Currently reading:

The past week I have been reading a ton. I read the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy (don't judge lol), If I Stay, Where She Went and I'm almost finished with Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. I am becoming obsessed with reading again. I missed it. Here's a little rundown of what I thought of each one. 

The 50 Shades of Grey trilogy by E. L. James: Honestly, I loved it. I was a little apprehensive because of the sexual content but it really wasn't as bad as I expected it to be and I am a mature adult (most of the time) so it really didn't bother me. I expected much worse than what was in there and honestly, I felt like it really was more of a love story than just a sexy erotic novel. Once you really get into it you don't focus on the sex scenes. I would personally recommend it if you like a good love story with a few crazy twists and turns. Although, I will say that you can most definitely tell it was a Twilight fan fiction to begin with. There are a lot of similarities as far as the characters go but it wasn't too terrible. 

If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Forman: These two books I read because they were suggested to me by my mother-in-law. I really had no idea what they were about when I started reading the first one.  I don't want to give anything away but here's a little synopsis. In the first book a 17 year old girl, named Mia, is in a car accident with her family and while she's in the hospital in a coma her spirit is lingering around and she's trying to decide whether to stay alive or die. It's pretty dang good and the second book is what happens after she decides. I recommend them both if you want a quick and easy read.

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk: I'm about 3/4 of the way through this one and I will say it's rather controversial. A 13 year old girl, named Madison, dies and goes to Hell. It's kind of like Chuck's version of Dante's Inferno. Since it is a work of fiction and I quite enjoy Mr. Palahniuk's writing I am loving it. It's humorous and witty. Of course, I can see how it could be taken the wrong way but as long as you remember it's just a book you'll enjoy it. For example, in this Hell the currency is candy bars and the damned souls have to work as telemarketers to pester the living. I'm pretty excited for the next installment of the series where Madison goes to purgatory. 

Tonight we went to Barnes & Noble and I picked up these 3 books to read next. I'm pretty excited about them. The Aqua Net Diaries was a random find. I hadn't heard of it but it looks pretty good. I've been wanting The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels and The Paris Wife for a while now so I'm really excited about them. 

I'm thinking about starting a little feature for reviews of the books I'm reading. What do you think? 

Do you have any book recommendations? What are you currently reading?

not the best day ever

Today I had to get a root canal. I have been dreading it for a couple of months now. It took me at least that long to get the nerve to make the actual appointment! When it comes to the dentist I am absolutely terrified. I don't know why, maybe it's the weird noises, the pain, shots!? Probably all of the above. I don't think I've ever had a traumatizing event at the dentist just regular dental stuff but for some reason I just hate it. I think everyone does. Anyway, I made sure they knew how scared I was and they were so nice and got me a prescription for some anxiety medicine and then once I got there they hooked me up to the gas as well so I was pretty out of it the entire time. It still wasn't the best experience but definitely nothing like I expected. So far I haven't had any pain except for my jaw hurting from being open so long. My lovely husband took me to get a Frosty tonight since my mouth hurt. It was delicious. My parents came over too and my Dad went with me to the appointment and he got me an icee afterwards too. I've been a little spoiled today but hey, it wasn't a very fun day for me so I think I deserved it. 

this weekend

This weekend has been pretty great. We were puppy sitting for my parents while they visited my brother. We actually did what we said we were going to do and just had a super chill weekend. Friday we had some friends over and watched Wreck It Ralph and played some games. Saturday we had lunch with a friend and then Fletcher and I just hung out and watched tv all day (we also got in some serious house cleaning but nothing too major or difficult). Then today we had to run to Lowe's then just came home and sat around some more. Very much needed relaxation going on. This photo is from last weekend when we went to my parent's house. My Mom and I walked to the lake. We are hopefully going on a little road trip with my parents in May and I'm pretty excited to go camping and take lots of pretty pictures of places I've never been.

How was your weekend?

promote what you love

image via Miss Indie

I ran across this wonderful quote this weekend and I could not love it more. The older I get the more I realize that this world is just filled with hate. So much hate and definitely not enough love. I am a very positive person. I do my best to keep my posts positive and cheerful not only on my blog but on all forms of social media. I am not saying that I'm perfect and I never say anything negative or never complain but I try to keep it to myself or I vent to my husband or best friend. This quote should definitely be taken more seriously by everyone. Recently, it seems like Facebook is getting worse and worse. I'm finding myself wondering why I even have a Facebook still. It only makes me sad and upset when I'm on there. Yeah, there are  few people who I love being able to keep up with but most of the time I find myself saddened by the hate I see coming out of people. There's absolutely no need for it. People need to spread love not hate. Spread peace and acceptance rather than complaints and negativity. 

I want to show people love and positivity. I want to be a good role model. I want to influence others to do the same. I definitely have some things I need to work on and I plan to. I plan to be the light that brightens the darkness of the world. I want to bring smiles to people's faces and spread love and kindness.

I'll leave you with some of my favorite quotes.

"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other." 

 -Romans 12:9-10-

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”
-Mahatma Gandhi-

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” 

-Abraham Lincoln-