Winter Book Challenge!

I will be joining Megan from Semi-Charmed Kind of Life for her winter book Challenge.

These are the rules:

• The challenge will run from November 1, 2012, to January 31, 2013.  No books that are started before 12 a.m. on November 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on January 31 will count.
• No re-reads (unless specifically stated)
• Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audiobooks are fine, as long as the print versions meet the page requirements.
• A book can only be used for one category. If you want to switch the category later, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.
• The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will win a featured/guest post on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. 

The Challenge: (I numbered the books to make it easier for me to keep up!)

BOOK 1    5 points: Read a book written by an author you have never read before.
BOOK 2   5: Read a book you already have at home but haven’t gotten around to yet (from the library, from a bookstore, borrowed from a friend, on your e-reader, whatever).
BOOK 3    10: Read a book written in the decade that you were born. Submitted by Summer Book Challenge finisher Hannah.
BOOK 4   10: Read a book that takes place in the state/province where you were born. If you were born outside the U.S. and Canada, read a book that takes place in the country you were born.
BOOK 5   15: Read a book titled The _______'s Daughter or The _______'s Wife. (There are a ton, I promise!)
BOOK 6   15:  Read a book that was originally written in a language other than English.
BOOK 7   20: Read a book with a number in the title. This could be an actual digit or a number like “hundred” or “thousand.” No arbitrary numbers are allowed (e.g. several, few, many, couple).
BOOK 8   20:  Read a book set during Christmas or another winter holiday.Submitted by Jessica of Sweet Green Tangerine via Twitter.
BOOK 9   20: Read a book written by an author who shares your initials.Submitted by Sarah of The Roaring Twenties via Twitter.
BOOK 10  25: Read a Pulitzer Prize winner or finalist for fiction.
BOOK 11   25:  Re-read a book. 
BOOKS 12, 13, & 14   30: Read three books from three different genres (e.g. romance, historical fiction, horror, biography, etc.). Remember, the books used for this category cannot count for any other category. Submitted bySummer Book Challenge winner Momma Sunshine.

The books I plan to read: (I plan to get most of my books from the library so my list might change depending on whether the book is available when I need it or not.)

Book 1: The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger...this has been on my to-read list for  along time

Book 2: Pretty in Plaid, Jen Lancaster

Book 3: The Key to Rebecca, Ken Fellett (1980)

Book 4: East of the Mountains, David Guterson (Set in WA)

Book 5: The Senator's Wife, Sue Miller

Book 6: Ruby Red, Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell (Translator)Originally written in German

Book 7: A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens...I know it's so sad that I STILL haven't read this classic.

Book 8: The Christmas Sweater, Glenn Beck

Book 9: The Last Summer, Ann Brashares 

Book 10: The Road, Cormac McCarthy (Winner 2007)

Book 11: Handle with Care, Jodi Picoult

Book 12:  Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver (dystopian, young adult)

Book 13: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (Mystery, Thriller)

Book 14: Confessions of a Call Center Gal, Lisa Lim (Chick Lit)

That's a LOT of books!

I'll be updating my progress on my Book Challenge page.

I'm also going to try to review all of the books.

Wish me luck!

I'm actually speed reading a book I got just a few days ago. It was on hold at the library and then finally it was MINE!  I know I won't have time to read it plus these other books in the next few months. I'm only half way through the book. I want to read it before I start my challenge books SO I have today to finish it lol. There will be NO cleaning today! 

and...

Things Noah Says: Take 2

Noah was about to open his umbrella in the car. I told him he was going to poke his eye out and then he'd have to get a patch to put on his eye. He replied with:
If I get an eye patch people will think I'm tough. If they think I'm tough they'll want to see how tough. When they want to see how tough I'll wake up in a ditch.
Which he got from this commercial:

After school one day following the vacation day for Columbus Day...
Noah: Did you know yesterday was Columbus day?
Me: Yes
Noah: Well!!! Why didn't we celebrate? Like make a cake or something?
Me: Ummm I don't know?
Noah: Do you even know who Columbus was? He found America! That's where we live! Aaaand one of his boats sank! It was the santas marina! I can't believe we didn't celebrate.

I guess next year I'll have to make a cake...maybe even get balloons lol...and teach him the real names of the ships.

While driving in the car one day:
Noah: Did you know that Braden's brother is named after a radio station?
Me: I don't think he's named after a radio staion...
Noah: Yes he is. He has the same name as the K-Love station.
Me: Oh... well his name is Caleb...Not K-Love =)

I asked Noah if he cleaned his room and he said yes I promise. 
Me: Cross your heart? Hope to die? stick a needle in your eye?
Noah:  Why would you want to do all that mean stuff to me?

LOL

We were in the car with Noah's Great Grandma. She got her handicap sticker out and put it over the car mirror. Noah said:
Grandma has one of those because she's old. 

Noah sings a lot...often with the wrong words

Moves like Jagger
Noah sings: I've got the moves in my jacket
Actual song: I've got the moves like Jagger

The Hurt and the Healer Collide
Noah sings: It's the moment when humanity is overcome by manatees.
Actual song: It's the moment when humanity is overcome by majesty 

I sure hope humanity is never overcome by manatees... 

I love my funny little man.

Friday's Letters

Friday is here again and that 
means I'm linking up with Ashley 
from Adventures of Newlyweds



Dear Book Swap,

I'm so glad Jessica though of doing this. I got so excited last night as I sealed my book into it's envelope to be mailed to my book swap partner Kristy. I hope she loves the book as much as I did!

Dear Pumpkins,

We have major carving plans this weekend!

Dear Sister, 

I miss you! And here is why...

Last night she sent me a text stating that they had something and it was something bad.

It was almost as if she was sitting across from me sipping wine and laughing. We have the best time together.

That's it for this Friday...

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Printed Books V. E-Readers

Normally Thursday is book chat day, but with the BOOK SWAP going on Jessica is taking a tiny break. There is still time to join if you haven't yet.  If you're interested leave a comment below with your blog link or good reads profile. Don't forget to include what kind of book you would be interested in.

So since their isn't a book chat topic today I decided to talk about a topic that was discussed before I joined the chat. If you love books like I love books you should join the chat too! Just visit Jessica over at Sweet Green Tangerine for more details.

It's a war! Not really.

 Everyone has their own opinion about which is better... The real printed book or the e-reader. I like my e-reader but I love books. I don't think it's the actual book itself that I love. It's the experience of buying the book or checking the book out. I love the way libraries and book stores smell. I love walking in and seeing all of the books lined up just waiting for me to choose one. I can flip through them and read a few chapters if I want before making a choice. 

I like walking out of the library with an armful of books knowing I'll be back very soon to get more.

I don't dislike my e-reader. It has it's own perks. It's lightweight so I can take it anywhere. It fits nicely in my purse. I can read in privacy. I could be reading a scandalous racy novel and no one would ever know. I can store lots of books on just that one device. 

If I had to give up one or the other I would give up the e-reader. It just doesn't compare to having a real solid book in my hands. 

But thankfully I get to keep them both =)

Up to Wednesday

I was nominated for a Liebster Blog Award!

You can find my Liebster post here.

Liebster Award

We played around at the store.

We found this Christmas decoration that could also be used for Halloween lol

Have a GRRRREAT day!!!

Liebster Blog Award!

The Liebster award is given by fellow bloggers to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. 

So, what is a Liebster anyway? 

The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

First I need to say thank you to Holly from Not Done Growing for nominating me. =)


And now for the rules:

Each person must post 11 things about themselves 

Answer the questions that the nominator set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve nominated to answer. 

Choose 11 people and link them in your post. 

Go to their page and tell them. 

No tag backs! 


My 11 facts:

I have a 6 year old son named Noah.

I do not know what I want to be when I grow up...even though I'm already 27. 

I dream of writing a book but I have no idea what I would write about. 

I love crab legs. They are my favorite thing to eat!

I am terrified of anything paranormal. 

I have been married for almost 9 years.

I hate driving at night.

I am really bad at playing video games. My son won't even play with me...that's how bad 
I am.

I love to do crafts and make things.

I love to read. I go to the library every Wednesday lol.

I'm named after Ashley from Gone with the Wind...who is a man. So I am named after a dude.



Holly's questions:

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
 Mmmmm Anything coffee flavored OR Strawberry. I really cant choose between the two!

What is the best book your have read in the last year? 
Definitely The Book Thief. You can find my review here.

You have just won an all-expense-paid vacation to the destination of your choice, where do you want to go? 
Maybe it's cheesy but I'd choose Disney World. I really want to take Noah but it's just so expensive! We would go to ALL of the theme parks of course and stay in an awesome Disney themed hotel.

What song always makes you happier when you listen to it?
Kari Jobe: Every One Needs a Little

Are you a going to have a scary or funny jack-o-lantern for Halloween? 
Both! I like cute Halloween stuff. Noah likes creepy Halloween stuff. lol

When the alarm goes off in the morning, do you jump up ready to face the day or hit the snooze button as many times as possible?
 Jump up and face the day! My husband is a snooze-aholic. It is VERY annoying!

Do you have any siblings? 
Sure do. One brother and one sister. I'm the oldest.

Is your bed made right now? 
No lol But my excuse is that our sheets don't actually fit our bed. We bought a new king size bad and still haven't purchased the right size sheets.

How would you spend your time if all of a sudden you have the afternoon free and all to yourself?
 I'd probably read. I love reading. OR I would nap. I equally love napping. 

Who is your favorite super hero?
 I don't really have one. I guess if I have to pick one I pick wonder woman, because she has great hair lol.

Which is more you:  sneakers or high heels?
Neither...Boots. I'd rather wear boots than anything else. Flat boots if I need to be comfy. I own all kinds of boots... black, brown, flat, heeled, boots with buckles, boots with laces...LOTS



Fabulous people I nominate:

Heather from Bumble Bee

Amanda from This IS My Real Hair

Tiff from My Smile Saga

Lauren from Life As A Labeth

Kristy from A Happy Heart

Erin from Keep Calm & Sparkle

Karen from Ramblings of an Otter Wifey

Jen from That's What She Read

Kenzie from Life and Lemons

Lacey from ...And They Call Me Mommy

Shelli from Beauty & the Baseball Coach


MY Questions:

If you could only eat one food for an entire week what would you choose?
What would people say is your most annoying habit?
What scares you the most?
Are you a dog person or a cat person?...Maybe Hamsters?
If you could be invisible for one day what would you do?
What was your least favorite job?
What do you do when you aren't blogging?
How did you choose your blog name?
What was your favorite toy as a child?
Google or Bing?
What is the first webpage you look at in the morning?

Have fun! 

Speech Therapy

After meeting with Noah's teacher and the school speech teacher Noah will be in speech therapy again.

Noah started getting ear infections when he was about 5 months old. After that first infection were were constantly at the doctor's office. As soon as he would get over one infection he would get a brand new one a few weeks later. It was a nightmare for both of us.

When he was one he  had a procedure called myringotomy. Basically they insert a teeny tiny tube in the eardrum. It helps relieve pressure and helps the ear drain. His eustachian tubes were immature so when he was sick his middle ear couldn't drain properly. 

After the surgery our world was so different. Well not really...but we did stop going to the doctor ALL the time and there were a lot less stay up  with Noah while he cried nights. It was SO much better. One tiny tube in each year changed it all. 

I didn't realize at the time that all of those ear infections would cause a speech delay. No one told me. I have nothing against military doctors...We've had some great and wonderful ones, but I've always felt they kind of rush you. I felt like I wasn't given all of the information that I should have been. So we continued our lives as we normally would. Let's jump ahead now a year and a half later.

Noah is now two and a half. I started to notice that he wasn't talking like the other kids his age were. We were living in Italy at this time. The more he played with other kids the more I noticed there was a problem. He even made up his own weird kind of sign language, which I thought was pretty smart and cute. I went home one day and wrote down all the words he could say. The list wasn't very long. I was able to communicate with him just fine, but then of course I was with him 24-7. I contacted a pediatric speech therapist and explained my concerns. They tested Noah and then he started speech therapy. It was amazing. He started talking...and never stopped. He was in therapy for about 6 months before the therapist was satisfied with his speech.

Now Noah is 6. He is in first grade. For a while I've noticed that he doesn't say some of the letter sounds the right way. For instance he says Take instead of Cake or Lellow instead of Yellow. It really didn't cross my mind that this was a problem. I've heard other kids make mistakes with those letters too. Then one night when we were doing spelling homework he had to sort words in to the correct sound. TH, CH, and C were among the sounds. He struggled to differentiate between the two sounds. Something inside me went OH NO! I wrote down other letters on a piece of paper...the letters he mispronounces. I wrote down some words, told him to say them out loud, and asked him to place them correctly. He got so frustrated he was in tears. I just hugged him and said we would work on the spelling homework later. 

I went to bed that night planning to email his teacher in the morning and tell her Noah was struggling with the homework and that I thought he might need some help with his speech. I didn't have to write the email. His teacher emailed me. We met the following day and discussed the issues. We set up a meeting with the school's speech teacher. They have already started helping him a little bit. When I go sign his paperwork at our meeting next week he'll be working with the speech therapist a few times a week. She said not to be concerned and that the issue is very minor. She expects it to be corrected in just a few weeks. I'ts really just a matter of teaching him where to place his tongue in his mouth so that the right sounds come out when he talks. She compared it to teaching someone a new language. If you don't know how to roll your R's for instance...then some of the words in Spanish aren't going to sound like they are supposed to. 

Noah is very excited about all of this.  After I explained that this will help him to not get so frustrated at home work time he was thrilled.

And because this post is already super long...
This is the rest of our never ending battle with ear infections. 

His first set of tubes fell out in 2009. The tubes aren't meant to last forever, usually about 1-3 years.  As soon as they came out we were back to full blown ear infection craziness. I wasted no time and took him right to our new and wonderful pediatric ENT Dr. Rice. He put new tubes in Noah's ears and once again we returned to ear infection free bliss.

Since that day we have had ZERO ear infections. I guess since the crazy ear infection monster was finally vanquished there was room for Mr. Strep Throat to move on in. Noah got it over and over again. So back to Dr. Rice we went. This was in December of 2011. Dr. Rice informed us that the tubes had fallen out. I felt panicked right away. He told me he really thought that Noah would not need tubes again. He said that he would remove Noah's adenoids at the same time as his tonsils. His adenoids were enlarged and removing them would make more room for his eustachian tube. We scheduled the surgery during the Christmas holiday. It would make for a painful kind of yucky Christmas but at least he wouldn't miss school...

Everything went great. The only bad part was when he woke up. The anesthesia made him really itchy and he scratched his face up pretty bad. He was pretty normal in the days following the surgery, just a little more cranky than usual.

Now almost a year later and he hasn't been sick at all. Not even a cold. It is a huge relief!

Friday's Letters

Linking up with Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds. 

I LOVE her button!

Dear Policeman, 

Thank you for following me almost all the way home and letting me think you might be thinking of pulling me over. You see we STILL have not registered our cars here. We are way over the time limit that you have to register your vehicle after you establish residency.  We have updated our insurance but just haven't done the registration. Every time I pass a cop I think, "Oh please don't pull me over!" I've never actually been pulled over...unless you count that time when I stole a van with my friends. Maybe I'll share that story with you tomorrow. I don't think that time really counts though because I was already parked and the cop just pulled up beside me....ANYWAY Thank you for continuing to ignore my out of state license plate day after day in this small town. I will get the problem taken care of soon...

Dear rude person in the parking lot,
This space is mine until I choose to vacate it. I will pull out of the space when I am good and ready to. Do not honk your horn at me! It does not make me want to go any faster. If anything it makes me want to go back in the store and shop some more leaving you to find another prime space to park in.

Dear Husband,
Thank you for letting me enroll Bella in doggie boot camp. I know it is crazy expensive, but it will be worth it. She needs it!If only they could teach her not to shed...that would be miraculous.

Dear Bella,
PLEASE succeed at boot camp. We will spend our Thanksgiving eating turkey and relaxing with family. You will receive a week of intense training in a top notch training facility. I will miss you terribly but it is necessary =(

Dear Winter,
I am still afraid of you. I'm afraid I will go sliding off the road and get stuck in a ditch. I will drive 2 mph everywhere I go to avoid this I guess. I am looking forwards to having some winter fun though. I saw this aisle at Walmart and became a little kid for a few seconds. We definitely don't have an aisle like this in Louisiana!

Dear Jessica (Sweet Green Tangerine),

Thank you for introducing me to the blogging world. Your blog was the first blog I have ever read. I'm so glad I decided to jump in there and start typing away. I am loving it =) Also, I miss you!!! A lot!!!

Blogger Book Swap!

                                                            <a href="http://sweet-green-tangerine.blogspot.com/2012/10/blogger-book-swap.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k551/sweetgreentangerine/Book-Swap-Button.png" border="0" alt="Blogger Book Swap" width="200"/></a>

                                                      

Jessica from Sweet Green Tangerine came up with the awesome idea of doing a blogger book swap. She asked me and these lovely ladies to co-host:
Free Borboleta
Press Play
Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Ballistic Gypsy
It's the Journey

How could we say no?!?

Anyone who is interested will be paired with another blogger. You will choose a book for your partner. You can get to know your match through their blog, good reads page, or just ask some questions! I think it would be great to try and choose a book that you have already read.  The book can be new or used.  If you want to get involved...and I bet you do...here are the steps to follow...

So now that you are just as excited about this as me....

Place the blogger book swap button on your sidebar so your readers can join too!

Spread the word about the swap so that more bloggers will participate!

If you post about it on twitter, use the hashtag #bloggerbookswap.

And don't forget to leave a comment below with your

blog link, or good reads profile. Specify what types of books you enjoy.

Now sit back and wait for your email to arrive with your partners information!

Delirium - Book Review

source

Delirium is a story set in a dystopian future. In Lena's time love is something to be feared. Love is something that needs to be cured. Thankfully the scientists have found a cure! It doesn't always work like it's supposed to, it is painful, but it will get rid of that nasty disease that is love. The story follows Lena as she struggles at first with the anticipation of receiving her cure and then, after she falls in love or is infected depending on which side you're on,  her fear of receiving the cure. The book is not just a love story but it also shows how without love the relationships we have with friends and family just aren't the same.

After you receive the cure you still keep your memories but you lose the emotional attachment you have to them. In part of the book Lena is thinking about how her life will be different after the cure, about how her relationships will change.

"Best friends for more than ten years and in the end it all comes down to the edge of a scalpel, to the motion of a laser beam through the brain and a flashing surgical knife. All that history and it's importance gets detached, floats away like a severed balloon. In two years - in two months - Hana and I will pass each other on the streets with nothing more than a nod - different people, different worlds, two stars revolving silently, separated by thousands of miles of dark space."

I kept thinking how sad her world was. How heartbreaking it would be to just be paired with someone for marriage. To be content but never truly happy. To not have the urge to hug or cuddle your children. This book is so entertaining. I spent way too much time just sitting on the couch reading because I had to find out what was going to happen next. AND the ending OH the ending...I'm not going to tell you what happens obviously, but it's a cliffhanger! You just have to go and read it. I really loved this book. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one!