Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Hey It's Okay....

To utterly neglect housework in favor of reading.

To actually do housework while engrossed in audio books and basically be in a whole other world.

To sit on the un-vacuumed floor and color in a color book with your daughter when she asks if you will play with her.

To already start planning Halloween decor and costumes.

To extra pamper your dogs as an apology for the new puppy.

To have pretty much only taken photos of the new puppy for the past week....

She now has one ear that sticks up! It's hilarious.

To take a blogging break just because you need one.

To want to come back to blogging and then drawing a massive blank as to where to begin...so you write some fluff.

It's totally okay.

Thursday Thoughts/ Catching Up

Kimmi 9:08:00 AM 6 comments Edit

1. First and foremost I need to share with you all this little bit. This is Arya and she is our new puppy! I had not planned on getting a puppy but when I went with my Mom to pick out a pup for her since hers passed so suddenly and somehow ended up coming home with one too....I'm still hazy on how that happened. However she is adorable and so sweet and now I can't imagine life without her.

2. This week has been a pain in the butt. On Sunday Robert's car decided to suddenly stop working. Of course it was on a Sunday so they were closed so we had to wait until Monday to get anything done with it. Since we couldn't figure out what was wrong so we had to have it towed to the dealership. Thankfully it was just some sort of computer chip thing. Even though it was a small thing it still took two days to get done which was annoying but again thankfully it was covered under our warranty as was the tow so all in all I can't complain too much other than it was inconvenient.

3. Then on Tuesday afternoon our A/C went out. Since it is approximately a million degrees around here in the summer this was a HUGE problem. Also I don't handle the heat well....I'm actually pretty unpleasant to be around because I don't like feeling sweaty, sticky, humid or any such thing and I lose all patience when I'm hot. It was a miserable Tuesday night but they guy was supposed to be there in the morning. HAHAHAHAHA. NO. I waited around all day and at 4pm when Robert came home the house was boiling hot and the guy no where to be seen. So I packed up the pups and Kyra and left to seek refuge at my parents' house. Finally the guy did show up and now the A/C is working and I have it set to Antarctic freezing temperatures in here now.

4. As you may have noticed Blogging has taken a hit around here lately. Mostly this is due to trying to figure out what I want from this blog while I am also working on another project of my own. I am happy however that I was able to participate in the linkup yesterday and that I have managed to fit in reading/listening! I even managed to read a few of the books I already own in participation of Erin's Read Your Books Challenge!

5. Pokemon Go. Yes I am playing. I played Pokemon when it first came out and this game has been like a blast from the past. I love the fact you have to get out there to play and have actually been walking around my hometown a lot more because of it. However I do believe that gamers need to be respectful while playing and remember...just because there is a Pokemon somewhere doesn't mean you should actually go catch it there. Remember that not everyone is into playing it and that some places are just off limits. (ie work, places of remembrance, memorials, WHILE DRIVING)

Caught this guy last night while finishing up my walk.

These have been my Thursday Thoughts.

What I Read- June 2016

Kimmi 9:30:00 AM 12 comments Edit

It's time for the best linkup of the month again! Let's see those books!

American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis- This set of short stories was just hit and miss for me. Some were dark and really funny and others were just downright boring or insulting. As you can see by the title it is a set of short stories about housewives and their lives in the home...or just their lives in general. I listened to this one on audio book and I have to say that the voice acting was really enjoyable even when the stories weren't. It was a really short set of stories so if you are into that kind of thing you might enjoy it but I wouldn't go out and pick it up right away or anything.

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King- I really enjoy Stephen King's writing most of the time and I was excited to read his short stories. (well in this case listen to them) I have to say that I enjoyed all but like two of them. I actually think I preferred his short stories to a lot of his longer novels simply because he didn't go off on tangents with with most of them. I enjoy his writing but I can see how many are thrown off if you aren't used to his style. These stories were dark, creepy, and pretty much awesome. I think I loved the very first story the most but all in all it was a great set of scary tales to keep you up at night.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld- This was one that I read for Erin's Read Your Own Books Challenge. I have gotten this whole trilogy via the thrift store and yet had not gotten a chance to read any of them. Finally I did and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I am kind of over the whole distopian society thing because it has been done and done well several times before. (Divergent, Hunger Games, Maze Runner...etc) This one however actually had me concerned for my priorities. I actually thought it would be lovely to turn 16 and they instantly make you pretty....no more body issues....just...pretty. THAT is DISTURBING. I have always struggled with body image but now that I am older I am learning to love the woman that I am and all the parts of her...so this was a trip to send me right back to that place of wanting to be PRETTY. If you are into YA fiction, Distopian Futures, and all that jazz I would highly recommend this book. I am halfway through the next one and it is just a enjoyable!

Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman- Another of the books on my list from Erin's Challenge. This audio book has been in my Audible account for about forever so I thought I would give it a go. I loved listening to Nick Offerman's voice as I think it is pretty amazing and the book itself was good. It wasn't my favorite and it had moments where it was a bit dry for me but overall I really liked it. It is a VERY opinionated book but I liked that about it. Also if you check out the title you can tell that it is going to be that sort of book. Sure there is some humor but mostly it was just Nick and his tell it like I see it point of view. I didn't always agree with him but I liked listening to his take on things and he made good arguments. All in all I am glad that I finally gave this one a chance!

You are a Badass by Jen Sincero - I saw this book on an instagram post and immediately I was drawn to it. The title for sure sucked me in and I had to know what this book was about. Basically this is a "self help" book. Sure it has a lot of Whoo Whoo moments but I have to say....I kinda loved this book. I have been working on getting to a place where I feel comfortable in who I am and also learning what direction I want to take in my life in order to become who I want to be in the future. This book is really inspiring and frankly really honest about getting things together and taking charge of your life. It happened to just come along at the right time for me and I actually think that I will be purchasing it in the very near future. This was another one that I listened to on audio book and I think this one is for sure one that is better on audio book verses reading it on your own.

So there are my books for June! Be sure to join the linkup for more books to add to your reading list!

Currently....July 2016

Kimmi 11:02:00 AM 4 comments Edit

First off thank you all for the kind words about Lilly. My parents took her to be put down last week because she was just in so much pain. It was much kinder to let her go. My mom's heart is broken because Lilly was her little lap dog and she was always by her side. It's just going to be a long time of grieving.

Now then on with blogging which I am kind of easing back into this week after a bit of a break. I felt like I really needed one and now I feel like I have some good ideas for posts and am ready to get things moving again.

Reading.....Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding time by Richard Conniff. I have been trying to finish this one for a while but I keep getting distracted! This week I will finish! It's really an interesting read but I keep getting sucked into audio books while cleaning and haven't been actually sitting down to read lately.

Watching.....The Shannara Chronicles on Netflix. I have never read this series but I remember it from when I was younger and when I saw it pop up on Netflix we thought we would give it a go. I'm actually enjoying it so far and am looking forward to seeing more of this world. I actually downloaded the audio book as well just to get to know more of the story.

Loving.....Cold Brew Coffee. I have been making my own at home via Steph's recipe and it is AWESOME. I love iced coffee and this recipe is perfect and saves me some major dollars. I love the flavor and will continue to brew at home from now on!

Wanting....Colourpop Gone Coastal set. I am totally sold on Colourpop. The price is right and the products are awesome. I have loved every single thing I have ever purchased from them!