23 Facts!

Hello! In honor of my 23rd birthday I decided it would be fun to make a list of 23 facts about me. This blog is relatively new so hopefully this will give you a chance to learn a little more about me.

1. I have three cats!
2. I absolutely love to write and would like to make a career of it but have no idea how. 
3. I have a degree in social work. I am passionate about the field and the values of social work but I'm not entirely sure it is what I am "meant" to do, which has been confusing lately. 
4. My favorite color is purple.
5. I am a huge book worm! Put a book in my hands and I'll read it. 
6. I would much rather spend a night at home with a good book, kittens and a cup of tea than go out drinking with a huge group of people. 
7. I wish I could live in a hobbit hole.
8. I used to dance and really miss it. 
9. I love music and will listen to just about anything you suggest to me. 
10. I actually kind of miss working in retail. 
11. This is my favorite number!
12. Fall is my favorite season; I adore the colorful leaves, crisp air, boots and leggings, apple cider, pumpkins... :) 
13. Makeup is my favorite thing to splurge on even though I typically wear the same couple products day-to-day.
14. I despise running but love going for long walks and hikes. 
15. I've been married for almost 6 months to my best friend and the love of my life. I can't wait to see what adventures are ahead of us. 
16. I have one tattoo at the moment but have three others planned. Just need the money to get them done. 
17. I'm jealous of people who are super artistic. 
18. I love to learn and actually kind of miss being in school. Although I dread going back to school for my masters degree!
19. I enjoy crocheting.
20. I desperately want to visit the Lord of the Rings set in New Zealand. And see New Zealand in general. 
21. My favorite alcoholic beverage is margaritas. 
22. I have a severe caffeine addiction so I gave up soda and energy drinks for four weeks. I'm going through a bit of withdraw right now!
23. My favorite dishes to make are calzones and manicotti. 

Book Review

Hi everyone! The hubby and I spent a wonderful weekend in Tennessee. We drove down to Knoxville to spend a couple days with his grandparents and planned to spend a day in Nashville catching up with our college friends. Unfortunately, snow and ice made the mountain roads a little sketchy so we had to forgo Nashville. But we had a ton of fun with his grandparents just hanging out, watching the Lady Vols and seeing the Knoxville symphony.

The long drive and snowy days provided me with a ton of time to plow through some books.

168 Hours: You Have More Time Thank You Think, by Laura Vanderkam 
     Overall I liked the concept of this book. Im a huge fan of goal setting and planning but there just never seems to be enough time to do everything that I want to do! This book presented a new way of looking at your time; in chunks of 168 hours or week-to-week. Thinking about how you only got 6 hours of sleep last night is discouraging. But realizing that you got 54 hours of sleep over the course of the week is way more encouraging. Or that 40 hours of work + 54 hours of sleep + 7 hours of cooking and cleaning = just 101 hours! That leaves 67 hours a week to do everything else you want. Definitely a fun way to think about your time. I still make daily schedules but I'm planning on analyzing my time use on a week to week basis and making adjustments to make the most of my time. I also love her suggestion to fill bits of time with joy.
     However, I mostly just skimmed this book because I often found it really annoying. This book is definitely geared towards working professionals, moms and people with money to spare. I found large sections of this book to be condescending; "Ignoring, minimizing or outsourcing" simply isn't possible for some people. I have spent the majority of my working life in jobs where I have no flexibility and can barely make ends meet let alone pay someone else to cook my meals or do my laundry.

The Billionaire's Christmas, by J.S. Scott 
     This was a super short story. I didn't realize that it's actually a part of a larger series. It was a fun, cheesy romance novel with a decent story. If you're looking for a silly love story you can read in a day or a fun beach read this would be a good one to pick up.

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed 
     This book has been sitting on my shelf for ages and I finally got around to reading it! I loved it! Cheryl is definitely an inspiration. Can you imagine being at complete rock bottom and just taking off for months of hiking all alone in order to find yourself? I loved reading about all the people she met on the trail and her struggle to keep going. I think that is something we can all relate to in our daily lives. I'm eager to see the movie adaptation of this book. I'm also looking forward to warmer weather so I can go for a nice weekend hiking adventure.


P.S. Did you notice the cute little cover my Kindle is sitting on in the above photo? Radio Shack is going out of business and having crazy sales so I scooped that case up for just $2! It is meant for an iPad mini so it's a bit big for my Kindle but I love that. I have space for my Kindle, a small notebook and a pen. 

Book Review: Dark Places

I just finished reading "Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn. This was the first of Flynn's three novels and by far my favorite.

"Dark Places" tells the story of Libby Day who was the only witness to the vicious murders of her mother and two sisters. As a child, Libby reports that her brother Ben is the murderer but over two decades later she begins to question how accurate her memory of that night is. Libby begins a crusade to find the truth, meeting characters from the past and confronting her own demons.

I don't want to give away any spoilers but my problem with Flynn's novels is that her characters are so fucked up! I find it hard to relate to them and with the other two books I loved the unexpected endings but hated how bleak they were. With "Dark Places" I got the surprise ending but I also felt like there was better character resolution. People got what they deserved and Libby, I believe, is able to finally find some peace.

What do you think? Do you like really dark books or do you prefer more hopeful/light endings? Which Gillian Flynn novel is your favorite?

Crochet Projects: What to skip and what to start!

Hello all! I have been having a ton of fun lately experimenting with different crochet projects; there have been a few hits and a few misses.

Miss: I saw this idea on Pinterest; adding a crochet border to a piece of fleece. It really wasn't worth the time or effort. The end result is cute but nothing special. Fleece does come in some fun themes though so it may be worthwhile if you find a pattern that is specific to a loved ones interests and just want to add a personal touch. I went around with a seem ripper and poked holes every half inch. Then I went around doing a single crochet in each hole with a chain between each one. That was followed by a row of single crochets, a row of double crochets, another single crochet and finally a ripple border. 

Hit: I have so many small balls of random yarn laying around so I started on this "scrap" blanket and I'm absolutely loving it. I love the random stripes in all different sizes and I love having something to do with all the bits and pieces of yarn I have. I plan to continue adding to this until I have a full size blanket. You can use any stitch you want with this project. I just did a big chain to the width I wanted and then all the rows are single crochets. I wanted something really small so that I can continue adding to it for awhile. I love how simple and mindless this is. I have been so stressed lately so it's nice to be able to just sit down and keep my hands busy; I really don't have to think too much about what I'm doing. 

Have you had any craft fails lately? Or come across any particularly fun projects? 

Linked Up At: http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2015/02/one-project-at-a-time-2915.html