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.