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!