Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Perks

Do you sometimes wish that your personal taste in books were different than your actual tastes?

I more than always feel like this is true. I always think, "but what if I read [insert classic novel here] instead of this cheesy, teeny-bopper, young adult novel." Most of the time, I just feel like I would be a whole lot smarter and I would sound more intelligent when talking about my most recent read. Then I think, "who wants to read those things, anyway?"

Okay, so I am not totally telling the truth. I love to read books, no matter how new, old, cheesy, intelligent, etc. I have been known to read classic novels exclusively on my cell phone, which is why my lovely mother-in-law bought me a Kindle as a gift a few years back. She couldn't believe I could read that many words on such a small screen. Beggars can't be choosers I guess, but now I love to use my Kindle with a bigger screen. :)

So yes, I do read classic novels, however, I also love books that would sit on the shelf of a 13 year old. Am I alone here? Maybe so, but I am not ashamed... well... at least for the most part.

My most recent read was inspired by my love for... wait for it... yep, you caught me...

Emma Watson, ladies and gentlemen.

Image via http://shakespearesolved.blogspot.com/2012/09/emma-watson-shakespeare.html

Yeah, yeah I get it. I am ridiculous. But who can help loving her?! She is Hermione in the flesh (which she probably hates by now), so how could you not love her? She also gained her stardom to fame as a dorky, crazy-haired, uptight nine-year old, which is pretty awesome. Who knew that she just scored one of the best roles in the history of filmmaking (my opinion)?!

Anyways, Ms. Watson inspired me to read a particular book because I have been dying to see her play a role other than the infamous Hermione Granger. 

Image via http://teaser-trailer.com/movie/perks-of-being-a-wallflower/

I knew that I must see this movie, but I refused to see it without reading the book first. So I did.

The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a story about a boy named Charlie who begins writing letters to an anonymous receiver after a friend of his commits suicide. The story is told in the form of these letters. Charlie begins to tell the receiver everything about life as a freshman in high school: from what he does in a day, to rumors he hears at school, to secrets about his best friends, etc. All the while, you start to realize Charlie isn't all right. You find out why, but no spoilers here. For those of you that care, there is some graphicness (is that a real word?) to the book, but nothing I couldn't handle. I would say this book was 3.5-4/5 stars. Not the best book I have read, and not the worst either. It was an easy and super quick read. It did provoke some thought. Overall, it was good.

Now that I am finished with the book, I cannot wait to see the movie, although I have already prepared myself for the worst. We shall see.

Hope everyone is wrapping up their summers with a smile. Before you know it, we will be drinking pumpkin beer and wearing leather riding boots. 

Just keep on reading! :)

Sunday, July 28, 2013

New Additions

As of tomorrow I should be done with all of my assignments for my summer school. Can you say HALLELUJAH!??!?!?! Now I have to catch up on all the suntanning I have been missing out on. Luckily, because of the crazy weather we have had here, I won't have much catching up to do! My goal for the rest of my summer is to play catch up. Catch up on the house, on the yard, on my tan, on the cleaning, on the crafting, on my reading, but most importantly, on my shooting. Yep, you heard me right. I am a Katniss in the making.

This was me back in May while we were in Nebraska. We went out to his aunt and uncle's farm to shoot. They have a rifle, archery, and skeet shooting range. Their house is pretty much my dream home. This was my first time shooting a bow, and I absolutely LOVED it. Not only was it fun, but I was better at it than my husband (at the time), and I (of course) felt like Katniss. :) Daniel and I decided to go home and buy bows for our upcoming birthdays. I got my very own about 3 weeks ago, and I feel like I have neglected it related to life busy-ness, which is so sad. My goal is to shoot at least once a day during my break so that it becomes a habit that I continue once I start school again.


This is me at my own archery range with my own bow. For those of you that care, I got one of the new Diamond Infinite Edge bows. I LOVE it! Speaking of new additions, I would like for you all to meet the newest edition to our household. I would like for you all to meet Susannah. Also known as Susie the Subaru!


This is me with Susie! Sorry about the terrible photos! Before driving 400+ miles to go get Susie, this girl stayed up all night working! This is after only getting 3 hours of sleep in the back of my old, two-door car before sitting at the dealership all day while they got Susie ready for us to take home. Although I look like I just rolled out of a dumpster, I was super excited to be taking Susie home with me!


I look a little more awake here once the adrenaline hit of "omg I just got a new car!" We ended up spending the rest of the night in New Orleans, eating our way around the town, ending at the casino, before exhaustingly throwing ourselves into the bed at the hotel. It was a nice short trip, but totally worth not having to drive back home to GA that night. At least we got some good food out of the deal...

We started off making the rounds at one of our favorite places to eat in NOLA... Daisy Dukes.

Our favorite wings in Daisy Dukes' special sauce. YUM.

Seafood Gumbo is a must!

Steamed Crawfish. 'Nuff said!

After stuffing out faces at Daisy Dukes, we made our way to our favorite bar scene near Bourbon Street. This place is called LaFitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar. Built in the 1700's this place is supposed to be the oldest building in the U.S. that a bar is housed. It's small, dingy, dark, and not crazy unlike most of the places on Bourbon Street. One of our favorite places to go when you need a beer.


Before heading to the casino, we stopped by our favorite restaurant to go to when you are craving some oysters. Have you ever had a broiled oyster? If not, you have got to go to Drago's and try their famous charbroiled oysters. They are to DIE for!


This was our last food stop of the night. Needless to say, we were stuffed! Next morning after catching up on some much needed sleep, we made our way over to Jackson Square for a last hurrah at Cafe du Monde. When in NOLA, you gotta have a beignet or two!


After breakfast we made our way home in our new car!

Just wanted to give you an update on the happenings here! I swear my next post will finally be on the book I read that I told you about before! Sorry it has taken me so long! Goodnight! :)