Top Ten Tuesday: Things I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome weekly event hosted over at The Broke And The Bookish and this week their topic is Top Ten Things I'm Thankful For

 

 

 

 

1. My Family. I love my family, even if they do sometimes drive me a little crazy. They've always got my back and they're there for me no matter what.

 2. Friends That Have Turned Into Family.  My family is actually very small. It's just me, my parents, and my two younger sisters. All my other family {cousins, aunts, uncles, grandfather, etc.} is scattered throughout the states, and I don't get to see them. I do, however, have wonderful friends who are a lot like family to me, and they fill in those blank spaces.

3.  Books! I am very thankful for books, and the exiting adventures they provide. And all the different people you get to meet. I am thankful for all the heartbreak and the happiness that I feel when I am reading. {Okay, Okay, I'll stop now}

4, My Job Well, jobs, technically. I've been working at the library in town for a little over a year, and I've been working at the University bookstore for just over 4 years, I love them both so much

5. My Coworkers and Managers.  I really do have the two best jobs. I get along great with everyone I work with, and I have wonderful managers. I've learned so much from everyone I work with, they're all amazing people.

6. My Pets. I have two dogs and two cats, and they all provide endless entertainment... not to mention that the one cat is my baby, and he loves to cuddle {and sprawl out over my book when I am trying to read, but hey, he's cute so he can get away with it.

7. My Church Kids. this last year, I was able to teach the 10 year olds in their Sunday School class, and I've absolutely loved it. I think I've learned as much from them as they have from me.

8. Sunny Day Rain. Okay, okay, just hear me out. I love it when the sun is shining outside, and it starts to rain... Not torrential downpour rain, but drizzle rain. I think that it is so pretty when it does that.

9. YOU! Yes, you. I'm extremely thankful for anyone who takes the time to read my Blog. Y'all are awesome, and don't you forget it.

Review: The Amazing {Audio} Book Is Not On Fire

My Rating: 5 Stars

Date Listened To: November 2015
Listening Length: 4 hours and 25 minutes


Summary From Goodreads:

If you found The Amazing Book is Not on Fire at least mildly interesting, or even if you didn't read it at all, then you will LOVE our audiobook! Not only do you get us sensually narrating the whole thing in your ears, but there are over three hours of exclusive behind-the-scenes commentary on the book, and irrelevant Dan and Phil banter straight from our mouths to your ears! Who doesn't want that? Okay, that came out kind of weird, but trust us you'll like it. I guess we have to rephrase the blurb..?

In this AUDIObook is a world. An AUDIOworld created by two awkward guys who share their lives on the internet! We are Dan and Phil and we invite you on a journey inside our minds THROUGH YOUR EARS! From reading the stories of our actual births, to verbally exploring Phil's teenage diary and pontificating about all the reasons why Dan's a fail. Learn how to draw the perfect cat whiskers, get aural advice on how to make YouTube videos and How Will This Quiz Work discover which of our dining chairs represents you emotionally. With everything from what we text each other, to the time we met One Direction and what really happened in Vegas... This is The Amazing AUDIO Book Is Not On Fire!

This is The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire!


My Review:

Right, so, I know I already reviewed the actual book... But I listened to it as well, so, yeah...

I know you're probably asking yourself "why would she listen to the book if she's already read it?? That's just crazy!" Yeah, well, you're probably right. But I listened to the trailer for their audio book, and holy guacamole, I was hooked. Wait, what? You haven't heard the trailer?? Well, I can fix that for you.... There, I've added the video below... Make sure you have headphones and you keep your eyes closed. I'll wait right here for you *Cue Waiting Music*





 

SEE? wasn't that asdffghjkl amazing?! Anyways, that's what convinced me that I needed this audio book straightaway, and I regret nothing.

I am usually not a big fan of audio books because I can read much faster than the person narrating, or I just don't like the way it sounds.. In fact, I think {besides this one} I've only listened to one audio book all the way through. But this one was great because it was Dan and Phil doing the narrating, and it felt like I was "watching" one of their videos. I could imagine all the gestures they were making, while they were talking. It was actually pretty fantastic.

Even though all the content was basically the same, I really enjoyed all the sound effects and music as well as all the extra bantering that went on while they were narrating. It wan fun to hear their reactions while the other person was talking.. and all the different voices and accents they used.

Have you read/listened to this book yet? If yes, what did you think of it? If your answer is no, then I really think you need to! Either way, let me know down in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome weekly event hosted over at The Broke And The Bookish and this week their topic is "Favorite Bookish Quotes". I actually love this, because I am a collector of quotes. I keep a little journal and when I am reading and find a good quote I like to write it down.





1. "I don't lie. Ever. I don't need to, because I don't care if I hurt anyone's feelings. The truth is the truth, forever unchanging, and it's better than a lie any day of the week."
 This first quote comes from Frosty from the book A Mad Zombie Party by Gena Showalter, and let me tell you now I loooooove this quote.

2.You're not from around here, are you? Can't be. Why would we name it I-YOU-POO-Y? Really? Say the letters. I-U-P-U-I.” 
This one's from Wildcat Fireflies by Amber Kizer. I like this one because leave it to an out-of-towner to mess up the name IUPUI {I-You-Poo-Y... *Snorts* that's hilarious}

3. “Saying good-bye is basically an invitation not to see a person again. It's making it okay for that to be the last conversation you have. So if you don't say it--if you leave the conversation open--it means you'll have to see them again." 
Roger Sullivan said this in the book Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson... I kind of took this quote to heart. Even before this book came out, I never really said Good-Bye to people, it was always see you later. And then after I read it, I started leaving the word Good-Bye out of my vocabulary more and more. Yes, there are some times that I still say good-bye, but it is very rarely.

4. “You see, cuckoos are parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds' nests. When the egg hatches, the baby cuckoo pushes the other baby birds out of the nest. The poor parent birds work themselves to death trying to find enough food to feed the enormous cuckoo child who has murdered their babies and taken their places."

"Enormous?" said Jace. "Did you just call me fat?"
"It was an analogy."
"I am not fat.” 

This one was from City of Ashes... Jace is always so entertaining.


5. Home isn't a place. Home is the people who love you the most.
 This one came from the book All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and I just so happen to agree with this one whole-heartedly.

6. Honesty's easy. It's trust that's hard.
I don't really remember which book this quote came from

7.  "It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it. You are beautiful."
Ian O'Shea *Swoon*

8. I want to be the friend you fall hopelessly in love with.
This one was from Warner in Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. He's my fave.

9.Words will live as long as people can remember them.
Another one from Warner... I told you he was my fave. 

10. “Life's messy," he agreed. "But sometimes amazing things can happen, even when it seems like it's all falling apart.”  
This one came from How {Not} To Fall In Love by Lisa Brown Roberts 

So what are your favorite bookish quotes? Let me know in the comments below!
 

 
 
 

Review: The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire

My Rating: 5 alpaca-licious Stars
Date Read: October 2015



Publication Date:  October 13, 2015
Hardcover, 224 Pages



Summary from Goodreads:

Hello reader,

In this book is a world. A world created by two awkward guys who share their lives on the internet!

We are Dan and Phil and we invite you on a journey inside our minds! From the stories of our actual births, to exploring Phil's teenage diary and all the reasons why Dan's a fail.

Learn how to draw the perfect cat whiskers, get advice on what to do in an awkward situation and discover which of our dining chairs represents you emotionally. With everything from what we text each other, to the time we met One Direction and what really happened in Vegas...



My Review:




This is not a serious book. Then again, I wasn't expecting it to be serious. What I was expecting was a fun, hilarious book that would have me smiling that the huge dork that I am, and laughing out loud in a room full of people and having them look a me like I'm crazy... And that's exactly what I got. It was adorable, and fun, and exactly what you would expect from Dan and Phil. This book was totally and completely Ace.


I'm not much of a Youtube watcher... but once upon a time ago, I stumbled across Dan's How To Speak Internet colab video that he did with Jack and Finn. It was hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing, and I absolutely loved it... So what did I do after that? Well, I am not ashamed to admit that I binge watched all of the videos that he had done thus far {he had been youtubing for 3 years by that point, so there were quite a few} and then of course, if you're waching Danisnotonfire videos, you're inevitably going to meet Phil. So, to make a long and nonsensical story short... I went from not being a big Youtube watcher to watching these two almost religiously. What I like so much about Dan and Phil is that on one hand, you have guys who do things like this:

But then you turn around and:

Right, so onto the review. I thought this book was super fun. All the pages were in color, and you get to see a little more into the lives of Dan and Phil. There's a whole bunch of random awesomeness . I thoroughly enjoyed reading about what happened in Vegas {who knew playing in the casino could be so dangerous?} and how they got to interview 1D when they weren't going to be able to {that took major guts, btw [also, I thought about saying balls, but I didn't want to make it awkward]} And I liked the addition of "Going Deep With Dan And Phil"... that was entertaining. I also liked that in the narration, not only were they talking to you, they were interacting and bantering with each other as well... It almost made it seem like you were watching one of their videos.


Have you seen any of Dan and Phil's videos? If not, then you're definitely missing out! You can check out Phil's Channel Here, or Dan's Here oooorrrrrrr, you could go watch the Phil Is Not On Fire Videos, because really that's the best of both worlds. Then you definitely need to go check out this book. Well? What are you waiting for? Go!

 

Review: Aimee And The Heartthrob {Backstage Pass #1} by Ophelia London

My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: October 2015



Publication Date:  April 14, 2015
Paperback, 223 Pages



Summary from Goodreads:

He never noticed her before, but now she's all he can see...

Miles Carlisle is every teen girl's fantasy. His rugged good looks and exotic British accent have helped catapult his boy band, Seconds to Juliet, to super-stardom. But after two disastrous and very public breakups, Miles isn't interested in dating just any girl; he wants The One. And the only girl he's interested in is not only his best friend's little sister - and off-limits - but won't even give him the time of day...

As a kid, Aimee Bingham had a huge thing for Miles...until he made fun of her for always tagging along. Now that she's outgrown both him and her pigtails, the prospect of spending two weeks on tour with the childhood crush who broke her heart isn't exactly enticing. Except now Miles seems interested. Very interested. And no matter how hard Aimee tries to resist him, her crush is definitely making a comeback. But everyone knows that falling for a heartthrob is a backstage pass to heartbreak...


My Review:

I've been in sort of a reading slump lately, and that's just been really sad for me. So one day, during my dinner break at work, I picked up my phone and started reading this book that I had downloaded forever ago and then promptly for got about... And I loved it. Not that it really surprised me. This book falls right in with What I Love, with the Boy Band and what not.

There aren't a lot of stories out there about Boy Bands {at least, I don't think so... I could be wrong} and I thought it was cool that this one didn't glaze over anything and try to make it seem like everything was peachy all the time {because really, how believable would that be?} and I also liked the relationship that the boys had. They fought and got on each others nerves, but they still loved each other like brothers.

Miles. Oh swoon. I think that it's the British accent that makes him seem so fantastic. And Aimee was adorable too... Although sometimes it was hard to remember that she was 16 because of the way she talked sometimes. I mean, I totes know that it's lowkey cool to talk like that now.... But it really makes the person sound way young.

Though this book was a little predictable at times, it was a fun, cute, quick read, and I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for something that's not overly serious and heavy.

Type 1 Diabetes And Me

Today is November 1st, which kicks off National Diabetes Awareness Month, and this is something that is very near and dear to me. Why? Well, because I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was 6. So I'd like to take some time to talk to you all about what it is, and answer some questions that I hear all the time, and some of the things that I deal with.

Soooo... What is it?

Type 1 Diabetes {or Juvenile Diabetes}is an autoimmune disease that causes your pancreas to stop creating insulin, something that your body needs in order to get energy from food that you eat.

Well, maybe you should have eaten better, or gotten more exercise or {insert other reason here}

My diabetes was not caused by anything I did or did not do, or what I did or did not eat. No one knows what exactly causes Type 1 Diabetes, it's this great big mystery. Type 2 on the other hand... well, that's another story.

Hey, maybe if you eat better and exercise more you can cure your diabetes/Hey! I just heard that if you drink 24 ounces of carbonated pickle juice it will cure you're diabetes {or some other similarly hilarious nonsense}
Ummm.... no. Just, no. There is nothing neither I nor anyone else can do to cure Type 1 Diabetes. The insulin that I take helps to keep my blood sugar in line but it is not a cure either. I'd love for their to be a cure in my lifetime, but since it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon... I'm in this for the long haul y'all.

Whoa whoa whoa. you can't eat that candy/cake/food... You're diabetic!
Actually, yes I can in fact eat that. This is one of the things that I hear over and over and over again. But that's okay, because I know that people are just concerned for my well being. But I can eat anything and that any non-diabetic can. It would be absolutely terrible for me if  I couldn't eat certain foods--especially something sweet--because I have the world's biggest sweet tooth.

Does it run in families?

They say no it does not, but I beg to differ. My baby sister was diagnosed when she was only three, and I know several other families who have two or more children with Diabetes.

OMG, I HATE needles, I don't know how you do that! 
Because I have no choice... Okay, even before I was diagnosed I never had a fear of needles... But that's a good thing, because I'd be in big trouble.



Living with Type 1 Diabetes can be ridiculously frustrating at times. You have to keep your blood sugar levels in their "Good" range, which is laughable sometimes because there are days where it's just not going to happen, no matter how hard you try. You could eat the same thing at the same time every single day, and you probably are not going to ever see the same numbers twice. There are many different reasons as to why this happens.. It could have to do with a change in the weather. It could be because you're happy, mad, sad, stressed... Heck, it could even have to do with what time you went to bed last night! It's a crazy roller coaster {and not the fun kind either}


Having Type 1 Diabetes is a constant worry that something is inevitably going to go wrong...Like having my insulin pump malfunction and I'll be without the proper supplies to take care of it. Even though I checked, double checked, and triple checked before I left home, and my blood sugar is going to spike sky high... which means I am going to have to deal with the very unpleasant symptoms. A massive headache, nausea, being extremely thirsty {and no matter how much water you drink, it's not enough} and having to pee... a lot.

Or you go to the opposite end of the spectrum... Dun dun duuuuun, low blood sugars. Those are probably my least favorite. Symptoms can vary from person to person, but for me, I get really shaky, and extremely irritable {things that don't usually bother me, make me so angry.} I can't concentrate on anything, and some of the things I do every day are nearly impossible for me. {like...2+2=? Ummm, is the answer fish?} And then I have to eat something to bring my sugar back up out of the danger zone, but everything tastes like saw dust. yuck. But if I don't do something about it, I could have a really bad reaction {like pass out} and have to go to the hospital. I haven't had anything like that happen to me since I was pretty little, but my baby sister ended up in the hospital for that a few years ago. She woke up around 6 in the morning and was completely confused and had no idea who she was. No matter what we asked her, the answer was cat, and she thought her name was Roo. We checked her blood sugar at home and it was normal so we took her to the hospital and spent a couple of hours there. What they think happened was that her blood sugar dropped too low and she had a seizure... Oh gosh, that was one of the most terrifying moments in my entire life.

It's hard dealing with everything sometimes, but I do it, and I don't go around feeling sorry for myself about it either. Well, okay, I've had moments when I wonder why my life is so complicated and why can't I just be a normal person who doesn't have to worry about checking their blood sugar 8 times a day...

But I get over that pretty quickly, because my life is actually pretty ace. And I know that I could have it much much much worse than I do. I refuse to let Diabetes run my life and define who I am... and I most definitely do not let it slow me down or stop me from doing the things that I love. I have family and friends who love me. I have two part time jobs that I absolutely love. I get to work with the younger girls at my church on Wednesday nights, and I am a self proclaimed book nerd who is also a geek with a hint of dork {and I ROCK that, thank you very much}I love my life, and I wouldn't change one single thing about it. I never went through that crazy teenage rebellion, where I refused to check my blood sugar, or give myself insulin because I was embarrassed about it or worried what my friends thought of it. Because seriously, if they can't handle it, then I really don't need them around me at all. Their loss, not mine.

I do sometimes feel like I grew up a lot faster than most kids out of necessity, but I don't think that was a bad thing. I always had a lot more freedom than most of my friends {like not ever having a curfew} because my parents knew that I could handle myself, and they could trust that I wasn't going to be doing anything stupid. I was also a lot better at math {not that it meant that I liked math, because we are not friends...}

My advice to you {whether you're a newly diagnosed Type 1, or you have a child with Type 1} find someone who is in the same boat. Trust me, as a diabetic it helps so much to have someone to talk to, who actually gets what you're saying and knows what you're going through. They understand what it feels like to have you're blood sugar sit at 24 and refuse to come back up. Yes, sure, you can try to explain the feeling to a non diabetic, but it's just not the same. And if you're the parent of a diabetic {which I am not, but I've seen what my mom goes through} it's nice to talk to another parent who can relate to what is going on, and can give you advice about different things.

If you want more information on Type 1 Diabetes click here to be redirected to the JDRF website