The mister and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

[from my company's holiday party]

If you ever need help remembering if it's Christmas, then go here.

Also, if you feel like being generous, don't forget about my wish list.

I'd also like to say THANK YOU to the followers that have stuck around the past few months.  I'm not sure if there are many of you out there (please feel free to say hi, I want to know who is still out there).

[via]

I seriously don't know why I am working today.

At least I have Monday off.

I had to. [via]

So, it seriously doesn't feel like Christmas to me.

We have two decorations in our entire apartment. It's pathetic.

We don't need much for Christmas, but these would be nice.

• Books. If you know me even a little, then this would be obvious. I have an entire wish list dedicated to books I want.  
• Money. We need a little bit of green.  We've been trying to save up to go to Texas in January and traveling is damn expensive!  Also, seeing as how we just had to buy a new car battery yesterday [bye bye $145!], we could really use some extra money in our Texas fund.
• Desk. Seriously. The set-up that Rob has going on right now is not working. Your back aches after like fifteen minutes. [We are actually taking care of this tonight. We're getting this. Thanks Craiglist!]

That's seriously all I can think of.  We aren't asking for much.

So please, Santa, will you bring us these items that we want.

So this weekend, I was a complete nerd.

I don't play computer games. Like ever.

I'll play random iPhone games, sure. But that's about it.

But this weekend, I spent NINE HOURS playing Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I'm not sure what came over me.  But I really had fun.

I am a Chiss Bounty Hunter.  And she's hot for being blue.

And I totally named her VeronicaMars.

Sorry for the crappy quality; I'll take a better one later.
Also, I'm not a level one anymore. I'M LEVEL 1O! ;)

 What things do you like to geek out over?

And the winner of the Ultimate TTC Giveaway is...

Whitney from A Magnolia Heart

The winner has been contact via email.  She will have 48 hours to respond.

I've seen people do this before, but this will be my first time participating.

1.  I'm really fucking tired.  So tired that I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the day.  I've said that so many times, but every time I've made it.  I'm not sure how.

2.  I need some new black flats, but I'm super cheap so I don't actually want to buy any.  Normally I just get a pair at Payless, but I'm too lazy to even go look.

Maybe these?

3.  My book wish list is super long and ever growing.  I wish someone would just buy all of them for me. :D  I'm still looking for a book fairy.

4.  I have perpetual writer's block.  I never know what to blog about anymore. SOMEONE HALP!

5.  I want Chipotle.  Please bring.

6.  It really doesn't feel like the Christmas season.  I didn't put up our miniature tree because we really don't have anywhere to put it.  Especially with Pepper, I don't know if she'll eat it.

7.  I'm addicted to Storage Wars.  I've been watching it on Netflix.  What else it good on there?  I like watching TV shows.

8.  Wow.  This made me cry.  Read his update below the video too.

9.  My headband is giving me a headache.

10.  I'm still tired.

Well, I was going to post about this a little more eloquently, but I just never got around to it.  So!  We are no longer TTC.  I was too stressed.  We want to wait.  Now just isn't the right time. Yadda yadda yadda. You get it.

So I want to pass on all the supplies that I have to someone that will be able to use them before their expiration dates.

This giveaway will include:

• Two (2) Bottles of FertilAid for Women (2 Month Supply)
• Thirty-Seven (37) Ovulation Predictor Strips
• Seven (7) Clearblue Easy Digital Ovulation Tests
• Twenty-Three (23) Pregnancy Strips
• Three (3) First Response Early Response Pregnancy Tests
• One (1) Tube of Pre-Seed (40 gm Tube with 9 Applicators)
• One Surprise Item

I also have a IntelliGender test, I am unsure if this test expires.  I couldn't find a date, but I've had it in my possesion for awhile.  If you want it, I'll also include this in the winners package. If not, I'll likely throw it away.

I also have an opened bottle of FertileCM.  I don't know how many are left, but I didn't take all of them.  I'll include that as well, if you're interested.  If not, I'll likely throw them away.

I don't know how much everything is worth, but I'm sure it's a lot!

To enter, just leave a comment. It's that simple!
Please leave an email address in the comment so I am able to contact you!

• I'd prefer it if you followed my blog, but you don't have to.
• This giveaway is only open to the United States. Sorry! But since I'm shipping this myself I don't want to spend a ton on shipping.
• This giveaway will end in two weeks on Sunday, December 18th.
• I'll pick the winner on Monday and email them.  They'll have 48 hours to respond.  If I don't hear back from you within those 48 hours, then I'll pick a new winner.

Best of luck and happy TTC!

Where did the year go?

Christmas is in twenty-four days.

But it feels like it was just January.

It feels like we just celebrated our two year wedding anniversary in April.

But soon we'll be celebrating three years.

Where does time go?

Soon I'm going to be sixty and wonder where the time went.

I need to slow down and enjoy it.  We all do.

So, slow down and enjoy life.  Happy December, everyone.

Well, seeing as how Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I going to share a few things I'm thankful for.

• OBVIOUSLY ROB!  He drives me crazy, but I love him.  I'm not sure who or where I would be without him.
  

• MY JOB! I hate it on a regular basis.  But because of my job I'm able to make money and we are able to pay our bills and put food on the table (even though we never eat at a table).
  

• MY NEW EYES!  This past week I was finally able to afford LASIK.  Thanks to a little bit of help from my parents too!

• MY FAMILY! I'm thankful to have parents who still want to do whatever they can to help me. And I'm thankful have great in laws. I thankful my brother, sister in law and the extremely adorable boys that made me an aunt.

• BOOKS! You're crazy if you didn't think I was going to mention books. I'm thankful for being able to buy them and for the publishers and authors that send them to me.

I'm also thankful for: My puppies. Hulu Plus. Sons of Anarchy. Refresh Plus eye drops. Twitter! Music. Internet. My iPhone.

There are so many things to be thankful for.

I know I personally take a lot of things for granted in my life.  I think we could all learn how to appreciate everything around us a little bit more. 

What are you thankful for? I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

So, the other day I posted about my bookshelves.

Well, Rob commented on that post asking if I was going to show you his bookshelf.  So, of course I'll going to show you!

Keep in mind though that he's missing a few. Some books that he loaned to a friend. And a few bigger books that I have on my bookshelf. Also, the book that he's currently reading.

He's amassed quite a collection compared to the books he had when we originally started dating.  Which I think was zero. ;)

Below his books are more of my books that I didn't post about. I currently have to use our closet shelves for some of my books because I'm seriously running out of room!  We need a bigger place for just my books!

I love Sonic! :D

The last two days have been thee worst and scariest days of my life.

We woke up on Thursday morning only to realize that somehow our gate to our patio was opened and both of our big dogs had gone missing.  They had to leave sometime around 1-6 am.

The first thing we did was throw some shoes on and head out to look for them.

We were unsuccessful. We walked, we drove, we worried.

We went to the humane society down the street around 9:00 to see if they'd been turned in. Nothing. But I will say that is the saddest place I've ever been. They let us into their animal hospital area to check if they were in there and some of those animals just broke my heart.

Around 11:00 we were getting ready to go to the county pound, when there was a knock at our door.  It was our next door neighbor wondering that was our dog outside.  There's a bit of a language barrier, as he is middle eastern. But it turns out Kenai was standing outside our gate trying to get inside.

So we open it and pull her inside.  The first thing I did after that was run outside the gate hoping that Root Beer wasn't that far behind her. But there was nothing. So Rob and I hop in the car to drive around looking for her.  We let our neighbor know that if they saw her to just open our gate and let her inside.

We drive around and find nothing. So we came back to check on Kenai. We wanted to make sure she wasn't hurt. She had a slight limp, but we think that's just because her feet were sore from running for so long.

We kept constantly walking around looking for Root Beer. Rob went to the county pound to look for her while I stayed home, just in case she showed up at our gate like Kenai did.

Nothing. We walked more. We drove more. We worried constantly. I broke down multiple times worrying about Root Beer.  I had an ad up on Craigslist and I would constantly check it for more updates, just in case someone found her and she didn't have her collar on. I waited for Rob's phone to ring, hoping it was someone that found her and got his number from her dog tag.

Two days went by. Two days filled with nothing but worry and sadness.

Then Saturday morning, right after a shower as we were getting ready to head back to the humane society and county pound, we got THE call. The call that someone found our dog. The call that let us know Root Beer was safe. That call gave me goosebumps, just ask Rob.

We threw on whatever clothes we could grab. I was speechless. I couldn't form a coherent sentence. I was just so ecstatic about going to get my dog.

We are so lucky Root Beer wasn't harmed.  She crossed two major streets.  We seriously could have lost her. :( But we didn't!

We have all our babies back home. Safe and sound.

I just want to thank everyone for the kind words and support you shared with me on Twitter.  It really meant a lot to me. <3

Last week Rob's cousin brought over a bookcase (for free!) because I've been needing a new one for months.  So here are the before and after pictures.

Sorry for the really crappy quality. These are iPhone pictures.

Here's my old bookcase.  It now has growing room on it! ;)

Now I just need to find more time to read all these books!

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. Isn't my new design fantastic?!  There will be a new button to grab soon! :)

On October 5th, I went to meet/see Scott Westerfeld!  This was my first big book signing, so I didn't know what to expect.

He spoke a little bit about his Leviathan series and shows us some pictures from his sweet iPad.  Which I'm totally jealous of, by the way.

I honestly wish I could remember more of what he said, but I kinda fail.  Next time I'll have to remember to bring my Flip along so I can take some videos.

Enjoy the two not-so-great pictures from the book signing!

Crappy picture, but Westerfeld walking around talking to us.

Westerfeld signing all the books that I own of his. ;)

Speaking of Westerfeld's books.  I need the older version of Extras from his Uglies series.  Anyone want to send it to me? :D

Howdy folks!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend.  Mine was pretty busy.

I worked for a few hours on Saturday.

Babysat the nephews on Sunday with the husband.

Noah and Grayson

That's it really.  I guess I lied when I said it was busy, but it sure felt busy.

Especially when you get up to babysit at 6:30am on a Sunday morning.

But I was able to finish two books this weekend.

Cinderella and the Sheikh and Unveiled.

Alright, Unveiled was more like a short story, but it was still great.

And I started Wither this morning, which I'm really excited about.

That was pretty much my weekend.

So, how was your weekend?

In honor of Banned Books Week I thought I would write a little blurb.  Because I seem to like blurbs lately.

I think banning books is absolutely a waste of time and money.  I think there are greater causes that we can fight for. Like, equal wages for women.

To learn more about what books have been challenged and/or banned, please take a look at the American Library Associations's website.

Evelyn Beatrice Hall
[via]

To see other quotes from famous authors about censorship, go here.

[via]

I think this is something that most of us have a hard time remembering.

I know I sure do.  So remember, embrace your "you"ness!

You're perfect the way you are.

If someone give you shit about it, then punch them in the fucking face. :)

P.S. I should probably be an inspirational speaker.

So, do you remember that dog I rescued a few weeks ago?

Well, I told the owner that if she ever needed to find her a new home that we would take her.  I said this thinking nothing would actually come of it.

Then about two weeks later I get an email from the owner asking me if I was serious about taking her.  Long story short, we have a new member of the family.

And she's been renamed (because we sure as hell weren't keeping Blanca)...

Get it? Dr Pepper? It's my favorite!

Now I shall show you some adorable pictures.

I'm not sure how this is comfortable.

Alright, she kind of looks like a demon right here.

She stares a lot. It's creepy.

Yep, that's my shoulder she's sleeping on.

And we haven't forgotten about our other babies. They're still around.

They're definitely still adjusting to the tiny dog running around the house.

My sleepy babes.

Lately, all I think about is books.

Reading books.

Buying books.

Organizing my books.

Looking for books on Goodreads.

Looking for books on Paperback Swap.

Staring at my books hoping that I'll be able to get through all of them before I die.

I think I have a problem.  I'm obsessed with books.

Which is why I've been completely neglecting my blog.

I'll be back at some point, I'm sure. I hope.

Also, I like this ad.  Maybe an idea for a new tattoo?

balloon from a coworker (there were two small white ones, but they died)

chicken and waffle lunch with coworkers

surprise flowers from the husband

iced chai latte after seeing Our Idiot Brother

lunch! I had Kush ;)

Garcia's for dinner! sadly I deleted the photo of my food :(

dessert! fried ice cream that tasted like cinnamon toast crunch

Stranger Than Fiction is one of my favorite movies and my favorite scene in the movie is where Will Ferrell brings Maggie Gyllenhaal a box of flours (because she's a baker).  They are such an odd combination, but they just work in this movie.

If you haven't seen Stranger Than Fiction, then I suggest you do!

"I brought you flours."

An IRS auditor (Will Farrell) suddenly finds himself the subject of

narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life,

from his work, to his love-interest (Maggie Gyllenhaal), to his death. 

What's your favorite movie/scene?

P.S. Don't forget you can mail me a birthday card!

Books to the Sky has a new look.  (and soon I will too!)  Check it out!

Well, it turns out that I have a very busy weekend planned.

A birthday party on Friday from four in the afternoon until who knows when.

Then Saturday I'm going to a movie and having lunch with my mom.

Then after that Rob and I are going to see Joey Diaz at The Comedy Spot.  (I've never seen him, but Rob thinks he's funny so we are giving him a shot.)

I thought we had a quiet day at home on Sunday, but NOPE.

I forgot we are going to have dinner at Rob's aunt's house on Sunday because his cousin is going away for college next week.  We'll probably be there all day.

This all means, I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN I'M GOING TO READ. This is a big deal and it makes me a sad panda.

But ladies (and gentlemen?), I want you to remember...

[via]

What are your plans for the weekend?

Domestic Violets

Author: Matthew Norman
Genre: Fiction
Source: HarperCollins
Length: 368 pages
Format: Kindle
Buy the Book: Amazon


Summary (from Goodreads): 

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. 

The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious arch nemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety. 

Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way. 

My Thoughts:

To see my thoughts go to Books to the Sky.

 

(I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.)

A few days ago, while on vacation, my nephew was running around while playing with my brother and smashed his face on a coffee table. They were extremely worried he'd broken his nose.

They took him to the ER and luckily his nose wasn't broken, just swollen and pushing it to the side and his septum was alright.

But now, a few days later, the poor guy has a gnarly black eye. :(

P.S. My birthday is in 15 days!  Want to send me a birthday card?

I got a fantastic idea from a blog today!  Krysten from After 'I Do' came up with the great idea of having people mail her birthday cards!

... and seeing as how my birthday is only 15 DAYS AWAY!

I think it would be fantastic to get some birthday cards!

So if you'd like to send me a card, feel free to email me for my address.

ALSO, let me know when your birthday is so I can reciprocate!

Well, I've decided to cancel my move to WordPress, but in the process I completely messed up my blog URL. 

So right now I am asking you to please not leave my blog!  I will be back up and running shortly!

Thank you SO much for your patience! :)

I rescued this sweet puppy yesterday morning. As I was driving Rob to his traffic survival school, I saw her wandering in our complex's parking lot.

She's so cute with her big ears!

When I got back from dropping Rob off, I parked and set out to find the puppy I saw.  Once I found her it took awhile for her to warm up to me.  She actually followed me back to my apartment when I walked away from her.

I got her some food and water and decided I would go to our apartment's office once they opened. When I head over around 9:15, then weren't open.  Not really surprising.

When I got back to my apartment I decided to check Craigslist and surprisingly enough I found an ad for a missing dog that met her description. And turns out she'd been missing for SIX DAYS! Poor baby.

I let her sleep for awhile and emailed the owner. She finally got back to me and said yes it was her dog and her boyfriend would come pick her up. He called and turned out he only lives five apartments down from me.

Oh how I wish one of my dogs was small enough for this.

I guess this isn't the first time she's done this but I really hope it's the last. Poor thing won't last much longer if she gets out again. She was practically skin and bones already.

She was such a sweet dog and she seemed to get along with ours.

If I find her again, then I might just have to keep her. ;)

But seriously, I am glad I was able to get her home.