The Sunday Salon June 24, 2012

* Wow Summer is here already although here in the Deep South Spring kinda felt like Summer this year. lol

* I have been reading some. I have four book tours this week so hopefully I can finish and review all the books. I have two of them done. They were both good.

* I am still working out but still gaining weight too. I am trying to cut carbs but it is not going so good. I have an ice cream addiction. lol And the dried fruit and nuts get me into trouble too.

* Right now I am reading The Director's Cut by Janice Thompson for review this week. I am also reading It Starts With Food by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig. I love it so far. They are the founders of the Whole 30 program. I have only managed to do it successfully one time but I really want to do it again.

* Really busy so not watching a lot of TV this summer. The only show I record is Cake Boss. I'll watch some stuff when in my sister's room on the computer at night but thats it. I am not a big tv watcher anyway. Have yall seen the show Duck Dynasty. It is a new reality show and it is freaking hilarious.

* Still getting things ready for the week. I need to peel eggs, put a salad together, pack my lunch box, wrap a present, unload the dishwasher, do a load of laundry, and sweep at least the kitchen. lol

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

The Sunday Salon June 3, 2012

* It's been awhile since my last Sunday Salon post. Life has been busy and I've been so tired.

* I will not be reading the 50 Shades of Grey book. It is not my cup of tea, I do not like funky s*x in my books. I have read several reviews and several people I work with are reading it too.

* I have read Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth recently and they were both good. The second one had some stuff in it that made me a little upset at the author because these are supposed to be teen books. I still can't wait for the third book next year to see how it ends. If you liked Hunger Games or dystopian fiction I recommend these.

* I am changing my workouts up some so hopefully I will be home a little earlier from now on. I want to do my strength training in the morning and train for a half marathon in December in the afternoons. The only thing is every time I run the groin area on my left side hurts bad which worries me some. Does anyone run and know what I can do to fix it? Any suggestions welcome.

* I need to clean floors tonight but I despise sweeping and mopping. What is your least favorite thing to clean?

* I want to read but I need to clean so off I go to clean hopefully quick. lol

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

The Sunday Salon April 8, 2012

* Happy Easter Everyone!

* Today would have been my Great Aunt Dorothy's 81st birthday but she passed away last year. Tomorrow is my Uncle Michael and my birthday. I will be 29. The years are going by so quick now and more relatives are passing away. It makes me sad to think about it. How often do I take life for granted? I vow to make the most of every day and tell everyone how much they mean to me.

* In the reading front I just finished the first two Waverly Bryson books by Maria Murname. They are mainstream Chick Lit. They were overall good but I am not a fan of drinking alcohol and casual s*x in my books. The general plot line was cute. A single woman's adventures in life kinda like an American Bridget Jones. I want to read the third one when it comes out to see what happens next to Waverly.

* This will be a short work week for me. I am leaving Friday to go to New Orleans with my Mom, Stepfather, Mimi, and Uncle Patrick. We are going for the French Quarter Festival. I can't wait. I am so excited. We went to the International Festival in Lafayette, LA, last year and I loved it. Mom said we are also taking a trolley to the Garden District. The hotel has a heated pool. I may not want to come home Monday. lol

* The menu for the work week is vege egg muffins for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch, Crock pot dry rub BBQ chicken and mashed cauliflower for dinner. I have put on way too much belly fat so after vacation I am going to do another Whole30. I am eating way too much ice cream and nuts. My blue jeans and scrubs are too tight. I worked way too hard getting it off to keep putting it back on like this.

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

The Sunday Salon March 18, 2012

* Wow time is really flying these days. I think this pretty much every week but I can't believe it is Sunday night already. I was off work Friday again. I am not going to know what to think working a five day work week again. lol It is so hot here in the Deep South and it is still technically Winter. We did not really have that season this year. Are weather conditions off where you live too?

* I am so excited. Tuesday is the first day of Spring and Katrina's Spring Reading Thing challenge. My list of books will be up on that day. Check out her site for more information (linked to on my sidebar).

* Looking ahead April will be a big month for me. I am turning 29 on April 9, Easter is April 8, I am going to the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans, and doing the Warrior Dash on April 21.

* I finished a really good audio book today. It was Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah. I also read the first three books in the Emma Ray series by Sandra Bricker. They are Christian fiction and were really good and cute. I  can't wait for the next book to come out. I really want to start another book tonight but I am still doing laundry, need to load the dishwasher, and get my stuff ready for tomorrow.

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

The Sunday Salon March 11, 2012

* I can't believe it is Sunday night already. The weekend flew by again and I was off work Friday. I am so tired today. I wonder if it is just me or others too. I hate time changes because it takes my body so long to get used to them. I am hungry even though I ate most of the day. lol

* I am currently reading A Grownup Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson and it is pretty good. I won't finish it tonight but that's okay. I am  listening to Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah in the car and its good too.

* Not looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully my desk is not too bad at work. I am planning on getting there and working super hard to get caught up but it still might take a few days.

* The Spring Reading Thing starts next week. I am working on my list. I don't really know what to put because I am reading whatever gets my attention these days and a few review books. It might be a small list but I finish more than  whats on it.

* I ate way too many carbs today which might be why I feel like crap right now. When will I ever learn my lesson? How many fat rolls do  I need?

* On that note I really am hungry so off to make a salad with baked chicken. :)

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

The Sunday Salon March 4, 2012

* The past week flew by and the weekend seemed to go by even quicker. I can' t believe Sunday is almost over. I have banana almond coconut flour bread in the oven and it smells really good.

* Last night my cousin Mollie (14) came over and we made coconut flour blueberry pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs and watched the movie, Sarah's Key. We agreed it was sad but overall a good movie.

* I am not doing so good staying Paleo. I ate two containers Ben and Jerrys his weekend and a whole bag of Terra Vegetable chips. I need to do another Whole 30. I have gained fifteen pounds in the past six months. It seems all I do is cook and eat. I still work out Thank God. I really do not want to end up overweight again.

* I finished the latest Hannah Swenson mystery, Cinnamon Roll Six Murder, this weekend. It was okay. I still like the series even though they are getting repetitious.

* March 20 starts the first day of Spring and the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days. I love her reading challenges and they might be the only ones I do this year. Normally by now I am signed up for over twenty but I just don't have it in me this year.

* I still have some cleaning to do but I need to read Blue Moon Promise by Colleen Coble for review this week. Hopefully I can do both. I need to go to Kroger and return the movie and bring my cousin some of the banana bread like I promised. :)

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

The Sunday Salon February 12, 2012

* Once again Sunday night has come. I really think the weekend went by even quicker this time around. It stinks!

* I stayed up until 12:30 this morning reading Home Front by Kristin Hannah. I could not put it down. I have not done that in forever. It was a page turner. It was so good I definitely recommend it.

* I also just started the third book in the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series. It is slower than the first two. I hope it does not take me forever to read it. I read a quick Love Inspired Suspense book this afternoon because my brain was fried from cooking and eating all day.

 *I have no idea how many carbs and calories I consumed this weekend. I am just going to try and make up for it this week. I want to start the Whole30 over again. I always end up failing because it is so strict. I know I have been eating way too much fruit and nuts though. Knowing and doing something about it are two very different things. lol

* I am doing laundry and still have to put my salad together for tomorrow and pack my lunch box. lol

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

The Sunday Salon February 5, 2012

* Why does the weekend always go by so quick? I can't believe Sunday is almost half over. It is quite depressing to think about so I am stopping. lol I had a good weekend. I read two books. One for the Money by Janet Evanoich and Along Wooded Paths by Tricia Goyer.

* One for the money was okay. It had too much cussing and sex stuff in it. My sister wants to go see the movie and I wanted to read the book first or I would not have read it.

* Along Wooded Paths was very good. It is the second in the Big Sky series and is an Amish book but not really a typical one. I can't wait to read the third book coming out in March. Highly recommended!

* I am in the middle of my Sunday cooking right now. I am making almost the same thing as last week. I really liked it. I am going to try to post some recipes this week for the green beans and turkey burgers. I love the Food Lovers Make it Paleo blog and cookbook which is where I found the green bean recipe.

* I also want to get some more reading in if possible. I am almost half way in the Girl Who Play With Fire and I want to finish it even though the cussing and sex bother me. I am not sure why. For some reason I want to see what happens to Lisbeth.

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

Sunday Salon January 29, 2012

* I'm still here. I can't believe how fast January has gone by. The weather is abnormally warm here in the deep South which is fine by me. I hate winter. I am actually reading more. It's a miracle and I am enjoying it more again. I have read 13 books so far this month. I am still working out but not quite as much. I quit counting calories and writing down what I eat when so there is less stress there. I am trying to focus on eating healthy and making good choices the majority of the time. I had gained back 20 lbs according to the doctor's scale two weeks ago but on my home scale in the mornings I am around 113 lbs. I would be lying if I said I did not want to lose back to 105-110 but I am enjoying being happy again.

* I cooked oven roasted  butternut squash and sweet potatoes, egg muffins, grilled chicken, turkey burgers, oven roasted green beans, salad stuff, salad dressing, and chicken salad today. That is the menu for the week. I love to eat!

* I have way too many books on my TBR shelves so I am still working on going through and donating some. A big bag went to the library this weekend. I still very overwhelmed when I look at them. I wish I could get them out of my room but there is nowhere else to put them. So this year my main focus is going to be reading from my shelves and less reading challenges and review books.

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

The Sunday Salon January 8, 2012

* The first Sunday Salon of 2012. So far I have been reading a lot this year. I only read 116 books last year so I hope to read at least 100 this year. I have not finished my post on my reading and life goals for the year. For some reason I feel like I am living in limbo. It makes no sense to me. I feel torn in different directions. I want to be fit and work out but I also want to read a lot again. I don't want to go back to an unhealthy lifestyle not that I have been doing so great with my eating the past couple months. I really need to get back on track but for some reason it is so hard. I know that life is made of choices and I make them every day and that is who I am.

* My sister and I got a Nook Tablet to share for Christmas and so far I love it. I have already finished three books on it and I working on two more. I did not link I would like it but am pleasantly surprised. I still love a "real" book though. I used it to listen to podcasts while I was cooking in the kitchen this afternoon. I loved that. I still need to figure out how to do audio books.

* I can't decide what to keep reading next. I have bookmarks in a ton of books. I still have some old review books I need to finish, some library books, and then a ton of my own I want to read. Some of my coworkers are reading Girl With a Dragon Tattoo so I started it but am having a hard time getting into it. What are you reading this week?

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

The Sunday Salon Monday December 26, 2011

* Happy day after Christmas! We had a great holiday. My sister and I did Christmas breakfast with my Dad's side of the family and Christmas lunch with my Mom's side. We are so blessed to have so much family close by.

* My big presents this year were a Cuisinart food processor and a Nook tablet (to be shared with my sister). I have been slow to jump on the ereader wagon but I did read a novella on it last night and it was not bad. I doubt I will switch all the way over to it. I have a ton of books on my TBR shelves and there is nothing like holding a real book in your hands and turning the page. :)

* I am still on an unofficial blogging break until January. I needed a break to reevaluate and breathe. I am still working on my goals for next year and I almost positive I will only be doing a few reading challenges. I failed most of the over twenty I signed up for this year. I am worn out on them too. I get excited when I see them come out but I don't have the time and energy to follow through.

* I have been off the diet wagon for the past few months and today was the day to start back. I did not count calories but made better choices. The ocd medicine the doctor has me on is really working and I am having a hard time counting calories and keeping up with what I eat. I want to get in shape and live a healthy active lifestyle.

* Off to read.  I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and plenty of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon November 27, 2011

* It is always hard to believe when it is Sunday night. Especially hard when we have a long holiday like Thanksgiving. It flew by but I am ready to go back to work. I am creature of routine. I am not ready for Christmas and a new year.

* We only have a little over a month left in 2011. I have a lot of goals to achieve. I want to start the new year with  a clean slate. I want to be caught up on all my review books. My motto this year was Building a Better Brittanie. I have not achieved what I wanted to. I had it and lost it rather. I am trying to think what I want 2012 to be like for my life and come up with a motto. Book wise I have already decided to accept less review books to focus more on reading whatever captures my attention whenever with no pressure. I want to find the pleasure reading used to have for me.

* In my personal life I want to lose the five pounds I gained back and go completely Paleo and stay that way. It feels like it will never happen because I keep falling off the wagon and it seems if it was something I truly wanted  I would make it happen. I lived the past week like mostly before summer 2010 when I started working out and changing my lifestyle and it stinks. The Texas cheese fries and chips and salsa at Chile's are good but not worth the hell that comes with it. It takes effort to change for good I know that. It seems like one part of me cares and the other doesn't and they are at war with each other inside me. It is not a pleasant place to live right now. I need peace and joy and happiness. I know I do not have a bad life and I am very blessed.

* Thank you for reading my ramblings. I hope everyone has a great week with lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon November 20, 2011

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving! Where is the time going? I am praying I make it to the new year without gaining anymore weight back. I have eaten around five pounds back. It is the weekends that are my weakest time of the week. Any advice on how to survive a weekend without overeating is welcome. Sugar is also my biggest weakness. I have always liked to bake and now I like to cook too. I have been experimenting with new recipes especially with alternate flours. I made banana nut bread with coconut flour today and I could have eaten the whole loaf. lol

I spend Sundays cooking, eating, and cleaning. I used to spend them reading and eating. I am still having trouble reading. I want to read but there are so many other things I need to be doing and I can't focus or rest because I am thinking about them. I think at this point I would settle for a book a week. I want my life to be more balanced. I want an active healthy lifestyle. Back when I was reading six or seven books a week I was not fit or healthy or trying for that matter. Why does life have to be so complicated or why do I make it that way?

I finished an audio book in the car this week that was pretty good. It is a nonfiction book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I am trying to get into jogging/running. The whole book was not a how to guide for running but told a story for the most part of him running with the Talmouri Indians. The only thing I did not like was how he took long side stories and then went back to the main story. It was sometimes confusing. There was also almost a whole Cd on evolution that I thought was unnecessary. Overall I recommend it.

Tonight I want clean some more and hopefully finish  a review book. I still have a couple to catch up on. In the new year I will be signing up for a whole lot less tours. I can't handle it anymore. I just want to read what I want when I want whatever captures my attention without worrying about a due date. I feel very guilty and overwhelmed when I miss a date which has happened way too much this year. I am thankful for the books and authors and I do not want to alienate anyone but I have to get some balance for my sanity.

I hope everyone has a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving if you live in the USA. :)

The Sunday Salon November 13, 2011

* I cannot believe it is Sunday night already. The days are flying by so quick. It is already November 13 and will be Thanksgiving before we know it. Yikes! I am so not ready for the end of 2011. I have so many goals and things left I want to accomplish. I have barely read a 100 books this year. I am still having problems focusing and finishing books. I have a stack of review books I am behind on and it is stressing me out. I have quit accepting so many but I do not want to quit altogether. I have a lot to think about for next year on how I am going to do things. Advice is welcome. I still love to read. I just spend more time exercising, cooking, cleaning, etc. Life is busier which is good because before I did not really have much of a life before Summer 2010 when I started trying to change my life. I still have changes I want to see happen. I guess we are never there life is a journey. :)

* Thank you for reading my random ramblings. I hope everyone has a great week and reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon April 24, 2011

* Happy Easter!

* I decided that today I could break my lifestyle just a little so I ate some white flour products. I ate way too much of the real food too. I am not thinking of the calories or I will go crazy. I didn't want too but it looked so good. I hate holidays sometimes. I live in the Deep South so we always have big dinners for every holiday. I go to two every holiday, my Mom's side and my Dad's side. Double yummy! It is always good to see all the family. We don't get to see a lot of them on a daily basis even though they do not live very far away. Every one's lives are so busy. :)

* I have not read that much this weekend. I have a book I want to finish today but I am still cleaning the house. I want the house spot less because on Thursday I am going out of town until Sunday. I am getting excited. I am going with my Mom, Stepfather, Grandmother, and Uncle Patrick to see family out of state. We are going to a festival on Friday and are having a family reunion on Saturday then coming home early Sunday morning. I can't decide what books to take with me. I don't know how much reading time I will have and there will not be a lot of spare room in the Pilot. I am taking the Ipad my sister and I share with me but I can't read on it for hours because I get a headache and I have review books that need to be read. lol

* So busy weekend and a busy week ahead. I am already tired or that might be all the sugar wearing off. ;)

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

The Sunday Salon April 17, 2011

* I can't believe how fast the weekend flew by this time. I am so not ready for the week. I still need to do my cooking and I am behind on review books and I need to study for my Internet class.

* Feeling very overwhelmed and frustrated today which lead to overeating. Bad Brittanie! I did okay Friday and Saturday though. I am looking forward to hitting the gym tomorrow. I should have gone today but I can't make myself work out on Sundays so I have turned it into my off day. Sundays are the worst day of the week for me. I am trying to do 21 days no sweets and low carb. It is not going so good. I really broke it today. I have not decided if Kashi cereal bars and breakfast cereal are on it or not. I know less bread, pasta, etc. Absolutely no ice cream, cake, muffins, etc. The more I read the more I am convinced that sugar is really bad for you and makes you fat and sick. I read a great article today on it. What do you think?http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=4

* This will be a short work week because we are off Friday for Easter. This is not good for me because I am behind on my work and the week after this one I am off Thursday and Friday to go on a vacation. I know I am not the only person who does not like to take off work because of the way it is when you come back. So that is stressing me. I am going to do my best to get everything done and choose to be happy no matter what happens. I will focus and work like my Mama taught me.

* Off to cook and hopefully finish my review book and write the review tonight. I want to get caught up on my review books this Spring!

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

The Sunday Salon April 10, 2011

* I am officially another year older as of yesterday. I am 28 and most of the time I feel it. lol

* I have not read anything this week. I have not been able to focus. I am hoping to finish a book tonight but we'll see. I still need to do some food prep for next week.

* I had my birthday dinner for my Mom's side Saturday night and we had Miss Geno's Chicken, garlic bread, salad, strawberry shortcake, and whole wheat apple spice cupcakes. :)

* Today I had a combined birthday dinner on my Dad's side with my Uncle Michael and Effie. I was born on  his 15th birthday! We had all kind of good food including ribs, chicken, green beans, aspargus, sweet potatoes, cheese grits, and lots of cake. We had a chocolate cake, strawberry cake, and carrot cake. The strawberry was for me. I loved it. I ate so much I still feel sick from all the sugar. Starting tomorrow I am going 21 days low sugar and watching my carbs a little better. I have gained back fat in my stomach and I am not happy about it. The celebration is over, time to work. lol

* My online classes really start tomorrow so I will be stressing this week. I also have a lot of posts/book tours for this week so it will be post heavy from me. Thinking about everything for tomorrow makes me want to hyperventilate so I am going to prepare and practice deep breathing. :)

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

The Sunday Salon April 3, 2011

* Happy Sunday Everyone! It is a beautiful Spring day here in the Deep South. I have my Kitchen window open and our cats are loving it.

* I am in serious cleaning/organizing mode. My online classes start tomorrow and I want everything perfect. I have not done school stuff in over three years but I do remember being a little of a procrastinator so I want to start the week off with everything done. lol  Also it reduces my stress level. I am really nervous about this school stuff and how it might change my life now and in the future. I know I should not worry but focus on moving toward my goals but it is hard. :)

* I have had a busy weekend so far and a long to do list for today including cleaning, reading, cooking, and blogging. I wanted to go to the gym and try out Yoga but I do not think I will have time. I still need to bake muffins, cook my turkey tenderloin, figure out what I am going to do with my boneless skinless chicken breasts for the week, cook my fresh greens beans, bake my sweet potatoes, and make my spinach salad. Does anyone have any good healthy recipes for chicken?

* I have not read anything this weekend. I am going to try and read a short book today if I can focus. I have several reviews I am behind on that I need to write up today too. My 28th birthday is next Saturday so I will not be doing the 24 hour read a thon this Spring. I have too many other things going on. :(

* My lifestyle changes are still struggling a little. All I want to do on the weekends is eat and not exercise for some reason. I need to get motivated again, I can see the fat coming back in my stomach area and that makes me not happy. I have all new small pretty Spring clothes to wear. I got my hair cut yesterday which did make me feel a little better. Any advice is welcome.

* Okay I am going to get back to work now. lol I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon March 27, 2011

* This will be a quick Sunday Salon as it is time for me to get ready for bed. lol

* I read two books today. I read Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke and False Pretenses by Kathy Herman. They were both good suspense/mystery books.

* I did some of my cooking for the week. I made turkey cutlets, marina sauce, and whole wheat penne rigata pasta. I need to make my boneless skinless chicken breasts for the week and my salad. I was going to make muffins and ran out of steam and time.

* I did horrible on my lifestyle change this week. It is like I am kinda giving up but I really don't want too. Starting tomorrow back on counting calories and working out. I need to get rid of the rest of this belly fat and tone up. Friday night was bad. I ate half a container Ben and Jerry's and a bag of Chex party mix and that was just dinner. Not sure why I do things like that to myself. Today all I did was eat and although it was all healthy and not at one time it was still way too much.

* School starts in a week and I am trying to get caught up on my review books before then. I still have several so I don't think it is going to happen but maybe it won't be too bad. I have gotton rid of two boxes of books this month which is good.

* I really need to get my stuff ready for tomorrow and get ready for bed so I hope everyone has a great week and lots of reading time. :)

The Sunday Salon January 23, 2011

* This weekend has flown by so quick.

* Bloggiesta Ole! is this weekend and I have not accomplished as much as I wanted too.

* I have written a review, cleaned out my email, cleaned out my google reader, and written this post. I need to update my sidebar for reading challenges and write some more book reviews. I am not sure how much I will do.

* Friday my ears were acting up again and I have no idea what is wrong with them. When I talk it feels like I am in a tunnel and it echoes. I missed some of my workouts last week because of it and I am not a happy camper.

* Saturday I cleaned in the morning and that afternoon had my hair cut then ran errands. That night I went to Pie Works and had bread sticks, salad, and pizza with my Dad, Sister, and Grandmother. Ick on calories again. I love pizza and its my favorite food but I think I need to cut back on it. lol

* Today I have cleaned the house some, read some, blogged some, and eaten way too much. I do not know what it is about being at home all day that makes me want to eat. It's awful. My ears are acting up again after not doing it yesterday. I really hope I can do my workouts this week and get off these extra calories. It is common sense to just not eat them in the first place but that is easier said than done sometimes. Besides I have never had a lot of common sense. :) I really do not want to look like I did before or worse. Motivation is getting harder and harder to do what it takes. I need a permanent lifestyle change for it to stick.

* Book wise I have read two books this weekend and I hope to finish a third tonight. Reading goal wise I am doing okay. I have not really gotten into the Count of Monte Cristo yet so I am a little behind on it but I built a little leeway time in so its still okay. I checked a lot of nutrition books out of the library so maybe I will practice some of the information I learn.

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