The wonderful Kelley from One Hot Southern Mess nominated me for the Irvester Award so you guys get to learn a little bit more about me. Lucky you!
Here's how it works:
1. Acknowledge who nominated you. CHECK!
2. Answer the 10 questions below. CHECK!
3. Nominate 10 bloggers you think are excellent drinkers. 4. Do not change the questions. CHECK!
5. Don't nominate the blog that nominated you. That's it. EASY PEASY!
Questions:
What is your favorite drinking game and why? Tippy Cup (aka Flip Cup?) because I'm actually good at it!
Action shot of me playing Tippy Cup @ Fudd Fest 2012
It is your birthday, what is your idea of the perfect evening?
Enjoying some good drinks with some good friends! This is actually in the works for tomorrow (Friday) to celebrate my birthday which was Tuesday.
Money is no object, what is your go to drink of choice at a bar?
My go to drink is always Cherry Dr. & Mountain Dew. But I have been drinking Dreamsicles a lot more lately so maybe my go to drink has some competition?
Take this alcohol screening quiz here, what score did you receive?
You answered 4 items out of 20 Yes.
Your score is 20%. According to the Office of Health Care Programs, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, developers of this screening quiz, if you answered 3 of these questions with a Yes it is a definite sign that your drinking patterns are harmful and possibly considered alcohol dependent or alcoholic. You may want to seek an evaluation by a healthcare professional.
What is your favorite memory with alcohol?
All of them are good ones but I especially loved going out for Chelsea's 22nd birthday last year.
What is your favorite song about drinking? Or song to drink to?
There are too many songs about drinking that I like to pick just one.
What is your favorite activity to do while drinking (i.e. boating, bowling, golf, trivia, etc.)
Bonfires, camping, country music festivals, and just because with good friends.
In your opinion, which is the number one party school in the country and why? University of Wisconsin - Madison...we like to drink in Wisconsin, trust me. ;)
When do you know you have had too much to drink? What are your signals?
I start to close one eye to see straight and I get jelly legs.
Now I nominate...
Anyone who wants to participate. (I know I need to work on my nominating skills.)
Hey there! I wanted to check in real quick
before I'm off to the land of no cell reception for a weekend getaway in the
northwoods of Wisconsin. And how could I miss #backthatazzupfriday?!
You're right, I couldn't!
This song is just what I need right now. I'm getting away this weekend and am going to be DONE with Trouble.
This song caught my attention when it was used during commericals for The Vampire Diaries and then I heard it on 90210. I'm now kind of hooked on it! Not my usual music but that's okay!
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Now on to some awesome stuff!
This goody bag giveaway has been going on since
Wednesday and I've had a lot of new followers here on the blog, Twitter, and
Instagram thanks to it. [Hello everyone! Hope you pull up a seat and stay awhile!] I hope everyone takes a second to enter into the
giveaway for the goody bag(s) that catch your eye! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Butttttt since today I'm celebrating the 5th anniversary of my 21st birthday.
AKA I'm turning 26...eek!
I've decided to turn this into ONE, HUGE PARTY!
I wanted to celebrate ALL OF YOU by hosting an awesome, fun, super amazing prize filled giveaway!
Think of it this way...you're here parting with me, having a glass of wine (or whatever you're drinking as you read this!) &]you (probably!) get to leave with an lovely goody bag given to you by one of my beautiful, bloggy friends- including the host of this blog!
There are a whole bunch of prizes...and for every prize there will be a DIFFERENT winner. Let's face it, your chances of "going home" with a goody bag are quite good!!
Take a look below, check out what some of these FUN prize packages are and then get to entering!
PS- there is a separate entry for EACH prize! Enter them all, enter a few...sit back and wait to be the big winner of one of these fabulous prize packages!!
It took me a bit of searching on my library’s e-book catalog to find a book that was available right away after I finished The Rescue. I put my name in line to request a couple of other books I was interested in before finally finding True Believer by Nicholas Sparks that was ready to be downloaded to my Kindle right away.
The reviews on Good Reads were not that good. A lot of readers did not like it. Despite the negative reviews I figured I would read it anyways, maybe I would like it.
Jeremy Marsh is the ultimate New Yorker: handsome, almost always dressed in black, and part of the media elite. An expert on debunking the supernatural with a regular column in “Scientific American,” he’s just made his first appearance on national TV. When he receives a letter from the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, about ghostly lights that appear in a legend-shrouded cemetery, he can’t resist driving down to investigate. Here, in this tightly knit community, Lexie Darnell runs the town’s library, just as her mother did before the accident that left Lexie an orphan. Disappointed by past relationships, including one that lured her away from home, she is sure of one thing: her future is in Boone Creek, close to her grandmother and all the other people she loves. Jeremy expects to send a quick week in “the sticks” before speeding back to the city. But from the moment he sets eyes on Lexie, he is intrigued and attracted to this beautiful woman who speaks with a soft drawl and confounding honesty. And Lexie, while hesitating to trust this outsider, finds herself thinking of Jeremy more than she cares to admit. Now, if they are to be together, Jeremy Marsh must make a difficult choice: return to the life he knows, or do something he’s never done before—take a giant leap of faith. A story about taking chances and following your heart, True Believer will make you, too, believe in the miracle of love.
The reviews were right, this wasn’t very good. Of all the Nicholas Sparks books I’ve read I would put this one at the very bottom of the list. The story did nothing for me.
I don’t really know what else to say about this one. I rated it 2/5 stars, it was ok. I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone to read unless they really needed something to read and didn’t care if it’s a great book or not.
Next week’s book is definitely a better one! I’m sticking with Nicholas Sparks for another week so check back next week to see what I read next!
If anyone told me about the weekend I was going to have I wouldn’t have believed them. And by the way it started out I would have thought I was going to be right. Once again, I don’t have actual pictures to share with y’all but I do have some screen shots of lovely conversations I had with my ladies over the course of the weekend.
Friday
Dinner with my parents at Phil’s Round 2 followed by some blogging at home before bed. See... pretty uneventful start to the weekend.
Saturday
Saturday morning my mom and I went to the chiropractor and then did some shopping at Fleet Farm before picking up groceries for the week. I spent the rest of the day reading blogs and watching TV. I meant to read Delirium since my loan was ending but I just didn’t get into it until around 9:00pm when I was lying in bed.
Now here’s where it gets exciting. Trouble [remember him from last weekend?] texted me around 10:00pm to see what I was up to and if I wanted to do anything. I ended up going over to his place where we talked for a couple of hours before heading out to the bar where we closed it down and then on to his uncle’s house for after bar. It was around 6:15 in the morning before I went to bed.
It was during this time that I apparently sent quite a few snap chats to my BFF Chelsea, Kelley, Jenn, Lex, and Kay. I heard they were entertaining so that’s all that matters right?
Sunday
After sleeping for about 2 hours I headed home.
Funny thing is my mom didn’t know I had been gone. She got up after I got home so it wasn’t until I said something that she realized I had only just gotten home.
Around noon I fell asleep on the couch and slept until around 4. It was then that I woke up to a text message from Trouble inviting me to a cook out. I ended up going and enjoying a few beers with him and his friends.
In hindsight I should have left after the cookout but I didn’t. I ended up going to the bar and staying until 12:30am, which meant by the time I got home it was 1 in the morning.
My alarm came pretty quickly Monday morning and I was definitely not in the mood to get up. But you gotta do what you gotta do to make that moola, right?
A couple of side notes from the weekend, I’m still working on Delirium even though I was notified that my loan has expired. I just haven’t turned the wireless on my Kindle on yet so I still have it. Anyone know if you can get late fees from e-books??
Also, there was mention of a birthday party that I was invited to already. It's this coming Saturday night and I’m debating about if I want to go. My parents might be going camping and I would love to go with them. It is possible to do both but that would require driving up north myself and then back. And I’m also not really sure if I should go because I’m pretty confident that Trouble will be there. I think I might need to distance myself from him again.
Well, that’s all for now folks! I’ll be back tomorrow with another book review.
Do you ever feel like you need a day to recover from the weekend? That’s exactly how I feel today. It’s been a rough 8 hours at work after getting less quality sleep than needed this weekend. But more on my weekend tomorrow when I link up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.
Today I want to link up with Jenn for 5 for Five. I haven’t set any goals for myself in a while and it’s showing in my lack of doing anything besides eat, sleep, work, and watch TV. So, hopefully by reintroducing some weekly goals into my life I’ll get my little booty back on track.
One. Up by 7:00am [Or 6:00am on gym days]
Two. Plan and/or prep breakfast & lunch the evening before.
Three. Go to the gym 3 times [M, W, F]
Four. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
Five. In bed by 10:30pm, sleeping by 11:00pm
I’ll be updating y’all on how I did next Monday. The plan is to have no red goals, or goals that I just completely bombed. The choice is mine so we’ll see how it goes this week.
I was struggling to come up with something to share on the ol' blog today and then my bloggy friends came to my rescue. First Jen [That's What She Read] tweeted about Steph's post. Then Jen did her own post. I just knew I had to join in on the fun. And I see I wasn't the only one to have this thought since I've seen it on some other blogs today as well.
This song just gets stuck in my head and it doesn't leave! I didn't even hear it today until I purposely played it on my iPod but randomly while I was at work I would start singing it in my head.
Thankfully I don't listen to the radio a whole lot so songs don't become ruined for me by being overplayed. My brother is over this song already for that reason.
Now, for those 50 questions you've always wanted to ask me.
1. Do you like blue cheese? Negative.
2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Once and only once.
3.Do you own a gun? Technically speaking, no. But I do “have” a gun which I used for deer
hunting. I haven’t gone in years. Maybe I should get back into it?
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Brace
yourselves…I have never been to a Sonic before.
We don’t have them around me in Wisconsin.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? I would say no
but my sweaty palms and twitching feet would say otherwise. I just hate waiting in the room for the
doctor to show up.
6. Do you like hot-dogs? You betcha!
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Mountain Dew, can
or bottle will do. But preferably not
from a fountain.
9. Can you do push-ups? Maybe like one.
10. What’s your favorite meal? Pasta + seafood all the way. Chinese is pretty awesome too, orange chicken
anyone?
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? I’m always wearing my
hope ring and the necklace my parents got me for my golden birthday (18). I also wear my Pandora bracelet a lot which I
got for graduation.
12. Favorite hobby? Reading.
13. Do you work with people who idolize you? That’s a negative
ghost rider, the pattern is full.
[Anyone catch the Top Gun reference?]
14. Name a trait that you hate about yourself? I can’t make
decisions to save my life. I hem and haw
over them and look to others to push me one way or the other to make my
decision easier. Even after the decision
is made I second guess myself if it was the right one to make.
15. Middle name? Lynn
16. Name 3 thoughts at this moment: I’m so happy to be at
home and in yoga pants right now. I need
to shave my legs. Damn, that fish fry
was good. I’m so full now.
17. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: Chicken strips for
lunch, a bottle of Mountain Dew from the vending machine, and a bag of Cheetos.
18. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Mountain Dew, alcohol, and water.Sound familiar Jen?
19. Current worry right now? Thankfully I’m not worried about
anything right now.
20. Current hate right now? Why can’t I have time and a convenient
place to get a pedicure. I need one BAD.
21. Favorite place to be? I love being at home with Bo
[when he’s being an angel] reading a book.
22. How did you bring in New Years? I seriously always forget
what I did for New Years. This is the
second time I’ve been asked and I went, “ummmm.” But no worries, I remember. I was at a casino with my BFF and some
members of her family members.
23. Favorite place to go? I love to head north to camp with my
family.
24. What is your most recurring dream? During that hour I’m
hitting the snooze button in the morning I tend to dream quite a bit about
having a famous boyfriend, like Damon Salvator from The Vampire Diaries.
25. Introvert or extrovert? If I don’t know you I’m more
introverted. If I know you I can be more
extroverted. So a mix of both?
26. What color shirt are you wearing? White with red lettering…and
a black zip up Adidas sweatshirt.
27. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Negatory.
28. Can you whistle? Yup.
29. Favorite color? Red
30. Would you be a pirate? Sure.
I can drink rum, what else do I need to do? J
31. What songs do you sing in the shower? I generally don’t sing
in the shower. But if I’ve got the tunes
cranked I’ll sing along to whatever is on the radio or my iPod.
32. Favorite girl’s name? I’ve always like Rachel for some
reason.
33. Favorite boy’s name? Love Bentley – cute Teen Mom Bentley
not creepy Bachelorette Bently.
34. Who is your loudest friend? Chelsea is definitely
loud. The two of us together are
especially loud.
35. What’s in your pocket right now? Empty pockets. Before I put yoga pants on though I had cash
and my ID in my pocket though.
36. Last thing that made you laugh? Chelsea’s face in her
last few snap chats – one was in response to me telling her to stop tanning
because she had showed me her red legs, and the other was her telling me she
hates me because I showed her my fish fry [no fish fry Fridays in Maryland].
37. Bed sheets as a child? I had cloud and tye-die sheets
and I still use them today as seat covers when I’m going to have Bo riding with
me.
38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? Knock on wood I’ve never been
injured really. I’ve had some pretty
wicked bruises during softball season though.
39. Do you love where you live? Yes, it’s not a big city but it’s
not a small town either and as long as I’m in my parent’s house I’m in the
country. What’s not to love?
40. How many TVs are in your house? Five.
41. What is your worst habit? Road rage, cussing, and I roll my
eyes when people annoy me.
42. How many dogs do you have? One.
43. Does someone have a crush on you? Not that I’m aware
of. If there is someone, speak up!
44. Do you own slippers? Yes, but I don’t wear them a lot.
45. What is your favorite book? How can I pick just
one?! Loved The Hunger Games. Can’t wait to finish the Divergent triology
either.
46. What is your favorite candy? Love me some chocolate, Hershey’s
milk or dark will do me just fine. Or
organge slices. My dad and I just
polished off a 3lb. bag.
47. What is your favorite sports team? Being from
Wisconsin I should say the Packers, and I do like them but I’ll also cheer for
other teams and players.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I had hoped
speech class would be the last time I had to think about my death but I guess
not. I don’t know what song I would want…let
me think on that one.
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? I was sleeping.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up
this morning? Yay it’s Friday but meh I have to work.
And with that I'll leave ya. I'm going to lose myself in Delirium because I need to finish it before tomorrow sometime when I have to return the e-book. It's just starting to get good so this shouldn't be hard to do.
After finishing Before I Fall I was looking for a new book to read since Delirium which I had put a hold on wasn’t ready for me yet. I went to Good Reads and checked out the beautiful Jenn’s list of books she has read. [Check out her blog, That's What She Read!]Some books that caught my eye weren’t found when I searched for them. {Not available in e-books from my library I assume?} Eventually I stumbled upon The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks. I’ve already read a handful of his books so I knew I would probably enjoy it. Luckily it was available for me to borrow right away.
When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks to save lives.But there is one leap of faith Taylor can’t bring himself to make: he can’t fall in love.For all his adult years, Taylor has sought out women who need to be rescued, women he leaves as soon as their crisis is over and the relationship starts to become truly intimate.When a raging storm his his small Southern town, single mother Denise Holton’s car skids off the road.The young mom is with her four-year-old song Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities and for whom she has sacrificed everything.Taylor McAden finds her unconscious and bleeding, but does not find Kyle.When Denise wakes, the chilling truth becomes clear to both of them: Kyle is gone.During the search for Kyle, the connection between Taylor and Denise takes root.Taylor doesn’t know that this rescue will be different from all the others, demanding far more than raw physical courage.It will lead him to the possibility of his own rescue from a life lived without love and will require him to open doors to his past that were slammed shut by pain.The rescue will dare him to live life to the fullest by daring to love.
I dove into that book and devoured it! In two, maybe three, days I had it finished thanks to some late night reading sessions. Who doesn’t enjoy a good love story though?
I’ve never been one to cry while reading a book but this one almost did it with a little help from some female hormones raging in my body that week.
Something I am coming to love about Spark’s books is the fact that they’re not all rosy perfect stories. In this case, the woman already has a child, and a child that has a struggle with language on top of it. His books relate to things that could and do happen in real life and it makes his stories that much more relatable to me rather than being more like a fantasy.
Something I definitely appreciate is the epilogue that wraps everything up nicely by jumping ahead a bit in time to give you closure to everything. Since that was the downfall to Before I Fall for me I was happy to read The Rescue and feel satisfied with the end of the book.
I rated The Rescue as a 4/5 star book. I definitely would recommend this book to someone.
Next up will be another Nicholas Sparks book, True Believer. Look for the review next week!
