A little of this and a little bit of that…

#1

You might want to sit down for this.

I haven’t consumed a carbonated beverage since Feb. 1. Yep, this little coke lover, has avoided coke, pop, soft drinks, whatever the hell you call it for 36 days. Not like I’m counting or anything.

They said it would be easy. They said you wouldn’t miss them after a few days or weeks. WRONG. BIG FAT WRONG.

I think about Coca Cola constantly. How it would make my pizza taste better. How it would make a crappy day better. My body just wants it.

But… I haven’t given in, with the exception of a teeny tiny sip of my brother’s Big Red Slushie.

So, where do cokes and I stand? How have I been feeling?

Let’s start with the latter. I feel great. My clothes fit better. I’m not bloated. For those reasons alone, I may just give them up forever. I’d rather eat my calories anyway. I still drink tea and lemonade occasionally, but I’m also drinking a ton of water.

Will I really NEVER ever drink another beloved can of coke? Probably not. I’ve created this little contest in my head. If I can lose the last 5 pounds of baby weight, I get to celebrate with a coke. 5 more=another coke until I’m down to pre wedding weight from almost 7 years ago.

Isn’t it weird how I aspire to be that weight again? I think I want to be that weight because that’s the last time I remember not weighing myself. Just liking my size and not caring what the number said.

So, how’s that for motivation? And shorts. Most definitely, shorts!

#2

I’ve started reading again. We’ve had several snow days in the last month which in turn I get to stay at home. I have been so lazy and it’s been great. I needed to be lazy. Teaching is rough. My class is rough. We are busy. We don’t spend much time at home during the week so its been nice to be forced to be home. Actually, it’s been wonderful!

I’ve updated the READ WITH ME tab with the books I have been reading! Enjoy!

Reading Extravaganza!

I have been living up my holiday vacay and time off from school by obsessing over romantic smut novels. Seriously, if you love to read and do not own a kindle… go get one! They have all kinds of free books and I love having the easy access of downloading a book in like 2 seconds.

Here’s what I’ve been reading… I’ve also updated these on my “Read with Me” page if you’re interested in any of my recommendations. :)

Bared to You by Sylvia Day

It’s like Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele all over again. This book is very similar to my Fifty, but not quite. While the first 1/3 of the book had me hooked… the rest was kind of blah for me. I do however, plan on starting/finishing the second book to the series sometime this week. I can’t not see Gideon and Eva’s story through…

Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly

This one is free on AMAZON ya’ll. Go download it for later, but get it while it is free. It’s a cute and predictable romantic comedy (my fave) but it was a fun read and I enjoyed the story. I stayed up late to finish it one night because I was so dedicated to see their story to the end!

Hired by the Cowboy by Donna Alward

I have a thing for arranged marriage books these days. Hmmmm…. this one is cute. Connor needs his trust fund and Alex is knocked up with no place to go. Voila! Romance! I thought this book was very sweet and Connor is like the dreamiest, most gentleman man ever!

That’s a wrap! What are you reading?

Book Club – Gone Girl Review

When my friend Sara asked me to be a part of a book club I was super excited! I love reading a good book and it's even better when others do too. There were 4 of us at Sara's last night and we had such a great time. Sara is such a gracious host and she had such a cute spread. Of course, I forgot to take a single picture. Imagine that.

We talked about the book on and off for a grand total of twenty minutes and spent the rest of the night discussing child birth, breastfeeding and furbabies. Ha! Wild group, I tell you! It was so nice to get together and have girl time. We laughed so much and all truly enjoyed our evenings to just be girls. No husbands, no babies, no toddlers.

Since it was a book club gathering... I will talk about what we liked/disliked about the book.

SPOILERS AHEAD

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- IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK - STOP HERE AND GO READ GONE GIRL OR SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!

In the first half of the book we all had mixed feelings/ideas about what was going on. Was Nick guilty? Was Amy really gone/dead? Did he have "too" close of a

connection with his twin sister? Did Andie do it?

When we found out the big "surprise" we all thought Amy was cray-cray. We thought the Ozarks were weird too. What was the point of all that?

The ending. We all felt that the author was building something up. Was Nick going to prove that his wife was guilty? Was he going to kill her? Was Boney going to come to Nick's aide?

And then it ended and they were together. WTF!  We all felt the ending was very abrupt and kind of a letdown.

Personally, I felt that Nick and Amy kind of deserved one another. They had a very toxic, unhealthy relationship and it somehow bonded them together. The end. Ha!

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END OF SPOILERS

Our next book club selection should be interesting. It's definitely something I would have never chosen to read. It has solid reviews so I may be surprised!

Have you ever been a part of a book club?

What did you think of Gone Girl?

Book Club Review #1

A good friend of mine asked if I wanted to be a part of a monthly book club. YES!

So I couldn’t wait to get my greedy little hands on the first book choice. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

I really can’t say much about this book without giving away surprises. I will try my best to convince you to read it.

The book is told through alternating perspectives of a man and his wife. In the beginning we find out that the wife has gone missing and all signs point to her husband.

Ok… that’s about all I can say without giving away more. This was a really good read and the story has some very unexpected twists and turns. GO read it so we can talk about it!

I’m anxious for our 1st book club evening and can’t wait to hear what all the ladies thought of the book!

Book Review, Consignment Sale and Classes

Since my life is about to get a whole lot busier come August 27th, I have been trying to maximize my current free time by reading and getting things done.

I have a few books I want to read before I start reading for school. One book involves my first book club meeting which I am SO excited about! It will be hard to squeeze in reading for pleasure then I’m sure!

I finished Kathleen Brook’s Bluegrass State of Mind this week. It’s a quirky little suspense/romance set in good ‘ole Kentucky! You should read this if you want something fun to read. The author has written two more in this series (and a spinoff) I may read because I really liked the characters and would like to see their stories develop more.

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Last fall I discovered the Little Treasures Clothing Sale. For $85 I purchased Kendall’s fall/winter wardrobe. I attended the spring/summer sale as well and didn’t have as much luck. Most likely because I waited several days after the sale opened to shop.

This year I signed up to be a consignor. I will make 70% of my sales and will be able to shop early. I’m super excited. There are strict restrictions on how items are to be labeled and turned in so I want to start working on this asap! I plan on rummaging through all my baby clothes totes this week and preparing items for the sale.

My classes for the Fall semester are …

Term I

The Modern Elementary School & Reading and Writing Foundations

Term II

Issues/Trends in Special Education & Methods/Materials for Social Studies

I’m really excited about starting this journey and can’t believe I will be 1/3 done by December!!!

Book Reviews

Clearly, I have been on a reading kick the last few weeks. I’m kind of over it at the moment so I figured I would catch up on my reviews.

Easily Amused by Karen McQuestion

Easily Amused is a quirky little story about an almost 30 year old who has inherited a house on a street full of crazies. I found that I didn't really like the main character (whose point of view it is written) as much as I loved the people in her life. She has a total brat of a sister and I found myself laughing out loud during their bickering. I was disappointed with the second half of the book. I felt there was so much character and plot development in the beginning and then the rest was poorly written. However, I would totall rec'd this to anyone wanting a light hearted read.

Bound to You by Vanessa Holland

I found this book while looking at the top FREE bestseller ebooks on Amazon. I read it in one day. It was predictable but like with most love stories I've read lately, I get so involved in the characters and have to finish their journey to the end. It was a really sweet book about second chances in love and parenting.

Why Aren't You Sweet Like Me? by Carrie Nyman

This was another freebie on Amazon. I LOVED this book. The author wrote this book based off her grandparents love letters (and stories she was told verbally) to one another during WWII. If you love the nostalgia of thr 1940s you will LOVE this book. I felt like I was there and it was told so well. I loved that this was inspired by a true story. It was so sweet. You should read it!!!

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I've been reading this one for almost 2 months now. I've read several of Nicholas Sparks books and although he is a good storyteller, the characters and plot are all very generic. The only reason I wanted to read this book was because I want to see the movie eventually. Because Zac Efron is HOT. I must admit that I skipped a lot of the book. It was slow moving for me. Eh.

I downloaded several samples on my Kindle so I’m sure I will resume my reading frenzy very soon! What are you reading?

Cookout and Book Reviews

Sunday we hosted a cookout! Funny story- Chris and I were gung-ho about having patio furniture for everyone to sit on so we spent most of our day tracking down Memorial Weekend deals. I will post a picture later.

Our company was my cousin Becca and her husband Chris, my siblings and us. We grilled out, made margaritas and played Scattergories later. It was a great time! Kendall loved having the company over and new people to play with!

Of course I took no pictures…

I read a few books this week I wanted to discuss.

Gabriel’s Rapture by Sylvain Reynard – this is a sequel to Gabriel’s Inferno. These books are really good! If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey but would rather read less SMUT you will like these books. :) The story is about Julia, a poor graduate student with some ex-boyfriend issues who also has a past with Professor Emerson. Except Professor Emerson doesn’t remember the night they shared 6 years ago. But does he?Needless to say… you can only guess how the story goes on!

The author uses the classic literature of Dante throughout these books. I’m not familiar with Dante but these books made me want to read some of his work… and go to Italy!

The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst

I promise you the cover does not do this book justice. Sure there are some heated moments between the couple but this is not a trashy harlequin. This book is a fun, predictable story about a girl needing some cash and a billionaire needing a wife. They write up a contract to be married for a year and of course things never go as planned. This would be a perfect plane ride or beach day read!

I’m starting another book (or two) this week. Ha! Everyone have a safe and happy Memorial day and remember all of those who sacrifice for our country and well being!!

XOXO

Reading Machine!

I don’t know what’s got into me lately but all I want to do is read!!! I guess it’s a better hobby than my TV watching. Mind you, my DVR is jam packed with shows.

It all started with buying a Kindle and having a whole uninterrupted hour of bliss during the day (aka my lunch break at work). There is nothing better than sitting in your car in the middle of the day with the windows down reading a good book. Until you have to go back to the office of course…

I really do enjoy having that “me” time 5 days a week.

I was inspired by a few blogs to start reviewing books that I’m reading. I was thinking today that I should make a list of books I want to read this year. Feel free to check it out!

What are you reading?

Fifty Shades of Wednesday

This whole working full time/single mom during baseball season is exhausting. Honestly, I just don’t feel like blogging when I come home.

Anyways… I wanted to share some things … bullet point style!

• I read Fifty Shades of Grey…. OMG that’s all I’m going to say about it here
• This prompted me to buy a Kindle which should arrive Friday. Then I will purchase book 2 and 3 of the Fifty Shades Trilogy. Yay!
• I have to take an hour unpaid for lunch at work. Sometimes I go to lunch with someone but lately I’ve been bringing my lunch, finding a nice place to park and reading a book. So nice to have that hour of uninterrupted Shelli time
• Today when I picked Kendall up she had her jacket on. Her teacher said she wouldn’t let anyone take it off. Ha! She is the same way about her shoes.
• Speaking of Kendall… she has become much more social now that she is in daycare. We went to a bridal shower over the weekend and Kendall was so funny interacting with everyone
• We also have a climber on our hands! It’s nothing for me to see her standing up on the coffee table. Lord help me!
• I’m really contemplating on planning a couple getaway for Chris and I sometime this summer. Maybe a night or two. My stomach hurts to think about leaving Kendall but it would be so nice to have a little time away with my man!
• Maybe I’m just being all romantically because I’ve been reading trashy romance novels… oh well! Whatever keeps the fire burnin’!

Have you read Fifty Shades? When did you first leave your first born to go somewhere with your hubby?

Oh Monday…

I uploaded pictures from my Iphone over the weekend and I wanted to share some of them. I love the convenience of taking pictures on my phone but I never do anything with them after I load them. This is important stuff people!

We bought a new (to us) car for Chris. Chris needed a 4 door car with good gas mileage since he drops Kendall off at school and drives a million miles for baseball.

I’m blonde again Ya’ll! Don’t ever let me go brown AGAIN!

I can’t remember if I posted K on St.Patty’s day and I’m too lazy to look. Anyway… I whipped up her shirt and bow in 30 minutes to match these socks I had made. She looks cute in everything but I was so proud!

New car = new stylin’ seat for the Princess! She thought it was so funny sitting in it in the house. I put my gender neutral car seat in Chris’s car and put this pink baby in the equinox! Woot! Woot!

Kendall’s 1st day of school outfit… I was pretty bummed we didn’t get a first day of school photo. It was too emotional of a morning for that.

My new office! Complete with a bathroom… since these pictures they’ve given me a desktop and a new chair. I love my new job!

So on to other things… I’m thinking about taking up reading again. After reading the Hunger Games trilogy (and loving it)… I realized I missed reading. I purchased Nicholas Sparks The Lucky One and preordered the (from what I hear mucho scandalous Fifty Shade of Grey by E.L. James.

What are you reading??

Happy Monday!