30 Days About Me (Day 4)

Favorite Book:




Finally an easy one!! I recently did a post about my favorite books so I will copy and paste that here now with a few revisions thrown in for good measure :) 

I tend to read books in waves. Sometimes turning hundreds of pages in a day for weeks, other times letting my books collect dust for quite a while. I guess it's like a marathon runner carb-loading before a big race. I let my pile of books built up until I am ready to jump in head first and devour them all.

It really surprises me that I enjoy reading as much as I do. As a child my mother couldn't get me to read anything except teeny bopper magazines like Teen Beat, BOP, and Seventeen. Oh, and the occasional comics strip from the newspaper. I had read a lot but had never really enjoyed my books. That is until I was in my early 20's. Not sure what changed, I think it may be that I had experienced enough about life at that point to connect with the characters I was reading about. 

Since it is one of my book devouring phases I thought I would share a few of my latest favorite reads:

The Fablehaven series (books 1 thru 5)

By: Brandon Mull

If you liked reading Harry Potter at all you will LOVE this series. It's awesome. True it's in the "young readers" section of the library, but this is no whimpy book!  

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen 

By: Syrie James

Even if you are not a Jane Austen fan you will like this book. This book is "kind of" fiction, meaning a lot is based on historical fact and the holes were filled in with the authors imagination of Jane's life. (Let's lump this book in with every Austen novel ever written)

The Passage 

By: Justin Cronin

Intense. Seriously this book had me hooked from page 1. Then half way through it throws you the biggest curve ball I have ever read in a book! It's technically a vampire book, but not like twilight at all. The "Vampires" are a military experiment gone wrong. 

There you have it, a few of my recent favorite reads. I jump around a bit in my page turning types. Keeps me on my toes, ha ha. I tend to always return to works about nineteenth century England though. I LOVE Austen inspired novels, so romantic! 

What have you been reading recently?

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time... 

Better Today Then Yesterday

It's been a week. One week ago we lost Sammy, our boxer. (You can read my way too sad sob story about how much I love him here.) 

The kiddies taking Sammy on a walk a few weeks ago

This has been a   L O N G  week. When you are sad time seems to slow down. I am pleased to report we are all feeling better in our house. It was pretty depressing around here for a few days. Our other 2 dogs wouldn't even play with us, it was pitiful to watch a dog go through the grieving process. Who ever said animals don't have feelings is full of bologna. The kids are doing better. My daughter is like a rock, nothing over emotional ever bugs her, but my son is my sensitive one and this has been hard for him. 


All in all life goes on. The house seems slightly emptier these days but we have to keep chugging away. This Saturday will be my daughters 7th birthday (Wow how time flies!), and then we will be preparing for the 1st day of school shortly after. 


Summer is slowly drifting away. I hope you've had a chance to do something fun with the ones you love. 




au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time... 

30 Days About Me (Day 3)

Favorite Television Show...


I'm not the biggest fan of TV these days, I hate the commercials they air durning "family time." It's all scary horror movie previews or foul language or weird 20 somethings making out. My kids don't need to see that! We generally stick to The Discovery Channel, TLC, Travel Channel and the History Channel. 

Gotta start with SWAMP PEOPLE


Everyone in our house loves this show. From the silly ZZ Top looking Guist brothers (who seriously could survive anything!),  down to Troy shouting "Liz-a-beth! Choot'em!!"


I have no clue why I find this show so exciting. It's reality television without all the drama. Just hard working Americans doing what they need to survive. OK, so maybe there is drama, but it's manly drama, ha ha. 

Then there's Bert the Conquerer

This guy cracks me up! Bert Kreischer travels all over America looking for the next big thrill. He has jumped off cliffs in Hawaii,  raced down huge roller coasters in North Carolina and skiied into giant freezing ponds up north. 


Its not so much the places he visits or the thrills he attempts that keep me coming back. It's his scared facial expressions and the girly screams that come out of him! I laugh every time :) 

Since we are knee deep in one of my favorite times of year let's highlight SHARK WEEK.


I love love love Shark Week! Each year I count down as the time gets closer. I have always loved sharks, so mysterious and misunderstood. Plus they're just plain awesome. 


So naturally when Discovery Channel airs an entire weeks worth of shows dedicated to them I am there! I have blogged about Shark Week in the past HERE. Be safe out in that water kiddies! 


There you go, a few of my favorite television shows. Sure I like some of the standard favorites like American Idol and America's Got Talent, but those are more "save me from my boredom" type of shows. 


Happy TV viewing friends. 


Tomorrows topic: Favorite Book







au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...   

30 Days About Me (Day 2)

Favorite Movie...

This may be easier then favorite music, maybe.

In high school it would have been Top Gun, I loved this movie! (Still do actually. I make my munchkins watch it so they too can appreciate good cinema, ha ha). 

Now later on down the road my favorite movie jumps around a bit (just like music) But I tend to stay loyal to them for long periods of time :) 

Here you go, in no particular order: 

I LOVE Jane Austen, every book & movie adaptation is just wonderful! So of course I had to add Pride & Prejudice to my top movies. (And Mansfield Park, Sense & Sensibility, etc.) 

***

Then the food revolution/hippy in me can't get enough of Food, Inc. I preach about it every chance I get! This movie changed the way I look at food forever. 

***

The classic love story or Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. This movie makes my heart happy, and it never gets old. "Hello My Lover!"

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And last, but not least my 4 special friends who taught me so much about life, Sex And The City 2

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This is no way is a complete list, just a few I enjoy at all times. Mostly my days are filled with animated shows on Nick and Disney, but every now and then I get a second to myself to indulge in some grown-up entertainment.

What's your favorite movie?

Tomorrows topic: Favorite Television Show

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time... 

30 Days About Me (Day 1)

Favorite Song...


Here we go, this is me attempting to get back into blogging. It has been quite a long time since I was a regular visitor here at Infectious Chatter. So day 1 is favorite song. This is probably the hardest question someone could ask me. If you know me personally you know that I am one of the most indecisive people on the planet. ("Do I want a white radio to match the kitchen or a brown one to blend with the walls? Or I could get a black one and be contemporary, hum, but maybe off white seems a bit more classic...") Yeah that's about how every decision in my life goes. 

How in the heck do I narrow down my favorite when I generally like almost every song I hear?

I grew up in a very musical family. My mom always sang in the church choir. My dad is a drummer, I remember dancing to his beats as a little girl in our garage. I have played the piano forever, and still turn to those lovely ivory keys whenever my heart needs a release. Music is like poetry, it heals, comforts and soothes whatever mood you may be in. 

Favorite artist is a little easier: Adele, Dixie Chicks, Evanescence, Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean, Jason Mraz, Lady Antebellum, Metallica, Mumford & Sons, Muse, OneRepublic, Regina Spektor and many many more. Yup I am all over the map! 

Of course there are the classic favorite songs that re-create a moment in time:

Our 1st dance as husband and wife Etta James "At Last"

Lyrics painted on the walls of my kids nursery Dixie Chicks "Godspeed" 

I tend to be drawn to slow melodic tunes. They're more fun and emotional to learn on the piano. Here are a few songs I have played over and over on my iPod: 


Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah" 
Adele "Someone Like You" 
Jason Mraz "Life is Wonderful"
Miranda Lambert "The House That Built Me" 


I guess I really didn't answer the question of what is my favorite song. Tomorrow it will be another set of songs I favor, but such is the way of music. It is ever changing and always just what you need at that moment. 







au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...