2014! Books! Hurrah!

I think I must be the worst blogger who ever blogged. Alas, it is what is, and since I refuse to let another year go by without a published post (there have many attempts, believe me) I am here now.

I feel like a terrible parent since I have failed to post about all the wonderful things my little monster has done this year, even though I have hundreds of pictures and stories. The truth is that it is hard to be a working mom and time seems to slip away even more quickly. I am in no way saying that the role of a working mom is harder than that of a SHAM. They're both very hard in very different ways. I will make an official family update post on the other blog. Maybe.

So today's post will be about books. I read a lot of books. Most of them are cheesy romances that entertain me while I read them, but are rather forgettable as soon as the book is closed. There were a few titles I read last year, though, that I feel are worth talking about and recommending. Here follows the little list in the order that I read them:

1. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore 
Yes, we're starting with a children's book! My mom bought this book for the monster and we absolutely adore it! Its kind of hard to write a description of this book without telling you the entire story, but believe me, its lovely. Warning, it is a little sad at the end. But a happy kind of sad. That will make sense, I swear. I highly recommend it for kids and adults alike. It's also a short film and there is an interactive app for it that the monster just can't get enough of.

2. Clockwork Princess
This was the final installment of The Infernal Devices series and also the prequel to The Mortal Instruments. Sigh. I really loved this book and it seriously makes my heart a little sweaty to think about it. If you want to know thoughts on it, see my last post. But don't bother reading the info on the other book in that post. It was terrible. And won Goodread's Romance award. Why? Because I honestly believe that the voters wouldn't know a good book if I hit them in the face with it.  But I digress.
Read Clockwork Princess.... after reading the first two in the series, of course.

3. The Passion of the Purple Plumeria 
Finally! I got to read Miss Gwen's story! And finally the pairing I imagined became reality! **SPOILERS** From the moment I met Miss Gwen and her formidable parasol (first book), I began the anxious and looooong wait for her story. The moment that I met Colonel William Reid (6th book) and he announced that he was returning to England, I immediately started to imagine all the sass, and romance, and fighting that would occur between him and Miss Gwen. Never have I been more relieved to be right. Honestly, if Willig had paired them with anyone else, I might have stopped reading the series (I'm still upset that Jane won't be with the man I planned for her.) If you have not read the Pink Carnation series, here's a brief summary: female espionage in Napoleonic France (and other countries) filled with romance, humor, and all around awesomeness. Also, its two stories in one. You're welcome.

4. Styxx
Oh Sherrilyn, why must you hurt me so? This book is the long awaited sequel to Kenyon's Archeron. Acheron and Styxx are twins who each have the most tragic and upsetting back stories ever. Archeron's was bad, thank-the-gods-its-only-fiction, soul-scarring bad. Styxx's was infinitely worse. This is the proverbial redemption story on steroids that has been armed with machetes, and pikes, and.... sadness... (I got bit lost on where that was going.) Styxx's story is so heartbreaking that you actually hate those you loved in Archeron, including Ash. In Ash's book I was crying almost immediately, but Styxx took a while to really get to me. I think part of that is due to the fact that I still hated him. I felt bad for him and I definitely hugged my monster more while reading about poor Styxx's childhood, but Ash still seemed to have had it worse. And then this book broke me. **SPOILERS** The one man who was nice to Styxx dies and I swear I felt my hear shatter. From there I was swallowed into this dark and horrible pit of dispair that nothing could bring me out of. I was in so much pain from the crying. I'm serious. This book physically hurt me and left me with a book hangover (i.e. depression fit) for three days. It wasn't as bad as The Bronze Horseman, but it was pretty close. I almost want to forget that I ever read it. Only it was amazing. And the happy ending almost made up for all the hurt. Almost. For those new to the DH books: you do not need to read all 21 Dark Hunter books (or any of them) before reading this one, but I do recommend reading Archeron first.

5. The Autobiography of Red
This is the first book of poetry I have read that wasn't assigned for a class and isn't from the Middle Ages. This poem confused me in the best way possible. There were times that it was slow, but the way that Greyon experiences everything with such meticulous care, is inspiring and thought provoking. I feel I must read it again in order to fully grasp it. And that makes it an absolute win.
Real poetry fans/writers/readers/etc. may have better/more coherent thoughts on this, so maybe you should read their reviews. Or just read the book.







6. Fangirl
I'm sorry, but anything written by a girl named Rainbow has to be full of awesome. Fangirl did not disappoint. This was definitely my favorite book from 2013. This is a fanfic writting college student who is trying to adjust to this new life while desperately trying to hang onto her old life that was centered around her fandom. This was a fantastic coming-of-age story that really hit me in the feels. Cath is the me I could be if I let my fandom obsession take over. I kid you not. (Just because I haven't written fanfic, doesn't mean that there isn't this alternate SuperWhoLock meets New Species world living in my head and heart.) I now must read everything else Rainbow Rowell has ever written. It was just that good.




Honorable Mentions: Cafenova by S. Jane Scheyder and Gnome on the Range by Jennifer Zane. Both were cheesy romances I bought because the titles are awesome and they both ended up being rather enjoyable. They also happened to be free on Amazon at the time.


 What about resolutions? I only plan on reading more books of substance and less crap. And to actually start making Christmas present in July-- seriously, I can't do another December mad-dash. So what is in store of 2014? I have no clue, but I feel like I have started this year off with a positive feeling and I'm looking forward to all the happy things this year will have in store for me and my little family.

Heartbreak: Book Reviews

It's been over a year since I've written a book review so I have decided to gift you all with two!

Really, these are just two books that I think I need to sit down and write about because maybe then I can finally wrap my mind around them and heal a little. I apologize for any weirdness that comes out while I'm writing, I'm running off of gallons of coffee and 2 hours of sleep.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

In the last book review I gave a very brief summary on my feelings towards Clare's Shadowhunter series, and it still holds true. I love her books, every single one of them. She does an amazing job with character and plot development and her writing is impeccable. The Shadowhunters are a group of nephilim who protect mankind from Downworlders (demons, vampires, etc.) but let me stress, this isn't a vampire/warewolves series. It features said "beings" but not in the typical sense- a change I very much enjoyed. For a summary of the latest book (without major spoilers) go here. 

This book broke my heart, and in a mostly-good way. This little trilogy features a love triangle and sigh  I really love me a good love triangle. This one is by far the best love triangles I have ever encountered because I loved all three characters. I did not care which one Tess (heroine) chose and I was happy for her choice, even though my heart broke for the man she didn't choose. 

But here's the thing and if you're planning on reading this series, you might want to stop reading now:

She chose (in the previous book) Jem who is slowly dying because of a drug addiction (that totally wasn't his fault) and who I picture looking like this:

Yummy, right? This is Top and I love him.

So I went into this book certain that Jem was going to die and- I kid you not- I cried every time he did something sweet. Which is all the freaking time! And then he died and my soul broke. Will, the other man, was Jem's best friend and both he and Tess were not present for Jem's death. Will, who is connected to Jem on a spiritual level (it's a ritual thing) felt it when Jem passed and my soul broke more. When Will informed Tess of Jem's passing and she cried for the second time in the series (which is pretty darn rare for a YA) I died. Then it turned out that Jem wasn't dead, just changed, which you would think would be a happy thing. It wasn't. Not really. All the characters, and myself, had to mourn the Jem he used to be and it kind of sucked. Tess ends up agreeing to marry Will (happily, I might add) with Jem's blessing, but she's immortal and outlives him. 

This is probably the worse summary ever, and I'm only talking about the love triangle. I love every character in this book and I loathe the villains to the point of love (that totally makes sense). 

Tess' story (from beginning to end) is rather tragic and messy, but it is so worth it for all of the happy moments. I feel like I know her and all the people in her life intimately and I weep for all of them. Only one other author was able to move me to such a degree and I am certain that this is a story I will never never fully heal from. And it was so worth it. 

 I can't seem to recall who actually said this

now onto the other review:

Lover at Last by J.R. Ward

Let me begin by saying that I have not finished this book- I am only a third of the way through and I believe that this is as far as I am going to go. This is book 11 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and yes, this one is all about vampires. It is also considered erotica (though I wouldn't classify it as that, but it is a bit racier than your standard romance.) This book as been four books in the making and is a boy-on-boy novel and I have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival. But I am incredibly frustrated by it. My biggest complaint for this series is the villains. The main baddy is called The Omega. Yeah. That's it. The Omega is a black blob of gooeyness who corrupts people by putting his goo in them and turing them into vampires that smell like baby powder. It makes me miss the days when vampires sparkled. The Omega has a right hand man (who changes because they keep dying) and Ward seems to enjoy spending a ridiculous amount of time on them- what they're doing, what they're feeling (or not in the case of erections) and she has pretty much taken the surprise out of their actions. I don't care about them and I don't want to read about them. Alongside the lessers (baby smelling vampires) are The Bastards- another group of warrior vampires who kill the lessers and loathe the Black Daggers. I like one of them, but could really care less about them as a whole.

So, the problem with this book? It was meant to be a novella. I think she intended to be a shorter story (even with all the build up) because she wasn't quite comfortable with writing a m/m story and/or was sure her audience would like it. I happen to really enjoy m/m novels so I was thrilled to learn that she had decided to turn the novella into a full-lenght novel and a ~600 page one at that. But she didn't turn a Qhuinn/Blay novella into a novel. She took a Qhuinn/Blay novella and inserted stupid side stories about the goddamned villains, turning it into a 600 page collection of short stories. Not really, but that's what it feels like. And I have hated every moment of it. I wish she would have just published the novella. So I quit. I rarely give up on a book, but I just cannot proceed. I prefer to have the happy, functional, and super kinky Qhuinn/Blay love story that exists in my head rather than have their creator ruin it. Also- her name spelling is just plain fucked up. I'm sorry, but get over your god-forsaken obbsession with adding the letter "h" into every freakin' word! Just give them normal names! Fhury, Zhadist, Tohrment, and Qhuinn just makes you look stupid.

I am so disappointed right now.

So there you have it. My past three days in a nutshell.

On an unrelated note, I start my new job on Monday.

Operation GOSS

Warning: This is going to be long.

Before launching into GOSS (get organized, stop spending) here's an update:

I "won" NaNo- hit 52k words (give or take) but the novel itself is not exactly finished. There is still the editing and such to do. But a goal accomplished is still satisfying.

Christmas came and went. So did Thanksgiving. So did New Years. They were all nice, but not fully appreciated as I was in the throes of NaNo and then a three-month long panic attack over having to grow up. Christmas craftiness: 2 paintings, 2 quilled monograms, 2 scarves, and 1 giant stuffed penguin. Pictures will be posted on those some day.

The hubs is now the SAHD.

After what felt like hundreds of applications, and fewer interviews, I finally got hired. Its not a dream job, but since I don't really know how to become a person who thinks up names for nail polish colors, it's not a horrible job either. And, lets face it, I am super happy to just have a job. The job: taking calls for Starbucks. Because people actually call that 1-800 number. The problem: they keep pushing back my start date and I've been looking forward to starting work. Weird, right?

I opened an etsy shop. There's nothing in it right now since I'm still trying to make more things to sell in it (and procrastinating like a crazy person) but one day I will sell paintings and quilled artwork.


So what is GOSS? I told you already. Why GOSS? Because everything I do needs some catchy name that I then turn into an anagram. I'm just that cool.

Our biggest spending area (outside of cars and the house) is groceries. The biggest problem is impulse buying and since we used to go to the grocery store every other day, that added up really quickly. So to eliminate the chance of impulse buying, I decided to try something different. Here's what we're doing now:

I went to this this site, liked what I saw, then sat down and came up with a dinner menu for the month of March. I don't have every day assigned a meal, some just have "leftovers" written in since we always have leftovers.

Our calendar. Originally purchased to write down appointments and book releases (March is going to be a fantastic reading month for me!) Dinner is on the bottom line.

Then I put together a grocery list for the entire month. It was hard and I'm not sure exactly how we're going to keep all of the veggies fresh until they are needed (still working on that.)

One side of "The List." 

My guess is that we will have to go to the store one more time since we don't have our chest freezer up and running yet and can't store milk the way the woman suggests until we do.  Also, you get a lot of funny looks at the store when your shopping cart is overflowing. I almost wanted to yell that that's not the reason why I'm fat.

The vehicle after shopping. Thank God I cleaned my trunk out last week!

I tend to keep a well stocked pantry, but I had to restock this month since we apparently run out of a bunch of spices, cooking wine, and various cooking oils all at once. I've had a few people ask how I keep a stocked pantry and the simple (and perhaps snooty) answer is that we cook at home more than we eat out, which means I need a stocked pantry. I almost always buy more of something when I run low; I know what we need and use so I keep those stocked at all times. Since I know that's not a helpful answer, this list contains what we keep on us at all times and then some.

Finally, I've been making my own bread for a few months now. I have yet to find a sandwich bread recipe that I love, so I've been using my french loaf recipe instead.

I also do my own canning. It's an expensive hobby at first, but saves money in the long run, especially since we're planning to start our own garden this year.

They're growing! Well, the onions and garlic are. Not so much the basil plant. And yes, I started some veggies indoors. In my craft room.

We also make our own broths. Right now we only have beef broth, but once that stupid turkey taking up a huge amount of space in my fridge thaws, we'll make broth out of that (in leu of chicken.) I just picked up a pressure canner (insert huge squee here) so I will start to can broth, tomato sauce, and veggies! Yay!

 So that's the haps. Sorry if this was uninteresting for you. I'm super excited about it.

I'm also more than happy to share recipes and cookbook recommendations if peoples want them.

NaNoWriMo

I think I may have been hit with the crazy stick recently, for I have decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month. Yup. 50,000 words in one month. 

Do I think I can do it? No idea, but I look forward to trying. 

I've spent the last month doing tons of "research" for a novel idea that I've been kicking around for a while, and since NaNoWriMo is just a week away, I decided to go for it. Even if I don't win, I think it will be a great experience and maybe, just maybe, prove to be something that I want to do full-time (or as full-time as it gets when you're a mom, wife, and bread-winner.) 

So everyone, wish me luck, and if you don't hear from me next month, chances are I'm only mostly dead. 

Ch-Ch-Changes

This year has not been my favorite. It's had some pretty awesome moments, but lately, things have kind of sucked. I really try not to share depressing thoughts, but I have been absent from the blogging world for a while, so I might as well write down why.

We thought N was going to get laid-off and though the thought terrified me beyond belief, N was delighted and planned on spending the next year or so living off his expected severance and some of the 401K (and go to school full time.) When it turned out that he was not going to be laid off, the plan didn't change. I don't really know what happened or how or why, but he is now set to resign at the end of the year. I am now in the throes of job hunting since it now falls to me to provide for my family. There is a large part of me that very much wants to provide this opportunity since he has spent the last 9 years hating his job and making those around him miserable because of it. He wants his degree and since he allowed me to get mine, he should be allowed to get his. That being said, there is still a part of me that is bitter with the thought of giving up my dream job and security. Even with a degree, there is no way I can get a job that will pay half of what he is making. Which means that I have to take our budget to a whole new level and pray that it is enough. See, bitter. And worried. Sick with worry.


 If that isn't bad enough, last week my grandmother died. It was a very peaceful passing and even though it was kind of sudden, it was a relief that she passed painlessly. The funeral was a fiasco. The feud that has ensued during the past 7 or so years finally came to a head in the most inappropriate and shameful manner. I am so ashamed of people I have blood ties to and I thank God every day that I no longer have any reason to be in contact with any of them. Which is also depressing since we didn't just lose a grandmother, we lost an entire family.


In happier news, my marriage has actually gotten stronger with N finally being able to leave the evil place. It's super scary, but worth it to see the change in him. Hopefully I will find a decent paying job soon.... one with benefits at least half as good as what we have now. Plus, I will get a house-husband. No more cleaning, cooking, organizing, etc. for me! Except for laundry. I don't trust him with the laundry. Not that I mind doing all that stuff, but it will make leaving L everyday a little easier knowing that I can come home and just play with him without worrying about chores. Also, I've been reading a ton of romance novels lately. It's so sad, I know, but I'm addicted. And N definitely seems pleased with me doing so since his sex life has dramatically improved since. Perhaps I will do a book review post (one with very brief summaries... I may be comfortable telling the world that I read these books, but I'm not comfortable discussing the details.) On that note, I did read The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. It's a love story set in and around blockaded Leningrad (WWII). Simons has an amazing gift and, I kid you not, this story will break your heart and rip apart your soul. It's part of a series and the happy ending isn't reached until the final book, but it is so worth it. And I may be in love with Alexander. Thinking about it both warms my heart and makes me cry a little. Everyone needs to read it.

Also happy: my monster is amazing. He is still a giant ball of energy, and I admit that there are some days that I just can't keep up with him. Seriously, he never stops and is so curious about everything. He also loves airplanes, which pleases my dad to no end. Every time he sees one he yells "Plane!" then immediately imitates a plane (arms out, making vroom noises, and spinning in circles.) When it is no longer in sight, he looks up and says "Where'd it go? All gone. Bye-bye!" It melts my heart every time. Grandpa is planning to take him to view the planes as they take off while he is in town and I can't wait to see L's reaction when he see's them up close!

So there you have it. My life in a nutshell. Or part of it. Now I'm off to read another sleezy romance called The Great Scot. I kid you not. I will post some pictures of the monster's cuteness once I find my SD card.

Super Amazing Pasta Salad!

I'm back!!! (But only briefly.) I'm not sure if I've shared this before or not, but I make amazing pasta salad. The best part: it's super easy and only has 5 ingredients.

Pasta Salad

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

1/2 bag pasta (I used veggie rotini in the picture but anything works)

8 oz cherry/grape tomatoes, halved

Ken's Northern Italian salad dressing

parmesan cheese

Poach/bake/grill the chicken (I usually poach it but it works well any way). Cook the pasta as per its instructions. (Rise the pasta with a little bit of cold water if you're planning on eating it right away.) Combine chicken, pasta, and tomatoes in a medium size bowl. 

Pour in enough dressing to coat the salad (this varies each time and I never measure).

Sprinkle in some parmesan cheese and mix! 

Also good with some asparagus spears, but I didn't have any. Also good without meat (especially if you have asparagus.) 

MIA warning

Hello all,

I'm going to be MIA for a while. I know that's nothing new, but since it is planned this time, I figured I would give my avid readers a head's up. And by avid, I must mean my imaginary readers.

I am currently in a horrible bought of depression brought on by going off my anti-depressants (who'd have guessed?), quitting smoking, and pretty much life in general. I'm trying not to wallow in it, and I'm getting better, but it's going to take some time.

I hope that I will return to "normal" soon. I have updates, recipes, and book reviews to share, but I just can't seem to bring myself to actually write them down.

Anyway, I'm out. I hope everyone enjoys their summer on my behalf!

TNSE: Finale

I forgot to post an update about the natural shampoo experiment in my last post! Oh the shame!

I quit.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but I could not get the ratios right. I figured that after 5 weeks of either having dull or oily hair, it was time to find a different solution. So I'm now using an organic shampoo that I got at our local grocery store. It's called Organix (in Teatree Mint) and I found it at Albertsons. I love it. I know that I say that about everything, but I really do! I tried going back to our regular Garnier shampoo, but it made my hair extra poofy and it made my scalp itch like crazy. Even after the salon visit (for a hair cut and then again to get it colored- curse you gray hair!) my hair didn't feel super soft and clean like it used to. It felt pretty dry and, again, it made my scalp itchy. The homemade shampoo may have been more difficult that I planned, but the benefits of it are amazing! I don't have fly-aways like I used to (minus the evil gray hairs that defy gravity no matter what I do), my hair is always soft and shiny, and any dandruff/itch issues I had before are gone, especially since I started using the organix. I read somewhere that teatree oil is good for your scalp, so I'm not sure if it is this specific shampoo that has caused this change or just the organic stuff in general. Either way, I'm hooked. And I highly recommend this to everyone. Oh yeah, and since this shampoo doesn't have all the crap that regular ones do, its perfectly safe on colored hair. I just had red highlights put in and none of it came out during my last shower! Amazing!

food, books, and resolutions.

Once again I have neglected the blogs. With classes, the decision to do a home-made Christmas, and a mini-vacation, I have been incredibly busy. And, lets face it, more than a little lazy. I started this post forever ago, but never got a chance to finish it until now.

Ok, thats a lie, but it's the thought that counts. Or something.

I'm going to try to be brief here, but since there's some catching up to do, that may not be possible. So let the dumping begin:

Food:
I've been cooking a lot more lately. We stayed with Nick's grandmother while in Milwaukee, and that lady can cook. A lot. A small snack generally meant that the table was covered in many goodies, and desert involved a choice between three cakes. We ate so much while at her house (there is no refusing grandma!) and once we got home, it seemed almost wrong to just grab whatever from some blah restaurant when  deliciousness could be created at home. And Janet gave me a few of her recipes.

No, I will not be sharing them. At least not until I can get her approval to do so.

I will share my chicken fingers recipe that I thought I was a genius in creating, and after having done so, I realized it was very similar to the one on the Bisquick box. So I'm not a genius. I didn't get an pictures taken because we gobbled them all up, but I'm sure you can imagine what they looked like. (Just imagine something really yummy.... and by something, I mean chicken fingers, because imagining cupcakes would just be wrong in this scenario.)

 Chicken Fingers of Ultimate Deliciousness
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced to resemble fingers (1/2 inch strips)
- 2/3 c. bisquick
- 1/2 c. parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp butter, melted

Heat over to 450. Grease cookie sheet (Misto or pam it). Add bisquick, cheese, salt, and paprika in a gallon ziplock bag. Dip the chicken in butter, put into baggie, shake, and then place onto sheet. (Do this in batches. The bag can't hold all of the chicken at once, I tried.) Bake for about 14 minutes, flipping the strips at the 7 minute mark.


Books:
I've sort of been on a reading kick these last couple of weeks since I didn't have much time to read before Christmas and school starts up tomorrow. I didn't get in as many books as I hoped to, but I think I did pretty well. It also helped that I read mostly YA, so it was easy to tear through them.

Everlasting by Alyson Noel
So I finally finished the last book of this series, and I'm pretty satisfied with how it ended. Or at least I think I am. I can't really remember how it ended, not that the series isn't memorable or anything, I read it while we were traveling (which means I read it on very little sleep.) This isn't the best YA series I've ever read, but I did enjoy reading it. The thing that bothers me about a lot of YA series is that the couple can't ever just be together, there's always something that keeps them apart. I understand that this keeps things interesting, but it can only go on for so long before it becomes annoying. This series was based on that very thing. In the last three (?) books or so, the main couple weren't able to physically touch each other, which was a different spin on the whole "they can never be together" theme, but it ended up becoming kind of preachy. It made it feel like a forced chastity belt, and that annoys me. I get it, you don't want to encourage teens to have sex, and maybe I should stick to reading adult novels if I want there to be sex, but it seems unrealistic to me. Anyway, I didn't like the series as a whole and I recommend it, but I won't be reading it again. And it's still better than Twilight. Or at least mostly better.

"The Infernal Devices" and "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare
Ok, so I actually started reading the "Immortal" series (Noel's series) because I actually wanted to read The Mortal Instruments, but couldn't actually remember what it was called and looked up "Immortal" instead of "mortal" and Noel's series seemed interesting so I read it. That was a terrible sentence, and I'm sorry, but that's the best I can come up with. Anywho...
"Infernal Devices" was published after MI, but is actually the prequel, so I started with that one. The two books that are out right now- Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince- are awesome. The female lead reminds me a little of Arabella, from The Female Quixote, and I instantly fell in love with her. This series is set in Victorian England, and oh how I love it! Here's a synopsis. Unfortunately the third book doesn't come out until the end of this year, so you may want to read MI first.
"The Mortal Instruments" is set in modern-day New York (and fantasy places). The characters are a little younger and so you get a little more of that teenage angst in these books, but not so much so that it makes you want vomit and burn your eyeballs (or perhaps teenage angst only has that affect on me)- or perhaps ID seems a little more mature because of the period it's set in and has nothing to do with the age of the characters? Either way, I love this series. The characters are well developed (albeit a little predictable) and I was hooked from the moment I opened the first book. I mean, any book that features a sticker that says "Otaku Wench" on the backpack on the main gal, is definitely on the awesome list! That being said, the ending to the third book was so good (for me) that I am hesitant to pick up the fourth one. I like happy/complete endings (yeah, I'm sappy that way) and I'm not ready for that to go away.
I can't decide if I like Jace (man guy from MI) or Will (ID) better, but I do like ID a little more than MI- which I'm sure is not the case of most people. I hate to keep comparing everything to Twilight, but the more YA series I read, the more I realize how bad it was. This series is so good, that it ranks up there with The Hunger Games. Yeah, it's that good. And one of the best things about it is that the whole not-having-sex thing wasn't really an issue. They didn't have sex, but not because of some crazy notion of chivalry or curses. Ok, kind of, but it was much better that anything I've read so far!
Sorry if this makes no sense, I'm starting to get really sleepy and the husband is playing some music that has caused my brain to stop working.

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
I was so excited to read this book, and so glad I didn't have to wait 6 years for it to come out like so many of Martin's loyal fans. That being said, it sucked. Martin is a great writer (by my standards) and I have loved this series. He is able to create characters that I either love or love to hate, and he has a real knack for killing them off at the most unexpected times (something that I believe makes a great series truly epic) and I loved him for it. This book was like one of those annoying filler episodes in anime- there was no real point to it. He introduced one new character who I think may play a bigger role in a future book(s), but other than that, there was no real development. The husband found this review (which is the first normal person review, if you scroll down on the page) and it explains exactly how I feel about this book, only in a much more eloquent and clever way. There are some spoilers in it, but I think it's better that you read them than actually read the book. Seriously. Will I read the next book? You bet your behind I will! I just hope he doesn't disappoint.

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher
I love the Dresden Files. Butcher is awesome, Dresden is awesome, Bob is freakin' awesome! That being said, this book wasn't as funny as his other ones, and I really don't like that Bob belongs to Butters in it (which isn't really a spoiler). I hope the next one is a little better.


Resolutions:
Its that time of year again. Yay.
This year, I want to be furiously happy. And get pregnant again. This means that I have to start taking better care of myself, both physically and mentally. I have to get back on my metformin and I need to get off of the anti-depressants. So here's the plan (not exactly a resolution, but I'm OK with that):
-Exercise daily
-Take metformin, which means cut out bad food (anything fried/greasy and super fatty)
- Cut out high fructose corn syrup
- Eat more veggies
- Get back on prenatals (because the sooner its in your body, the better)
- Get IUD removed (tmi? oh well!)
- Train for half marathon.................. yeah, you read that right. Nick and I don't plan on trying to conceive until June or so and, lets face it, if it's anything like the last time, it will take a while. I think that I will probably do Duke City (in Oct.) but I am seriously considering doing the Rock one in Vegas (Dec) instead (I can't remember what its called.) I always thought that running for hours was crazy, but I honestly think that I need to do something crazy if I'm ever going to change. What do I want to change, you ask? My lack of motivation. I am so lazy, so unmotivated, in almost everything that I do. And I hate myself for it. I think that the husband, though he will never actually say it, resents me for it. I can't be like this anymore, not if I want to be a good wife and a good mother. I can't. So something crazy it is. I really think that after finding the courage to do something so outside my comfort zone, will help me in my day-to-day activities. And the exercise will do wonders for my mental health. And if I happen to get pregnant before I actually compete, that's OK. At least I will know that I can do and, hopefully, I will be motivated to get back out there after that baby is born!


Well, there you have it. I'm off to bed now, I have to get up early tomorrow morning. And I'm going to be happy about it!

TNSE: Week 1

I have been using the homemade/natural shampoo for a week now. I don't love it yet, but it's not as bad as I feared.
After the first wash- hello, dandruff. It wasn't horrible, but it was definitely noticeable (thanks, hunny.) So before the second shampoo, I took a comb and massaged my scalp with it until I felt I got most of the flakes up. It was yucky.

Second wash- I started to notice that my hair was feeling a little dry, not bad, but not as soft as I prefer. The lavender smell is awesome. The scent stays in my hair for days. Still had dandruff issues, so I did the comb thing again.

Third wash- used a lot more of the vinegar-water mixture to see if it will soften things up a bit. It didn't, but it hasn't gotten any worse. The dandruff was much better. I ended up putting some bio-silk in my hair since I was going to curl it, but I'm hoping to not have to do that forever. My hair holds curls better.

Fourth wash- I need to refill the bottle, so I decided to add a little more oil than the recipe calls for, but I didn't actually measure it. Big mistake. My hair is now oily, but since the oil is good for my hair, I'm going to leave it in for a couple of days. (The shampoo can be fixed by adding more soap and water.) I also didn't do the comb thing before washing today, and the dandruff is back. I think that I am going to have to do the baking soda scrub to take care of this problem. But I'm going to go another week before I resort to that.

Thoughts so far: I like it. The dandruff is annoying, but it could be a lot worse. Once I get the recipe exactly how I need it, I will be much happier. My hair isn't as shiny as I would like it, but a little bit of beer in the shower will fix that.
I'm hoping to post some pictures for you in the next couple of days... once I have washed the oil out.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday my little family and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time. Thankfully, we didn't have to cook everything, so we were able to actually enjoy our Thanksgiving. I think the key to hosting is not getting too stressed out. I thought that I would be a nervous/pessimist wreck yesterday, but never once did I think things were going to go badly. Maybe that's because Nick was in charge of the turkey, not me. But it still helped to be positive. 

Here's what we had:

Gordo the 30lb Turkey (I kid you not, he was really 30 pounds) with a mixed fruit and walnut stuffing

Honey baked ham

Normal Stove-Top stuffing

Butternut squash and parmesan bread pudding

Mashed potatoes

Green bean casserole

Stuffed mushrooms

Sweet potato and apple gratin 

Red chile

Homemade gravy 

Crescent rolls

Pumpkin pie

Mince meat pie

Rocky-road cake (because we believe chocolate should be featured on Thanksgiving)

Yeah, it was a delicious day. I have to say, though, my favorite dish was the bread pudding. It was a pinterest find, and I had never made it before yesterday, but it was awesome. Want the recipe? You can find it here. I cooked it in a crock pot, so I'm not sure how similar it is to the original recipe. Either way, it was amazingness. 

So, in the spirit of the holiday that was yesterday, I am so thankful for my family. I love each and every one of them and I don't know where I would be today without them. I am soooo thankful for my husband, especially since he woke up at 5 yesterday, but let me sleep in. And of course, I'm thankful for my little monster. He may drive me crazy, but he is the best part of my life. 

I hope everyone had as nice of a Thanksgiving as I did. 

The Natural Shampoo Experiment

As most of you know, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest. A lot of time. There are a ton of "natural/homemade" versions of everyday products on there, and since I am a BIG fan of saving money, I've been spending most of that pinning time looking at all of these natural recipes.
Then I found this. I have to admit that I was really tempted by the whole no shampoo thing- it's easy, it's cheap, and it's supposed to work.

Why are all these people not using shampoo, you ask?

Well, according to Simple Mom, the stuff in shampoo is bad. Not evil-bad, but not really good- bad. You know that oiliness you get after a day or two after washing? It's natural. And good. And the reason it drives us all crazy is that there is a lot of it. Apparently that oil is good for your hair and shampoo's (and conditioners) form a sort of protective layer over your scalp, preventing the oil from being released. So once that layer has started to come off, your scalp dumps a ton of oil to make up for what it thinks your hair is missing. Or something like that.
Going natural (in Simple Mom's case- just using some baking soda once a week) is supposed to fix that, resulting in nice hair without having to actually 'wash" it often.

I have no idea how accurate that information is, but she has been doing it for over two years now and swears that her hair is better than it was before. That I like. But there is a major ick factor for me, so I decided to go a different route. Why did I tell you about the no-shampoo thing if I wasn't planning on doing it? Because the whole oil thing can still be taken care of in a less icky way- by going "natural."

So here's my recipe:
1/4 cup castile soap ( I am a big fan of Dr. Bronner's, especially the lavender one, which is the one I used- you can find it in health food stores like Sunflower and Whole Foods)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. sunflower oil (supposed to be carried in major grocery stores, but the only place I could find it was Sunflower...go figure.)

I just poured it into an empty shampoo bottle and used a few "handfuls"- it's watery, so it's easier to just pour some on your head.

I finished it up with a few squirts of a mixture of half apple-cider vinegar and water. (It smells terrible, but the smell goes away once you rinse.)

My thoughts: the shampoo feels strange. I'm used to the creaminess of regular shampoos, so putting what is essentially soap on my hair is weird. But it smells great! The vinegar, as previously stated, smells awful. But, it actually feels just like conditioner and detangles immediately.

So there is supposed to be an "adjustment" period- where your scalp is supposed to get used to being able to release oil without a barrier. Which means a few weeks of oily hair. I think. I'm not looking forward to that, but maybe it will be worth it in the end. Hopefully I will stick with it long enough to find out. And if , for some reason, this shampoo doesn't work for me, I will probably invest in this line. It's expensive, but amazing.


Oh and if you're wondering, the creepy neighbor is avoiding me now. I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. And I'm pretty OK with it.

hello, beautiful

I got a new toy the other night, and I loves it (so far).

It's a Brother CS-770 computerized sewing machine. And it's super fancy shmancy. In fact, it's fancier than I need, but the price was great and it works (something my rinky-dinky Shark stopped doing, hence the new one.) I've been working on my costume for Decemberween (a themed Halloween party in December). This year's theme is Tim Burton and I'm dressing up as the Oogie-Boogie man from The Nightmare Before Christmas. (The hubs is going as Danny Devito's character Amos Calloway from Big Fish.) Between Decemberween and all the Christmas gifts/decorations I will be making, this little machine definitely has its work cut out for it. And me. Hopefully we make it through the next two months in one piece. Now all I need is to finally set up my desk in the office/craft room/guest room so we can use our entire kitchen table.

Also, if you look in the background, you can get a peek at the painting I'm wrapping up today.

And ten points to whoever can guess which movie we were watching. Hint: "oh my giant blue head!"

The duck is actually my measuring tape. The monster likes to make it "swim" around the mat.

I've been featured!

Yeah, that's right. I, Aliza "Von Burglarstein" T., have been featured on another blog! I meant to add this yesterday, but got a little caught up in birthday extravaganza. Which I'm kind of ok with.

My friend is the Hot Pink Mama and for the second year in a row, she has done a little something called "Soup Week" over on her blog. It is seriously my favorite week of the year. I love soup and Audrey shares this love- perhaps that's why she and I get along so well. Her recipes are amazing and have given me the opportunity to make soups that I have either never tasted and/or never made. So you can imagine how honored I was when she asked me to share one of mine. Hopefully someone out there will actually try it. Either way, I get bragging rights for the next year, and we all know how much I love to brag!

Wreathed!

I decided that as a birthday gift to myself, I would make a fall wreath. Exciting, right?! I wasn't really planning on blogging about it, so there aren't step-by-step pictures, but it was really easy to do, so with a little creativity, anyone can come up with their own. 

I've been gathering things for a wreath of some sort for weeks now, and now that Halloween is over, I figured that it was time to switch out the wreaths (you know, because I'm one of those people who have the creepy crawlies from AHE still hanging about when Christmas arrives- motivation is a very powerful thing.) 

Here's what I used:

A grapevine wreath 

A fall garland (mine had leaves, mini pumpkins, and some weird flower thing)

A large silk flower

Yarn

A wood letter

White acrylic paint

sandpaper

hot glue gun

The result:

All I did was clip off some leaves, pumpkins, and flowers from the garland and cut the stem off the silk flower. Then I layered them onto the wreath and glued like crazy. I painted the letter white and used some sandpaper to roughen it up. Then I glued that into the center and bam! wreath complete! I used the yarn to wrap around my Halloween wreath hanger. I think it took a total of 45 minutes to do- half of which was spent wrapping the hanger and looking for more hot glue stickies. 

The flower kind of gets lost in the leaves in these pictures, but not so much in real life. I like the uniformity of it. 

Here are some additional views, because for some reason I felt they were necessary.

The Creepy Neighbor.

I know that everyone has a strange neighbor of some sort, I mean my poor sister has one that likes to blast porn at strange hours of the day (awkward!) and I'm sure there are some who like to spy on you or throw trash in your yard or whatever. Mine is seriously starting to cross the line. 

We live next to an older couple who have older kids living with them and they seemed great when we first moved in- they came to introduce themselves immediately, say "hi" every time we see them, and they love L. L loves them too and gets really excited every time he sees them. They will take our trash down to the street if we forget, water my dead plants since our house is currently out of commission (thanks, Artemis), and are generally very good people. The wife has a firery personality and will get into anyone's face if they do something that bugs her (which is quite frightening, and she's only 4'10.") However, it's the husband that is making my skin crawl.

He comes out every so often to chat with Nick and me (if we're outside,) but most of the time its when I'm the only one home. I didn't think anything of it since Nick is gone until late due to school and work, but I've noticed that the neighbor takes off right after Nick does get home. Once he said something (and I can't remember his exact words) about him being my boyfriend and he's always saying stuff like "we better not get caught or people will talk." I thought it was strange, but I figured that maybe he was being silly or something. We had never talked for longer than ten minutes and I know that I have never said anything to give him the idea that I was interested in him in any way. Then he kissed my cheek and I avoided him for a month.Things seemed to be back to "normal" friendly neighborliness, until last night:

CN: One day we'll have fun

Me: what?

CN: you know, without the wife or husband barging in

me: what? (I had been studying for twelve hours at this point and I know my brain wasn't functioning correctly. He couldn't possibly mean what I think he does.)

CN: I'm down. You're down?

Me: uh that depends on what you mean by "fun."

CN: whatever you want it to mean. 

Then he walked away before I could say anything else or possibly burn myself with a lighter to make sure I hadn't fallen asleep while studying and was having a nightmare. Even if I didn't love my husband beyond reason, CN is the same age as my dad and not my type in any way. He's pretty yucky. Seriously, I have no idea what to do. I don't want to go over to his house to tell him that his behavior is wildly inappropriate for fear of his wife, and I definitely don't want to invite him to mine. Clearly this guy has invented some sort of attraction between the two of us and I seriously don't know how to handle it. I'm afraid to go outside and have been running to the car with L in hopes of avoiding him all together. Nick knows all of this and has from the beginning. He says I just have to tell him straight out that his advances are not ok, and I agree with Nick. I'm just a chicken. And sleep deprived at the moment. 

What would you do in this situation, besides move, because I really do love my house? Is it time to "man"-up and face him or just keep avoiding him until he gets the message? 

Aging

Believe it or not, I'm not going to moan about getting older in the post.

The other day I attempted a new project. My mother-in-law's dog happened to get ahold of the sheet music for one of my all-time favorite classical pieces (but will most likely never be able to play) and ate most of it. I decided a while back that I wanted to take a page from it and hang it above the piano, but once I tore out one of the few intact pages, I noticed that it was super white (which is to be expected since I bought it a few years ago). So I decided to make it appear to be aged. Here's how I did it: (original directions from this site)

First I brewed some tea. I used a darjeeling since I have a ton of it (and I wanted to drink some it.) It is supposed to be cold so I let it get to room temperature and then stuck it in the fridge for a couple of hours (meanwhile I made Halloween cards.)

After pre-heating the oven to 200*, I put the music on a cookie sheet and poured a little tea on it. Both sides need to wet, but it takes a lot less tea than you would expect (or maybe it was just me.) I used my hand to make sure all of it was covered. Supposedly you can just rub the edges between your fingers to make them look worn, but that didn't work so well for me. And it didn't really matter, so I gave up pretty quickly. You can make darker spots by sprinkling some instant coffee on it, but since I don't believe in instant coffee, that wasn't an option for me.

Next: Stick it in the oven! The directions said that it should bake for about 6 minutes until dry, but it took 30 for me. Lame. Once it did dried I used a fork to get it off the cookie sheet.

Lastly, I stuck it in a frame and it now resides on top of the piano (I'll hang it eventually.)

Pretty easy and it looks pretty cool.

Curtain

I feel kind of lame for "bragging" about this, but I promised a picture. Here's our new shower curtain:

Note: There is a clear liner on the inside.

Home.

We've been living in our new house for almost six months now, but it still doesn't quite feel like it's home yet. Apart from the master bedroom, we haven't painted upstairs at all, there are a ton of pictures that still need hanging, the office/guest room still needs to be unpacked, the backyard is a barren wasteland, and the carpet, bathroom, and cheap blinds still have many visible signs of the messy people who lived here before us. Slowly I have been conquering little projects, but there is just a ton of work to do. And not nearly enough money to accomplish it all any time soon. And I procrastinate.

So last night I finally sat down and did some work. I made a shower curtain for the master bathroom. Nothing horribly exciting, but I think it's pretty cool. It was made from a couple different sheer off-white window curtains and a white towel. I'm going for a neutral/warm color scheme, so pretty much everything has been white or cream colored. Nick doesn't seem super thrilled about the color scheme, but since he's not doing any of the work, he has allowed me to take full creative control over it. Go me. I will take a picture of it eventually. It's not super fancy, but it's unique and I like that.

I'm hoping that this weekend I can drag Nick with me to Jo-Ann's/Hancock/Hobby Lobby to help pick out fabric for the next major project: roman blinds for every room in the house. As much as I love having all this control, I want him to be happy with what I pick out. Hopefully it won't be too painful for all of us.

Here's my ever-growing "To Do" list for the house (don't ask me when any of this will actually get done):

• Make roman shades for living room, library, kitchen, guest bedroom, music room, loft, and Logan's room (that's 10 all together)
• Make curtains for master bedroom 
• Make canopy for bed
• Paint mural in Logan's room
• Paint loft
• Paint bathrooms (after we pick out colors, of course)
• Make floating shelves
• Rip out the ugly bush in the front yard
• Plant bulbs where ugly bush currently is
• Remove the invincible plant/weed from backyard
• Treat the sand so we can plant in backyard next year
• Replace gutters
• Force Nick to finally make art desk for me
• Make ottomans for master bedroom
• Organize closets
• Create reading corner for Logan

I seriously love Pinterest- I have found a ton of ideas for DIY projects around the house. Hopefully I will get all of it done before next summer. We'll see. Right now I have a commissioned painting to work on. 

Until next time!

Kaiden

I was fortunate enough to get pregnant at the same time as one of my best friends, Theresa. Her son, Kaiden, was born one month before Logan and they are destined to become best buddies themselves (or at least Tree and I have convinced ourselves that they will.) Sadly (for me) her husband got an awesome job offer and they are now moving to Arizona. As sad as I am that they will be leaving, I am excited for their new little adventure. As a going-away present, I decided to do a  painting of their adorable son. Kaiden is very cute and super charismatic, so it was a lot of fun to do.

All of us wish the Nuckols the best of luck in their lives and we are going to miss them sooooo much!