Book Review: Divergent Series

I just finished reading the Divergent series. This was the second time I read the first book, Divergent, and the first time reading books 2 and 3, Insurgent and Allegiant.

And I should add that you shouldn't read this post if you do not want to know what happens in the end. I mean, this is not a super detailed review, but just an FYI...

Basically, they are your typical young adult series books. You know what I'm talking about: people dying, buildings exploding, a government to over throw, just your run of the mill teenage drama.

If you remember that it is written for young adults, you will not necessarily hate this series. You might hate it for other reasons though. Generally, I enjoyed reading it. All three books are very different, and just when you get used to what's going on, BAM! Something big happens, so don't get comfortable.

All I really want to say about these books is short and simple. The first book in the series was interesting because we got to know the main character and how things worked in her world. It was pretty violent in the end, and everything that we had read about in the hundreds of pages preceding it was completely blown away in a matter of the last few chapters. Man, THAT was annoying.

In the second book, we got to see how she and her family and friends were rebuilding their lives and getting revenge on the people who tried to destroy everything. That was pretty interesting. 

And finally, we get to the last book: Allegiant. Dear readers FINALLY start to learn about the history behind their little world, and the main chracter's history specifically. And thank you Roth for actually ending this book the way that it should have ended. It was tough to read :( but definitely worth it. 

Basically, this series can be summed up thusly: A violent version of The Truman Show in the name of science through experiments with human nature. 

THERE. 

Merry Christmas Eve 2013!

What a nice night. Tommy and I lounged around all day, did some chores, wrapped some gifts, had a nice home made dinner and dessert, watched Pacific Rim and then the ending of Its A Wonderful Life (gets me every time!)

Now we are laying in bed watching Family Guy and snuggling with KittyPants at the foot of the bed.

Just waiting for Santa!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Also, we don't have a real tree this year. And by real, I mean we have a mini tree that is fake. It is not even a life size tree, but we have been busy ok? 

Here it is with some of our favorite ornaments, tree skirt, angel, and our ready-to-go gifts for tomorrow!

And there's KittyPants. She's got her head tucked into herself because she hates the early episodes of Family Guy. Me too Kitty. Me too. 

Ordinary moments

Dear friends,

Today I...

• Slept in

• Read some of my current book

• Laid on the couch and watched NCIS, four episodes of My Cat From Hell, and Jeopardy with my husband

• Finished my Christmas shopping (bad idea..too many people out...ugh)

• Made Subway for dinner

• Watered all the plants in my house

• Wrapped said Christmas presents and set up a mini tree on my side table in the family room

• Played rummy with my husband on our couch with a fire going in the fireplace, football on mute, and the Christmas Pandora station playing on my phone. I won, and Tommy had to follow through on our bet. Which was to unload the dishwasher by HIMSELF (which we all know that makes the task waaaay less fun) BWAHAHA. 

So, to sum it all up for you, today was a wonderfully ordinary day. I am of the opinion that life is made up and defined by these ordinary days. I am so glad that I get to spend them the way I do with the person I do. He is the best and knows exactly how to make the ordinary days count. And lets be honest, the combination of the ordinary days are the best days of our lives. 

Here's to an ordinary life! 

Love, 

Me

My running goal for the year

Though its not New Years yet, I have already started a goal that will take me a year to accomplish. I have wanted to complete this goal for a long time, and it is just a step in the journey that I want to accomplish with my love-hate relationship of running :) 

In November, I set a goal for myself that I would run one race a month for a year. I started with the Hot Chocolate 5k in Chicago because I have run that race for the past four years in a row. It is my favorite one. The weather is crisp and cold, but not too cold, the goody bag is sa-weet, and it's a 5k so it's not too terrible to run ;) I wanted to start and end this year long goal with a race that I really like. So it thats why I started it in November 2013, instead of January 2014. 

So far, I have done a November race, and a December race. 

The December race was hella-cold. It was 13 degrees out and NOT sunny of course. My sister Chris drove me to the race site (thanks Chrissy! Love you!) and I got there 45 min early. Note to future cold weather running self: don't get there early. 

So I picked up my race packet, put on the hat and antlers I was given in my goody bag, and started walking and hopping around because I thought I literally was going to freeze to death. 

I'm not proud of what I did next. Let me just preface what I am about to say with that statement. I was SO COLD and my quads were beginning to feel numb, which at the time made me think, "hey, this isn't so bad! My legs aren't that cold!" which I knew was prob a bad sign. So I slowly ran down the sidewalk to try and warm up. 

That's when I saw them: the port-a-potties. There was no line, and I was THAT cold. So I got in one and locked the door. I stood there for about 25 ish minutes Facebooking (yes, that's a verb), texting, and checking Snapchat. Just doin my usual Millennial activities, except inside of a Port-a-Potty. I'm a little ashamed. But it was so cold, and I was working on completing my goal so 

don't judge. 

The only reason I got out to brave the cold again was because I heard someone say, "is this really the line for the bathroom?" The dialogue in my head went something like this:

- I should get out so people can actually use the bathroom for its intended purpose. 

- no way! It's cold and you will have to stand outside for 20 more minutes! Stay inside!

- but people have to use the bathroom and its rude to just hang out in here. 

- you dont owe these people anything. For all you know they just want to do what you are doing. No one in their right mind would go to the bathroom when it is this cold out. They are bluffing. Sorry I'm not sorry they didn't think of this idea first! Suckers!

- don't be a bitch. You're leaving now. 

- wait! No! Ah it's cold! F*ck why am I doing this?

~~~•Side note•~~~

Am I ever going to do things that I want to do because I just want to? That comment "you don't owe these people anything" made me realize that I do. I constantly feel like I owe everyone else everything. Mostly because my happiness is not a right, but a blessing and I feel like I should always be sharing that blessing with everyone when ever I am able (I.e.- all the time weather I feel like it or not). 

That's why I got out of the port-a-potty.

~~~•End side note•~~~

And then I jogged to the start line with the song, "I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold. I got an ice box where my heart use to be" in my head. 

Luckily, I found a guy sipping coffee and asked where he got it. He showed me the way to a truck that was giving out coffee for FREE and I got a cup. I sipped it next to the truck and made some running friends who thought my idea to block myself from the wind with the truck was genius. We complained about the cold, jumped up and down, and cursed ourselves for paying money to wake up early on a Sunday to run. 

I mean, seriously. 

Then I ran with frozen toes, called Chris to pick me up, and went to a family brunch.

January's race will be here before I know it. And I'm semi stoked about it despite the cold!

#20- Be smarter about my food purchases

This is #20 of my 25 Before 25....turned 25 things I want to do whenever I want to do them ;)

Becoming smarter about my food purchases, among other things, has taken me a looooooong time to do. It's a slow process for me, which is mostly because I'm impatient and disorganized.

It means more to me than just choosing the right foods and farms that my foods come from. For me, it also meant planning my meals and lunches ahead of time so that I can spend less time wandering around various grocery stores (and I seriously do mean wandering...) and more time doing things I actually like to do.

I started out pretty good at planning dinners and making lists for grocery shopping. And then I would forget the list at home, try to remember what I need while going up and down every aisle putting random things in my cart, and/or calling Tommy every two seconds to ask him if things were on the list or if we had xy&z in the pantry. I have wasted so much of my short life in grocery stores. uhhh.

So then I started making the list on my iPhone because I take that everywhere with me! But I broke that "habit" real quick and started wandering again. I'm not a list person when it comes to grocery shopping. That's not my life regardless of how hard I try.

After many months of trying and failing at #20, I have finally started to figure out what this means to me exactly.

Here's what I have been able to figure out:

1. Meat Purchases. I actually do care about these. Am I 100% perfect about making sure the meat I buy is organic, hormone free, vegetarian fed, and free range? No. I still purchase products that have chicken or beef in them that is not all of the above, mainly because I do not know, nor do I have the time to figure out, how to make these products myself from scratch with meat that does meet my requirements (see what I did there? eh?) One day....maybe. If I am buying chicken or beef that is packaged, I do choose products that are labeled organic, hormone free, vegetarian fed, and free range. It seems weird, but free range is very important to me. Most people say, "Why? That's so hypocritical to want your food to be free range before you KILL it and EAT it"but that's the way I want the animals I consume to be treated, and this is my blog so deal with it!

2. Egg Purchases. You can also get eggs from farms with chickens that are vegetarian fed and free range. Makes me feel a bit better about eating their unborn babies. (Was that gross? I deleted and rewrote that sentence twice before I decided to leave it...) I especially like this carton I found at Jewel.
"Letting chickens be chickens"



3. Meal Planning.  Basically, I am not the best at this. I might never be the best at this, but I am trying my best! I like to shop on Sundays, and typically try to think ahead in the week on what I want to make for dinner. I try to cook at least three nights a week, and have been trying to also incorporate my crockpot into that once in a blue moon. After I think ahead of what I might want to make for dinner, I go and buy that stuff on Sunday for the week. I will also pick up some stuff that I might need for lunch packing. Then, when I get home, I organize the dinner stuff in the fridge so I remember what goes together. I also pack my lunches for the week and group those together by day so they are easy to put in my lunchbox the next day! This is something that has taken me a long time to figure out, and is definitely not second nature for me. You might think I'm silly because it's not a hard concept, but we all have our crosses to bear in life or whatever, right? Luckily mine seems to be meal planning.


So there you go. In 800 words or less: Being smarter about my food purchases. I still have a lot to learn....so if you have any advice, please share! I think my next step miiiiiight to make one of these for myself:

{Lovely}

Book Review: Mocking Jay

Ohh Mocking Jay.

I read this book two days ago and I'm torn. First of all, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were both great novels. They were both well written, and really kept me guessing as I read them.
I thought Mocking Jay continued on this track, as I continued to be surprised by the plot.

That being said, this was definitely not the mind blowingly super awesome ending to the series that I expected.

********SPOILERS AHEAD! So don't continue reading if you don't want to know what happens!!*******









Basically, here are some problems I had with the third book in the trilogy:

1. The love story. Now I have been on team Peeta since the first book. And then definitely after seeing the movie. Not only is he cute and a good person, but he's a total romantic and is so sweet to Katniss. I was seriously rooting for them both so I was stoked to find out that at the end they are together! I even loved the epilogue that gave us a happy glimpse into their future together, however brief. I was a little confused at how this all played out though. At one point in the book, when the crew is on a fake secret mission to kill Snow and are hiding in the cellar of the fur undie shop (yes, I know exactly what I just said there. It's a little weird), Katniss hears Gale tell Peeta, "Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't survive without." So basically I was waiting from that point on for Katniss to have some sort of epiphany about this silly love triangle, but she didn't until, like, the last 200 words, which is not what I expected. Also, it seems that it wasn't even her choice! All of a sudden, she is home in District 12's Victor Village, with Peeta planting Primrose bushes in her yard and Gale is in another district with some special important job so.... decision made? So anticlimactic.

2. Character death and destruction. By this I do not mean that important characters died. I mean, sometimes that has to happen, but it was the way it was done. I felt more sorrow after Finnick died form being torn apart by scary lizard-human mutants in the sewers than when Prim died in the explosion. Prim's death just happened. Shocking? Yes. Sad? Not as much as I thought it would be. I knew Prim was going to die before I started reading the book because a friend accidentally spilled the beans (my fault really, for not finishing the last book in due time...) so maybe I just built it up in my head too much? That whole chase scene in the sewers was pretty good, and the characters that we were learning more about as the scene continued were killed off in some interesting ways. With every one of those deaths I was thinking, "Oh no! Shoot." because I was getting to know those characters. I think Prim coming out of no where, and then just dying so abruptly didn't have the same effect.

3. Viewpoint. Part of what makes the book interesting is the fact that it's written in first person, so you learn things as the main character learns them. I can appreciate that, but I just wish the main character in Mocking Jay wasn't drugged up in the hospital or knocked out half the time! There were multiple times when Katniss was waking up, safely back in her hospital bed (or whatvever), and had to learn what happened from other people. It was annoying. Katniss should have been more present in the book, so that we could also be more present in the book.

4. Katniss. Yes, I think that Katniss' character in this book was part of the problem. Maybe I'm just used to main characters kicking ass and taking names, but she was so weak in this book. Were there a few times that she stepped up to the plate? Yes, and I loved it. But overall I felt that she was even more whiney in this book than she was in the last. I especially hated the frequency with which she hid in the closet. Don't get me wrong, shit happened to her that there is no going back from and she definitely deserved a few of those pity parties she threw herself, but not THAT many.
Gale and her are in a fight? Closet.  Haymitch calls her out on her silly love triangle? Closet. I mean....where was that strong, independent, clever, and sharp girl from District 12 we met in the first book? You know, the one who volunteered to DIE to save her sister? Where was that same girl that fuels the fire with her disobedience from the second book? It just felt like she tuckered out in the end.

5. The realism. One thing about this book that I had a love/hate relationship with was the realism that Collins gave is in this book. In my opinion, Katniss acted as a girl of her age would most likely act in the face of so many devastating events to happen in a relatively short period of time. There were times that I appreciated that, and times that I was annoyed by it, like how often she hid in a closet, for example. I could appreciate the fact that both many people, both essential to the plot and not, died in this book because that's war. I could appreciate the fact that Katniss got injured and had a few meltdowns, because that's life.  could even appreciate the fact that she didn't end up all rainbows and butterflies with the perfect life in the epilogue because who would be after what she went through. But I think the collective realistic portrayals in this book made for a very anticlimactic ending, which I am torn on weather that was a good or a bad thing for me.

Overall, I liked Mocking Jay, despite my five areas of displeasure. I think that perhaps Katniss and Peeta should have some how met at the hanging tree at the end, but mostly because that would have felt like the right thing, not because it would have made the story better....

Definitely not the best book in the series, but worth a read to find out firsthand what happens with the characters. The movie will be interesting I think. For now, here's an article I found that will just have to hold us over until it comes out!

Opinions?

Googling

Did you know you can learn all about your Google searching activities? You can see your searching activity by hour and day.

Here is my week summed up:

1. Black Friday deals
2. Catching Fire- image search. Lost a good 45 minutes to that. yep.
3. Thanksgiving video for Kindergarten
4. Pete the cat video for Kindergarten
(Um, I teach Kindergarten....and sometimes it consumes my life)
5. What does the fox say?
6. Miley Cyrus SNL
7. When does Downton Abbey season 4 start up?
8. When does Girls season 3 start?
9. When does Game of Thrones season start?
10. When does True Blood start?
(Then I got smart...)
11. HBO shows schedule online

So basically, I teach Kindergarten and I watch a lot of TV...namely, HBO shows.

My life.

Thanksgiving 2013

What a day.
Here's the basics:

Tommy and I went to his aunt Janet's house for Thanksgiving. We arrived around 12:30(ish?) and had a nice time visiting with family we see every month ;)

Big family. Lots of birthdays, hence, a birthday party basically every month that celebrates alllll the people in their family. Usually includes some sort of delicious-but-bad-for-you-food wrapped in newspaper with inappropriate cards for the adults, and real presents for the kids.

There was a ton of turkey involved, and also some other Thanksgiving foods that I appreciate: cranberry sauce, rolls, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey legs, and a corn casserole thing that is SUPER bad for you, but SUPER delicious. Seriously.

There are also these chocolate leaves at everyone's place setting. It's basically tradition that I eat my leaf, take a bite of Tommy's, and then try to make my wrapper look like the chocolate leaf again so that Tommy tries to eat it. Bwahaha.

We stay and chat, check the football games, and then end up having to leave before dessert because we have dessert with Tommy's dad at his parent's house. Anna, Dana, Marvin (Dana's fiance), Tommy, and I all drove back and had cherry and pumpkin pie from Baker's Square (Ugh, yum) and stay a chat a little bit there.

THEN.....Tommy and I drove to McHenry to visit with my aunt, uncle, grandparents, and cousins. We had dessert (yes, again) there- apple and pumpkin pie with plenty of whipped cream. Duh. It was nice to see everyone!

My parents were out of town visiting my mom's family- Grandpa and Uncle Kevin and his family. Yes, Foxy went with.

What else? Oh yea, then Tommy and I went home and had stomach aches from a big dinner and TWO desserts. Heh. So much pie.

I didn't go out Black Friday shopping until 11:30, and I only stayed out until 2:00 a.m. Quite a tame shopping night if you ask me. Without revealing any Christmas presents, here's the score:

 {Woot}

Book Review: Wild

I am a member of Goodreads, which is a website where you can create a profile and record all the books you want to read, or have read. I love it because I no longer have to record by hand the books that I want to read or have read in my journal ;) It also gives me an opportunity to rate books, read other people's opinions on the book, and share my own thoughts about the books that I am reading. If you are a Goodreads member (it's free to join and they have an app for it!) find me and let's chat about books!

I finished Wild last week, and I wanted to share my opinion on it with you. I thought it was a good book. I gave it four stars on Goodreads, and while I am a tough critic when it comes to handing out stars, I did think that this book earned at least four out of five.

I don't normally read autobiographies, or nonfiction texts for that matter, but I actually really enjoyed this one. First of all, Cheryl Strayed is a good writer. I found that I enjoyed her quick wit and her somewhat sarcastic portrayal of her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Many people were berating her for even attempting the hike with the proper tools, but without the proper training, but I totally get it. That's life. Many of us attempt to do things (albeit not as crazy as an 1,100 mile solo hike through the mountains) that we do not have the proper training for. LIFE. Who has had the proper training for that? So I commend her for attempting it, and learning how to hike in the process. She tells her story well, and it's interesting to read. It semi-makes me want to go for a hike!

Overall, I think the only thing that I would have changed is towards the end of the book. I feel that most of the book was focused on the trek through California. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, I mean, most of the hike is through California. It's a long ass state, but I felt like after reading all about this torturously humorous journey, we got to the finale of the trip and it was nbd. As you read, you become a part of the journey and I was excited to get to the end point, but it happened so quickly that I felt a little cheated. You may feel differently if you read it. If you do, let me know!

Day 19- Grad School

11/19/13

On Tuesdays, I have grad school. That has been my Tuesday night for about the past 15 months, yes, I have been missing Pretty Little Liars in real time for 15 months :(  lol

As much as I have complained about the work (oh gosh, the work!), the readings (some were not too bad...), or the fact that Tuesdays are the longest days ever, I am actually thankful for grad school.

Most of you are thinking, oh course you are, who doesn't love a pay raise! But it's more than that. I'm not a teacher because I want to make a ton of money. If that were the case, I wouldn't have been a teacher. In fact, I spend a good amount of that money that I make on things for my kids and items for my classroom just because I think they would like it. What teacher doesn't do that??

I'm also not a teacher because I want the summers off. Yes, I get the summers off, but by "off" I mean that I'm not working with students. I still spend a lot of time planning, copying, organizing, re-organizing, and even pinning (lol) for my job. Do I take a few weeks off there to just relax and do nothing all day? Yes, I do, but I also work with twenty 5 and 6 year olds for about 10 months...which is not easy work. I am not saying your work is easier, but it is not working with twenty 5 and 6 year olds, so it is VERY different. My job is basically like being an actor in a boring show that I need to make interesting to 20 kiddos from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Different? I think we can agree on that. Do I deserve a few weeks of rest in the summer? Uh, yea, but don't tell me that I get the summers off, because I don't. I just work differently in the summer time than I do in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.

I'm a teacher because I like helping people learn new things, I like working with children, and I think this work is some of the most important work in the world. I'm a Kindergarten teacher because I like working with little children, the curriculum is super fun to teach, and the growth I see from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. I like to be a part of that on a daily basis, and I like to celebrate that with them at the end of the year.
Also, they are mostly cute and say funny things, so that's a bonus.

Grad school has provided me with the opportunity to learn more about my profession, enhance my teaching of it, and help the kiddos in my class become better learners. I have learned a lot through the reading and work I have done. Has every class been mind blowingly awesome and enlightening? No. This is what I did this week in class:

{Ok, admit it, that's kinda cool}

But I have learned a lot. Mostly, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be in grad school and better myself professionally. 

And Now: Pictures of my Cat

{Oh, just some of my favorite family times}

Book Review: The Night Circus

I just finished reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Here is the general summary of the book, which can be found here, because why re-invent the wheel:

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—

And that's not even the whole summary, because putting the whole thing in here would ruin it for you. SO DON'T GO READ IT EVEN THOUGH I CITED IT. I only did that so I wouldn't go to jail, because I'm pretty sure it's not like Orange is the New Black.

The story unfolds in pieces like a puzzle, and I found that I really had to read it and think about it to know what was happening. There were even parts I had to re-read in order to kind of get what was going on (holy cow, re-reading to increase my comprehension of a text! As a teacher, I know my teachers would be so proud!)

It was hard for me to get into in the beginning, then things started to get a little bit more interesting. Once the stories started to come together, I was hooked, but I also seldom walk away from a book once I start it. I did have to abandon The Host about 60 pages in though....ugh.

The ending was, interesting and not altogether predictable for me, so that was nice. Also, if you visualize while you read, and I mean really visualize, then the book is pretty cool.

Overall I would recommend this book for people that are looking for more than just a fluffy read. It is interesting, thoughtful, and confusing at times, so be prepared. If you have read this book and want to chat (I'm always looking for people to talk to about books!) contact me :) I'm SO up for your thoughts

Day 18- Intentional Acts of Kindness

11/18/13

I forgot to tell you this story. It happened about a week ago (I can't exactly remember the date, last weekend maybe?).

If you have been reading this blog, and I know some of you must be because you have said something in passing, or messaged me with kind words :), you might remember my 25th birthday post about my quest to complete 25 intentional acts of kindness on my actual birthday. I didn't actually complete all 25....a stolen phone the night before, a late start, and some unplanned events the day of made it difficult to do all of them. I did, however, complete 9 of them, and had the intent to complete a 10th one, but was unable to follow through on it.

Why might you ask? Well, it is listed as completed Intentional Act of Kindness #8 in this post- The one where I bought a sandwich and a drink for a man that stands on the corner in front of the Walgreens down the street from me.
Here's what I said about it:

   8. Bought a man a sandwich and a drink for lunch at Jewel. I didn't actually get to give it to him 

         though :( There is this man that stands on a corner off of 21 every once in a while with a sign that 

         says "Need a job to pay for gas and food" and it just breaks my heart. Every time I see him, or 

         that corner in general, I send good thoughts for him out in to the universe. So when I saw him on 

         my birthday, I said, "Tommy. We are going to Jewel to get him lunch." and my wonderful 

         husband drove me right away to Jewel. Then, when we pulled up to his corner, he was GONE. I 

         was initially sad that I didn't get to help him, but Tommy said he was probably gone because he 

         had a job for the day, which made me feel a little better. So we both sent out some kind thoughts 

         for him and kept going for the day. 

It turns out that about a week ago, I saw this man again on my way home from the post office. In fact, I normally take the back roads home from the post office, and for some reason, that day I decided to take the main road home. That's when I saw him standing on the corner with his sign: "Need a job to pay for gas and food. Mechanic"

I instantly went to Mariano's, bought a sandwich and a water, and quickly drove over to the Walgreen's parking lot. I was so nervous that he wouldn't be there, and when I pulled up I saw him walking to his car and folding his sign up. I jumped out of my car and practically ran over to him and said, "Excuese me, sir? Hi. How are you?" and he was startled, and said, "I'm fine." So I said, "Well, I have seen you out here a few times and I'm sorry I can't offer you a job, but can I offer you lunch?" He replied, "um, yes, thank you." and took the grocery bag. I didn't really know what else to say, so I asked him if he was from around here. He was not, and said that he only drives up here once in a while to find work. I said, "Ok, well, good luck. I hope you find work soon. Have a good day" and left all awkward. And then he went to his car, sat in the front seat, and started eating his sandwich. And that was that.

Not only am I thankful for a pantry full of food, and the ability to buy the food I both need and want at the grocery store, but I am thankful that I was able to buy food for this man that cannot do that for himself right now. I don't know his circumstances, but that doesn't really matter. I'm just thankful that I had a chance to buy him lunch that day after missing the opportunity on my birthday. 

*P.S.- My phone that got stolen? Well, the police caught the thieves, we had a trail, and they own me $500 that they are supposed to pay over the next 6 months...

Day 17- Thankful for home

11/17/13

Today I am thankful for my home. I have really only had to call three places home before this one, which I feel very lucky about, seeing as how people my age normally have more than that. My husband and I bought a house last year, and we are so thankful everyday that we found a place that we both love and has met many of the "wants" on our home wish list.

With owning a home comes great responsibility, as my husband and I are learning everyday (well, I think he has a better handle on it than I do...). Even though it is hard to take care of everything in a home, and to fix things that become broken and worn out as time goes on, I am very thankful that I have one to take care of. Even on the hot summer days when I stand outside with Tommy and just did 8 hours of yard work and it looks like we did NOTHING. Even on the days when I kill four spiders in a row on my ceiling (ok, ok, when Tommy kills them...). Even on the days when I am in a hurry and the house attacks me, like when I backed out of the garage too quickly and the side of the house decided to take off my side mirror....(House: 1, Amy: 0...but I own you house so I guess I technically win!)

The reason I am thankful for this today is because of the tornado warnings and severe storm warnings that were happening all day. One of my best friends spent a good part of her day in the basement of her new home waiting for the tornado warnings to pass, and it made me think of how lucky we are that we even have a home to give us a safe place to do that if needed. After hearing and seeing the tornado damage that occurred in central Illinois, and the wind damage that occurred throughout the state, I am thankful that the worst thing we had today was severe thunderstorms.

I love this house, with it's crazy amount of yard work and all, and I am so thankful that I live here with a husband that helps me take care of it. I can not wait to see what other chapters of our lives we create in this space. 

Day 16- Lazy Saturdays

11/16/13

Today has been the most lazy Saturday in the world. I am not feeling well, so of course I had a crappy night's sleep. Tommy and I snuggled in bed and watched tv. Then we came downstairs and I made some scrambled eggs and had a grapefruit for breakfast.

I tried drinking this tea that is supposed to make you feel better, but it was AWFUL even when holding my nose and drinking it like a child, so I just put it on the table next to me and pretended I was drinking it...


Then I laid on the couch using Tommy as a pillow and fell asleep for 3 hours because my body was killing me. When I woke up, I felt much better, but poor Tommy was super hungry because he didn't want to move and wake me up and I slept through lunch. He's sweet. So I made him lunch.

Now we are sitting in the family room, watching more tv and relaxing. We have reclining furniture, so you can imagine how lazy we must look to the outside eye..but there's a NCIS marathon on and we are both pretty stoked about it so we're not moving.





Today I am thankful to have lazy Saturdays with my husband. This is the life :)

{Kitty is enjoying a lazy Saturday too}

Day 14- Crock Pot Cooking

11/14/13

I used my crockpot! Woohoo! If you know me, then you know that this is a big deal because I never use it. I wish I did, and everyone I talk to things I'm dumb because it's the easiest thing on the planet to use. So I did it!

Here's what I made: Beef Stroganoff!!

I bought beef chunks (?) at the grocery store, a packet of McCormick's mix, sour cream, and egg noodles. I made it over night, and then put it in the fridge until Tommy got home from work and put it back in the crockpot to warm it up (That's ok right? I mean, I'm still alive, but if you have any advice on this, share with me please!).

So basically, you mix the sauce mix and the water with a whisk. Then you add the beef to the bowl and coat it with the whisked mixture. Then you put it in the crock pot, and cook on low for 8 hours. After, you add 1 cup of sour cream, mix it in, and add it to the cooked egg noodles.

There you go! It was super simple, pretty yummy, and Tommy ate it, which is always a plus. Stephanie was also over for dinner and said it was good, so there you go! I think next time I might add a little more sour cream, but otherwise it was edible (which is my goal).

Two nights ago I made parmesan chicken that Tommy said should be added to the meal rotation. #winningthisweekinthedinnerdepartment

So, it seems silly, but I am thankful for realizing that I semi-enjoy making dinner a few nights a week, and that I have the time to make dinner for my family!

P.S.- while we are on the subject,

This is the Crock Pot I have, and it's not bad. I'm still learning the difference between each setting, but I like that it can travel. Can I bring anyone some Crock Pot food? Because I haven't yet and it's got a cool snapping lid! And, fyi, you have to keep the snaps on the lid to lock it on tight and cook right (lesson learned the hard way...)

{Learning to love this thing}

I went to a party at Wendy's house with this one and I totally want one now:

{Awesome}

I just bought this one from Bed, Bath & Beyond for $19.99 because I love me some warm any-kind-of-dip!

{Yep}

Day 10- Chrissy

11/10/13

Sunday I was thankful for my older sister Chris.

When Katy was in town, we celebrated Chris' birthday! Katy did most of the set up for it, and I bakes a brownie/cake that turned out pretty chocolaty and delicious. Chrissy, Abby, Katy, mom, dad, uncle Larry, grandma, Tommy and I all met up at a Mexican restaurant. Grandma had no idea what to get because she "never eats Mexican food unless it's a tamale- hello" (she says hello at the end of her sentences sometimes, it's cute. But it's like HELL-o, not Hell-O) and they didn't have them on the menu. I ordered her a cheese quesadilla, because she's like Tommy when it comes to Mexican food. I got the nachos, which were seriously tasty. I can't remember what everyone else got, but it seemed that there were no complaints, so it must have been good!

We had dinner, gave Chrissy her bday cards (which were all semi-inappropriate as usual, except for grandma, typical), and enjoyed our food in the middle of some nice family conversation. Then the servers brought out the brownie cake I made will ALL the candles I brought (but I won't tell you how many because I'm not sure I'm allowed to?) and turned out the lights. It was awesome. They also had her wear a pink sombrero and sang happy birthday to her! We got some good pics, and ate some good brownies (thank you, thank you) and I think I might be trusted to make the dessert for our next family gathering...but I might be going too far, since it's Thanksgiving and all...

 {All together}

 {Sisterssss}

 {Abby & Chris}

 {Katy & Chris} 

It was a really good night. It made me think about how thankful I am for family, and more specifically, for me sister Chris.

Chris is 15 years older than me. Most of my memories of her include me asking her if she was a boy because her name was Chris and I knew a boy at school named Chris. Clearly I was not the brightest crayon in the box when I was younger...

These days, I've gotten a tad bit smarter, and have really formed a relationship with my sister Chris that I am happy and proud to have.

She teaches me new things- like how to take care of KittyPants McMewey, and that lunch meat you pick out and have shaved at the deli counter is MUCH BETTER than packaged lunch meat.

She is also pretty smart. Not just street smart, but like, newsy stuff. When I see her, a lot of her sentences start with, "Hey, did you hear about..." and of course, I haven't because I don't know what going on in the world as much as I should, and I end up sharing it with other people like I know what I'm talking about...So technically, she makes me a smarter person!

Chris is also funny. She totally geta her funnyness from our dad. She certainly gives his sense of humor a run for it's money in my opinion. And it's not just funny, but it's clever too, which my husband knows is the kind of humor I appreciate the most.

{Chris & Dad}

We also like the same tv show, but I won't tell you what it is because you'll judge me for it because it's so weird and gross that it's just a little bit interesting to watch...and she (and Abby) are the only ones I watch it with! Oh yea, and there's true blood. We like that one too :) But that's not as embarrassing.

I think my favorite thing about Chrissy though, is her appreciation of what other people would consider weird things. Like, this website. Or this. Or these. It makes Christmas and Birthday shopping waaaaay more fun and challenging, which is super fun, and I get to learn about cool things that exist in the world that I would have otherwise been oblivious too :(

It has taken a long time for our relationship to turn into what it is today. It has not been without it's hardships, and it will stand some trial in the future, but I feel so lucky and thankful that Chris is my older, wiser, and funnier sister. I have learned some important things in life from her, and each time I see her I feel better for have doing so.

I am thankful for my sister Chris, and the relationship we have formed together. Where ever we go in the future, I am glad you are there to cheer me up, and help me out along the way!

Day 15- Bubble Baths

11/15/13

Ok, so I've been fighting a cold for the past few weeks. It started in October, when I lost my voice, went to the doctor, and had Laryngitis. Sweet.

I've had a cough since then, and now my cough is back, my muscles ache, and my skin is uber sensitive. I have also had a headache for two days. Also, I just took two melatonin, so that should help me get a good nights sleep right?

Anyway, I've consulted two medical friends and I think I might be going to the doctor tomorrow, but I will say, I was told to take a bubble bath....and MAN did that help! We have a super deep tub in our guest bathroom, and it might be in the top three favorite things about my house (somewhere ranking next to the fireplace...)

I put in waaaaay too many bubbles, and am super wrinkly, but my body feels a bit better and I am now 100 pages into Wild, which is pretty good. You should read it. So far I totally feel like I could hike from Mexico to Washington (and I semi-want to) because it's that inspiring so far.

I am thankful for being able to take bubble baths after long days like this. So many bubbles.