Happy New Year!

It's 2016! WHOA!
When people(usually older) use to tell me that 'once you get out of high school, time flies...' they aren't kidding. I remember being younger and couldn't wait until I could drive, then it was I couldn't wait until I graduated, then it was 21(which I never officially got to celebrate because I was pregnant.) I'm 31 now. THIRTY ONE! with TWO kids. I never wanted kids..until I was pregnant, and I didn't want anything more. Anyways, I'm getting off track.

My new years was very uneventful. The hubs wasn't feeling the greatest, and we ended up hanging out in bed most of the day. I think he fell asleep two minutes after the ball dropped. I read. Good times.

SO January is almost over..it's been a month full of reading, sickness, and Jonas!

My very first read for this year was The 5th Wave! My hubs got me it for Christmas because I said the movie looked pretty good, but I'm sure the book is better. The book is ALWAYS better. Good to know he listens when he wants to!


I was actually really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I love Paranormal/Sci-Fi reads, I have a whole bookshelf dedicated to just that. In order for me to really enjoy a read, there has to be some kind of romance involved. There was a little, but the overall story had me captivated, and wanting to know what was going to happen next. I read it within a day, went out with my Christmas money I received from my grandma and bought The Infinite Sea. Now that book is another story, it was good but left me a little angry at the end..and now I have to wait until May for the last book(also not happy).

Winter is always a big reading time for me..so far according to my goodreads challenge..I'm on a roll! I've read 13 books! Here's some I really enjoyed, in case you're wondering!
Big Rock by Lauren Blakely. Cute, fun, light read.
The Stocking was Hung by Tara Sivec. So it was a Christmas read, that I never got around to reading. Hilariously funny, super sweet, cute read. 
Forbidden by CD Reiss. I've read previous Reiss books and enjoyed them. This one was more erotica, something I normally don't read. But it was well written, and I actually enjoyed it. Not my favorite, but it's worth mentioning.
Ninja at First Sight by Penny Reid. This book made me swoon. Penny has become one of my favorites. I've read maybe 5 of her books and really enjoyed every one. They're sweet, funny, smart, and well written!

So then a sickness fell over the house, first the hubs..which always seems to get a very mild sort of cold. It's almost unfair. Then my son, who is still has a runny nose..and then me, which I ended up missing two days of work. Five days later, and I'm finally feeling 99% better.

I woke up Saturday morning to this;

For over a week, it was all speculation. It went from 3-5 inches, then 12-24, then it may not even hit us. They knew this storm was a big one, but they didn't know if it was going to impact us at all. People like to poke fun at the weathermen because mother nature is unpredictable. I think last year we were suppose to get a big storm and didn't. I don't think anyone actually thought we were going to get as much as we did, but man were we surprised! Storm Jonas break records and made some history. The blizzard of 2016. Apparently, the last huge storm Pennsylvania got(as big as this) was in 1998.

We got like 32 inches! Like I said, insane! I made my husband go stand in an unplowed driveway(last picture). I'm thankful it hit us on a weekend, I'm sure work would be close but the urgency to dig ourselves out wasn't as prominent. Three days later, they're still clearing out snow in the neighborhood and some areas have yet to be plowed!



We're suppose to get some more tomorrow which is pretty crappy considering we're still cleaning up the mess from Jonas. Just two weeks ago, it was too warm to snow. I miss that. I am not cut out for the cold. I think 30+ inches is enough for winter, right!? Come on Spring!

Well, that is all...Until next time friends!

Ending the new year with books.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Years!

It's a great year for me and my family. I can say that I'm sincerely happy with life! 
Two years ago, I rang in the new year with Dj Pauly D! That was a blast! Tonight, will be quite tame. We'll be spending some time with good friends and I couldn't ask for a better way to bring in the new year!
I don't do resolutions, but I hope to keep up blogging. Here's to another great year!

Closing out my new year with my favorite books of 2015!

Eat. Sleep. Read.

Christmas Vacation!

WHOO! My last day of work was the 23rd, I have 6 days left to my little Christmas vacation. This was our first Christmas in our new home! I've enjoyed decorating, but I've had to buy more since the house is bigger than what we once had...but that's okay! Now I have to take it all down.

I made my door wreaths, and I'm so proud of them! go me!

Christmas was wonderful, I was absolutely spoiled. Honestly, the whole family was. I love buying gifts for other, just as much as I love getting gifts. To see the pure joy on my families face, it's worth every penny spent even if my kids were a bit naughty.
What fantastic goodies did you get? I seriously would love to know! I posted some of my goodies below.
We bought the family a Wii U, and I highly recommend it! It's so much fun! I might be a little biased as I love Nintendo. 

Unfortunately, Christmas slowly started going south. My son wasn't feeling too well, and soon after my husband started complaining of stomach pains. Two days later, my husband no longer has an appendix, and my son has an ear infection. I'm now playing nurse to my two boys.


On another note, I started writing! I've always been writing, but I'm currently posting it on a sharing site called Wattpad. Feel free to add me if you're on there! It's on my bucket list to write a book, with my odd work schedule and family. I'm always tired, but I'm determined! Wattpad is a really positive place, and honestly just having people 'vote' for my story is really helping me continue.

AND Of course, I'm still avidly reading and I still have a couple days until the new year to squeeze in a couple more reads before I compile my favorites of 2015! Which, HOLY CRAP, it's going to be 2016! 

Have a safe and fun New Years! I will most likely be celebrating it at home with our family, and I'm perfectly okay with that!

Buying a house...

is stressful! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

Me and the hubs have rented for a very long time now, and we have finally bit the bullet and decided to buy a home. We saved the very minimum, and I think if we would have started saving sooner, it may not have been as difficult.

Lesson one: SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!

Our credit was shot. We've been working with a mortgage broker for the past year, who has helped us get where we needed to be.

Lesson two: Don't be an idiot and screw up your credit at a young age!

So we got the approval and started house hunting. You'd think this would be a fun process, and maybe for some people it is...but for me, it wasn't. First, we want to stay in the same school district we currently rent our house in. Sadly, this school district is expensive, so our options were limited. 

House one; It was the first house we looked at, and I fell in love. It was a foreclosure, in a beautiful location. BEAUTIFUL! I wanted it for the sole reason of it's location. The outside needed TLC, it hasn't been tended to in months. The first floor needed new carpeting and some paint, the basement needed a complete renovation. But it was in our price, and the upstairs was livable until we got the money to do the downstairs. We put in an offer, the bank accepted, but our lender would not loan the money due to the fact the house was mobile home(even with a full basement and one acre-they don't care). I was devastated. The only way we'd be able to get the house is if we had 10k to put down, and we don't, so we(Me, mostly) were forced to walk away. Strike one.

With no more options in our area, we went looking into a few towns over. House one, was nice, cute, a little small ranch home...and it would have been an option until I saw the kitchen. It was so small, I don't even know how the three of us stood in it. (Me, the hubs, and our realtor) That house was out..my morale was plummeting. We moved onto the second house, it was very high in our price range, but it was beautiful. A beautiful brick ranch, with a two car garage. Inside was outdated(pink 60's bathroom), shag carpet. Huge basement. I fell in love again. I had high hopes! We went onto the third house, and the pictures online made it look much nicer than it really was. The family was home, which was really awkward, and people kept appearing out of nowhere. There had to have been 10 people living in the house. I did not get good vibes and I ended up telling our realtor I wanted to leave, and he seemed relieved. Me and hubs talked, we decided to put an offer in on house two, I was excited! It was a pre-estate sale, the lady was 92, and her family was handling the sale. We were suppose to get a response within 24 hours, they said they didn't agree to our offer, but they didn't disagree. I thought, it's been on market for a while, why wouldn't they take our offer. I was hopeful. THREE days late, 3 agonizing days, and they said 'No' to our offer, flat out no. Our realtor was pissed, and wanted to tell them to 'fuck off', but of course didn't. We walked away from another house..again.

We looked at a handful of other houses, and each time I left I felt depressed. This was no longer fun. We were getting at the bottom of the barrel. The house we currently rent, the landlords want to sell it. We had planned to buy it, but decided we needed more room, and mostly a garage(my husband is a car guy, and details cars on the side). I wanted to be moved in by the end of summer, just in case the kids would have to attend another school.

I love ranch homes, and that's the type of houses I was looking into. We currently live in a townhouse, and I really wanted to stay away from them. Not that they're bad, I just wanted something one story. Having to drag laundry down two flights of steps isn't fun, especially when you have four people worth.

As a last resort, we decided to check out a townhouse in the same district we live in now. It's much bigger than our house now, and has a garage. Three very important factors to us. We both have been in one, but every house is different. The garage isn't huge, but we have a small drive way. We walked in, and my husband fell in love. I found it hilarious. All the houses we looked at, he never, not once had that reaction. Oh boy. The house is only 12 years old, it was taken care of, the appliances are the expensive kind, small backyard, but no one behind us, just a big field. It's move-in ready! After we left, my hubs looks at me and says, I want it. Almost like it's a car. I was hesitant, I didn't want to live in another townhouse, but it's beautiful. We talked it over, and decided to put in an offer. They countered, we countered, they agreed.

Lesson Three: Lower your expectations.

We are a week from our closing, and at the end of the month we will be moving in! We are going to be first time home owners! This has been on hell of a ride, and I cannot wait until this is all over. I don't want to do this again, unless we're moving to the beach!


Now for some pictures, because if I just read a post like this, I'd expect some pictures! We will painting a few areas in the house :)

Picture 1: Front of house. 2: Foyer/Stairs/Hallway to 1st Floor. 3: Living Room. 4: Kitchen(some granite counters will really nice!) 5: First floor.

Oh hello there.

I'm not quite sure why I even have this blog.  I haven't posted here in almost a year. I really don't have anything interesting to say, and my life is pretty damn boring..even so, I don't mind and yet..I still WANT to blog. So I'm gonna try this again...this whole blogging thing.
I got this cute Q&A a day book, so even when I have nothing to say, I'm just going to take a question from my book(that I also fail to fill out daily) and answer it.
Honestly, I'd love to meet some new people, new blogger friends...When I was younger, I had more of a life, more drama, and plenty of interesting things to write...I met a handful of other bloggers, and we are still in contact to this day. It's been really neat to see their lives transform, and all of them becoming parents! So if you'd like a new friend, add me, send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!
That's all for today, until tomorrow my friends......

Nine Minutes.

Sometime ago, I can't even remember how it all went down. My long time friend's mom approached me about some information regarding her book. She sent me the prologue, and even though it seemed to be outside of my normal reading genre, that little bit had me sucked in. I told her to let me know when she published it, because I really wanted to read it.
I had helped her with things here and there, in return she mailed me her book. I was super excited to dig in. When I was finished, I was truly blown away. I went through numerous emotions. I was sad at what went down, I was shocked at some things that were revealed, and I was happy with who the MC ended up with. It was a raw, gruesome, realistic story. I loved it, and the ending had me starved for more.

Let me explain more about this book, the story is from Ginny Lemon's, aka Kit, point of view. She is kidnapped and taken as a 'gift' for the leader of this notorious gang, Satan's Army. Grizz is big, tattooed, handsome, and intimidating. Ginny is given a new identity and no longer known as Ginny, but Kit. 
Like I've said above, I'm not big into bikers or stories with being kidnapped and falling in love with their abductors. So reading this was really taking a risk for me, and I think I need to take more risks. It was well written, well developed, and I couldn't help but fall for Grizz myself. Grizz is not your hero. He was rough, raw, and mean. But he had a soft spot for Kit, and even though he was brutal, he was a different man with her. I loved it. Each character was developed so well, you loved some, and hated others.

It's rare when I give a book my 5 star rating, and at first I gave it 4.5. After sometime, I found myself telling my cousin, you have to read this. Then I told my mom, and my sisters. I thought about it days after and I thought to myself, not many books have this effect on me, so I changed it to 5 stars. Because that's what it is! It's a big 5 star read!

Beth is currently holding a giveaway, you have a chance to win a paperback copy.  Enter here; http://www.authorbethflynn.com/blog-2/

Nine Minutes is currently available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Minutes-Beth-Flynn-ebook/dp/B00M3350MK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412555083&sr=1-1&keywords=nine+minutes
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nine-minutes-beth-flynn/1120196683?ean=2940150708105

Book two in the series will be release sometime next spring!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

For me anyways....it's officially fall. The weather is cooling off, the leaves are turning, and it's beginning to get dark a bit earlier. I love it, minus the getting darker earlier, I could go without that feat. But my windows are open allowing the cool breeze to flow through my house, my autumn decorations are up, and even my Scentsy warmer is filling the rooms with autumn scents.

Halloween is my favorite holiday and not only does October hold my favorite holiday, but also my birthday! This year is the big 3-0 for me. I cannot believe I will be 30. THIRTY! It seems old, but yet I still feel young except for those days when my body aches and cracks in places I wouldn't even imagine would crack. No official plans for my birthday, none that I know of anyways......

The husband, our youngest, and myself went on a hike. It was a beautiful day and we decided to make the best of it. We woke up early, but that's really nothing knew, and went to a flea market. Then after unpacking our goodies decided to go to the Knob. It's been years since I've hiked anywhere, and after this I plan to make it a regular thing.

The view is amazing, and quite awe-inspiring, isn't it? I'd like to go back to capture the full effect of fall in the North East.

It was fun, and our son enjoyed it as much as we did. It wasn't until he fell and his head was five inches from hitting a rock that I called it a day. We headed back to the car and continued on with our day.

I haven't been successful in finding a book since I finished Opposition, the series I raved about in my last post. I hate when this happens, I'm in a rut and it's annoying as hell.