January Reads (10)

One star = did not like it at all

Two stars = eh, it was okay

Three stars = liked it

Four stars = really, really liked it

Five stars = absolutely loved it

1-Star (1)

*George & Lizzie (Fiction, Nancy Pearl)

‘America’s Librarian’ (Nancy Pearl) should just stick to being a librarian.  Don’t read this book.  Just…don’t.

(book, donated to LFL)

2-Stars (2)

**The Beautiful and the Damned (Fiction, F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Okay so I’ve read my classic for the month.  This book felt like a poor first (LONG) draft of ‘The Great Gatsby’.  This was his second novel, after ‘This Side of Paradise’ and before ‘The Great Gatsby’.  It’s the story of Anthony and Gloria, both shallow, rich, socialites, who get married and then their lives crumble because of their recklessness and stupid mistakes.  The writing was okay, but just so WORDY, and I had no one to root for, which is important to me.  I am not going to give up on Fitzgerald though.  I have a couple of his other books on my shelf, and I plan to re-read The Great Gatsby again.

(book, but listened to Hoopla free audio version.  Donated book to LFL)

**People of the Book (Fiction, Geraldine Brooks)

I appreciate the effort.  And the story.  But….boooooorrrrriiinnnnnggg.  It started off strong, but then fizzled out  quickly. 

(book, donated to LFL)

3-Stars (3)

***The Marriage Pact (Fiction, Michelle Richmond)

This was quite possibly one of the strangest (and most original) books I’ve read in quite some time.  It’s labeled as a ‘psychological thriller’, and that’s pretty accurate.  Think…Big Brother meets Stepford Wives meets…a cult.  Very odd, with some plot holes for sure, but it kept me listening!

(book, but listened to Hoopla free audio version. Donated book to LFL)

***Young Jane Young (Fiction, Gabrielle Zevin)

This is the author that wrote one of my favorite books last year “The Storied Life of AJ Fikry”.  This one was definitely was not as good as AJ Fikry, but it was still pretty good.  A bit fluffy for my taste.  Sort of ‘The Scarlet Letter’ for the modern age.   

(Audio, Hoopla)

***The House Girl (Fiction, Tara Conkin)

A good, but sad book that weaves 2 stories together (one of a 17-year-old slave), and one of a present-day 24 year old lawyer.

(Audio, Hoopla)

4-Stars (2)

****The Old Man and the Sea (Fiction, Ernest Hemingway) – Pulitzer Prize winner 1953

Man vs. fish.  I have owned this book for YEARS.  My dad gave it to me when I was 9 or 10 I think.  And I never read it!  Until now.  It seems (from other reviews I’ve read) that people either loved this one or hated it.  I really, really enjoyed it.  It’s a VERY short novel, and I’m discovering that I LOVE short novels.  But the thing that was most interesting to me is that for the majority of the book, it’s just the man, talking to himself, or talking to the fish.  It’s also heartbreaking.  But….really good.  He was ON. A. MISSION. 

(book, keeper)

(I wonder if Kevin enjoyed it as well)

****The 365 Bullet Guide (Non-Fiction, Zennor Compton)

This was similar to the ‘Dot-Journaling’ book I read last year, only a bit better.  I really enjoyed this one because it focused more on the ‘artsy’ side of bullet journaling….there are how-to’s on how to make banners, flowers, etc.  Plenty of layout examples and tracker ideas.  I put about 20 tabs on pages of things I want to try in my bullet journal.  Plus, there’s plenty of blank space on each page to practice your doodles.

(book, keeper)

5-Stars (2)

*****My Family and Other Animals (Non-Fiction, George Durrell)

My first FIVE STAR read of the year and it happened in January!  When I was in Oklahoma City a few months ago, I stopped at this eclectic book store that had BEAUTIFUL books.  I picked up this small classic that I had never heard of before.  Apparently it’s the first book in a trilogy.  I didn’t pick it up until last month, and I read it off and on (it’s 300+ pages).  I don’t  think I have ever laughed so hard out loud while reading a book (non-fiction none the less) in my life.  The book was published in 1956, and is George’s (Gerry) account of his family’s 5 years spent in Corfu, an island off of Greece.  Gerry was 10 at the time of the move and was an AVID lover of animals and more so learning about them (he went on to become a zoologist).  I was surprised I loved this book so much because usually books about animals make me nervous and I don’t even read them.  But this one was different….he mostly talks about bugs and amphibians.  But the funny parts of the book are all related to his family.  He travels to Greece with his widowed mother, his dog Roger, and his three older siblings:  his oldest brother Larry, a passionate writer/poet, who provided the most ‘laugh out loud’ moments for me.  His brother Leslie, who has a fascination with guns (and owns many), and his sister Margo, who has just a terrible time with being a teenager living in a strange place.  While parts of the book were admittedly slow (mostly the descriptive parts about bugs), the parts with his family made up for the slow parts and kept me reading.  This is the first book that I have EVER really marked up.  I highlighted so many funny passages.  This will definitely be a re-read for me, and I’m going to check out the other 2 books in the trilogy.

(book, keeper)

*****You Need a Budget (Non-Fiction, Jesse Mecham)

If I had just ONE chance in my life to recommended ONE product or service, I would scream from every rooftop about the software program You Need a Budget.  If just one person would listen to me, I would feel like I truly helped out someone.  The founder of the brilliant, LIFE-CHANGING budget program wrote a book, appropriately titled:  You Need a Budget.  In this book, he does NOT try to sell his software.  Instead, he explains the concept behind his budgeting plan.  Honestly, this book didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know (we’ve been using the software for YEARS).  But I still gave it five stars because it is a WEALTH of information for new budgeters and it is written very well with honest, do-able practical advice.  He doesn’t tell you AT ALL what you should do with your money.  If you want to spend $30 a month at Starbucks, go for it.  If you want to spend $50 on new clothes, go for it.  He does not lecture about savings, college funds (which he is actually highly against), etc.  He just explains about how assigning categories to the money you have RIGHT NOW will give you more financial freedom that you ever thought you could have AND will help you truly see where your priorities are.  Soooooo sooooo good.  I don’t know what I would do without this software.  It truly is life changing and SUCH a stress-reliever.  Knowing where each and every dollar is going is FREEING.  It lifts a huge weight off of your shoulders.  And it’s not restrictive (like I’m making it sound ha ha).  That’s why in our budget we have a ‘Angie’s Spending Money’ category and ‘Josh’s spending money’ category.  If I want to buy glass spray bottles for cleaning products, then dangit, I’m going to, guilt free!!!    

(book, keeper)

Total Books Read: 10 (3 non-fiction, 7 fiction)

Formats

E-Books: 0

Audio Hoopla: 4

Audio CD: 0

Real Books:  6   

Abandoned books: 0

Roi

(apparently I’m titling my blog posts in French now)

We finally bit the bullet (where does that expression even mean, anyways?) and bought a king size bed.  We’ve wanted one for years, but our bedroom in our old house wasn’t large enough for a  King size bed.

Our current bedroom however is much larger.   

So my husband did a BUNCH of research on Consumer Reports (because that’s just who he is, and I love him for it).  We didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a mattress.  And they can easily be thousands of dollars.  He compared prices and quality of different brands, discussed it with me, and then we placed an Amazon order.  My main concern with the new bed was I wanted to make sure it would be as tall as our night tables.

We purchased the Sleep Innovations Marley 10-inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress.  It came with a 20-year warranty.  The price?  $425. 

We also purchased the Zinus Quick Snap 18 Inch Platform Bed Frame/Wooden Slat Support, no Bolts or Nuts, Easily Assembly.  Price?  $145.

We also ordered bedding, sheets, and a 100% waterproof mattress protector (a MUST HAVE with animals):  $208

TOTAL:  $778

I think this is pretty unbelievable for an entire king bed, frame, and bedding.  And it was so easy!  We ordered from Amazon and everything came in 3 days (with free shipping since we are Prime members).  Our mattress came in a box about the size of a dishwasher.  We opened it up and put it upstairs in our library for 24 hours (as instructed) to ‘breathe’ and expand.  And my husband put together the frame in like 15 minutes.  I’m not exaggerating.  It was so simple!

We did NOT get box springs.  The mattress did not need them, and the frame we got is 18” high.  We got the taller frame for 2 reasons….I wanted the bed to be at least as high as our night tables, AND it will be sooooo much easier for our dog to get underneath the bed when there are storms.  See:

We’ve been sleeping on the mattress for over a week now.  It’s always a little scary when you order these types of things online without trying them out first.  But so far, so good.  It doesn’t sleep ‘hot’ as some of the memory foam mattresses do (I think the ‘gel’ part is what keeps it cool).  It’s VERY firm which I’m still getting used to.  It doesn’t feel like a bed ha ha.  You lay down and it’s hard as a rock, but then you start to just slowly sink into it and it’s lovely.  My back is feeling much better and I’m sleeping pretty well.

And the size!!!!  I can completely extend my arm to the side and barely touch my husband.  We have so much room!  Hannah has been sleeping all stretched out horizontally between us and she has room to spare by her head and her feet.  Abby just gets lost in the bed and I typically never know where she is.  And Watson stays at the bottom of the bed pretty much, more towards my husband.  I usually can’t tell where he is.  It’s so nice to have the extra space and spread out more.  The difference between a Queen Size and a King Size is unbelievable.

I thought it might make our room look a little smaller with the larger bed, but….no.  We still have plenty of space ha ha.

I also got different curtains.  I didn’t really like the ones I had up there, so I ended up getting the same ones that we have on the other side of the room.  Just simple sheer balloon shades from Target.  I like that you can lengthen them if you want.  I might lengthen the ones above our bed a little since it’s a longer window than the one above the desk.  They’re strictly for looks as they don’t provide any darkening for the room (that’s what the blinds are for).

We gave our old bed (it’s 5 years old maybe?) to my mother-in-law.  And we’re checking to see if anyone wants her old bed, if not, we will dispose of it.  Right now it’s hanging out in the sunroom and Macy (my 15-year-old cat) is having a ball hiding in the rolled up foam topper that was on the bed ha ha.

So anyways….if you do your research (and aren’t too picky and don’t have major sleeping/back issues), buying a bed doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars any more.  It can come in a box and be delivered right to your doorstep!

L'hôpital

My first ever hospital visit happened the week before last.   I think it’s pretty good to be 40 years old before you first hospital visit!!

I won’t go into detail, but it was an interesting experience on many levels.  First off….I work for this hospital system.  And I went to the E.R. straight from work so I still had my badge on.  I got lots of questions.  It was interesting to see in action a lot of the stuff we discuss in our weekly meetings ha ha.   

But it was also like the busiest ER day/night they’ve had in like a year (according to them).  UGH!  Not a great experience. 

I had a myriad of tests done.  Two of the tests I had done were new to me though….the abdominal ultrasound (the one on the OUTSIDE of the body) and a CT scan.  Interesting. 

I’m feeling better, my pain is better, but I need surgery sometime in the near future.  I’m thinking it will be a few months.  I’m just hoping that until then my pain stays away as much as possible.  So far, so good.

I will say that I am a big fan of technology these days.  That night, I was able to see all of my detailed test results via the online portal that my hospital has for its patients and members to access.  I mean, they share your test results when you’re there, but I wanted to read the actual reports (I loved reading the part of my CT scan that said I had ‘no masses’ on my organs.)  I was also able to make a follow up appointment for 2 days later, plus message my doctor for some additional questions I had.  So easy and accessible!  I could pay my bill too, if I had a bill.  All I had was a co-pay which my husband paid while we were there.  But I was able to see what the charges were (yikes).  Thank you, health insurance!

So, not a GREAT way to start off the year, but I still feel blessed.  It could have been much worse, and my condition is not life-threatening at all.  So I’m trying to stay positive about it and not worry about the fact that I may be awake during my surgery since anesthesia doesn’t work on me.  Two sarcastic thumbs up!!  I’m not going to think about that today though.  I’ll think about that tomorrow.  After all, tomorrow is another day!  #GWTWforever

2018 Plans

2018 will be another busy year.

At the end of January, we are having an addition put onto our house.  It will be a kitchen for my mother-in-law.  It should take 6-8 weeks (again…hopefully).  It will change the look of the front of our house.  The wall on the right side of the house will be removed and will become the front of my mother-in-law’s house (with a front door for her).  It will be brick.  They will try to match the brick with our house the best they can, but it may be off a little bit.  She will also have a sliding glass patio door (or French doors) leading out to a little patio (in the backyard).  And she’ll have everything a kitchen should have…appliances, counters, cabinets, etc.  Oh, and a washer/dryer, most likely stackable to save space.  I’m excited for her!  

In February, my husband is going to Arizona to do the Spartan Race with a buddy of his.  I opted to stay home, mostly so I could work and not use any PTO because I need to save it up.

In May, we are going to Iceland for a week. !  I am excited.  We need to start planning more though, the only thing we’ve done is get our plane tickets and mapped out the places in the country we want to see.  We need to book an air B&B or something.  But we have the general location nailed down at least.

As for the rest of the year, we haven’t planned past May.  There are loads of projects we would like to do around the house, but we are saving money first and none of them need to be done immediately.  We are in no great rush.  Most of the stuff is not major (although we have a few major projects on our list as well, but those are YEARS down the road) and will need to wait until Spring anyways.  

So I kind of just want to hunker down for the winter, hygge (Google this if you don’t know what it is), focus on spiritual things, healthy things, get little projects done around the house, and then come out in the Spring.  :)

2017 Year in Review

Crazy, crazy year.  Here are the highlights!

January

As usual, I started off the year with a trip to Nebraska to visit my family.  It was nice to see them all!  

April

In April, we celebrated our 7^th anniversary.  We kept it pretty low-key and went to Elephant Butte Lake and Truth or Consequences.  

  

May

In May, Watson graduated from service dog training.  He’s done a great job!!  We had a little celebration for him at home.

I also got a promotion at work.  Yay!

And….we were accepted into and started our French class.

June

June was probably one of the hardest months of my life.  I can’t remember a time in my life when I’ve been more stressed out.  We listed our house for sale on June 1^st.  It sold on June 4^th.  We had a closing date of July 19^th.  

My mother-in-law’s house also went up for sale on June 1^st.  Her house sold on June 6^th, with a closing date at the end of June.

So….within 6 days, we sold 2 houses and had not yet found a new house.  I don’t exactly remember the date we first looked at the house we eventually bought.  But I’m thinking it was about a week or so.  At that point we had looked at maybe 6 or 7 houses already, and didn’t like any of them.  The last house we looked at was ‘the one’.  We made an offer and there was a LOT of back and forth/negotiating/inspections/repairs/etc.  STRESS.  FUL.  And in the meantime, we were trying to pack, dealing with stuff we had to fix with our house, and going to French class each week (along with working, meetings, service, etc.).

We closed on our new house on July 10^th I believe and moved in on July 13^th.  So from the time we listed our house for sale to the time we bought and completely moved in to our new house was less than SIX WEEKS.  I look back now and still wondered how we did it.  It was just super stressful coordinating everything (which my husband did most of), getting things packed, getting dates nailed down, hiring movers, getting storage pods delivered, etc.

July

In July we closed on our new house and moved in.  About a week and a half later, my sister and my parents came to visit.

August

August was cool just because of the solar eclipse.  We were far from totality, but it was still cool.

September

September was busy working on October projects.  We had to plan a skit for our French class graduation, and we were also in the process of planning a big thank you dinner for our French class teachers and our entire French group.  And we pretty much finished unpacking the house as well.

October

October was the balloon fiesta, and I enjoyed it again this year from my front row seat at work.

We also performed our French class skit and graduated!  This was a HUGE stress reliever.  French class was great, but it was HARD.  And extremely time consuming.

At the end of the month we had 28 people show up (our group is only about 30 ha ha) for our thank-you dinner.  It went great!  Again….I was sooooo relieved when it was over. 

November

In November my Dad arranged for me to come to Missouri to surprise my mom for a little visit.  It was so much fun!  It was nice to see family and some of my extended family as well.  On my drive up there I stopped in Oklahoma (Pawhuska) to visit The Pioneer Woman’s store.  It was fun!

I also did Black Friday again this year with my friend.  We always have so much fun.

And I had a bunch of dental work done.  Yippee.

December

In December we went to Memphis for a little getaway.  My husband had a conference there for work so I joined him when it was over.  We listened to some Blues, had some BBQ, went to Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum, and took a side trip to Nashville to take in a hockey game.

At the end of this month, hubby’s uncle came for a short visit.  It’s always nice to see him and we got to put our guest room to good use as well!

Places visited:

Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee

New family members:  0

New pets:  1 (well, technically she’s my mother-in-law’s dog, but she’s officially part of the pack – Baby Girl)

On Reading/Reading Goals

Oh books.  One of my favorite things.  Sometimes I WISH I didn’t love reading.  It can be an expensive habit, even if you primarily buy used books.

This past year, I set a goal to read 52 books.  I ended up reading 76.  I was actually surprised I’ve been able to read so much , mostly because we’ve had such a crazy year.  But, it’s my escape from reality and life (which is just necessary sometimes!).  

I have some reading goals for 2018.

1.      I tend to have at least 10 books going at one time.  I know there is nothing wrong with this.  However, it feels like that sometimes one month I’ll finish 15 books and the next month I’ll finish 3 or 4, which just seems so inconsistent.  So, I’m going to try to focus on just one or two books (MAYBE three) at a time.  I think this will help me feel like I’m accomplishing more when I finish a book (as opposed to having a bunch of unfinished books all over the place).

2.      Read 100 books in 2018.  This might be a bit much, but I’m going to try.  It’s 8 or 9 books each month.  I think I can do it, especially considering I read a lot of young reader books that I never got around to in my childhood and these books are typically short.

3.      I want to broaden my reading each month out a bit as far as genre.  Each month, I’d like to read at least one fiction, one non-fiction, one classic, one Pulitzer, etc.  The classics are usually the last books I reach for, and they are REALLY starting to pile up.    

4.      STOP BUYING SO MANY BOOKS.  My TBR shelves are full.  Here they are:

      I have classics on the top.  Fiction on the shelves.  Non-fiction on the wicker shelf.  And this does not include the ‘shared’ books that are on my husband’s bookshelves, or the 3 books I have on my night table, OR the books I have on my Nook.  So my total TBR OWNED books that I have (on these shelves): 166.  !!!  I am both proud and horrified about this.  Ha ha.

5.      Go to the library more.   A lot of the books on my list I’m SURE can be found at the library.  I don’t need to buy them.  The issue that I’ve always had with the library is that I feel pressure to finish the books right away and get them returned.  But I’m hoping that with goal #1, that will change.  If I’m only focusing on one or two books at one time, then I should be able to easily finish library books within 3 weeks.  Plus, I’ve heard from a source that our libraries here do NOT charge for late fees.  !  Good to know.

6.      Speaking of libraries, I’m going to continue to utilize Hoopla in 2018.  I LOVE this free app that allows me check out 5 audiobooks each month.  They have new books available all the time.  Our city’s public library system has partnered with Hoopla, so all I had to do was download the app and enter my library card number and voila.  I was in.  There are a few other apps out there (Overdrive, Libby, etc.), but Hoopla is the one I use the most.  It is easy, you can speed up the pace of the books, and there is a great selection.  If your public library system does not have Hoopla, it probably has another app you can use to check out free audio books.  There is also a huge selection of e-books available on Hoopla to check out.  

7.      Continue to listen to books on CD.  Our library bookshop has a GREAT selection of books on CD.  They are anywhere from $1 - $8.  Which are GREAT prices…most audiobooks (on CD) brand new are at least $20+.  I LOVE listening to these in my car.  It is so much better than the radio, which is just crappy music (most of the time), commercials, loud DJs or super depressing news and/or political talk.  And I am amazed at how quickly I can get through an a book on CD in my car and I am NOT in my car a whole lot.  My commute to work is about 8 minutes each way, so 16 minutes per day.  Plus trips to the store, errands, etc.  But it adds up!  Sometimes I will eat lunch in my car too (at work ha ha) if I’m in the middle of a great audiobook.  J  But I enjoy books on CD so much that I bought a little CD player for our desk upstairs.  It can also pair with my phone for my other audiobooks, which is nice.  The library usually has a good selection of books on CD as well.  Usually you get 3 weeks, then you can renew once for an additional 3 weeks.  This is PLENTY of time to get through a book on CD in your car, even if you don’t drive much.  

8.      Donate my ‘non-keeper’ books to the Little Free Libraries around town.  Because we don’t have Hastings anymore, there’s no place here to re-sell your books.  And selling them online is too much effort.  So in our library I have a little stand with basket drawers.  I put my donations in there and when the baskets are full, I will put them in my car.  And then usually while we’re in service, we will distribute my books (and also leave a piece of literature) into the libraries.  On our last round, I donated 9 books and picked up 3.  J  Not too shabby!!  There are two Little Free Libraries that are very close to our house (within walking distance), so when the weather is nicer I can walk to them also.  I would much rather donate to LFLs instead of Goodwill.

So there you have it.  I'm excited to read even MORE in 2018!!

2017 Reading Wrap-Up

This was a good reading year for me!  Definitely better than last year.  I realize December isn't over yet, but I doubt I will finish any more books this month.  If I do, I will just track them in January.

This year, I read 76 books. !

Here’s the breakdown-

Fiction:  41

Non-Fiction:  35

1 star books:  5

2 star books:  15

3 star books:  36

4 star books:  15

5 star books:  5

I think this is pretty typical.  3 stars (liked it) are always going to be my prominent rating.  I would LOVE to have more 4 and 5 star reads, but I’m pleased with the outcome for 2017.

Here are my 4 star books:

Lagom – The Swedish Art of Balanced Living

The Hundred Dresses

The Story of Arthur Truluv

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Year of Yes

Little Women

Everyone Brave is Forgiven

The Light Between Oceans

Station Eleven

Our Souls at Night

Milk & Honey

These Is My Words

Forgive for Good

Hamilton:  The Revolution

The Worst Hard Time

And here are my 5 star books:

Top 10 Iceland (ha ha)

The One-in-a-Million Boy

All the Light We Cannot See

When Breath Becomes Air

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

My favorite NON-FICTION book of 2017 was.....

This is such a great book.  I hope she writes more!

My favorite FICTION book of 2017 was.....I agonized over this.  I had it narrowed down to two.  The runner up was All the Light We Cannot See.  It almost won.  But while it was an AMAZING 5-star book, it was a difficult read and I didn’t necessarily ENJOY reading it.  I hope that makes sense.  So, my favorite fiction of 2017 is......

I would highly recommend this book!  

I have some 2018 reading goals for next year, stay tuned!