windows. All will be okay in the end.

Rachel: Ooooh! and shiny things! I want many, many shining things, coteledon!

Hannah: Shiny things are much too dangerous. maybe I'll give you a plastic window that you will be able to see your shiny things through. Did your Beckett tell you that? That you can have shiny things in your blue room?

Rachel: Why is my room blue? Why not pink or neon green? And does my straightjacket have polka-dots? Didn't we say we were ending? Maybe we should be institutionalizing YOU instead of me.

Hannah: Your room is blue because I said so although if neon green would make you calm DOWN, I'll consider repainting. No, your jacket does not have polka-dots. Dots make you crazy. We'll end when you stop telling me your butt hurts from sitting on the floor.

Rachel: Stop passing me this laptop!! NOOOOO! Okay "this is the end. I'm going now. I regret to announce that this party is over. Goodbye." Different movie.

Hannah: We are watching POTC: At World's End and you keep quoting other movies. What kind of movie watching seester ARE you!?!

Rachel: Heehee.

Thus ends Rachel's participation in your entertainment tonight. Maybe she'll come back some other day.

Twilight: What If...

2010-04-02T20:00:00.004-04:00

I've read the Twilight Saga twice through. The first time I read the series I really enjoyed the books. The second time - not so much. I saw all of the faults the second time through. Anyway, it's rather obvious that many bloggers are quite excited about Stephenie Meyer's announcement that she is releasing a new Twilight story. But wait. The story isn't about Bella and Edward. It's about a new vampire named Bree Tanner. Have you ever wondered what Bella's reaction to this news would be? Read Here. I promise you won't be disappointed. You'll probably laugh your head off just like I did. Maybe you'll laugh so hard that your family will ask you what is so funny. Just let them read and they'll understand. Enjoy!

March Tally

2010-04-01T09:11:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to start my post with a picture of where I'd LIKE to be right now instead of at work. That's the Jefferson memorial in Washington D.C. during the Cherry Blossom Festival which just happens to be going on this week. Would you believe I've lived in the area for 4 years now and still have not been to D. C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival yet?

Anyway, my total books read this month is 67. That number includes manga. Without manga, my book total is 26. Not bad at all, I think. I'm not sure which book was my favorite, but I'll think about it today and try to remember to let ya'll know tonight.

Happy April Fool's, everyone!

**Edited to Add**

The following are the books I read in March:

Fake Boyfriend ~ Kate Brian
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment ~ James Patterson
Prophecy of the Sisters ~ Michelle Zink
Broken ~ Shiloh Walker
Austenland ~ Shannon Hale **
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ Sherman Alexie
Vampire Diaries: The Awakening ~ L.J. Smith
VD: The Struggle ~ L.J. Smith
When Heaven Weeps ~ Ted Dekker
BoneMan's Daughters ~ Ted Dekker
VD: The Fury ~ L.J. Smith
VD: Dark Reunion ~ L.J. Smith
A Match Made in High School ~ Kristin Walker
Beastly ~ Alex Flinn
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 ~ Alan Moore (graphic novel)
Magic Under Glass ~ Jaclyn Dolamore
Tantalize ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith
Eternal ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith
Meridian ~ Amber Kizer
Another Faust ~ Daniel & Dina Nayeri
Rapunzel's Revenge ~ Shannon & Dean Hale (graphic novel)
Calamity Jack ~ Shanon & Dean Hale (graphic novel)
Getting to Third Date ~ Kelly McClymer
Gettin' Lucky ~ Micol Ostow
The Sherwood Ring ~ Elizabeth Marie Pope **
Song Quest ~ Katherine Roberts

& the manga that I read:

Tsubasa Vol. 9-18 ~ Clamp
Skip-Beat! Vol. 1-24 ~ Yoshiki Nakamura
Midnight Secretary Vol. 1-7 ~ Ohmi Tomu

** These two books were my absolute favorites this month. I'm sure I'll mention them in a future post or two. :-)

Two-Sided Tuesday (1)

2010-03-30T16:23:00.004-04:00

Two-Sided Tuesday is the brain child of Lydia, one of my favorite bloggers, at The Lost Entwife. The idea is to give a book, or in my case today, an author that you've read, then offer another book or author that is similar and perhaps, better.

I've been reading Lydia's Two-Sided Tuesdays for a few weeks now racking my brains for something I could write about and I think I've finally got one.

I normally read YA fiction. It's a genre that I can pretty much guarantee will be clean (no smut and generally no foul language) however, there are days that I require a change of pace. When this happens I turn to my next favorite genre. Suspense.

My first foray into the world of suspense was with the novel Velocity. I purchased it in an airport one year as I was headed home from college for the summer, I believe. The author of Velocity is Dean Koontz. Mr. Koontz books are all borderline horror mixed with a VERY healthy dose of suspense. I cannot read his books at night. Ever. I tried to with Velocity and had the worst night's sleep ever because I tend to dream about the book I read just before bed. But, oh! it was such a good book!

I wish I could give you a short summary of Velocity, but unfortunately it has been several years since I've read it. Instead, since I am talking authors, let me explain Dean Koontz' books a little. Each of Dean's books tend to have three main characters. The good guy, the bad guy, and the girl. Classic set up, right? Sure, but what you may not be ready for is the situations that the good guy and the girl get themselves into. Murder, terror, evil, good finally triumphing in the end. Even though, as the reader, I know that Koontz's books will end with the good guy winning, the journey to the end is nail biting and intense. I feel like I've been through the wringer every time I read one of Dean Koontz's books, but I keep going back for more because, really? what's better than the good guy winning in the end?

Now, on the other side of the suspense coin is Ted Dekker. My first read by him was Obsessed.

Ted Dekker writes with the same general combination as Dean Koontz. Good guy. Bad guy. Girl. BUT, Ted's books have something Dean's don't. A reason. For Ted, suspense books show how far a human being can fall and yet still be brought to the Truth. Mr. Dekker writes Christian fiction.

Where Koontz's bad guys are just plain evil for the sake of being evil, Dekker's are depraved. They have no need of God nor do they wish to hear His name. Koontz's good guys are good guys. Dekker's are men with real problems that only resolve their problems after they learn to rely on God. This was a surprise to me when I first read Obsessed. I was not expecting to find a suspense book that had the main character learning to depend on God's guidance. It was a pleasant surprise.

It comes down to this. Dean Koontz writes some really scary, intense, nail-biting fiction that will keep you up at night, while Ted Dekker does the same thing in a more clean manner. Dean Koontz's books are harsh and ugly in their descriptions. He makes you believe the bad guy is real by making him the worst character ever. He uses foul language to aid this picture. Ted Dekker's books are also scary, intense and prone to inducing nail-biting, but his language stays clean. His bad guys are psychologically scary. They get into your head and stay there. So, if you're looking for a good suspense that doesn't involve foul language and other horror-movie-like situations, skip Dean Koontz and grab a Ted Dekker. However, if you prefer the horror movie feel, Dean Koontz is definitely the way to go.

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (12)

2010-03-29T09:47:00.004-04:00

Read Last Week:

Magic Under Glass ~ Jaclyn Dolamore 3/22

Tantalize ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith 3/23

Eternal ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith 3/24

Meridian ~ Amber Kizer 3/24

Another Faust ~ Daniel & Dina Nayeri 3/27

Rapunzel's Revenge ~ Shannon & Dean Hale 3/28

Calamity Jack ~ Shannon & Dean Hale 3/28

Getting to Third Date ~ Kelly McClymer 3/28

Currently Reading:

The Sherwood Ring ~ Elizabeth Marie Pope

Planning to Read This Week:

Song Quest ~ Katherine Roberts

Crystal Mask ~ Katherine Roberts

Dark Quetzal ~ Katherine Roberts

The Echorium Sequence (the three books I plan to read this week) came to my attention via Becky at The Bookette. She wrote a post two weeks ago reviewing Song Quest and stating her wish to help get Song Quest back into publication. After learning about the book, I search my local library's database and was thrilled to discover that the county library system had one copy of each book in the sequence so of course I put them on hold and eventually brought them home. I'm definitely looking forward to reading these.

So, what are YOU reading this week?

Quote

2010-03-27T08:54:00.003-04:00

You know I don't like people sneaking up on me, Hetty. ~ Sam

I tread lightly. I don't SNEAK. ~ Hetty

-NCIS Los Angeles episode "Blood Brothers"

Long past due Awards

2010-03-22T16:30:00.005-04:00

First up, is The Happy Award from Teddyree @ The Eclectic Reader. Teddyree has been my greatest encourager when it comes to book reviews. She took the time to email me and to help me work up the confidence to write and to share my thoughts with ya'll. Thanks Teddyree!

And The rules for this award are:

•List 10 things that make you happy.

•Try and do at least one of them today.

•Tag ten bloggers that brighten your day.

•Link back to the person that tagged you.

1. Reading

2. My puppy Rocky

3. Kisses from Joseph

4. Daisies (they are, after all, the friendliest flower)

5. Friendship

6. Girl talks

7. My family

8. Going home to PA

9. Sunday Drives (even if its a weekday...just driving around makes me happy cause northern VA is just GORGEOUS!)

10. Spring (I'm sooo glad it's finally here!)

Doing at least one today is pretty easy for me today. LOL. I've already gotten quite a few kisses from Joseph, Rocky has already loved up on me, and I'll be starting my latest book once I finish up my posts here.

As for passing this award on - I know it says ten, but I'm just going with three cause I've got two other awards to pass on as well today.

Alica @ Daughter of Hope (Alicia's my older sister so being able to see pics of my nieces and nephew on her blog makes me happy.)

Lori @ ten miles south of common sense ( She CRACKS me up!)

Lydia @ The Lost Entwife (Lydia always takes the time to hold mini conversations with me in the comments on her blog and I really appreciate getting to know her like that.)

Second up, from Jan @ Eating Y.A. Books, is the Honest Scrap Award. Jan's blog is one that I love to read because it's so personable. I never feel out of place reading it. Thanks Jan, for the award!

This award requires me to list ten honest things about myself then to pass it on to ten more bloggers.

1. I started college at the age of 16.

2. I have four brothers and two sisters.

3. I have pretty much always gotten along well with all of my siblings except my younger sister. She just happens/happened to always know which buttons to push to make me mad very quickly. However, lately, we have been becoming very good friends.

4. Of all my siblings, I am most like my mother. And I don't really mind that at all.

5. I used to keep a journal. In college I went through about 9 different books of various sizes, but once college finished I stopped writing as much. Now, I blog.

6. My husband, Joseph, gave me my very first kiss.

7. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate.

8. I prefer to receive flowers and pens to jewelry from Joseph.

9. I have always wanted to make a daisy chain, but have never had the chance to do so.

10. I started my blog on my 25th birthday and, boy, am I ever glad that I did!

Passing it on:

Meg (Choco) @ In Which a Girl Reads (I always know that when I read Meg's blog I'm going to leave it laughing. Meg's opinions are always honest which is why I have to include her here.)

Rachel @ Home Girl's Book Blog (Rachel is so much fun and has no problem drawing in readers with her honesty. She's welcoming to everyone and is, to me, the perfect person to pass this award to.)

Darlyn @ Darlyn & Books (Darlyn always takes the time to comment on my posts and leave her honest viewpoint about books I've read or am reading. She also gives me honest suggestions about other books I might like and so far, I've enjoyed all that I've followed her advice on.)

And Last, but certainly not least, is my third award for the day, from Darlyn herself. Thank you, Darlyn. I very much appreciate the time you take to visit my blog!

1.Thank and link to the person that gave you the award.
2.Pass this award on to 15 bloggers you've recently discovered and whom you think are fantastic 3.Contact said Blogs to let them know they've won
4.State 7 Things about yourself!

Seven more things about myself:

1. I adore the Pride and Predjudice movies, but my favorite is the one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

2. I love to be around people, but I find it very hard to carry on conversations with people (in person) until I've known them for some time.

3. I LOVE to laugh!

4. I cannot drink water unless it is in a clear plastic bottle or a clear glass cup. (I know, weird)

5. I didn't get my drivers' license until after I was married.

6. I love all of the Seasons equally and all for different reasons

7. I like regular Oreos better than Double Stuf Oreos.

Passing it on:

Teddyree @ The Eclectic Reader (because I love her blog and I love her. :-)

Gwen @ Chew and Digest Books (Gwen is another blogger that I love. Between her blog and her comments, I never lack for conversation.)

And, just because Joseph just yelled that dinner is ready, I've got to stop here.

Thanks again, everyone for the awards and I love ya'll!

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (11)

2010-03-21T22:52:00.004-04:00

What I Finished Last Week:

Skip-Beat! Volumes 1 - 24 ~ Yoshiki Nakamura 3/15-3/17

A Match Made in High School ~ Kristin Walker 3/19

Midnight Secretary Volumes 1-7 ~ Ohmi Tomu 3/19

Beastly ~ Alex Flinn 3/21

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman ~ Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill 3/21

Currently Reading:

Magic Under Glass ~ Jaclyn Dolamore

Planning on Reading:

Nothing in particular. Just want to get through the rest of the library books I've got left from last week.

I read so many manga this week that I feel like I became one with the stories. LOL. Now that I had myself a good reading rest, I'm going to work on getting through all the "words only" books still left over.

What did you read this week?

Home

2010-03-19T22:10:00.003-04:00

I'm visiting home tonight. Titus, Stephen, and I are sitting in the girls' room waiting on Mom and Rachel so we can watch The Last of the Mohicans. Of course, Titus and I are having fun teasing Stephen. We're quoting movies and it's awesome. Everything I say Titus is finishing.

Alright, so our movie has started. I'll chat with ya'll later.

**Edited to Add**

The Last of the Mohicans is finished and can I just say that I have never laughed so hard while watching such a "serious" drama. Ever. Titus, Mom, and I were making fun of everything. Magua became "Fat Man". Did you know that Magua means Fat Man? Well, it does now. Oh, and Alice...she wasn't a sickly, quiet girl...she was a "special" person. Uncas never learned how to fight, and Chingachgook was the Old Man that No One wants to Mess With. Oh, yeah, and Hawkeye - he's the only good shot with a rifle on the American frontier in the state of New York. And last but not least, Cora and Nathaniel had children whose hair was forever tangled, and HUGE! Yes, watching movies with the family is soooo much fun!

Friday Fill Ins! (2)

2010-03-19T06:20:00.003-04:00

Just for fun. Here's Friday Fill-Ins!

1. Today I will be heading home to Pennsylvania as soon as I get off work. (Yay!)
2. You say we should go watch Alice in Wonderland again this weekend and I say, Why not?
3. At my house it's free Pastry Day until 10:30am Friday.
4. People say that what we're all seeking is the approval of someone else.
5. The image I cherish most is my memory of my brother and I sitting on my Pappy's lap when we were very young.
6. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing my Mama-san, tomorrow my plans include test driving vehicles and watching Alice with my seester, and Sunday, I want to cook the duck in my refrigerator as soon as I get home from PA.

Sorry

2010-03-18T09:25:00.002-04:00

For the super long posts. Someday I'll be able to be more concise. *shrug* or maybe not. But, I'll work on it anyway. :-)

Addictions are supposed to be Bad, Right?

2010-03-18T08:40:00.005-04:00

I started a new manga series this week entitled Skip-Beat! The series is about a 16yr. old girl named Kyoko Mogami who is diving headfirst into show business. Her motive for becoming a star is her desire to crush her former friend Sho Fuwa (a boy). Crush, as in, destroy. The two of them ran away from home together so that Sho could become a famous musician. Kyoko was the one that worked and paid for everything for Sho while he worked on his music. Unfortunately for Kyoko, Sho saw her as nothing more than a glorified housekeeper. (There was nothing romantic about them running away together. They were merely best childhood friends.) When Kyoko found out about Sho's true feelings she swore to him that she would become a bigger star than he would ever be. After a great deal of persistence, Kyoko earned a place in the Love Me section of a management company that worked with Ren Tsuruga who just happened to be the most famous young actor in Japan at the time. (Ren is the guy that Sho is trying to beat out in popularity.) In the Love Me section, Kyoko is given jobs to do that no one else wants to do. Her objective is to do her jobs so well that people around her begin to love her. See, because her heart was broken by Sho and, as you learn through the series, her mother, Kyoko doesn't know how to love anymore. As Kyoko works throughout the books, she begins to grow as a person from the unsure, quiet, bullied girl of her childhood into an up and coming film star.

Skip-Beat! follows Kyoko through her work in the Love Me section (that's her hot pink uniform that she has to wear while working in the Love Me jobs) and into her life surrounding her work as an actress. Ren Tsuruga who starts off as an antagonist before he gets to know Kyoko, ends up becoming Kyoko's teacher when she needs help creating a role.

Sho, Ren, and Kyoko

Of course, you may have guessed by now, at least from the picture above, that the two boys begin to play different parts in Kyoko's life. When Sho realizes how much Kyoko has grown up without him, he starts to want to own her. He doesn't love her, but he can't stand the idea of Kyoko loving anyone but him so he does his best to keep himself in her thoughts constantly. As he figures, even if she hates him, at least that means she's thinking of him instead of anyone else. Ren, on the other hand, falls completely head over heels in love with Kyoko. There are old (childhood) reasons for this that Kyoko knows nothing of, though.

This is the first series that I've read that I just HAD to continue with no matter what. So much so, that even though my library only has up to Volume 18 of the US releases, I went the extra step and visited One Manga where I read the rest of the series that has been released so far. Released in Japan, that is. And now, I'm dying for more. I want Kyoko to realize that Ren is the perfect guy for her, that Sho isn't worth wasting any thoughts on, and that love really is an emotion that she needs to have in her life. Unfortunately, Skip-Beat! is only released every two weeks in Japan. And after it's release there, I have to wait for someone to translate and post the new chapter on One Manga before I can read it. Thankfully, the last chapter was posted on March 5th so sometime tomorrow or maybe early next week the latest chapter will be available for me to read.

Yes, I am addicted to a manga. I knew I very much enjoyed the other two series that I've read so far (Naruto and Tsubasa) but I hadn't gone out of my way to read either of those two online. *Sigh* Oh well, I suppose there's nothing more to do than wait for that next wonderful chapter of Skip-Beat!. In the meantime, I suppose I should go back to unillustrated books since I do have a number of them out of the library. Wish me luck. I'm going to miss Ren and Kyoko so much. *tear*

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (10)

2010-03-14T21:57:00.005-04:00

What I Read Last Week:

Austenland ~ Shannon Hale 3/8

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ Sherman Alexie 3/9

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening ~ L.J. Smith 3/10

The Struggle ~ L.J. Smith 3/11

When Heaven Weeps ~ Ted Dekker 3/13

BoneMan's Daughters ~ Ted Dekker 3/14

The Fury ~ L.J. Smith 3/14

Dark Reunion ~ L.J. Smith 3/14

Currently Reading:

Nothing. But, I'm going to start either The Sherwood Ring by Pope or Skip-Beat! a new manga series once I'm finished here.

Planning to Read This Week:

The Sherwood Ring ~ Elizabeth Marie Pope

Skip-Beat! Vol. 1-18 ~ Yoshiki Nakamura

Tantalize ~ Cynthia Lettich Smith

Thunder of Heaven ~ Ted Dekker

I had to make a library outing today. I just finished reading my last library book just after noon so I needed new ones to read. Worked out pretty well too, cause I had read the first two books in the Vampire Diaries series early last week and had put the last two books on hold at the Fairfax library on Friday. I'm sure you noticed that I just read the last two books today. I was ever so glad that hold was so readily available. The other series I'm working my way through is The Martyr's Song series by Ted Dekker. I had purchased The Martyr's Song a few months ago without realizing that it was part of a series that can be read like the Circle series. In any order. I was fortunate enough to have purchased the book that the series revolves around. When Heaven Weeps seems to fit perfectly as a second book in the series and Thunder of Heaven fits the bill of a third book. I am sooo looking forward to reading that one this week!

Enough about me. What did YOU read this week?

Tired

2010-03-12T20:22:00.002-05:00

Do you ever feel so tired that you literally want to go to sleep and never wake up? I mean NEVER. No, I'm not suicidal. lol. Just weary. Weary of life in general. Weary from work. From people.

Joseph keeps asking me if I'm okay tonight. "I'm fine." I reply. Everytime. There's nothing wrong with me. I just don't want to talk. Don't want to sleep. Don't want to think. Don't want to read. Don't. Want. Anything.

I feel like the bear in the picture looks. Dazed. Lonely. Tired. And I don't want to go to sleep.

Does this mean something IS wrong with me?

Friday Fill Ins! (1)

2010-03-12T12:18:00.003-05:00

This is my first time participating in Friday Fill Ins! but it looks like so much fun that I couldn't pass it up this week.

1. I am so looking forward to going home to Pennsylvania next weekend!

2. I need to finish reading BoneMan's Daughters later.

3. When you get a free moment, call your parents and tell them you love them. (I love you Mom and Dad!)

4. Music is a big part of my life.

5. If you need anything for dinner tonight, choose steak and potatoes. They're the BEST!

6. Next Friday evening, I'm taking a trip.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing my Ted Dekker book, tomorrow my plans include going over government applications with my mother-in-law and dinner in Woodbridge, and Sunday, I want to go to the library!

If you're interested in participating, be sure to head over to Friday Fill-Ins and join in the fun.

Eclectic Tastes

2010-03-11T05:37:00.002-05:00

When I first started working at my current job, all of the offices but one were always quiet. The top Vice President at the time used to listen to classical and jazz music on his radio every morning. Since music is a huge part of my life I asked my direct boss if I could listen to music while I was working too. After receiving permission to do so, I invested in a pair of ear buds. As long as I only used one I was allowed to wear them. One ear always had to be free to hear what everyone around me was saying. It was at that point that I discovered Pandora.com. It's kinda funny thinking about how new it was when I found it. Anyway, I always knew my music tastes were rather eclectic, but never really thought about that fact until last month. See, my Pandora radio has 6 different stations. For about a week last month I listened to my music without my ear buds so that my office mates could enjoy my music too. After two days of classical, one day of 1950's, and one day of OLD (like Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby old), I switched to my country radio. Jen, my newest office mate turned to me and said, "Wow. You're rather eclectic, aren't you?" Not really thinking about it I asked what she meant and she pointed out what we had all listened to that week that I had turned on. Ah, gotcha.

You may think me odd, liking the music that I do, but it's the variety in life that makes living worth while. The only part about eclectic tastes that could be a little annoying is when I tell someone that I really like the song playing over the sound system in a store and the person looks at me like I'm crazy. For example, I was picking up dry cleaning last week and Nat King Cole was singing on the radio or CD they had playing. I told the little old Asian lady that runs the store that I really love his music and she looked at me funny while saying, "This is OLD music." Did she think I was kidding? I could name half a dozen songs that Nat King Cole sang just off the top of my head. I suppose that older people expect young adults and kids to know who AC/DC is anymore, but not Rosemary Clooney.

Do you listen to any music that isn't necessarily in your age group? What/Who is your favorite music group/artist?

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (9)

2010-03-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

What are you reading on Mondays? is a meme hosted by Sheila. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in (it's really fun), go to One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books and add your name to the list.

What I Read Last Week:

Tsubasa Vol. 9 ~ Clamp 3/1
Tsubasa Vol. 10 ~ Clamp 3/1
Tsubasa Vol. 11 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 12 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 13 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 14 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 15 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 16 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 17 ~ Clamp 3/2
Tsubasa Vol. 18 ~ Clamp 3/2
Fake Boyfriend ~ Kate Brian 3/3
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment ~ James Patterson 3/5
Prophecy of the Sisters ~ Michelle Zink 3/6
Broken ~ Shiloh Walker 3/7

Currently Reading:

BoneMan's Daughters ~ Ted Dekker
Austenland ~ Shannon Hale

Planning to Read This Week:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ Sherman Alexie
When Heaven Weeps ~ Ted Dekker
The Awakening ~ L. J. Smith
The Struggle ~ L. J. Smith

I really want to say something witty about what I read last week or what I'd like to read this week, but I'm just too tired right now. So, it's off to bed for me now. I'll post this in the morning.

What did you read this week?

Alice

2010-03-06T21:12:00.002-05:00

I begged my husband to take me to see Alice in Wonderland today. He refused. So I asked Titus. He also refused. Not cool. But I really wanted to see it! So I did what I never do. What I've never done. I went to the theater by myself. And I didn't regret it even once. The movie was fantastic!

The crazy thing about me wanting to watch Alice in Wonderland is the fact that I HATE the book. With a passion. I read both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass when I was in grade school and I hated them then. I don't like the animated Disney version of Alice either. But, I LOVED the Looking Glass Wars books, the Sci Fi miniseries Alice, and the idea of Alice. I love the idea of falling into a different world.

Tim Burton took the story of Alice to a whole new level and I loved every second of it. I left the movie wishing that it had lasted longer. Wishing that I was Alice. All of the actors did amazing jobs in this movie, but I have to admit that Alice was my favorite character with the Mad Hatter following in a close second.

I don't want this to be a long post, but had to share my enthusiasm by letting ya'll know that I got to watch Alice in Wonderland today, so this it the end. Well, almost. I'm going back to watch it again tomorrow. Wanna come?

To Manga or Not To Manga

2010-03-02T08:07:00.007-05:00

What is Manga?

From Wikipedia: "The Japanese word manga, literally translated, means 'whimsical pictures'."
"'Manga' as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan."

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

From Dictionary.com: man-ga [mahn-guh]: noun: a Japanese graphic novel, typically intended for adults, characterized by highly stylized art

Tsubasa by Clamp

I first started reading manga about a year after Joseph introduced me to Naruto as an anime airing on the Cartoon Network. It didn't take long for me, a lover of action movies, to fall in love with the 13 year old boy known as Naruto who was fighting with all of his heart to save his friendship with his teammate, Sasuke (said Sahs-kay). Once I learned that Naruto, the anime was based on the manga, I went to my library and borrowed as many as I could find that were in numerical order. Soon, however, I had surpassed my library's content and had become disatisfied with waiting for Cartoon Network to air the next episode instead of replaying what they had already shown. This is when Joseph told me that I could watch Naruto online. The only catch to watching it online - the episodes were in Japanese with English subtitles. Bring it on! I've been watching the subtitled episodes ever since and haven't looked back once. Now when I see Naruto on TV it honestly annoys me to hear an American voice because all of the characters are Japanese to me.

Through the years Naruto has grown up and now he's the lead character in Naruto Shippuuden the next "series" in Naruto's life. Once Shippuuden started being released in the manga volumes that are published in the U.S., Joseph and I made the decision to purchase the volumes. I know those of you who visit my blog on Mondays have seen my dedication to the manga this year. What you may not know is that Volume 47 is the last volume published in the U.S. so far. Volume 48 isn't due out until June 2010. Thankfully, there are fansites for crazies like me where other fans post the Japanese editions of the manga online and translate them for non-japanese speaking people. yay!

Anyway, since the next volume of Naruto won't be available until June, I needed to find a different manga for my "fix". That's where Tsubasa came in.

Tsubasa is the story of princess who has lost her memory. Her best friend and two others take her on a journey through time and space searching for her lost memories. Each world they stop in brings a new adventure.

Now, you may be saying, "That's all well and good, Hannah, but why should I read manga? Isn't it just a comic book?"

Yes...kinda. I don't read typical comic books. They aren't interesting to me. But manga has managed what comics never could. Manga SHOWS me the action. It illustrates the movement, the sound, and the descriptions that authors take pages to convey in general fiction. When you read manga you have to observe. The actual words in the manga are usually only dialogue. If you don't observe all of the pictures you might miss a very integral part of the story. I suppose it's the same way with regular comic books, but manga tells a continuing story where all the comics that I've read tend to be short, separate, stories. Anyway, back to observation. When you read manga you have to be prepared to experience a story in a way that a normal printed book could never express. In manga you SEE what the author sees when they write the book. You become immersed in the culture of the book more easily because you don't have to imagine the intricacies of the clothes, the buildings, the landscapes, or the characters themselves.

Granted, imagination is something every person should never give up forever, but manga is a wonderful way to stretch your imagination in ways it may not be used to while also giving it (your imagination) a little bit of a vacation.

It is my goal to expand my manga horizons this year. Before this week I had never read any manga other than Naruto and now that I've found Tsubasa I'm beginning to realize how much I've missed out on the past few years.

One last point before you go. Manga is written for almost every genre. Just because I read action/fantasy doesn't mean that's all there is. There are manga romance, action/adventure, fantasy, paranormal, sports and games, historical drama, horror, mystery, science-fiction...you name it. Now, for titles of manga that you can try out...go here then follow the title links to short summaries of the manga. When you've chosen the manga you want to begin your adventure with, would you mind taking the time to come back here to let me know what it is? I'm gonna need a new series to read soon. I've only got 5 more books left of Tsubasa from the library before I have to track down the next volume in the bookstore or online.

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (8)

2010-03-01T05:00:00.003-05:00

What are you reading on Mondays? is a meme hosted by Sheila. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in (it's really fun), go to One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books and add your name to the list.

What I Read Last Week:

Trixie Belden: The Red Trailer Mystery ~ Julie Campbell 2/22
Trixie Belden: The Gatehouse Mystery ~ Julie Campbell 2/25
Trixie Belden: The Mysterious Visitor ~ Julie Campbell 2/26
Naruto Vol. 44 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/27
Naruto Vol. 45 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/27
Naruto Vol. 46 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/27
Naruto Vol. 47 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/27
Trixie Belden and the Mystery Off Glen Road ~ Julie Campbell 2/28
Tsubasa Vol. 1 ~ Clamp 2/28
Tsubasa Vol. 2 ~ Clamp 2/28
Tsubasa Vol. 3 ~ Clamp 2/28
Tsubasa Vol. 4 ~ Clamp 2/28
Tsubasa Vol. 5 ~ Clamp 2/28
Tsubasa Vol. 6 ~ Clamp 2/28

Currently Reading:

Tsubasa Vol. 7 ~ Clamp
Broken ~ Shiloh Walker
Trixie Belden: The Mystery in Arizona ~ Julie Campbell

What I Plan to Read This Week:

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment ~ James Patterson
Tsubasa Vol. 7-9
When Heaven Weeps ~ Ted Dekker
BoneMan's Daughters ~ Ted Dekker
Prophecy of the Sisters ~ Michelle Zink

I actually visited the library on Sunday (2/28) for new books for this week. I figured there was no better time to start saving money on books than the present. Especially since I purchased four books on Saturday. Joseph and I finally found Naruto Vol. 44 at the Borders in the mall. I also bought Broken and two Gundam 00 manga for Joseph while we were there.

So, wish me luck this week cause it's been quite some time since I read actual "adult" books and I'm determined to read two and two good-sized YA books this week. BTW, what did YOU read this past week?

February Tally

2010-02-28T22:17:00.003-05:00

This is just gonna be a quick post to give my total of the books that I read in February before I sign off for the night. I read more manga this month than I did last month so amazingly enough, I was able to keep the monthly total high.

February is ending with a book read total of 39. Not bad if I may say so myself. Better than I was even hoping.

Now, goodnight everyone. I'll see you in March!

A Tale of Two Angels (thus named by Alicia)

2010-02-26T22:56:00.016-05:00

After much thought about how I wanted to "review" (critique) Hush, Hush, and Fallen, I happened upon what I think is a brilliant idea. I'll attempt a comparison/contrast post because, both are, at the most basic level, love stories. I thought about posting short summaries of each book, but because I just know this is going to end up a long post already, I don't want to add unnecessary words. Instead you can follow the links on each title to a short description of the book from Goodreads.

Since every good comparison and contrast paper (or blog post as it were) must begin with a comparison, let's discuss what is similar about these books. Both books contain a male lead and a female lead as well as at least one best friend and of course one or more antagonists. In Hush, Hush we meet Nora and Patch. Fallen tells the story of Luce (Lucinda) and Daniel. Each couple starts off in the rockiest of relationships, or lack thereof. It was kind of HATE at first sight for at least one person in each couple. As the stories progress, Nora, and Luce, begin to learn more about and fall more in love with their respective men despite the fact that the boys are doing everything they can to make the girls feel that they are not liked. At all. See, unbeknownest to the girls, both boys are angels. In both books the antagonists enter the stories as "like" interests (I don't like the term love interest. call me weird) however, Nora and Luce are both suspicious of the attention they are receiving. This does NOT stop them from feeling flattered with the attention though. Through it all both girls depend on their best friends (Vee for Nora and Penn for Luce) to help them figure out what is going on. Things go wrong. Patch and Daniel start to warm up to Nora and Luce. More things go wrong. The girls get brushed off. More goes wrong, but this time Patch and Daniel are there to help their girls. Girl gets the boy in the end. (don't worry. I didn't spoil the book for you. everyone KNOWS that the girls always get the guys in the end, they're just that kind of books.)

I know the above information makes these books sound like twins separated at birth, but in all honesty, the differences are there. In Hush, Hush, Nora sees things happen only to find out that things aren't as they seem while in Fallen Luce sees things that definitely ARE there. The best friends are also very different. I loved Penn in Fallen. She is the quiet nerd when you first meet her, but as you get to know her you realize she isn't as timid as she seems to be. She's the one to go to for information. Vee, on the other hand, made me want to slap her as I read Hush, Hush. She was stupid. She didn't trust her BEST friend (insert sarcasm). The boys were also different. Patch wanted something and was determined to get it. Daniel was trying not to want Luce and was determined to avoid her. Patch honestly disliked Nora when he first met her. Daniel was and had been in love with Luce for forever when they met. Even the antagonists, though similar because they were all the "bad guys", had their differences. In Hush, Hush murder was on the mind, while Fallen showed that sometimes the bad guys want possession of power instead. The other major differences cannot be revealed without giving away the end of each book so you'll have to trust me that the differences are there.

Hush, Hush and Fallen both had me guessing the whole way through each, even though I walked away from Fallen in confusion while I absolutely thought that I was in love with Hush, Hush. Now, I'm more sure of Fallen while Hush, Hush has me confused. I enjoyed the background story in H,H and felt like I was learning the truth right along with Nora. Fallen left me hanging trying to figure out what was going on. I really did love Luce's friend Penn and I really did hate Nora's friend Vee. I really did like Patch better than I liked Daniel. I admired Nora's determination to sort out what was happening to her and to those around her. Luce had me wondering how a girl could be so obsessed with someone she didn't even know. (Of course, the back story explains it all, but how was I supposed to know that!?!) I'm beginning to warm up to Luce more and more as I think back over the book as I type now, but when I was reading her story I found myself wondering how she could miss things that were sooo obvious! The one part of Fallen that I didn't have figured out was Cam's part in the story. He was the character that kept me reading. I wanted to know who HE was. I think the reason I finished Fallen unsure of how I felt about it was because the ending wasn't really a resolution, nor was it a cliff hanger. It just...was. Hush, Hush on the other hand, I felt ended rather satisfactorily. I didn't feel like it had stopped in the middle of a thought, though it did set the story up for a sequel.

So, here's my recommendation based on my own book acquiring techniques. Don't purchase either book. Get them from your library. I bought both and I'm really torn trying to figure out if I liked either one enough to keep and to continue the series. I keep thinking and hoping that Fallen's sequel will tie up all of those loose ends for me. As for Hush, Hush, I don't know if I WANT a sequel. I mean, I DO, but I can live with the ending the way it is. I don't NEED a sequel for Hush, Hush.

Now, because I am not gung-ho about either book, please take my whole opinion above with a grain of salt. I'd hate to be the person that kept you from reading a book that you might end up adoring.

Three Things I Need to Hear

2010-02-25T22:14:00.002-05:00

For Rachel:

1. There are only 24 hours in a day, (even in the bad days) so stop complaining and get to work.

2. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7

3. Smile. Even if you don't feel like smiling, once you start it's hard to stop.

Hope you feel better soon. I'll be praying for you.

Now that you've met Titus...

2010-02-25T19:03:00.004-05:00

I was thinking of introducing you to the rest of my family from my perspective. Would you like to meet them? (As in...hey ya'll! Can I talk about you on my blog?? Mom, you can answer me on Facebook. I'll even keep your name offline if you want.)

What book did you hide while you read it?

2010-02-25T18:32:00.004-05:00

WARNING! This post contains the confession of books that I have read that I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that I HAVE read.

Today on Home Girl's Book Blog, Home Girl (Rachel) challenged us to "Write a blog post wherein you 'fess up to reading a book that didn't make you proud OR tell us about a book you've pretended to have read. "

The first book that I shudder to think of, but that I still read the whole way through is Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday by Alan Dean Foster. Now, it's not a bad book in any way (that I can recall), but it's TRANSFORMERS. In a book. I read it because my husband purchased it and raved about it. Remind me to take his raves with a grain of salt when they involve books about Transformers. *Side note* I LOVE Transformers. The movies and the old cartoons. But I don't really go around Telling people that. At all. *sheepish grin*

The second book that I've not ever mentioned to ANYONE is Redbook's Love Your Sex Life by Lisa Sussman. *cringe!* *opening one eye and looking around* Oh. I'm not dead yet? I bought this book three years after getting married because I wanted to do something for my husband. And I read the book the whole way through. I learned alot. That I sometimes wish I hadn't. BUT, at the same time, I'm glad I did read it because it did help me to look at my husband in a different light.

I know these books probably aren't that big of confessions for most people, but for me to admit to having read a book about sex is HUGE and even though I will readily admit to reading manga and watching Naruto all the time, admitting to reading a book about Transformers is a tad scary. I mean, I am NOT a comic book nerd! But that's the reaction books about Tranformers elicit from people.

So, what books do you hide behind other books while you read them? Any? Perhaps, children's books. Or maybe just a different genre. For example, growing up, anything that had alot of fantasy in it I had to not necessarily hide, so much as not flaunt that I was reading it. Maybe that's why I like it so much now?

Come now. Confess. I won't tell on you.

My Boy is Growing Up

2010-02-22T17:00:00.005-05:00

Meet Titus, my oldest younger brother. Today is his 21st birthday. He has been living with Joseph and I since February of 2008. I'd like to tell you a little bit about him so you know who I'm talking about when I mention "Titus".

Nicknames: Teetus Mater; Mater Potater; Mater; Potater; Tite
- Origination: My siblings and I were home schooled. One day Nathanael, my older brother, decided that we all needed family nicknames. Titus' ended up being Teetus Mater. Naturally, the Mater stuck and the other nicknames were born. Tite is just short for Titus.

Birth Order: Second son, Fifth child

Character Traits: great listener; obsessed with honor (his tattoo is Death before Dishonor in Latin); loud; truthful to the point of brashness; blunt; hard worker (you'll not find another like him); stubborn; friendly; mischievous

Like all boys, Titus likes to look good physically and when he tries he dresses pretty well too.

This boy is admittedly my favorite brother. I can talk to him about anything. Of course, if I DO talk to him about anything, I have to be willing to take as good as I gave. In other words, if I'm complaining about someone else to him, I know to expect the truth of how I'm acting from him. If I'm being a baby about a situation, he's the first to let me know. If I lose track of what I'm doing I can go to him and he'll always set me back straight. If any of my siblings would have been my twin, Titus would be it. We're extremely similar. Now, this doesn't mean that we are identical or that I agree with everything he believes or vice versa, but I think we just know each other so well because we ARE so similar. This can be good and bad. When we fight with each other it gets really ugly, but we we're in the mood for fun together, he's the best partner for driving Joseph crazy. (I know I shouldn't admit that. No good wife should. But it is true. :-P)

Since Titus moved in with Joseph and I, it sometimes feels like we're the parents instead of the siblings, but even then I feel like I'm learning how to deal with life. Having Titus here helps me to be more aware of how I treat my husband. And, though it hasn't been as often as I'd like, having Titus here helps me to pay more attention to Joseph than I would have if it were just Joseph and I alone in this house.

Titus is my confidant, my helper, my partner in crime, my brother. He's there when I need a shoulder to cry on after I've already soaked through Joseph's shirt with my tears. He's there when I need to hear that I need to grow up and get over it. He's there when I don't want to go to the grocery store alone when Joseph's busy.

I find it hard to grasp the fact that Titus WILL one day move away from my house, but today it kinda seems more real. I mean, he is now 21 years old and he's not getting any younger. But, for now, I'm not going to think about him getting older and moving away. Instead, I'm going to take him to dinner at Red Robin where I assure you, Titus and I will drive Joseph absolutely crazy over something.

So, dear brother, Happy Birthday and here's to another 21 years of fun as siblings. What kind of trouble can we get into during these next two decades?

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (7)

2010-02-22T05:12:00.001-05:00

What I Read This Week:

Maximum Ride Vol. 1 ~ James Patterson & NaRae Lee 2/15

Maximum Ride Vol. 2 ~ James Patterson & NaRae Lee 2/15

Soulless ~ Gail Carriger 2/15

Fallen ~ Lauren Kate 2/16

Naruto Vol. 42 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/17

Naruto Vol. 43 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/17

Beautiful Creatures ~ Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 2/20

Hush, Hush ~ Becca Fitzpatrick 2/21

Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion ~ Julie Campbell 2/21

What I am Reading Now:

The Red Trailer Mystery ~ Julie Campbell

Still working on Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott. This book keeps getting set aside for more exciting, contemporary books.

What I Plan to Read This Week:

The Gatehouse Mystery ~ Julie Campbell

I know I was supposed to have read my Trixie Beldens this past week, but between working longer hours at my job and reading all the new books I bought this week, they definitely got pushed to the side. I don't have anymore new books to read so I really need to buckle down and get through my Trixie Beldens this week. We'll see what happens.

So, what did YOU read this week?

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (6)

2010-02-15T18:02:00.002-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-10T17:58:00.003-05:00

Summertime

Winter

e-Books for Free

2010-02-09T18:02:00.003-05:00

Thanks to a post on Money Saving Mom, I now have Kindle for PC a free application from Amazon as well as new e-books, also free. The books:

The Apothecary's Daughter - Julie Klassen

Talk of the Town - Lisa Wingate

Daisy Chain: A Novel - Mary E. DeMuth

John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace - Jonathan Aitken

Peculiar Treasures - Robin Jones Gunn

Hide in Plain Sight - Marta Perry

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin

Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

And sooooo many more! All FREE. Don't keep hanging around here. I don't know how long they'll be free. Go now and get yourself some new books!! Then come back and tell me what you picked up for free.

Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine - Series Review

2010-02-09T11:49:00.005-05:00

Since this is a series review I'm not going to give a summary of each book, but instead an overview of the series.

The Morganville Vampires series starts in Glass Houses with Claire Danvers starting college in Morganville at the age of 16. After trouble on the college campus with bullies, Claire found another place to stay. The Glass House already had three occupants - Michael Glass, the owner of the house, Eve Rosser, a Goth girl, and Shane Collins, the resident hottie. It isn't until after Claire moves into the Glass House that she realizes/learns that Morganville is a town run by vampires. As the series progresses, Claire finds herself more and more involved in the workings of Morganville and the vampires that rule the town. She even pledges herself to the most powerful vampire that lives there, Amelie. Books 2 - 7 record her adventures/trials throughout her time in Morganville.

Adventure, Romance, Suspense, Friendship - all of these describe the Morganville series. I thoroughly enjoyed each book. While Glass Houses wasn't the attention grabber that I expected it to be, I stuck it out and about halfway through I was hooked and couldn't read the rest quickly enough. As the series progressed I found myself sucked into the world of Morganville, wishing that I could be there for real. The twists in each book gave me whiplash over and over, but at the same time it was the twists that kept me coming back for more. The characters felt like my best friends as I read. I became emotionally invested in their lives in Morganville. (so much so that I actually found myself dreaming about Morganville each night that I read the series. that's never happened with a series that I can recall.) Rachel Caine did an incredible job with her characters. Even the evil characters often demanded your sympathy as a reader which amazed me, but it worked. Ms. Caine made sure to explain the background of her characters enough that I was able to understand why they were "evil". Granted, not all of the evil characters elicited sympathy. Many of them raised a level of hate and spite that I didn't think possible. With characters that were ever so realistic and places that seemed like a dream, the Morganville Vampires series kept my complete, devoted attention from halfway through the first book until the end of the seventh book. The only thing that I found myself questioning was the fact that Claire and her friends went through so much in such a short period of time. The happy parts of the books were great relievers of the tension that built up throughout the books, but the problems that the teens dealt with were sometimes overwhelming.

Overall, these books are definitely my favorite reads in such a long time. They definitely overshadow everything I read last year and so far this year. I am so excited about the 8th book being released in April 2010. I cannot WAIT!

Oh, and just a little background on how I managed to read the entire series so far in just three days. Sometime near the end of last year I visited my local used bookstore where I found books 4-7. My brother's fiancee, Shayla, was with me at the time and told me that she loved the books and that I would enjoy reading them. So I picked them up. Then, at the beginning of January, Shayla and I visited the bookstore again at which point I found books 1 and 2. Of course I bought them. That left me only book 3 to find. I told myself over and over that I was NOT going to start reading this series until I found book 2 at the used bookstore. A few weeks ago I promised my husband and myself that I would not purchase any new books from regular bookstores until April. (See, I have store credit at my used bookstore so I technically wouldn't be spending any money to shop there.) Last week I just couldn't make myself read my old books that I really needed to get to. The MV books were taunting me from their place on my shelf. So, I picked up book 1. I've normally don't have a problem starting a series and putting it aside, but as soon as I reached the middle of book 1 I knew this series was not normal. I headed straight to my used bookstore. But they didn't have book 3. I HAD to have it! So I went to Barnes & Noble. They didn't have it either. NOOOO! One last stop and I was going to pull my hair out if I couldn't find it there! But lucky for my hair, Borders had one last copy on their shelves. It was finally mine.

Because I work from 7:30am until 3:30pm each weekday I only had a few hours before work to read then the hours after work when I didn't have housework to do. Thankfully, snow was on the horizon. Friday saw me getting off work at noon so once I got home I immersed myself in the world of Morganville and didn't surface until I had finished the last book on Sunday at which point I headed outside to shovel snow .

All that to say. You HAVE to go out and get these books as soon as you possibly can if you enjoy reading books about vampires. You will love them!