Sunday, December 23, 2012

no room in the inn




Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

on goals

In this post I listed some goals for 2012.  Let's see how I did with those.

  1. potty train my son (CHECK)
  2. go on a rather expensive vacation with my hubs (sans kids) (CHECK) (sorry I still haven't done the Mexico post)
  3. read 40 books (CHECK)
  4. run a half marathon (CHECK and CHECK)
  5. spend more time playing games with my kids (CHECK, etc)
  6. lose some weight (I got to 30 pounds but I'm back to only 26 down since Thanksgiving but still, it's a CHECK)
  7. get a new passport (CHECK) (I was too embarrased to show you that picture.)

Next week I'm going to post some goals for 2013.  I've got to start thinking about that, but in the meantime don't forget to enter this giveaway for my favorite John Green book.  It ends on Friday and your odds of winning are pretty good!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

2012 books + giveaway

I've done a lot of reading this year.  My goal was to read 40 books throughout the year and I managed that.  Next year I hope to read as many if not more. 

I always enjoy reading other people's thoughts on books and ratings.  I write recommendations down as people post them on blogs or Facebook or whatever and I add books to my library queue and to my "To Read" shelf on Goodreads.  I thought I'd share my 2012 book list for those of you who are interested. 

Here's the list of the books I read this year and the rating I gave them on Goodreads.  I also included the average rating each book received on Goodreads in case you are interested. 


Title, Author, My Rating, Average Rating
  • Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane, 3, 3.96
  • Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher, 4, 4.06
  • Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, 4, 4.01
  • Reflected in You (Crossfire, #2), Sylvia Day, 3, 4.37
  • Bared to You (Crossfire, #1), Sylvia Day, 3, 4.19
  • Where We Belong, Emily Giffin, 3, 3.87
  • Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed, 3, 3.99
  • Rules of Civility, Amor Towles, 3, 4.02
  • Night Road, Kristin Hannah, 3, 4.14
  • Insurgent (Divergent, #2), Veronica Roth, 4, 4.3
  • Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, Bristol Palin, 3, 3.33
  • The Principles of Running: Practical Lessons from My First 100,000 Miles, Amby Burfoot, 4, 3.45
  • Lock and Key, Sarah Dessen, 3, 4.03
  • There's Something About St. Tropez, Elizabeth Adler, 3, 3.46
  • The Fault in Our Stars, John Green, 5, 4.55
  • Still Missing, Chevy Stevens, 4, 3.96
  • Riven, Jerry B. Jenkins, 4, 4.04
  • The Giver (The Giver, #1), Lois Lowry, 4, 4.11
  • The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards, 3, 3.53
  • The Road, Cormac McCarthy, 3, 3.93
  • Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3), E.L. James, 3, 3.92
  • The First Husband, Laura Dave, 3, 3.55
  • If I Stay (If I Stay, #1), Gayle Forman, 3, 4
  • Where She Went (If I Stay, #2), Gayle Forman, 3, 4.19
  • Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, #2), E.L. James, 4, 3.95
  • Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1), E.L. James, 4, 3.6
  • You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (and Each Other), Vanessa Williams, 3, .58
  • The Book of Jonas, Stephen Dau, 3, 3.73
  • Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1), Marissa Meyer, 3, 4.04
  • Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations About Food and Money, Geneen Roth, 2, 3.52
  • The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern, 2, 3.99
  • Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman, 3, 3.87
  • Diary of a Mad Fat Girl, Stephanie McAfee, 3, 3.43
  • Paper Towns, John Green, 3, 4.15
  • Looking for Alaska, John Green, 3, 4.27
  • The Rules of Inheritance, Claire Bidwell Smith, 4, 4.19
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, 3, 4.06
  • The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1), James Dashner, 4, 3.98
  • Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay, 3, 4.07
  • The Underside of Joy, Seré Prince Halverson, 3, 3.84
  • Why Women Need Fat: How "Healthy" Food Makes Us Gain Excess Weight and the Surprising Solution to Losing It Forever, William D. Lassek, 3, 3.43
  • Crossed (Matched, #2), Ally Condie, 4, 3.56
And....
because I'm feeling happy this morning and because I like to read and because it's close to Christmas and because I already have a new hardback copy of the book I'd like to give away one of my favorite books I read this year.  There were several that I would highly recommend, but one of them is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  I will mail this book to a random commenter on Friday.  Just tell me a book you've read lately that you've loved.  Feel free to share on other social media sites or blogs for extra entries, just leave a comment to let me know you did.  Thanks!

Happy Tuesday!


Christmas pictures and one warm glass of milk

My sister-in-law took these pictures of our kids a week ago.  I think they turned out great.  I probably won't get Christmas cards out this year, but I am so thankful I have these! 
 
 

 












Monday, December 17, 2012

Julianna wants to know

"Can a little girl, like a girl my age have a baby?"

"I suppose it's possible but not likely.  Usually you have to be about 12 or 13 to be able to have a baby."

"Well, wouldn't it be crazy if a one year old had a baby?"

"Yes it would."

"What would happen to the baby if a one year old had it?"

"Well I guess someone would have to take care of both babies."


-----

uh oh...  I have a feeling harder conversations are coming...

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A is for Beautiful Madlibs: Christmas Edition

First come up with the following words or phrases and jot them down somewhere.  Then read the story below, filling in the words from your list.


  1. noun
  2. adjective
  3. person
  4. noun
  5. verb ending in -ing
  6. an exclamation
  7. food
  8. food
  9. adjective
  10. noun
  11. relative (like aunt, cousin, son, grandmother)
  12. exercise
  13. way you like to relax

-----

My favorite Christmas gift of all time was when I got a ___________ one year.  Santa must have really known I wanted it because there it was waiting by the fireplace when I got downstairs.  It was so big and ____________ and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!  

I asked _____________ to set it up for me and so he/she took it outside and placed it on the ____________.  The kids were looking at me funny when I smiled real big and starting _______________ in the yard.  My gift was perfect and I was thrilled!

Then one of the neighbors drove by and saw us outside.  They slowed down and rolled down the window and shouted, "______________!"  I guess not everyone is as excited about Christmas as I am.

After the thrill of opening presents we went inside to eat breakfast.  Dad had fixed ___________ and _________________.  It was _____________! 

We spent the afternoon at my grandparents house.  They live in a __________ so that was a little different, but it was good to see everyone especially my ______________.  After a nice game of ____________ we headed home to ________________.

Merry Christmas!


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

just got my first Christmas present

Look what came in the mail yesterday!  I was so excited!

I already had published blog books from 2007 and 2010, but yesterday I got 2006, 2009, and 2011.  Now all I need to order is 2008 and 2012.  I thought I had posted about this before but I can't find it so no link.... Anyway.... ta da!



I love having this record of our life and of course I keep a backup digital copy, but now I have the permanent hard copy as well.

FYI: I ordered them from Blog2Print which I love.  They were running a 20% off sale and I've never seen a discount code that high so I ordered three years.  I've heard other people mention that they've used Blurb with great success as well so if you're in the market for this sort of thing check them out too.


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