2014 Summer Reading List

When my Summer I semester was over in June, I KNEW I'd be hitting the book reading hard. I have always loved reading.  It is one of my happy places.  To get lost in a book for hours.  Your mind is the movie reel and you are telling it to what to show you.  It's fascinating to me.  I blew through these books in about 2-3 days, ignoring most of my wifely duties because I was so enthralled.  I am passing these books on to one of my dear friends that enjoys reading almost as much as I do (and hates her chores just as much!)  If you haven't read any of these, it is totally worth it.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This book was a recommendation by my bosses wife and it did not disappoint. When a wife goes missing and blood is found in her house on her 10 year wedding anniversary, the whole town is sent into a panic trying to figure out where she is and who hurt her?  It was a total mind fuck and I LOVED it.  I had no idea what was going on half the time, and I totally fell for the villain only to be totally shocked as the book progressed.  I did enjoy this book because of the marriage aspect. It was fascinating to me how the husband and wife each perceived their marriage.  It just shows how some people think they're totally on the same page without being quite on the same page.  Bonus - this has been made into a movie and will be released in the Fall.  Although I don't think the movies are ever quite as good as the book, we shall see.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.  Reading this book made me feel kind of weird.  It was very sick and twisted yet I just could NOT put it down.  Again with this author, I guess she really likes mind fucking her readers :) This book was about an unstable news reporter that has to return to her hometown to investigate some murders of 2 pre-teen girls.  What she uncovers is pretty mind blowing and will definitely make you want to take a shower and watch your children a little closer.

Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire. This book was pretty good.  It was a nice break from the 2 previous mysteries I read before this one.  It was kind of a love story about a girl who's busy with life and not very interested in love until she totally falls for the bad boy.  Certain aspects of their love story was fascinating. You could practically feel the sexual chemistry between them. However, I will say this book definitely pissed me off at times. Cami (the protagonist) seemed so helpless and needy at times I wanted to reach through the book and just shake her.  Overall though, it is definitely worth the read and I was totally shocked at the end.

Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes.  I felt all sorts of emotions reading this book.  I almost couldn't make it through the first few pages because it was so incredibly violent and it so hard for me to willingly read things like that.  The domestic violence of this book hit a little too close to home but I kept reading because something about it entranced me.  Cathy is a woman who was in a very abusive relationship and finally got out after her boyfriend almost killed her.  He goes to prison and she moves away after all of her friends believe the ex-boyfriend from all of the manipulation he orchestrated. A few years later he gets out of prison and comes for her.  I was pulling for Cathy to be strong and make it through this.  This one did not disappoint, and the way the author wrote this, makes you feel like you are literally in the room and a part of this whole book. It was fascinating and definitely worth the read.

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison.  I was captivated reading the back of this book about a couple who's 20 year relationship is on the rocks.  Again, it was the dynamic of how you can be in a relationship and you and your spouse are in totally different places.  This book did not disappoint and was one I did not want to put down at all.  In fact, we were at the lake when I was reading this one and when everyone else was napping, I was down at the lake floating on my raft, reading this book. 

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf.  Sitting at the airport waiting on my flight to board from Chicago to Florida I knew I had to find a good book to read.  There were not many options so I settled for Little Mercies even though it was a little different genre than I normally read.  A mother accidentally leaves her little girl locked in the van and the girl almost dies.  And then we meet another character who is left on a bus and travels a few states away.  Their paths cross and what happens next is pretty incredible.  

So, what have you been reading this Summer?  School starts in about 2 weeks and I am honestly not looking forward to going back so I am trying to get in as much pleasure reading as possible.  I do appreciate having a more structured routine, but is hard balancing it all.   Anyways, if you have any good book recommendations, please pass them along!

Another year older, another year wiser. Or something like that.

It never ceases to amaze me how much more we have to learn, even as adults.  I know they say that the younger you are, the easier it is to learn things, and I guess that’s true to some extent.  Not necessarily true though regarding life lessons and the wisdom you gain from growing older.

As of a week ago, I am officially no longer just dirty 30.  I am the big 3-1.  The numbers are getting larger yet the inner peace I am achieving grows larger by the day.  I thought it’d be fun to do some little nuggets of wisdom of things I’ve learned in the past year.

Allowing toxic people to take up space in your brain is your fault just as much as theirs.  If a relationship is more work than reward, let go.  You can find great inner peace if you start to focus on your own family, goals, and what’s important to you and the people who are always there for you.

The older you get, you will finally realize quality over quantity in friendships and relationships.  I used to take great pride in the hundreds of phone numbers I had, knowing I could just call or text someone on a whim and they’d be just as ready to go out and party as I was.  You will eventually find out that these so called friends are only there for your long partying, nights.  Not the people you want to go to when you have some exciting news to share.  Your priorities start to shift as you grow older.  Instead of being enticed by the dim lights, stale cigarette smoke, and loud bass, you realize you have more fun at a kids birthday party, having an ice cold beer with fellow parents, and enjoying the sunshine and children’s laughter.  Plus, bonus: you won’t wake up the next day with a hangover!

I’ve always considered myself to be someone who has great taste and loves to decorate, but the older I get, the more I realize that I want to take great pride in our home and let it be a reflection of who we are, as a family.  I’d pick a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond over a trip to Victoria’s Secret any day of the week now.

Cooking is actually fun!  I’ve always loved to cook but now that I’m a little older, I’m more comfortable to try new things and go out on a whim to create something new (sorry husband ;).

Gardening is kind of fun.  I definitely sound like an old(er) person now, but when I can keep something alive, it’s neat.  Plus, I love having plants and flowers and all kinds of things blooming all the time.

Financial planning.  Ew, I’ll admit this one still kind of gives me hives.  My husband is definitely the one who has influenced me and pushed me in the right direction to do some retirement planning and for that, I thank him.  But it can be so very overwhelming when first starting out. 

Education is important.  And expensive.  But you know what's more expensive?  Not having an education and living up to your full potential (although I do realize this is not true in everyones case - mine included.)

Confidence is the best thing a woman can wear.  It's refreshing to have a husband, a stepson, and bigger more important things to worry about than what establishment is hosting ladies night.

So that's it.  For now.  There are tons more things I learned in my 30's, but I don't want to bore you too much more :)

A Minecraft Party

In case ya'll have been living under a rock, there is this new game called "Minecraft" that is all the rage these days among the kiddos.  So, when the LO said he wanted a Minecraft birthday party, we weren't that surprised. Unfortunately for us, you can't just go to Party City and fill your basket with random Minecraft decorations, the majority of it is DIY.

I will say that planning parties, DIY decorations, and designing is my thing.  One of the simple things in life that gives me joy.  Being able to use my imagination and create things is fun for me.  To see everything come together and all of the little kids faces light up. That's what makes it all worth it to me.  This year, we decided to have a joint party with the LO's mom. So, we agreed to throw the party at her home.  It's nice and has a pool, plus this meant that I wouldn't have clean our house from top to bottom just to have the kids destroy it during the party, so win for me.

We all worked together as a team, and it came out pretty good.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves (adults included) so that made it even better.  I mean, we threw in the new wife's family with the ex-wife's family, you really have no idea if it will be good or bad, lol.  But thankfully everyone behaved and had a nice time (I'm sure the beer had something to do with it, ha.)

As fun as it was, not sure that we'll do it again next year.  When it comes to planning, I really do enjoy just doing things my way and not having to get other peoples input.  But a year is a long time away so we shall see :)

Anyways, here are a few pictures I managed to snap during the party.  Hope you enjoy!

The husband printed out the background on his plotter at work.  I made the Zachary banner in MS Word.

The gift bag / candy table was a HUGE hit!