Chuckles & 5 Floor Book Store | Day 5

Today was much more relaxed and much needed. It can be tiring running around a lot of the time. 

Started the morning off with fruit. How I missed fruit. The pears were sooo good there.

I may have dipped into my candy from the Village...

 

I'm a sucker for gummy candy, especially fruit flavored things.

It never tastes as good as it looks though, I always end up being disappointing by it. It just doesn't measure up to real fruit. I took a small bite of each, but finished the cherry, don't know why. The lime one was the best. Grr Amber!

 Early mornings + reading outside + quiet =  bliss

Me and my friend got a surprise to a book store. My Mom and Aunt told us that it was a very small place that could only hold a few people so we'd have to be right in and right out in about 20mins. That seemed completly unrealistic. 20 minutes in a bookstore? Is that even possible?

When we pulled up to the house it was kind of in the middle of nowhere and older, with stone walls, and it when you walk in the front door it was so hard not to grin. It was not small at all. It had five floors of new, used, and rare books.

The bookshelves are made of wooden crates stacked on top of each other. Throughout the store they have little hooks of paper bags. So sly.

And they have a black cat. 

She/he helped me out in the music room. Sweet as pie [:

After, we went into town to see if any of the other bookstores were open but they were all closed due to it being a Sunday, sadly. 

We stopped at a coffee shop named Philter and I got an iced mocha, which was ssuuupppeeerrr strong.

They also have gluten free choices too. The apple loaf is really good. I should've got something else though, I didn't think that there'd be cinnamon in it. Oh well.

After that we hit the park. I love this place so much. It was a goal to run there, but never managed to make it happen unfortunately. It's absolutely stunning though. Everything is just so green and beautiful. If I lived there I would walk there every day multiple times a day, without a doubt.

Comic What?! | Day 3

They were calling for rain over the weekend so our garden tour plans got put on hold and we went shopping instead. We went to Sally's Beauty and got hair dye for my hair which also ended up being in the same shopping center as a COMIC BOOK STORE. OHMYLANTA!
Where I live, there is no comic book stores. Barnes & Noble is the closest thing we have to one and their comics are $16.99 a piece, which are a liiiittttllleee out of my price range.

It was probably the coolest thing on the face of the earth. They had a Predator costume along with Batman. My friend tried to convince the guy working to let him wear it, he said on free comic book day he could try it on ;]

I only got two comics this trip. A Hawkeye, and Batman for my one friend. He's not much of a reader at all (I know, I told him we can't be friends anymore.), but he also said he wants to step up his comic game. Now he can do so :]

We also discovered a big Cabela's, of course we stopped there too.

There's no more pictures to share, but lastly, in the same lot, there was a Barnes & Noble that was two floors and huge and amazing and we spent a good while in there. It was wonderful!

A Stressful 2 Weeks

Oh where to begin. It feels like lately it's been nothing but running around, which is super great in one way, and exhausting in another. Here's just a few pictures of some of the days.

A couple weeks ago I went to the mall and sat in Panera Bread with a smoothie and finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower while my mom was at a job. My friend ended up meeting me there and we shopped around until my Mom met us for lunch.

Tractor Supply got the chicks in. Oh, they are so cute!

We want chickens so badly, but we're not allowed to have them in our town. At least, the lady doesn't want them. We haven't received any proof that there is a 'rule' that doesn't allow them.

A perk of going to work an hour and a half early because you don't have a ride and don't want to get soaked in a rainstorm. It was so nice though getting to sit and read while it rained. A guy walked past that had a liver colored Malamute. It was gorgeous, still pretty young. I've never seen first-hand a liver colored Malamute. It came right over and wanted to play though.

This is the sad part. Because life was just funky the past couple weeks, I think I only made it to the gym, like, twice, MAYBE three times. It was sad. I felt gross and horrible and when I did finally make it, it was a hard workout between feeling stiff and sluggish. Although, my weight dropped, so that's great because I feel like I've been constantly hungry all the time.

This was a long time coming. Towards the end of last year I had begun working on it but my schedule with work had me tuckered out and never got around to finishing it. At the beginning of the week I managed to get it finished. This is the first portrait that I've ever done and I'm pretty pleased with it. Especially the Jack Sparrow part.

This just made me chuckle. "No fat and no cholesterol (means but hearts & small butts).

FINALLY starting House of Hades. My friend is probably about ready to strangle me because it's taken so long to finish the series. Had a hiatus there for a bit of not really being in the mood to read. Gasp! I know.

Thankfully, it left. It's becoming a saving grace again. Work has gotten busier and I've been getting stressed out a good bit from it. (If I haven't said this before, I'm a cashier). Introverted + HSP + Anxiety + Cashiering = STRESS OVERLOAD. Thankfully, I've been cross training again. I've fluttered around between 5 different positions since starting there, some were good, some didn't. But I'm so glad I got a chance to try them. Now, I've been helping on the floor and I absolutely love it. The people who work in the back are amazing and they have no problem laughing. It's just good vibes all around back there.
So on the days when cashiering, it's nice to just come home, curl up in bed with a book to be mentally somewhere else for a little while.

Bookstores and Fishing License

This has taken much longer then expected to update. The lack of taking pictures for anything has been real. When I'm not working, I'm just mostly trying to relax. I'll try harder though.

Bookstores are a wonderful place, filled with so many stories and adventures.There just isn't enough time in the world to read all the books. It's upsetting to be honest. It's so easy to spend hours in there just looking at all the different stories.

Finally got my fishing license. The first day is coming up and I need to get some practice in. It's been years since I've fished but the past couple years I've been really wanting to start up again, just hadn't gotten around to it. Now it's just time to practice.

 

Misty has been a personal heater lately. She either curls up beside me or lays on my feet. It's so nice.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare | Book Review

                                                          [source]



The on thing about Cassandra Clare is that she never fails to leave her readers guessing.
City of Lost Souls is the 5th book in the Mortal Instruments series. I just managed to get around reading this one after the long admiration of having it on the shelf. Just about the whole entire time I was reading it I'm pretty certain my jaw was dropped with shock, as soon as you think you've got it figured out-BAM-plot twist.

In this book Jace has gone missing and Clary, along with the Lightwood's, are doing everything they can to try to find him. The problem? The sassy smart, confident Jace isn't really himself. Clary makes the choice of going away to hang out a bit with him and Sebastian while keeping a physiological connection with her best friend Simon in another 'realm'. After a bunch of twists, turns, surprises, demons, and blood Clary has to make the decision between her life and Jace's soul.

There wasn't a moment of this book that felt boring or lacking, it constantly had me interested and just wanting to be able to read faster and to read it all at once to find out what happens next.
The worst part of it was the ending. Oh the ending...

This book is a must read for anyone who loves fantasy-fiction.
Be careful though... you might just get addicted. 

Top 10 Book Quotes of 2015

I'm pretty sure I said this a month ago but omg I can't believe it's December. 24 MORE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!! I'm so excited! Did you get your shopping done? Mine for the most part is. I'm hoping I get books. x]

So I thought that this would be something fun to do, I didn't do this last year, so maybe as of this year it will become a thing. 

1. "I mean, it's like trying to decide between James Dean and Elvis. Seriously, who could make that choice?" - Andrea Portes, Anatomy of a Misfit

2. "'You're not the same as you were before,' he said. 'You were much more... muchier... you've lost your muchness.'" - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

3. "Nothing had been okay, not for a long time. And every moment that I thought I was getting close, like the one I’d had earlier, seemed to remind the universe that I didn’t deserve that, not yet." - Sarah Dessen, Saint Anything

4. "But if I'm it, the last of my kind, the last page of human history, like hell I'm going to let the story end this way. I may be the last one, but I am the one still standing. I am the one turning to face the faceless hunter in the woods on an abandoned highway. I am the one not running but facing. Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity's last war, then I am the battlefield." - Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave

5. "Life's too short to pretend and play games like that. I want to spend my time hanging out with people who make me feel good about myself. People who make me happy." - Gena Showalter, Alice in Zombieland

6. "My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them- by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents." - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice 

7. "I had this wild thought that he was the only one in all this chaos who was just like me, and that was comforting and profound all at once." - Sarah Dessen, Dreamland

8. "I'm not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I'm not sure that I want to wake up." - Gayle Forman,  If I Stay

9. "I wish for the thing that is best for me." - Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

10. "In the end that was the choice you made, and it doesn't matter how hard it was to make it. It matters that you did." - Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

Books Read In 2014

The Replacement Girlfriend by AubreyEatsHearts
A and D by Louisse Carreon
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus
Maid for Hire by demonicblackcat
The Quirky Tale of April Hale by demonicblackcat
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Tame by EmilyTheReader
Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer by Catherine Hardwicke
The Bad Boy's Girl by jessgirl93
Not Exactly Romeo & Juliet by kpgcatlover
Library Love by kpgcatlover
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
I'll Protect You by orangechicken
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
My Dark Knight by Sheriff Squinty
Twilight: The Complete Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz
Four Paws from Heaven by M. R.Wells
Maybe Perfect by qinx1348

Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow - Book Review

                                                 [source]

"Over the course of the last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume—winning two BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

Now, in Through My Eyes, Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has a unique story to tell—from the circumstances of his birth, to his home-schooled roots, to his record-setting collegiate football career with the Florida Gators and everything else that took place in between.

At every step, Tebow's life has defied convention and expectation. While aspects of his life have been well-documented, the stories have always been filtered through the opinions and words of others. Through My Eyes is his passionate, firsthand, never-before-told account of how it all really happened." -- Goodreads

This was such an amazing book! Tim Tebow is a class act, he is.
Hes a great writer, I like how he talked a lot about God, and his family. There's a lot of football talk, of course. Which I'm totally okay with.
I also loved how humorous some parts were, just little quirky things here and there throughout it that helped make it much more enjoyable and light to read.
He is sooo talented, I'm not saying that just because he is who he is, I'm saying that because he is TALENTED. Just knowing how much work he put into his football career astounds me, even days after I've read the book, I'm still in awe.
He's going far. He deserves every bit of it. He's a very blessed man, and I can't wait to see what else he accomplishes.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Book Review

                                                   [source]

"After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.

Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up." -- Goodreads

I was pretty skeptical about reading this book. I've heard about, but I didn't hear enough to really know what it was about. All I knew is that the cover intrigued me.
After finally getting over my Sarah Dessen Hangover, I dove into this one, The 5th Wave.
It was hard to get through the first lump-sum of chapters, I thought it was a little slow, almost like it ran-on too much? Or rambled? AND THEN IT WAS AMAZING.
Oh my goodness. This book will be going on my shelf soon. There's action, a bit of romance, Cassie is a smart-butt some times making plenty of room for humor. Everything you could want in a book is here.
The idea of the aliens and the battling, and the tracking, is just so smart. I can't get over it.


Five stars!

I Watched The First 15 Minutes of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Movie... Review?

Saturday night Syfy had schedueled to play City of Bones. I've never seen this movie, however I'm a HUGE fan of the books, okay that's an understatement... I've seen the trailer, checked out the soundtrack, all of it. I'm a huge, huge lover of this series.

And it's killing me to say I am trying so hard to like it and I can't.
During the 15 minutes that I saw it all I was thinking was 'It didn't start this way in the book.' 'Her hair isn't red enough.' 'Shouldn't Jace be...well... buffer?' (I'm not hating on Jamie once so ever, I promise. I do like him.) 'He should've been in that scene.' 'When did everyone get accents? New York people don't have English accents!' 'She shouldn't know that till later in the book.' 'What's with Jace's hap-hazard Runes? Where's all the faded scars?' 'She shouldn't know that till later.' 'Since when did these Rune's become a suspense story?' 'Isabelle is supposed to be drunk during that'-Here's the thing... I get it. Cassandra Clare didn't have any of the rights during the making of the movie. I'm assuming that means she wasn't really on the set and having says in things like John Green (I'm assuming he has rights to his movies.). I'm not upset with Cassandra Clare so much as I am of the people in charge of making the movie.

When you make a movie based off of a book that has such a huge fanbase, you better be darn careful about how you portray it on screen. We notice these things.

This is my understanding. My Mom is a huge Pride & Prejudice fan, read the books watched the original movie, loves Jane Austen. Wanting to take part in this, when the new Pride & Prejudice movie came out, not having read the book yet, (I know...let's not talk about it, I'm embarrassed enough.) I wanted to take part in seeing who this amazing Mr. Darcy is. I thought the movie was sooo good! Mr. Darcy is pretty darn cute, if I do say. Now when my Mom found out I really liked it she was nooot happy. Why? Because the new version is nothing like the original. I had nothing to base on  what the 'original' was because I'd never seen/read it.
So if somebody didn't read the book watched it, then yes, they'd probably love it, I would have loved it. I WANT to love it, and I will probably keep trying to.


Magnus. Bane. I love Magnus Bane. Oh my gosh I wish he was a real person that we could be best friends. I don't feel like he was portrayed well enough in the movie nooo, no, no, no. No, I was so upset about it. Why? Why?!

I really hope the TV series coming out is so much better because it's going to be heartbreaking if it comes out to be like the movie.

Again. In no way am I trying to rip apart Cassandra Clare. I love her books so much and she seems like a great person. I feel so bad that Stephenie Meyer can't even stand to deal with Twilight-the series she worked so hard for that's probably like a baby to her!- because so many people tore it up and made fun of it.





If you've watched the City of Bones movie: Did you like it? Have you read the books before hand? What're your thoughts? Has it altered your opinions on anything?

I would love to read your opinions in the comments!!

A Long 'What I've Been Up To Lately' | III

Hola!

It's been a while, no? I thought I'd do an update and pretty much post everything that I could find on my iPod that I haven't posted yet and scramble up some posts.

As long as this is, you know what the sad part is? I still haven't been able to make myself pull out my camera (technically iPod, lately as it seems) and take pictures of the things I should actually be taking pictures of.

One of these days I'll get the hang of it.

Anywhozoles. Onto the post!

Lets start with the things from further back.
My Grandma had asked me to do some cleaning for her, and when I was through giving Chestnut a bath (which was a job and a half, let me tell you...) I sat outside with Jack and Cookie.

I can't get over how big he is. I've never seen a cat so big before. He towers over Cookie, that poor girl. Oh, and an update on her, she's been looking great lately. She's put on some weight and doesn't look so frail. She looks a lot like Cookie again, even if she does carry all the elder cat characteristics.

Want to hear something cool? While I was sitting on the porch with the cats a female hummingbird came to the feeder that's hanging from the ceiling. Went over and hovered in front of Cookie, then came and looked at me, hovering for a moment, and then went back to the feeder to drink and did it's little chirping. It was almost as if it was saying something. The one we have here at our house has done that to me, too. I was washing dishes one day and it came over hovering in front of the screen at me for a moment and then left. I wish I was a Dolittlea during times like that.

 Carrying on. Larabar's have become a favorite again lately. I love trying new snack bars. I like the Cherry Pie flavor. The song is also very good if you haven't heard it. Okay, that may be the main reason why this bar is so good.

 Since I have been going off the gluten free a bit, I've been enjoying cereal again. I forgot how good Lucky Charms is. However, I still mainly stick to Gluten Free things, mainly because the ingredients are better than most of the things I see that aren't. If there was a way you could live on cereal, getting all the nutrients you need, I'd totally do it.

 This is my parents Peach Tree. It's very big. Maybe 11feet tall? Probably 14 if you were to actually measure it. They aren't ripe yet, at least not that I've noticed. But they sure do look good still!

 The Bane Chronicles. Oh. My. Gosh. Magnus please marry me. I LOVE HIM. I loved him since the moment he was mentioned in the books. He's so funny, and quirky. Ah-I can't even. He's perfection is all. Don't even get me started on Jace.

I've been trying to work out again. These past couple weeks have been not the greatest. I always feel like I'm treading through water. I always try to push myself but even 30mins in it becomes too hard.
However, my eating has been better. I've been trying really hard on having healthier things. Fruit has become a big portion of my diet and I'm not sure how long that's going to continue. I'm gonna try switching to a more veggie-based 'diet' and see how it turns out.
You can only be constantly bloated for so long before it starts to mess with your head.

It is that time of year again where I get lost in my favorite series. I've been trying to drag it out. If I let myself I'll read all of them back-to-back and have the series finished in a matter of days-but no... This series, to me, is one of those series where it must be quiet, no disturbances, no nothing that could possibly interrupt it while reading. This is that kind of series. When I read it I want to be taken to New York or Idris and tag along.

Two weeks ago my Dad's friends from work came over along with the one's daughter, and a good friend of mine, and we got to hang out while they all went on the bikes.
Because everyone in the house lately seems to be watching, this was the absolute perfect excuse to bake something that doesn't have to be so healthy! I made Alton Brown's Gold Cake with homemade peppermint icing, topped with some sprinkles on half. Because you're never told old for sprinkles. Regardless if you're a biked or not. I didn't have a piece but everyone thought it was really good. Mom said it could've used a little more extract. This was my first time making it though, and the recipe is very... balanced? When it comes to the ingredients.  Everything has to be added a certain way, at a certain temperature and I didn't want to play with it because of that.
There was just more to it than what I typically do when making a cake.

When our friends were going to leave Dad took me on his bike to see them off a town over, it was so cool. I'm planning that one day I'll get my own bike. A Harley would be pretty cool [;

As of Friday. My lovely Mother took me to the mall in search of a dress for my brothers upcoming wedding. And I'm pleased to say that the second dress I tried on was the dress I got. It's one I've been actually really wanting for a while now, but I never knew the mall carried them. Than again, I never looked. Dresses are not not thing. I like the thoughts of wearing them, but I don't like wearing them.
In case you're wondering. The dress in the picture is actually the first dress. Although I reealllyy liked it, I didn't like the tightness of the cinching around my stomach.
As for shoes to go with it... I'm thinking converses.

Lastly was grocery time. We went to the local health food store, Giant Eagle, and Wal*Mart.

I've been trying to play around with my 'diet' lately. I've been eating tons of fruit but I've noticed after drinking the one Bolthouse Farms drink today that I think the fruit is what is causing me to bloat so bad (TMI?) and I'm gonna try going for the veggie side and see how it sits.
This is what I got:

Health food store:

Annie's Organic Ketchup (2/$5)
Gin-Gin Hard Candy

Giant Eagle:

Bolthouse Farms Blueberry Banana Almondmilk (BOGO Free)
Bolthouse Farms Multi- V Goodness (BOGO Free)
Luna White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bar
Coconut Cream Pie LaraBar
Evolution Pineapple Passionfruit Yogurt

Wal*Mart:

Organic Half & Half Salad Mix
Ben & Jerry Pistachio Pistachio Ice Cream
Stonyfield Smooth & Creamy Strawberry Low Fat Yogurt

McCormick Gluten Free Taco Seasoning
Gluten Free Pizza Crusts
Babybell Light Mini Cheese Wheels ($.75 off coupon)
Thrifty Bee Dark & Robust Honey
Del Monta Zucchini with Italian Style Tomato Sauce
Green Giant SteamCrisp Southwestern Style Corn
Minute Multi-grain Medley Gluten Free Rice ($1.00 off coupon)
Annie's Homegrown Organic Cheddar Bunnies




I'm pretty certain I have enough food to last me the rest of eternity now.

What I've Been Up To Lately - I

I think it should just be a thing where I just start doing an update series since I don't blog much on a daily basis, which I really do want to change. I know I say that often, but it's true. I always have in the back of my mind on that I should be writing a blog post, and how I wish I would keep up with it and be posting on a daily basis. The problem is coming up with ideas on what to post about, which is why I do so many reviews. Sometimes it seems easier to just pick something like a book, movie, or food that I can just type up a review and pretty much have an endless supply of.

Unfortuanatlly I don't have any ravishing news like that I won the lottery, or got a super amazing tan-our town has turned into Seattle with all this rain!- or, you know,  finally've gotten that dog I've always wanted.

My plans of going on vacation that I've been so badly wanting to do this past year has fallen through -grr!-, but hopefully it'll get makin' up someway or another. The year ain't over yet!

So this is been what's new.

 

Chick-fil-a's new -limited- Peach Milkshake. Crazy good! Chick-fil-a honestly has THEE BEST milkshakes I've ever had. I just wish they weren't so caloric!

New sunglasses. They remind me of Eric Church and his Springsteen video. (The main reason I'd gotten them. Also, when you're driving, and you're too short for the sun visor to block the sun, sunglasses are a must.) You can get them here.

The movies. How I've missed going to the movies! This one was a pain in the butt to go to as well! The movie theater closest to us was playing this, me and my Dad got in the car, headed to the theater, and it turns out they had switched the Tomorrowland showings for that day to a marathon of some old B&W movie which I can't remember what it was-but they still had on their board/website they were showing Tomorrowland...??? So, we called my mom to call and check the showing for a different theater, finding out the next showing was in about 20 minutes, made our way there, got the tickets, popcorn, drinks just to find out the show wasn't going to play for ANOTHER hour, after the website supposedly said it was playing in just a few minutes.
My Dad wasn't very happy about it, the guy offered to let us exchange our tickets for a different movie but we decided to wait, and we talked about Age of Ultron (yes, I'm still very much obsessed), and stories of my Dad and his brother when they were younger instead, it was very nice.
We even got ice cream after too, I really wanted ice cream with sprinkles (I know, such a two year old-it's literally been years since I've had ice cream, or sprinkles. Thank. You.) however it was great, my stomach did not appreciate it once so ever. Lactose intolerance? Very likely. (Fyi, dairy has been an issue since the day I was born, I promise I'm not self-diagnosing myself with issues when little things come up.)
All in all, it was a great trip-and movie! Tim McGraw actually plays in it, George Clooney was amazing of course. It was a great movie. Different than what I had expected it to be like, but it was really good.
Side note; Did anyone else not know he played on Roseanne? I just found that out a few weeks ago after watching it on Netflix. He plays Booker.

Speaking of Booker. Books. I'm just bookin' it up lately (I'm a Biblophile). I think I've gotten about a dozen new books this past month (okay, maybe, like, six.). My parents were so sweet and picked me up The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, a puzzle book, and The Princess Within for Teens by Serita Ann Jakes when they were out. I have yet to read/try/attempt these, but I'm very excited to!

You can follow me on my Instagram if you'd like, I'm usually posting on there every couple days[:

What're y'all up to lately??