The Book Chat - Holiday Reading Plans

The Book Chat is back! I'm linking up with Jessica from Sweet Green Tangerine again.

I'm trying to read as much as possible right now because I know I won't get any reading done over the Christmas holiday. I'm not doing very well. It's been hard to find time to read. We were visiting family for Thanksgiving and I didn't have time to read. That's fine with me though because I haven't seen them in a very long time. Since we've been home I've been playing catch up on cleaning, getting ready for Christmas, getting ready for Noah's birthday, and there just really doesn't seem to be time. But I'm trying.

I asked my mom to go see Le Miserables with me when I go home for Christmas. I knew to not even ask Joey. There's no way he would go see it. I've never read the book. I watched the movie in high school and I've always wanted to read the book. I really just need to get focused and READ. If I don't I'll never finish my books for Megan's book challenge or read Le Miserables.

So What Wednesday

So today I'm linking up with Shannon for her So What Wednesday.
So what if...
I can not come up with a good Christmas gift for Noah. He doesn't really need anything and the list of things he wants includes lots of legos which is not happening.  He has way too many already and just takes them apart after we spend hours building them. I'll figure something out...
My master bedroom is STILL unpainted. It is still undecorated and we still haven't purchased king size bedding for the new bed. 
The husband bought an obscenely expensive gun. It wasn't a pretty day folks. My dad, uncle, and Grandpa were accomplices to this gun buying plot. That makes it a little funny...a little. You should have seen all of their guilty faces when they got back to my Grandma's house. I'm over it now but he better actually go shoot it or something. 
I ate entirely too much food at Thanksgiving but still made a cherry pie last night. What can I say? I was having withdrawals. 
I haven't read a book in a week. I'm sure this puts me even farther behind in the book challenge.
There is a perfect outline of a rectangle on the deck. I had to spray clear sealer on something so that it can be safely hung outside. I thought clear meant clear....not shiny clear. Note to self: Next time just put whatever you are spraying on a cardboard box NOT the deck. 
We spent most of last night watching Big Bang Theory. I just love that show. Bazinga...Sheldon you get me every time. Watch it. Laugh. Love it

One of Those Days

   Yesterday was one of those days. A day when I'm sure if it is humanly possible to have THAT much patience. A day when I start breathing slowly consciously in through my nose and out through my mouth. A day when if I don't just focus on breathing I might scream or my brain might explode. 

    I'm not sure if it was because Noah had just returned to school after a long Thanksgiving break or if it was because he wasn't feeling so great with his cold.... 

   I picked him up from school and foolishly thought we would make a quick trip to Walmart. I was JUST there the day before but as always I forgot some things. From the minute he got in the car it was like a town hall open forum had just started in the backseat and the residents weren't happy.  
"It's cold outside."
"It's hot in the car."
"My coat is itchy."
"How long will we be at the store."
"I hate the store."

...and on and on and on. Once we got to Walmart and made it into the store Noah started asking me what we needed to buy. He wasn't really interested in the purchases of course but used my information to gauge how long we would be there.  Needless to say he wasn't pleased with my list.

   We walk through the aisles and he starts doing something he hasn't done in a long time. He's touching everything...EVERYTHING! Clothes, toys, glass stuff....everything. Over and over I had to say, "Stop touching...Stop touching...Stop touching!" And then as I'm looking at Christmas lights he begins to break dance in the aisle. Maybe on another day it would have been funny or cute but just then it wasn't. I had to just close my eyes and breathe.
Noah then asked, "Why are you closing your eyes?"
"Because mommy just needs a minute. You're not listening and it's getting really irritating and I just need a minute."
To which he replied, "Maybe I'm not irritating you. Maybe you're irritating me."

   And so that's how the rest of the day and night went. 

   This morning he got up. He got dressed. He ate breakfast. He brushed his teeth. He did all of it without me asking.  He did it all without complaining. So I have hope that today will be much better than yesterday.

   There are good days. There are bad days. Hold onto the good days and let go of the days that you stand with your eyes closed breathing loudly in the shopping aisle of Walmart while a six year old boy break dances behind you.

Thanksgiving Holiday Hangover

I had a pretty awesome Thanksgiving. Probably the best one in years. It has been way too long since I have been at my Grandma's house. My dad has a big family so it's always fun to see all of the cousins when we go to Missouri.  It was a 9 hour drive which really ended up not being as bad as I thought it would be. 

Things didn't go exactly as planned. Originally ALL of the cousins would be there. Now that hasn't happened in many many years! We were all excited! Then my brother found out he had to work and you can't really say no to the fire department. My sister left Louisiana and had to turn around and go back because her car was breaking down. So we ended up missing two people. =(  I really wanted to see them too because I miss them so much! 

There are ALWAYS lots of tasty treats and yummy food at Grandma's house!

With so many people you kind of just sit where you sit.

Grandma, Grandpa, and the cousins =)

Everyone knows that a trip to Grandma's is not complete without a stop at Bass Pro in Springfield. I don't know why lol. I loved it there as a kid and now Noah thinks it's totally awesome too. They have so mush stuff to look at and things to do there. I wish the one in Louisiana was half as fun. Maybe it's so awesome because it's the biggest? The had their winter wonderland area set up. I took this photo of Noah which did not turn out very well...

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again! I ate way too much and laughed a lot. Now it's time to get everything unpacked and try to get the house back in order. There are Christmas decorations everywhere and lots of cleaning to do.... Welcome home Bailey family! =)  

9 years

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Tomorrow is also our 9 year wedding anniversary.

I really can't believe it has been 9 years. Things have not always been easy. We have been through a lot. Everything we have gone through has brought us to this point and our relationship is better than it ever has been. Now I'm not saying we never disagree. We have very different personalities and we probably disagree more than we agree =)  It's how we deal with those disagreements that matters.

I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. I love Joey. 

I love him because he makes me laugh.
I love him because he believes in me when I don't believe in myself.
I love him because he has sacrificed for our family and has never complained.
I love that when we go out to eat he already knows I'm going to ask to taste his food and he'll let me taste it AND also set aside a little bit for me.
I love him because he is super smart.
I love him because he helps me to not take life so seriously.
I love him because he makes me a better person. 
I love him because he is good at math and I am not.
I love that I can be completely myself with him.

I just love him because he is him.

I love looking through old photos of us. I have a box filled with letters we've written each other. They are full of hopes and dreams of what our life would become. A lot of those hopes and dreams have come true. Some of them have changed. We have added new ones. I know that no matter what gets thrown our way we have each other and we will get through it together like we always have.

Two Reviews

I've been trying to find time to read for the Winter Book Challenge. It hasn't been easy! I feel like I'm probably way behind. With Thanksgiving coming up and our trip to Missouri to see family for the holiday I know my reading time will definitely be compromised. I am going to bring books with me and TRY to read them. I'm not really hopeful I'll get much done though =)

Image via Goodreads

I actually received The Last Summer as part of the Blogger Book Swap. Fortunately for me this book was also on my book list for the Winter Book Challenge. The book started off really slow. There was a lot of time spent on explaining the back story of each character and about the island where they vacation each summer. Once things started moving along I started to really enjoy the story and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.

Alice and Riley are sisters. Alice is the younger sister. The story centers around Their relationship as well as the relationships they each have with Paul. Paul and Riley have been friends forever. Alice has always been around but not really included. Things start to change though as Alice and Paul struggle with their feelings for each other. How can they be together and not hurt Riley? Can they be together at all? Are the feelings that they have real? 

"Let me love you, but don't love me back. Do love me and let me hate you for a while. Let me feel like I have some control, because I know I never do."

I only wish that the beginning of the book was a good as the middle and the end....

I really expected more from this book. So many people say this book changed their lives. It's the best book they ever read. I just don't see how that's possible. To me it wasn't even really a story. There wasn't a beginning, middle, or end. You could open the book to any page and begin reading and still be able to follow along without missing any important information.  The book just follows Holden Caulfield's thoughts as he spends a few days in the city before returning home to his parents after being kicked out of school again. He tends to repeat the same things over and over again which gets annoying after a while. Reading the book felt a lot like having a boring conversation with someone. I kept waiting for something to happen. He criticizes everything and everyone. He doesn't seem to be a very happy person.  I kept wanting to say, "Stop complaining! Stop Whining!" If you want to follow around a depressed sixteen year old who cusses non-stop and acts more like a young child then by all means rush out and get this book now. If not...just skip it.

Reading Night

So last Thursday night I was getting ready to make dinner and happened to glance at the calendar and saw:

6:30 Family Reading Night 

CRAP! I forgot! I already washed my makeup off and had my oh so comfy pajama pants on... it had been a loooong day.  At that moment Noah came in the kitchen and said, "Isn't tonight Family Reading Night? Yes Noah Yes it is.

So I ran upstairs put my jeans back on and slapped some makeup on my face. I was sure there would be small children there and I didn't want to frighten them.

I am so glad that we went! It was a lot of fun. I really hope that the school does it again. 

They had an amazing story teller come in. She told several hilarious stories that involved participation from the kids. She was just fantastic! (I really wish I had taken my camera but at least I had my phone.)

Noah loved every minute of it. So did I!

They even gave us snacks!

They had a raffle and...

He won a gift card to Barnes and Noble!  Noah loves books so he was ecstatic! They gave away 4 other B&N gift cards. Super Awesome!

The fun didn't stop there. Every kid got to choose a book to take home and received a goody bag. Noah chose a Junie B Jones book. He loves them. Inside the goody bag were several book marks and two awesome book lights. One for the child and one for the mom or dad that brought them. The book light has a timer on it so they can keep track of how much they read each night. 

We had a blast!

Friday's Letters

Linking up again with ASHLEY.

I love Fridays but every time I talk about Friday that awful Friday song by Rebecca Black  pops into my head and I lose a few brain cells. I wish I knew how to stop it but so far there is not a cure. If I just made you annoyingly sing or hum that song I am very very sorry. If you have never heard this song DO NOT google it.Do NOT listen to it. You will regret it.

Dear Eyes,
I am so over wearing contacts. I want to wake up and see 20/20.  the lenses in my glasses haven't been replaced in years and my eye sight has changed a lot. I have terrible vision! Without some kind of correction everything about a foot from my face and beyond is a giant blur. So if I want to take my contacts out I have to wear my glasses.  Since my lenses aren't up to date in my glasses they give me a huge headache when I wear them.  If only I had perfect vision....

Dear New Vision Plan,
You suck big time! Really? You only cover $35 of my lens cost? Really? How can our medical coverage be awesome but you...you are NOT?!?  I have to have my lenses updated and it looks like I'll be paying a huge chunk of money to have it done. This is not okay with me!


Dear Coffee,
I'm not sure what it is but when it starts to get cold outside I drink more coffee. Every night around five I start craving it. This is not good. I've been trying to drink tea and not coffee. 1-because I'm trying to get pregnant and I shouldn't be consuming tons of caffeine and the tea I drink has less caffeine than my coffee. 2- because I load my coffee up with creamer and lots of sugar. In my tea I just add a splash of milk and a teeny bit of sugar...much healthier. Coffee craving go away!

Dear Sweet Bella,
Tomorrow you leave for doggy boot camp =(   I am going to miss you! A week is a long time. I am going to cry but I'll try to keep it together until I'm out of the building and in the car. Geez if it's this hard to be away from my pup for a week I don't think I can allow Noah to go away to college someday. I don't think my heart will be able to handle it.

Dear Thanksgiving,
Woohoo! I can't wait to see my family! Well most of them. I'm super bummed my brother can't be there but I'll see him and the rest of my family at Christmas. My sister and I have been our planning black Friday shopping trip. I don't care if we even buy anything, although you KNOW we will, I'm just thrilled we will get to hang out for a whole entire day! I'm gonna hug her lots!

I hope you all have a stress free and amazing weekend!

Blogger Book Swap

So... as you know I co hosted and participated in Sweet Green Tangerine's blogger book swap. I was IN the moment she suggested it. 

My partner was Kristy from A Happy Heart. We were matched perfectly! We had so much in common and I had a lot of fun emailing back and forth. As soon as I started talking to her I knew what book I was going to pick for her. She ended up loving it which made me super happy.

Kristy sent me The Last Summer of You and Me.

It was on my to read list and ALSO on my book list for The Winter Book Challenge. So it was perfect! I've only read a few chapters and I already like it. 

Participating in the swap was so much fun and I can't wait to do another one!

Up to Wednesday

It Snowed! It only snowed a teeny tiny bit...but it still snowed. Noah had to rush outside to go play in it. 

We went...

Noah really didn't want to go. He was afraid of falling. So was I! He did try it though. If you count skating 15 feet almost falling and then taking the skates off and just watching the rest of the time trying. We told him he has to try it again next time. I know once he learns to skate he'll like it. He's just scared of falling down. I had a lot of fun. Yes I almost fell but I did not actually fall. I'm by no means an expert skater but I don't have to hold the wall anymore lol. I'll still stay by the wall though...just in case!

We used our fireplace for the first time!

I couldn't find my baster anywhere. then I realized I could just use one of our many leftover medicine droppers.....

The boys have been watching lots of football.

I am getting VERY excited to go visit my grandparents 

for Thanksgiving! Woooohoooo!!!!

Have a fun Wednesday!

Book Challenge Book- Confessions of a Call Center Gal

Image via Goodreads

This book was awful. It was terrible. It was painful for me to keep reading it. I had to keep telling myself, "Just read one more chapter and then you can put it down."

It was SO boring. When I read the overview of the book I expected a funny story about Maddy and her new job at a large call center.  The comedy in the book seems forced and unreal. There are 2 pages about farting...really? The names of some of the characters turned me off too. Maddy's friend is named Karsynn. she calls her Kars. Weird. Her work associate and friend is named Ingeborde. Also Blinky Fiore. No ones first name is Blinky.  I found myself renaming the characters. Their conversations were SO annoying. No one talks the way they talk. Well maybe I should say no one is as boring as they are. The story just felt blah. I'm glad I'm done and I can move on.

Trust me.
Do not read this book if you want to refrain from gouging your eyes out.

Friday's Letters

Dear Bella,
This is your last weekend with us before you leave for doggie boot camp. I will miss you =(

Dear Brother,
I'm so glad you called me for shopping advice. I really miss hanging out with you.

Dear Husband,
You are super smart! Thanks for using your smarts to fix my computer! Love you!

Dear Winter Book Challenge Book,
I hate you. You are awful and every time I pick you up I want to bang my head against the wall. I fear that page by page I am losing brain cells a little at a time. I thought maybe you would get better...but no. If it weren't for the challenge I would just stop reading you...

Dear New Car,
I love love love you. Your back up camera is my favorite. I think that if it wasn't there I would have some major issues pulling out of a parking space. Also you are blue. Several people have said you are purple. Your paperwork clearly says blue but now I that they have said, "Oh what a pretty purple!" all I see is purple lol. It's okay I like purple.

Dear Honda,
I think your timing here was a little calculated. Is it a coincidence that your windshield cracked only a week after we brought the new car home? I think not. Acting out is not a good way to attract attention. We still love you just as much. Promise!

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!
Here is a funny puppy!

Cutting It and A Book Swap Extension

I decided to cut my hair OFF! I'm glad I did. I was tired of spending an hour or more drying and styling my hair. I was tired of brushing it hundreds of times throughout the day because it got tangled so easily. So I walked into the salon and told the stylist I was ready to say goodbye....

Before:

After:

Now I can dry and style it in 20 minutes. Much better!
I'm sure I'll miss curling it but I'm glad it's much easier to handle.

BOOK SWAP UPDATE!

The link up for the book swap has been postponed until NEXT Thursday the 15th. Some people still have not received their packages yet. This will allow extra time for everyone's books to arrive. 

Once you do receive your book package, here's what you can do for the link-up...

1. Take pictures.   Show off the goodies you received.

2. Tell us all about your book swap partner.  Include links and blog info.

3. If you had time to read the book already, share a review/thoughts.

Make sure you link up with JESSICA. If you have already received your book and would like to link up today that's fine too. 

I can't wait to read all of the posts!

Have a Happy Thursday!

Up To Wednesday

We haven't really been "Up To" much lately. We spent the weekend doing yard work and have since been trying to get the house clean clean clean.

 After I raked and raked I took a break and...

Joey got the leaf blower out!

I think that would have been a nice suggestion while I was working =)

Noah likes when we burn the leaves.

That night we roasted marshmallows and just sat around the fire.

 Bella won't come outside. She's afraid of the fire.

 And of course you need hot chocolate when you come inside!

Book Challenge Book- Pretty in Plaid

Image via GoodReads

I read this book for the winter book challenge with Megan.
This was for the category:  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).



I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jen Lancaster. I read one of her books for the first time about 3 years ago.  I came upon the first one I read by accident. I was walking through the book store just picking things up when I saw Bright Lights Big Ass. That title will grab you lol. The cover was so cute! I picked it up and read a few pages. I was laughing as I walked to the register to purchase the hilarious book. 

Her books have never disappointed me. Pretty in Plaid was just as fantastic as the others I have read. Jen lives in Chicago and writes about her life. Her life is so comical. In Pretty in Plaid she goes back in time to tell the story of how she became the unfiltered smart ass she is today. I love her. I want to meet her and tell her how funny she is. I'm sure she probably already knows that or she wouldn't have sold so many books.

She's written several non-fiction books about her life and two books that are fiction, one of which won't be available until February.

If you want to laugh out loud at home or in public...
If you enjoy sarcasm...
If you need a pick me up...

Go read one of her books. Any book will do. My personal favorite is Bright Lights Big Ass. I've read it several times and I still laugh. It is fantastic!

*********************************************************
Switching gears for a moment. I just got back from the library. I went to go check out a few books on my list of books to read for the challenge. Making a list of books to read is one thing. Actually holding four of them in your hand is another. I'm a little overwhelmed lol. 
I have a lot of reading to do!

Also I have Panda Express...and that is just stupendous! 
I ate all of the cream cheese rangoons in the car on the way home shhh!

Friday's Letters

Dear Friday

Welcome! Welcome! It's actually felt like Friday for me since Wednesday. Noah had Thursday and today off from school so that the teachers can do their parent teacher conferences. I have been enjoying the extra sleep in days.

Dear Hair,

You currently look like this:                                            I kind of want to cut you like this:

image via New Styles

But I'm SCARED! I've been growing my hair for a long time. It's long, shiny, and pretty. It is also a pain in the butt. It's always in the way. I have to brush it a million times a day because it gets tangled so easily. I love being able to curl it and play with it...but truthfully I usually just pull it up in a ponytail so. But I like knowing that IF I wanted to spend tons of time drying and curling it I could....  I'm still unsure of what I want to do.

Dear Winter Book Challenge, 

I'm only two chapters into my book. I know I'm probably already way behind. I'm going to do some major reading today and this weekend. I'm determined to finish all of my books. I'm not even concerned about winning...I just want to finish lol

Dear Family Members,

I am having so much fun finding Christmas presents for you!

Dear November,

I'm sorry that once you arrive I want you to hurry up and be over with already. You come before December. December has Christmas. Christmas is my favorite! I start getting the itch to pull out my tree, crank up the holiday tunes, and start decorating as soon as the last trick or treater has cleaned out my candy bowl. You have Thanksgiving and that's cool and everything, but you do not have sparkly lights, shiny ornaments, or give me that festive cheery feeling. Sorry.

Fun-Tastic Halloween

Noah had a ton of fun this year. His class had a Halloween party. I helped one of the other moms plan the party.

The kids had a Halloween parade.

We played pin the tail on the cat.

Pumpkin bowling

We had yummy snacks

Noah was a little sad he couldn't wear his mask at school, but I'm sure the fun cheered him up.

I found out the other moms would be dressing up... So I kinda threw together a last minute outfit. I didn't really know what I was. The kids told me I was a farmer clown =)

After school it was TRICK OR TREAT TIME!

After we walked around...in the cold....and got lots of candy we had some fun with Bella. She hated it.

Noah passed out candy. 
We ran out in about 20 minutes!
 There were so many kids!

It was a really fun night!