Bookworm

I've been on a huge book reading kick lately...
I've always loved to read, but some slow nights at work recently have re-ignited my reading-fever.

I don't have many prerequisites when it comes to picking out books...sometimes just a cool cover or the fact that I heard someone mention a title is enough for me to add a book to my reading list. Everything from science fiction to historical period novels & everything in-between!

A trip so Sam's club earned me 3 new books, 2 from Target, and I just got 5 more in the mail from Amazon.com
(thanks Alicia for introducing me to the wonderfullness that is amazon.com!)

Here's my list of books read so far this year:

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Saw the movie Kite Runner and bawled my eyes out. Knew I wanted to read anything else this author had written...did not disappoint. Tough subject matter but I totally loved it.
• Don't Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon. This book was just 'ok' for me.  A quick read no doubt, but it was a little more on the 'scary' side...aka..I couldn't read it at night. Also got a little confusing towards the end.
• One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus. Totally loved this book. Set in the late 1800's this book is written as a series of letters/journal entries. Loved the main character and her story.
• ROOM by Emma Donoghue. Loved this book too. Difficult subject matter as well, but told from the perspective of a child which is so endearing and interesting...have added 3 more of this authors books to my 'must read' list.
• Ape House by Sara Gruen. Same author as Water for Elephants, which I had really liked. This book was just ok for me...I didn't particularly love either of the main characters and it was well into the second half of the book before things started to get interesting. A quick read nonetheless...

Currently reading: War Brides by Lois Battle. So far-- liking it.

On my 'To-Read' list...

-Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

-The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

-Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet by ?

-Red Field Farms by ?

-Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

-The Alchemist by Coelho

-The Divergent/Insurgent series

and 3 new books by Emma Donoghue: Slammerkin, Landing & The Sealed Letter

Any must-reads on your 2013 To Do list?!

Hi-Ya!! Take that New Years goals!

So.
I'm making progress on my New Years goals, Go me!!
I've been going to Zumba and Jazzercize classes atleast once a week---and yes, I realize exercising once a week sounds fairly pathetic. However, I'm coming from a place where exercise (sadly) had NO place in my life, so it's taken conscious effort to take these first baby steps. I've really liked the classes I've gone to so far which definitely helps to keep me going. Here's to staying motivated & maybe even moving towards getting in shape!? Maybe!?!?

Not done yet....I ALSO made it to the post office to pick up my passport application!!
Score 2 resolution points for moi!

Two negatives in the passport process...

1) The picture. Alicia warned me ahead of time that you're not allowed to smile, but an awkward smirk is apparently kosher. So, I attempted my best demure toothless grin while trying to get my Tyra Banks on and 'smile with my eyes'...right. Well a top model I am not, and I only managed to squish up my already prominent bags under my eyes. Sheesh. Not to mention the amazing fluorescent lighting in Walgreens that did wonders for my complexion! So glad I get to live with this gem for the next 10 years!

2) The application asks you to fill out your travel plans/dates/countries your visiting.
*Wha-wha-wha*
No actual travel plans for this gal. Just a nagging list of resolutions and alotta wishful thinking...hopefully you can't get denied for being a wanna-be world traveler!!

New Years goals revisited...2013 style

(How long will using the word 'style' continue to make me want

to dance like a chubby Korean pop star??)...I hope for a long time....

So...

As expected, I re-read over my 'resolutions' from 

last year and I can only honestly say that I accomplished 

one of them. One. Of Five. Sheesh.

Are new years resolutions genuinely designed to

help motivate or you just humiliate you??

Short term motivation, long term humiliation.

Here's a link to the aforementioned post:

http://themantasticfam.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012.html

So I'll try to pretend those other resolutions didn't happen

and just focus on the one that I succeeded on...

Learning to sew!

Now, I'm by no means making my own clothes,

but I accomplished the basics of working & troubleshooting

my sewing machine and I can make simple things like bibs and 

burp cloths. I can also use my machine to make fun crafts.

That's all I was hoping to be able to do at this point, so I'm pleased.

A few pictures of my sewing endeavors:

How convenient that I snapped a picture of the one time

I laid hands on this book....not so much a 'self-help' book reader.

My first diaper cloth made at my sewing 

'lesson' with Rachael!!

My first solo sewing project....bibs!

Success! 

Made with love for baby Rowan

Paper streamers! Another fun and easy sewing

craft that Rachael showed me

So fun! And re-usable!

Part of the reason I wanted to have a blog was to be able to look

back and see what I've accomplshed...errr...or not yet accomplished.

And even with my irregular posting schedule I suppose it's 

serving it's purpose. 

I've always loved going back and reading diaries and journals

that I've written in over the years, but I'm also one of those

people who writes consistently in a diary for about a week before

falling off the bandwagon. So my diaries are like a yearly

peek into a week of my life. Still interesting to read, though.

So, since I'm glutton for punishment and a

sucker for traditions I'm going to make a few more resolutions

for this year...but only 3 that I can think of at this moment:

1) Get my passport...this WILL happen!!!

2) Exercise...haha, so cliche. But in my defense

I DID have my first Zumba class on Thursday!!
...don't laugh!!!
Kelly and her friend Emi went with me, and I liked it!!
I'm going to try and make it a weekly thing...

3)  Open a Roth IRA.
Another goal that I made (and accomlished thankyouverymuch)
in 2012 was to increase my contribution
 to my retirement plan through work.  It's been satisfying to see that
account grow and I know I'll feel better if I can also get a Roth started.

I mean, I've only got like another
30+ years of working left....meh :(

So that's my short list for now, if I can think of more
I'll try to come back and add them!
Wish me luck!

When blogging falls short...

Obvs I'm referring to when blogging falls short

in comparison to my Instagram obsession...

whew...girlfriend needs a 12 step program!! Yikes!

I haven't even read any blogs, much less attempted to write 

a post in atleast 2 weeks, maybe 3. The last time I sat down to write a post

was the day of the SandyHook massacre. I just sat

there reading posts that people had so eloquently written

and I just couldn't put any words together.

I've always said the blogs I most enjoy and admire are

the blogs that are written with gut-wrenching and

no-holds-barred honesty...but turns out that

reading those blogs and writing one of those blogs are two

totally different things.  For 1 in takes much more thought and 

blatant talent but for 2, you have to consider the fact that

any Yahoo you work with might read your blog and all your

blogging business....not cool.

But anyways, the holidays are over, 

(THANK YOU GOD-I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER)

and I'm ready to get on with the new year.

I was already feeling scrooge-tastic heading into the holiday

season and then Christmas turned into a nightmare.

(oh yes....second year in a row) 

So while I grumble under my breath looking at everyone's

posts with their idyllic Christmas trees and family

festivities I try to remind myself not to compare my

behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reels...

Words to live by....

I saw that on Instagram, go figure.

So here's my uber lame attempt at catching up...

I'm going to go the route of posting random pictures with 

brief explanations below them.

Bonfires at mom and dad's

Playing with goats at Kelly's

Halloween!

I really don't care much about Halloween, but I 

do love to dress up and I'm down for any opportunity to

wear a wig!!!

Annual Halloween Wig-out at work

Such a great turn-out!!

I attended a co-workers baby shower where we

donned moustaches of course!!!

These make me laugh so hard...

Alicia...your moustache is falling off...

Charlie Chapman??

Welcome James Jr.!!

Thanksgiving was at my sisters house this year....

Roy and I went to his cousins house initially but then I left

and headed to my sisters to spend the rest of the day with 

my mom & dad.  It was just the four of us which seemed

strange, but we made the best of it and managed to

get some family pictures.

Note to future self: do not wear billowy blouse to family photos...

 My favorite shot of the day

I ate pizza with friends....

I've been watching a lot of The Walking Dead lately, and

Alicia frighteningly resembles one of the zombies in this picture...

 Post-work breakfast at McDonalds with Rach

Roy turned 31...

pardon me while I freak out cause I still can't get 

over the fact that he's 31 and I'm 28!!!

I went to first fridays where I found a helpful little

kitten who kindly held my coffee for me...

Roy even said I could keep him,

but alas he was $5 so he got left behind...

sorry kitty!

I celebrated with Alicia for her 30th birthday....

we failed to get a decent picture...Rachael you're reminding

me of a turtle pulling into his shell in this picture...

we sampled the whipped cream off of fancy martinis

I don't even know what was happening here...

but I love it!!!

Alicia the rat

I swear we weren't trashed, don't let the bloodshot 

eyes fool you!

Christmas Shopping at the legends with mom & Kelly

And the few pictures I took at Christmas were from
Christmas Eve at my  Uncles House. I had to work Christmas Eve
so I was dressed in my AMAZING ugly sweater...

what you can't tell from this picture is the fact that it had bells

all over it that jingled when I walked---perfect!!

Kelly & I

Cousins!!

Sarah, Brianna, myself and Kelly

So that was my lame catch-up post.

I'm going to try to do a post revisiting my New Years resolutions from 

last year, however after some examination I'll probably

realize that I fell short of most of my goals...Eeek!

Oh well, theres always 2013!!

A little weeknight crafting

I spent the past two weekends at craft fairs.

Several things come out of visiting craft fairs two 

weekends in a row...

1) weight gain

2) buyers remorse 

(as in...dammitwhydidn'tIjustbuythatawesome:insertblankhere)

3) some fun craft ideas

Here is my favorite purchase from our craft fair adventures:

I found this at the Sugar Mound craft fair.

This artist makes her jewelry from salvaged airplane

metals and I thought it was a really unique piece.

Here's a couple pictures from last weekend

at the Maple Hill Fair:

oh geez. Gidget.

:must insert side story:

My mom insists on bringing this dog everywhere.

We had to take turns carrying her through the craft fair.

(don't even try to hide your disgust Rachael...it gets worse)

Halfway through the fair we get stopped by two police

officers who tell my mom that dogs aren't allowed

inside the fair grounds... to which my mom snorts a short laugh

and replies..."This is no dog!" and then saunters off...

I stood there wide eyed with my head shrinking into my 

shoulders like a turtle and then I gave the cops an awkward

smile/giggle like "please excuse the crazy lady I'm with"...

Fortunately there were tons of people and we kind of 

disappeared into the crowd, but thats not to say that I wasn't

horrified and certain that we were going to be chased down

and tackled at any given minute!!

Anyhoo...back to my crafting...

I got a couple of ideas from things that I saw for sale

at craft booths, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend money

on things that I felt like I could make myself!!

The most surprising thing about any of this is that I actually followed

through and did these crafts in somewhat decent time!

Craft #1

Hobby Lobby had their scrapbook paper for 50% off 

so I got a TON of different papers for like 6 bucks! Woohoo!

I bought a cheap canvas and painted it with

some green acrylic paint. Then I started cutting and layering

the scrapbook paper in flower-like pattern.

I hadn't worked with modge podge in awhile so I had

to refresh my memory...

I would modge podge a layer down and then start

on the next layer of 'petals'.

Once all my petals were modge podge'd I put

a layer over the entire canvas.

The finished project!

I hung it in the guest room and I think it opens the door

for me to use a lot of fun different colors in this mostly

gray room.

What do you think? I contemplated adding

buttons around the edges...thoughts?

Hooray!

Craft #2

Since I was on a mission to modge podge the entire planet,

I decided to tackle the missing light switch covers in the guest

 bedroom. They're an awkward size that requires us to have 

a 'double' switch plate next to a 'single' switch plate. 

I saw some similar paper-covered switch plates

at the craft shows and I thought it was a clever way

to dress up the plain white plastic.

Cute right? 

I had a few boo-boo's with the modge podge and

had to start over on one of the plates, but I had lots

of paper so it wasn't a big deal.

Craft #3

Have you ever heard of bittersweet?

Well it's a bright orange little berry and it's all the rage

at craft shows. They sell little bundles of it for like $20 bucks!

Sheesh!!

There was no way I was paying that, but I did love

the bright orange fall colors.

My mom thought that she knew where some bittersweet

grew near her house so we went on an adventure

and we hit the bittersweet motherload!

We filled her trunk full of bittersweet vine and then

let it sit and dry out for a few days.

I bought two grapevine wreaths from Hobby Lobby 

and then I used floral wire to attach the bittersweet to the wreaths.

I used smaller sprigs of bittersweet to fill in the bare areas,

and I was once again, pleasantly surprised at how it turned out!

I think they add a nice pop of fall color and I probably

won't want to take them down!!

But I think I'm all crafted out now,

so I'm hanging up my modge podge until the next

craft fair or pinterest post motivates me!