So it's Friday and the week has gone by so fast and I feel like my goal for more family time has gone out the window.
And I have this cold or allergies that isn't helping!
But tonight we are headed to the drive in to see Inside Out and Fantastic Four, and the whole family is coming along. We don't take the whole bunch to the theater very often. There is just too many of us. But tonight is a special treat and who can pass up a Disney cartoon? Not me. I have seen a few cartoons with just the husband and it is wonderful. A date we can laugh and sit munching on popcorn without a kidlet needing to use the bathroom or bouncing in their seats or kicking back of the chair in front of them. Or yelling out that Mr. Incredible is wearing his underpants! (Which he totally is.)
No, tonight these movies are for the whole bunch, with the yelling to shut the car door, and to quit opening the car door, and all the blankets and mosquitoes, and sitting under the stars.
Except I will be in the safety of the vehicular unit. My sense of adventure left with the shortness of chairs.
Note to self to bring the bug spray.
School starts in 11 days so let's make the most of this last week together before it is a fight to get everyone to read and solve math problems, and find 2 socks that may not match, but at least the kid is wearing them. One more week of them eating me out of house and home before I send them back into the public school system.
I've been working hard editing my book and getting it ready for the real world. And I am reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, which so far is an intriguing tell of angels and hell. I'll let you know how it turns out.
So run off and enjoy life and stay away from all those regrets.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Forever and a day...
It has been forever and a day since I have written! What have I been up to...
Life. Life has taken over and there is no end in sight to the busy-ness of working part time and being a full time mom. I love being a mom, and nothing should come between me and my children, so I don't mind that most days I go to bed exhausted and fall asleep after reading just a few pages, as long as I can say that I did something my kids are going to remember today.
Except I just came up with that, and I LOVE it, so for now on it's all about making memories and taking moments each day to make a difference. Am I going to miss some days? Sure I am. But I don't want my kids to remember me as the mom that kept saying "not now" or "in a little while", because those words mean I most likely never got to it.
This past week we went on a family vacation to Mesa Verde, and for the most part, put down all electronics and enjoyed the time in nature hiking, talking, and just being together as a family. And then we had to come home, and I miss last week. Everyone is back to work, and playing with friends, and reconnected to the internet, and the together time is over. And I think I've only said a few words to some of my children that included "go to bed" and "change your clothes", so now I am the warden.
I don't want to be the warden.
So make time for family. Eat dinner together. Cook together. Read a book together. It doesn't have to be big. The little things count just as much if not more. Make something count so you can go to bed knowing that you made your kids, or someone in your life, smile. Don't go to bed baffled by what you didn't get done. Remember what you did.
Another thing I have been working on is writing. That's right, folks, I have written a book that I am slowly becoming more and more proud of as I edit away. And maybe it sucks, or only a handful of people will read it, but it is all mine and my imagination. I can't wait until I can hit publish and the criticism can start rolling in. Ha ha just kidding. But seriously it is a scary endeavor and I'm going to have to push off the lid of my closed box, climb out, and do something outside of it that I never dreamed I would do.
So here's to family, and dreams, and being yourself! Make the little things count.
Life. Life has taken over and there is no end in sight to the busy-ness of working part time and being a full time mom. I love being a mom, and nothing should come between me and my children, so I don't mind that most days I go to bed exhausted and fall asleep after reading just a few pages, as long as I can say that I did something my kids are going to remember today.
Except I just came up with that, and I LOVE it, so for now on it's all about making memories and taking moments each day to make a difference. Am I going to miss some days? Sure I am. But I don't want my kids to remember me as the mom that kept saying "not now" or "in a little while", because those words mean I most likely never got to it.
This past week we went on a family vacation to Mesa Verde, and for the most part, put down all electronics and enjoyed the time in nature hiking, talking, and just being together as a family. And then we had to come home, and I miss last week. Everyone is back to work, and playing with friends, and reconnected to the internet, and the together time is over. And I think I've only said a few words to some of my children that included "go to bed" and "change your clothes", so now I am the warden.
I don't want to be the warden.
So make time for family. Eat dinner together. Cook together. Read a book together. It doesn't have to be big. The little things count just as much if not more. Make something count so you can go to bed knowing that you made your kids, or someone in your life, smile. Don't go to bed baffled by what you didn't get done. Remember what you did.
Another thing I have been working on is writing. That's right, folks, I have written a book that I am slowly becoming more and more proud of as I edit away. And maybe it sucks, or only a handful of people will read it, but it is all mine and my imagination. I can't wait until I can hit publish and the criticism can start rolling in. Ha ha just kidding. But seriously it is a scary endeavor and I'm going to have to push off the lid of my closed box, climb out, and do something outside of it that I never dreamed I would do.
So here's to family, and dreams, and being yourself! Make the little things count.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Review: Frosted Over by Amy Rachiele
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I am a huge fan of Amy Rachiele from her Mobster series, and was excited to get a copy of Frosted Over for review. It was a very enjoyable novella, and my only complaint is that it could have been longer with some more details on the falling in love side.
Frosted Over is the story of three friends taking a weekend vacation to Mount Carter for a cross country ski trip. Libby, Cassie, and Jill have no idea what is really in store for them. A freak snow storm and an avalanche may not be their worst nightmares.
But there is a good side, too. They meet three guys, Kyle, Randy, and Alex, that might be their only salvation through the nightmare. This was a little too instant love for me, which is why I wish the story was extended a little to more of after escaping the storm, but it was still very sweet. The boys were definitely swoon worthy and doting.
This was a great quick story to read, and I look forward to future books by Amy.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Review of Elite by Rachel Van Dyken
Elite by Rachel Van Dyken
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Suspense
Published July 9, 2013 by Forever
Received a copy for review through NetGalley
My thoughts:
I received this book through NetGalley for an honest review.
I found Elite to be an entertaining page turner. When I think about it I think some of it is a little ridiculous, but it was well written ridiculousness that left me wanting more. Trace has won a scholarship to attend a school for the rich and sometimes famous. When she arrives she is right away tormented by the schools Elect that tell her a bunch of rules she needs to follow. And this Elect is ruled by the class president, Nixon. Nixon comes off as the biggest jerk ever, but he keeps playing hot and cold. And before you know it they are in love.
But it is not all fun and games, and people will get hurt. It is an emotional roller coaster of a journey for Trace as she tries to deal with the prejudices of school and finding out she may not be who she thinks she is. And no one else is either. This came with many surprises that keep you guessing throughout the story.
The one thing I found really irritating was the triangle that came up near the end. I love a good triangle, but this one hit a nerve for me. It will be interesting to see where it goes in the sequel, and I will definitely be reading the sequel. I recommend this to the New Adult lovers out there.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Review: Losing Hope by Collee Hoover
Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Received an ARC from Atria Books through NetGalley
Published July 8, 2013
I was so excited to get my hands on Losing Hope since it was one of my most anticipated sequels this year. Colleen Hoover is such an amazing writer that invokes such strong feelings in her books. And I was not disappointed with this one.
Dean Holder is the voice of Losing Hope. His story is a little rougher on the language and behavior since he is a guy, but I loved his story. We get to hear his side and Colleen did an amazing job at getting us into his head and feeling his emotions. We learn what he has been going through since losing Hope so many years before and then how he battled with losing his sister, Les. One of my favorite parts was reading the journal entries he was writing to his sister in the empty notebook. That probably gave the most insight into what he was going through.
A lot of the stuff that happens after he meets Sky was a little repetitive, but since we get to know what is in his head and a little of how he feels about her it makes it seem not so much. It was hard to read about what he was feeling about hoping Sky and Hope were not the same person, because I could just feel how hard this was going to be on him to let her know.
Wonderful book written in a male perspective, and I would recommend Colleen's books to 18+ readers. Contains moderate language and bedroom scenes.
My Rating: 5 stars
Monday, July 1, 2013
Blog Tour: Love Exactly by Cassandra Giovanni
Today I am excited to be participating in the blog tour for Cassandra Giovanni's new book Love Exactly. There's a great giveaway as a part of the tour! Don't forget to hit each blog each day for extra entries by searching for the bold term and entering it in the rafflecopter!
With just one cup of coffee they'll begin a journey of self-discovery at each others sides, but can Emma handle Evan's fame while dealing with her own demons? Emma's checkered personal past, a bad relationship that haunts the edges of her memories, threatens to make everything implode on them when Evan takes matters into his own hands.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words...they'll destroy my soul--Can Emma handle being put back together and facing who she's become because of it?
I took a sip before pulling my knees up to my chest and turning so I was facing him.There was a crooked grin as he looked over the top of his coffee at me. “So what’s it like being Lois Lane?”I looked down at my own cup as a smile I couldn’t prevent spread across my lips. I glanced back up at him as I answered, “I don’t get to work with Superman, but I get to cover stuff like Mister Whiskers being stuck in a tree, the newest cookie flavor at Betty’s Baker, and of course, the basketball games.”
"What did you really want to be?" he asked as he leaned back in the chair with his eyes searching mine. It felt like he really cared even though every part of me cried out for me to believe otherwise because of who he was.
"I wanted to write young adult novels—I wanted to be the next Stephanie Meyer...a best seller over night and rich as all hell—to just do what I loved."
"Meyer is a lot older than you. You still have a shot at that."
"Yeah..."
"Besides being rich as hell isn't all it's cracked up to be...it's hard to make real friends that way."
"I could understand that."
"So who stomped on your hopes and dreams? Some big shot agent?"
I shrugged. "Let's put it this way, I spent forty grand on a school loan that amounted to nothing...I used to be afraid to say that my degree was useless...because then I would be saying it didn't teach me how to write—""It didn't though; it’s just like no one could teach me how to really write music."
"So you had no formal training?”
“I had a little—just like you, but it never seemed to matter… either I was a musician or I
wasn’t—simple.”
“I wish it was that easy with writing,” I said with a sigh, my fingers tapping the top of my coffee.
“Why isn’t it?”
“The publishers didn’t give a crap about my degree, but they wouldn’t listen to me without it.” I shook my head. “I read an article once that said to be a best seller you need to sleep with a publisher. That didn’t really appeal to me, though.”"I can’t even tell you how many people have asked me who I slept with to get where I am. I was freaking sixteen—I’d never even touched a bra before!”
As I started to laugh my cell phone began to ring out one of his songs. I gritted my teeth together as the blush rushed up my chest and to my face. "Oh, this is embarrassing," I muttered as I fumbled to shut it off.
When I looked up our eyes met; his were narrowed over the top of his coffee, paused in halfway
to his mouth.
"You know who I am then?" he asked, lowering the cup.
I nodded in response, trying to gauge his reaction—did he really believe I didn't know who he was? Maybe that was why the shock and awe he instilled in the barista agitated him."Why did you act normal and not squeal and stop breathing?"
I let out the breath I had been holding and laughed. "Seriously? I don’t do that. You're still a human
being—God of poprock or not."
"I wouldn’t refer to myself as a god," he retorted, rolling his eyes.
I took a sip of my coffee and nodded towards the girl still trembling behind the counter. She was holding her permanent marker as if she wanted to ask but knew she shouldn't.
"I think she’d disagree," I teased.
"Ugghh..." was his deflated answer.
Book Description:
Emma Walker was a writer who'd lost herself to someone else's anger--who had given up on ever feeling like herself again.
Evan Levesque was a rock-god--the one all the woman wanted, but he'd never gotten used to the loneliness between the stage and real life.With just one cup of coffee they'll begin a journey of self-discovery at each others sides, but can Emma handle Evan's fame while dealing with her own demons? Emma's checkered personal past, a bad relationship that haunts the edges of her memories, threatens to make everything implode on them when Evan takes matters into his own hands.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words...they'll destroy my soul--Can Emma handle being put back together and facing who she's become because of it?
GENRE: New Adult and Contemporary Romance
Mild to moderate sexual content
Excerpt from Chapter 1:
Evan shrugged as he grabbed our drinks and headed in the direction of the lounge area. He sat down in a love seat and nodded for me to join him before handing me my coffee.
"Welcome to Heaven on Earth," he toasted before taking a sip.I took a sip before pulling my knees up to my chest and turning so I was facing him.There was a crooked grin as he looked over the top of his coffee at me. “So what’s it like being Lois Lane?”I looked down at my own cup as a smile I couldn’t prevent spread across my lips. I glanced back up at him as I answered, “I don’t get to work with Superman, but I get to cover stuff like Mister Whiskers being stuck in a tree, the newest cookie flavor at Betty’s Baker, and of course, the basketball games.”
"What did you really want to be?" he asked as he leaned back in the chair with his eyes searching mine. It felt like he really cared even though every part of me cried out for me to believe otherwise because of who he was.
"I wanted to write young adult novels—I wanted to be the next Stephanie Meyer...a best seller over night and rich as all hell—to just do what I loved."
"Meyer is a lot older than you. You still have a shot at that."
"Yeah..."
"Besides being rich as hell isn't all it's cracked up to be...it's hard to make real friends that way."
"I could understand that."
"So who stomped on your hopes and dreams? Some big shot agent?"
I shrugged. "Let's put it this way, I spent forty grand on a school loan that amounted to nothing...I used to be afraid to say that my degree was useless...because then I would be saying it didn't teach me how to write—""It didn't though; it’s just like no one could teach me how to really write music."
"So you had no formal training?”
“I had a little—just like you, but it never seemed to matter… either I was a musician or I
wasn’t—simple.”
“I wish it was that easy with writing,” I said with a sigh, my fingers tapping the top of my coffee.
“Why isn’t it?”
“The publishers didn’t give a crap about my degree, but they wouldn’t listen to me without it.” I shook my head. “I read an article once that said to be a best seller you need to sleep with a publisher. That didn’t really appeal to me, though.”"I can’t even tell you how many people have asked me who I slept with to get where I am. I was freaking sixteen—I’d never even touched a bra before!”
As I started to laugh my cell phone began to ring out one of his songs. I gritted my teeth together as the blush rushed up my chest and to my face. "Oh, this is embarrassing," I muttered as I fumbled to shut it off.
When I looked up our eyes met; his were narrowed over the top of his coffee, paused in halfway
to his mouth.
"You know who I am then?" he asked, lowering the cup.
I nodded in response, trying to gauge his reaction—did he really believe I didn't know who he was? Maybe that was why the shock and awe he instilled in the barista agitated him."Why did you act normal and not squeal and stop breathing?"
I let out the breath I had been holding and laughed. "Seriously? I don’t do that. You're still a human
being—God of poprock or not."
"I wouldn’t refer to myself as a god," he retorted, rolling his eyes.
I took a sip of my coffee and nodded towards the girl still trembling behind the counter. She was holding her permanent marker as if she wanted to ask but knew she shouldn't.
"I think she’d disagree," I teased.
"Ugghh..." was his deflated answer.
Novel Playlist:
1. Never Gonna Leave This Bed-Maroon 5
2. One More Night-Maroon 5
3. Payphone-Maroon 5
4. Use Somebody-Kings of Leon
5. Sweetest Goodbye-Maroon 5
6. Mirrors-Justin Timberlake
7. Make This Go On Forever-Snow Patrol
8. Daylight-Maroon 5
9. Secret-Maroon 5
10. If You Could Only See-Tonic
11. Inside Out-Eve 6
12. Smoke and Mirrors-The Audition
13. The Way You Move-The Audition
14.Southern Girl-Incubus
15.Eyes-Kascade (Ice Mix)
16. Love Somebody-Maroon 5
17. Just a Feeling-Maroon 5
18. Sunday Morning-Maroon 5
Spotify:
Love Exactly Playlist
Book Links:
E-BOOK only $1.99
Paperback $12.99
Author Biography:
Author Links
Rafflecopter Giveaway:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/Y2VhZWNiYTlkM2I1YTcwM2ExNTQ3YjkyNmY2N2EwOjU=/
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/Y2VhZWNiYTlkM2I1YTcwM2ExNTQ3YjkyNmY2N2EwOjU=/
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Review: Georgetown Academy: Season One
Georgetown Academy: Season One by Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Received a copy from the author for an honest review
Georgetown Academy is a high school story about teenagers whose parents are into politics i.e. the senate, congress, or even political ties. It is the story of all the drama and politics that go on in their own lives. The book follows the lives of Ellie, Brinley, Evan, Taryn, Hunter, Gabe, and Brooks.
This Academy had enough love triangle going on to make my head spin. Everyone wanted to be with someone that was taken, or was with someone they didn't want to be with. It was annoying. And the politics drove me crazy. I researched the book before agreeing to read it for review, but I should know better than to sign up for a book involving politics.
I found most of the characters hard to like. Everyone was playing a game to get ahead. The last season brought me some peace, as some of the relationships finally turned for the better. There was so much drama with Gabe and Ellie that wanted to be together but couldn't since their parents were enemies. I think I liked Brooks the best. He seemed the most honest out of all of them. Taryn wanted to do right but her attitude annoyed me. And Evan worked with news and usually made the right choice, but I was afraid she wouldn't all the time. I don't like it when people dig low to find dirt on others to ruin them.
If you love politics, high school drama, and finding out all the details of what the rich are wearing then this book is for you. I found it to be well written, it just wasn't for me.
My rating: 3 Stars
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