Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Reading Material: 4 Months Down


So I'm going to change how I post about what I'm reading. It won't really matter to anyone else, but because I haven't really been going off the list I originally put together, I'm going to format it more how I do in my head each year. I want to read 52 books in a year. For the past three years, I've done the reading challenge on goodreads where you enter how many books you want to read that year, then as you mark a book as 'read' throughout the year, it adds to your count. I've put 52 as my goal for three years, and the closest I've gotten is 40 in 2012. This year I only read 17. So, I can't say I'm too sure of myself for 2014, but I figure it doesn't hurt to try again.

So this is what I read this month. Or...am in the process of reading:
1. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
I didn't open this book once this month. I love this book. I really do. However, I think I find it overwhelming. It's just really deep thoughts and ideas that make me think a lot, and I guess you could say I just didn't really want to think very much this month.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I didn't finish this book. A friend wanted to borrow my copy, and I just wasn't feeling this reread, so I took out my bookmark and haven't looked back. I don't think I'll try rereading this series again until 2015, when the second part of the Mockingjay movie comes out.

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth
I don't know how I feel about this book. My little sister read it before me, and she was extremely adamant about me reading it too. It was very interesting. But, it was also cheesy. I still liked it enough to finish 3/4 of it in one night. I stayed up way too late that night.

4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
I finished Divergent nearly two weeks ago, yet I'm not even 100 pages into the sequel. Oops. I plan on starting it back up soon. I've just been more focused on working, and, more recently, knitting.

- rl

Reading Material
Reading Material: 1 Month Down
Reading Material: 2 Months Down
Reading Material: 3 Months Down

Monday, December 30, 2013

Where I've Been

The Rocket Summer's Bryce Avary at the Christmas Madness concert on the 20th. Awesome night.

Oops. I went a month without blogging. Not for any reason besides that I tend to try to focus on things that really matter sometimes. Why bother with organizing blog posts when I can sit on the couch and just relax by hanging out with my family? So that's what I did. I took a little break from trying and now I'm ready to go at it again. I'm ready to learn more about knitting on the needles I got for Christmas, expand my creativity with my camera, and get into better routines that involve reading my Bible more often. And, as much as I hate cliches, what better time to start than in 2014? And, of course, I plan on blogging every bit.

I'll post more about my 2014 goals soon. I just wanted to check it one more time before 2013 is over. Tomorrow I'll do my final reading update - I plan on changing that up a little bit in the new year. 

- rl

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

3 Months with Sam


Sam isn't looking so good. Even just look at pictures from one month ago, I can see that he's lost a lot of petals. And then I took inside the pot (like you can kind of see in the last picture) and it just all looks weird.

If this plant dies, I will be very sad. I'm thinking maybe I haven't given him enough water, so I guess this month I'll focus on reviving him.

- rl

(p.s. As usual, you can view the songs/videos I liked this past month here.)

Monday, December 02, 2013

Reading Material: 3 Months Down


This reading is going much, much slower than I first thought it would. I'm still working on what my priorities are, so when I have those figured out I should be reading more. Who knows, though.

So this is what I read this month. Or...am in the process of reading:
1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
I finished this book in the beginning of the month, then sighed over Ian a few days. Then, last week I saw that the movie was on Netflix, so I watched it a little here and there and finished it while working on my application (yes, that got sent in on Sunday at 6pm. Cutting it a little close to the deadline, I know). 

2. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
Oh, man. This book is hard to get through. You really have to give it your full attention, but it's worth it, because it's just some really deep stuff. Just really interesting ideas and realizations that make me think hard. I'm only about halfway through, and I already know I'm going to have to make a list as well when the time comes...

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
So I first read this book around the time the movie came out. I finished it within 48 hours, then the next two of the series in the next 48. Crazy good. Then because I knew I was going to the midnight premiere of Catching Fire, I thought it would be a good idea to pause my progress in One Thousand Gifts and try to read the whole series (or at least through Catching Fire), but I obviously did not do that. You can see in the second picture how far I got. Pathetic, I know. I blame that on my mind which is already looking forward to reading another YA sci-fi type of book once I finish the ones I'm currently on. And yes, Catching Fire is as good as everyone says it is. I've already seen it twice, and I really hate seeing movies in theater period.

- rl

Reading Material
Reading Material: 1 Month Down
Reading Material: 2 Months Down