Fantastic Fall Fun

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a summertime kinda gal.  I love hot weather, swimming, flip flops and not ever having to wear a jacket.  The list could go on and on, but sadly, summer has come to an end.  Even though I am a summer freak, I can appreciate fall.  Ok, I actually like it.  I wouldn't love summer so much if it wasn't for the other seasons, right?   My buddy and fall freak Alyssa has posted on her blog about her love of fall (http://www.myhusbandswatchingtv.blogspot.com/) which inspired me to do the same.  I really do like fall for the floowing reasons:
Fall foliage - its beautiful and I love jumping in the fallen leaves
Cooler weather- even I can admit it's a nice change from sweating my face off
Soft sweaters- I love the feel of a nice comfy sweater
Hoodies- nuff said
Wearing hoodies and shorts- fall is nice enough to still wear shorts - love that
Flip flops- I can still wear em. I can wear them until November.
Happy husband- Fall is my hub's favorite time of year, he hates heat and is much less cranky in Fall
Sweet baby- Colin is like his daddy. He likes it cooler too, plus he looks cute in his baby onsies.

So welcome Fall.  I did miss you even though I said I wouldn't.

Catching Fire

The second book in the Hunger Games trilogy was just as good as the first.  Katniss still pissed me off with her inability to see big picture type stuff, but I can't blame her.  It's who she is.  I don't think I would like her as much if she was able to read things correctly.  All I have to say about the second book is viva revolucion!  I enjoyed watching Katniss try to put together the events of the story while trying to save Peeta.  I liked the fact that she has trouble separating her feelings for Peeta and Gale.  The ending was a cliffhanger.  I can't wait to see what happens next.  August 24th ...

Why we read!!!! Finally!

This week I read the first two books of The Hunger Games trilogy. The Hunger Games is first. The story is about a young girl, Katniss Everdeen who is living in a poor district of a country called Panem. There are 12 districts in Panem - all controlled by the Capitol. No one leaves their district. Each is controlled by representatives from the capitol, guarded by fences and kept in check through fear and starvation. Once a year each of the 12 districts are required to send two children (tributes), a boy and a girl to the Hunger Games where they will engage in a vicious and bloody fight to the death. Katniss’s story begins on the day of the reaping when her little sister, Prim, is picked as a tribute.




I am really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Lately, I have been into supernatural fiction almost exclusively so this came as a pleasant surprise. I think Suzanne Collins did a wonderful job creating the backdrop for this story without spending an undue amount of time with detailed descriptions of how the world came to be in such a state. Rather, Collins tells the story through characters, which I find to be much more personal and much less tedious. Often I am annoyed with authors who put so much effort into building the world around their characters that I lose interest. Collins had no such problem with The Hunger Games. The world was devastatingly real, the characters well rounded and the action fierce. I found myself thinking about what would happen next long after I put the book down for the night.



The heroine of the story, Katniss, was frustratingly true to herself. I kept feeling angry at her for being so stupid sometimes and at other times I was impressed with her knowledge and ability to figure out clues, and ways to survive. I would get so angry when she didn’t pick up on social cues or when she couldn’t see that her counterpart, Peeta Mellark, was falling in love with her. However, that is just who she is. I think Collins did a great job creating a complicated female character. One who knows how to take care of herself, but sometimes fails to see herself clearly. Most importantly Collins steered clear of the oh-so-dramatic, sighs, mutters, and longing that seem to be present in much of today’s teen fiction. It wasn’t gross or over played. It wasn’t stupid or juvenile. It didn’t remind me that I was a grown up reading a book for a younger generation. It did, however, remind me why I love to read. Thanks!

The "Almond" Joys of motherhood

There are many things about having a baby that are magical, wondrous and fun. There are many things that are scary as hell and very stressful. All in all the good outweighs the bad. Unfortunately, these days, I’m also doing a lot of outweighing. There is no denying it. Having a baby changes your body. I know this because thanks to the magic of nursing a newborn and very hungry little boy I have lost all of my pregnancy weight. So why don’t my pants fit quite right? Four little letters H-I-P-S! My hips spread like cream cheese on a bagel. Ok- so maybe that’s an exaggeration – maybe. But I have cellulite now! So I have recently decided that even though I am still diligently breastfeeding and I need to take in way more calories than I even think I can eat in a day, it is time to make those calories count. I’m turning over a new leaf and that leaf is spinach, my friends. Spinach and all those other nice leafy greens, fruits, veggies, and lean protein that make a body healthy. Oh – and I’m actually going to exercise. Really! So I’ll keep you posted on how my transformation from a caterpillar into a butterfly is going.

Away we go!

So here I am - a new mom starting a new blog and, hopefully, a more fun chapter of life. I’m starting this blog mainly to help myself keep track of all the changes, goals, and fun stuff going on in my life. However, I have to give credit to my friend Alyssa who is always saying “you should blog.” Well, Alyssa, here I am. I hope my blog will be half as good as yours.
I’ll be posting as often as I can. This may mean several posts in one day and then nothing for a while. I’m working on an interesting schedule. 3 month old baby + graduate school + student teaching + 2 dogs + 1 cat + 1 husband = a lot of stuff to divide my time. I hope my life is as entertaining to other people as it is to me. If not…well, I’m not really sorry.

So bear with me as I get this thing figured out.  Hang in there, the good stuff is on the way!