July 2019 Wrap Up

July has been a hectic month what with packing and moving and job hunting. I still managed to read a few books though, so lets start there!

Title: My Plain Jane
Authors: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Thoughts: So I did not love this book. I started it at the beginning of April and didn't finish until the beginning of July. I liked the overall idea of the story (and their last book, My Lady Jane, was OK). I definitely considered bailing a couple of times, but I love Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte, so I kept going.

It is an alternate story of how the classic Jane Eyre came to be. But in this version, Charlotte Bronte was friends with Jane Eyre. And Jane Eyre can see ghosts. Silly? Yes, but a little fun (even though the humor wasn't really my brand).

Rating: 2-2 1/2 of 5 stars

Title: The Star-Touched Queen
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Narrator: Priya Ayyar

Thoughts: This has been on my TBR pile for what seems like ages and I'm not sure why I took so long to read it! I loved all the mythology and magic. I cared so much about the characters and about Maya's journey to find her place. As daughter of the Raja, she is prominent, but cursed with a terrible horoscope that spells a dark destiny for her. In a strange turn of events, she marries Amar and becomes queen of Akaran, but Akaran is not all it seems. As Maya uncovers more secrets about herself and Amar, her life changes and she risks losing everything that she loves.

I loved it and I love the way that Amar loves Maya. I know it has several different inspirations from Hindu mythology, but the story reminded me of Psyche and Eros. Highly recommend it, and I need to read more of her books!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Finale
Author: Stephanie Garber
Narrator: Rebecca Soler

Thoughts: I did this one partially listening to the audiobook and partially reading my physical copy, which is a pretty edition I received in an Owlcrate.

Overall I liked it OK, though I did predict some of the plot twists before they happened. And I still have very conflicting feelings about Jacks. I really wanted him to have a redemption arc in this book, but I'm not really sure he got one? I loved and hated him all at once.

While I'm glad that almost everyone got the (mostly) happy endings I hoped for, I think the book felt a little more dragged out than the last one but the ending felt very abrupt. I still enjoyed the series and would recommend them, but I think I liked the first two a little more because they happened during actual Caraval events, which are interesting to me.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Title: MCAT Biology Review
Author: Kaplan Test Prep

Thoughts: Not a real reading book, but it took me months to finish this one and I am counting them towards my reading goals! I'm not sure why it took me so long to read this one. Usually biology is my strongest subject, but I seriously need some anatomy and physiology classes before I take the MCAT and then go back through this book again.

                                      Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Title: Shadow of the Fox
Author: Julie Kagawa

Thoughts: Yumeko is half fox, half human and is tasked with saving a magical scroll and taking it to a secret temple far from everything she has ever known. Soon after, she meets up with a specially trained ninja, Kage Tatsumi, who is low-key possessed by a demon who has been sent to find the scroll. She strikes a deal with him to take him with her if he will help protect her from the many demons, witches, and other evil creatures sent after her and the scroll. There are a few problems: Tatsumi doesn't know that she is part fox nor that she has the scroll. Other people join their group, complicating their mission. And Tatsumi may have to kill Yumeko at the end of the journey. And he might kind of like her.

This was an owlcrate book I received many months ago. I had mixed feelings going into it, probably because it has pretty mixed reviews and I didn't know what to expect. At first, I wasn't very into it, but by about half-way through I was pretty invested and read the rest quickly. I enjoyed it quite a bit and definitely need to read the next one! I must know what happens!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Royal Art of Poison
Author: Eleanor Herman
Narrator: Susie Berneis

Thoughts: This book is about poisons! But also about history and royalty (and other high-ranking, important people) and how they died. All the people covered were suspected to have died of poison, but were they? This book talks about different poisons, how they work, the symptoms, and even how they were used in cosmetics and medications. But diseases and general filth killed people, too. How did the royals protect themselves against poisons? What cures did they use?

This book was super interesting. I am interested in diseases, which feel similar to poisons to me and I loved the case histories and trying to pick them apart. Very enjoyable if you are interested in history and poison!

Rating: 3.5-4 out of 5 stars

Title: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus
Authors: Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

Thoughts: This book is all about rabies. Plenty of information about the history of the disease and various crazy "cures" through the ages (which don't work as rabies is nearly 100% fatal). The best part for me was a chapter about how rabies may have contributed to the stories of the werewolf and vampire.

I didn't read this book in detail since I was going through it for my rabies disease post, but I did at least skim the whole book, so I am counting it. If you are interested in infectious diseases and would like the history as well as some cultural stories and histories and a few more modern stories, this is a good book for you.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Title: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
Author: Abbi Waxman
Narrator: Emily Rankin

Thoughts: Nina Hill is just living her (mostly) quiet, book-filled life in LA when she has a dead father and a crazy family thrown into her lap. She learns all about her new-found family and mixed things about the father she never knew. And on top of it, she might want to date this guy she met. And she doesn't handle change and surprises very well.

I liked this book overall. There were a few parts that I just didn't love, but there were some parts that made me laugh out loud. I related to Nina by loving books and also having anxiety. I enjoyed the adventure for sure, though for some reason didn't love the ending? Maybe it felt too forced and rushed for my taste. But I still enjoyed it enough to read it again in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Favorite book read this month: The Star-touched Queen or the Bookish Life of Nina Hill
Least favorite book read this month: My Plain Jane

I have been continuing Insanity, which I think is a very good thing for me. And I have made a few trips down to the new apartment and have been slowly moving my stuff down there. And trying to get rid of things (which I am terrible at doing) because the new place is pretty small and there isn't room! But slow and steady wins the race, right?

My anxiety has been steadily climbing because I am not good at moving or handling change. Plus I ended up trying to help a lady find homes for some baby rats. By the way, if anyone in Colorado or New Mexico would like some cute baby rats, please let me know! I will probably take a few myself. Anyway, working out seems to help and I am trying to do little things each day to help keep it manageable.

I'm not sure if this will help my anxiety or make it worse, but I decided to start a bullet journal/planner. I've always kept a fairly detailed planner, this will just be more involved. At the very least, I hope it will help keep me on track and help me track the things that help my mood and anxiety. If it is successful, I will try to post some of the things I am trying.

And last but not least, I hope you enjoyed my disease post. Rabies was fun to do. And now that it is finished, I am a bit at a loss for what to do next. Smallpox and rabies seemed like easy ones to tackle (I'm not sure why I felt that way, but I did). I would like to do something bacterial next, so maybe I will try for Brucella or anthrax. If it feels like too much, maybe I will switch to another virus like herpes or Varicella zoster (which causes chicken pox). If anyone has questions or requests, please let me know!

Thanks for reading!

June 2019 Wrap Up

Time for the June wrap up! Here is what I read in June:

Title: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Narrator: Perdita Weeks

Thoughts: I love mythology and so I loved this take on Circe's story. It has been ages since I read the Odyssey, but this made me want to go back and read it again. There is a bunch that I didn't remember. But this story made Circe a pretty remarkable character and I loved this story.

           Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: When Women Ruled the World
Author: Kara Cooney
Narrator: Kara Cooney

Thoughts: I also love history and find Egyptian history so mysterious and interesting. I once listened to an audiobook/lecture about Egypt and the lecturer talked about how to become Pharaoh, one had to marry the right woman and it sparked an interest in me about women in early Egypt. This book was about six specific queens (and even female kings) in these days: Merneith, Hatshepsut (a personal favorite of mine), Neferusobek, Nefertiti, Towasret, and Cleopatra. But I loved the history, the archeological finds, and the speculation about their lives.

Rating: 3 1/2-4 stars out of 5

Title: Legendary
Author: Stephanie Garber
Narrator: Rebecca Soler

Thoughts: OK, it's been a couple of years since I read Caraval and I should have re-read it to refresh my memory. There were several things about Caraval that I didn't remember too well, but I mostly got by. This book focuses on Tella and her participation in Caraval in order to find her mother. The last game felt real, but wasn't. This game is a lot more real than anyone, including Tella, would like.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit and I am looking forward to reading the last book, Finale, to find out what happens!! I need happy endings for Tella and Scarlett, and even for Legend!

Rating: 3-3 1/2 stars out of 5

Title: King of Scarrs
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Narrator: Lauren Fortgang

Thoughts: I read this partially as an audio book and partially with my physical copy because I just needed to keep going! (For the record, the only other times I have done this was with the Six of Crows duology also by Leigh Bardugo.)

I loved it. I loved the dynamics of the gang that the story focuses on. It was funny, charming, and occasionally a bit sad and scary. And I still love Nikolai and it turned out that I also like Zoya! No one was more surprised about that than I was. And I'm not sure if we are heading towards a Nikolai/Zoya romance or not, but I am not opposed to the idea after reading this book. I'm honestly not sure when the next one comes out, but I can't wait!

Rating: 4-4 1/2 stars out of 5


Favorite book read this month: King of Scars
Least favorite book read this month: I liked the books I read this month! None!

I also started Insanity again. I don't plan to do any of the month two videos, but I do plan to keep repeating the month one videos. It's a good, quick workout that I can usually make time for. Plus, I am hoping it will help with my anxiety and my sleep. So far it does seem to be helping.

No real news on the job front, but I have started moving my things into what will be my new home. I'm feeling very nervous about all of this, but I hope it will be a good new chapter in my life.

I suppose that is about it for June. And I hope you enjoyed my first disease post. I am already working on the next one: rabies! If anyone would like to see a specific disease (or similar topic) covered, please feel free to reach out. Otherwise I will continue to pick whichever strikes my fancy and feels like a topic I can tackle.

Until next month, read good books!

End of the Year Review

Hello everyone! Sorry I have failed to post much lately. I guess it's been a crazy month what with finals, moving home, my birthday (yay!), Christmas, and so forth. I hope everyone had good holidays! And Happy New Years Eve!

I wanted to end the year by revisiting my year. My New Years resolutions were to be better with money and to get in shape.

As for getting in shape, I did Insanity for about three months, stopped for a while, started again, stopped for a while, and started again. In between, I tried some running (which I still hate doing) and some other miscellaneous exercises. While there is still room for improvement (especially since starting school again, I have managed to gain some more weight), I feel that this was fairly successful.

Money is still tough for me. It is something that I think about and try to work at regularly. I think that I have made small improvements this year, especially when I started school again (because I can't work as much). There is still LOTS of room for improvement, debts to pay off, et cetera, but overall, I think I did okay.

As for my GoodReads reading goal. I am sad to say that I started with a goal of reading 45 books, but school ended up taking up so much of my time that I reduced it to 35. I managed to make that goal, at least. I will try to increase it just a little for next year. Maybe 38 books.

For next year, I want to keep working out and keep making improvements to my financial situation. I also need to start eating better, but that will have to wait until after I finish school, I think. I already have a meal plan and there is only so much I can do about dining hall food.

And what a crazy year it has been. Working on fixing up this condo, a break up and getting back together, a trip with friends, going to graduate school, NDK 2013! Sounds like adventures (some better than others, of course). I have all sorts of things to post about the work we have been doing on the condo. I will need to get those bits up. There may be good information there for people! Which leads us to one more little resolution: to keep this blog going and growing!

On that note, I want to thank those of you who are regular readers, those who have supported me in so many different ways, and those who give my little blog a signal boost from time to time (Thanks Mandi-I'm lookin' at you!). Keeping this blog is just a silly little thing that I enjoy doing, but it's nice to see some of what I post getting around to people.

And lastly, here is a recent picture of my rats. Because they are cute and I love them.

Busy Month

Hello everyone!

Sorry about the lack of posts! I just wanted to give a little update on my life.

It seems that half of my friends have birthdays in July, so I have been doing lots of birthday stuff.

I am also in a friend's wedding near the beginning of August, so there is a lot of wedding stuff going on! On this note, I got my bridesmaid dress which is pretty but doesn't fit (I know, they never fit). It's too big in the shoulder and the bust (story of my life), but too small in the hips and butt! I about panicked when I tried it on, but it was far too late to re-order and the women in the shop told me it would fit. All I can do now is loose some inches from my hips and butt! So I have been working out nearly everyday for that and my friends and I have started Insanity yet again. We need to be fit and sexy for NDK, anyway.

I have been working a little on my costumes, but not as much as I probably should be.

In important news, I am going back to school for my Masters. Sadly this means I have to move and leave Isaac and the rats at home for the year. I also don't have a place to live yet, which causes me some stress. I am excited to start the program, however. It is an intensive, year long program for a Professional Masters (which boils down to more credits per semester, finish in a year, and don't write a thesis). I have my classes all set up and I've ordered my textbooks, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I just took on a new student to tutor in reading. While I passed the test that says I can tutor reading, I find it difficult to teach because I learned at such a young age, I can't remember how I was taught. It has been an interesting experience so far, but I enjoy it over all.

And we had some of Isaac's family in town during July so we spent lots of time with them. Then my friend, Amie, came into town so we all spent a ton of time just hanging out. Which led to me not sleeping much hence no blogging.

Is that about it for the moment? I think so. I will try to get some more posts out with a little less delay!

And we will end with some pictures of my adorable rats, since I haven't blogged about them very often. They make me very happy!

I like it when they are in rat piles.

Me and "the boys."

Little Remus (aka "Bright Eyes.")

Silly Romulus!

Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Insanity Update

First of all, this week began with the fit test. I am sad to say that I progressed a little in a few exercises, stayed the same in a couple, and did one fewer in the last two. My measurements have not changed, either.

I'm sure you will all think we are crazy, but we decided to start Insanity over again.

Yes, you heard right.

If you read my last Insanity post, you know that we hated the last month's videos and our motivation was dropping.

We thought that, by starting over, we would continue to make progress. Then we have the chance to get strong enough to actually do the last month. That is our reasoning. I will continue to track our progress and give occasional updates.

So no, we have not quit, we are just... re-doubling our efforts.

And Isaac is joining us! Join the suffering! Yay!

Insanity: Week Seven

I am sad to inform anyone who reads this that my work out buddies and I slacked a bit this week. I slacked more than the others I think.

I had two tutoring sessions this last week (my first sessions!) and we studying until it was too late for me to join the workouts. And yesterday we were supposed to do two videos but we only did one. And the shorter one at that. I did, however, make up for one today, so that's good news!

We've all been struggling with these latest videos. They are longer and harder. My biggest complaint is how hard they are on my already bad knees and neck. I find that I have to be extra careful, alter, or skip entire exercises because it aggravates my neck or knees too much. My knees have been feeling better though which is great. My neck has issues that are not related to Insanity, but there are a lot of movements with arms and shoulders that always irritate it and there happen to be lots more arms in these workouts. Hence the added neck pain.

Despite our slacking, we are still noticing progress. Awesome. Clothes are getting loose, we are slimming down and getting toned. We definitely see it in each other. Also, I can actually do push-ups now. When I started I think I could do one, maybe two good ones at a time.

The only solid measurements I have to report are another half inch off my waist and a half inch off my butt. I lost some in my bust, which is sad because I have very, very little there to lose. And BTW, it is difficult to find even smaller bras then I was buying before. I'm less than a real size. Less than half a real size. Sad day. However, I am generally feeling better about myself and my appearance. I hope I get some kick-ass abs soon. We think we will do Shaun T.'s Hip Hop Abs next. It will be entertaining at least.

So that is that! Only two weeks left! I, personally, want to repeat month one, just for fun. Yes, fun. I liked month one.

Insanity: Week Four

Yay! We made it through one month of Insanity!

For anyone thinking about doing this workout one warning: make sure you keep your body aligned.

They tell you these things in the video but you have to remind yourself. My knees and ankles began to hurt after the first couple weeks and it took me a while to adjust my movements to avoid injury.

For me this is absolutely making sure that my knees are over my ankles always. I know it may not always be very lady-like to have your knees spread so wide for those squats, but trust me: it will save your knees. I have to be most careful about this in squats, knee highs, stretches and (oddly enough) the heisman. I noticed that doing this also seems to help my ankles. Be careful out there!

So month one is over! Five weeks to go. This coming week is a new workout called "Core Cardio and Balance." And the workouts will change for the last month. Into new territory!

I have started to notice that my butt and thighs are more toned. I have always had a big butt and thighs (this is where all my weight goes). I measured today and I lost a half of an inch in my hips and my butt. None in my thighs yet. I also gained just a little weight but I think that was the fat converting to muscle. And Krissy told me that my shoulders and arms are getting bigger--she usually stands behind me for our workouts--she could see that while I was stretching. Happy day! Overall I feel very satisfied with the progress so far.

I have noticed that all four of us have lost a little weight and look more toned. We can get through the majority of the warm ups and we do pretty well in the exercises (though we all still have to take breaks). And we feel great! The soreness did start to come back more in weeks three and four but it's not so bad that we can't walk so it's all good.

With so many of us working out together our motivation stays up. It's almost like peer pressure. "Well, we're all going to work out... it is implied that you are lame if you don't..." Horrible right? But we have been enjoying our time together for snacks and hot tub afterwards. And we put 1$ per workout day into our little piggy bank! We are going to do something fun to reward ourselves after all this. Spa day, manicure/pedicure, something.

Jhenn's chalk board piggy bank for our reward! On the other side it says "Shaun T. says 'dig deeper!'"

Good luck to anybody who wants to try it! We recommend it!

Insanity: Week Three

We made it through week three? "How y'all feelin?" As Shaun T. would say.

 

I should talk about Shaun T. He leads the Insanity work outs. And he always introduces himself as "Shaun T." "Hey this is Shaun T. Welcome to Insanity." In the Pure Cardio video he talks about himself in third person, "Shaun T. is tired." Yeah? So is Samara L. Weird right?

And he always says, "Push it harder! Push it harder!" And "Dig deeper!" And we talk to him. "I can't Shaun T. I'm too tired..." Or, more commonly, "You should just be glad that I'm still moving..."

Here is a video of him yelling at us. He's saying "Let's go!" but that's not really what it sounds like (he doesn't always enunciate very well). Shaun T - Lets Go! Ah, gotta have him yelling at us.

Our endurance continues to increase and we are starting to notice some muscle and toning, yay. Below is a picture of Jhenn's oh-so-awesome legs. Her thighs are getting nice and muscle-y. Apparently she puts on the toned muscle pretty quickly! Jealous.

 

 

 

Jhenn's sexy, sexy legs!

Week three started with the second fit test. The fit test is a series of eight exercises and you have a minute for each to do as many as you can. The exercises include: switch kicks, power jacks, power knees, power jumps, globe jumps, suicide jumps (sounds nice, right? "We're going into suicide jumps. Are you ready?" asks Shaun T.), push-up jacks, and low plank oblique. I know those aren't great descriptions, so here is a picture:

 

Of course, by the time you get to the end, you are too tired to do much anyway... It is a pretty good measure though. In two weeks I made pretty good progress!

Here is my sheet for the fit tests. That is day one (don't judge) compared with the first day of week three.

And sorry I am a day late on this post.

Insanity: Week Two

We made it through the second week of Insanity! Hooray!

Oh the big black X's! We just live to cross off those days!

This last week my body (mostly my legs) have been less sore but more tired, if that makes sense. At least I can walk these days. My body grew accustomed to the work much faster than I thought it would.

We all continue to notice improvements. We start week three with the fit test and I will post about that next week. I'm a little nervous and excited. For me, the warm up is the best measure of my progress so far. I can already do soooo much more of it than I could when I started. Fast results!

At the end of week one I weighed myself. I will probably do this weekly for the sake of curiosity. I don't actually expect to lose much weight. I may actually gain pounds as I replace fat with muscle. Remember all, muscle weighs more than fat. However, I no longer see the weight I had gained in my face. It came off that quickly! I also took my waist, hip, and thigh measurements at the end of week two. That's where I hope to tone up the most. I feel like I am getting more tone but I haven't seen a lot of physical evidence yet. I don't know if I will be posting my actual weight and measurements, but I will left you know how it progresses!

We continue with our healthy snacks and weekly dinners. We skipped the hot tub a couple days this week, but that's alright.

Here are a couple references that I have used when picking out snacks. Perhaps this will help you out. (I found all of these via Pinterest. Seriously, I am always on there...)

1. Low-Calorie Post-Workout Snacks.

2. Women's Health: Top 28 Best Healthy Snacks 

3. 10 Perfect Post-Workout Snacks 

Enjoy!

Insanity: Week One

That's right folks, my friends and I made it (mostly alive) through week one of Insanity! Yay!

The first few days my legs were so sore I could barely walk. Going down stairs was agony. Even the little fit test on the first day made me hurt.

I am proud to say that only one week later I have already noticed improvements! I think we all have. For one, we can move after the workouts and the next day. Second, we can get through more of the warm up than we could at first (I know it's just the warm up but if you haven't seen in, its a whole workout in itself...).

We have a few motivational things to get us through.
1) Probably the most important thing: we have each other to keep us going and we are establishing a routine. Moral support is wonderful!
2) Afterwards we share a nice, healthy snack: bananas, apples with peanut butter, pita and hummus, chocolate milk, protein shakes, cottage cheese, etc.
3) Most days we visit the hot tub in the apartment complex. Very nice.
4) At the week's end once we finish at the hot tub we make and share a healthy dinner. This week Kat made a veggie casserole.
5) At the end of the 60 days we promised ourselves a treat. Maybe a spa day or something similar.
6) And last but not least, getting to cross off the workouts on the calendar with a very decisive black X.

Photo taken by my workout buddy, Jhenn :)

YAY! We feel great about what we are doing and we can't wait to be in amazing shape!

Our tips if you are going to do Insanity:
1) See the list above for additional motivation and tips.
2) Do extra stretches of your own (we think his are bunk, honestly, they don't do nearly enough and no arm or ab stretches. His stretches also require you to support your body weight while you do them and usually our legs are too shaky to get a good stretch. So we do his and then we do more on the ground...).
3) I got this from a co-worker who is super-fit: after you work out and stretch, lay on your back and put your legs up against a wall. This helps get rid of lactic acid (so I am told). It seemed to help some and I guess it can't hurt!

To 2013!

A new year once again. The time when we have to cross out the year every time we write the date because only after 2012 is on the page do we remember that it is 2013.

So, New Years' resolutions. People are funny about these, I think.

The idea is great. It's a new year! Turn over a new leaf! Gym memberships skyrocket! Dieting is the rage!

And then it's back to normal come March.

I think having a New Years resolution is great, but two things: be reasonable and stick with it.

I am making a promise to myself this year: be better with my money and get in better shape. If you are like me, relative goals work. I am not going to set specific goals right now, I just want to see how far I can get.

Last year I did not have a resolution but both years before that it was to improve my diet (both years in a row because there is always room for improvement and because I always had such bad eating habits. It took a while for me to get to a good spot.) Both years I did improve and looking back, I am proud and satisfied. And maybe a bit healthier. The way I ate was horrifying. I think I made entire meals out of junk food. Those days are, thankfully, over. So now I need to focus elsewhere.

I have been trying to get my finances under control for a long time now. I'm not great with money and I had and still have a decent amount of credit card debt. On top of that I really don't make a whole lot. Being a home-owner and possibly in need of a new car soonish means serious budgeting with my small earnings.

I have cut back my spending a lot within the past several months, which is great, but it never seems to be quite enough.

Most of my spending is when I go out with friends. So I need to place limits. More staying in, less going out. With friends or without. Another goal is that I do not go out more than once per week (unless there is a special occasion, friends visiting or some such). For my friends who are reading this, I hope you understand that I am not intending to blow you off, just to curb my spending. This is gonna be huge. And difficult.

As for working out--I am the lucky kind of person who hides weight well. I don't tend to gain a whole lot nor show what I do. Overall I am pretty slim. I am not doing this to lose weight. I need to be in shape. I have no stamina whatsoever and no strength. I used to, but it is all long gone.

Today a friend of mine and I started Insanity. Yep, that is happening. I also purchased an app called "Couch to 5k." I used it briefly (the free version) last year and liked it so I made an investment. I can't afford gym memberships so I am going to stick with Insanity for now and then do other workouts until it is warm enough to run outside (I will post what little workouts I find; I already have some lined up). That's the plan. I think I can handle it. If I get in better shape and save money, maybe I can start ballroom dancing or vaulting again. That's the idea. I hope you all will hold me to it.

What are your resolutions? And what are you going to do to stick with it?