Tuesday Tunes - Name

Today's playlist is inspired by the many songs that talk about names. You have to say the names, forget the names, remember the names, remind people what their names are, etc. Names are pretty complicated, I guess.  

That's all for now! 

Read More Friday - January 2018

My Goal this year is to read 70 books. As of today I have read 5 books so I am 7% done my goal. 

The First book I read this year was the Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. This is the second book in the Red Queen series.

 I don't want to give anything from the first book away, but let's just say each book has left me needing more so I can have some closure!

 Next I read Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. I received this book in my first Unicorn Crate box and I absolutely loved it.

 This book is about a girl named Kazmin who is determined to become an explorer and she helps a famous explorer climb the tallest mountain in the area. There are some magical aspects and a lot of danger. 

Next I listened to an audio book called Truthwitch by Susan Dennard.

This is the first book in a Fantasy series. There are these two witches that are best friends and have special powers that seem to be coveted by many in their kingdom. This becomes a danger for the girls as they try to survive and run to freedom. 

After that I read a book that came in my Once Upon a Book Club box - The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle. What I love about this subscription box is that the books they choose are always ones that weren't on my radar but I enjoy them so much when I read them. And I have to read them right away because they send you gifts to open at specific pages! 

The book was about this girl with ADHD who falls in love with a boy who has Asperger's. It was an incredible read and I loved being able to get inside the head of someone with ADHD to get a feel for how they think. 

The audio book I've been listening to in the car for my daily commute is Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. This is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

I love this series because it gives a sci-fi spin on the classic fairy tales and links them to each other. Scarlet is looking for her grandmother and she is helped by a man named Wolf. 

 I also love listening to Marissa Meyer books because the woman who reads them, Rebecca Soler, is fantastic. This is the third book I've listened to her read and she speaks clearly, does excellent accents, and isn't too slow. 

Books I am currently reading are:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. I've been reading this series to my 8 year old son and he has definitely become a big fan. I'm doing the parenting thing right. 

Geekerella by Ashley Poston - a Cinderella retelling (because I can't get enough) with a nerdy girl! 

and I am currently listening to:

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

So far this year I have read 2,098 pages! 

Tuesday Tunes

It's time for another Tuesday Tunes! Here is a playlist I made on my Google Play Music for when I feel like I need a boost, particularly while working out. It's a Girl Power mix! 

I admit, there are a few too many pop songs in this list for me to want to listen to it too often, but it does the trick when I'm in the mood for kicking butt! 

My cover recommendation comes from the Punk Goes 80's album - Straight Up by Halifax (originally Paula Abdul). Enjoy!

Books I Read in 2017

As promised, today I am sharing my book wrap-up for 2017. I made it a goal to read at least 12 books in 2017 and really get back into reading. I quickly became obsessed and ended up reading 88 books along with getting my 8 year old son hooked and now we are reading more than ever. 

First, the stats.

Next, the list. 

1. The Grift of the Magi - Ally Carter
2. The Siren - Kiera Cass
3. All Fall Down - Ally Carter
4. Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake
5. A Thousand Nights - E.K. Johnston
6. The Garden of Three Hundred Flowers - E.K. Johnston
7. Suddenly Royal - Nichole Chase
8. Once Upon A Dream - Liz Braswell
9. My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick
10. The Thousandth Floor - Katherine McGee
11. Exile - Kevin Emerson
12. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
13. The Girl at Midnight - Melissa Grey
14. To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han
15. The Wrath and the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh
16. P.S. I Still Love You - Jenny Han
17. Sinful Cinderella - Anita Valle
18. The Crown and the Arrow - Renee Ahdieh
19. The Mirror and the Maze - Renee Ahdieh 
20. Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard
21. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
22. The Perfect Stranger - Megan Miranda 
23. Caraval - Stephanie Garber
24. The Mother Daughter Book Club - Heather Vogel Frederick
25. The Rose and the Dagger - Renee Ahdieh 
26. New World: Rising - Jennifer Wilson
27. Paper Towns - John Green
28. Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella
29. Dark Breaks the Dawn - Sarah B Larson
30. 13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson
31. Daughter of the Pirate King - Tricia Levenseller
32. Gossip Girl - Cecily von Ziegesar
33. Tiger Lily - Jodi Lynn Anderson
34. Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
35. The Boy Most Likely To - Huntley Fitzpatrick
36. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - JK Rowling, John Tiffany
37. Cruel Crown - Victoria Aveyard
38. Where I Belong - Gwendolyn Heasley
39. The Hush - Skye Melki-Wegner
40. The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
41. Devil's Kiss - Sarwat Chadda 
42. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
43. Recklessly Royal - Nichole Chase
44. Always and Forever, Lara Jean - Jenny Haan
45. Eve - Anna Carey
46. House of Furies - Madeleine Roux
47. 99 Days - Katie Cotugno
48. Heartless - Marissa Meyer
49. Graceling - Kristin Cashore
50. Daughter of the Burning City -  Amanda Foody
51. Alex, Approximately - Jenn Bennett 
52. Splintered - A.G. Howard
53. Delirium - Lauren Oliver
54. Dorothy Must Die - Danielle Paige
55. The Conspiracy of Us - Maggie Hall
56. Cinder - Marissa Meyer
57. Emmy & Oliver - Robin Benway
58. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee 
59. Ash and Bramble - Sarah Prineas
60. Paintbrush - Hannah Bucchin 
61. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
62. The Sandcastle Empire - Kayla Olson
63. Talking as Fast as I Can - Lauren Graham
64. Rebel Belle - Rachel Hawkins
65. Frostblood - Blake Elly
66. The Moth & The Flame - Renee Ahdieh 
67. 29 - Adena Halpern 
68. Disney After Dark - Riley Pearson
69. Peter and the Starcatchers - Riley Pearson
70. The Shadow Hour - Melissa Grey
71. Sparked - Helena Echlin
72. Also Known As - Robin Benway
73. Firelight - Sophie Jordan
74. Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz
75. Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
76. The Hearts We Sold - Emily Lloyd-Jones
77. The Host - Stephanie Meyer
78. Twelve Days of Christmas - Debbie Macomber
79. Etiquette & Espionage - Gail Carriger
80. Dare Mighty Things - Heather Kaczynski
81. The Jock and the Fat Chick - Nicole Winters
82. Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
82. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
83. Days of Blood & Starlight - Laini Taylor
84. Warcross - Marie Lu    
85. How to Say it for Women - Phyllis Mindell


Books I read with the Kid:
1. Dinosaurs Before Dark (MTH 1)  - Mary Pope Osborne 
2. The Knight at Dawn (MTH 2) - Mary Pope Osborne
3. Mummies in the Morning (MTH 3) - Mary Pope Osborne
4. Captain Awesome Has The Best Snow Day Ever - Stan Kirby
5. Pirates Past Noon (MTH 4) - Mary Pope Osborne
6. Night of the Ninjas (MTH 5) - Mary Pope Osborne
7. Afternoon in the Amazon (MTH 6) - Mary Pope Osborne
8. Saturday Sabertooth (MTH 7) - Mary Pope Osborne
9. Midnight on the Moon (MTH 8) - Mary Pope Osborne
10. Lost in the Jungle - Greyson Mann 
11. Dolphins at Daybreak (MTH 9) - Mary Pope Osborne
12. When Lava Strikes - Greyson Mann
13. Wolves vs. Zombies - Greyson Mann
14. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
15. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

Finally, the answers to the most burning questions.

1. Favorite books of the year - Suddenly Royal, The Girl at Midnight, the Wrath and the Dawn, Red Queen, Caraval, New World: Rising, Dark Breaks the Dawn, Daughter of the Pirate King, Carry On, Recklessly Royal, Heartless, Dorothy Must Die, Cinder, The Conspiracy of Us, Paintbrush, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Talking as Fast as I Can, Frostblood, 29, The Shadow Hour, Twelve Days of Christmas, and Warcross 

2. Books that were not so great - Three Dark Crowns, Once Upon a Dream, The Iron King, Sinful Cinderella, An Abundance of Katherines, The Perfect Stranger, Gossip Girl, Eve, Delirium, Ash and Bramble, Etiquette & Espionage

3. Most Surprising - Red Queen

4. Book I recommend most - Warcross

5. Best Series I started this year - The Girl at Midnight and Daughter of the Pirate King

6. Best Sequel I read this year - The Shadow Hour

7. Best Series Finale I read this year - Always and Forever, Lara Jean

8. Favorite New Author discovered - Sarah B Larson

9. Best Book from a genre I don't typically read - 29

10. Most Action Packed or Thrilling - Warcross

11. Book I will re-read - Carry On

12. Favorite Cover - Paintbrush

13. Most Memorable Character - Alosa from Daughter of the Pirate King

14. Book I can't believe I waited to finally read - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

15. Ship of the year - Evelayn and Tanvir

16. Favorite non-romantic relationship - Karou and Zuzana

17. Favorite book from an author I've already read - Rebel Belle - Rachel Hawkins

18. Best Debut from this year - Dark Breaks the Dawn - Sarah B Larson

19. Best World building - Warcross

20. Book that put a smile on my face - Twelve Days of Christmas

21. Book that made me cry - We Were Liars 

Now on to my January TBR list! 

2017 Wrap Up

This is the first year I've done this thing where I tried to keep track of things I do often in my life. I wanted to see how I was spending my time and while I didn't always update this and had to try and remember a few things, I think this is 80-90% accurate.


Movies I watched in 2017:


I watched approximately 58 movies this year in their entirety. 10 of those movies were in theaters. 17 of the movies were viewed as part of my Disney project. 9 movies were Christmas movies. 9 of the movies were Super Hero related. 6 of the movies were Harry Potter (watched the first and second twice this year). 11 movies were animated. 0 movies were Star Wars. Perhaps I will rectify that in the near future since I have never seen them.

1. Earth 
2. Enchanted
3. Suicide Squad
4. Eight Below
5. La La Land
6. Eloise at the Plaza
7. Eloise at Christmastime
8. Fantasia 2000
9. Frenemies
10. Geek Charming
11. Hannah Montana: The Movie 
12. Hello Sister, Goodbye Life 
13. Frozen
14. Alice - Through the Looking Glass
15. Lego Batman
16. Flubber
17. Anastasia
18. Doctor Strange
19. Zootopia
20. Beauty and the Beast (Live Action) 
21. Beauty and the Beast animated
22. Wreck it Ralph
23. Guardians of the Galaxy
24. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
25. Wonder Woman 
26. Cars 3
27. Freaky Friday (2003)
28. Heavyweights
29. Descendants 2
30. Trolls
31. Passengers
32. The Emoji Movie
33. The Lego Ninjago Movie
34. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
35. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
36. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
37. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
38. Keeping up with the Jones' 
39. Spiderman: Homecoming
40. Hocus Pocus 
41. Thor: Ragnorak
42. Coco
43. Elf
44. Santa Clause
45. Home Alone 
46. Home Alone 2
47. Psych: The Movie
48. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
49. A Christmas Kiss
50. Switched at Christmas
51. White Christmas
52. How Sarah Got Her Wings
53. Going to the Mat? disney channel movie
54. Santa Clause 2
55. Endurance
56. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
57. Escape to Witch Mountain (1995)
58. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets



TV Shows I watched in 2017:

I invested in 31 different TV shows this year. This does not mean I watched the entire series or season but I at least watched a couple of episodes. 2 shows were animated. 15 were viewed on Netflix. At least 7 have either ended or been canceled this year. I am hoping to lower my TV viewing this year. This list will help me compare with 2018's.


1. Scorpion
2. GlitterForce
3. Super Girl
4. New Girl
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6. Angel
7. This Is Us
8. The Big Bang Theory
9. 2 Broke Girls
10. The Good Place
11. Blacklist
12. Girl Meets World
13. Timeless
14. A Series of Unfortunate Events
15. Digimon
16. Switched at Birth
17. Jane the Virgin
18. The 100
19. Reign
20. Powerless
21. IZombie
22. Young and Hungry
23. Once Upon a Time
24. Baby Daddy
25. The Vampire Diaries 
26. Pretty Little Liars
27. Orphan Black
28. Daredevil 
29. Jessica Jones
30. Young Sheldon
31. Fuller House




Games I Played in 2017:

Again I have to wonder if this is accurate or if I missed some. We are constantly playing games but a lot of these we play over and over. Especially Monopoly and Clue. I don't have a goal for gaming this year. I just know that I will continue to play as much as I want alone or with others.

1. Headbanz - Adult version
   
2. Gas Out
   
3. Loaded Questions - Party
   
4. Disney Pictopia
   
5. Bop It
   
6. Simon
   
7. Crazy 8's
   
8. Battleship
   
9. Animal Crossing
   
10. Kingdom Hearts
    
11. Disney Magic Kingdoms
    
12. Monopoly Jr. 
    
13. Twister
    
14. Dinosaur Memory Card Game
    
15. Go Fish
    
16. Pictionary
    
17. Clue Jr.
    
18. Headbanz Marvel
    
19. Outburst
    
20. Scrabble
    
21. We Detectives
    
22. Ghostbusters Monopoly
    
23. The Game of Life
    
24. 5 Second Rule
    
25. Boomstix
    
26. Monopoly classic
    
27. Clue 
    
28. Mancala
    
29. Clue Boardwalk Version
    
30. War
    
31. One Night Werewolf
    
32. Guess Who
    
33. Chutes and Ladders
    
34. Candy Land
    
35. Table Hockey
    
36. Foosball
    
37. Pop the Pig
    
38. Password
    
39. One Night Vampire
    
40. The Logo Party Game
    
41. One Night Daybreak
    
42. Linkeeze
    
43. Yoshi's Woolly World
    
44. Mario Kart 8
    
45. Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
    

Crafty Things I Made in 2017:

I believe this list is accurate. I make a lot of things throughout the year and I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. 118 Layouts! I was worried that I haven't been scrapbooking enough this year because of my new reading obsession but 118 is not too shabby. I am hoping to do 5 layouts a week this year so that would be a total of 260. I don't know if it will be possible but if I reach even 200 I will feel pretty good about it. This year I also have a craft a month planned to focus on something different throughout each month. There are no other specific goals beyond that.

- 6 Counterfeit Kits
- 34 mini kits
- 35 Scrapbooking Challenge Jar Challenges
- 118 Scrapbooking layouts (12x12)
- 1 Mini Album
- 1 Shadow Box "Adventure Awaits" ticket holder
- 1 Tulle Wreath (Valentine's Day) 
- 3 Valentine's Day mailboxes
- 1 "tale as old as time" painted pallet sign
- 1 painted heart that says "love." 
- 2 Baby Elephant Hats
- 1 Crocheted Scarf
- 1 adult crocheted hat with earflaps
- 1 chevron crocheted baby blanket
- 7 cards
- 1 soft crocheted baby blanket - single stitch 
- 1 watercolor canvas painting 
- 4 acrylic canvas paintings
- 7 Minnie Ears
- 12 Disney T Shirts
- 28 painted rocks
- 1 throw pillow (sewed)
- a youtube tshirt 
- advent calendar
- batman sign




Lastly I kept a record of all the books I read and I plan to post about that next time. 

Read More Friday - February

My "To Read" list has grown so large I don't know if I could ever get to them all, but I really like trying!! 

I read A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston. I had no idea what to expect, but it was amazing - I loved it! 

The book had a few parts that were a little violent and gross but the majority of it was so interesting and different. I liked it so much I read the short story that comes after it right away. 

The Garden of Three Hundred Flowers by E.K. Johnston was mostly about the child of the girl from the first book. It is very short, but good with the same feeling of the first book.  

It served its purpose, giving me just a little bit more story. I am excited that there is another book to look forward to - Spindle!

Next I moved on to a more adult romance type of book, Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase.

I loved this book. There is definitely adult material in here but it comes as just the right time. It was sweet; the prince is charming; it made me happy.

It certainly has been a good month for reading, even though I have been very busy studying boring Insurance books for work! 

Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes! I put together this playlist to help lift my spirits and feel motivated. It has quite the mix of music!

Keeping the theme of my mix above, my cover of the week is one of Radioactive by The Macy Kate Band and Kurt Schneider. I love when females do covers of songs sung by males. It sounds powerful.