The Sunday Salon October 23, 2011

It has a been awhile since I last participated in the Sunday Salon. I have not been reading like I used too. I do listen to audio books in the car now which I really like. I seriously get sick of the radio and music because I have to have music when I work out and I work out six days a week. I also listen to the radio all day at work. Right now I am listening to Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani. It is a light escapist book which is needed every now and then. I am behind on review books and have stopped accepting so many. I think I only have four tours for November which should give me time to finish the ones I am still working on hopefully. I have been purging books like crazy. I decided I could not breathe with all the books in my room. Then my TBR shelves are out of control so I decided to work on them too. I am trying to live a more active lifestyle so reading is taking a backseat but I am not giving it up. It is still one of my favorite things. Life is a balancing act and not easy. Today I need to do my cooking for the week, finish a review book, and finish cleaning. I am having trouble motivating myself. I hope everyone has a good Sunday and a great week! :)

The Sunday Salon June 5, 2011

* I have not been a very good blogger lately. Lots of distractions in my life. One of the things I have neglected are my Sunday posts but not today. lol

* I am reading slower than normal. Lots of issues with focusing and staying in one spot long enough to finish a book. My tbr stacks are in my bedroom and overwhelm the living daylights out of me. I have gotten rid of some books but I still have like fourteen shelves of unread books. I want to read everything all at the same time. I have not read a single book this weekend. I am working on The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden for a book tour this week. It is good so the problem is with me.

* Today I have a lot of cooking to do and a little cleaning. I am also spending the afternoon at my Mom's house in the pool. :)

* Saturday I was busy all day. I went to the gym, post office, Kroger, Wal Mart, the pool, and a festival for a short period. I was really tired last night and way too much sugar to compensate for it.

* My diet and exercise life change are kinda turbulent right now. I really want to cut back on my grains and sugar but it seems like I can't. I don't think I am addicted to sugar because I don't drink soda or eat candy. I do eat a lot of Kashi cereal bars, granola bars, and regular cereal. I eat ice cream/frozen yogurt at least once a week. It is already really hot here in the Deep South and I love and crave ice cream. The frozen yogurt at Bops is really good but a little too sweet. I am also having trouble keeping all my workouts going because I get so tired by the middle of the week. I have noticed fat gain in the belly area which makes me not happy at all. I am eating a lot more fruits and vegetables so that is one postive. So definitely struggling overall.

* My work is going better because I am staying caught up more. I don't want to jinx myself though. For reasons I am keeping to myself the next two weeks are going to be rough so please pray for me.

* School is not going good at all. I am still in the first class and I should be in the third. I do not like online classes which I knew before I started. I either need to get my but in gear or drop out. So I am thinking about that too. My head feels like it is spinning in circles there is so much going through it on a daily basis.

* Off to work on my goals for the day. I hope everyone has a great Sunday and a good week with lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon March 20, 2011

* I have been neglectful of late on my Sunday Salon posts. I like to wait until the end of the day to do them but I have been too tired and busy to want to so I am compromising and doing it  mid day. lol

* I have not really read anything this weekend. I have two books I need to read today but I doubt I will finish them. I still have cooking and cleaning to do for the week. I need to make my reading more of a priority which I never thought that would be a need. This slump won't leave me and I have more to balance now. Balance is so elusive.

* I put my Spring Reading Thing post up. I love this reading challenge. Here is the link to my post:

http://abookloverforever.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-reading-thing-2011-my-list.html

* I am starting online classes on April 4 for Electronic Health Records Training Program. I am hoping that it will not take over my life completely. They said to devote fifteen hours a week to it. I have a feeling there will be less TV and blog time. I am not sacrificing my exercise and reading time. :)

* I have been in a cleaning/organizing spree this year. I went through most of my bookshelves this week and took off at least 100 books. I put most on Paperbackswap and donated the rest to the library. I am not finished yet so there will be more leaving my house. I have way too many books that I have not read and most of them I really do want to read. I am out of shelf space to put them. I also pulled off books I have read but did not love, I am trying to keep books I would want to reread one day or loan to someone else.  Up next is the tupperware/pots/pans area.

* So far today I have made the lemon, olive oil, rosemary marinade and put the chicken in it. I also prepped some strawberries. They are still not sweet enough yet so I added some honey to them. I am going to make this afternoon turkey tacos that I will take for my lunch at work this week. I can't believe how fast the day is going by. Yikes. I am going to attempt to read for a little while.

* I hope everyone has a great week and a lot of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon February 27, 2011

* Happy Sunday everyone!

* I spent a lot of time cooking today which has become my thing for Sundays. lol It is part of my getting ready for the week so it is less stressful. It has really helped knowing what I am eating every day and having most of it prepared and healthier too. I made the spaghetti with my grandmother, Mimi. I love spending time and cooking with her. I have so much to learn from her. I have always been Mimi's baby. When I was little I spent every weekend with Pawpaw and her. She would get off work on Fridays and pick me up and return me Sunday night. She loves to read too.  :)

* I stayed up until almost midnight last night finishing The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett for the Persephone reading weekend. I am still working on my review but overall I liked it.

* Today I am reading The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley. It is super good and I am taking lots of notes. One of the many quotes I have right now from it is: "To get from where we don't want to be to where we do want to be requires two things: time and a change of direction.".  It really speaks to me because for the past seven months I have been trying to change the direction of my eating habits and looks. I have other areas I need change direction on too.

* I have really messed up this weekend on my healthy lifestyle change. Friday night I ate Pizza Hut, Saturday night I ate Cracker Barrel, and this morning I had a huge raisin pecan pastry. For some reason I can't make myself work out on Saturday and Sundays so I have a lot to make up for Monday thru Thursday. Thank God for exercise. :)

* I have not been reading as much as normal. Still in a little reading slump. My total for February is probably going to be around eight books. I am not giving up exercise so I am going to try and use my time better and spend less time on the Internet and watching TV. Any balance suggestions are welcome.

* I hope to finish The Principle of the Path tonight and get the rest of my stuff ready for tomorrow. We will see.

* I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon February 13, 2011

* I have been neglecting my Sunday posts. I am so tired by the end of Sunday night now I am not up to it. lol

* I have taken up massive cooking on Sunday nights. Why do I wait until then I have no idea. Tonight I made two kinds of cupcakes for Valentine's Day, stir fried fresh veges, prepared two different kinds of chicken, boiled bowtie pasta, got my food ready for work tomorrow, and cleaned up strawberries. I am cooking more now that I am trying to eat healthier. :)

* I am reading Michael Pollan's books right now and I love them. I wrote him a love letter yesterday. http://abookloverforever.blogspot.com/2011/02/love-letter-to-michael-pollan.html

* It is almost impossible to follow all his rules though. I read all my labels and I am more aware but I have not cut everything out yet. It is going to take awhile. Tonight instead of eating a whole cupcake I only had a little of one. I still use some bottled salad dressing. I still use some white flour. I am starting by trying to cut back on the things I know are awful. :)

* My lifestyle changes I have been working on are going okay. It is getting harder to keep up the exercise and calorie watching. Sundays are the worst calorie wise. I am home most of the day and snack all day and night. I have no will to exercise on Saturdays and Sundays. I don't know what's wrong with me. Thank God I exercise at work Monday thru Friday. I have a gym membership but I only go for one class.

* Saturday I went to the library and Wal Mart. Then I cleaned the house. It is not perfect but better. I still have a few things left to do like mop. I hate to mop. I also read a book.

* I only read one book this weekend and it was okay. I read Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson. I don't think I will read any more of her books. I like my books cleaner.

* I am currently reading Amish Love by Kathleen Fuller, Beth Wiseman, and Kelly Long. I have only one more story to go in it and I love the book so far. Perfect for this time of year. :)

* I can't believe it is time to get ready for bed already. I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day tomorrow!

The Sunday Salon August 22, 2010

We got back from the beach today so I thought I would post some pictures for my Sunday Salon. :)

1. Our Condo
2. Me doing what I do at the beach (read) lol
3. My cousin and me
4. My family on the beach
5. Me

Sunday Salon July 18, 2010

* I had a pretty good weekend even though the weather was dreary for most of it. They always go by so quick. I read a few books.

* I did some housecleaning today. Still have some to go. It never ends. I need to reorganize the Tupperware cabinet. It has spilled onto the counter for right now.

* Does anyone have any green cleaning tips? I am addicted to Lysol spray and Clorox wipes.

* I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon July 4, 2010

* Happy Fourth of July! Today is one of my favorite holidays.

* We celebrated yesterday with a barbecue at the lake.

* Friday night I went to a balloon glow and fireworks thing. I loved it even though I got really tired toward the end.

* Today I have read several books probably because they were mostly YA.

* I am going to work for a little while tomorrow even though we are off. I have some things I want to get done.

* I have been doing okay for the past three weeks with my exercising and eating better. I ruined all my hard work this weekend but hopefully tomorrow I can get back on track. I have lost six pounds as of last Friday. We'll see tomorrow what it is now. :)

* I hope everyone has a great holiday and week.

The Sunday Salon June 13, 2010

* I had a busy weekend. Friday night my sister and I went to Pie Works, Pizza by Design. Saturday I ran errands and went to work for a time. Today I did laundry, finished a book, and went to a birthday dinner.

* Right now I am watching Drop Dead Diva and Army Wives.

* I participated in Bloggiesta for a little while this weekend. I only did around 2 hours. I intended to do more. I did accomplish two of the goals I set out to do which is pick a winner and write a book review. :)

* I am going to do the Huge TBR Readathon this week hosted by Bookworming in the 20th century. I have a lot of books to read is an understatement. This past week I did not read anything. I only read two books this weekend. I need to find a way to read more during the week.
http://www.bookworminginthe21stcentury.com/2010/06/huge-tbr-readathon.html

* I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time.

The Sunday Salon June 6, 2010

* I was off work all last week. I had some fun times but I missed work. I read several books but still have three more to read for reviews this week.

* So today I already went to church and now I need to do a little laundry. I am going to hopefully finish at least one book. Tomorrow I will have a list up of what I have read etc.

* I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon May 9, 2010

* We had a busy weekend. Friday night my sister and I went out to eat at Pie works, pizza by design. We love that place. Saturday we had a craw fish boil at my Mother and Stepfather's house for Mother's Day. Sunday night we went to a fish place for our Mother's day celebration on my father's side. While all this was going on I ran my usual errands. The last load of laundry is in the dryer right now. :)

* I read three books this weekend though not the Persephone one I was planning on this week. I failed that challenge. Ick.

* I received the Persephone book The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett this week. I ordered it off Amazon. It is the grey version but my problem is its abridged and I had no idea. I am a little book purist. I do not like abridged anything. What do y'all do? Do you read abridged books?

* I hope everyone has a great week and find lots of reading time.

The Sunday Salon May 2, 2010

* Where does the weekend go? Okay so that was somewhat rhetorical.

* Saturday I finished reading The Three Musketeers. Then went out shopping and to eat with my Dad and sister. I did not go to bed until 2 A.M. because I could not sleep or focus on a book.

* Sunday (today) I finished Love Will Keep Us Together by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt.
It was great. My review will be up Wednesday. Now I am going out shopping with my grandmother because the weather has been rainy icky and I am going house crazy. Have I done the laundry? No. But we do need cat food and I want to go to Sams, the library to return a book, and the grocery store. I also need to read at least one more book today. So we will see how it goes.

* I have not felt like reading lately partly because of some work stuff. I read 31 books in March and only 14 in April. Hopefully May will be better. I have decided to be positive and choose to be as happy as possible because I know I can do it.

* I hope everyone has a great week and finds lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon April 25, 2010

* Friday I went out to eat at Pie Works, Pizza by Design, with my sister. Saturday I worked all day. I am moving departments again Monday so I had loose ends to finish up at one job and catch up to start on my new/old job. I am going back to my records release job same company though.

* I did manage to read a few books this weekend too:

- Winter's Awakening by Shelley Shepard Gray

- Spring's Renewal by Shelley Shepard Gray

- No Hope for Gomez! by Graham Parke

* I just put my last load of laundry in the dryer. One of the cats had a hairball on my bed so I had to wash my bedspread too. Ick. I hope to start at least one more book tonight. I am ignoring the fact I need to go to the grocery store. lol

* I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon March 7, 2010

* Hello everyone. It is a beautiful slightly cold day here in the Deep South. I am so excited that the first day of Spring is only two weeks away.

* I cleaned my car out this morning. It still needs to be vacuumed but at least it is dejunked. :)

* I had a horrible reading weekend. I have not been able to focus. I finished one book so far called Pluto: The rise and fall of America's favorite planet by Neil Degrasse Tyson. I am currently reading Raven's Ladder by Jeffery Overstreet.

* I hope to finish two books today but we will see because I have not done the laundry yet. And I need to write two book reviews for tomorrow and two meme posts. Yikes it is 10:18 A. M. Central time already.

* I hope everyone has a great week and find lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon February 28, 2010

* Overall I had a good weekend. It went by so quick. It is hard to believe it is Sunday night already.

* I only read three books:
- Once in a Blue Moon by Leanna Ellis
- The Country House Courtship by Linore Rose Burkard
- The Lord is my Shepard by Debbie Viguie

* They were okay my favorite is probably the Country House Courtship. I will have reviews of all three in the next few weeks.

* I started A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer and so far I like it.

* Today I did my usual chores and went out to eat at Chili's with my sister, dad, and grandmother. It was good. And the weather was actually quite nice this weekend here in the Deep South.

* I have been on a baking kick lately. I made heart shaped valentine cookies, blueberry muffins, and chocolate coca cola cake. The cake is so good. Everyone at work loved it.

* I am so happy Spring is only three weeks away. In addition the Spring Reading Thing is coming up hosted by Katrina at Callipidder Days which I love her reading challenges.

* I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon February 21, 2010

* I can't believe the weekend is over already. Is it awful to wish for next weekend to already be here? I think it is because we are not promised to wake up each morning. A little morbid ...

* I had a good weekend and I read lots of books most good. I had my hair cut Saturday and it is way shorter in the back and angled in the front. I like it.

* I read:
- The House in Grosvenor Square by Linore Rose Burkard
- Cowgirl at Heart by Christine Lynxwiler
- the Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello
- Out with the In Crowd by Stephanie Morrill
- Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

* The only one I did not like very much was Burn. It was just weird especially the last fourth. Not sure how to review it. Everything else was good.

* I am way behind in reviewing. I have read 49 books so far this year. I have been too overwhelmed to count how many I have left to be reviewed. lol

* I joined Goodreads. I have been a member of Shelfari for years but this one is a little different.

* I am finishing up the laundry and I hope to read at least one more book tonight.

* I hope everyone has a great week and find lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon February 7, 2010

* Why do weekends have to go by so quick?

* I had a pretty good weekend. I have been a little frustrated lately. It seemed like everything was falling to pieces last week. Being a girl I know part of it was hormones.

* I read five books this weekend:

- Heart of the Matter by Marta Perry

- Anything but Normal by Melody Carlson

- Walking on Broken Glass by Christa Allan

- On Wings of Love by Kim Watters

- Double Trouble by Susan May Warren

* They were all good. My favorites are probably Anything but Normal and Double Trouble.

* I have not done my January wrap up yet. I am waiting to hopefully finish getting reviews written. We'll see. I might have to do it without.

* My sister and I made brownies today to take to Superbowl parties. We went over to my Mom and Stepfather's house first and then my Aunt Jenny's house. Good food and family, always a great combination. :)

* I think almost the entire South at least is celebrating the Saints Superbowl win. I am not a sports fan so it does not mean as much to me but I do think it is pretty cool. lol

* I really hope this week goes better/smoothly. Praying for calm, cool, and collectedness (is that a word?).

* I hope everyone has a great week and find lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon January 31, 2010

* I had an awful reading weekend. I read one book and I might finish another one tonight. I could not focus and we were busy Saturday. Today was major cleaning day. My house is so nice and clean. It feels great to start the week off with.

* Today was the last day for two reading challenges. The Japanese Reading Challenge 3 and the L. M. Montgomery. I read one book for each. I read Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery. I read After Dark by Haruki Murakami for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge 3. Here are the links to my reviews:
http://abookloverforever.blogspot.com/2010/01/short-sleek-novel-of-encounters-set-in.html

http://abookloverforever.blogspot.com/2010/01/jane-of-lantern-hill-by-l-m-montgomery.html

* I hope everyone has a great week and find lots of time for reading. :)

Sunday Salon January 24, 2010

* I had a pretty good weekend. It went by really quick.

* I read several books most of them really good.

* I read:
- Jenna's Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater
- The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig
- Kelly's Chance by Wanda Brunstetter
- Becca by the Book by Laura Jensen Walker
- Almost finished with Angel's Den by Jamie Carie

- All of the books were good but my favorites were Jenna's Cowboy and the Betrayal of the Blood Lily.

- I am still doing laundry but I need to clean the bathtubs. :( Not my favorite chore. lol

- Work has been a little unstable last week. They are cutting all overtime so my hours are changing. I will be 7:45 to 4:45 with an hour for lunch. I go to work and work as hard as I can all day so hopefully I will still be able to get everything done. I am also now collecting co insurance up front so if your insurance pays 80 you pay the other 20 percent. It was a little nerve wracking at first because I felt bad asking them for money but it is not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I do not want to curse myself though. Our patient load has not been heavy lately.

- I hope everyone has a great week and finds lots of reading time. :)

Sunday Salon January 17, 2010

* This has been a great reading weekend. The weather has been rainy and chilly. Perfect for staying in the bed with a book. Which is where I have been most of Saturday and today. I have some cleaning to do so I have not accomplished as much reading as I did Saturday.

* So far this weekend I have read:

- The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle by Raeanne Thayne
- Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux
- Screen Play by Chris Coppernoll
- Thicker than Blood by C. J. Darlington
- Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery
- The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher

* Most of these are for blog tours this week. My favorite is probably Jane of Lantern Hill. I love L. M. Montgomery's books. I have read almost all of them. I have not read her poetry or short stories though.

* I have a giveaway going on right now for The Male Factor by Shaunti Feldhahn. Here is the link to the post to enter on:
http://abookloverforever.blogspot.com/2010/01/male-factor-by-shaunti-feldhahn-review.html

* Off to read and finish the laundry. :)

* I hope everyone has a great week and finds lots of time to read.