Boredom

Well, looks like I've quit writing, so much for book reviews... they were crappy so who cares. Anyways, a lot has been happening lately. Chris graduated from school and is now home FOR GOOD, I got a job working at a pool place and the manager is kinda doing some shady crap.. we'll see how that goes. Also, after almost two months of "searching" (he didn't do much searching, to be honest) Chris finally got a job, too. He's gonna be working at Hartsfield on the train things that take you from concourse to concourse. Oh! And we're also in the process of looking for a house. We've found a few we like, but nothing we love. Okay, we've actually found ONE we were completely in love with, but the day we went to look at it, it had JUST gone under contract. :-( So now we're back to square one... and we may be there a while. It's really hard to find a house once you've found the perfect home.

Okay.

I've been busy.. well, not really, just lazy. I've finished Mockingjay... er, quite a while ago. I just haven't felt like writing a review and frankly, my reviews suck. LOL Mockingjay was good and I wasn't completely expecting the ending. Now I'm just ready for the movies to come out! LOL

I'm now reading "The Vow" and so far, so good. I'm about 30 pages from the ending.

Chris is one week away from graduating which means he'll be back home! YAY! I've been waiting for this day! Hopefully he can find a job pretty quickly. Also, I no longer work at Gap, they just couldn't supply the seasonal employees with hours (or so they said) so I was let go. So I'm back to square one and actively looking! I'm REALLLLLLYYYY hoping to get a job at this legal firm as their receptionist. Fingers crossed please!

Catching Fire

I didn't like this one as much as the first book. The first one (The Hunger Games) had me on edge almost the entire time, Catching Fire was the opposite, for me. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the read.

I can't get too into the plot because if I do it'd probably ruin the entire story. Basically, districts are rebelling and Katniss is the reason for it. The Quarter Quell (which is the Hunger Games that happen every 25 years) takes place in this book. The Quarter Quells change up the game some. For example, one Quarter Quell had double the amount of tributes. This one is a MAJOR game changer. It ends at the end of the this year's Hunger Games and now I can't wait to read the last book to this trilogy to find out what's happening next.

Sorry this is short, but I can't give too many details otherwise it'd completely ruin the surprise! :-)

Up Next: Mockingjay

Image taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catching_Fire_(2009_novel)

The Hunger Games

Nothing much to say about this other than... AMAZING. I had to pace myself to read through this book. It took my 3 days, but would've been less if I would've let myself read as much as I wanted. I'm late in reading it, as I usually am with other huge hits, but better late than never.

Basically, it's set in some time in the future of North America. There is no more US, there is no more Canada. North America is now the country of Panem. Panem has the Capitol and twelve districts (which are much, much poorer than the Capitol) surrounding. The main character is a girled named Katniss who lives in District 12. Every year there is what's called a reaping where each district picks a boy and a girl ranging from ages 12 to 18 to play in what is known as the Hunger Games. To sum it up, these teens are thrown into what they call an arena and spend weeks at a time fighting each other to the death. The last person standing is the victor and is sent back to his or her country where they and their people will be given food every month until the next reaping. It's intense and leaves you on the edge. There's love, deception, and heartache. Want to know more?... read it. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Suzanne Collins, the author, split the story up into a trilogy. The Hunger Games, being book one, followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I haven't finished Catching Fire, yet, but when I do I guess I can do another mini-review like the others.

Picture taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

11 for '11

I know, I know, LATE! I wanted to see if I could come up with 11 things I learned/realized in 2011.

1. I'm a lot stronger, emotionally, than I ever knew.

2. I actually LIKE reading... never thought I'd hear myself say that. I think because now I have the freedom to read what I want to instead of being assigned things to read.

3. I am not a people person. I like to be out and about, but I do NOT like people.

4. Friends you thought you could consider close aren't as close as they seem.

5. I have finally decided what I'm going to do with my life. And I will actually be doing something that will make me happy.

6. I'm READY to go back to school and I think I can actually put effort into it. I'm definitely nervous about being there again though. I hate writing papers and I hate having to study. LOL Which I know there's going to be a ton of that.... BOO!!!

7. I've learned a lot about child birth. I decided to start doing research on EVERYTHING concerning pregnancy and child birth. It's quite a few years away, but I don't want to go in clueless. I want to know what's happening to my body, why it's happening, as well as, what my doctors are putting in my body and why. My second cousin lost her baby during 2011 due to Pitocin, they gave her Pitocin and the baby's heart rate dropped so fast they couldn't get her out in time to save her. It's a common drug and often times "harmless," but more births result in c-sections when women are administered this drug, for example, is something I learned.

8. I've learned (although, I knew this already) some people really never change and sometimes you just have to give up trying to have a connection with them or trying to rebuild a damaged relationship.

9. I don't think I'll ever be able to completely get along with my mom.

10. When I was younger, I never really realized the problems some adults in my life (who were VERY prominent, might I add). Most are alcohol problems and it makes me sad.... but it also makes me realize I want NOTHING to do with alcohol. It's caused nothing but problems in my life to the point where I couldn't even enjoy a drink if I wanted to. I also don't want my kids to grow up around it.

11. I'm actually a pretty good cook... that, or I have a husband who will choke it down and make it look like I'm a good cook. LOL I never thought I could cook, bake, yea, I can bake the heck out of some stuff, but not cook. LOL

My Sister's Keeper

Basically, this is about a girl in her early teens, named Anna, who is taking her parents to court for medical emancipation. Her parent's sole purpose of birthing her was to use her for her older sister, Kate's, needs as she has APL (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia). She's the youngest of three, Kate (the oldest), Jesse (middle child- brother), and then Anna. The family revolves around Kate and her illness and the other two are kind of neglected because of it.

I don't want to get too into all the details, but for me, I was sad. I don't think I could personally have another child just to poke and prod and him or her for the sake of another child. Maybe before I read this story, I would've considered it had I ever been in this situation, but after seeing the toll it takes on this young girl, I could never do it. (Although, it's not a true story, there are definitely people out there who go through this and make these decisions as parents)

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, is definitely a good read. Each "chapter" is from each of the main character's point of view. I don't think this book is for everyone. If you're not big on reading, probably not. If you've seen the movie and enjoyed it, I'd recommend reading it (since usually the books are better than the movie).

Picture taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sister's_Keeper

Welcome 2012!

Two blog posts in one day? I'm on a roll! Anyways, it's 2012 already, time sure does fly! This year is going to be a GOOD year, I can feel it! We've got a lot of great things coming our way.

In March, Chris graduates from school and he'll finally be able to come back home to Georgia FOR GOOD! His goal is to have a job lined up and ready for when he comes back to Georgia... hopefully working at a Ford dealership! In August (hopefully) I'll be starting school to eventually be an RN. Chris will get his new truck (probably). We're also getting a house! Well, not just yet, but SOME TIME in 2012 we're hoping to be in the market to buy! We're HOPING for our dream home and, with this being a buyers market, we could probably get it! We want a decent sized yard, 3-4 bedrooms, AT LEAST 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, a driveway that can fit 4 cars, and a basement. We've actually seen a TON in our price range... don't care if it needs work, Chris is handy. As long as the house is livable! :-) So needless to say, I'm welcoming 2012 with open arms... even if we're all gonna die before the end of it (kidding!).

Anyways, that's it for this post.

Water For Elephants

Water For Elephants really opens your eyes to what circus life was like in the earlier 1900s. They also have actual pictures of people and animals in front of almost every chapter, which was interesting. The book, itself, was sad, funny, and a good read. I haven't seen the movie, so I couldn't tell you how well they matched it to the book, but you know what they say "the book is always better."

I don't know what else to say other than there's animals abuse, sex, and a little bit of comedy. Sara Gruen really did her research and didn't just make up a bunch of bull crap. Water For Elephants has all the emotions a good book should. It may not be for everyone, but, for me, it was enjoyable.

Not sure if they link will work, but it's to Amazon in case anyone was interested in buying (although WalMart has it cheaper). This isn't a very good review, but I don't want to go into too much detail and give anything away, just be prepared for details... good and bad. Read it and see for yourself.