December 2022 Wrap Up

December has been quite a month. Normally it is my favorite month, but it really got off to a rough start until closer to the end of the month. Mostly because of work. Because work is hard and frustrating and all-consuming. So that is all I will say about that.

December means Hanukkah, which I celebrated by getting new electric candles for my little menorah. That was lovely. December also means my birthday, which work almost ruined, but I managed some days off and had dinner with friends, went to see a play with Kevin, and some other fun things. 

Kevin and I went out to Connecticut to visit his family for Christmas. Our flights were some that got totally messed up so we were stranded out there longer than planned, but it was a nice time. We went to see Mark Twain's house, which was very cool. And we went to the Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Experience, which was awesome. I posted photos and videos of that on my Instagram if you are interested in looking.

The rats are getting along in years. Festus and Dion turned two in November. Eros turned two this month and Apollo turns two in January. Festus is having respiratory issues, but we have tried so many antibiotics and treatments and nebulizers. I think it is just a matter of keeping him happy until it gets to be too much and we need to put him to sleep. But he's doing OK. Dion is still on heart meds and not exactly healthy, but also fine. Eros might have some sort of autoimmune or genetic something? He has lost some fur in weird places and not grown it back and one of his feet occasionally swells for a day or two. Otherwise he seems happy and healthy. And Apollo has never had a health crisis and hopefully never will!

Mallow had his second Gotcha Day on New Year's Eve. Little demon. I guess he's OK mostly and we kinda like him. Sometimes. He's cute though, so there is that!

I did alright with reading this month. I am going to try to keep reviews very short so I can touch on goals for the coming year.

Title: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

 

Synopsis and thoughts: I don't need to review this one, right? It is one of my all-time favorites and yes, I read it more than once this December. I always love it so much.

 

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

 

Titles: Magic Steps and Street Magic

Author: Tamora Pierce

 

Synopsis and thoughts: The first two Circle Opens books about Sandry and Briar becoming teachers. I have read these books many times over the years. These are comfort reads and I do enjoy them.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea

Author: TJ Klune

Narrator: Daniel Henning

 

Synopsis and thoughts: This was a re-read for me. After I finished Under the Whispering Door, I wanted to revisit it. It is a lovely, sweet story and I definitely recommend it.

 

Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars 

Title: Eight Nights of Flirting

Author: Hannah Reynolds

Narrator: Emily Lawrence

 

Synopsis: Shira is determined to return from winter break with the perfect boyfriend. The only problem? She cannot, and I mean cannot, talk to boys without being totally awkward. Enter Tyler, her old crush and master flirt. They strike a deal where he will teach her to flirt and she will introduce him to her uncle for an internship. That will work, right?

 

Thoughts: A Hanukkah story! Yay! This was pretty cute actually. I didn't totally love everything (maybe because I am older than the target audience), but it was an enjoyable and easy read. And I am always interested in Hanukkah stories.

 

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: The Matzah Ball

Author: Jean Meltzer

Narrator: Dara Rosenberg

Synopsis: Rachel, good Jewish girl and Rabbi's daughter has a secret: she ghost writes Christmas romance stories. She loves Christmas, the magic of it. But she is about to lose her job if she doesn't come up with a Hanukkah romance. In her search for inspiration, she gets in with Jacob who is running the biggest, fanciest Hanukkah event: the Matzah Ball. Rachel just needs to get in and she is sure she will find her story.

Thoughts: A Hanukkah story! I always get a bit excited when I find Hanukkah stories. This story was cute and fun and chaos happens. The ending was definitely cheese-y, but you have to know that is coming when you go in. It was a nice story and worth a read if Hanukkah romances might be your thing!

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Title: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Tim Curry

 

Synopsis and thoughts: Another one I read nearly every year that I probably don't need to really review. I still enjoy this every year, this is a great version, I still picture them as Mickey Mouse characters.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars 

Title: The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge

Author: Charlie Lovett

Narrator: Tim Gerard Reynolds

 

Synopsis: What happened to Scrooge after his life-changing Christmas experience? Well here is an answer for you. And he sets out to save other people like himself.

 

Thoughts: I was worried this would be bad. It was maybe a bit cheese-y and I didn't think that him needing to save the first and third people were really true to the story, but that's OK. It very much keeps the style and tone of the original story. It was a fun, quick read.

 

Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

Favorite book read this month: Landline? Always? I can't help it.

Least favorite book read this month: The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, only due to it having the lowest rating.

 

I read a total of 91 books this year. My goal was 60.

Now for the new year!

My reading goal will be to read 75 books.

I also want to make a real effort to get through more of my Owlcrate books. They are almost always fantasy and I so rarely want to read fantasy these days, but I need to either read them or stop subscribing!

In non-reading goals:

• I want to be better about saving money. I have already been good about contributing to my retirement (at Kevin's insistence). 
• I want to cut down on the number of emails I am subscribed to. That sounds silly, but I am so tired of having to delete 50 ads in my email every day. I have already started this process. 
• I haven't been great at keeping my journal the last few months, so I'd like to get back on that wagon. Part of my problem was adding book reviews into my journal. Doing them in there and on this blog got exhausting and then I didn't want to do it anymore. I just need to modify how I journal. 
• I want to cut down on the number of stupid games that I play on my phone. 
• Lastly, I want to go through things that I have and get rid of anything I am not using. It is something I have been working on and I sometimes do well and other times don't.

Anyone else have good goals for 2023?

December 2021 Wrap Up

We made it to the end of another year. But everything feels so different with covid, right? I feel like time passes differently. 

It's been a busy month: end of Hanukkah, birthday, Christmas, and the New Year. I thought a bit about New Year's resolutions, but I may forgo that this year and stick with a few personal goals with no pressure. I will set a reading goal. I managed to get through 58 books this year, even with wedding planning and so on. My 2022 goal will be 60. I will adjust it (up or down) if I feel like I need to.

My other reading goal was to finish/continue some series that I haven't gotten around to yet. I managed to read Silvered Serpents and the Obelisk Gate to continue those series (maybe I can finish them this year). I read the Night of the Dragon and finished that series. I started reading Winter at the beginning of the year and haven't managed to finish it... not because it isn't good, I just haven't been feeling it. I wanted to read Vengeful, which is still high on my list once the new year starts. And I seriously need to finish the Three Dark Crowns series. I love the books, I think I am just scared to read the last one.

And I decided I am actually going to put together some DIY wedding posts. I have remained part of a couple wedding planning groups on Facebook and I actually have helpful information, apparently. I will get to work on those in the new year, too.

Another goal will be to get at least a couple new disease posts up. It has been a while and I do so love infectious diseases!

And December is the time for holiday reads! And I have a whole list of ideas for holiday reads and I read none of the ones on my list because I just wasn't feeling them, but that's alright. I'm a big mood reader and this year it has been extra hard to read books I am not in the mood for. So here are the books I read this month.

Title: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

 

Synopsis: (Copied from last year's post.) Georgie loves her husband, Neal. And she know he loves her. She's pretty sure, anyway. At the last minute, her job requires her to stay in LA to work and Neal takes their daughters to Nebraska for Christmas. Georgie all but moves back in with her mother, who thinks Neal left Georgie, though Georgie argues that this is not true. Desperate to connect with her husband, she keeps calling but can never get through. Until she tries her old yellow rotary phone in her childhood bedroom to call Neal's landline. And she gets through! To Neal in the past, during the Christmas week he had broken up with her and gone to Nebraska alone. Georgie hadn't talked to him the whole week, but he showed up to propose on Christmas morning. But now she is talking to past Neal. Is she supposed to change something? Fix something?

Thoughts: I still love this book. It is one of my very favorites. I usually cry all the way through the last few chapters and it makes me hopeful, I think. I just love it so very much. After I finished listening to it, I read/listened to some other books and then turned around and listened to this one again... So technically, I read it twice this year. I did that last year, too. I'm not sure what that says about me, but oh well.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Tim Curry

 

Synopsis: I don't think I need to describe this classic! Christmas ghost story. A bit spooky and otherwise lovely.

 

Thoughts: One of my annual re-reads. I still love it and I still imagine the characters as Disney mice and ducks. And Tim Curry's narration is just awesome, I highly recommend it.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: If the Fates Allow

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

 

Synopsis: In the midst of the Covid pandemic, Reagan prepares to spend Christmas with her grandpa. She is great at social distancing and has made sure she couldn't expose her grandpa. Maybe if they can spend Christmas together with grandma's traditional Jello salad, things will feel normal again.

 

Thoughts: This is a short story that Rainbow Rowell released this year. I enjoyed it (even if the idea of Jello salad horrifies me). It was a nice, short holiday read.

 

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: Christmas Every Day

Author: Beth Moran

Narrator: Helen Keeley

 

Synopsis: Jenny's life has just taken an extreme turn for the worst so she decides to start over. She has inherited her grandmother's cottage in a remote village. And she certainly has a project on her hands to make the cottage livable. Meanwhile, she tries to make friends with the locals, including her handsome and cranky neighbor.

 

Thoughts: This was actually better than I thought it would be. And while I cared little for the main romantic story line, I did like Jenny's friendship with Mack and I enjoyed the side characters.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

 

Title: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

Author: Jessica Townsend

Narrator: Gemma Whelan

Synopsis: Morrigan Crow is a cursed child, doomed to die by her twelfth birthday and blamed for any and all bad things that happen anywhere near her. Just before she is due to die, she is rescued by the eccentric Jupiter North who spirits her away to Nevermoor. Once she arrives, Jupiter enters her into a competition to enter the very prestigious Wonder Society. But she doesn't even know what her knack is. But she knows that if she doesn't get in, she is as good as dead.

Thoughts: This was a re-read. I was going to try to wait until 2022 to re-read these books, but I was impatient. And I still loved it. It was unique and fun and kept me interested the whole time.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: The Fire Rose

Author: Mercedes Lackey

 

Synopsis: A twist on the Beauty and the Beast story. Rosalind Hawkins is a recently orphaned and destitute scholar recruited by reclusive rail baron Jason Cameron to read and translate obscure books for him. But then Rose starts to wonder if all this magic the books talk about might actually be real.

Thoughts: I loved this book when I was younger and had not read it for nearly 10 years. It is still not the best and a bit contrived. Once I get into the story it bothers me less. But it is still kind of a fun take on the beauty and the beast tale.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Favorite read this month: Landline (always)

Least favorite read this month:  probably the Fire Rose

And now on to the new year. I hope it will only get better.

December 2020 Wrap Up

 Wrap up and send off! 2020 has been a pretty crazy year. Hopefully next year will be a little better.

Let's start off with some short book reviews.

Title: These Ghosts are Family

Author: Maisy Card

Narrator: Karl O'Brian Williams

 

Synopsis: Stanford Solomon is getting on in years and he decides to share his secret with his family that will affect all of their lives--he is actually Abel Paisley who was pronounced dead decades ago. His daughter from Jamaica turns up to be his home health aide and is under the impression that her father is dead. The stories of several different people meet and entwine together.

 

Thoughts: This was a book club selection. It was strange because it was hard to define a plot line, but it was very good and it was interesting. We discussed it and the consensus was that those of us who read it (we have two selections every month and most of us only read one) liked it. The ending was interesting to discuss. And the narration was very good!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V. E. Schwab

 

Synopsis: Addie is desperate to change her fate, so she makes a deal with one of the world's darker entities for total freedom. But he twists her wish (as they do) so that she will always be forgotten. She perseveres through 300 years and ultimately arrives in New York in the present day. It is here that she meets someone who remembers.

Thoughts: I have been hearing raves about this book all year so I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I generally love her books, so I expected to like this one. And I did! It was strange and interesting and went much faster than I expected. It was a very interesting book and I liked Addie's creativity in finding ways to leave her mark.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Mr. Dickens and His Carol

Author: Samantha Silva

Narrator: Euan Morton

 

Synopsis: A fictional story about Charles Dickens. He is coming off of a book which was a flop and ends up more hard-off for money than he is used to. In order to bring in some money, his publishers convince him to write a Christmas story.

 

Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this one. I didn't enjoy Charles' character very much and had a hard time getting through to the end. But I really enjoyed the last few chapters of the story.

 

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Title: Booked for Christmas

Author: Lily Menon

 

Synopsis: Sophie is a romance writer and preparing to throw her annual Christmas party in her remote cabin. One unexpected guest shows up, the critic Evan Wolfe. Evan has written several reviews of her books that have been less than complimentary. But a huge blizzard traps them together in the cabin for the weekend. What starts out with harsh exchanges turns into something else.

Thoughts: So, I enjoyed most of her young adult books. I thought I would give this a try. It was really not for me. I don't love romance stories and books, this one was no exception. It felt contrived mostly, but it was a short story so I stuck it out.

Rating: Generously 2 out of 5 stars (Sorry, I will stick to her YA in the future.)

Title: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Tim Curry

 

Synopsis: I don't think I need to describe this classic!

 

Thoughts: One of my annual re-reads. I still love it and I still imagine the characters as Disney mice and ducks.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Title: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

Synopsis: Georgie loves her husband, Neal. And she know he loves her. She's pretty sure, anyway. At the last minute, her job requires her to stay in LA to work and Neal takes their daughters to Nebraska for Christmas. Georgie all but moves back in with her mother, who thinks Neal left Georgie, though Georgie argues that this is not true. Desperate to connect with her husband, she keeps calling but can never get through. Until she tries her old yellow rotary phone in her childhood bedroom to call Neal's landline. And she gets through! To Neal in the past, during the Christmas week he had broken up with her and gone to Nebraska alone. Georgie hadn't talked to him the whole week, but he showed up to propose on Christmas morning. But now she is talking to past Neal. Is she supposed to change something? Fix something?

Thoughts: I LOVE this book. It is one of my very favorites. I cry all the way through the last few chapters (they are short chapters, its OK). I just love it so very much. After I finished reading it, I turned around a listened to the audiobook. So technically, I read it twice this year.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Title: Royal Holiday

Author: Jasmine Guillory

Narrator: Janina Edwards

 

Synopsis: Vivian is convinced to travel to England with her daughter who has been hired to do holiday design work for some of the English royalty. While she is here, she meets handsome Malcolm, who has been working for the queen for years. An unexpected romance blooms between them.

Thoughts: This was a book bail for me. As I said, I don't really enjoy romance, but I wanted to try it because it was the holidays and it seemed nice and appropriate. But I just couldn't do it. It was contrived and convenient, which I don't much care for. I have heard good things about it though. If you like romance stories, you might enjoy this one.

Rating: None

Least favorite book read this month: Not counting Royal Holiday? Booked for Christmas

Favorite book read this month: Landline (of course)

It is also the end of the year. I read 87 of 80 books this year, which was great. I didn't quite complete the alphabet challenge, but that is alright, it was a bit of fun.

In 2021 I hope to read 75 books. My main reading goal next year is to finish some series that I never got around to reading the last book. 

And in January, I hope to participate in this Instagram challenge (or parts of it) hosted by a person I follow and a couple of her acquaintances. Check it out here and feel free to participate and/or follow!

I wish I could say I had other New Year's Resolutions, but I don't really. I want to say I will work out or I will eat better, but with my job the way it has been, I know I can't keep those. So I guess I will say that I will try to do better.

2020 was a strange year. In some ways, my life didn't change too much since I had recently moved here and didn't know anyone or any places to go. So I didn't go anywhere. And then the pandemic happened and I still didn't go anywhere! My work life blew up to insane levels though. On one hand, I suppose it is good job security, but on the other hand it is exhausting. Luckily it is mostly work that I enjoy doing.

 

Because of the pandemic, several of my friends started meeting virtually and we have been meeting every week since March. While I would love to see them in person or be able to grab dinner or a drink, it has been really nice to feel so connected to them. We haven't been so involved in each others' lives for quite some time I think. That is something positive that came out of all of this and I am very grateful.

On Christmas Eve Kevin proposed to me and I said yes (obviously). He is the best person I have ever met and just the type of person I want to spend my life with. I feel very lucky. And it was a nicer way to help ring in (unintentional pun) 2021.

I hope 2021 brings good things (better things anyway) to everyone. We survived 2020. Happy New Year!

December 2019 and Year 2019 Wrap Up

We made it through December and into 2020!

2019 was sort of a crazy year for me. I don't feel like I accomplished very much and still feel a little stuck in my life and unsure what to do about it. I am adjusting to living in a new state and trying to find ways to make friends and find places to go. Mostly I end up being a complete home-body and never doing much of anything!

As for my New Years Resolutions for 2019 did not go over so well.

• I did not manage to read my goal of 75 books (I got to 72). 
• I was trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, especially where medical school was concerned. I read some books to help study for the MCAT, but I haven't made any other progress. I am still so torn because I would still need to do so much and I'm already 32. But I keep reminding myself that the time will pass anyway.
• Lastly was to get my blog back up and running. This one I have mostly done! I haven't done anything crafty to document. I've been on some trips, and pictures can be found on my Instagram, but I stopped posting that stuff here long ago. But I did start disease posts, which is great (even if I am not consistent about posting them).

So how about for 2020?

• Read at least 75 books
• Get involved in a local book club
• Keep making progress on my blog
• Look into classes

That seems like an OK set of goals to have.

And now on to books read in December!

Title: Together at Midnight
Author: Jennifer Castle
Narrators: Arielle DeLisle and James Fouhey

Synopsis: Kendall and Max are both in a spot where they are trying to figure out where they fit and what they want from their lives. By chance, they both end up in New York City after Christmas and witness a tragic accident. While they wrestle with their mutual feelings of guilt and thoughts about courage and kindness, they set out to do random acts of kindness before the New Year to try and make a difference.

Thoughts: I gave this book a much higher rating than it may have deserved for one big reason: it showed how hard it can be to be brave and to do the right thing. It made me think a ton about this topic and even made me cry. That was pretty huge to me and is what stuck with me the most. I want to recommend it just for that, because being brave takes a special kind of courage and not everyone can manage it. And then how you feel about it afterwards can be so difficult to reconcile. I also liked being able to see how their acts of kindness worked on the people they helped.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Title: Let it Snow
Author: Nancy Thayer
Narrator: Joyce Bean

Synopsis: Christina is a Nantucket native with her own little shop and circle of friends. But her unpleasant landlord raises the rent on her shop and the shops of her friends. It's enough that none of them will be able to stay in business once the holiday season is over. Meanwhile, Christina makes friends with her landlord's granddaughter, Wink, and her uncle (a handsome, wealthy, single man and the son of her miserly landlord). As their lives become more entwined, can she and Wink thaw her landlord's icy heart?

Thoughts: I did not love this book. Parts of it were charming and endearing, but it felt pretty contrived and cheesy. And her "inner Christina" could really get annoying. It was alright for a holiday read, but I would not read it again.

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Title: The Christmas Sisters
Author: Sarah Morgan
Narrator: Mandy Weston

Synopsis: It's finally happening, Suzanne's adopted daughters are coming home to Scotland for Christmas. All three of them. And she wants everything to be as perfect as possible. But it won't be that easy. As Suzanne comes down with the flu, Posy is feeling the pressure of her role to step into Suzanne's shoes and make Christmas great and run the coffee shop, even though this doesn't align with her dreams. Beth shows up early after having a huge argument with her husband about her desire to return to work after being a stay-at-home mom for several years. And Hannah, who usually avoids family at all costs, also shows up early and she isn't ready to tell anyone what is going on in her life. She wants to deal with it herself. Maybe the sisters can find their ways back into one anothers' lives.

Thoughts: I wasn't sure I would enjoy this one because I thought the title was cheesy, but a couple people recommended it to me, so I wanted to give it a go. I actually enjoyed it much more than I expected to, though Hannah annoyed me greatly and could really benefit from some therapy. I was most interested in Suzanne's and Beth's stories. And it had Christmas vibes and happy endings. It was a great Christmas-y read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Narrator: Tim Curry

Synopsis: I'm pretty sure everyone knows the story of Scrooge and Tiny Tim and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. I will not re-hash it here.

Thoughts: I listen to this book every year. And while I still picture the characters as mice and ducks (thank you Disney and Mickey's Christmas Carol), I still enjoy it. I think this story is always charming and a good way to remind people to be kind and generous!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis: Georgie knows that her marriage hasn't exactly been happy for a while. Maybe not really ever. She still loves her husband, Neal, but Neal does not love Georgie's career and what it requires of her. They are supposed to go to Omaha to visit Neal's mom for Christmas, but Georgie drops the bomb that she needs to stay for work. So Neal takes their daughters to Omaha without her. Not wanting to stay at her empty house, she basically moves back into her mom's house. While she is at her mom's, she finds her old yellow rotary phone. Neal has been avoiding her calls, but she figures she will try the landline. On the yellow phone. But she ends up talking to Neal from 15 years in the past. From before they were married. From the week where they didn't speak at all and Georgie was convinced he had broken up with her. This can't really be happening, right?

Thoughts: This is one of my very favorite books and I re-read it every year around Christmas. I'm not even sure why I love it so much. When I first discovered Rainbow Rowell, I thought this book sounded stupid, so I didn't read it for a while. But when I did, I was so sad that I had waited. I love the way this book is written. Some of it is clever and funny. But most of it is very honest and touching. I don't always recommend it to people, and I'm not sure why. Like maybe by other people or my friends not liking it, it will ruin the magic? Or maybe I feel so strongly about it that it feels personal, like the book is just for me? Whatever the reason, I don't tend to recommend it. But I love it so much.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Title: The Afterlife of Holly Chase
Author: Cynthia Hand
Narrator: Erin Spencer

Synopsis: On Christmas Eve, Holly Chase was visited by four ghosts: her dead stepmother, and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. And she didn't listen. And then she died. Her punishment (so she thinks) is to work at a company called Project Scrooge as the new Ghost of Christmas Past. They work to save a new "Scrooge" every year. Since she is technically dead, she doesn't age and nothing changes. Until this year, her sixth year working at Project Scrooge.

Thoughts: Several people recommended this book to me this year, too. I'm glad I managed to squeeze it in! It is a pretty unique re-telling of A Christmas Carol. Some parts may have been a little strange and I didn't love the romance aspect, but overall, I really enjoyed it! If you like re-tellings, I highly recommend it.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars


Least favorite book read this month: Let it Snow
Favorite book read this month: Besides Landline? Probably the Afterlife of Holly Chase

I suppose that is it for books. December was pretty exciting for me. A couple of my friends came to visit and we went to Carlsbad caverns and hung out in my new home town. Then I got to go to Connecticut with Kevin to visit his family for Christmas. That was very nice and I appreciated the time off. I got to see the new Star Wars movie, which I liked. And I finally saw the new Ghostbusters movie, which was hilarious.

Overall it was a good month. I missed my family and the rest of my friends during my birthday and the holidays, but I'm still happy with the way my month turned out.

What are your goals for next 2020?

Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry for the Radio Silence...

Hello!

No, I haven't forgotten that I have a blog that needs work to keep running. My life got kind of silly and crazy for a while there. Most of it isn't super important, but I had several things that I needed to work on. Plus my old computer died and I didn't have the means to replace it for a while. It is really difficult to update this blog from my phone, so I had to wait a bit.

But I apparently was experiencing pretty bad anxiety. I didn't realize how much it was crippling me until I started seeing a doctor and got on some medication that works. It's an amazing relief to me that I feel able to handle life now.

Plus, I spent most of the time since my last update caring for Sprite, my heart rat. She was special needs and required lots of extra care, vet appointments, medications, and so forth closer to the end of her life. She lived a good long time, but I was heartbroken when it came time to put her down. She was very special to me and took up an awful lot of my time and energy (and an awful lot of space in my heart).

I also began a new relationship nearly two years ago and that has changed a bunch of things for me, definitely for the positive. In short, he treats me better than I ever thought I deserved to be treated and he makes me feel like a priority and never like a chore. It's been amazing and I have needed time to adjust to it and explore what a healthier relationship is supposed to be like.

And I have a lovely new computer! So it's time to get back on track.

New Years Resolutions:

• Read at least 75 books
• Figure out what I'm doing with my life (mainly if I want to go to medical school or not and start that process if so)
• Get my blog running again

I would like this blog to get back to where it used to be. I am going to do some book reviews at the end of each month like I used to. Hopefully I will have it in me to do some more crafts and projects that I can share (but I haven't been doing much of that these days).

So that is my spiel. I will post this followed shortly by a post I wrote a year and a half ago and never shared (sorry)!

Happy New Year everyone! May this year be better for everyone!

December Wrap Up and A New Year

Books read this month:
Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. Interesting take on the Baba Yaga story, but it wasn't my favorite.
Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds by Rick Riordan. Fun, quick read.
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I need to read more of her books. I liked this one (though I loved This Savage Song more).
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I read this as an audiobook narrated by Tim Curry, which is awesome. I really liked it and it's about time I read this classic. Though I grew up watching Mickey's Christmas Carol, so I kept imagining the characters as mice and ducks...
Landline by Rainbow Rowell. A re-read for Christmas. It's a great Christmas story and one of my favorite books.
My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins and various others. This was a collection of 12 Christmas love-y stories. A couple of them were a little meh, but I really liked a few of them!
The Chimes by Charles Dickens. I thought this story was rather strange and occasionally confusing (though this might be more because it got repetitive and I got bored and stopped paying as much attention as I should have and less because it was actually confusing). A Christmas Carol was much better.

My book reviews have not been posted this month. I got a little busy and overwhelmed. I hope to get at least a few of them up within the next week or so.

Reading goals completed:
A book released the month of your birthday (December): A Christmas Carol

I completed my 2016 reading challenge!

Favorite book read this month:
Is it cheating to pick Landline since it was already a favorite? 

Least favorite book read this month:
Vassa in the Night or The Chimes

Well, I managed to read 77 books this year. My goal was 75. I am going to keep the same goal for next year. If I can surpass 75 again, I will try raising it.

My brother got me a Kindle for Christmas, which I didn't think I would like as much as I do. It's pretty great so far (though I'm not going to stop buying and reading physical copies because I love them). I think it will help me reach my reading goals.

I wanted to re-post my resolutions from last year:

"Due to the breakup, most of my resolutions fell completely by the wayside. The only thing I accomplished was my reading goal. It was 40, I raised it to 50, and read almost 70.

Next year I hope to read 75.

So I failed all of my other goals. And on top of everything else, that makes me feel discouraged and indifferent (but defensive) by turns.

I guess I need to start form scratch. And I need a new year. This year has been such shit and I'm still so caught up in it. If only a new year was as clean a break as I would like it to be.

My goal this year is to get better. I am trying to eat a little better (mostly), keep going to counseling, and just get my life back in order and on track. I need to buy a new car and I need to start seriously saving towards getting my own place. That is my ultimate goal. It won't happen this year, but it is what I want more than anything right now."

Well I completed my reading goal. And I do not think that 2016 was a very good year. There were a lot of losses and turmoil all over the world. To be honest, losing David Bowie still gets to me.

The end of my year was pretty rough, with Carina getting so sick for so long and having to put her down and having Nugget follow her over the rainbow bridge within the week. And it was the week of their second birthday. And of my 29th birthday. I miss them like crazy.

Despite all of this, I definitely feel much better now than I did last year. I haven't had many set backs recently. Sometimes I still get a bit sad and lonely, but not for my ex anymore. Usually I am just missing friends and feeling isolated due to my schedule. I don't long for that relationship anymore, even if I do miss companionship. I also had some realizations in the past few months about the types of things that I endured, during the break up and before. I realized that there were some pretty toxic things going on that I definitely couldn't see at the time. Now that I have, I feel much better about where I am at now. And it is an amazing relief. Finally.

I'm not sure if I have eaten a whole lot better. I would definitely say that I'm not eating worse, so I'm going to call it a win!

I did get my new car. And I love it.

I didn't make nearly as much progress towards saving for my own place as I would like. Mostly because of unexpected car costs, Nugget's surgery and vet visits, Carina's MANY, MANY vet visits, medications, and hospitalizations, along with other vet bills to make sure that Nova, Pixie, and Sprite had clean bills of health following the losses of Carina and Nugget. I spent way more money on vet bills the last few months than I would have ever expected. Despite that and the fact that Carina and Nugget still didn't make it, I wouldn't have done it differently. Their little lives are worth it to me.

I also had various successes at work. I was promoted to a full time position and given a raise in January. A couple months later, I was promoted again to a technician, which also came with a raise and has been awesome! I joined a travel response team at work and was accepted. I am authorized to carry a company card (though I never actually carry one) and I am being sent to Memphis this month to help with the launch of our computer program. I recently got another small raise and may be getting another one once the end of the year reviews are in. I feel like I am valued as an employee, I am loving my job and the people I work with. My job isn't always perfect, but I'm really liking it overall.

Besides my reading goals, I hope to continue to do well at work and keep advancing.

I hope to start being more physically active this year. I am not going to set strict goals, I just need to start getting in better habits. Dancing helps, so I will keep doing that, too.

I want to keep saving for my own place. It won't happen this year, but I need to be working towards that goal.

As for more tangible goals, I need to file for divorce and get the joint bank accounts sorted ASAP. I am tired of having those things hanging over my head. It is past time.

And that is about all! I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve and here is to 2017 being better than 2016!

A New Year

Usually I like to take this time to review the last year's resolutions and make some new ones.

Due to the breakup, most of my resolutions fell completely by the wayside. The only thing I accomplished was my reading goal. It was 40, I raised it to 50, and read almost 70.

Next year I hope to read 75.

So I failed all of my other goals. And on top of everything else, that makes me feel discouraged and indifferent (but defensive) by turns.

I guess I need to start form scratch. And I need a new year. This year has been such shit and I'm still so caught up in it. If only a new year was as clean a break as I would like it to be.

My goal this year is to get better. I am trying to eat a little better (mostly), keep going to counseling, and just get my life back in order and on track. I need to buy a new car and I need to start seriously saving towards getting my own place. That is my ultimate goal. It won't happen this year, but it is what I want more than anything right now.

To this end, I went through and completely organized my planner for next year. I will try to look forward more and not solve all my problems by buying books. That's where all my money goes right now instead of saving for car/home.

So that's that. Happy New Year everyone.

A New Year, A New Year's Resolution

Last year, I had a couple of goals. One was to read 38 books. I managed to surpass my goal. (I highly recommend Goodreads to my friends who like to read. They keep track of goals, books, ratings, and make recommendations.)

I also said that I wanted to continue to work out and improve my financial situation.

I worked out fairly regularly up until I ran the BolderBoulder, which hurt my ankles pretty badly. I was out of commission for nearly three months. I have done little since then. I count that as a fail...

Financially speaking, I am doing much better. Some of that has to do with getting a better job, but also habit and necessity. I have to pay health insurance and my student loans came due a couple of months ago. I have nearly paid off my credit card debt! I feel pretty good about my financial standing right now (even though I am still very much in debt).

Next year will be a little different. Mainly, I have not been feeling very good about myself. There are numerous reasons for this, and I will not go into all the details. Part of it is my physical appearance, but a good portion of it actually my self-esteem and self-confidence. I had a short period of a few days before my birthday where I felt very consumed by self-doubt and inadequacy. And then I did some research. And I created a plan. I want to include some of these things only because I think it might benefit other people.

I searched for and read articles about things like body image and self-esteem issues. After gathering enough information to feel like I had a grasp on what was going on, I wrote things down.

First of all, I realize that there are some things about me and my appearance that I cannot change. And I need to come to terms with that. Some days are better than others. So I wrote down some of the things that I CAN change. Mainly, that I wanted to have regular exercise. I plan to get some sort of gym membership and start running again and working out. Despite what people may think, I am not concerned about my weight nor will I ever have an eating disorder (because I love food!). I know it will help with toning and strength. Plus, a healthy body is a happy body!

Then I wrote down good things about myself and my body. Overall, I am healthy. There are many things that my body does and can do for me, et cetera. In almost every article I read, they made this suggestion so that you realize that your body is important and it does do so many good things. Plus, I am proud of my education and my self respect and sensitivity. I wrote that I am lucky because I have tons of loving and supportive people around me. And that makes me feel good. I also wrote down things I liked about my appearance. It is good to keep in mind that not everything is "bad" (I use that term loosely, because nothing should be bad).

Then I wrote down what I can and will address and how. I also wrote down the things I need to come to terms with.

Lastly, I did a section about why a good self-image and self-esteem is important to me. I hope that this will help keep me on the right track.

I made sure to leave space to write more, because as I go through these processes, I hope to fill out more things that I like about myself and my image.

There is a bigger picture here, but this seems to be the root of my problems, and I feel like this is where I need to start in order to make things good for me (and the people around me). I know that is vague, but my over all problems are very complicated, deeply layered, and personal. And I'm not sure I'm quite up to sharing. The point is, there are things I can do to change my attitude, and that is my goal. I hope that others with similar issues may find help in this post. I will say, just doing the research and writing everything out and making a plan helps me feel better because I feel like I am actually in control. Small steps!

Aside from this, I want to read more. My goal will be 40 books. I want to craft more and blog more. I will continue to look for a career in my field. I will spend time with the people I love. I will continue to better my financial situation.

Good luck to everyone in the new year and good luck setting and completing goals of your own!

I hope all of you have a very happy New Year!

That New Year's Resolution Thing...

I'm a horrible blogger. I am already failing at my New Year's resolution to blog more often.

In my defense, school this semester is absolutely insane. It is my last semester of grad school and my class load is, oddly, more work than last semester, even though I had 17 credits last semester and only needed 13 this one. Part of that is due to the fact that I am taking an extra class that isn't required, which brings me up to 16 credits. Oops. I will get to that. Plus, I have to write my scholarly paper to actually qualify for my degree. I finally picked my topic, and have done nearly nothing since then! It's a pretty big deal and a fair amount of work that I'm sure I will get to eventually.

The extra class I am taking is actually a Philosophy class. I have never taken Philosophy before (not even "Intro to"). This class is called Science and Ethics and is taught by a well-renowned ethicist who made his way in the field working for good animal treatment in laboratories. Animal research is important in my field, and something that I have strong negative feelings towards. In that light, I think I am getting something important out of this class. Though it is a lot more work than I was originally planning on. That's life, I guess.

I don't have a life. Even on Friday nights and Saturdays I do homework, reading, and studying. And in between, I am trying to update my resume to prepare for job searching. As much as I love coffee, I am feeling very ready to leave Starbucks.

In other news, I am going to be an aunt again! I am very excited about this. Other good news: our condo repairs are coming along, slowly, but surely. I will post about that (it's mostly written, it just needs some modifying).

Unfortunately, my New Year's resolution may have to wait until school is out. I will try to keep updating though! Thanks for being patient with me!

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.

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?