YOU MUST READ THESE BOOKS!

I have to tell you that I stayed up all night reading these two books...I mean until 5 am people...I am going on 5 hours of sleep here.  If you never read another book/books I recommend then choose these.  

This book is so good.  When I read it, I got chills, my breath caught, I got butterflies in my stomach, I laughed, I cried.  This book is a shocker and a roller coaster.  You have to read this book.  Here is the synopsis from Barnes and Noble...they can sum it up better than me.

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.
Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slams. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after a heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the forces that tear them apart. 

So when I finished this book around midnight or 1 am let's say, I had to read the sequel.  I promised myself it would only be for a little bit like a chapter or two.  Well one or two chapters turned into the entire book and 5 am.  I just couldn't stop.  You will cry when you read this. It is so good.  The author Colleen Hoover is writing a third book in the series and you can preview the first chapter here.  Don't do it until you read the first two.

I also was thinking about making a book page on this blog...where you can click the tab and see my book recommendations.  I'll work on it sometime this week.  And also since school is starting I'm really, really going to try and practice some self control.  Read these books.  That is all!  Have a good day.

Goodbye Summer...

It draws to a close...summer that is.  Summer can't last forever we all know this.  But what is better then a hot summer day when the clouds roll in and cool everything down?  When you can go on vacation.  When you can sleep in.  When you have no big obligations to fulfill.  When you can relax.  When you can swim the afternoon away in your pool or at the lake.  Goodbye Summer.  You were so good to me this year.  You were busy and filled with adventure for the first time in a long while.

Watching the rain

I have no explanation for this

Basketball with friends

Fishing

The Lake

Sitting in the yard

The Lake

More fishing

More of the lake

Fish Dinner

From the garden...they are only golf ball sized

Drinks with friends

Steaks and wine

Last photo of tarantula "Brownie" when she was attacked by ants and died

Port Aransas

sigh...he's hot

the lake...again

looking through old photos with my bestie Val and Dama...we found this one.  its at my wedding shower 11 years ago. (me, val, dama, charlcee)

fishing

Night fishing

At the lake...again....

 Getting eaten out of house and home...they demolished the entire loaf of bread in about 30 minutes.  My kids eat so much food it's ridiculous.

Catching up with one of my oldest and dearest friends...priceless...don't kill me for posting this :)

 swimming

 My Farrah Fawcett hair

 Beer, flip-flops, swimming, music, and friends...so summer

 Loving Kitty..aka...Fluffy quail baby killer

 Me...on the way to dinner for our anniversary:  11 years

 On the way to dinner...sorry guys but I love him 

Sitting on the patio...I may or may not have had one too many crown and cokes ;)

What a GREAT GREAT Summer.  I am so sad to see you go.

Tried and True Pinterest Recipes

It has been a few days since I posted.  I have made a couple of layouts but I am too lazy to photograph them and put them up.  Terrible, I know.  So instead, I thought I would share a few recipes that I've used from pinterest.  That place is a wealth of knowledge.

Best Cookies Ever

Lemon Crinkle Cookies...they are excellent!

SlowCooker:  Pork Tenderloin  This is a super easy recipe that I found.  And the roast is really, really good.  Trust me...we have tons of pork to cook.  We usually have left overs and I make posole with it.

Zucchini Pizza:  This is a really good, quick and easy recipe.  My boys really like it and we have tons of zucchini from the garden.

Rosemary Chicken:  I don't know if I've shared this before or not, but his is my absolutely favorite chicken recipe.  I make it most Sunday's in the winter.  I pinned it from Martha Stewart.

Southwestern Egg Rolls:  I love these.  This recipe makes a ton which means plenty of left overs for lunch during the week.

Stuffed Shells:  This is a good recipe.  The kids like it too.  

Chicken Roll Ups:  To.die.for.  These are so good.

"Apparently its: The absolute best way to cook asparagus, and SO SIMPLE! Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese; bake 350 10-15 minutes."  The link to the recipe didn't work so I pasted directly from Pinterest.  This is really the best way I've ever seen to make asparagus.

A New Perpective...and some summer reads

It's funny how revelations hit us all of the sudden, sometimes.  Last night I was sitting at the computer reading comments from the blog hop.  And Jen from Down Home South Jersey left me a really nice comment about my photos.  She said, I think what I love most about your photos is the stories behind them. Your heart shines through in your photos.  And then I thought that how can one see my heart in my photos?  I just posted a few snapshots.  And then later it hit me.  I'm not telling my story in my scrapbooks.  And that's probably why I stopped for so long.  I was just recording events as they happened in sequential order.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  But, I need to tell the story of our family and what makes us special and interesting and fun.  I don't just need to record the events.  Maybe scrapbooking should be sort of like a journal.  A journal filled with pictures and memories and stories...where you pour your heart and soul into it, and sometimes you tell secrets too.  And I think that is why I really love Mariphone and Instagram...I take those photos in the moment, when they are happening.  And that is our story.  Not the one where I go running for my big fancy camera, because by then the moment is gone and it can't be recreated again.  So I guess I would like to say a big thank you to Jen.  And I'm ready to start really telling our story.  Oh and P.S.  I'm still going to get around to chronologically scrapbooking too.




Now onto some summer reading recommendations.  


DISCLAIMER...I am revoking my recommendation for this book series.  Now I loved the first few books in this series.  I really, really did.  As the series go on, they get very very racy.  And that is fine for me.  It doesn't bother me at all.  What bothers me is that Anita has to have internal conflict and arguments in the stories ALL THE TIME and I am so sick of hearing it (well reading it).  I've read every book in the series and I tell myself the next one will be better.  And I read it and I just want to gag myself with a spoon.  I just want to scream, "Stop already.  Accept it.  You're a succubus that must feed on sex to survive.  We get it already.  Accept yourself."  And the sickest thing of all is that I will probably read the next one because I feel compelled to finish the series...It's like a train wreck, I can't tear my eyes away.  

This is a pretty good book.  It is the true story of the Tragedy of Mount Everest in 1996.

I love this series.  Love it. Love it. Love it.  Book 4 was the best book in the series.  I stayed up until 430 am reading it.  I'm now on book 5.  The story and writing are very well done.  The chemistry between Cat and Bones is amazing.  If you like vampire stories, you must read this series.

This is a spin off from the Night Huntress Series above.  I read this book first and I loved it so much I started on the Halfway to the Grave.  This is the first book in the series.  The next one won't be out until next year...sigh.

This is a really good mystery series.  Really good story and good characters. 

These are amazing books.  You must read this series.  If you are squeamish about racy novels, then maybe not.  These books are very controversial.  I've heard how they degrade women, yada yada yada.  I don't feel that is true at all.  The books are excellently written.  The characters are very well developed.  I was so wrapped up in this story it was unbelievable.  I read the entire series in about 4 days.  My heart actually dropped in some moments in the books because I was so wrapped up in them. This is a story of two people trying to come to terms with their pasts and working to figure out how to make a life together work.  And how to accept the good and the bad that a person brings into a relationship.  Very good books.

Wow, I've read a lot of books this summer.  That's what having a husband working graveyard shifts will do to you.  I can't sleep at night.