Terrific Tuesday!

Today I got home from work and found an Amazon box on my porch!!  I am very excited about the books that are in there:

I'm very excited about this one, I hear so many great things about this story.  I think they are doing a movie?  I'm not sure.  There's another story too, but I am reading this one first:)

I have started to run again.  Lord, help me!  I love to run because it helps my stress & anxiety (I'm a very anxious person!) but the last time I reeeeally got into running was right before I had a terrible case of mono that lasted 2 years.  I dont want that to happen again!  Anyways, I bought this book for way cheap to get motivated, learn what is good about running, etc.  I'm training for a possible 5k...we will see how it goes!  I running 3-4 times a week, about 1.5 miles each time. 

This one is super fun, I love couponing but I totally stink at it right now.  I want to be better.  I want to go to the store and pay a little for a lot of groceries!  Not as intense as those crazy ladies on TV, but saving a good chunk on each shopping trip would be great.  We can save up for fun trips, like Disney.  I love the Couponing to Disney blog - lots of great tips on there too and this book will hopefully teach me a little more about saving money at the store.  Love saving money!

That made my day, getting all those books!  Now the hubs, Ashley, and I are going to run some errands and get some ice cream.  Have a great night!

See ya, Irene!

Well - you may be wondering if I will even post again in this sweet little blog of mine and I am here to say YES! 

We were hit by Irene this weekend - living right outside Baltimore.  We didnt get hit as bad as NC or up in New England - it's like Irene backed off for the middle of her journey.  Now, having said that, our house was out of power for 48 hours.  Our town has been crazy, with half of the homes and businesses and street lights out.  Our first day of school with the students was supposed to be Monday, schools were closed.  Then today again they were closed.  Our power came back on at 9am - Praise the Lord!  And I bet that tomorrow, we will be in school again! 

Update on life?  Well summer is winding down, I started my job as a school counselor!  I love it so far, the staff at my school is awesome, and I can't wait to meet all the kiddos!  I feel that as I settle into my new and permanent routine - I'll get back to reading more and working on the house. 

Right now I am reading One Day - its out in the movies and I am an avid read-before-see kinda girl, I just started that one and so far is pretty good!  My next will probably be Sarah's Key - I hear that is awesome.  I also started Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I didnt get far, I think that one will be  slow read.  It is interesting though - it's just not a gobble in up in an evening sort of book.

I'm still looking for good book recommendations so keep commenting or email them!  I'll be back and better then ever this fall!

Hope everyone is doing well and fairing well after Irene!  Leave your stories or comments here:)

Reviews: Why is Young Adult Lit always the best?

In July so far, I've only read 2 books.  Chalk it up to summer fun and craziness?!?  Even after revamping my challenge I can't even meet my own goals!  Geez!!!

Anyways, I've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



Anyone who knows me, knows how crazy I am about these books.  I started reading them when I was in college, almost by accident.  My cousin, either Tatiana or Sabrina (hi lovelies!), left the first book in my room over Thanksgiving.  I was a youth leader at the time and had heard a lot of my youth talking about the books.  I think maybe 3 of them were out at that point.  Anyways, I read the first one and was hooked.  Little did I know how AMAZING the whole story would be?  The first 3 books are fairly light reading, almost kiddish, with sweet stories and plots about Harry's adventures at Hogwarts with his two bffs Ron & Hermione.  Then, as you get into book 4, you realize this story is more then amazing, it's revolutionary, its life changing...the stories become much more intense and dark and the struggle between what is right and easy, and what is pure and what is evil is sprinkled in every chapter.  You fall in love with so many characters, you loose those characters in painful, tear jerking ways.  You fight right along with Harry as he faces things unimaginable.  The story (by that I mean all 7 books) is fun, it's filled with great vocab and moral lessons for kids, it's emotional, it'll make you laugh, curse, fume, cry.  It is, without a doubt and with exception of the Bible, the BEST story every written.  Ever.  I mean it. 

Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who picks up this series and reads it will love it.  I dont care if you are young or old, boy or girl, if you love Jesus (like me) or hate him (well...I do care if you hate him, actually!!!  Talk to me if you want!), or if you hate to read or hate "magic"....I promise you if you read these books, you will love them.  I've never met anyone ever who read all 7 books and said..."eh, its not for me."  Those people don't exist because that is how GOOD this story is.  So of course, I give the whole series a:

  I don't buy into that whole, "Christians don't read Harry Potter."  I think that the books do better than most "Christian" books in teaching all those great lessons like selflessness, self-sacrifice for the good of others, friendship and love, importance of loyalty and honesty and all that is good in the world.  Don't focus on the fact that it's about wizards and magic, you'll be cheating yourself of one of the best experiences in your life;)  Can you tell how much I love these books?!?!

The other book I read was



This book was SO good.  I read it fast.  Like Hunger Games, I drank it up like ice cold water!!  This is about a world where when you are 16 you choose what "faction" of society you want to belong to.  There are 5, the brave, the selfless, the intelligent, the peaceful and the honest (they all have fancy names).  Its again a story in a post-apocalyptic setting.  The main character is Beatrice, Tris, who grew up in the selfless society but in the choosing ceremony she switches to the brave society.  Transferring societies like that is not the norm, and this is a big deal.  It follows Tris as she is initiated into the brave (Dauntless) society and during that time she learns that the world split like this isn't as functional as it seems.  Leaders are corrupt, murders and jealously and all the things that the 5 way split was supposed to "solve" are rampant.  War is about to happen before anyone knows about it - I was on the edge of my seat!  This book is really good!  I can't wait until the next one (it'll be a trilogy).  I give it a:

Even though I didn't get very far in the reading process this month, I read two really great books!!  Both considered Young Adult Lit.  They are the best books;)  HP 7 took me almost the whole month - I guess because I've read it (honestly) about 8 or 9 times already that I know what happens on each page (lol) and I wasn't motivated to speed through it.  But man oh man, I just love that book, I love going on that journey with Harry!  Just typing this review makes me want to pick it up and read it again!!

Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Vacation Month - I guess!!!

July has been a hoot!  Of course, that means while I'm having so much fun-in-da-sun, I haven't been blogging.  Like, at all.  But you know that, if you have been reading my blog!!


I've been working on projects for sure - just not at our house.  Helping my parents do their reno is taking up mucho timo, but I promise I'll show pics when we are done.  Heck, I may even taken pictures of the place this week so you can see how bad it is, before it gets better!

I am reading, just very very slowly!  I decided to break my own rule (surprised?) and read Harry Potter.  Just the 7th book right now.  Since it's my....um...5th or 6th time reading it...it is going more slowly like summer reading should I guess?  I'm almost done, but so is July!  I do have a massive book list waiting for me, here are some of the titles:

1.  Divergent (kind like Hunger Games I hear?)
2.  Baby books like what to expect when expecting and what to expect the first year...see below
3.  William and Kate: A love story
4.  The girl with....books (Dragon Tattoo, etc)
5.  Lincoln Lawyer (it's movie too now, I hear...)

and many more!  Its these lazy-hazy days of summer that are keeping me from being speedy reader I guess?  I'm having a wonderful summer, fun with friends and my family, and doing my parents a huge favor by working cheap-o for them with the renovations.  Its a good life!

Oh yeah, the baby books - no alarm I'm not "expecting" or anything.  I just had the crazy thought to actually READ these books before we even what to start trying - so I have an inkling of what is going to happen to me, my body, and the bambino when the time actually comes.  They were 50 cents each at the Good Will, so I can't beat the price for a book I'll want someday anyways, right?  The more I know, the less I'll mess up the kid;)  Plus, I'm just interested in learning about pregnancy and babies, is that weird?  Well, I'm 30 - I guess it was coming to me anyways!!

That's all for now!  Hope everyone is having a fab Sat!

One year ago...

On Monday, it was one year since this...

June 13th, 2010 was a magical day!  This year has really flown by.  I feel that to say we made it through a whole year is an accomplishment!  Not that I doubt us by ANY means, its just that we hear a lot that the first year is hard.  Its a true story...the first year IS hard...we are navigating through a whole new life here together at the same time under the same roof...if someone tells me its not that hard, its a lie.  But, more then the struggles of married life, which arent that bad, it really is beautiful!  Having my best friend right there all the time with me, always having someone to laugh or cry or vent to, that is a blessing.  Having some to SHARE life with is amazing.  We've had a great year, lots of fun times & great memories, and hardships that we have gotten through together (ie his dad passing away, me not having a job, things that life just hits us with randomly) we have come so far already and I can't wait to see what years 2 -150 bring;)  I thank God so much for blessing us so much!!  Love you baby:)

To celebrate our one year anniversary, Dave suggested we go to St. Michaels for the day!  It was so fun!  We stopped at St Michaels winery and did some tasting, we walked all up and down the main street there, its SO pretty...

 having a class at St Michaels Winery

 Lovebirds!

 The main street in St Michaels, so so cute!  See, I wore blue & orange - because those were our wedding colors:)

 We left our mark in an little Italian Shoppe, she let us do this, dont worry;)  It will be fun to come back here one day and see this here!

 We did a little walking on the water...well, on the pier of course!

My hair is messy and the sun is glaring, but this is us at the southernmost point of this part of MD...we drove all the way down through Tilghman:)

It was a great day!  My mom made us a fresh cake top to share - since I think ours was ruined and she said she didnt want us eating old cake:

My mom is awesome, look how sweet & cute that little cake is!!!  Thanks Mom!



Overall it was such a wonderful day.  We laughed and joked and loved on each other all day long:) 

I finished Wicked and will be writing that review later.  I'm still slow as molasses on this reading thing...but, I am constantly trying.  I wonder why I was so fast at it in the winter?  Maybe that is just it...it was WINTER!!  Oh well, I'll finish what I can when I can...my goal is still 10 a month!  Not much is getting done in the home decor department, but I did buy something really fun for the kitchen project - I'll leave you hanging on that one!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Catch up....

I'm not talking about the new comcast feature, although I do appreciate that since I missed the Bachelorette on Monday due to Memorial Day festivities....ahh here would be a great place for a picture except I didn't take any, doh!

Life seems to be busy all the time now!  I'm not even working, so what the heck?!?

Many of you (ahem...by many I mean the 5 of you who are devoted to reading about this life, bless you!) are wondering if I met any sort of reading goal in May....yeah....the answer is no;)  May was an all time low for the Tine-ster!  As far as reading goes at least.  As far as life goes, it was SO awesome!  Alas, I only FINISHED 3 books.  3 whole books?  Oh it's so so sad!!!  I started the 4th (Water for Elephants) a few days ago, and as of today I'm only on page 41. 

"What happened to you, Tina??!!??" You may want to ask?!  Well, of course I still love reading.  May was a busy month.  More busy than April, I'm afraid.  By the time I was home, fed, PJ'd and relaxed, I didnt care to pick up a book.  **GASP**.  Sorry, but it's true!  I loved the three books I did manage to read which were Bella Tuscany, the 3rd Mysterious Benedict, and the Honeymoon.  All good books:)

Lets take a walk into the past and talk about what happened to me in May!  The first week of May was a huge professional milestone for me, I planned & coordinated & executed my very first Career Day as a school counselor.  It was awesome.  The end of the 2nd week of May was my brothers wedding, which took up a lot of my time for the first two weeks since I was a bridesmaid, and the daughter of the mother of the groom who was hosting a lot of get togethers + the rehearsal dinner which = I had to help out with a LOT of stuff.  All fun things of course, and I got to spend a lot of time with family and my sis-in-law Krystal whom I adore:)  The 3rd week of May was my last week at the school that I was subbing as a counselor, so prepping the girl I took over for took up my time then.  The weekend after the wedding/last week, Dave whisked me away to Atlantic City for some much needed fun and sun and relaxation.  I took a book, but didnt read it;)  The very last week in May was my first week off, which was filled with cleaning, gardening for the first time, and helping my parents with the everlasting remodel of their house.  Plus the news that I was offered a FULL TIME PERMANENT school counselor position in Harford County next year, which meant lots of fun and celebrations that my 21K Master's degree from Johns Hopkins has FINALLY paid off:)  Then it was Memorial Day Weekend, which graduation parties and cookouts and time with friends and family and the sun and the pool.  That's the jist of my May, loaded into this super long paragraph and lots of run on sentences!

So there are my excuses for not reading in May.  Dave jokes with me because he can't even read ONE book in a year...let alone 3 books in a month - but for me I feel it's pretty sad!  Oh well!  I won't beat myself up about it (as I have said a bizillion times!) because my May was fun and awesome and exhausting but worth every moment.  I definitely reached my Happiness Project goal of enjoying family.  I spend a lot of time with them!!  June is "Write a Book" month and I will post on that tomorrow, I am reallly excited to write a book!  YAY!

I have been working on things!  I promise!!  Here are some pictures to prove it:

 We have been super busy working in our garden!  Here is a pic of the front so far, this part is weeded, planted, mulched and done with daisies, petunias, coleus & some other flowers that are pretty but I don't really know what they are;)

 Same garden, non-inst.agrammed;)

 Our good and lovely friends, Chuck & Blythe, gave us this big lilac bush (center) and two azalea bushes (either side of lilac) and hosta (to the right of lilac and azalea) for free!  We had a huge whole in our garden here because we dug up two of those obnoxious spikey prickely plants that do nothing for me!  Look how nice and full it is now?  We have to plant these, we just got them!

 These are some of my herbs, in a pot hanging on our deck in a semi-shady spot.  Last year my herbs were scorched by the relentless, humid, hot Maryland sun....this is cilantro, rosemary & parsley - oh how I LOVE having fresh herbs to cook with!!

 Our hydrangea that came back full force from last year, that big pot was a wedding gift:)

 The rest of my herbs/veggies from left to right: Thyme, eggplant, basil & mint.  oh la la!  I have a tomato plant too, for some reason I didnt take a pic of him, poor guy - but he isnt much to look at now - just greens....but, with a few farmers market tomatoes, some mozzarella and my fresh basil:

 ...look at the yumminess that is that pic!  Sprinkled with some balsamic vinegar, it was summer in a bite!  Yum!!  We had this as an appetizer to steak and corn the other night.  It was DE-wait for it-LIGHTFUL!  And in other cooking news....

I made Cake Bons!!  These are my cake pops without the stick.  I ran out of sticks actually so I had to improvise!  This lovelies are devils food cake, dipped in chocolate with either Oreos crushed on top, or a marshmallow and graham crackers for a Smore's effect.  So so delectable:)

So those are a few things that have kept me busy.  I am still trying to catch up with the cleaning and the millions of projects I want to get done.  I am going to make a Master List of everything I want to accomplish in my 3 months off (I start work August 22!!!) and I'll post that here.

I also have my 10 books lined up for June, plus the 7 I didnt read in May.  Yeah, I am really going to try to catch up with the reading that has fallen behind...we will see how that goes!  I figured I'd get them all read with all this time off, but my time keeps filling up with other things so fast like helping mom, cleaning, writing, gardening, helping friends, entertaining Ashley, spending time with Dave - all things that are essential to my life and put reading on the back burner!  Oh well, such is life!  I still love reading and will try to slip it in as much as possible - trying to keep that goal up of 120 books this year!

What has everyone else been reading, or have been doing instead of reading?!?  I love the summer weather and will be doing so much of my reading outside over the next few months - there are not a lot of things that compare to breezy summer days with some coffee or iced tea and a book out on our deck!

This is a perilous journey - trying to read 10 books;)

This series is seriously cute!!  I read the first one a few months ago - then in March I bought the whole set because I enjoyed it so much.  There are three altogether.  Perilous Journey is the second book.  The children set off on an adventure set up by their friend and mentor, Mr Benedict, only to learn he has been kidnapped by his evil twin brother Mr Curtain.  I enjoy reading books that have a good moral lesson for children - this book is one - good triumphs over evil but with lots of obstacles and learning along the way.  This book is definitely considered Kidlit, which you all know by now that I love!!  It's perfect for your young readers Grades 4 and up (probably...I'm not a teacher so I really dont know reading levels well!) I give it a 4:

If you need to know how I rate my books, scroll to the bottom of my blog and there's a little book "key" that explains my rating system.  Most of my books lately have been a 4 or 5!

So...this was only book 6 for April.  I'm not going to be able to read 10 this month!  I'm on 7 now (The Screwtape Letters, which is way short) and I'll finish that one but that will probably be it.  April was a busy month for me - birthdays and getaways and shower and parties and cake pops - I just didnt find a lot of time to read.  Oh well, I am still going to keep my challenge and try harder next month!  Even though I get way busy or get sick, I still like have the challenge to motivate me.  I'm having such a wonderful time reading all these books!!!  So far this year I've read (almost) 37 books!  That's pretty crazy if ya ask me!  I love reading, so so much, so I'm having fun with it:)

I hope you all enjoy reading the blog!  I've had a few friends tell me lately that they are reading it (Hi Sherre!  Hi Katie Mac!!) it warms my heart to know you guys are taking time out of your busy lives to learn about my boring one - I hope it's entertaining at least sometimes...

Now I'm off to read some more, maybe finish the next book - I guess I could start book 8 for April...and just finish it this weekend. We'll see, I'm not beating myself up about it.   Stuff happens, right!?!?

Happy Weekend everyone!!!  Please, give me ideas for books to read - I need 8 more months worth:)

Goodbye Spring Break:(

Oh where oh where does the time go?  5 days just flew by me in a flash.  I had a great break though!  I finish two whole books, almost my goal of finishing 3;)  I'm working on Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey now (book 2 in this series...)

I totally repurposed a while IKEA sofa table I had, sanded it and painted it black to go in our hallway for our "launch pad" entry table....only to realized after I did all the work that it doesn't fit in that spot!  It's too big!  OH MAN!  It's really nice too, looks like new.  So now we have to 1) find where to put and use this new beautifully redone piece of furniture (pics to come) and 2) find something else to put in our foyer hallway.  Moral of the story: always measure your furniture to make sure it fits.  We've only lived here a year and already we have more furniture than we have room for.

I got a lot of cleaning done, but mostly a lot of hanging with with family and friends.  Thu I went to my parents to help work on the house, at night Katie Drost (Hi Katie!) and I watched HP 7 Part 1 together.  Friday I went to the Lancaster Outlets for some shopping, it was so fun.  Then Dave and I got ready and went down to Bmore for the Orioles game but it go cancelled:(  We ended up ordering pizza back home and having a quiet night it.  Saturday I went shopping with Katie Mac (Hi Katie!) and then spent the evening going to church with Dave, Ashley & my MIL Joyce, and going to DuClaw after with Dave.  Yesterday was a day full of fun and family, Easter service at Joyce's church and dinner and Easter Egg fun times.  Here are some pictures.....

 Connie, MIL Joyce, Ashley and Dave....

 me, Ash, Dave - my family:)

 Just me - with the pretty tree....

 Dave & I hiding eggs for Ashley to find...

 Ashley hunting the eggs...

 Then Ash hid them for us and we found them, gotta love joining in on the fun!

 We celebrated Ashley's 12th bday, which is actually today, with ice cream cake and gifts later at the house...

 Make a wish!

 Oh, here are our eggs - solids and tye dyes....

 Ashley at home, getting ready to find all her gifts.  Dave & I wrapped and hid them all and came up with clues so Ashley went on a Scavenger Hunt to find them all....we hid them is crazy places...

 This chair was all set up in here room, she started here....

 We hid one in the dryer,

 In the shower, sorry its so blurry...

 In the craft room....

 These were just a few of the clues, there were 10 all together I believe,  it was so fun watching her scramble around excited to find her gifts.  It was a cool way to present her gifts too - she loved it.

All done and ready to open!  Again, sorry for the blur!

Today for Ashley's actual bday we spent the day at Six Flags America riding rides like the Superman and Batman and Jokers Jinx, my head is still rattling around!  It was a perfect day, actually a little too hot to be there and not have access to the water park (it's closed til summer) but overall it was so fun.  Then we took her out to Olive Garden fora big dinner.

My break was awesome.  I spent time with a lot of people I love, shopped for the first time in ages, and ate way too much!  Tomorrow it's back to work and reality.  I'm not ready!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun and relaxing Spring Break. 

The Saturdays, and Sundays....and Mondays:)

Finished Book 5: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright



It was so cute!  So you know how I am on this big "kidlit" kick right now.  This is definitely a kids book, its short and sweet - which is sorta why I chose it.  I had to give up The Host and Maybe this Time, because they were due back at the library and I was out of renews for those.  So I had to replace them.  The Saturdays was one of those, and I'm not sure what the other one will be yet! 

This book was about 4 children, brothers & sisters, who come up with a Saturday club where they put all their allowances together and go on fantastic adventures only on Saturday.  It's such a sweet book and any kid will love it, big or little:)  I give it a 4:)

Oh my, Spring Break has gone by way too fast!   Today was such a lovely day - going to church with family, eating dinner at my MIL's and dyeing & hiding & hunting Easter eggs, letting Ashley open her bday gifts early (we did a scavenger hunt - it was so fun!) and just beign together.  Tomorrow (Monday) is my last day off.  It is Ashley's birthday and we are taking her to Six Flags America for the day.  It'll be so fun and a perfect day for an amusement park, 80 some degrees and sunny!  I've gotten a lot done this weekend and I've had lots of fun - I'll get into details tomorrow.  Now I have to start a new book and get ready for tomorrow!  Happy Easter Everyone!

Happy April!!! Where is Spring?

I don't know about you guys, but here in MD it's frigid and cold and rainy and basically just miserable!  I'm reading for Spring!  I'm ready to work in our garden for the first time!!!  We moved in last year at the end of May, and got married in June and really couldn't work on the garden until July - which at that point it was like, why even bother?  I want my world to look like this:

                                         

Flowery and beautiful!!!  Maybe on of my books needs to be something on gardening this month?  I don't know, lets see where I'm at!

My preliminary April 10 is looking like this so far:
1.  Catching Fire, Collins (Book 2 of HG)
2.  Mockingjay, Collins (Book 2 of HG)
3.  No Plot, No Problem, Baty (How to write a novel)
4.  Bella Tuscany, Myers (Bio of sorts)
5.  The Host, Meyers (writer of Twilght)
6.  Screwtape Letters, Lewis (Spiritual)
7.  Maybe this Time, Crusie (chicklit)
8.  Cake Pops, Bakerella (cookbook) specifically the Bride and Groom pops
9.  Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, Stewart (more kidlit, I'm obsessed)
10.  Pioneer Woman, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, Drummond (bio, chicklit, love story)

I've got a lot of kidlit and YAlit on my list this month, but that's ok.  I'm really excited about reading all of these!!  I may switch out one or two if I find a garden book or a cook book or something that I like.  I can always read some of these in May.  I've ordered some of these books because I want to own them, they should be arriving Monday or Tuesday.  I'll do a photo shoot of them all when they get here.

Later I'll post my Happiness Project goals for April.  This month is all about Being Healthy.  Let me tell you, I started out REALLY great by pigging out on junk food last night with a friend - watching Tangled (see?  I'm SUCH a kid!) and eating chocolate cake and cheese curls and candy, lol.  "Everything in moderation" so no more pigging out this month!!  Today I am working at my parents house stripping wall paper, sanding and painting - its a good work out.  Anyways, will post more about the HP later on today:)

Happy Saturday!