A total bookworm

I haven't posted about what books I have read in a while so figured I would post them! I seriously LOVE how much I get to read at work - it's AWESOME! After I finished Breaking Dawn, I read "The short second life of Bree Tanner". Lindsey let me borrow it - it was really good actually. Gave vampires a different spin, and it was nice hearing something not in Bella's perspective. And it was short so I was able to get through it in a day or two. And then Lindsey, Spencer, Jake & I watched the Breaking Dawn movies. I really liked the filming in these ones - it looked so much better than the last few! But they SUCKED at sticking to the books. And that's a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Other than that though, pretty impressed.

Then I started reading the Hourglass Door series. Read the first one in a few days and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked them. I read the second one in a little less time and am waiting to read the third one {a girlfriend at work is letting me borrow hers}. It's different switching from the Twilight books to the Hourglass Door series to say the least - I'm used to Edward protecting Bella and being invincible and Dante lets Abby do things that put her in danger and Dante is NOT invincible so it's been a mind shift for me but I like the books a lot!

I also started reading "This Is Why You're Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever): Eat More, Cheat More, Lose More--and Keep the Weight Off" from Jackie Warner. Title jumps out at ya right? I got it before Christmas and just am now starting it. The main reason I want to read it is because she talks a lot about how to incorporate cheat meals so that this is for life. The Eat Clean Diet book was amazing, but I felt like there was no cheating - you do this for life and that means no dessert or chips or crackers ever again which lead to binging. So I like that this book talks about the importance of "relaxing" on the weekends. I've only read the first chapter but so far I really like it. I had no idea that hormones played such a big role in losing weight and maintaining it!

Once I finish the book all the way through I'll be sure to post how the rest of it was and whether or not it's something I can apply to my life :) And as soon as I'm done with the 3rd Hourglass Door book I'll be looking for recommendations, because I hate having down time in between books :)

Breaking Dawn Night

Jake is working a 12 hour shift tonight to make up for a half night he took earlier this week. That means that I pulled into the garage from work, he met me at the door, kissed me and got in the car to go to his work. So no dinner together, no time together. Joys of adulthood.

And nights when Jake isn't here are when I usually struggle the most. Well not tonight!

I got me some "comfort" dinner - air pop popcorn and my 150 calorie ice cream and I'm good to go! I curled up on the couch with my book and a spoon and popcorny goodness and I feel content. And dinner was less than 300 calories. I stayed in my calories today, which is REALLY awesome since I was RAVENOUS earlier at work and would have eaten an entire pizza if it had been in front of me. I settled for an apple and some goldfish. Tracked it in my phone too. It made me actually taste the food instead of inhaling it. That's a good thing haha.

My idea of a good night!

He was laying all over my book - he likes getting LOTS of attention when I am sitting on the couch or in bed

I had every intention of finishing Breaking Dawn tonight. I was around page 175 when I left work, and there's around 750 pages in the whole book. I'm coming up on page 400 and tapping out - I am just too tired. And it's barely 9 PM. I'm a whimp!! Night in, house to myself, and I'm reading a book and going to bed early. I'm kinda proud of that in a weird way - I like that I enjoy reading so much. That I'd rather do that then watch TV. Hopefully I make some good progress on my book tomorrow :)

Team Jacob

So Breaking Dawn: Part 2 just came out on DVD and I gotta admit - it looks really good. I wanna see it. And I haven't wanted to see ANY of the movies. Jake took me to see Twilight when we were dating, as a surprise. Yeah brownie points for sure. I was so disappointed. And I thought Jake was gonna die haha. So when New Moon came out, I decided to wait for Redbox. Until my dad said he wanted to see it for his Father's Day gift {yeah, my dad LOVES Twilight. Like A LOT} so we all went to see New Moon in dollar theaters. Again, Jake about died. I thought it was better than Twilight, but still didn't love it. But I didn't love the book either. And then Eclipse came out, and I decided to just skip it all together until it was on TV one night on HBO so I just watched it and I was kinda surprised - it was pretty good. But I was determined not to see either of the Breaking Dawn movies. Just for principle sake. But the other day, I saw a commercial for the newest one and I caved - I really want to see them.

So I came in and was talking to Lindsey about it and she was all for having a girls night and watching them together. I decided I wanted to re read them first though, so I could be super refreshed on what happens in each of the books. I started Twilight, and it took me probably 3 days to read it. I came home from work last Thursday {the day I finished Twilight} and started New Moon on the couch. And finished New Moon, on the couch. Went to bed around 2 AM. And that was AFTER I had read another 50 pages of Eclipse. I just finished Eclipse this morning {I would have finished it last night - I only had 9 pages left but I had Young Women's and forgot about it until this morning at breakfast}. I have Breaking Dawn next to me, at my desk as we speak, and I am SO excited to read it.

It makes a difference re-reading these books knowing what happens. I can focus on the story, rather than being super worried whether or not she will end up with Edward. When I read the books the first time, I was SO pro Edward. The movies ruined that for me though - I love Jacob. And it helps that I have my own Jacob at home that rides motorcycles & 4 wheelers :)

I am hoping to be done with Breaking Dawn by this Friday so that Lindsey and I can start our movie marathon this weekend, since Jake is working overtime this Friday and I will be home alone. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!!

Enjoying it while I can

I get to read a lot, thanks to my slower paced job. Last time I posted about reading, I had just finished "Uglies" - the first book in a series of 4. I have since read the remaining 3 books in that series. They were ok - not my favorite but pretty good. First book was my favorite. Then I moved onto "Look Again". My mom recommended it to me. It's about a woman who realizes that the son she adopted was actually kidnapped so her adoption is void. It was pretty intense - loved it! Read it in 2 days, 3 tops.

Then I started "Carousel" from Richard Paul Evans. Read that in 2 days. Pretty good book. His books all kinda seem the same to me though. And then I started "Deadline" from Clair M Poulson this morning at work. And just finished it. Yeah, I read an entire book in one day. And it's a Saturday! I got about 70 pages read at work and then read the remaining 200 ish pages while Jake was helping his buddy Nick move. Yeah, on a Saturday night while my husbands away I read a book. Man I'm lame!

Time for a new book. I have a few "self help" type books I want to read - maybe I'll do one of those next? Either way, I'm enjoying all the reading time while I can!

Bookworm...

The day before my birthday, I finished the Harry Potter books. I flew threw the last 2 pretty quick - I think it was about a week. I'd read the first 5 a LOT of times so I didn't re read those. And then I was like "dang what am I going to read now?!" until my mom reminded me that I hadn't read "Reached" yet.

It's book 3 in the "Matched" trilogy. So I opened it and started to read it. Totally forgot everything I had read in the first 2 books - read those about 8 months ago. So I got my hands on the first one {Matched} and read it in about a week - that's the week Clint came home. And then I got the second book {Crossed} on the phone in the Nook app. Read that in about 3 days. Finished it on a Saturday afternoon, but the 3rd book was in my desk at work and the bank had already closed so I had to wait until Monday to read it. First world problem right? So I get to work Monday and started it. Was on page 354 when I went to bed. Finished it the next day at work at lunch. Which means I finished the series.

It's a pretty good series. 3rd book was kinda disappointing but I liked it. First one was my favorite. They are a young adult fiction - easy read, super clean & about the government controlling everything we do - in the future. {Cough cough}

But now I am outta books! Or so I thought! One of the girls I used to work with, Lisa {who is now a stay home mommy to her adorable twins} told me about the uglies books. Uh what? The first one is called "Uglies". Who calls a book that?! But I was intrigued and bought all 4 books on Half.com for under $12! I will always be an eBayer at heart, regardless of the fact that working there was absolute hell. Anyway, I got these books.

So I brought one to work yesterday {Tuesday} along with "Reached" in case I finished one book and needed another to read. I did end up finishing "Reached" so I started "Uglies". Came home from work, went to Costco, and then came home and read while Jake was finishing Young Mens before we went to Cafe El Lago for a dinner date. I was on page 154. So I read roughly 350 pages both Monday and Tuesday.

Get to work today, and I just HAD to keep that streak going. In order to read that many pages, I would have to finish "Uglies" today. So guess what? I finished it. 

I like these books!! And I am really glad I bought all 4 books and they are all sitting at my house so that I can read them back to back and not have to wait for shipping or for them to be released {gasp!!}.

I am seriously addicted to reading right now. So onto the rest of the "Uglies" series, and then I think I am going to read "The Hourglass Door{?}" series. And then I might read "The Work and The Glory" series. Yeah I have a lot of books ahead of me. But I am SO loving that I am reading again. I always really liked to read and the last few years, I started watching more TV and reading less. Now, I don't watch much TV but I read like a crazy person - obviously.

I'll keep you posted on how fast I get through the rest of the books in the "Uglies" series!

Finally Done

I finally read all 7 of the Harry Potter books. The past week, it's all I have been able to think about. And now I'm done. 7th was kinda hard to push through - super depressing and confusing and I was super impatient but oh was it worth it. I've been reading at work - we've been so slow and I had to stop myself a few times from cheering out loud at a few parts. And had to stop myself from crying at a few parts. Like a lot of parts. Seriously, I love Harry Potter haha. Still sad that Sirius Black had to die - he was my favorite. But oh I love these books!!! Now that I've finally read them all, I think I need to have a marathon and watch all 8 movies! I've seen the first 4 but it's been a while. Good thing I have a long weekend coming up... I know exactly what I'll be doing... Ok not really. Taking time off work to see Clint. But I'm hoping to squeeze a few movies in there too!!

Now, to find another book to entertain me... Nothing is going to live up to these books though. Man, I love that I love to read. I love that I can get lost in a book and forget things about my own life because I get so drawn in to these new worlds I find. Oh my gosh I sound like a nerd. Hope Jake doesn't read this haha. Any suggestions anyone has for my next book are greatly appreciated...

Long live Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived {I just had to!!}

Struggling...

I am having a hard time dealing with "everyday" life since I started reading Harry Potter. All I want to do is read. Every minute of every day. Thank heavens it has been slow at the bank and I can read a ton. I have been averaging about 200 pages a day - finished book 6 today. I've read it before but I still was seriously holding back tears when Dumbledore dies. {HOPE I DIDN'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR ANYONE!!} I'm a baby when it comes to books - I cry much easier reading a book than I do while watching a movie. Yeah I feel like I am "temporarily" living my life and as soon as a customer leaves, I can go back to Hogwarts and the life I have taken up over there this past week.

Lindsey brought book 7 in for me, so I have already started it. But I just feel deflated knowing Dumbledore is gone. That's part of why I never read 7 to begin with - I hated that Sirius Black died, and I hate that Dumbledore died. I know not everyone can live but that makes me so sad!! And mad - I love Sirius! He was my favorite!! Poor Harry has everyone he loves die. It's depressing!! But you'd better believe I am planning to fly through Book 7 haha. Maybe I should try to go slow and enjoy it... but there are enough books out there to read that once I am done, I will find another awesome book to start on.

Found this on Pinterest and it was too perfect to not share haha.

Alright back to Harry Potter. And yes I am a nerd, but trust me - it's one of those blustery weather, rainy kinda days where you want to curl up with a book next to a fireplace with hot chocolate & thick socks on. And I am at work. Without any hot chocolate. And nylons aren't the same as fuzzy socks. But oh well right? I can imagine :)

Lacking a clever title...

So I am pretty caught up on my blogging from the holidays - with the exception of blogging about Christmas with the Jones'/Burton families but I need to get a few pictures from Brynne before I can post about that so here is a plain ol' "update" post on what's going on with us right now.

Jake applied for a position on day shift as a shipping clerk and had his interview today! He felt like it went really well, so we are crossing our fingers. We don't think we'll know for about 10 days since they are interviewing 32 people but we are hoping that he got it! Yes, 32 people. Apparently Jake isn't the only one wanting a change of pace at work haha. The good news is that he likes the area he is in now, and he likes the team he is with so if he doesn't get it, it'll be ok. We just both REALLY want him to go to day shift and he is ready for something new so pray that we get positive news back!

I am flying through Harry Potter. I set a goal to read about 100 pages a day and am averaging around 200 a day and it's been REALLY slow at the bank so I am hoping to be done by Saturday at the latest! I forgot how much I love the Harry Potter books. I love books in general, but Harry Potter just is something else - it's a whole new world and after having not read them for so long I keep having to mentally remind myself what certain things are, or ask Lindsey about someone or something from the 5th book that I apparently have forgotten. I maintain that the 3rd book is my favorite, but the more that it comes up, the more I realize how much I liked 4 as well. I just love Harry Potter.

Still love my hair!! I have had a few extensions "fall" out but Kariann put them back in and I realized {thanks to Kariann and Google} that I was doing quite a few things wrong and that was what was causing them to slide out. Those things have been remedied and they are working awesome. I have curled it every single day since I got them and I am wanting to venture out and try half ups or something else with them but I am nervous about them showing haha. I am getting pretty good at curling my hair though! I was a HUGE hairspray queen and would pretty much cement my hair in place to make it look perfect all day. Don't do that anymore - I'm relaxing on how it looks since I want it to move like normal hair haha. I've also been wearing headbands more - well twice since I got them, which is two more times than I've worn headbands in the last 6 months! I absolutely love my hair. Don't regret getting them AT ALL!

I start using my DoTerra oils day before yesterday and so far I really like them. I do a drop or two of lemon in my water each morning after breakfast and then take the supplements at night with dinner. I have been taking "OnGuard" every day because there is both strep and the flu going around and I don't want to catch either on them! So far {knock on wood} so good! I felt it coming a little bit, just a scratchy throat but since starting my oil regimen I feel great. I also got the supplements "PB Assist" and "GX Asssit" so that I can do the DoTerra cleanse. You take GX Assist everyday for 10 days, then take PB Assist every day for 5 days, then do nothing for 15 days, then repeat. It is for cleansing the gastro intestinal tract. Today is day 3 {I take them at night} and I have lost 1.2 pounds so far - that's nothing to sneeze at! I had been wanting to do a "cleanse" through Beachbody called "The Ultimate Reset" but changed my mind because it is pretty expensive {$220 for the kit}, you eat REALLY restrictive foods for 3 weeks {so I'd be cooking 2 dinners each day and the food is EXPENSIVE} and there's no working out allowed for the 3 weeks, plus the week after. Yeah no not for me. True, I do take some days off from working out but going 4 weeks without it? That'd kill me!! So this is DoTerra cleanse is a good alternative for me because I can still workout, I can still eat the same dinners I am cooking for Jake and eat the same foods I normally eat but it will clean out my system and help clean out any toxins or gunk chillin' in my body. This is also a cleanse that is recommended if you are trying to get pregnant {fingers crossed}.

Speaking of Beachbody, I am no longer a coach. Pretty sure I talked about that already - somewhere on here haha but it just isn't for me. I think it's an awesome opportunity for people and I love the company - just don't think coaching is for me.

I am getting pretty dang trendy with my clothes & such. Way into coral, mint green & teal right now, along with skinny belts at the waist. And shoes. It's me - I love shoes. I wear heels a LOT now though. Like every single day. If I'm not in Nikes, I'm in heels. Which I'd rather be in Nikes haha. Getting smaller has definitely made me a shopping fanatic. I always used to secretly think my husband was so lucky that he wasn't married to one of "those" girls - the ones that have more shoes, purses & clothes than they know what to do with. Well, I've become one of those girls. Poor Jake... He is being pretty good about how much I spend on clothes though. We have a budget for it, and I had a few gift cards left over from Christmas so my spending has been minimal :)

I wore red. And stripes. With a "statement" necklace. And a skinny belt. I am going all sortsa outta my comfort zone!

Just finished Phase 1 of ChaLean Extreme {Burn Circuit} with my weights. Ok seriously, I can't tell you how much of a difference I have noticed in my body since I started ChaLean Extreme, let alone since I started it with weights. It is AMAZING how fast your body builds muscle. I am sore pretty much everyday - especially my legs - but I take that as a good sign. There was a day last week I wasn't sore after my workout and I was kinda mad at myself - means I didn't push myself to failure. I can't WAIT to see where I'm at when I'm all done with all 3 phases :)

After my workout earlier this week - did little bit of everything and burned 719 calories!! WOOT!!

I had been wanting to enter my results in the Beachbody Challenge at the end of this month for a chance to win $1000 but I'm starting to think maybe I want to wait until I've lost the last little bit I want to lose. Or at least toned a little more. Building muscle has me realizing I should ignore the scale, most of the time, but I do want to lose another 15 ish pounds. And I really want to tone a little more. So maybe, between the cleanse and how clean I've been eating, I will feel ready to enter my results at the end of February. The winner for December started at the same place I did {around 295 pounds} and is down to 133. Yeah no I am NOT that small yet. So I kinda want to wait until my loss is a little more dramatic. I guess we'll see - maybe I'll enter it this month and if I don't win, then I will enter again at the end of February, March, April... until they send me a check for $1000 :)

Ok I think that's all the updates I've got for ya :) I'll keep you posted on the cleanse, workouts, Jake's job, and my re-ignited Harry Potter obsession!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day has always meant a day off for me. There isn't school & it's a banking holiday. This year though, I feel like I am actually celebrating it in an appropriate way. How? I FINALLY finished reading "The Help".

It's an amazing book. Seriously if you haven't read it I highly recommend it! It took me a while to get through it but it was well worth it and I loved it. It's made me think a lot about how different things are now from only 50 years ago. Reading some of the things that used to happen in the south are so awful that I feel like it was should have been hundreds of years ago.

I finished the book on Saturday night. Jake had worked overtime the night before and was pretty tired, so we came home and he got ready to go to bed around 7 PM. That means he had been up for over 24 hours. Sometimes I just don't know how he does it! I wasn't tired, since I had taken a nap after work so I decided I would have a relaxing "pampering" Saturday night...

Lavender bubble bath, chocolate shakeology for dinner, a good book & a Proactiv mask 

I love long bubble baths. LOVE them. That was one of the requirements for the house we bought - it had to have a good bath tub. And I was kinda craving something chocolatey so I made me some Chocolate Shakeology for dinner. Yep that hit the spot. I don't have Shakeology very often anymore, but it's nice to have on days I really want something sweet! And I started using Proactiv again - I will post more about that in a week or two since I want to do a side by side of how my skin is clearing up since I started using it again.

I was in the tub for 3 hours. Had to rinse out the water once and add new water since it got so cold but it was wonderful. Seriously, I love LONG bubble baths. And I finished my book. And when I was done, I just walked around the house kinda in a stupor that things like that really happened in my parent's lifetime. It's seriously AWFUL how things like that happened! Makes me SO grateful for Martin Luther King, Jr. & Rosa Parks and all those who put their foot down and demanded that things be different. Also kinda makes me think of "Remember the Titans". I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!! And in that movie, there is a lot of problems in their town because they are making the schools interracial. Yeah just makes me so sad to think people could act that way. I plan to watch the movie of "The Help" later on today. I have been wanting to see it FOR-E-VER but wanted to read the book first, since I'm that annoying person that will compare them and I always like to have read the book first.

I slept in really late today {seeing that I don't have work} and didn't get up until around 1 PM. Yeah talk about a waste of a day. I am getting a little bit of a sore throat though... Hopefully getting some rest and taking it easy today will help me get feeling better. I decided to get a few things accomplished though - like cutting Max's hair.

Being camera shy 

He needed a cut SO badly - I kept telling him the last 2 weeks he looks like an Ewok from Star Wars - the little teddy bear things in the sixth one {Return of the Jedi}. He is so cute when he gets fluffy but it was way past time for a cut. And the weather is actually pretty nice today. And when I say nice, I mean that it's 25 degrees outside. It has been SOOOOOO cold lately and I had to take advantage of the slightly warmer weather. 

Doesn't he look so cute?? 

And I had to document me. Max loses his hair when it gets cut {obviously} and while most of it lands on the ground or on the ironing board where I cut his hair, a good portion of it always seems to get on me ...

Not anywhere near as bad as previous times but still had way too much on me for my liking! 

My mother in law also was able to pick up my new DoTerra oils today! Yes, I am jumping on the DoTerra wagon. I eat healthy - no processed stuff or ingredients I can't pronounce. So why would I put medicine in my body that has things in it I can't pronounce? Now - that does NOT mean that I am never going to take medicine from a pharmacy or whatever. I am grateful for modern medicine and plan to use it when needed. I just want to try using the oils and see how they work in comparison to not using any medicine at all {like I have been}. I haven't been sick or anything - just when I have a headache, I don't do anything about it. When I have a stomach ache, I don't do anything about it. So I am excited to try these oils!!

Alright - signing off now. Plans for the remainder of the day are to take Max for a walk since it's a pretty nice day and we haven't gone on one in months, watch "The Help", pick up my oils & start reading the sixth Harry Potter book. I haven't read the seventh one. Ever. Gasp. I know - I am WAY behind haha. But before I read the seventh, I know I will need a refresher so I am going to read the sixth one again. I have read the other 5 probably 4 or 5 times each, so I have those ones down fairly well. I am so excited to get to FINALLY finish the series - thanks Lindsey for letting me borrow them!!

Oh and PS - no binging this weekend. NONE. And my reward for doing so awesome? Lost 2 pounds. I've been the same weight since November 12 & because I am developing some discipline again, the weight is coming off again. WOOT!!!!! So proud of me!!! And you'd better believe when I almost binged, I thought of my blog & my goals I had written down and that I wanted to track everything I eat and then I didn't binge! Write your goals down people - tell other people about them. It helps!!

Crazy Cool If...

For my 24th birthday, my sister Brynne got me one of the best books I have ever read called "Push" by Chalene Johnson - the creator of all things Turbo. It is a a "diet and exercise" book, but it is also a book about goals and working towards the things you want in life and how fitness plays into that. Seriously - AMAZING book. I highly recommend it! The book has 30 chapters, and is designed to read a chapter each day. It is the end of July and I am STILL not done with the book - but oh I love it.

One of the first things that she has you do is list 10 crazy cool things that you want to have happen this year. 10 things that are like crazy - out of this world - but would be SO awesome if they happened. Attainable but hard things. And you write them in the present tense, like they have already happened. I made my list back in January and have really been giving it a lot of thought lately and changed a few of them and thought I'd post them!

It'd be crazy cool if...

• I am a certified turbo instructor
• I weigh 160 pounds
• I am a size 8
• We have a fully funded emergency fund (can pay all bills and remain debt free for 6 months if Jake lost his job)
• I have performed an endowment session in every Utah temple
• I have attended Camp Do More
• I have run a half marathon
• I have been sky diving
• I am sealed to my husband

Some of those we are really close on - the turbo instructor should be happening before Halloween {hopefully!!}, I should be at my goal weight by Thanksgiving, goal pant size probably around my birthday  {which means I may end up weighing less than my goal weight}, sky diving hopefully for my 25th birthday and HOPEFULLY sealed by Christmas!!! That would make this the most EPIC year of my life - I will have lost over 90 pounds just this year and 130 pounds overall, and become sealed to my amazing Jake. I look at wedding dresses all the time, since we are going to have professional pictures taken and I am going to rent another wedding dress {it'll be like our second wedding day!!} and that REALLY motivates me to work out! I love our wedding pictures, don't get me wrong, but I have changed SO much since then and want the new pictures to really show all those changes - my weight, my attitude, my complexion, my hair, blah blah.

On our wedding day, I was SO stressed. Like it's unmeasurable how stressed I was. I hope I never, ever feel that way again. And it was my fault because I was a bridezilla and had to have everything perfect and because I was so stressed I was SO snappy and rude leading up to the wedding and at times on the day of the wedding and my skin was broken out and I just feel mad at myself that I acted that way towards other people on my wedding day. I am dang lucky Jake still married me haha. And that my sisters still talked to me afterwards. So I want to get a "do over" and have our sealing day be absolutely perfect, in all the ways a wedding day is perfect - with mistakes, and smiles over someone being a little late rather than coming unglued about absolutely everything. And more importantly, I can't wait to know that Jake is mine beyond this life. That death can't seperate us. That our kids will be born to parents who were married by the property authority so that we can be a forever family. And that is a goal worth working towards!

Might be from the Capitol...

A little while ago, I found this on Pinterest: 

Totally made me laugh and it is SO true!! I have been so excited for The Hunger Games movie to be released and we ended up getting to see it the night before it was released at a VIP showing at Thanksgiving Point, with my family!! My mom treated the whole family - isn't she just the greatest?? Here are some of the highlights - of us, not the movie... 

I was SO excited - I could barely contain myself all day. Jake - not so much haha

Jeannene, Popper, Sam & Jackson at the movie

We got $5 gift cards to concessions per couple - here is Blake, Brynne, Mom & Rick getting some snacks before the movie! 

I am so glad Jake came with me - he is the greatest! 

SO excited!! 

Excited mom, not so excited Jake haha

Our seats were fairly close to the front of the theater and the screen was MASSIVE - one of the biggest movie theater screens I have ever seen. Add that all up and yep I got motion sick in the movie. I ended up watching most of the movie on the floor in one of the aisles because I could partially block part of the screen so that I wasn't quite so overwhelmed. Needless to say, we need to go see it again so I can see the entire movie from my seat and actually be able to watch the whole movie, looking at the entire screen haha. I am just a wimp and get motion sick way too easily. It was so fun though, and what I did see of the movie was fabulous! There were a few things that were different than the book that I picked up on right away, but nothing that bothered me too much. Can't wait to see it again!! 

The big 24

I just had my 24th birthday and it was so awesome! The day before {the 29th} we had a family birthday party at my mom & Rick's house. Brynne, Blake, Jeannene, Jackson {Jeannene's boyfriend}, Popper & my dad were able to come too! We had teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies and sushi. Oh I am obsessed with sushi these days. SO yummy. And it's still pretty good for you too! 

After we were finished with our amazing dinner, we got to open my presents. Jake & I missed Blake's birthday so we gave him his present first!

Laughing at the card - we told him we loved him even though he is a Lebron James fan

We got him a puzzle of one of their wedding pictures - they are both very into puzzles!

Then it was my turn to open presents!! I got SO spoiled!!

My face when I opened my Crafty Wood Cutouts Gift Certificate from mom!!

LOVE Crafty Wood Cutouts! 

Hunger Games from mom & Rick - in paperback! SUCH a good book!! 

A marriage book from mom & Rick - I love reading ways to make our marriage better. And it's paperback - my favorite haha

A curling wand from mom & Rick

King Vit-a-vum from Jeannene!! It's really King Vitamin, but I called it King Vit-a-vum when I was little. It's my FAVORITE cereal!

A clock that says "It's time to say I love you" from Richard G. Scott's talk in the April 2010 General Conference - from mom & Rick 

Push!! It's written by the fabulous creator of Turbo Jam - from Brynne & Blake

After presents, we stayed and talked for a while and then Jake & I came home and watched the X Games. Until 3 AM. And I needed to work the next morning haha. But I didn't need to be to work until noon so I was able to sleep in! I got up, got ready for work, make my breakfast smoothie in my new blender Jake got me and went to work to see this:

My decorated desk! Complete with cards, stickers, a happy birthday banner, bubble bath & a symphony bar of chocolate!! I love the people I work with! 

Work was really good that day, and it went by quick {thank heavens}. When I got off work, I stopped at Cafe Rio and got takeout! I love Cafe Rio. So much. It is an addiction. And no I am not seeking help to cure this addiction. We ate our food and then I took a nice hot, long bubble bath with my new bubble bath I got from Kathie, one of my managers and started to read Push, one of my new books! Afterwards, we watched a little bit of TV and then went to bed. In case you didn't know, I am pretty into low key nights and enjoy just taking it easy at home.   

Jake let me buy my own presents and I gave them to myself early haha - I got a few cardigans, 3 pairs of shoes and a new purse from Payless ShoeSource - here are the some generic pictures from their site of what I got!! 

My new purse!!

1st pair!

2nd pair!

3rd pair!

Isn't he so awesome?? I did tell him that I wanted him to get me a cute birthday card and he took that one step further - got me a perfect birthday card, a birthday card from Max, and a beautiful flower! He is the best husband ever!! 

The flower with the birthday cards leaned against it - one for wife {from Jake} and for mom {from Max}

Goofing off before dinner on my birthday

Luckiest girl ever - I love my man!!

Danny & Wendy bought us dinner at Chili's and got me a pedicure at Nails Plus in Pleasant Grove - my favorite place to go for pedicures. Wendy, Macy & I had a girls date to get our toes done together!

I didn't get pink nail polish! That is a first for me - I ALWAYS get pink nail polish haha!!

It was an awesome birthday. Pretty sure it was the best birthday yet. Really. If turning 24 was this awesome, how awesome is 25 going to be??

Oh, and the birthday present I got for myself? I lost 10 pounds in January. Still doing Weight Watchers - still kicking butt. Go me! 

I might be addicted

It's 1:40 AM and I just finished "Catching Fire". I got it today from Wal Mart and started reading around 8 PM. And I finished it. Already. That means I read both books in one sitting. In 6 hours or less each book. I think I'm addicted to these dang books!! I need to get "Mockingjay" ASAP!! I need an intervention!!

Believing the Hype

I have when people make a big deal out of books or movies - saying it is the "best movie/book/ ever" because I almost always am disappointed because I go into it with high expectations. A prime example of this is the movie "Finding Nemo". I heard from just about the entire world how amazing this movie is and I ended up absolutely hating it. I hate when people make something sound so great and then it falls short, so I have started second guessing people's opinions when they think something is so great. Everyone has been talking about Pinterest, so I decided to try it and I have finally jumped on the Pinterest wagon - I agree it is just as awesome as people say it is. But more importantly, I jumped on the Hunger Games wagon.

My mom told me a few months ago that she wanted to take my sisters and me to see it at midnight when it comes out in March. I let her know that I hadn't read them yet so maybe not so much. She insisted that I read them ASAP and got the first one for me for my birthday. I have been so involved with Pinterest that all my spare time has gone to crafting, but I have finished up all my crafts and decided to start reading it Sunday night. Jake laid down to get some rest before he went to work {Sunday nights are the equivalent of his Monday} and I curled up on the couch with Max... for 6 hours...

And finished the book. I read the entire thing in one sitting. It was SO good!!!!! It was SO worth it - such an awesome book! I am going to get the second one in the trilogy today. Hopefully I don't go through that one quite so fast though - want to drag it out a little bit and make it take longer to read them all! 

I so can't wait for the movie to come out though - oh my gosh. So yes, Hunger Games is worth all the hype it gets!