Category Archives: Reading

Book Review: Snow Flower & The Secret Fan

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I finished Snow Flower & The Secret Fan last night. I think I read at least 150 pages as a total yesterday. I read like a mad woman when the Pest Guy was spraying the house and then I read like crazy for a while after I got home from work as well. I just want to say that this book started off really slow for me. The first 15 pages were really interesting and they lost me around page 16 to 50ish. And then? Oh boy! The story started to pick up and it was all interesting from that point forward. I loved every single moment of it! My imagination ran wild through the entire book and there were definitely parts of the story that almost brought me to tears. I thought it was an excellent read and I would recommend this book to anyone! The book is about two girls who are matched as laotong (old sames) in 19th Century China. The story goes through their difficult lives of growing up in China during these times. It speaks a lot of traditions and the husband / wife role. I thought it was really interesting, heart wrenching and enlightening all at the same time.

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Book Review: Flying Changes by Sara Gruen

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I finished this book today and it was such a great book. I read it after I finished Riding Lessons. I got really into it last night and I read a couple hundred pages all in one sitting. I just couldn’t sit it down! Every time a chapter would end, I would have to keep reading to see what happened in the next chapter. Finally I had to draw the line because my eyes were hurting and I had to get some sleep. So these two books were really great and I would recommend them to anyone who likes animals and a good romantic story.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is the book I’m starting next. My little sister gave me this book to read, she says its really good and the description sounds pretty good. I’ll let everyone know when I’m done and how it is! I added a sidebar widget that shows what I’m currently reading and stuff like that.

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Book Review: Riding Lessons

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I started the book Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen about a week ago and was finally able to finish it yesterday. It was a lovely book and am now reading the sequel book Flying Changes. My aunt sent me these two books back when I had Knee Surgery and I am only just now getting around to reading again. See, my aunt is a veterinarian up in Northern Illinois and she took care of Sara Gruen’s pets while Sara was still living up there. Apparently Sara has since moved out of state. My aunt got me the books because she saw that I had Water for Elephants on my wishlist a long time ago. Well, I’ve only read half of Water for Elephants but its on my list to start over and read from the beginning next. Riding Lessons is not a raunchy romance novel. It’s a pretty good novel with a really interesting and captivating story. I enjoyed it a lot!

  • Finishing a good book and starting a new one!
  • Free 7-11 slurpees today
  • Forcing myself to go on a walk today. I didn’t go yesterday :(
  • Eating much healthier meals today and feeling very alive
  • Looking forward to the weekend
  • Making lots of sweet sun tea this weekend
  • Crepe Myrtle in my front yard has a pink bloom on it
  • Still researching DSLRs and I may actually have one in a few months!

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The New Year Diet Began…

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So I started my new year diet on Monday. As of yesterday I have lost 3 1/2 pounds. I’m hoping it at least stays the same by Monday when we do our weigh-in at work. I am really working hard at this. I go on walks in the evenings with Gene and we do our barbell weights, and I have even started going on short, brisk walks on my lunch break at work! I mean.. if I’m getting this much more exercise from what I’ve EVER gotten, the pounds gotta keep droppin’, right?? And not to mention, my eating has been going pretty well also. Fast food and other places from “out” no longer sound good all of the time and my portions have decreased. My stomache is shrinking a bit and I feel myself getting full a lot faster. Those first few days sure were tough though.

Not a lot going on around here other than that. I don’t know if I mentioned it but I finished my book, I Know This Much Is True. It was a wonderful book and I’ve already read Wally Lamb’s other novel, She’s Come Undone. I really, really wish he had another novel out! I love his writing. So anyway, I started this new book called The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. So far it seems pretty interesting and pretty good. I’m not very far into it because my Nintendo DS game’s the New Super Mario and Skipbo/Uno came in and I’ve been playing that a bit. The New Mario freaking rules!! I love it and there are TONS of new things in the game. It’s still the same fun as the old Super Mario but with a lot cooler features, effects, sounds, etc. Oh and there are a lot of mini games on it that are a lot of fun. I am totally impressed with it, totally worth my money!! And I don’t think I mentioned it but I did get a Pink Nintendo DS Lite for xmas, which is why I have the Nintendo DS games. Totally awesome!!

P.S. I created a log where I am keeping track of my food intake and exercise, it is at flog.nerdwagon.net :D

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A Million Little Pieces

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Sorry I haven’t written. I’ve been a bad girl, I guess :o I just can never find the time or energy to write up an entry, which is exactly why I have a livejournal that I can just post two or three words to and be satisfied with it. This one? I feel like I need to write out whole paragraphs in order to satisfy the world. It’s a lame little way of thinking but that is how my brain tends to work. Ok, now that the apologies and excuses are over with….

I’ve been trying to eat healtheir and healthier. I may have lost a little weight so far but I can’t ever tell. I wont know until certain pieces of clothing that I have start to feel loose. I don’t own a scale and I really don’t want to own a scale. I’m too scared to even know what it could possibly say. So at this point I am tracking what I eat, counting the calories and looking for visual changes!

I said I would do a review on A Million Little Pieces and I am going to. Basically, the book is an excellent book. I totally disagree with all of the controversy over it right now. I think people exaggerate the truth on a daily basis for emphasis and drama. I think the book was quite amazing and it brought me to tears a few times. And if anything, it really scared me to death of drugs and of how addictive and life-altering they are. I think everyone should check it out and at least give it a read. It’s a fast read because most of the book is not paragraph-form. It is written line by line, as if it was straight from someone’s diary. The next book after this one is My Friend Leonard (by James Frey) and I am hoping to someday check that book out. It looks great and I’d love to see where his relationship with Leonard goes.

Anyway, I gotta run. Mom and sister are coming over for dinner tonight. I got a roast in the crockpot with carrots and potatoes. Think I will make some mac & cheese (Layla isn’t big on roast if I remember correctly) and buttered toast to go with it. Hope you all are having a great life!

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The One Where I Love Too Much

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I got the new layout as fixed up as it is probably going to get. I tend to slack off a lot more than I ever did these days. Between taking care of two canine children and having a whole house to clean and take care of, I can’t seem to find time these days :( But that is part of growing up, right? And besides, I’m the one who wanted a house sooo bad. What in the world was I thinking?

Not a whole lot that is new to report on. Still trying to track what I am eating and see where my problem areas are (snacking, duhhh?) :) I am trying my best to cut back on the snacking and fight temptation the best I can. This weekend was the one time a month that all of us women get the worst cravings ever and tend to have a bottomless stomache… so it has definitely been challenging and I wont lie, I have given in a few times. Bad me :( But I will do better! I promise.

Things between Gene and I are better than ever, of course. I love the boy more than anything in the entire universe :love: He is my one and only! I look forward to seeing his face in the morning and I look forward to that big ‘ol hug I get everyday when I walk in the door from work. Being away from him for 12 hours just rips me up but I sure do enjoy seeing his handsome face when I come home :) I can’t complain about my life. Simply because I have him to come home to every single day. And it is more than I could have EVER wished for. More than I thought I ever deserved or would have. He surprises me every day and he really cares about me. And I know he cares about me. And I know he loves me. And what is better than to love someone so deeply and have them love you back the same? Nothing!

Gosh, I should get going. I need to get in bed soon. I’m calling it an early night. Going to read more of the book I’m currently reading (A Million Little Pieces by James Frey). I want to finish it so bad because I can’t wait to find out the way it ends but it is taking me a while to do it. I get so tired when I start reading and I end up having to put it down and go to sleep! Maybe if I start earlier tonight I’ll be able to get a lot done :) Wish me luck! I’ll let you know how the book turns out.

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Book Review: Save Karyn

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I finally finished my book, Save Karyn. It was a great book and quite englightening :) I just had to finish it last night so I sat down on the couch and read and read until I finally got to the very last page. It’s about a girl in her late 20s who moves from Chicago to New York City and overspends on designer merchandise. She racks up $25,000 in debt pretty quickly and finds a very creative way to pay it off. Check out Save Karyn‘s website. It’s a true story, too!

I would totally recommend this book to anyone. I would even recommend younger (high school age) people to read it, as well. It should give you a great insight to how easy it is to rack up credit card debt and how stressful it is to have that debt weighing on your shoulders all of the time. I think a lot of teenagers these days don’t take money as seriously as they should. And I sure don’t believe they can even grasp how exactly tough it is living in this day and age where money is everything.

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