Long Time, No Post

Lets face it, I hate blogging. But I do have a good excuse this time. My summer semester was pretty time consuming. I had English 2010 on a summer schedule. Let me tell you, me and English, we don't get along. But I managed to pull an A- out of the class, and I am graduating with my Associates of Science in General Studies now. Pretty lame right? I don't feel like I am any more knowledgeable than I was after high school. None of the college courses I had to take were any harder than that of HS but I had to pay a crap ton of money to take them. Therefore I know I need to continue my education further, I'm just not ready for it yet. So maybe I'll take a year off.

All I know right now is I am happy to get back to my normal life. I know there are a few people I haven't been able to see quite as much as I usually do, but I promise, I'm almost back to my normal routine here.

California

Well Anna, my Mom and I just got back from the sunshine state. You remember that "vacation package" I won at work? Well, that was a bust. It ended up only being a voucher for two nights in a hotel, and enough money to almost buy two tickets to Disneyland for one day. When I say almost I mean they gave me a gift card for $152, but the tickets cost $80 each, so it was short $8 for the second ticket. Well anyway, we had quite a bit of fun here are some of the pictures:

SLC airport 5:30 am. (a little too early)

 This is our "Transformer Convertible"

 Unfortunately I didn't get the Mustang, but this was acceptable.

 It really was amazing. Stupid German Engineering.

 We got into town a little early so we did a bit of site seeing: The Crystal Cathedral  

 Beautiful building,

 Creepy Statues

 I don't know if you can zoom close enough to Jesus' face but it is creepy....

 All the people who paid for this building and its creepy statues got a lovely plaque with their favorite scripture. There were hundreds of these plaques.

 I like to call this one Jesus rockin out with his sheeps.

 And then there was the silver baby Jesus.... I think that speaks for its self. hint: zoom in.

 Joseph seems a little frightened too!!

 and just in case you didn't get it the first time... Jesus has been dipped in silver!!!

 This was a prayer room, it was actually very pretty there were marble columns of different colors all around the room, with this laser etched crystal Jesus in the middle. His fingers were broken off which I thought was weird, but I'm sure that wasn't intentional.

 This was the least creepy statue of them all, but still a bit strange. All the characters in this one had Native American hair except for the lone black kid to the left. 

 Then we made our way over to the beach, it was pretty, but I must say, stinky!

 After the beach we had to go to Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was very good. 

 Our day with Disney:

Guess who forgot the gift card?!?!

That's right, it was me... So after we had walked from our hotel all the way to Disneyland, Anna and I got to go right back and get the gift card back at the hotel. 

 Well we finally made it in. Rode some rides, had some fun. Didn't really see any characters. Only Mary Poppins. 

 Its a Small World: WORST RIDE EVER!!! Talk about creepy.

Sorry that picture insists on being sideways.

So of course Anna insisted on taking pictures of it. 

 Minney Mouse's house

 And Mickey's house

 Friday we went to Six Flags, and it was a lot of fun. It was 100 degrees though, and for those who don't know this park is situated on a mountain side, so its quite the trek to any of the rides, but it was not busy at all so we got to ride quite a few rides. 

Overall I think we all had fun. If nothing else it was good to get away from the everyday for just a couple days. 

Time to talk about my plants

As some of you may know, I am kinda into houseplants. Who knew? Am I right? Kinda weird for me but whatever, I seem to be okay at it. Well this is the second year I have had this amaryllis and I really didn't think that I could get it to bloom. Everything I've heard says its hard to get them to bloom more than every other year, so I wasn't getting my hopes up. Well folks, it bloomed, and did it ever bloom. I got 4 huge flowers out of it this year, so here is what it looks like.

Do any of you have any experience with this plant? I have a hard time getting the hugely long leaves not to break off. Got any ideas as to how to keep this from happening? I've just been propping them up with wire hangers but I'm not sure that's gonna keep them up this year, they are so long!!!

$5 Christmas Gift

For our Christmas gift exchange with all my siblings and nieces and nephews we decided to do a $5 homemade gift. For mine I got my niece Lia who is almost 12. I decided I wanted to make her a memo board for her room so she could hang pictures or whatever she wanted. Sounded easy enough..... then I decided to make it into different mediums and it turned into a whole other beast. This is how it turned out though.

I got the cork tiles from Hobby Lobby, and the little notebook and notepad from the Target $1 section. The rest came from supplies around the house. So it includes the cork section, magnet board section and ribbon board section. Just when I thought I was done with it my mom would come out with something else I should add like the little rickrack piece around the edge, that landed me a few burns from the glue gun.

Bracelet Giveaway!!

My cousin has a really cool blog called Heart and Sew'l and she is giving away a really cool bracelet right now. Now tonight is the deadline, so if you want to enter to win on of these cute bracelets you must be speedy... Anyway I love her blog she is ultra creative and comes up with the best ideas. Sometimes I wish I could think of some of the things she comes up with instead of always copying her. You should visit it and see if you like her ideas. She loves getting new readers! Here is a link to her blog..

Heart and Sew'l

Magnet Boards

Here are those magnet boards I got at the Wood Connection. I love this store it is so much fun to have some fun easy crafts to do in a few min.

These are super easy to make and I think they turned out really cute. I made each one to fit the person's personality that I was giving to, and they each loved them. All you have to do is buy the magnet board, find some paper that you want to use, tear it to the size you want and mod podge it on, then add the ribbon. I chose to put some vinyl wording to them as well, you can do this step before or after you mod poge over the paper. For these projects I chose not to make magnets, Anna found some really cute ones at Home Goods, so I just used those. Anyway, simple easy project for under $10 no matter what size you choose.

Manger Baby

I went to Wood Connection about a month before Christmas to get some magnet boards for a gift exchange at work and also for a few other friends for Christmas. I was having a hard time figuring out what to get for my cousin but while I was there I saw the most perfect gift for her, I just had to get it. 

They turned out a whole lot cuter than this picture shows, and my cousin and her kids loved it. I knew that my cousin loves nativity scenes but most of hers are not kid friendly so she isn't able to get them out right now. I figured this one could take a couple of throws on the ground and a little bit of chewing.... 

Purse Storage

I know its been a really long time since I posted anything on this blog. I did something I thought you might want to know about today. So I thought I would share it. I also have a few more posts about gifts from Christmas coming, just haven't gotten to them yet.

I have been trying to figure out a way to organize all my purses so I can see them and change them out more often, instead of having all of them stuffed away in my closet where I can't really get to them when I want to. Today I had and epiphany. This is what I came up with:

I used two tension shower curtain rods, and S hook shower curtain holders. For right now this is working great. I underestimated the number of purses I have though, so I need to go get some more hooks.

Bad Blogger

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I have read quite a few more books lately, in fact I'm only 5 books away from my goal of 50 books this year, but I feel like that's all I ever blog about and that its boring for you guys to read about. So I need some ideas of what to blog about. What do you guys want to know about me or my life? Then maybe I can mix in some book reviews with the new stuff.

Fall 2011

Well its here again, I'm back in school. This semester I am taking English 2100 as well as Math 1050 again!!

Yes, that's right, again. I failed to pass the final last semester by 1.5 pts. Yay for me. Well anyway, I love my math teacher so far. She reminds me a lot of my cousin Alyce. She's totally sweet.

My English class on the other hand is a completely different beast. I am taking this class online and will never meet my teacher but so far she doesn't seem like the sweetest lady on the planet. May we say BIOTCH!!! This is gonna be a struggle for me to stay on task and get the homework done on the schedule that she has set for us.

So far though, I am doing a good job keeping the pace in both classes. Wish me luck. I really don't want to take Math 1050 again.

Number Thirty-two

I just finished The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan. This is by the same author that wrote the Percy Jackson series, about the Greek Gods, only this book is about the Egyptian Gods. I liked this book a lot, though it was a bit more difficult to get into, probably just because I have never learned much about the Egyptian Gods. I really enjoy the way that Riordan writes though. There is always a lot of humor in his books, which makes them more fun to read then just a bunch of serious kids running around saving the world. I will probably read the other books in the series as they come out, but mostly I am looking forward to the next book in the Lost Hero Series, I can't wait.

Aunt Fattie

I don't exactly know how to start this post.... For all of you that know me, you know that I have consistently been gaining weight for about the last 6 years. To anyone in my family this is not a surprise, but I haven't been feeling good about myself lately nor does my body feel so great so I figure its time to start doing something about it. My friend and I have started a friendly wager between us as a little incentive for both of us, which is definitely helping, don't get me wrong. I am still struggling though, somehow I just can't get my mind wrapped around it completely. So I have a question, 

How do I get in the right frame of mind for this? 

I've had it before I just don't know how to get it back. As an extra little incentive for myself though, I will be posting my progress though the weeks, lets hope it helps.

As of this morning I have lost 6.2 lbs.

1st round of competition ends Nov. 4th

Suprise! Guess What I've Been Doing....

The Inheritance Series

So I started this series way back when Eragon first came out. Of course I wasn't too much of a reader back then so I couldn't really get into it. This time I persevered and came out on top! I just finished Brisingr on Thursday. When I finished Eragon I wasn't too excited about the story yet because its a lot of teaching you about they're world and why things are they way they are etc. So the story really didn't get started until about halfway through Eldest, which is when I really got into it. Eragon reminds me a bit of Harry Potter as a character he is very young and doesn't really know what is going on in his world, when he is suddenly thrown into a position of power and hope. And lets all hope he comes out on top!!

I know I have read a lot of bad reviews on these books because of how thorough and detailed they are but personally I think it makes for a better story in the end, so I'm willing to sit though a couple extra pages. I can't wait till the next and final book comes out in November. 

Pretty Little Liars

Well yesterday at work was a bit slow so I started and finished this little book. This is the newest installment in the Pretty Little Liars series that I love so much. These girls litterally make me laugh out loud sometimes. They are just fun and silly reads yet you HAVE to know what happens next, which is why I am disapointed I didn't just wait till all the books were out to read this next series of secrets.........Oh and I think all the girls in this series have gone CRAZY!!!

Yet Another Book...

Alright I had to tell you guys about this one right away.......

Well to cut to the chase, with all the hype out there about this book and the movie.........TOTAL LET DOWN. I mean it  was okay.... I felt like there was a whole lot of blah blah blah and then lots of stuff happens and then its over. I guess if you're more into books for the love story and that then its probably a good choice for you. I personally like a good plot, and lots of details... You do learn a lot about circus life and people though. I can see how it would make a good movie though. Just thought I'd give you another opinion before you think you're gonna read this super awesome book, like I did.

Reading Update

Well its been a while since I posted something about the books I've been reading, which hasn't been nearly as many, but I have a few for ya....

I read The Giver again. I have to say I did not remember anything about this book from when I was in school. It is a very strange world they live in. I don't even know how to explain this book without telling everything. It is a must read if you haven't yet, even if you're like me and haven't read it since like 6th grade. You won't be dissapointed.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was a very interesting book. To me it was very strange to read a fictional book about a historical character. I was getting all mixed up about what really happened in his life and what did not. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book, it was very different as far as vampire books go. I honestly couldn't put it down. I suggest this book to anyone who enjoys the vampire genre.

The Lost Hero is a continuation of the Percy Jackson series I have previously read. I really loved this book. I just want this series to go on and on forever. I can't seem to get enough. Nothing more to say..... I Love it!!

Dead Reckoning is book #11 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Though this is no longer my favorite vampire series I still think its better others, and can't give up on it. In this book a lot of loose ends are tied up and a lot more left undone, as to continue the series. There is one unsetteling situation in the book that does not get resolved and it is still annoying me to this day. Other than that, I would say that this is a good continuation of a complex series.

I finally finished the last Dan Brown book on my list. Digital Fortess was a thriller from front to back. Totally held up to all my Dan Brown expectations, I would say this one is up there with Angels and Demons for me. Definately better than Da Vinci Code. Honestly it is crazy...

I loved this book. It was so sweet and so funny. I can't even explain it with words. Its so funny to hear things from a dogs point of view (though I know this isn't really the case.) I thought it was very creative of Stein to come up with this different point of view. It really brings something to the story. In the end the book left me happy and crying at the same time. Though not for the reason  you're expecting. I recomend this book to EVERYONE!! Even if you're not really a dog person. Excellent!!!!