Sunday Salon

I've decided to revamp the Sunday Salon post....again as a way to catch up with you all if I don’t manage to get any reviews posted. And as a way to combine books movies and TV because the separate posts for all that isn’t working. Ready?

Weather Small Talk: We finally got rain!!!! And more rain...and more rain. Where was all this rain this summer? I'm not sick of it yet so that's good.

On The Idiot Box: New TV shows are back. I've been keeping up with 9-1-1, The Resident and The Good Doctor and I started a new K-drama called Black. It's very different than the last one and half the time I have no idea what's going on but I'm still invested.  I gave up on American Horror Story; too pointless for me.
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Weekly Reads: I finished the Grisha Verse series and loved it; started the Bloodlines series and read a quick YA contemporary romance as a sort of palate cleanser...Cause guess what came in the mail?!!! Markus Zusak's new book!!! I can't wait to delve into it!

Crazy Kitties: All this cold weather has made the kitties overly snuggly. They're always trying to suck up all my body heat.

This Past Week: Was spent pretty lazily. We winterized out rentals but mostly I snuggled up on the couch a lot with my kitties, books and TV shows. Friday was our 5 year anniversary and we spent it pretty low key cause my husband and I have nasty head colds but I can't believe its been five years. Crazy! 

Movie(S) of the Week: We saw Venom on Sunday and it was not nearly as bad as everyone has been saying. It was funny and entertaining. Good popcorn movie.  

Food Talk: I've been sick to my stomach all week too so eating and I aren't getting along. Somethings are fine but others just make it worse. I hope whatever this is passes soon. 

Plans For The Upcoming Week: I'm spending the week in Oregon with my friend. By the time you read this I'll hopefully be walking on the beach. I'm excited from a break from work and routine and glad to be spending time with my friend. I hope my husband and kitties survive with out me.  See you on the other side! 

Sunday Salon

I've decided to revamp the Sunday Salon post....again as a way to catch up with you all if I don’t manage to get any reviews posted. And as a way to combine books movies and TV because the separate posts for all that isn’t working. Ready?

Weather Small Talk: It's finally cooling off at nights which is glorious. The days are warm but not unbearable but it's still dry, dry, dry! It is supposed to rain next week though. I hope it really does and I hope it's lots of rain. We need it badly!

On The Idiot Box: I finished my first K-drama. The one I was talking about last week called Beating Again. It was so soap opera-y but so much fun. The ending was a bit of a cop out but I liked it. I also finished all the available episodes of The Frankenstein Chronicles. It's such a strange show but I liked it too. I Started American Horror Story The Cult and I don't know if I'll finish it. This show keeps getting worse and worse with each season.
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Weekly Reads: I finished Before We Were Yours. It wasn't at all what I was expecting and I really liked it. I'm still working on Siege and Storm the second book in the Grisha trilogy. I'm liking it but it's one of those books that's so much fun while reading but if you put it down it's hard to pick back up. I squeezed in a Sarah Scribbles book and laughed my way through it and started Bloodlines by Richelle Mead on audiobook for when I get off my butt and go walking everyday.

Crazy Kitties: My cat Belly gave me a huge scare this week. I had the front door open because I was cooking steak and the house was all smoky (I'm so not a cook) and when I was done eating I went out to find her. She's scared of the front yard and never wanders more then 20 feet from the door unless she slips around to the backyard. Well, I called and called for her looking in both the front and backyard and nothing. I started panicking and my husband and I started looking in the neighbors yards and all over the street. I decided to check inside again (I'd already checked all her usual hiding places and remembered she sometimes squeezes under my dresser) but she wasn't there. Suddenly I turn around and see her head poking out of the closet. She'd found a new spot to hide and was behind a huge fuzzy robe hanging in there. Why? Why do cats do this to us?! Ugh!

This Past Week: I went with some of my friends to an author event my library put on with Camron Wright the author of the book I reviewed on Friday, The Orphan Keeper. It was a smaller low key event but a lot of fun...and as usual, I didn't take a single picture. 

Movie(S) of the Week: We saw The House With The Clock in its Walls which is not one I'd seek out but there isn't much out in theaters that I haven't already seen so we gave this one a go. It wasn't bad. It was cute and a little spooky and a whole lot of fun. 

Food Talk: Remember those steaks I mentioned? After trying and failing to make a decent steak without smoking up the whole house and attempting a roast in my crockpot the next day that turned our dry and rubbery with half the potatoes done and the others still crunchy, I swore off cooking and we went out to dinner the following two nights! 

Plans For The Upcoming Week: It's still pretty warm but I think I'm going to start winterizing my yard: Pulling up my annuals and putting up the yard furniture etc. I like all that cleaned up so it doesn't get in the way of raking leaves...and they're starting to fall. 

By The Time You Read This...

By the time you read this, I'll be...on "vacation". As you may or may not know, my husband grew up on the Oregon coast and loves it desperately. My dad was raised in Oregon and while I wasn't born there he instilled in my a love for the coast as well. So my husband and I have been traveling to Oregon once a year, at least, for a few years now and driving up and down the coast visiting our favorite spots.

Our plan was eventually to retire to the coast. Yes, there's the rain but look at that view! ^ ^ And these sunsets!

We love it so much! So, it's with great happiness that I tell you of our happy news! We purchased a vacation house on the beach! I'm absolutely thrilled! So this weekend, by the time you read this, we'll be driving (*whimpers* I hate driving) a load of furnishings to our new vacation home. We plan to do  the whole Airbnb thing as soon as we can which is great income and also leaves it available for when we want to get away...several more times than once a year now.

I'm not writing this to gloat (well, not totally) but to let you know it might be quiet around here for a while. All the prepping seriously cut into my reading time so after playing catch up with reviews the last two weeks you'll notice a lull. Not that you'll mind but, you know, I'm telling you anyway. Hopefully the blog will be back to "normal" around mid September.

In the mean time, wish us luck on the LONG drive and have a great Labor Day Weekend! (to my American friends)

Because I Promised

I promised you before and after pictures of my backyard and if you follow me on Instagram you probably already saw these but, if not, here they are!

I actually grew up in this house and once upon a time it didn't look THAT bad but by the time my husband and I bought it, it had been neglected and looked pretty bad...as you can see.

This one's my favorite. It looks so completely different! See that resort look I was going for?

 This was a before the before picture. We used to have a deck but it was falling to pieces.

I'm so bummed that we didn't have a before shot from this angle because over where the fire pit and my husband's shop is was a huge pile of branches and logs and just a big ol' mess!

And one shot at night because the lights are my favorite part!

It was a lot of work and took way too long to finish but I'm so glad it's done now. I spend most of my afternoons out by my pool reading! I love how low maintenance the yard is because the pool, while fun, is NOT low maintenance so every little bit helps.

Thanks for letting me show it off!

In My Thoughts This Fine Day #15

Sorry for all you fans out there but I hate the stupid Olympics. I just don't care about all the asinine sports or even the more legit events that the Olympics features. The whole reason I'm doing this post today instead of my TV Talk Sunday's is because there's nothing new to report on. I guess everyone else is watching the above mentioned stupidity. Sigh!

It looks like winter finally decided to show up in my neck of the woods. I just LOVE how it waited till the end of February to start snowing every other day! In case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm. I'm fine with winter but when it shows up this late and suddenly just starts dumping on us I get a little miffed. I couldn't resist taking the above picture. My kitty was certain she wanted outside but when I opened the door she took one step out and changed her mind. 

After reading The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett, (review up tomorrow) my first five star read of the year, I have the worst book hangover. I've tried picking up other books with no luck. It could be that I'm completely burned out on those Tournament of Books books but I'm struggling to get into anything. Sigh! I started Eliza and her Monsters the other day. Hopefully that will pull me out of this slump.  

Why, Hello There

A lot of you guys encouraged me to not give up on this blog and since I'm not quite ready to give up, I've decided to carry on. However, summers are just plain awful for me. I'm so busy I barely have time to read, let alone, blog.

Why am I so busy? Well, I think a lot of you know my husband and I own a few rental properties, right? Yeah, so in the winter I don't have to lift a finger at said properties unless something happens to go wrong, like a furnace going out (which two did this last winter) but that just requires a phone call to a repair company and a trip to the property to meet the repair man. Nothing too complicated. The summer, however, is a whole other story.  We do the yard work at our rentals so that means once a week we have to go mow lawns, make sure the sprinklers at one property are working and watering properly and make sure our tenants at the other property are keeping up with watering their lawns.

And now we have another property that we're remodeling right now...I swear this happens every summer...and on top of all that I have to keep up my own yard and house and, guys, I hate summers! I really do. They're hot and busy and all I want to do in lay by the pool and read but there's no time.

Thanks for listening to me rant. I have some book reviews to write but that might be all you see for awhile.

I hope everyone else is having a nice relaxing summer! See you on the other side!  

November (Personal) Wrap-up 2016

Oi! This is going to be a very different kind of wrap-up post. I only read one book in November and that's because it was for book club.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I haven't even written a review for it yet. I will. I promise.

As for favorites or least favorites um...well. I didn't particularly like the one book I read so I guess I'll just skip that part of my wrap-up.

And now for my long winded recap of this hellish month! The reason I haven't been reading etc.

So, I've been married just over three years now and I'm no spring chicken so my husband and I have been trying for kids for the entire three years....With no luck. I won't go into details but we tried just about everything except IVF.  And then, just when we'd given up and stopped trying everything, in October, we got that little pink line! We were pregnant! I couldn't believe it. I was beyond ecstatic. I told my family and close friends right away! I couldn't help myself. On Halloween, Oct 31st, the morning sickness started. My whole family has had it so I knew there was no getting out of it. And it was awful. Really awful! The smell sensitivities, the nausea, the puking, the food aversions. Oi! I spent all my time lying on the couch trying to keep food down and re-watching Gilmore Girls so I'd be all ready for the comeback episodes. (I'm still working on the last season so please, no spoiling the comeback yet!)

My first doctors appointment was November 21st. I was so nervous and by the time the 21st came I was beside myself. I kept getting this horrible feeling like something was wrong. There was no way I was lucky enough to have everything be normal and okay....I was right. :( We went in to the doctors office and met with a midwife, talked for a bit and then went in for the ultrasound. The minute my uterus came onto that screen my heart broke. There was nothing but an empty gestational sac. I knew exactly what I was looking at before the midwife said a thing. There was supposed to be a 9 week old baby in that sac and it just wasn't there. Of course the midwife was flustered and kept leaving the room and coming back. She was trying to find out how to measure the sac. She explained what I already knew. There was supposed to be a baby in there and there was nothing there. I had what is called a blighted ovum. Which means the baby stopped developing at 4-5 weeks but my body didn't get the message and the gestational sac and placenta kept growing and raising my HCG levels.

I was sent to the hospital for blood work to see what my HCG levels were and given some options for miscarrying as I still needed to face the fact that I needed to get my uterus cleaned out.

My husband and I drove home in silence in pouring rain and then sat in the driveway crying together.

After another HCG test we saw my levels were dropping so I chose to let the miscarriage come naturally. It came on December 3rd. I won't go into the details of that hellish experience but I will tell you I had two weeks to mourn so passing the tissue was a relief. I feel at peace now. As peaceful as you can feel after something like that.

On top of all this my family just found out that my mother has breast cancer that has spread all over into her body. I won't say more on that because we're still pretty in the dark on the whole thing.

Needless to say, you can probably see now why I only read one book this month. Sorry to be a downer. I just wanted to share my story with you guys. It's therapeutic to talk about it. I'm obviously still sad but I'm alright. It's not something I'd ever want to go through again and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy but I have learned from this experience  and am OK. Thanks for reading, if you still are. Love you guys! You're a great community that I love and feel safe enough to share my experience with.

See you around the blogosphere!

7 "Interesting" Things About Me

Thanks to Kara from Flowers of Quiet Happiness for nominating me! I wanted to participate quite frankly so I had something to blog about. Guys, my blogging slump just won't go away. So anyway. The rules for this award are to post 7 interesting things about yourself and tag 10-15 other bloggers. Will you all hate me if I don't tag anyone but still participate? I hope not. Here goes.

1 On October 12th I'll have been married for 3 years. In that time, my husband has started his own business, we bought a house and remodeled it, bought two rental properties, got another kitty and tracked down my husband's birth mom (whom we visited in person this past weekend). If we'd had a kid I think I might have died from stress, yes?

2 I've been to England twice and would love to live there. I love it!

3 I have a library in my house that I remodeled the first of this year that has zero books in it. What? Then how is it a library, you ask? I don't know! It just is! It was meant to have bookshelves but due to buying a lovely couch and a chair to go in there before it was remodeled left me with zero room for my bookshelves.  Needless, to say, I still call it my library/reading room even if it doesn't have any books in it.

4 I live in Utah with "The Greatest Snow on Earth" And have never been nor do I desire to go skiing.

5 The house my husband and I bought was actually my mom's house. AKA the house I grew up in. So after a brief stint away where I lived in an apartment for awhile, I moved right back into the house I grew up in. So basically I've lived int the same house for 32 years. Can I just say, I'm really sick of the same old surroundings. Oh well.

6 I hate coconut but like Mounds bars. And I like them for the weirdest reason. You know in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Charlie finds the money and buys a candy bar with the last Golden Ticket in it? Well, before he gets that candy bar, he gets another one that he shoves down so fast you'd think he hadn't eaten in years. Anywho, that first candy bar looks like a Mounds bar and it looks so freaking good! Just thinking about him snarfing down that stupid candy bar makes me want a Mounds bar.

7  I'm a crazy neat freak. I clean my house once a week. Which isn't too bad but I'm one of those weirdos that moves all the furniture to vacuum and sweep. Like the stove and the fridge and couches etc.  I never thought that was weird until people told me it was. Oh well.

So, there you have it. Not too interesting but hey. Again, I'm not going to tag any one but please feel free to participate! I'd love to hear 7fun facts about you guys!

In My Thoughts This Fine Day #13

Occasionally, I go through my TBR shelf on Goodreads and purge. Take off all those titles I no longer want to read. It's quite painful. I'm always afraid I'll purge a book I might have loved. Still, with over 800 books on my TBR shelf there's just no way, right? So I purge. And lately I've been considering purging my physical book shelves. *gulps* I don't know, guys. Can I do it? Will it feel good? I spent money on those books and if I get rid of a book I've never even read will I regret it?

Guys, I seriously miss routine! I know, it sounds crazy, but if your life was as unpredictable and crazy as mine...or if it is, you'd understand. I just want to have a nice normal life for awhile! Sigh! Hopefully one day it'll go back to normal and I'll miss the craziness.

I'm going to get really annoying for a minute! So I read and comment on all my fellow blogger friend's blogs via Feedly. Every day. On. My. Phone. And yet, I see all these people say it's just so hard to comment from a phone and they never have time anymore. What?! I find the time when I'm waiting in line at the bank or grocery store. And commenting from a phone is easy. I'll admit if I have a really long comment that it gets a bit tedious but if I keep my comments short and sweet, it's easy-peasy! Not that I'm trying to guilt trip anyone. I guess I just don't get it. I don't find it hard at all. Anyone else use their phone to read and comment on blogs? Tell me I'm not alone!

On My Mind This Fine Day #12

It's time for some more randomness!

1 Ugh! I'm in such a blogging slump! Somehow, with all the craziness going on in my life, I'm still managing to read great but blogging??? Not so much. So...I did write a review the other day and started getting annoyed with all the things I list. Like: Title, Author, Genre, Pages, etc. I love adding the first line of every book but are all those other things necessary? Do you even look at them? Sometimes I've seen people post the name of the series the book is in and what number it is which I really like but the other stuff...I don't know if it's necessary. Can't you just read the title and author off the picture of the book? I don't know tell me what you think.

2 Speaking of all the craziness. My husband and I own a duplex and had to send a tenant packing. We decided to renovate her side because it was in dire need of help. It's exhausting because we do so much of it ourselves. This time we decided to hire out the paint job because...well let's just say the words mental and breakdown were bandied about.  So we got some bids, hired it out and...I should just do these things myself! I'm such a control freak I want to hover over their shoulders and correct every little thing they do! I'm going to get through this. I just need to remember to breathe!

3 Shout out time! I used to be utterly obsessed with TV. I'd watch a million shows live (none of that DVR stuff for me). I knew what new shows were coming out each season and would make a schedule so I could check them out...you may remember because I posted about it a few times. Anywho, I hardly watch TV now. I just can't seem to get in to anything anymore. BUT! I love Jane The Virgin. It's so ridiculously, stupidly perfect! Have you seen it? Cause season 1 is on Netflix. You should watch it. I also actually have gotten into another show too. ABC's The Family. You may have seen me Tweeting about it. It's so addicting! Go on, check it out. Oh, and Game of Thrones is coming back! Wahoo!

Oh, I'm Sorry. I Thought You Were Someone Else

Ah, author signings. A favorite pastime of book lovers everywhere. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere frequented by authors, that is. Lucky for me, I am. I live in Utah (Utah gets a lot of author signings?) I know, right? But for some strange reason we do. A lot of these signings are by local authors. We Utahns have a lot of authors in state but we've had visits from people like Kathryn Stockett, Markus Zusak, Sarah J Maas, Lois Lowry and Ruta Sepetys. Maybe it's because we Utahns like to read and buy books? I'm really not sure of the reason but I'm sure happy to be a part of it.

Now, I usually don't post about the author signings I go to. Besides the fact that I don't go to as many anymore, I also just get happy to be at the event and forget to take pictures. I Want to live in the moment I guess. But I think the other reason is because of repeated awkwardness at book signings.

So, you go to the event. You're excited!  If it's an author you love you've been eagerly awaiting this day. You sit amongst other book lovers who are excitedly chattering and then the event begins. Someone announces the author and there they are! They look so human and normal but not all at once. They start to talk and you listen enraptured. Sometimes not so enraptured. I'll admit some authors are sadly not the greatest of speakers and are rather boring. But, hey, who cares? Your fan-girling something awful over here! Then comes the signing. You wait in line...sometimes a VERY LONG line and as you get closer to the author you sneak peeks at them; start panicking about what you're going to say to them. Then the big moment comes. You either smile stupidly as they sign your book and squeak out a, "thanks for coming" or you have enough guts to actually tell them how much you loved their book or books and how excited you  are to finally meet them. And then they look up at you...or not and smile and say thanks. Hand your books back to you and look over your shoulder at the next person in line. Hinting that you, crazy fan girl, need to move on.

I could go into a myriad of reasons this is the response one might get but rather than blame the author, I've decided to blame myself. I think what really bothers me, aka, lets me down is I was expecting someone else. I wanted to meet the character from the author's book I loved so much. Not the author.  So I'm left feeling disappointed and sad.

Sigh! I'm going to meet Cassandra Clare and Holly Black tonight. I'm most excited about Holly Black. Her Curse Workers Series is in my top 5 favorite books! But...maybe it's not Holly I want to meet. Maybe It's Cassel. But since I can't meet him, I'll awkwardly smile at his maker and try not to gush too much!

What about you? Do you feel let down after meeting an author? Do you think it's because we actually wanted to meet their characters?

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Day 1

I know I've been focusing on my Adult Literature Month this...well, month, but I decided to participate in BBAW. So this week I'll following their prompts. It's probably a good thing because I haven't finished another book yet so I don't have anything to review. So today the lovely ladies hosting BBAW have asked us to: "Introduce yourself by telling us about five books that represent you as a person or your interests/lifestyle."

I'm not sure I understand what they're going for but I thought I'd go ahead and try naming five books that will give you an insight into my personality.  Here we go.

A Madness Of Angels by Kate Griffin

If you've followed my blog for any amount of time you probably know that this series by Kate Griffin is one of my favorite series of all time. If you didn't know this let me just tell you a little about it. Matthew Swift is a sorcerer. Matthew Swift live in London. Matthew Swift was murdered. Though his body was never found there's no doubt of his demise. But he's back and full of vengeance...and something else, something powerful. 

The reason I chose this book as an insight into my personality is because this "thing" (can't say much without being spoilery) that is now a part of Matthew makes him incredibly powerful, special and unique. I LOVE stories like this. Call it low self esteem or boredom of the mundane life I live but I always wish I was all powerful, special, and could still be as humble as Matthew is. Love it! 

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

There's this deep part of me that wished I was as self sacrificing as Odd. I know if I had some power or ability I'd become some super villain. Seriously. Wouldn't it be nice to have telekinesis around crappy drivers in rush hour? I'd be flipping cars out of my way blaring Flight of the Valkyries and laughing manically. Sigh! But deep down I really wish I could be as humble and selfless and giving as Odd.

 Elevated by Elana Johnson

The message I got out of this book is one I loved and so desperately wish I could apply to my life. I don't want to be too spoilery but I kind of have to be so if you haven't read this one and plan to, you might want to skip this. At the end of the story Eleanor finally puts herself first. As hard as it is to walk away from Travis she does it. Not because she didn't love him but because she had learned how destructive and damning the relationship was. I'm not saying I need out of my marriage or anything. I just wish I had more love and respect for myself and could learn to put myself first. Not in a selfish way just in a necessary way. 

Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak

If you read my guest post on Suey's blog a few years ago you know all about this one. If you missed it you really should check it out. If you don't want to click on over there. Let me just say this. You know the song Killing Me Softly by the Fugees? About this girl who goes to a club and this guy is singing this song and she swears it's all about her? Well, that's how I feel about this book. I read it and just sat there crying. I swear Markus was writing about me! 

  

Persuasion by Jane Austen

I'm actually a hopeless romantic. I know, you'd never guess it by how much eye rolling goes on around here over the romance in books but I really am a romantic. This book is my type of romance. When Captain Wentworth picks up Anne and puts her in the carriage when they all went for that walk and she was tired...Sigh!!! I just about die. And of course the letter he writes! I cried like a baby the first time I read that. 

So there you have it. WAY too much information about me....well, this is awkward...Just kidding. I hope you enjoyed this insight into my personality. 

In My Thoughts This Fine Day #11

It's been a while since I did one of these posts. Since I'm still working my way through Winter (very good but long!) I don't have any book reviews to post. So hey, how about some random thoughts. Enjoy!


1. Book Shelves
So most of us book lovers just love organizing and reorganizing our book shelves. I know I do but lately I've been trying to decide something a little different. See, I was always taught that books are to be lined up with the front of the shelf. So that's how I do it. But I've noticed that others push their books to the back of the shelf and put little knick knacks in front of them. I think it's actually very cute and heaven knows I need more room for my knick knacks but...the dusting. Sigh! What to do? What to do? What do you do and like best?

2. This video explains how I feel about the cold and snow to a T.

I actually like winter better than summer but I'm so tired of being cold!

3.I'm SOOOO excited about my reading plans this year. Now before you ask what I'm going to read let me just cut you off and say, I don't know yet. I do know that I'm doing all adult books for the month of February and can't wait to go into my library and pick out what I'll be reading. And then...! I plan on getting some series finally read. Usually I read a book in a series and then read something else but not this year. This year I plan on finishing some series I'm in the middle of and starting AND finishing some others. Don't ask but this makes me so happy and excited! You can follow me on Instagram if you'd like. I'll be posting pics of my monthly TBR books each month!

In My Thoughts This Fine Day #10

I just read this book for book club. I thought it might take awhile so I go an early start. I was wrong. It didn't take me long. I flew through it. If you haven't read this one yet you haven't let it drop despondently from your hands as it ends and flung yourself on the floor in despair! I seriously need to discuss this book!!!! Sigh! Here's my question: Should I read the sequel After You? It just came out but I've heard really negative things. See, I figured either Moyes' wrote the sequel to give her poor readers some closure or she just wrote it because she knew she'd make bank. From what I can gather from people's reviews it's the latter. Ugh! Maybe just discussing it would be enough. If only I had someone to discuss it with!

I have five books to review...I'll attempt to write up some reviews after posting this but all I want to do is read! Considering my dismal reading numbers lately, I guess at least I'm reading, right? But when I keep flying though books I need to review them before I forget all about them and I don't wanna!!!!  I just want to read...I blame it on the season. When fall comes with its colder temperatures, I want hot chocolate, hot baths and books!!!

Hey look! A movie review shoved into my random post! Let me just admit right now that (sorry Jenni and Suey) I just don't get the obsession with Tom Hiddleston. I do, however, enjoy a good horror movie so I went to see Crimson Peak this past week. I seriously want those two hours of my life back!!! First off, ALL the scary scenes are shown in the previews! It wasn't even a horror movie. It was a disgusting drama involving a pathetically naive and weak heroine, incest and dubious plot. If you wanted to see it for the horror, don't! Just watch the previews. If you wanted to see it for Tom, don't! He's kind of a jerk in it and not in a Loki kinda way.

Rant & Rave #2

                                                                Rant & Rave

Welcome to my Rant and Rave post. A place where I can Rave about something or someone, and a place where I can get that chip off my shoulder by Ranting.

 Rave
I'm such a negative person that Raving about things just isn't "me", if you know what I mean. But, yes, occasionally I get over my pessimism and find something glorious and beautiful in life to rave about.
Today's Rave: Did you know Cabella's has fudge? Homemade in-store made fudge?! Alright, it's ridiculously expensive but it's delicious, comes in a bazillion different flavors and is quite the reward for being dragged to a hunting, camping, outdoors'ey store with my husband. This trip, I bought regular milk chocolate flavored and then tried the Heath Bar crunch and the Rolo flavored. Both delicious! Can you say sugar high?! 

Rant
Today's Rant: So, last Sunday I get to church, on time, and sit at one end of a pew. The other end was occupied by a group of older single widows. Between us is space but I sat at the end because I'm a bit claustrophobic and was feeling very dizzy and sick as it was. When suddenly, a good 15 minutes late, a couple with several kids walks up to me and just sits there staring at me. Now usually they might motion to the empty spot between me and the older ladies and mouth quietly if that spot is taken. To which I would nod, suck in and let them in. However, the man just sits there looking at me and I finally whisper, "would you like me to move down?" He snaps out a "yes" and I was so flustered I didn't say what I wanted to about how I was on time and that he can't just kick me out of my seat, but instead just moved down. So now I'm trapped between these older ladies and this loud family with young kids and does it get better? No! The guy gets out a bag of grapes and starts popping them in his mouth and somehow manages to make them crunch. I mean, I didn't know you can make grapes crunch but this man has somehow discovered the secret. So not only is he being totally disrespectful (it was during the sacrament for those of you who are LDS) but he's being loud and obnoxious too! Then through the rest of the meeting his little girl sat and kicked my legs. Seriously?! What's wrong with people? 
Now before you judge me for being a judgmental religious fanatic who has no charity, let just remember, no matter your religion or lack thereof, you don't kick someone out of their seat. You wouldn't go to movie and ask someone to move. At least, I hope you wouldn't. Anyway, I'm just ranting and ranting is safe here...right? ;) 


Hope you enjoyed my Ranting and Raving. What are you Raving and Ranting about today? Please share.

Rant & Rave #1

                                                                Rant & Rave

Welcome to my first Rant and Rave post. A place where I can Rave about something or someone, and a place where I can get that chip off my shoulder by Ranting.

 Rave
I'm such a negative person that Raving about things just isn't "me", if you know what I mean. But, yes, occasionally I get over my pessimism and find something glorious and beautiful in life to rave about.
Today's Rave: My all time favorite toy ever! My leaf blower. I know, you think I've really lost it now but don't click away just yet. I seriously love this thing. I love how powerful it makes me feel. I love when I'm in a particularly bad mood how taking the ol' leaf blower out and blowing my yard free of leaves dust and dirt just makes me smile. Nothing, can withstand it's force. (ok not really, but it feels that way) and just holding the power of wind in my hands makes me happy! I use it to clean not just my yard but my shop vac's filter out. Yep, just take that baby outside, have someone hold it, then blow the crap out of it! Wahoo! I also used that technique on my furnace filter when I wasn't able to replace it quite yet. Seriously, just ask my husband. When ever there's a job for the leaf blower; I get a huge grin on my face, a slight skip in my step and run to my beloved leaf blower.

Rant
Today's Rant: Stupid drivers. Actually, you'll probably see this little rant of mine more than once. My particular rant today has to do with people in parking lots. OK, so say you're driving down the little isle between parking spots looking for a good one or you've just exited your spot and are making your way down the isle to the exit and suddenly, someone starts pulling out. Well, obviously you can see better than they can, so you slow down waiting for them to see you. Now in my humble opinion. If you're pulling out of a parking spot you yield to the person in the "road" but lately theses entitled bastard just keep pulling out! They know I'm not waiting for their spot they just can't be bothered to stop. Apparently, in their mind, they have the write of way. What the hell?! It's happened to me so many times in the last little bit that I swear...one more person does it and I'll ram my crappy dented Honda Civic into their shiny new Mercedes. I swear I'll do it, consequences be damned! Phew! That felt good. Sorry about the swears.


Hope you enjoyed my Ranting and Raving. What are you Raving and Ranting about today? Please share.

Sunday Salon

Welcome to the Sunday Salon. A Weekly Update of my boring life. 

Weather Small Talk:  Still having that typical Utah spring weather. Hot as Hades one day, cold as ice the next. 

On The Idiot Box: My TV watching is pretty much down to series on Netflix. I tried out The 100, The Paradise and Daredevil. So far I'm only still interested in Daredevil. I guess I'll just stick with Game of Thrones.

Weekly Reads: I read two books again this week! I'm on a roll! I finished Dune and read Elevated by Elana Johnson. 

Crazy Kitties: I'm at my wits end with Belly. She keeps going potty on the bathroom rug. Now I don't get to have a rug in the bathroom. Any tips? Seriously. I've tried everything from punishment to ignoring her and nothing helps. It's a territorial thing and I can't get her to stop. 

This Week: Had some serious highs and lows this week emotionally. Stupid hormones! 

Movie of the Week: No new movies but I watched The Babadook (a Australian horror movie) on Netflix. I laughed through most of it as I often do in horror movies but this one had this whole symbolic thing going and it was pretty interesting. 
 

Food Talk: I know you're never going to believe this but I think I'm all sugared out. I just can't stand the thought of eating more sugary foods...just give me a few days. I'm sure I'll be back to sugar soon. 

Married Life: I decided to add a little something about my married life to this post. Tell me what you think. The past couple of weeks, It's occurred to me that the honeymoon phase is over. No, no. I don't mean I'm miserable and my marriage is boring and loveless. It's just not all passion and lovey dovey crap anymore. However, the communication level has gotten really good and I'd take that any day of the week over romance. 

Lessons Learned: Unfortunately, though I have these amazing breakthroughs about life everyday, I don't seem to act on them very well. Oh well. I'm still working on my goal of the year to love myself more. It's hard guys. Why do we woman struggle with this so much?!

Plans For The Week: The gross swamp we have growing in the pool is going bye bye. I'm so excited to get it all cleaned out and filled. Now if the weather will just cooperate and get warm! 

Sunday Salon

I've decided to revamp the Sunday Salon post! Mostly, because I'm not reading as much and since I'm not reviewing as many books...well, I need something to post, right? Plus I just like to get personal sometimes. So, here we go. 

Weather Small Talk:  Stupid Utah weather. It's been raining all week. Now I love me some spring rain but did the temperature have to drop 30 degrees? Sheesh!  Last Sunday I turned the AC on this Sunday I've got the furnace back on. 


On The Idiot Box: Still just watching Game of Thrones. Last week's episode was really lackluster. I'm hoping this week's episode is better. 

Weekly Reads: I Finished two whole books. Yay me!  I finished Cress and Lost Lake and enjoyed them both. I'm still working on Dune and am thinking of starting Elevated by Elana Johnson.

Crazy Kitties: Buns, my siamese is same old same old. She's getting old and I just realized the other day that she could die as soon as next year.  How sad is that? Belly is still crazy.  She loves to go outside but I only let her out when I'm with her and she doesn't think I go out enough. 

This Week: We hauled away all the trees we cut down. That was exhausting.  Then it rained and rained and I spent a lot of time reading. 

Movie of the Week: No new movies but I did see (for the first time) the old 70's version of The Exorcist. I didn't find it all that scary but I did appreciate that back then that movie probably scared the crap out of people. 

Food Talk: Today, as you know is Mother's Day. My mother in law is coming for dinner and loves peppermint pattys so I'm incorporating them in to a cake.  I hope it turns out ok. 


Plans For The Week: More yard work and reading. 

The Sunday Salon Returns!!!

I've decided to revamp the Sunday Salon post! Mostly, because I'm not reading as much and since I'm not reviewing as many books...well, I need something to post, right? Plus I just like to get personal sometimes. So, here we go. 

Weather Small Talk: Spring is here! I spend evenings out side on the front porch with my kitties. 

On The Idiot Box: As, you know, a lot has changed for me in the last two years. Sadly my obsession with TV has been put on hold. However, I have got my husband addicted to Game of Thrones. We caught up on all the seasons in time for this season's premier. It's a gritty, gritty show but I loves it! 

Weekly Reads: I'm still reading Dune for the Read Along and Book Club. So far so good. I'm also working on Cress and loving it. I kind of struggled with Scarlet a little but Cress is awsomeness! 

Crazy Kitties: My Siamese featured in the picture for my Sunday Salon posts is getting a little old. :( She takes things calmly and patiently. Our new kitty, on the other hand, is young and impetuous. She runs around the house like a maniac leaping off walls and skidding around corners. 

This Week: We finally got some renters in our basement apartment and I've also been working in the yard cutting down tree after tree. So Tired!  

Movie of the Week: I saw The Age of Adeline on Tuesday...Meh. I really wanted to love it but it was only so so. 

Food Talk: Sadly my diet and I are at odds with each other so I've gained weight and am eating quite dreadfully. Oh well, life ebbs and flows...like my weight. ;) I'm always pinning delicious recipes on Pinterest but don't try them very often. 

Soccer Sightings: My biggest "I do not want to confess this to be blogging buddies". I have not been watching soccer. I know, I know! I'm shocked too. I had to cut the channel that showed the games because I couldn't afford it. I still follow my boys on line but it's just not the same. Sigh! One day I'll get back to them, right? 

Plans For The Week: Keep working on the yard and spend more time reading. I deserve some freaking lazy reading time. Can I get and AMEN?! 

While I've been gone

I've been missing for the past two years. It's not because I don't like blogging or reading, though. As you all may remember. I met a hot guy, went on vacation, got married started a business with my husband and now...Now I've bought a house. We've been remodeling like crazy and while we still have things left to do and projects left to finish (mainly the yard now), the big project, the basement, is done!!!! Wahoo! You have no idea how much I hated working on it. And for the record, we weren't picking out paint and cabinets and hiring big muscley men to come do all the work. WE did all the work and it sucked. Sigh! I'm glad that's over. Anywho, here's some before and after pictures. In case you're interested.

We had to completely gut one of the bathrooms due to water damage.

Much better.  Love my lights.

The downstairs bathroom

Look at the disgusting dated tub, oh and the walls

Voila! You Like? 

The scary old windows

OK so you can't see the new windows but still.  

Notice the hole on the wall where the dryer plugs in and the vent going out a window

Look, a dryer vent in the wall. 

The room we turned into a kitchen

Ta da! What do you think?

So, there a you have it. What do you think?