Lauren Gets Literal Button

One more post about the book blog :)

Christina made me a button and I would love for you to grab it and stick it on your blog!  You can find the code on the side bar.

Thanks for all of your support!!  You guys are the best!

26 big ones

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!  I'm pretty pumped, and it's best way to make a Monday not so bad (even though I don't have the day off and have meetings to go to).

So on this day that marks 26 years on this planet, I have a little announcement for everyone.  For your reading pleasure you can now see everything I have to say about books on my new site, Lauren Gets Literal.  Yeah, you probably thought it would be some a tad more awesome than that, but I'm pretty excited and I hope you enjoy it too!  The best birthday pressie you could give me would be to go on over and follow it for me and maybe leave me some comment love in the near future.  I promise some awesome recommendations and maybe a giveaway or two.

Here's to another amazing year!!  (and hopefully some yummy cake)

My Dad

My dad rocks.  I'm so thankful every day for him.  

He is so many things, but mostly

he is the best dad a girl could ask for.

Happy Father's Day!  

They Say It's Your Birthday!!

No, not my birthday silly.  June is a big month around my house.  There's Father's Day, Millie's birthday, MY birthday, and my sisters' birthday.  Yes, you saw that right. Plural sisters, singular day.  This always seems to throw people off, they are twins.  Today happens to be that DAY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY TWO BIG SISTERS!

(Dude, you guys are 28.  When did this happen, seriously?)

In honor of their special day I'm going to share some sisterly pictures with you.

 Say it with me, awwww.   

 

Please ignore the largeness that is my ghetto booty. 

 This was when Natalie was pregnant with Sweet Baby James.  Seems like so long ago!!

 In this pic, Natalie is pregnant with little Lilah (YiYah).  Less than a month before she got here!

At my bridesmaids brunch the day before I got married. 

I am super pumped about their birthday gifts this year.  I KNOW they will love them and I can't wait until tonight for them to get them.

Happy happy birthday seesters!!!

Book Trailer: Passion by Lauren Kate

In my lovely opinion, book trailers are almost always cheesetastic, but I love them anyway.  Next Tuesday, Passion by Lauren Kate comes out and I can't wait!  So to get pumped up about it, I'm sharing the trailer.



What do you think?  I'm hoping it will be awesome.  We were left with quite the cliffhanger in Torment so I'm rather anxious to see how this goes.  Thoughts on Daniel?  I pictured him way more dark and handsome, but whatev.

Hope you are as excited about Passion as I am!

Latest California Adventure

 I recently went to the wonderful state of California to attend training for work.  How awesome is that?  It was pretty darn awesome.  I didn't get to do a whole lot, I was there for work you know, but I did get to squeeze in a few things that I'm going to share with you.

OMG. First visit to In-N-Out. It was freaking awesome. I am pretty sure I won't ever be able to visit the state of CA without having some of this goodness.

I also made a quick drive down the Pacific Coast Highway.  I'm so glad I did this.  I was a little scared of driving it by myself, but it wasn't bad at all.  And it was beautiful.  Seriously, you can't see this and not be in awe of how amazing it is.    

 I only snagged a few pictures because I had a wave of anxiety standing on the side of a cliff by myself.  Yes, I am completely neurotic at times.

 Of course I needed a self-portrait so you knew I was really there and not just stealing these pictures from the internet.

I also went to Cafe Rio after hearing all kinds of great things about it.  It sucked.  That's all I have to say about that.

 This was as brave as I could get to getting close to a Rodeo Drive street sign.  It was already painfully obvious that I wasn't from around those parts, so I didn't feel the need to draw any more attention to myself.

 I also had my first Sprinkles experience.  I'm not going to lie, I KNEW I was going to be disappointed.  All of the hype could only mean that my expectations were going to be ridiculous. 

While my expectations were absolutely ridiculous, Sprinkles lived up to it.  Best cupcakes I've EVER had!  I had to get a four pack -  red velvet, salted caramel, black and white, and dark chocolate banana.  I ate all of them and they were all fabulous.  Let's just say I'm glad there isn't a Sprinkles near by because I would eat my weight in cupcakes on a regular basis.

Overall, I had a wonderful trip.  I got in some awesome training that I'm hoping will really help me professionally and I got to have froyo in Malibu.  Cali FTMFW!

Birthday Phenomenon at Cleverly Inked

I normally don't post about giveaways.  Mostly because I am pretty competitive and blogging just adds to the competition and I don't like it.  However, I stumbled upon this giveaway today and it is seriously to awesome to pass up.  You better check it out with a quickness!!

It's the Birthday Phenomenon <-- there's the link, over at Cleverly Inked.  And dude, it is awesome.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? {7}

Another Monday is here, so time to fill you in on what I've been reading!  Here is installment 7 of It's Monday, What Are You Reading? Inspiration from Sheila, you can find her blog here.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: The latest in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  I love Eric.  That's probably what keeps me coming back for more.  Dead Reckoning ended very abruptly, and not even with some big cliff hanger.  I'm hoping that maybe this was the required set up for an awesome ending to the series.  I did enjoy it though.

What I Am Reading Right Now:  So, as you are reading this (well, depending on your time zone and when you actually get to this) I'm either on my way or in California.  I love that I occasionally get to travel for work, it changes things up.  So in order to be fully prepared for travel, I'm going to have 3 books ready to go.  I have The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss on my Nook.  It's the sequel to The Name of the Wind, that I surprisingly loved.  It's over 1,000 pages so I figured my Nook would be the best way to tote it around with me.  In case I can't handle the take off and landings when electronics must be turned off, I am also bring my paperback of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  I am ridiculously excited about this book.  It's one of my Goodreads giveaways and so far the reviews have been amazing.  I really can't wait for this one!  And lastly, I have the audio book Something Blue by Emily Giffin to listen to during my drive from LA to the base I'm going to be training at.  I don't think I've listened to an audio book since I was a little one, so we will see how this goes.  I feel sufficiently prepared for my upcoming trip.

What's Up Next: I had a bit of a book buying binge last week... No worries, everything I bought was on sale.  We got this nice little set....

I'm super excited about this series because it will be the first one that John and I are both going to read.  John doesn't read much, but he is interested in this so I jumped at the chance to get these!  We'll see how it goes.  I have a ton of other books on my Nook as well, so who knows, I might pick up one of those.

I'm always up for new book recommendations, so let me know what you are reading!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? {6}

Happy Monday! Here is installment 6 of It's Monday, What Are You Reading?  Inspiration from Sheila, you can find her blog here.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: I finished The Name of the Wind  by Patrick Rothfuss and it was awesome.  For real.  This is book was out of the norm for what I usually read and I am so glad I gave it a shot.

I HAD to pick up Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I am pretty leery of the dystopian young adult novels that are crazy hyped up.  (For example, Matched didn't really live up to what it was cracked up to be and I am still a little bummed).  Not the case with this one.  It was amazing!  I absolutely couldn't put this down and stayed up all night reading.  Lots of action, a unique storyline and characters you can't help love or hate.  It's being compared to The Hunger Games, I of course do not believe it is "as great" as it has been said in reviews.  However, this is Veronica Roth's debut novel at the old age of 22.  Yeah, I have big hopes for her and I am sure the next in the series is only going to get better!  Seriously, you must read this one! 

What I Am Reading Right Now: I preordered Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris and am easing into it. (I'm working on a certification so I'm trying to focus on it and not so much on reading).  I had some Borders Bucks and ended up getting this book for a whopping $3.45.  A bright, shiny, new hardback book to add to my selection for a steal.  That always makes me excited.

What's Up Next: Next Monday I'm heading back to the west coast, so that means some serious quality reading time on the plane.  I have so many books in my possession that I want to read so this is really difficult for me to decide. I'm probably going to pick up The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, the sequel to TNOTW.  It's over 1,000 pages, so I'm sure it will take me some time to get through.

I'm always up for new book recommendations, so let me know what you are reading!  Hope you have a lovely week!

Thin Girl Thursday {11}

In hopes to get my hiney in gear, I got some new kicks.

Now, I've never been a big fan of running and I still can't say I love it, however these shoes make running so much better!  No lie.  My thighs and calves are screaming at me, but no knee pain or shin splints in sight.  Basically, these are what I needed to keep me from making some lame excuse for not exercising.   So bring on the cardio! 

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? {5}

Happy Monday! Here is installment 5 of It's Monday, What Are You Reading?  Inspiration from Sheila, you can find her blog here.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: This was the week for authors in the UK.   Actually, Stolen and Numbers fall into this category as well.

  Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma.  Honestly, I cannot put how that book made me feel into words.  It was a great book on an extremely difficult subject and I'm still thinking about it. 

I won The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen on Goodreads and it came in last week.  Another book with a touchy subject, infidelity.  This is a story from ex-mistress, Sally, to Clive, the man she had a five-year long affair with.  After Clive leaves his mistress, we see Sally spiral deeper into depression and the things Sally is driven to after being left by Clive. Initially it was difficult to follow and often times stories of infidelity are difficult for me to get through, but once I got into it I was anxious to know what would happen next. Sally was witty and funny at times and other times she was clearly incapable of rational thinking. It was impossible not to empathize with her at times and other times be completely shocked at what she was doing next. The ending came as a total surprise and really pulled everything together.  I thought this was a great book from a new author, definitely worth checking out!  It will be released June 7, 2011.

What I Am Reading Right Now: Finally really getting into The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Reading, boating and drinking wine; 3 of my favorite things resulted in an awesome day.

What's Up Next: This is really difficult for me to iron down.  I'm more of a, what do I want to read right this second kind of person, so it's hard for me to plan.  I preordered Dead Reckoning the latest Sookie Stackhouse book.  It is released tomorrow, so we'll see when Border's will get it to me!  I'm still planning on reading Water for Elephants, I just still haven't gotten to it....

Have a lovely week!

More olives...

No book post today.  After almost four months of reading non-stop I don't think I read more than 10 pages last week.  Life gets a little crazy sometimes.  So instead I'm going to share a story. 

It may not come as a surprise to anyone that I love olives.  Give me a dirty martini with extra olives and you have a happy Lauren.  Well, John and I went to Napa for our honeymoon which was completely amazing.  I can't wait to go back.  Little did I know, not only were there many, many grapes in Napa there is also an abundance of olives.  Heck yes.  On the way to a winery, John and I stopped at Oakville Grocery, awesome place for snacks and the perfect picnic between wine tasting.  Much to my surprise we found this little gem.

Yeah, I doubt you can tell what it is. 

There happened to be an olive bush/tree whatever it is right in front of our parking spot. 

John proceeds to say "I dare you to eat one of those olives."

Of course I responded with "You clearly don't know your wife very well if you think you must dare me to eat an olive."

So John hops out of the car, procures two olives and as you can see I was pretty pumped. 

The following pictures pretty much speak for themselves...

That was the nastiest not-olive I have ever tasted.  No freaking lie.  I am pretty sure I accused John of trying to poison me on our honeymoon.... I think from now on I'll stick to the olives in my martinis and bloody marys.

Happy Monday!!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? {4}

Happy Monday! Here is week 4 of It's Monday, What Are You Reading? I missed last week, so this might be a long one.  Inspiration from Sheila, you can find her blog here.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: I'm having to think back!  I finished Shadowfever and was pleased.  It was considerably longer than the other books in the series, but I did not mind at all!  I would rather a book that I really like to have more rather than less.  It was a great ending to the series.  If you are a Sookie Stackhouse fan, you should definitely check this series out!

I also read City of Fallen Angels.  I hate to say it, but I was disappointed.  It was ok, but that's about as much as I can say about it.  It was actually a little difficult for me to get through, which is totally opposite from the others that I couldn't put down.  I'm still excited for the next Infernal Devices book to come out, but my love for The Mortal Instruments took a big hit.  I guess we'll just have to wait over a year to see if the next in the series can redeem it.

I picked up Stolen: A letter to my captor by Lucy Christopher based on the recommendation of some ladies on the Nest Book Club.  Awesome book!  If you haven't read it and you are a YA reader, you should.  I'm still thinking about it over a week after I finished.

I read the next book, Numbers by Rachel Ward, because I won the sequal, Chaos, in a giveaway from this book review blog.  The jury is still out for this one.  The idea was interesting and the book was good, I just can't quite put my finger on how I feel about it.  Maybe once I have time to let it sink in a little more I can give better info.  I can say that I will definitely read Chaos and I'm pretty interested in the 3rd book in the series as well.
What I Am Reading Right Now: I'm finally getting around to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.  So far it's pretty good.  Not a quick read by any means, but I'm really enjoying it.  I just got Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma.  I'm really enjoying it so far, I have heard that it's absolutely heart-wrenching though.  I haven't read one of those in a while, so  I'm due for a good book cry.

What's Up Next: I really want to read Water for Elephants before the movie comes out.  I've been putting it off and have no clue why.  I downloaded it on my Nook, so hopefully I can pick that one up next!

So, what are you reading???

A confession...

You know what I have been thinking about lately?  Babies.  A whole freaking lot.  I don't know why.  I don't want a baby right now, like not even a little bit, but for some reason it has been constantly running through my brain for the past month or so.  It's weird.  It also creeps my husband out.  I asked him yesterday if we could name our son Jace....  He said no.  Again, I have no clue whatsoever as to why I would ask such a thing.  (I did just read City of Fallen Angels but I don't know what that has to do with this baby fever I seemed to have caught).

Unfortunately, that's all I've got for right now...  Happy Wednesday :)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? {3}

Happy Monday!  Here is week 3 of It's Monday, What Are You Reading?  Inspiration from Sheila, you can find her blog here.  

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: This was a pretty crazy week for me!  I had to fly on over to Cali for this thing I call work, so I had some serious airplane reading time.  Of course I was super pumped about Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward #9 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series.  It did not disappoint!  Not only are these books smoking hot, Ward is an amazing storyteller and the characters are fabulous.  There is an endless amount of bangin' hot book boys, well except these aren't boys.... She also announced that book #10 in the series will be for Tohrment.  Can't wait!!


While I was in Cali it was a lot of work, a little bit of play, and too much exhaustion for much more reading.  Until I was on the plane coming home that is :)  I did finish up the next two in the Fever series by Moning.  They are quick reads, only a day or so to read.  I found myself skimming at times,  Dreamfever was my favorite so far.  If you are into the Sookie Stackhouse books, you should give these a shot.

What I Am Reading Right Now:  Sunday evening after my marathon closet cleaning, I started the final book in the Fever series Shadowfever. If any heroine in a novel needs a good shake to get her to see the guy that is perfect for her is right in front of her, it is Mac.  Really liking it so far, we'll have to see if this book is as good as the last.

What's Up Next:   I have my copy of City of Fallen Angels  pre-ordered and ready to be delivered to my Nook Tuesday!  I'm pretty excited about this, I need some Jace swooning/lusting in my life :)  I also picked up The Forest of Hands and Teeth  at Border's last week so that might be next.  It was a hardback for $3.99, I couldn't resist!!


So, what are you reading???

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? {2}

So here is week 2 of It's Monday, What Are You Reading?  Inspiration from here and here.  

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: This week I read If You're Not Yet Like Me by Edan Lepucki and Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning.  I realize that I am WAY behind on Moning's Fever series, but so far I'm pretty impressed.  Darkfever jumped around and was a little difficult to follow at times, but I still enjoyed it and am pretty sure the series will just keep getting better.

What I Am Reading Right Now: I didn't think I was going to get through Darkfever as quickly as I did, so I had to give in and get the next in the series Bloodfever and try super hard to finish it before Tuesday!!

What's Up Next: Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward #9 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series.  Did I tell you I'm excited about this book?  Because I totally am.  Ward has me hooked.  Apparently someone was smiling down on me because Tuesday also happens to be the day I will spend about 6 hours on an airplane for work which means time to feed my BDB addiction!! I just knew that I would be either sleep deprived or sneaking my book into work on Tuesday, but luckily I get to read on the plane instead of hanging at the office and I seriously can't wait.  And after that I have been eying Stolen: A letter to my captor  by Lucy Christopher. 

So what are you reading?

Novellas and short stories

So, this isn't really a review, just some thoughts on the novella I just finished.  Today I finished "If You're Not Yet Like Me" by Edan Lepucki. 

It was my second Goodreads giveaway win, holla!  I can honestly say, I would have never picked this book up to read had I not won it.  The sad reasoning behind that statement is the fact that I generally do not like novellas or short stories (extremely close-minded, I know).  I typically feel like they are extremely hard to "get right."  I guess I feel a little gypped when I read them, like I didn't get enough of the story or it leaves a lot unanswered.  I will, however, pick up a novella that is a supplement to a series or book that I really loved.  So I was a little skeptical at first, but once I finished I can honestly say those are no longer my feelings.  Lepucki did an awesome job of telling the characters' stories and I was able to feel a connection with her character Joellyn.  It was funny, sarcastic and sad all at the same time and I thought it was great.

My eyes are now open and not quite so quick to judge novellas and short stories.  I'll be looking for future publications from this author!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

I found this little meme on Amber's blog which then led me to Sheila's blog and I decided to play along. 

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Just Finished Reading: This weekend I finished up The Keeping and The Finding by Nicky Charles.  I got these plus The Mating all for free on my Nook!  If you are a paranormal romance kinda gal like I am, then you should check them out.  FYI- this is a romance novel, not really for young eyes if you get what I'm saying :)

What I Am Reading Right Now: Nothing at this moment.  I finished up my book last night and need to focus on a class I'm taking to get a certificate so I'm trying not to start anything new until I wrap some of that up.

What's Up Next: Most likely Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.  It's hanging out in my Nook library waiting on me to give it a go.  It will have to wait if I can't get to it or finished it by Tuesday, because the next Black Dagger Brotherhood book comes out and I can't flipping wait!

Let me know what you are reading! I am always open for a good book rec!

I am obsessed with Goodreads

All of my social-networking or time on the internet has recently been spent on Goodreads as of late.  I have abandoned Facebook, Twitter and even Blogger.  I have also been reading a ridiculous amount of books.  Remember when I said I wanted to try to read 25 books this year?  Oh, well here it is not even a quarter of the way into 2011 and I've reached that goal.  Which is pretty unusual for me.  I think I've been reading so much because that is the closest I can get to shutting my brain off.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not sad, or angry or upset over anything, I've just really enjoyed not thinking about everything all the time.  I'm still thinking, of course, but the focus has switched to whatever I'm reading rather than other things.  I envy John because he can sit and think of nothing like that's what is supposed to happen, but now I've found my own little way of calming my brain down and I love it.

Back to my obsession with Goodreads. (Seriously, if you aren't on there do it, and then be my friend, ok?) It's a place where authors, publishers and readers come together to talk about one thing we all have in common, books.  They also have giveaways and I was lucky enough to win one.  I received an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of Exposure by Therese Fowler.

Let me tell you, it did not disappoint.  You can read some reviews and the summary here.  It comes out May 3, you should definitely check it out!  I'm going to be looking into some of Fowler's other books as well.

So, I guess I really wanted to say that I'm not ignoring anyone.  I'm  just relishing the "nothingness" going on in my brain and the amazing books I have read so far this year.

A little bit of Munich

Remember when I started telling you about my epic trip to Europe? Well, here is another installment.


After Amsterdam we hopped on over to Munich. Have you ever been there? Because it rocks. Germany was my favorite stop during this trip. It was clean and beautiful and lots of yummy food, what more can you ask for?

Our first picture in Germany.  Also some of the final moments in which I still had our camera...

Our trip was basically centered around Oktoberfest (yes, I know that makes us sound like we just went for the booze, which is only a partial truth).  Let me tell you, Oktoberfest beat any other festival that I have ever been to before.  It was amazing.  The food, the beer, the people, the crazy rides were over the top and amazing!! 

Cheers. Or prost as they say in Munich.

Let me just say that the food in Germany was the best!  I loved all of it!  Even the funky looking sausages.

I can't even begin to tell you how glorious these pretzels were and with a little bit of cheese spread it was a taste of heaven, I assure you!

This was the best cheese tray I  have ever had.  Ever.  I could live off of these things for the rest of my life, seriously.

Underneath the meat there were tasty little radishes.  We are convinced that eating lots and lots of radishes is what allows the Germans to consume such large quantities of their tasty beer and still be able to function.

This my friends is spatzle aka German mac and cheese.  I couldn't get enough of this stuff!!  John had to try to convince me to order something else when we were eating because I would have eaten this for breakfast, lunch and dinner the whole time we were in Germany, no lie.

These little gems are potato dumplings.  They were absolutely delish!  I was worried John was going to try to take the gravy with us he loved it so much.

I decided whilst walking back to the hotel for one of our midday naps that I was in dire need of an authentic dirndl.  A dirndl, for those of you that might not know, is a type of traditional dress worn in parts of Germany.  Many refer to them as "beer girl" outfits, but they are way better than that.  John didn't have the patience to get an entire outfit, so he settled for a shirt.

Yes, my husband has his pants rolled up.  He didn't get liederhosen and was convinced that this would make him "more authentic."

I love how bored our waitress looks here.  She spoke no English (at least that's what she led us to believe) and our group knew very little German, so the conversation revolved mainly around holding up numbers with our hands and saying bier, bitte.

I can proudly say that wearing a dirndl and consuming a hefty amount of radishes allowed me to partake in several more liters than I had been able to in nights before.  Which then led to hiccups and I think you know how the rest of my evening went.

The rides were crazy.  I feel like it's pretty safe to say that they probably wouldn't be allowed at a fair or festival in the states, just my observation.

The Hollenblitz was my favorite ride.  It was an Indiana Jones Temple of Doom theme and for some reason, I loved it!

 

Of course John's favorite "ride" was the carousel/bar. 



Basically, we had an absolutely amazing time.  I can definitely say that I will be back one day! 

 

Hope you enjoyed, even if it is a few months late! I have a little more of Germany to share, but I'll save that for another post :)

Thin Girl Thursday {10}

Why does it always seem that when we get ready to get on track with our health something always seems to happen?  I've been sick this week and completely drained of basically all of my energy.  When I'm not feeling well, I make up an excuse to not work out or not to cook because I just don't feel like it.  Luckily, my sweet husband has stepped up and cooked dinner the past two nights, but I have slacked on working out.  I did go to my tennis lesson on Monday, so that was something, but not near enough.  I really need to get over making excuses!!

Anyway, I have recently fallen in love with the cookbook, "Cook This, Not That" by David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding. My mom gave it to me for one of our wedding showers and let me tell you, it's awesome!  Everything I have tried in it so far is super yummy and really easy to make.  It gives you options that are cheaper and better for you than similar dishes in restaurants.  It's worth a try, I definitely recommend it!

Thin Girl Thursday is Back!

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.  I have worked hard to take charge in many areas of my life.  So why is losing weight and getting healthy so hard for me to do?  I'm so tired of not wanting to do things because I feel uncomfortable in my body.  I've missed out on so much, because I'm not taking care of myself like I should.  So let's do this for real this time, sound like a plan?
I used to love to exercise and I really want to work on bringing back that loving feeling.  Last night I started tennis lessons and had so much fun!  It's a beginners tennis class, so we're working on technique and actually being able to hit the ball, so while it wasn't intense exercising I really think it will be the beginning of a fun way for me to get my booty moving!  I also brought my clothes for the gym today.  I will not get off the treadmill until I go at least 2 miles.

Thin girl Thursday is back, and will hopefully be better than ever!

Oh, John...

It's official.  John has lost his wedding band.... 

I was waiting a while to say anything in hopes that it might appear, but it has not.  He lost it January 9th, the day I went on travel for work.  I was then gone six days and heard nothing of him losing it and of course I noticed it within minutes of getting off the plane when I got back.  So my husband didn't even make it a month with his wedding band.  I haven't quite made up my mind how I feel about it.  I did, however, mention that Valentine's Day was not far away and maybe he could  make it up to me then.  Silly boys...

I did :)

So remember a little over a month ago, you know, when I got married?  Because I did and it was awesome.  Until I can go through all 977 of our wedding pictures, here's one so you can get the idea.

Seriously, it was amazing.  Being with John and having so many of our close family and friends there to share this special occasion with us made it the best!

I'm so excited to call John my husband and for us to start our life together!

Books in 2011

Last year I did a lot of reading.  Reading for fun, work and school.  The only part anyone wants to know about is the reading for fun part though, I'm sure.  I read 25 books last year which is almost a book every two weeks and I must say I'm pretty proud of that.  I've always enjoyed reading, but I'm finally starting to make time for myself to read.

So for 2011, I'd like to aim to read at least 25 books.  We'll see how that goes.  I have several Jen Lancaster books that I want to read and some classics that I grazed through in high school that need to be revisited, so I have a pretty good list going of books to read.  Of course I'll be reading the next in the Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices (which I enjoyed more than MI) and the next Sookie Stackhouse novel as well.

So here's to a happy, book-filled 2011.  First book to be finished this year, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

ps- I have a Nook and would love to Lend Books with my other Nook friends.  Email me and I'll let you know what eBooks I have available to lend :)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 friends!  I hope everyone is blessed with an amazing year!

I rang in the new year with my hubby and some great friends :) 2010 is going to be hard to beat, I just hope 2011 can be even a smidge as good as the last year.