Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Life Updates and the Unknown


Engagement Picture: October 2010

We have finally started to pack. It all seems to be coming up so soon.

What exactly is coming up or changing? Well, it seems that almost everything is changing. Just today (Tuesday) I defended my final paper for my masters degree and passed! Packing has been going on full blast and our apartment is in pieces.

See, back in March I accepted a job.....well....a summer job. In a tiny isolated town in beautiful central Idaho, I accepted a summer position with a non profit up working as a historic specialist where I will help doing various tasks including working in a museum (and living there! It's an old historic ranger station. The history nerd in me squeals with delight about it all!) and leading tours. I. am. so. excited.

Accepting the job meant a few things. One was that DJ had to wait to start looking for jobs. That was okay because he is still finishing Calc II. It also meant that we needed to pack up our apartment, put everything in storage and take up personal items only.  D quit his job at Wingers. I finished school. All life changes coming at us 100 miles per hour.

So basically I tell people this: Yes we packed up all our stuff and spending the summer in central Idaho and oh come fall, we might be homeless and jobless if we don't find employment by end of summer.

Most people's response: Wow. That's scary!!

Thank you kind people for pointing out that yes, indeed, it's scary as hell. But also exciting and adventurous and when will we ever have a chance to do this again? We don't have a mortgage, or kids, or steady jobs and why not?

D and I are ready for a change. I thrive and grow on change. But that of course doesn't mean I'm not a little sad to say goodbye to my home of 7 years, 5 of which where in the same apartment.

As I sat in the tornado of our belongings, packing up box after box of books (I'm up to 8 :) I got a bit sentimental.

For the last 5 years we have lived in a tiny apartment and I couldn't help but of all the life that happened in that place. D and I moved into together in this apartment, we got engaged here, we got married here, we rearranged the place after the wedding to make it feel new.

We experienced joy, sadness, death, 4 funerals, a few weddings. We fought in this apartment and fell even more in love. We laughed so hard I'm sure our neighbors heard us (probably fought as loud. You're welcome neighbors! Payback for the times we heard your squeaky bed. *shudders*)

 I found out my dad had cancer, that he was in remission and that it had come back while living here. I graduated college in this apartment and finished my masters degree. DJ's car got broken into twice here (one time, even got his stuff back). We had drunken dance parties and threw down countless bottles (sometimes boxes) of wine with friends. I found out our journey towards kids would be different than everyone's else's. I wrote a book here. We took vacations here (Vegas, road trips, Florida) We had yearly gumbo nights and pumpkin carving where we ate too many tootie frooties (JK-no such thing). So many things.

 So I sat in the room with a plastic cup full of red wine, surrounded by books and boxes and I cried over all the life that happened here. All the good and bad and everything in between.

Yes, D and I are scared about the unknown but I know that together we make a pretty good team and we will be fine as long as we have each other. That while it might be scary it's also exciting and I can't wait to see what adventures are in store for us.

I plan on blogging more this summer about all the cool things we do and see in central Idaho. No worries, I have a list ;)






Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Books You Should Be Reading (Jan-March)

Happy April!!! Holy Crap it's April!!! Time has seem to escape me again. Sigh. Since the new year my reviewing has been sad, as in I've only done one, wait...maybe two. But I've read some great books since the new year, so every so often I will drop in and tell you the books I've loved and why you should pick them up :) Without further ado....


I've read 72 books so far this year...

These are the ones I LOVED.

The Deep End of the Sea by Heather Lyons
This is a New Adult story of Medusa. It's a magical tale of redemption and love and all the wonderful things. I did do a review for this one (yay, go me) and you can check it out here My Review

Teaser

Buy Link



Drawn Me In by Megan Squires 

This book was SUCH a pleasant surprise. I truly loved it! I've read Megan Squires before and loved her book and then on a whim I picked this one up. It was so good! And I will say this, there is a certain book that people are almost obsessed with and this book deals with the same issues, slightly. (I would say what book, but then it gives it away and yeah...I don't want to do that) and honestly, I thought this story was much better. Trust me when I say that this book is amazing! 



Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

GAH this book. It was hands down the best ending to a trilogy I have ever read. Ever. So do yourself a favor and just read all three books. 


With This Heart by R.S. Grey 

I literally read this book a couple days ago. It was wonderful! I found the characters delightful and their banter was hilarious! Plus I always fall for the good guy.  Yay for good guys and road trips and heartfelt story lines! So yay for this book! 




Lick by Kylie Scott 


If you can't tell, I'm a bit of a fan of the good guys. I am normally not impressed by alpha males. This book was a surprise for me because I loved it! And honestly, I don't think the main character in this book is an alpha male, at all. A rockstar, yes, but not so much alpha male. He was sweet and kind and a little broody and Ev, the female in this book, was wonderful and real! Yep, loved this book. 



Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

This book is a bit of a given because, hello?!?!? Colleen Hoover. I bow down to her greatness.