2013: Year in Review

2013 turned out to be a pretty exciting year!  Every year seems to get better than the last, so naturally, this year trumps last year!  Here's my year in review!  (I, unfortunately, don't have pictures for everything here...but I do for most.)  Enjoy!

January

- Rang in the New Year with some good friends following a quick day trip to Raleigh, NC.

- Started my weight loss journey by joining the YMCA.

February

- Turned 24!  And my students celebrated by making cards and drawing pictures for me!

March

- Started running, using the Couch to 5K program - which did wonders for my weight loss!

April

- Visited Walt Disney World for the 13,452,054 time (ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration.  Kind of.) with my family for Spring Break.

May

- Saw Luke Bryan in concert.

June

- Ran my first 5K - The Color Run - in Roanoke.

- Spent a relaxing week at the beach in Nags Head, NC.

July

- Took a Gulf Coast road trip with my family.

- Took an Alaska cruise with my friend.

August

- Saw the Backstreet Boys in concert.  Best.  Concert.  Ever!

September

- School started!  This was my room as of the first day of school.  It, of course, has changed a lot since then!

- Went to my first Virginia Tech game of 2013!  It poured...but we had a great time!

October

- I bought my first house! 

- Attend my second Virginia Tech game the of season with friends!  Amazing day!

November

- Ran my second 5K - Run for the Chocolate - in Williamsburg.

- Started making some nice changes in the house!

December

- Got to decorate my first house for Christmas - and I put up 5 trees!  This is definitely a highlight of the year :)

- Completed my yearly reading goal of 25 books read in 2013.  In fact, I surpassed that goal with a total of 28 books!

And my biggest accomplishment of 2013?  Losing 50 pounds!  I've got 30 more to go to get to my goal weight...but I'm currently totally happy where I'm at!  This photo below is a before/after, but it's not even my most recent photo..even though it does a great job of showing the transformation!!

How was your 2013?  It's been a great year...and I'm so excited to see what 2014 brings!

8

2013 Reading Reflection

I read some pretty fantastic books this year.  I surpassed my Goodreads reading goal that I set for the year, but still didn't read as much as I had hoped to read.  Oh well, there's always 2014!  Here's my stats from Goodreads (my favorite website!) on my reading from this year!

I read 28 books this year.
The longest book I read was The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (648 pages).
I read 8,054 pages total.
Eighteen of these authors are new to me authors.  I love discovering new authors to read!

I read seven books that I gave a five-star rating - these were my absolute favorites of the year!
     - Even Now by Karen Kingsbury
     - Ever After by Karen Kingsbury
     - Hannah's Hope by Karen Kingsbury
     - The First Husband by Laura Dave
     - Arranged by Catherine McKenzie
     - The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury
     - Uncharted by Tracy Garvis-Graves

I read twelve books that I gave a four-star rating - these were very good, but didn't make the top list!
     - The Snow Bride by Debbie Macomber
     - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
     - The Baby Planner by Josie Brown
     - The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson
     - Three Girls and a Baby by Rachel Schurig
     - Unexpected Gifts by Elena Aitken
     - The Accidental Bride by Christina Skye
     - The Teacher's Billionaire by Christina Tetreault
     - Unwritten by Charles Martin
     - The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen
     - The Lightbearers by Nora M. Garcia
     - Her Christmas Cruise by Mona Risk

I read six books that I gave a three-star rating - these books were okay.
     - Santa Cruise by Mary Higgins Clark
     - Cruel Summer by Alyson Noel
     - The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
     - The Wedding Party by Elizabeth Rose
     - A Week at the Beach by Virginia Jewel
     - Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

I read three books that I gave a two-star rating - I finished these books, but I didn't enjoy them.
     - You've Been Warned by James Patterson
     - 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
     - Holiday in Your Heart by LeAnn Rimes

Thankfully, I did not read any books that I gave a one-star rating - these are books I absolutely did not like.

Here's hoping to a great year with lots of reading!  What books did you read this year?  What was your favorite book of the year?

1

It's Monday...how have I just realized that?

I used to participate in a lot of link ups in the blog world, but got out of doing that, as I didn't really feel like that was "me" blogging.  However, today, I stumbled across this link up...It's Monday!  What Are You Reading over at Book Journey.  I think it's seriously no secret that I'm an avid reader.  This link up is a fun and easy way for me to share what I've been reading AND is a way to me to see what others are reading a get new ideas on books to read next...not like I need any!  But, my motto in live....you can never have too many books in your to-read pile!

I started blogging my book reviews earlier this year, but haven't kept up with it recently.   One of my goals for the new year is to get back into blogging - and that means keeping up with my blog reviews.  So, while I don't have reviews at the ready for these books, here's the books I've read since last Monday (along with the date I finished each book and my rating of each).  Gosh, I love breaks from school where I can read nonstop!  And just for fun, you can click on the titles below to go to the Goodreads page for each book.  That site has to be one of my favorites! 

12/23 - Holiday In Your Heart by LeAnn Rimes - 2/5 stars

12/24 - The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson - 4/5 stars

12/24 - Unexpected Gifts by Elena Aitken - 4/5 stars

12/25 - Her Christmas Cruise by Mona Risk - 4/5 stars

12/27 - The Snow Bride by Debbie Macomber - 4/5 stars

And my current read, which I'm hoping to finish by tomorrow) is...

Three Girls and a Baby by Rachel Schurig


As you can see, it was a week full of Christmas books (what else would I read?!) and a week full of books that I've really enjoyed!  I've truly ended the year on a good literary note, so I'm hoping for nothing less in 2014!

Stay tuned  for January 1 to see what book I chose to read first in 2014!

4

2014 Book Challenges

I love to read.  And I love to participate in book challenges.  These are fun ways to make sure that I'm continuously AND to make sure I read some books that are outside my comfort zone of reading.  I was looking through multiple book challenges that are taking place all over the internet this year, and decided to participate in three separate challenges!

The Full House Reading Challenge, the 2014 Book Challenge on Goodreads, and the Around the World in 12 Books Challenge are the three challenges that I will be participating in this year!  The details of each are below.  I post later on with the books that I've decided to read...once I've made that big decision!  Click on the linked titles below to see the full rules and details.  I've just included the categories of books that must be read for each challenge!

The Full House Reading Challenge

One book from each category must be read, and one free exchange can be made if you don't like a category.

- From the local library
- Best read so far in 2014
- From your wish list
- Set in a different country from you
- Published in 2014
- Theme/issue you think is important
- Setting you'd like to visit
- Suspense or crime
- Contemporary
- More than 400 pages
- Re-read
- Review persuaded you to read it
- Free choice
- Published before 2013
- Book with animal in it
- Won or borrowed
- Historical fiction
- Less than 200 pages
- Non fiction
- Author new to you
- Book from a series
- Free or bought very cheaply
- Published in 2013
- Paranormal, SF, or dystopian
- You love the cover

2014 Book Challenge on Goodreads

One book must be read from each category.

- Read a "chunker" (more than 600 pages)
- Mystery
- Young Adult fiction
- Accidentally watched the movie first
- Relive the magic (read a book from childhood/youth you loved and haven't read recently)
- Gathering dust (had the book for years and still haven't read)
- Loved by others (others are constantly praising this book)
- Second chance (didn't like the first time)
- Award winner
- Classic
- Biography/memoir
- Contemporary fiction
- Non-fiction
- "Adult" fiction
- Fantasy
- Horror
- Lost in Translation (book originally published in a foreign language)
- "Secret Santa" (book assigned to ready by another challenger)
- Short stories
- Graphic novel
- Banned book
- True crime
- Current NY Times #1 Best Seller
- Cover story (a book you chose based solely on the cover image - you are not even allowed to read the description)
- Humor

 Around the World in 12 Books Challenge

Depending on what level you wish to try and reach, you read a certain number of books from all over the globe.  I'm aiming for the Seasoned Traveler level - which is 12 different books throughout the year.  You are allowed to choose the books you read and the countries they are set in...but you should aim to read at least one book set in the following locations:

- Africa
- Asia
- Europe
- Australia/New Zealand
- North America
- South America
- Middle East (bonus)

Have you ever participated in a book challenge?

5

2013 Christmas Home Tour

I think it's an understatement that decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite things.  I think my five trees explain all.  Each room in my house has a tree, and each tree has a different color scheme/theme.  Some to match the rooms, others just for fun.

First up - the living room.  I decided to go with a red and gold theme in there for this year!

I collect Willow Tree angels, so it's a no brainer to have the Willow Tree nativity set as well.  I love it!

I purchased these Christmas prints from PrettyLittleInk and printed them at Wal-Mart.

Next stop - the office (AKA - the penguin room!!)  If you know me well, you know that I'm slightly obsessed with penguins.

And every penguin room needs a penguin tree, right?

Just a sampling of my favorite ornaments on the penguin tree!

Absolutely love this!  I don't have a fireplace, so I don't have a mantle to decorate.  However, I do have these awesome shelves from IKEA, so I decided to use them as a makeshift mantle.  This entire display is created with products from Michaels (thanks to Black Friday sales!).

The kitchen!  The plates are from Kohl's a few years back.

The prints in the frames I made myself.

So, how does one decorate a tree in the kitchen?  With cookie cutters, of course!

Randomly found this wreath and ribbon while cleaning the other day.  So, I know have a fun and festive wreath for the kitchen!

The second bedroom.

And my bedroom!  I have three gray walls and one purple accent wall in the room, so my tree is purple, black, and silver.

That's Christmas this year!  Next year, I hope to spend more on the outside decorations.  Those were totally lacking this year.  How did you decorate for the holidays?  What is your favorite decoration in your house?  How many trees do you have?

3