Well....

Ahhhh there are so many things to catch up on. First off, I deserve the worst blogger award. I haven't been on here for close to two months! I really wish I could get motivated to post more than once in a while (at least once a week), but I always end up forgetting! Maybe during the summer, I'll post more since I won't be in school anymore...

Let's begin the catch up process though:

Television

So I finally caught up on Grey's Anatomy (although I'm back to being behind again...oops...). There are some people that aren't really into it this season, but I still think it's such a good show!

There are so many other shows that I wish I was up to date on...How I Met Your Mother (in the process now), Mad Men (I have all seasons, but I haven't watched any), True Blood (I have the first couple seasons that I haven't watched), Dexter (still on season 3), Glee (yeah yeah I liked the first season!), and I feel that there are many more that I'm not remembering right now.

In other news, The River and The Walking Dead finales came on recently! They were both soooo good. I highly recommend them!

Books

 I finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, seriously an amazing book. It didn't make me sad like I thought it would, but it was so interesting to here a story through a child's perspective, especially when you consider the fact that he has Asperger's.  

Now, I'm into the Hunger Games series (who isn't??). I was hesitant about the books because I didn't want them to be another series like Twilight, but I'm a big fan. They are such quick reads and they keep you hanging on until the very last page! I can't wait to get out and see the movie.

There are still so many books that I want to read...One Day, 11/23/63, Never Let Me Go, Valley of the Dolls (again), plus about 20 more books that just sit on my shelf. Seriously, summer is going to be a couple of months of me holed up in my apartment reading and watching TV. Who wants to be tan anyways?

Next Year

Decisions, decisions. Currently the ones that I'm been trying to make deal with where the heck I'm going to live next year as well as what I want to do with my life. I'm still planning on taking a year off between undergrad and grad school, but that doesn't mean I get to postpone applying to grad schools. Along with thinking about where I want to go (maybe South Carolina, or North Carolina??), I have to decide what I'm going to do with my time during that year off. Do I want to just get a job at a daycare, or do I want to get more specialized and try to get in with an organization that participates in parent and community education? Still pondering that one. One thing I hope to say that I have decided by the end of next week is where I'm going to be living. Kenny and I are looking at two places this week and two next week. Hopefully we'll each know which one we will call home next week. I'm pretty pumped!

In other news...

I haven't done anymore paintings lately! I have a canvas just waiting for me to be inspired, but I can't think of anything that I really want to paint. 

Since this is such a long post already, I'll just put up some pictures now...here are some things I've been doing for the past couple of weeks!

Ok, so there hasn't been anything too exciting going on in my life within the past couple of months, but between work, school, and an internships, I don't have that much free time!

Well, hopefully I won't take that long to post again, but if I do, I apologize in advance :)

BAKER TOWERS

by: Jennifer Haigh

Bakerton is a community of company houses and church festivals, of union squabbles and fireman's parades. Its neighborhoods include Little Italy, Swedetown, and Polish Hill. For its tight-knit citizens - and the five children of the Novak family - the 1940s will be a decade of excitement, tragedy, and stunning chance. Baker Towers is a family saga and a love story, a hymn to a time and place long gone, to America's industrial past, and to the men and women we now call the Greatest Generation. It is a feat of imagination from extraordinary voice in American Fiction, a writer of enormous power and skill.

One of my favorite authors, Jennifer Haigh, wrote this fantastic book set in the mining town of Bakerton in the 1940's. As with her other books, Mrs. Kimble and The Condition, each chapter rotates between the characters, this time, all members of the Novak family. The novel starts with the death of the Novak's father which brings about flashbacks from the oldest children. From the flashbacks to the present, you get to see how the family works, from both the mother's point of view and the children. George, Dorothy, Joyce, Sandy, and Lucy all tell their stories that span from their younger years in elementary school to their adventures when they try and leave Bakerton to find a better life, to their return to aid their mother or to simply visit the family they left behind. I wasn't too sure about this book when I first picked it up because it just didn't sound that interesting; I didn't really want to read a novel about a mining town. After starting it though, my thoughts changed. It was so interesting to see every family member's perspective on their other siblings, their internal conflicts, and their own thoughts about Bakerton. Each one gets out of the city at some point, and while some are drawn back in, others thrive on their own. You also get to see how their past affects their own families they start; some carry on the traditions passed on, others ignore their past altogether. This was such a good book that reinforced why Jennifer Haigh is one of my favorite authors.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 21-26

Day 21: A picture of your favorite night

Yes, of course, back to NYC! This was such an amazing night because we went to see Wicked then to Rockefeller Center to look at the city. It was a breathtaking scene!

Day 22: A picture of something you wish you were better at

I've never really tried, but it would be awesome to be able to sew. I would make clothes left and right which of course would save me money!

Day 23: A picture of your favorite book

I go back and forth with my favorite book. I don't really have one :/. I read quite a bit so it's hard to pick just one! As of right now, I would have to say that The Green Mile was one of my favorites.

Day 24: A picture of something you wish you could change

This is an odd one. I don't really know of anything that I would like to change. Maybe my hair color? I would love to have more of a reddish tint for some reason.

Day 25: A picture of your favorite day

So I'm just going to pretend that it says days...I would definitely say that my favorite days include UGA football games! I love hanging out with everyone before the game and then celebrating after when they win. Such fun times!

Day 26: A picture of something that means a lot to you

Family, again :)

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Since there are so many pictures on this post, it seems more reasonable not to post a little blurb with each one. So just make one up! I'm actually pretty relieved to be done with this thing. It started off fun, but as you can see from the many skipped days or the cheating, it gets pretty old. If you have patience, I would suggest you do it though! So for the next thing, I think I'll do something that I've seen going on Facebook: the 30 Day Photo Challenge. I have a feeling this one will be much more simple that the Year in Photos! But who knows when I'll start it...

Anyways, tomorrow is April 1st! Where has this year gone already. Only a few more weeks of school before Panama, then Port St. Joe, then beginning my fourth year at UGA! I can't believe I'll only have a couple more semesters left. Oh man, time flies!

**some images found through google**