Toy Story 3 ★★★

I thought the movie was okay. I've never been a big Toy Story fan. I hated the first one, but enjoyed the second one. It took me a little while to get into this one, but toward the end I really managed to sucked in. There's something about the villains in these movies that creep me out. Granted, one of them is cute and cuddly, but the other one would give me nightmares as a child. I really don't understand how children watch these without being freaked out by their toys.

The premise of the story is that Andy is all grown up and going away to college. His mother tells him to clean out his room and through a series of unfortunate events the toys end up going to daycare. They're happy with their new surroundings until they meet the children who are all way too young to play with their toys in the proper fashion. After taking quite a beating they must try and escape, but that's not so easy.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ★★★★★

I just finished watching the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I loved it. I found it to be very interesting despite the fact that I'm blind enough that I had to sit right in front of the TV to be able to read the subtitles. Also, whenever our Great Dane stood up we missed a few sentences. I suddenly feel bad for ignoring the book. I wish I would have picked it up a long time ago. Luckily, a book group that I'm in will be reading it during July and I'm sure that I will then consume the entire series. I look forward to the mysteries.

The premise of the story is that an old man has asked a reporter to look into a 40 year old murder case that no one seems to have been able to solve. The man suspects that the murderer is one of his family members and would like to see some resolution before his own death. The reporter begins to uncover a story that is bigger than expected with the help of an unlikely source - the girl with the dragon tattoo. The movie is not suitable for children, as some scenes were very difficult to watch.

The DVD will be released on Tuesday for those of you who would like to watch. However, if you want to see it in English you will have to wait. It is currently in pre-production mode and they are making casting decisions. Currently there are a lot of big names interested in obtaining roles in the film. I'm looking forward to it.

Computer Room

My computer room has been a mess since about a month after we moved into our home. It seems to be our dumping ground when we don't know where to put something. I've decided that I'm clearing out the room. Cleaning it hasn't helped so I'm going to move the whole room into the guest bedroom. It will force me to do a few things:
1) Get the wallpaper off the wall
2) Finally paint the room
3) Get all of the popcorn off the ceiling
4) Go through every single piece of paper I own and trash everything that is now useless
5) Hopefully find a home for everything
6) Force my husband to want to strangle me since the project will get started, but never finished =)


Wish me luck!

May 10 Book

I've kind of forgotten that I had a blog until recently. Sorry. It's not like any of you actually read this or anything posted here is important so I guess that's okay. =)
Anyway, out of all the books I've been reading recently, and there have been a lot... The only one that I've given 5 stars to since the Frost book has been:

Ilona Andrews' Magic Bleeds

It's the 4th book in a series and it's my favorite of the series as well. I fought reading this series. The covers are so tacky and I didn't expect much from them. The first book took a while to get interesting. The second one got better and so forth. With her newest book, I was excited, nervous, frustrated, happy... I enjoyed the emotional roller coaster. if you looking for entertainment then this is a good read.

Other recommendations:

The Body Finder - Kimberly Derting

I'm Tired

Why is it that when you get a few days off you become more tired than you were when you were working? Sleeping in is exhausting!

Time Traveler's Wife

I finally got to watch the Time Traveler's Wife. I spent more than 30 minutes crying during the movie. I've never cried like that during a movie before. Some tears, sure. Non-stop crying, not so much. I think part of the issue was that I knew what was going to happen so everything seemed even sadder than it would have if I didn't know where it was going.
Also, I'm at that age where you start thinking about planning a family. Having a miscarriage terrifies me. (Not that I'm trying to have a family just yet...) It's one of my biggest fears. I can only imagine how difficult it is to get over something like that. I think that's what started me crying even earlier than most people would have.
Now, I have to get ready for work. My eyes are all puffy and blood shot and I'm sure the headache will follow shortly. =) I knew I was torturing myself by watching it, but it's an amazing story.

January 10 Book

Jeaniene Frost's Halfway to the Grave

I overlooked this book for months because I thought it was going to be one of those cheesy romance novels that suck. Well, there is romance in it, but it was a great book. I'm glad that multiple people recommend it to me or I wouldn't have given it a chance.

This book is the first of a series of an action/horror/romance/comedy that features the best leading characters I've come across. Cat and Bones are great together. Their chemistry had me interested within the first 20 pages and it held my attention throughout the rest of the series. Cat is a half-human, half-vampire mix who has a deep hatred of vampires. She sets herself up as bait in order to kill them. Bones, a vampire bounty-hunter, manages to outsmart her-starting a whole new adventure for Cat.

Frost's creating a spin-off series that will debut this February. I can't wait.


Other Recommendations:

Moon Called (Mercedes Thompson, #1) - Patricia Briggs
Fade (Dream Catcher, #2) - Lisa McMann

New Year

I think if I keep my New Year's Resolutions directed toward reading I can actually accomplish them. I've given up on Resolutions to lose weight or do other things because I become disappointed quickly. Last year my resolution was to read 100 books. I read 268 new titles and reread 20 books for a total of 288 books. Part of me wants to try for a book a day this year, but I'm afraid that life will catch up to me and make that impossible.
This year I'll aim for 150 and to try and keep my house a little more organized. I've been trying with the second part, but having a husband to rely on makes that difficult. My idea of clean is a lot different than his idea. As long as I can keep things just a tiny bit more organized I think I'd be happy. I'd love to have it clean all the time, but I'm realistic enough to know that my house only ever stays clean for 2 or 3 days at a time.
Wish me luck!
Oh, and if you can convince my husband to clean I'll give you a cookie.

December 09 Book

Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush

I loved this story. It's beautiful inside and out. The cover caught my attention and good reviews convinced me to try to read the story. The main character, Nora, has two boys that are interested in her and someone is trying to kill her. She doesn't know who she should trust. Both of the boys have shady pasts and the more Nora discovers, the more uncertain she becomes. She knows that there's something unusual going on and she has to figure it out before her and her best friend gets hurt.
I enjoyed every second of it. There's some suspense, action, and a whole lot of flirting. It's a good YA novel, but I think adults will like it as well. I think kids could become more obsessive about this than Twilight if enough people try it. I'm anxiously awaiting book 2, Crescendo.


Other Recommendations:
Wake (Dream Catcher, #1) - Lisa McMann



For other books read this month go to My Reading Blog.

Scrooge

It's been a few years since I've gotten in the holiday mood and I've definately been a Scrooge these last few years. Last year I gave up the Christmas tree and lit a menorah instead (I'm not sure why). This year I did neither. Although, unlike the last few years, I actually managed to get my parents gifts. I should have spent the money on my husband, but it's okay. We had our now traditional Christmas day spaghetti and then I went in to work. I wish that we could travel home for Christmas, but there's just too many issues with flying this time of year. My husband misses the big meals and the relatives and I want him to be happy. Maybe we'll make it next year.
As for being Scrooge, I think it'll take me having a child to get over that so I have a few more years to be grouchy.

A Gift

I got a Kindle!!! I love to read from regular books. There's just something about not using electronics and wondering if your batteries will die before you get to plug it in again. However, I frequently end up finishing a book while I'm out running around and I don't have another one available to me for a few hours. During this time I go through withdrawals. I wish I were joking, but I'm that addicted to reading at the moment. My hands start shaking and I'm mentally very freaked out. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea for me to get a Kindle. I can instantly download a book if I happen to finish one. Plus, I can carry multiple books around with me. I'll still use the library and buy books from my favorite authors, but I should have fun with the kindle too.

What should I read first?

November 09 Book

Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study

I love Snyder and her characters. She is an intelligent author that writes fun stories. It's the first book in her Study series. All of the books were good, but this one was my favorite. I love the dynamics between Valek, Yelena, Ari, and Janco.

The story is about Yelena, a girl who has been charged with murder after killing the man who raped her. According to the laws of Ixia, she is to be executed despite the reasoning behind her murder. However, the law also states that if the royal food taster dies, the next in line to be executed is given the opportunity to choose to replace them. After taking the position, Yelena must learn how to tell if food has been poisoned. She begins to study under Valek, an assassin who purposely poisons her. She's constantly watching out for foods being poisoned, her rapists' father trying to have her killed, and trying to find ways to escape her fate.

Other recommendations:

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2) - Laurell K. Hamilton
Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5) - Laurell K. Hamilton
The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #6) - Laurell K. Hamilton
Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #17) - Laurell K. Hamilton
Fire Study (Study, #3) - Maria V. Snyder

November

This has been a wonderful month. I've been content with life. Sometimes I had great days, other times they were just normal days, but I'll take those days for as long as I can. I don't think I've had a month like this in a very long time. It makes me happy.

At the beginning of the month I had a wonderful time in Atlanta visiting a friend and getting to see P.C. and Kristen Cast on tour. Of course I took photos and then misplaced my camera once again. I saw it the other day and thought, " Hmm... I should really take that into the computer room and upload those," and then didn't. I knew that I would forget where I had seen it so I can only blame myself for it being homeless at the moment. =) I'll upload them when I can.

In the middle of the month, New Moon came out and minus a few cheesy moments it made me happy. (I've hidden my obsession from all but my closest friends. Yes, I know, the teasing will begin now.)

And recently, I managed to get an entire week off from teaching. I spent it all sleeping till 1pm and reading Anita Blake novels. There's something relaxing about being able to sleep in.

Throughout the month I've worked on making a better effort to stay in touch with friends. I've made a pact with 3 different friends that we'd try and text one another at least once a week. That way we'll have talked twice a week as opposed to once every few months. It's nice to have people I care about back in my life.

October 09 Book

I have a list of all the books I read each month listed on my reading blog, but I've decided that I should start choosing a "book of the month" so to speak. Something that I've found really interesting, was well written, or was just really entertaining and helped me de-stress a little bit.

This month I've chosen:

Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife.

It was a beautiful story that was very well written. It's about a man who can travel through time (although, he mostly only visits the past). As an adult he travels back to meet his future wife when she's a child. They get to know one another in a very well organized and wonderful story. Time skips around - seeing how he's a time traveler - but it all comes together in the end. I'm impressed that this is Niffenegger's first book. It made me laugh and cry more than once. I think that this book would appeal to almost everyone. I hope the movie is done as well as the book.

It took me some time to pick this one up, but thanks to Mo, I gave it a shot. Thank you for the recommendation!


Other recommendations:

Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld, #10) - Kelley Armstrong
Tempted (House of Night #6) - P.C. Cast
Evernight (Evernight, #1) - Claudia Gray
Beauty (A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast) - Robin McKinley
Evermore (The Immortals, #1) - Alyson Noel

Tomorrow

Yeah! P.C. Cast's new House of Night novel is out tomorrow. Go buy it people! I'm going to go visit her while she's on tour. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Alone

I spent this week completely alone. My husband had a work trip and I got to have the house for myself for the first time since we have been married. I use to love living alone and I was able to take care of myself (cook, clean, fix things), but since I've lived with my husband things have changed. If something needs to be fixed I call for him, if I'm hungry he's always kind enough to cook, he goes to the grocery store and takes care of any errands. I still clean, but not as much as I did when I was by myself. The second he left, I immediately reverted back to my old self. I tried recipes, I made sure all of the animals were taken care of and spent extra time with them, and even ran errands. I work two jobs so I'm always burnt out and I don't want to deal with all of the basics most days; however, I made time for it the minute it became imperative. It's nice to know that I can juggle my schedule and get by if I really needed to. Hopefully, I'll keep this up and won't put as much off on my hubby. It's kind of easy to do when you work fifteen (or more) hour days. However, my new work schedule gives me more than one night off a week so I can actually start helping out. Maybe we'll find a routine that works out better for us now...

Stray

I found a stray dog in front of my home today and I walked it all over the neighborhood trying to find its home, but I couldn't. I thought about leaving it and let it wander home (since it can't get home from my backyard), but it got dark and the dog almost got hit by a car. Also, if she didn't wander home after a few hours she might not go home. Of course, she's now in my backyard. She's a beautiful, kind collie mix that's very well behaved and I'm trying desperately not to fall in love with her. Tomorrow I have to call the pound and see if anyone reported her missing. I don't want to send her to the pound, but if I don't find the owners in a few days I'm going to have to. I already have 3 dogs and that's the legal limit where I live. Plus, I don't have the ability to bring another dog into my home.
Everyone else in my neighborhood said they'd seen the dog wandering for hours, but not one bothered to do anything about it. Why are people so self-centered? The dog kept almost getting hit, it wouldn't have survived the night. I'm disappointed in humans tonight.

Rock City and Ruby Falls

Rock City

Ruby Falls

Fall

There are leaves in my front yard. Icky, wet, soggy leaves. I'm happy fall is here because I'm hoping that means the mosquitoes will go away, but I'm not looking forward to raking leaves. We also have the attack of the killer acorns to worry about. One fell from a tree and hit Josie in the head pretty hard. I've been hearing them ding off the roof for weeks now. It's impossible to get them out of the yard so I'll spend next spring weeding for baby trees.
Last night we turned on the heater for the first time. It wasn't particularly necessary, but my toes were cold so Curt was kind enough to turn on the heater. He's always burning up so that's a big deal in our house. He drives in the middle of winter with the windows down and the ac on. Absolutely crazy!
Well, off to a 15 hour work day. Hopefully the kids are calm today. (crosses fingers)

HI

It's been a while since I've posted since I keep misplacing my camera. I'm horrible at remembering where I put things. Then, when I do find it, I'm too busy to upload. Just to update anyone who cares, here's my life:

Work:
I'm still working two jobs. They're going alright. My store shut down and I had to relocate to another one, but that's okay. I've also switched schools that I'm working at, but I'm not at a loss there either. I got some cool stuff when my store closed. 2 20" TV's for $12, a DVD player for $15, a giant cabinet to put in the laundry room for $25, plus the entire series of Rome and tons of other stuff.

Spouse:
My husband is still absolutely wonderful. I leave him alone a lot because of work, but he doesn't give me a hard time about it and he's always there for me. He even helps with the dishes these days. =)

Pets:
I've lost 2 of my pets: Jezzy the bunny and Dante the ferret. I also had one of my old dogs (Meeko) that stayed back in Cali pass away. He was the hardest to lose. The rest of our "farm" is doing well.

House:
I'm in the process of getting new blinds and curtains for my house and fixing up my closet so that our clothes actually fit. Okay, to be honest, I'm buying and Curt's stuck installing. The house needs to be cleaned once again, but I keep telling myself that I can wait till the closets are done since it'll be easier then. I should just suck it up and clean, but I'm sick or exhausted frequently and when I do have the energy I choose to be lazy.

Visits:
My mother came out to visit this summer. It was fun and nerve racking at the same time. My mom's sheer presence can set me on edge even if she's done nothing to warrant it. I hate that, but maybe it's just a mom thing.
I got to see Nicole and her mother this summer when they came to visit. We went out to Gaitlinburg for dinner and then just chatted and watched a movie. I also got to see Holly and her boyfriend when we met up in North Carolina. We had a delicious Italian dinner and then went and played at the U.S. National Whitewater Center the next day. Mo came up and went to Boomsday with us, which was absolutely awesome. She also came out earlier in the year and brought me yummy chocholates from Switzerland and beautiful photos of Greece to make me uber jelous!

Nicole

Mo shooting

Free Time:
I got obsessive about reading over the summer and I've read a book every day or every other day since mid-June (see my reading blog). I even branched out from historical fiction and started reading mysteries, and fantasy/paranormal books. I don't know I how I got addicted to vampires and werewolves, but... no wait, I do. Blame Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse books. Yes, I know Twilight is cheesy, but I enjoyed it. Curt already bought me tickets for the midnight showing of New Moon so I'm excited. The fact that he's willing to suffer through it just proves he loves me. =)
I tried running a bit this summer, but the weather seemed to be against me. Also, not getting home till 11 pm does little for my safety. I've decided that I'm getting an elliptical for the holidays this year. Now, I just need to convince someone to get it for me. ;) JK, unless there's someone who really does want to get me one.


Yeah, so my life has been busy, but boring at the same time. I'm not complaining though. Uneventful also means calm in my world and I like it when I don't feel like my world is falling apart.