#33 is done!

So, I had my first Black Friday experience this year. Walmart is not the ideal place to have your first experience (fyi). However, it was a complete success to me! I was able to get my second choice in TV!!! I bought us a Sony Bravia LCD HDTV --- 40"!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, I was so excited! We convinced my in-laws & hubby's grandma to put our birthday & Christmas present money towards our TV. This allowed us to get what we wanted at a cheaper price and with the help of others. Now, we will always think of them when we watch sports in the prettiest & clearest picture that we have ever enjoyed. I know it sounds like I am being dramatic but it is awesome! We even found out that we were paying for some HD channels in our cable package already. Luckily, it is the basic channels and the sports channels.

#12 is done!!!

I finally got to take pictures in a photo booth with my hubby. Actually, it was my first time take pictures in a photo booth ever.

Tonight, our church held an event to say thank you to all of the volunteers. They had a photo booth for everyone to take pictures. So, of course we had to to it. I will put up our pictures as soon as I can scan it onto the computer!

#89 is done!!

I watched Army Wives seasons 1 & 2 in a week. haha. It was so good though.

The hubby and I went to visit my parents and brother (who attends Baylor). On the way back, I got bored so I started watching season 1 on my computer. It was so addicting that I finished that season and moved right into season 2 a couple of days later. I love watching tv shows with no commercials or weeks to wait in between episodes. You can find out what happened immediately instead of going through a suspenseful week.

Now, I'm waiting for season 3 to be bought by a friend so I can borrow it and watch it. But, that season just ended so I don't think it will come out for awhile. Boo!!

The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz and J. S. Lewis

This is the first book in a series called the Grey Griffins series. The Grey Griffins is a group of four eleven-year-olds who are very close friends. The leader, and main character, is Max Sumner who comes from a family that owns towns. Max's parents just got divorced and he doesn't feel like he has anyone to take care of him.

Max, Harley, Natalia and Ernie play a card game called Round Table. It gets really freaky when Max finds a magical book in the attic. It get even more crazy when the creatures in the Round Table game start appearing in Avalon, Minnesota. The Grey Griffins discover a secret world and those that fight against the creatures.

Totally surprising how good this book, and the series, is once you give it a chance.

No Summer Class?!

I may have an opportunity to take the class I planned for next June, I might be able to take next semester!! If this happens, I can graduate in May!! HOPE HOPE!

Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs

This is one of my favorite tall tale stories. It is not well known.

Angelica, the Swamp Angel, is like Paul Bunyan. She is abnormally tall for a human being. She takes part in a town competition to remove the town's nemesis, Thunderin Tarnation, a black bear that is abnormally large. However, no one thinks she can do it because she is a female.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

This series is great for kids who love mysteries but need something easier to read. This series also helps readers get used to chapter books. I ended up buying every single book in this series. There was even a fan club thing that I bought the books through. I would get a newsletter and five new books once a month. Yes, I was a reading nerd as a child. Not that this blog is proving that anything has changed. =)

The Boxcar children are four orphans that are siblings. They end up living in a boxcar to be able to live together. They are too scared to live with their grandfather because they don't know him. The children end up solving a new mystery every single book. This book is thicker than most of the others because it has to set up the background of the children and how they function as a unit and individuals.

All I know is that if you've never read these books, do it!!! You will NOT regret it! If you do, I don't know if we can be friends. ;-)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This book really made me nervous. I didn't know how a journal with comics drawn in would be something that could keep me interested. This is the first of a four-book series, the most recent hit the bookshelves October 12.

How wrong I was! This book was so clever and funny. The main character is Greg Heffley is in middle school and number 57 (approx) on the popularity list. His best friend is closer to number 200. This is not helpful to his efforts to move up. Also, Greg has crazy dynamics at home that make life interesting.

I didn't think this book would be as clever as it was. I can see how students relate to the character and the story lines. Greg shares stories that everyone can relate to and in a way that everyone thinks  about them, bluntly. I read through this first book in less than an hour. So easy to read, to relate to, and funny. At least try the first book!

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

This is one of the books that is considered to be controversial. Some parents even want it banned from their children's classrooms. All because it says the word 'ass' in one of the first few chapters. Honestly, I didn't notice it. I would agree that the word should not be there. However, the rest of the book is fantastic.

James is being raised by two aunts who are horrible to him. He has to do chores that most boys his age should never have to do. He is given a gift of some magic. However, he trips and the magic goes into the roots of the peach tree. When one of the peaches grows almost as big as the tree, his aunts start to make money to show the giant peach. James ends up running away with the peach when it starts to roll down the hill. He discovers that there are talking animals living inside the peach. The book is about the journey they make on the peach around the world.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack

Read it. Period. End of Story.

#46 is done!!

I killed a bug all on my own!!!

I was getting into the shower today when I noticed a HUGE spider trying to crawl up the side by the faucet. I had to call Jerome in to make sure I had a witness. He probably thought I was going to freak out and make him kill it. I did it all on my own!!!! hehe

I'm really proud of myself. I normally make him kill bugs if he is home. I can be the tough girl and kill bugs when I have to but I typically fall into the scared girl. If he is home, I want Jerome to 'save' me from the bug. I know, pathetic, but I like it when he takes care of me.

May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This book is one of a three part series. I only bought the first book to see if the series was good enough to finish. It's not fair when a story is cut short by the end of a book. :) Now, I have to go buy the books to finish the story. And after reading this book, it is going to be worth it.


May Ellen Bird is not a typical girl. She has a hard time making friends and therefore does not get along well with others. She is an individual in the way she acts, thinks and dresses. Her best friend is her hairless cat, Somber Kitty. She lives in a town that is abandoned besides her and her mom living in a mansion. Her bedroom is covered in pictures she drew at a younger age. They are of crazy, fictional creations of her imagination.


May is threatened with boarding school in New York City. She explores the ruins of the town and finds a letter that she has never seen before. It turns out, the letter is addressed to her. After seeing the lady hidden in the tree (drawn on the envelope), May starts seeing ghosts in her house. She runs away and discovers a lake in the forest by her house. Funny thing is, the town is in a serious drought that has existed for awhile. When May finds the lake, there is a strangeness about it. Once she falls in, May discovers that she is in the after life. The book starts her journey avoiding the Bogeyman and making her back home.

Moving

So we have told both set of parents our plans for the next few years. So, now I can tell everyone.


We are going to move to Houston in July 2010. This is next summer. We will both be done with school at OSU. SO SAD!!!! However, we are happy to move into the next phase of our lives. During that year we will both get jobs and work in the Houston area. My hubby's salary will be saved to pay for his physical therapy school. For the 3 years after, he will attend PT school while we live off my salary. 


To sum up, starting July 2010, we will live in Texas for the next 4 years. We will be in the Houston area for the first. The next 3 will be where ever my hubby goes to PT school. 


Ahh!!!! It's getting real now that we're telling people!

3 days in

I love having a list to check things off. Unfortunately for me, a lot of my goals require doing something more than once before it is complete. I like that I'm making myself 'master' something before stopping it. I'm hoping that by making myself repeat some goals that they will be one step closer to habits. 


I'm trying to pick what goal to do that doesn't have to be repeated. Maybe it's not the best reason to do something on my list, but I REALLY want to cross something off. haha. I think I'll feel this list is doable if I can cross something off early.

DAY 1

YAY!!!!!!! 


I GET TO START!!!!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I will recommend that you read this series without thinking about the movies. The books are so much better. Granted, I own all the movies. haha. It's not hypocritical, just obsession. The books are great because of all the detail the author includes. The story, world, and characters are developed so well that it is realistic. 


The movies leave so much of the story line out. Not cool.


Okay, this is the story about Harry Potter who grew up wit his aunt and uncle and cousin; they were horrible. On his eleventh birthday, Harry finds out from a giant that he is magical because his parents were. Harry gets to go to a magical school called Hogwarts and learn how to play quidditch. 


If you don't know the story line, then you've been living under a rock. So, go buy all 7 books and get sucked in to the magical world of Harry Potter.

3 days.

I cannot wait to start. I debated when to start. I thought I would start the day after I wrote my list. However, when thinking about more lists later in the future, I decided the 1st of the month would be the best. All of my lists to come will also start on the 1st of the month after I complete the previous list. 


I'm thinking that there is one thing on my list that will not get accomplished. Depressing I know but I wanted to give myself the option. If I accomplish that 'goal' in these 1001 days, I will fulfill a very sick tradition. haha. By sick, I mean seemingly unrealistic but somehow accomplished by my mom, grandma, and great-grandma. Okay, okay, I'll explain. In my maternal history (the females I just mentioned), they have their one and only daughter by the age of 26 and give her the initials of A.J. Freaky, but so true. If I get pregnant in the time allotted for this list, with a girl, I will be continuing the tradition (I will be 25 in Jan of 2012). However, it may not fit into our 'master plan' of when we think we can have a child. If it happens, it happens and we will embrace it fully. 


Oh, to think about what the future might hold!

The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman

This series is like nothing out there. The world created by the author is like an island in the sky. Most of the population who live there, don't know about the other parts of the land. 


Warvold has traveled the world and learned of its good and bad qualities. He built rounded walls around the 4 main cities and connected them with walled streets. He is trying to protect the citizens of these town from what they do not know. 


The main character, Alexa, is charged with saving the world she knows and the parts she doesn't even know exist. Warvold has secretly entrusted her with the mission as his final wishes. He pre-planned everything without anyone knowing except for Alexa and the dwarf and animals that he wants to help her. Alexa's journey is one that only a 12-year-old child can make. She begins to learn about the world she lives in and the secrets it holds. 

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

This is the first book in a seven book series, The Sisters Grimm. This is a fantastic twist on all the fairy tales we loved as children. The paperback cover is pictured.


The main characters are Sabrina and Daphne, who find out from their grandmother that they are the great-great-etc-grandchildren of the famous Grimm Brothers. They live in a town that was magically sealed by the Grimm Brothers to keep all the fairy-tale creatures from invading the United States. Sabrina and Daphne must help their mystery-loving grandmother solve crimes that are happening in their town. 


As well as crimes in their town, Sabrina is trying to find out what really happened to her parents that caused her and her little sister to become orphans. She has a constant secret mission going to find them.


The world created by Michael Buckley is fabulous. The stories stem from what we believe about fairy-tale characters but with a new twist. Some of them are not as good as we think.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

This book was one I randomly picked up at a Marshalls. I thought I would give it a try. It ended up being a very interesting book.


The main character, Artemis Fowl, is an Irish 12-year-old who is filthy rich. His family is known for their wealth and criminal history. Artemis wants to regain his family's wealth back into the billions. He wants to do so by stealing from the fairy kingdom. Fairies, however, are not like. Tinkerbell. The term fairy describes sprites, leprechauns, dwarves, elves, etc. The main narrator for the fairies is a fairy who is still trying to prove herself and regain the trust of all fairies.


This book is very well written and draws the reader in. The world of fairies is nothing that has ever been presented before, as far as I know. The series has recently published its sixth book.

My List of 101 Things in 1001 Days

Start: October 1, 2009
Finish: June 28, 2012


A friend of mine made one of these lists. I got so inspired that I created my own. I have found that if I make lists, I am more likely to accomplish what I want to do.


Crossed Through = Finished
Bolded = In Progress
{0/#} = My Progress 

School/Work

1. Get all As in masters program

2. Graduate with masters

3. Learn sign language

4. Get a job teaching

5. Help put my hubby through physical therapy school

Family

6. Get pregnant (if we can afford to)

7. Have 2 date nights a month with my hubby. {0/66}

8. Go on 3 picnics with my hubby {0/3}

9. Visit the in-laws once a month while we still live in Oklahoma {0/9}

10. Visit my parents once every other month when in Texas {0/12}

11. Go to the Rees family Christmas party every year {0/3}

12. Take pictures in a photo booth with my hubby

13. Visit a state that neither the hubby or I have been to

14. Say ‘I love you’ every day to my wonderful hubby {0/1001}

15. Make love every day for a month {0/30}

16. Have a board game night with the hubby twice a month {0/66}

17. Travel Route 66 with my hubby

18. Do an craft project with my hubby

19. Finish my poster for my hubby

20. Take a week vacation outside the U.S. with my hubby

21. Go on a romantic weekend getaway with my hubby once a year {0/3}

Financial

22. Pay off at least 1 loan completely

23. Donate $25 a month to a charity {0/33}

24. Save at least 10% of my paycheck every month {0/33}

25. Have 1 yard sale a year {0/3}

26. Put all of our change in a container and count it at the end of every three months {0/11}

27. Follow the budget every month {0/33}

28. Tip a really good waiter/waitress 100%

29. Pay for a stranger’s meal

30. Don’t use the air conditioner/heater for a month {0/30}

31. Update the checkbook every day {0/1001}

Personal

32. Update at least 1 of my blogs daily {0/1001}

33. Buy a flat screen HDTV over 40”

34. Get an iPhone

35. Finish Mason Boggs’ baby scrapbook for his mommy

36. Visit a state that I’ve never been to but my hubby has

37. Go to a state fair

38. Ride a Ferris wheel

39. Read through the Bible in a year starting a Jan 1 {0/365}

40. Feel confident in a bikini

41. Complete Project 365 starting on a Jan 1 {0/365}

42. Get haircut once every 3 months  {0/11}

43. Wear makeup once a week {0/143}

44. Scrapbook this experience

45. Conquer my fear of tiny, dark places

46. Kill a bug when my hubby is nearby (don’t ask him to kill it)

47. Beat my hubby in a tickle war

48. Join or create a Bunco group

49. Go to Vegas

50. Scrapbook Cabo trip

51. Donate food to a local food bank

For Fun

52. Wake up before the sun just to see it rise

53. Stay up for 24 hours, just because

54. Finish a puzzle book

55. Buy a pair of shoes that costs over $100

56. Adopt a lab, golden retriever, or border collie and name her Bella or him Cooper

Household

57. Do laundry once a week  {0/143}

58. Recycle glass, plastic, paper, organics & aluminum every two weeks {0/71}

59. Clean the house once every two weeks {0/71}

60. Plant something without killing it

61. Grow a food (herb or vegetable)

Cooking/Eating

62. Cook 4 nights a week for a year {0/208}

63. Host a holiday dinner and cook it

64. Cook a new meal once a month {0/33}

65. Cook an old favorite once a month {0/33}

66. Eat breakfast four days a week for a month {0/17}

67. Shop for veggies at a farmers market ten times {0/10}

68. Order something new when going to a favorite restaurant {0/15}

69. Eat vegetarian for a week {0/7}

70.  No candy for two weeks {0/14}

Health/Fitness

71. Weigh in the 130s

72. Work out for 30 minutes 4 times a week for a year{0/208}

73. Drink the recommended 8 glasses of water a day for a month {0/30}

74. Take multivitamins (for women) every day for a month {0/30}

75. Brush, floss and rinse teeth twice a day every day {0/2002}

76. Walk Shorty once a week {0/143}

Reading

77. Read 1 book I own that I’ve never read once a month {0/33}

78. Read 1 book every other month from the ‘1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die’ list that I’ve never read before{0/17}

79. Buy 1 book every other month to add to series I own {0/17}

80. Buy 1 book every other month from my Amazon Wish Lists {0/17}

Media

81. Finish AFI’s ‘Top 100 Movies’ List  (have seen 28 already) {0/72}

82. See a newly released movie every other month {0/17}

83. Attend 1 concert by an artist I’ve never seen live

84. Attend a musical or play that I’ve never seen before with the hubby

85. Attend a live comedy show

86. Catch up on Criminal Minds to the present day season {0/3}

87. Watch Season 1 of Lost

88. Finish Season 1 of 24

89. Watch Seasons 1 & 2 of Army Wives

90. Beat Mario Galaxy on the Wii

91. Master 2 cities in Mafia Wars on Facebook

Sports

92. Go to an OSU football game at least once a year after graduation {0/3}

93. Go to 1 pro basketball game

94. Go to 1 pro football game

95. Go to 1 Astros game

96. Go to 1 pro baseball game that’s not at Minute Maid Park

97. Play fantasy football one year

98. Learn the rules of soccer

99. Learn the rules of hockey

When this is finished

100. Create a new list!

101. Put anything I didn’t finish or the next step of something on the next list.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

This book is written by an author that is great at pulling readers into the worlds that he creates. This is the first book in a series that is very creative in getting non-readers to read. 


This is THE book that I got middle school students, mostly boys but girls too, to start reading. The book is written from the perspective of 12-year-old Ryan. It is not a book however; it is his journal. Ryan lives in a town called Skeleton Creek and his best friend is Sarah Fincher. She is very inquisitive and convinces Ryan to try and find out the mystery behind their town and its name. There are ghosts and secrets that Ryan and Sarah find out about rather quickly.


Ryan's journal stops in places and gives you a password to a website: www.sarahfincher.com. Sarah tells half of the story through her postings on her website. This is what pulled my students into the book. They read a journal and then watch a video online. 


The sequel, Ghost in the Machine, is coming out October 1, 2009. I cannot wait!!!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

As you know, this is the first book in a very popular series. I avoided this series because it was a huge trend. I didn't trust everyone. However, I was told that once I started I would not be able to set the books down. So, I bought all four books at once. My friend was right and it was a really good thing I bought all four books at once. 

Bella moves from her mom's house to her dad's in Forks, a very small town in Washington. She thinks one guy, Edward, at school is really handsome but he won't talk to her. Then, he saves her life in the school parking lot. Soon, Bella learns of the world of vampires and werewolves is not like the movies portray. She even has to figure out how balance her relationship with both. 

It is very hard to talk about this book without spoiling it. Please, just read the first one and let yourself get sucked into the world of Forks and Bella.