Busy bee!!

The past two months have been insane for me! I've not had much time at all to blog. Ok, I haven't had any time at all! But I've been working on my list, and I'm happy to say that I knocked quite a few goals out the past couple months, including the following:

#8 Send Christmas cards to friends and family.
I completed that shutterfly promo, and got my 50 free Christmas cards, so I was able to get those out after I finally picked the pictures I wanted on my cards!

#26 Use the waffle maker we got for the wedding
We finally used it about a month ago! we had breakfast for supper, and we've used it a few times since! we love it!!

#32. Get a big girl job
I'm super excited about that as well! I got a new job at the same place, so it's basically a promotion. I'm working my way up finally, and loving every minute of it!

#64 Participate in NaNoWriMo & #65 Win NaNoWriMo
Check and Check!! I barely made it, but I pulled through!

#100 Play Guitar Hero
I know it's funny, I'm the last person ever that hasn't played guitar hero, but I did and it was awesome! I really sucked though! Hah

So that's my progress, up until the end of 2010! When we meet again, it will probably be 2011!
Happy New Year to you all!

#8 on my list: Christmas Cards

8. Send Christmas cards to friends and family

I'm hoping to knock this one out of the park this year.

I found out that shutterfly is having a promotion where you can get 50 free holiday cards, and I'm ecstatic.

I was looking through their different holiday card designs, and I saw quite a few cute ones. So lets check them out, shall we?

My husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I took a peak at these Thanksgiving cards first. I thought it would be awesome to send out an invitation to the family, and they have quite a few options for that.

I don't have kids, but I did get a dog this year, so we do lots of picture taking to document our time together. I'd love to share our year with my family. I really like this Top Ten Moments of 2010. It would be a great way to share the events of the year. You can find a whole bunch of what they call story cards (like that one) here. I also really like this one and this one!

But they cant make it easy, because they of course have a plethora of Christmas cards to choose from here, and these are different from the story cards I mentioned before. And yet again, they have invitations for all things Christmas as well. I'm over loaded with awesome choices!

I've used shutterfly for many things since learning about the site as I was planning my wedding. I ordered photo books for our parents and grandparents with pictures from the wedding. We also made a family day photo book in which all of my immediate family was able to be a part of. I've ordered individual prints for scrapbooking. And I made a photo book of pictures from our honeymoon.

If you haven't used shutterfly, you should definitely give them a shot. Their shipping is amazingly fast, and you will feel joy in your heart when you see the orange box arrive on your doorstep. Sharing pictures is essential to the holiday season, and I'm looking forward to completing my goal of sending out Christmas cards this year!

disclaimer: this post was written for no incentive other than 50 free photo cards from shutterfly, and this is my true opinion.

The First Five of the 50 Q's

Thought I'd answer some questions while I'm in the writing mood.
One of my goals is to answer one of the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind every week til it's done.
So I'll go ahead and start on that.

1. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

I guess I'd probably say 27. I feel pretty much my age in some aspects, but in others, not so much. I feel like I act older than I am, but I definitely look my age, or there about. So, 27. (I'm 25)

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?

Well, I think it hurts worse to fail, for sure. It can definitely take an emotional toll on you to fail. But never trying- well, that does a different kind of damage. By playing it safe and never going after your dreams, and taking that risk of failing, you aren't really living life to the fullest. Which is the whole point of living, right? So I guess I'm going to go with never trying. You will never get stronger if you don't try.

3.If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

I think we get caught up in what is expected of us. Somewhere along the line of humanity, someone decided we should be living the way someone else tells us to, and working to make someone else happy. Now, it seems there is not many ways to survive without fitting into this category. I think this one goes hand in hand with the last question. So many people are afraid to fail, and never take a chance to break free.

4.When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

Definitely. I'm such a dreamer. I say I'm going to do things that I never do, mostly because I change my mind before I decide to do those things. But I guess, even beyond that, I know that I don't try everything I want to do because I'm afraid to fail.

5.What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

I'd like to make people more considerate of others. If people considered others, and were kind to others, so many kids wouldn't feel the need to kill themselves because of bullying. There would be less car wrecks, murders, and anger in the world.
I guess on the flip side, I'd toughen people up a bit. The world isn't sunshine and butterflies, all the time, and I think that some kids never learn that. You've got to have confidence in yourself, don't let what someone else things about you impact your own opinion of yourself. They don't know you as well as you know you.

Book Review: The Sonnet Lover - Carol Goodman

From the moment I started this book I was captured by Goodman's writing style. As a Shakespeare fan myself, the topic was especially interesting, and worked it's own magic in my mind. The basic premise is the story of a professor who travels to Italy to do some research on Shakespeare's Dark Lady as a foundation for a screenplay written by one of her students. I don't feel like I can say too much with out spoiling, so this will be brief.
I loved the romance and intrigue mixed with historical fiction. This book had everything I could ask for in a novel. I really felt like I was in Italy as Dr. Asher was doing her research, and I was anxiously turning the pages, anticipating her findings, hoping that all would be right in the end.
This was the first of Carol Goodman's novels that I have read, but I will be picking up more of her books in the future.

Recommend it: Definitely! I loved this book, it was awesome. Again, it's a romance, but it has some good substance to it. :)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Book Review: In A Heartbeat- Elizabeth Adler

(Belated) What I’m Reading Wednesday

Normally I love Elizabeth Adler's books, but this one didn't impress me as much as I expected.

One reason i picked this book over another on my list of hers to read is because two of the main characters were from the south, and T thought that would make things a little more interesting. I think that took part of it away for me.

Also, I didn't like the premise that the happily married detective fell in love with Zelda/Mel and thought that maybe a man could love two women in his life. That is certainly possible, but I don't like reading books about affairs or men who cheat on their wives, and now, men who fall in love with other women.
I also didn't much like the fact that Mel left her daughter in California for a while expecting Harriet to watch her. It just seemed a bit flighty.

I did, as usual, like how she added suspense and intrigue into her plot line to make it more than just a sappy romance novel. I always love how easy it is to read her novels. She has a style of writing that pulls you in and just flows as she tells the story. She does a wonderful job of describing characters and getting you to like them and root for them, or dislike them and want them to be caught.

Recommend it: I would recommend this book to anyone who likes love stories.


Rating: ★★★☆☆

November is NaNoWriMo!

64. Participate in NaNoWriMo
One of my goals is to participate in NaNoWriMo. It's always in November. Well, lo and behold, next month sure is November. How did that happen?!
I found out about NaNo from my cousin's wife, Sarah, who was participating last year. I googled it, and found out that it is a goal to write a short novel in one month, from scratch. The goal is 50,000 words. Holy crap that's a lot! Right? But I have faith.
Now I'm just on a mission to discover my plot. Now that my acting class is over, I can focus on preparing for this!
Are any of you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? If you are, let me know! I'm interested in what you are writing, how many years you have taken the challenge, if you've ever succeeded...

Slow and steady wins the race... I hope...

It has been a while since I updated this blog.
I've completed one of my goals though!
It's time to start working towards them again.

#15. Visit Savannah and Tybee again.
Steven and I went to Savannah for our one year anniversary over labor day weekend. We had a great time! Until I got sick... Anyway, it was a great time!



I've been working on 13. Make eye contact with everyone I speak to in person, and 38. Plan grocery shopping trips around coupons and sales 4x (2/4).

I havent had singing(49.) or dance(51.) lessons, but I have been taking acting lessons. SO i'm going to add this one in!

My husband is so over Degrassi...

I finally completed #96. Get caught up on Degrassi. Wrapped that one up yesterday, as the Every Degrassi Ever marathon came to a close. I was so excited to be completely caught up!! So tonight = Boiling Point and I'm so psyched even though my favorite characters are completely out of the show pretty much by now. Boo :(

Also doing great on #40 cooking 3 meals a week for a month! The whole, trying to save money bit is helping a TON on that one, so this week will be the final week. I do hope to continue on, though. I like saving money and eating the food at home makes me feel more like a functional household than a poor college student. Isn't that ironic? We tend to eat out more when we dont have the money, even though it's way cheaper to go grocery shopping... go figure.

I'm reading Emma, so I'm working on #62. Read all Jane Austen books I have not yet read(Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma).

Also I'm taking advantage of some free prints from shutterfly and printing off some wedding pictures and old pictures and adding them to frames, scrapbooks, and albums, so I'm working on completing #82. Order wedding prints and frame them and #84. Print off old pictures and add them to albums.

I'm feeling pretty good about my progress!!

I have an unhealthy obsession with Degrassi TNG, and I love it.

I'm definitely proud of myself for accomplishing more of my 101(or, well, 104, really) in 1001. Sometimes it is hard for me to stick wiht something for too long. I always say I have commitment issues. I dont like to be tied down. (Somehow, the hubby got around this fact- but thats ok!)
So here are the things I've completed or started working on lately.


#1. Give 5 ‘just because’ gifts (1/5)

I gave Steven Pulp Fiction the other day because I found it super cheap at our local video store that is having a massive close out sale. It happens to be his favorite movie (on most days, anyway) and I can never find it super cheap because so many people snatch them up when they go on sale. Well, I found it for 4 bucks. Holla!!

#34. Go through my clothes and get rid of 25 things I no longer wear

This was a huge reality check for me. I've been holding on to clothes that I haven't been able to wear in 5-7 years. These clothes have gone through 4 moves at least, from my high school career up through 4 years of college. Some of them I could wear in the first two years of college, but the last two not years. And I've now been out for 3 years. Can we say attachment, much? At this point even if I could fit into the clothes, they are a bit out of my style. Plus, half the fun of losing weight is buying New clothes! So that solved it. They are officially out of my closet and in the Yard Sale pile.

#35. Go through the office and get rid of 25 things I no longer need

Much the same as 34. Which this, by the way, means I have gotten rid of 50 things I no longer need. Holy crap! Go me! As a hoarder-in-training, this is a big step. But I got to the point where I was OVER IT. I said to Steven, how are we almost 25 and filling up a 4 bedroom house? Ridiculous. It is so hard to make a house look presentable when you have STUFF sitting around everywhere. Drives me nuts.

#39. Book at least two lia sophia shows per month (2/33)
June and July are down, now working on August, and I've got one booked in August already. So it is looking good!

#40. Cook meals 3x a week for a month (1/4)
Week 1 is down! I thought it would be hard, but it really isnt. Especially with trying to stay motivated to lose weight, and attempting to save money for our anniversary trip (which will take care of #15 Visit Savannah and Tybee again).

#46. Write a letter to myself to open in 1001 days
Did this the other day. I actually found it difficult to write a letter to myself in 3 years, because that isn't really that far away. But I still did it.

#70. Make a custom recipe book from our favorite recipes

I had no organization system for my recipes. They were scattered about willy nilly in my kitchen, in my pantry, in my office. So I combined them into one place using a makeshift index card holder I found at a yard sale. Love it!

#71. Lose 50 pounds (6/50)
Yay! It's been sooo hard, but I've had to cut back soo much. I generally eat quite a bit, so I have to get used to not eating as much. But you know what, my incentive comes every time I step on that scale and see that I've lost weight.

#83. Make a photo album of honeymoon pictures
This took me all day. We had over 300 pictures (of course) but I uploaded them to Shutterfly and I have an album hanging out. I'm waiting on a free photobook code before I actually order it though. I'm hoping to have it by September though.

#96. Get caught up on Degrassi

frozenspark2
Last week the Teen Nick 'Every Degrassi Ever' marathon started, so this one is soon to be marked off. Right now they are only playing the one's I've seen a billion times, the episodes from the very beginning. Some people you might know from Degrassi are:
Aubrey Graham aka Drake who plays Jimmy Brooks

Nina Dobrev - Elena from Vampire Diaries, who played Mia.

Lauren Collins (Paige) was in Take the Lead

Daniel Clark (♥Sean♥)(see first pic) was in Juno and Model Behavior... That is merely and introduction to some of the characters from the show.

The hard ones always have to do with $money$, and a dabble of friends

In case you haven't noticed, the main section of my 101ish in 1001 list that I've not dared touch is all in the money:

41. Pay off my car

42. Build my savings back up

43. Pay off 75% of my credit card debt (0/75)

44. Balance the checkbook by the 20th of every month

45. Pay off my tuition

Dealing with finances is rough stuff! These 5 goals are big ones for me, and super important to proceeding on with my life happiness. But I've yet to tackle them. Now, I know that I only began my mission about a month ago, but I feel pretty good about knocking some things out of the water already!

I hate having debt. It drives me crazy! I want to pay everything all off already. The darn wedding messed me up financially, as the hubs and I paid for it ourselves, and ended up over-budgeting our means. We had an amazing wedding! But we're still paying for it.

I went over to Schwab MoneyWise to take my Financial Fitness test which says I'm doing pretty good- I got a 76, and between 71-90 is 'good'. But you sure wouldn't know it by the way I live! I've got the knowledge, but I don't put it to work, if you know what I'm sayin' to ya.

Many of our friends are in the same financial boat as we are- paying for school loans, weddings, and trying to eliminate credit card debt. But we all still love to go out to the movies, out to eat, take fun little trips, etc.

All that is about to change.

Stevie and I are getting into serious buckle down mode. We have until September to save up for the greatest 1 year anniversary trip ever, so we dont have room for these fun excursions in our budget any more. Luckily, our friends are on board. So for the rest of this gorgeous, boiling hot summer, we are on a mission to do as much free and cheap activities as we can. For example: Our friends have a pool at their apartment complex. This takes out us having to pay to use the pool or go to a refreshing waterpark (Like Splash Country!) and more than likely we will follow that up with eating in (much cheaper than going out!) and playing a wonderful game, like Apples to Apples (best game ever).

So, these 5 goals are prominent right now, though it may not seem that progress is being made. These will take a complete reformation of our life and how we've been living it. It's hard to have friends that only go out and spend money, friends that are uninterested in enjoying a nice evening in, and still having a blast.

Luckily, our friends are on board with us!

I'm ready to be Debt Free!!


Disclaimer: This post is part of the 20SB Blog Carnival: Friends & Money, sponsored by Charles Schwab. Prizes may be awarded to selected posts. The information and opinions expressed in this post do not reflect the views or opinions of Charles Schwab. Details on the event, eligibility, and a complete list of participating bloggers can be found here.

#69: 75 books: Track Record

My #69 is to read 75 of the best 100 novels listed here.
I say 75 because I know that there will be some on the list I will not like AT ALL, so I'm allowing some leeway.
Anyway, this blog entry will be where I keep up with that list.

1. 1984 - Orwell (not so much a fan)
2. To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee (it was ok)
3. The Cather in the Rye - Salinger (very much enjoyed)
4. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien (thought it was boring. sue me.)
5. Pride and Prejudice - Austen (favorite book. loved it!)
6. The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald (didn't like.)
7. Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky (liked it)
8. Catch-22 - Heller (it was ok)
9. Jane Eyre - Bronte (liked quite a bit)
10. Animal Farm - Orwell (disliked.)
11. Lord of the Flies - Golding (I thought it was weird)
12. The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck (disliked)
13. Harry Potter series - Rowling (liked very much)
14. Wuthering Heights - Bronte (disliked)
15. Great Expectations - Dickens (liked quite a bit)
16. A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens (liked a bit)
17. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Twain (liked quite a bit)
18. War and Peace - Tolstoy (too long)
19. Les Miserables - Hugo (liked quite a bit)
20. Gone With the Wind - Mitchell (loved it!)
21. The Hobbit - Tolkien (did not like)
22. The Chronicles of Narnia - Lewis (liked very much)
23. The Picture of Dorian Grey - Wilde (it was ok)
24. Moby Dick - Melville (disliked)
25. The Da Vinci Code - Brown (loved it!)
26. Invisible Man - Ellison (it was ok)
27. Watership Down - Adams (it was ok)
28. The Time Traveler's Wife - Niffenegger (loved it!)
29. Little Women - Alcott (loved it!)
30. The Stand - King (LOVED IT! another favorite)
31. Memoirs of a Geisha - Golden (yet another favorite. LOVED this one!)
32. Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery (long time favorite. my mom also read it to me when i was very young).
33. Persuasion - Austen (loved it!)
34. Atonement - McEwan (liked it a bit)
35. Angels and Demons - Brown (loved it!)
36. The Scarlet Letter - Hawthorne (loved it!)


I'd like to add that this list is what got me to read both The Stand and Memoirs of a Geisha and they are now both on my favorite novels list!

The list keeps changing, but that's all right!

I had to make some updates to my list. I think that is one of the cool things about having your own goal list. Your goals are constantly changing, and the list can reflect that. So I'm not going to feel bad about changing some of my goals! Because if I dont want to do them any more, I dont have to. You know? So here are my updates.

wrensnestonline.com

15. I changed from "visit Deerfield Beach again" to visit Savannah and Tybee again. I spoke with the hubs about this and although we want to go to Deerfield again, it's more of a "someday" plan than a "in the next 3 years plan. Visiting Savannah and Tybee Island again, though, is much more financially possible, plus it's way closer. And we love it there!

aventy.com

16. I don't really want to go to the Outer Banks any more, at least not enough to make it a priority! Taking a Disney Cruise, though, is definitely important! So hopefully we can make that happen within almost 3 years.

53. Although I'd love to be licensed as a real estate agent, that will have to be put on the back burner until I get my Master's degree.

56. Attempt to rid myself of anger and/or see a therapist
Working on it!



75. Do a Zumba class.
Check!! Did it for the first time last week and LOVED it!! I will definitely be going back again. (Today, actually!) This lead me to change...

79. finish the 30 day shred again. Ugh I really hated doing that work out. Yeah, it's convenient and a hard core work out but I didn't enjoy it. For me, it's much easier to stick to something if I actually enjoy it. So, I changed this one to "Find a workout regimen that I actually enjoy and stick to it for 30 days or 10 weeks". Hopefully, this will be zumba.

Sean & Emma(: by Rachhツ on Polyvore.com

Soon I'll be able to mark off 101. Get caught up on Degrassi, because the every episode ever marathon begins tonight, and it's perfect timing!!

Some on-going things are:
61.Review every book and movie i read/see

63.Keep track of what I read and watch on goodreads and the movie tracker

(I may end up combining those two since they are so similar.)

I also added:

Have professional photos taken of the family. (considering I didn't get them at the wedding)

Book Review: My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

What I’m Reading Wednesday

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares was really an absolutely wonderful book. I have not read a book that delightful in quite a long time. I knew less than a chapter in that I was going to love the book fiercely, and I was right. I was so excited every time I read this book. Every time I picked it up I just could not wait to dive right in to the story.
This book is a love story, of course, but its a timeless one. It is very very similar to the Time Travelers Wife, in that the story takes place in many different times of the world, as well as different places. The difference is that the story is told by a soul, Daniel, that travels on, sort of like reincarnation through different people.
Daniel believes that the soul of Sophia is his soulmate, and he lives many different lives searching for her. The difference in the two of them is that Daniel remembers almost everything. He remembers from a very early life when he first met Sophia (which is like 700 AD in Africa or something of the sort) all the way though to present day. He finds Sophia as 'Lucy' at a high school. Lucy doesn't have the long memory that Daniel has, so she does not remember her past lives as Sophia and the other girls she has been. This poses a problem for them as Lucy thinks Daniel is crazy when he calls her Sophia, and tells her he has known her for a long time. Daniel knows that Lucy does not remember, but he is so frustrated and wanting her to remember him that he freaks her out a little bit and she runs away from Daniel.
Lucy goes with her best friend Marnie to a psychic some time later who ends up being some what legitimate, and the psychic talks about Daniel, asking Lucy why didn't she believe him, and that he truly loves her. Lucy gets overwhelmed, but eventually decides to look a bit further into this situation, and she goes to a hypnotist. This experience prompts her to travel to England and visit a house her soul once lived in as 'Constance' during a war time. Lucy finds a letter from Constance to herself "whoever she is now".
Because of the details of the letter, Lucy, at this point, learns a bit more of the truth, and accepts it. She becomes depressed, feeling miserable with out Daniel, as she has not seen him since high school. Enter Daniel's evil brother, who wants Sophia for himself (as she was once his wife in an earlier life) which brings in some action and mystery. Evil brother tells Lucy that he is Daniel, and takes her away.

I know I'm not too good at book summaries and reviews, so I'm going to stop there. I do want to say that this book is definitely now one of my top favorite books. The only reason it isn't scoring 5 stars is because of the reading level. It was a bit young, not quite a teenage book, but it was still YA. Anyway. I loved the book and the passion and romance that flowed all through it.

Recommend it: YES! For sure- to any one who loves romance books.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Yay for Shutterfly promo codes

Completed
3. Make a wedding photo book for Steven's parents
My photographer for the wedding was great, seriously, but the wedding albums for the parents were a bit expensive. Plus, my mom said she wanted to pick the pictures in her own album, as opposed to her copy being just like ours. So she and I sat down for a good 5 hours trying to make a wedding album on Shutterfly for her and my mamaw to have. It was a long tedious process, but it was fun. Needless to say, we didnt do one for the hubby's parents for many reasons. One being that my mother's album would be filled with mother daughter wedding photos such as this one:

and two, she never acted interested in having wedding pictures.
Well I decided that she needed to have one, and if she wasnt going to make the effort to get one, well hell I'd make one for her. Plus, I had a totally awesome coupon code for a free photobook. Shutterfly is like the Amazon for photo gifts, I love it. They are totally cheap and great quality!

After deciding what to go back to school for, I had to change one of my goals. So now, #31 is no longer 'move to Savannah'. It is now 'Get my Master's'. I will plan to move to Savannah AFTER I get my Master's but not any time before then!

I plan to knock a few of these out after this weekend. I'm in a wedding tomorrow, so it has been kinda crazy. I plan to take a Zumba class next week, and also go through my office to find stuff to get rid of.
You can find my full list in the links section of this page.

Setting my direction, one baby step at a time..

33. Decide what to go to grad school for
So, this was a huge goal for me. I've known for a while that I want to go back to school to get my masters, I just didnt know what area of study to focus on. Well, I found it. I've discovered what seems to feel right, and I am so on the top of the world right now, the way I always feel when i find something that just seems to fall into place.
So what is my decision you may wonder.. What path have I chosen to take me down the next couple years of my life? {...drumroll please...}
Teaching!
Yes, I'm going to get licensed to be a teacher through the teachers education program in place for students who already have a bachelors degree. Basically I'll take a few classes to fulfill basically an education minor, then I'll do an internship. The internship will count as 24 credit hours toward a masters program, then I'll have 12 credit hours left to finish my masters in education.
I want to teach middle school reading. I really feel like that's the place for me to be. I think I've found my calling. And I really feel sure about this. Which is amazing because I haven't felt sure of any thing in 3 years. Career or school wise I mean.
So now I just have to get accepted...

Let me count the ways....

Goals from "the list" that I'm working on (that might need more explaining...

49. Showcase my writing more often to more people
Definitely working on this in a sense with the whole, getting out there and blogging thing. I joined 20sb, and I've got some followers. I'm posting on other people's blogs and following them, being active in discussions, so that should help. That's step one, I suppose.

59. Finish reading Stephen King's The Dark Tower Series
Read some of book VII last night, and plan to more this weekend. This is the last book in the series, so I'm doing good there.




74. Run with Tiki 3x a week for 6 weeks (2/24)
Easier than I thought it would be. And I really enjoy it! We go in the evenings about 9, so its getting dark and not many people are out, so she doesnt get nervous.


79. Finish the 30 day shred again
Did day one last night. OMG sore. That is all.


Just gotta keep on truckin!