January Reading :: For The Love

Reading was one of my "resolutions."  Read more.  Read one book a month on average.  So... I started well having gotten two books for Christmas.  Technically I read one of them already, but it's a design book and it was technically December 26th so that doesn't count towards this years goal. 

The other book I got was For The Love by Jen Hatmaker.
It's perfection.
It's funny, insightful, honest. 
I'm halfway through. 
That never happens.

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So once I'm done with that book, then what?!  Oh I've got a list... It's long... And it's all recommended...
By Huffington post... You know the worlds leading book recommender.

The ones I can remember include The Help, To Kill A Mockingbird, On The Road, and a couple others I have floating around my house.  The rest I may have to purchase, rent, borrow. 

What are you reading?

Summer Reading

I'm not a very good reader.  And by that, I mean that I usually start a book and never (ever) finish it.  I mean ever.  This year, I'm doing a little traveling for work which means I take full reading advantage.  For some reason I can get a lot of reading done in planes and airports.   I finally finished a book that I started 2 years ago this year! Woot!  Woot!  Seriously, that's a major accomplishment! 

Not only have I finished that book, but I finished 2 other books too!  For me to complete (even if it was only half of one) 3 books in a 3-4 month time frame that's AMAZING.   So far I've read (or finished) Moms Who Drink & Swear, Lean In, and Making Things Happen.

And since I've had such success, I've added to my list. Here's what's on my Summer/Rest of the Year Reading list:


Because a friend recommended it, Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews.

Because I'm on my phone too much, Hands Free Mama by Rachel.

Because I'm as sucker for John Green Books while walking in Airports, Paper Towns by John Greene.

Because I've never read To Kill a Mockingbird all the way through, Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee.

Because I have it, On The Road by Jack Kerouac.

And because I have a new found love for Odd Mom Out on Bravo... Sometimes I Feel Like A Nut by Jill Kargman.

What's on your reading list?

Oh!  And I'm also joining the Influence Book Club again and we are reading Just Rise Up.  Check out The Influence Network here.

What I'm Reading :: Make It Happen

So I'm on a creative entrepreneur kick these days.  With trying to get Maeve off the ground and coming off (slowly) from actively selling Stella & Dot, I've got business on the mind. 

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A while back, I fell in love with Southern Weddings, where "they encourage couples to plan a meaningful beginning to married life."  There was something catchy about their charm and the adorable write-ups.  I continued to follow... Then I noticed some monthly posts from Lara Casey, their publisher & editor-in-chief.  I fell in love with her desire to create beautiful settings, help women create goals, and attain them. 

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Skip forward a few years and while I was still following all this, I saw someone else I followed had gone to the Making Things Happen Retreat.  I thought, I must go. I didn't.  It's expensive.  So I will save up and one day will make it there.  But I bought this and set the goal to just go and do things!  

And last year, I joined The Influence Network so that I could attend The Influence Conference and go to a special members only presentation by the one and only Lara Casey.  I didn't go.  For some reason I freaked out and decided not to go.  However, I'm still a member of The Influence Network and loving it this year.  Reading, listening, taking it all in until September when I can join everyone at the conference!  Note:: Make Business Cards! 

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But... Until then, yes all that back story had a point... I've been doing anything and everything I can to make myself a better person and entrepreneur.  So when Lara Casey mentioned somewhere that she had this lovely little book called Make It Happen, I was in.  THEN -- it got better!  The Influence Network offered the book to members for FREE by doing an Influence Book Club.  Umm... Yes please! 

So...
Needless to say I'm reading this book.  And because I read slowly or just don't have time typically to read, I'm taking it one chapter at a time.  Unless we at Homeland Security get furloughed next week then I'll be finishing it sooner!  But it's great.  

Books & Breakfast

I almost find myself reading it out loud.  There are parts where she asks you questions and others where she asks that you say something out loud or that you write down notes.  It's very interactive and very deep.  It makes you think.  It makes you want more.  It makes you feel.  It's quite wonderful. 
Definitely check it out!


 

What I'm Reading April 2014

The goal this year was to read more books.  And finish them.  I think that was the key phrase - "AND FINISH THEM." 

I'm not sure where I'm finding the time these days to read a chapter or two a night, but it's happening.  Oh wait, that's right... my house looks like a tornado has blown through it over and over and over again.  I'm skipping cleaning to read.  Probably not a great decision, but not the worst I've ever made.

But how often do you find books that you really can't wait to read again... or at least continue through?!  If you are like me, that never happens.  I read a couple of chapters and then I am usually distracted by something else that is much better or holds my attention better.  Not to mention a few movie trailers lately that have caught my eye....

Which leads me here.  I saw a couple months back, the movie trailer for the upcoming summer movie "The Fault In Our Stars" which stars Shailene Woodley on Facebook.  I think I now have an obsession with her.  Ever since The Descendants, I've just loved her.  So when I asked my friend for a book recommendation just after seeing this trailer and she said her favorite book was The Fault In Our Stars, and it was set in Indianapolis, I became partial and had to read it.



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I then asked my sister if she had read it and she hadn't but was looking for a new book so she thought she'd try it.  Then she gave me her nook account so I could read it and VOILA!  I finished a book!  ha ha.  It was really good.  Very sad, very real, very scary, but very good.  I loved all the little things that made me know it was based in our city and I loved how things played out. Sometimes you just need a good cry and this will surely do that.  So, read it if you will.  It's a great short read.  You will appreciate it's real feelings and raw emotion I swear.  And, if you are like me, you'll finish it!  Because it's only about 200 pages long!  

But then I was looking at the other books on my sisters nook account and saw that she had the Divergent series.  I was intrigued.  Again, knowing that Shailene Woodley was playing the lead in the soon to be released movies, I figured I should give it a try.  And let me tell you... I had read about 6 chapters and was having a really hard time putting it down.  The nicest thing to me was that the chapters are usually about 10 pages long and to me and my head I see 10 pages and I think "only 10 pages," not "OMG 10 pages!"  I know it's a mind game, but seriously it's been making reading this book so much easier.  Not to mention it's action packed! 

And I may or may not have already seen the movie which is making putting the book down even harder because (1) I know how it ends and (2) I want to start on book 2!  

So with that I feel like this will be a successful reading month for me.   My house may be a disaster zone, but what's new with that?  Isn't it always like that when you have a husband and a toddler?  I'm starting to think so.  I clean and it gets messed up almost instantaneously.  I read and I have a messy house, but at least I have something to show for it in the end... a closed book.  

What's on your reading list?  I see Divergent 2 & 3 in my future.... I don't even know the names!   And hopefully I'll finish those books from last year at some point -- I Want To Pee Alone & Moms Who Drink & Swear.  

Byte Me & Happy Birthday - Not To The Same Person!

I wanted to give you an explanation for the lack of posts again this week...

My husband's computer blew up. 
Not literally, but kind of. 
It doesn't work. 
FYI - We are a two computer family. 
It may sound selfish, but it's how we roll.
Tried to install new hard drive.
Didn't work.
Byte me computer.
Wanted to return hard drive, but couldn't find receipt.
So we are down to one computer. 
Mr. K needs it for work so my lunchtime sit downs with good ol' Dell at Starbucks are gone, but not forgotten. 
Guess it's an opportunity to read more.
Mr. K found the receipt and returned the Hard Drive.
Still no computer fix.
Need to save up for it (among other things).
I bought Something Borrowed. 
It came highly recommended.
Figured I might as well take advantage of those lunch hours.
I'll let you know how it is.

This is my life. 



I wanted to add a picture of us from my wedding
 but if you read above you'll understand why I couldn't.



And Happy 21st Birthday to my Sister Libby!!!  YAYA!!!  Hopefully she wakes up at some point today after a long night out with her friends to celebrate.  And when she comes home, we'll be tossing back those SkinnyGirl Margaritas!



Yep, you heard me right Lib!
SkinnyGirls!!!



Love you Lib!

-- Reading --

Good Monday Morning Blog Hogs!

One of my new years goals was to read more.  Since I asked my sister for her set of the Twilight series probably about a year ago, I figured it was time to actually read them.  And what better time to read than today...a nice snowy-ish day off work. 

I didn't want to just jump on the Twilight bandwagon and I really wasn't sure if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob.  I'd watched the first movie and then I decided to watch the second the other day which solidified the deal that I needed to read the books. 

Have you read the series? 

PS Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day! 

"Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.- 

-- Diary of a Mad Bride --

One of my goals for this year was to read more... Well, I don't know how well that is going. I think I've finished 3 books in the last 6 months. I guess that's probably better than normal. 

Anyways, Diary of a Mad Bride by Lara Wolf was the perfect book to read leading up to this wedding. The last 60 pages of the book were completely relevant to MY wedding and I felt like Amy and I were in the same boat! Then I had to remind myself that we weren't friends and that she was a character in a book. Wow...but we've been together for like 3 months! lol. I kept opening up that book and I was right there with her with all the ups, downs, and laughs of the wedding planning process. 

Here is the synopsis of the book:

My wedding was starting in less than twenty minutes, and I was stuck in a 7-Eleven parking lot with popcorn kernels wedged in my gums and vanilla ice cream melting on my dress. It was a disaster too large to comprehend. After an agonizing year spent planning my wedding, could it really end like this? The voices chronicling a year of wedding hysteria swirled in my head....— My grandmother upon viewing my engagement ring. 
“What do you mean he gave you an emerald! Diamonds are eternal, emeralds say, maybe five years.
— My future father-in-law on the night of my engagement party:

“To a happy marriage and, if necessary, a painless divorce!”

— My best friend, Anita:

-"Oh, screw congratulations. Of course I’m happy for you. Stephen’s a major piece of ass and he’s got a sense of humor. Just as long as you’re certain this is what you want.”

Would I survive this day after all....?

I'm sure you'll love it!

I can't wait to read the follow up called Diary of a Mad Mom-To-Be...but don't be getting any ideas!

Days remaining of unwedded bliss -- 22