Recent Reads v4 (part 2)

I'm continuing last weeks recent reads post finally, SORRY! I always say I'm going to post soon and then I get distracted. We're on vacation currently. Visiting the future brother-in-law and his fiance at their house in North Carolina. My mister's mother, sister, and nephew are here too. But here are the other dozens of books I've read in the past months or so.

Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi) - This book, I liked it enough but I thought it was going to be a lot better. The beginning was slow. It picked up more at the end which made it a lot better but if I do read the second one I hope it ends up with more going on.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (Mindy Kaling) - This was such a funny book. It made me appreciate her and her acting a lot more. She is a sincerely good comedian. Everyone should read this book. It's a great light summer read.

Happy Accidents (Jane Lynch) - I thought this book was going to be more of a funny book like Mindy's however it was much more of a memoir. It was still really good because I learned quite a lot about Jane's life and what she has gone through to become such a famous actress.

The Soldier's Wife (Margaret Leroy) - I put off reading this book thinking it wasn't going to be really great. I almost brought it back to the library without reading it many times. However it was a nice read. Worthwhile if you're into those kinds of stories. It was enjoyable enough.

Divergent (Veronica Roth) - I'm so glad I bought this series because I loved it. It was definitely a book I'll recommend to people who like dystopian genre books. I loved all the characters and the plot and the story line was different and I was completely hooked from the start.

Insurgent (Veronica Roth) - Another great one. This had me on the edge of my seat and I almost had to flip to the back to see how it would end. Of course it ended and I cannot possibly wait for the third now. I hate not knowing what's going to happen! I hope the third is as great as the past two are.

The Surrogate (Leonard Foglia) - I won this book off goodreads and was so excited that the authors signed the copy and wrote a little personal message to me. However the story was alright. Very predictable. I know that there are other books where the content may be more original, however I don't know if I'm even going to bother reading them.

Between The Lines (Jodi Picoult) - I'll read anything by Jodi Picoult and I was worried to read this because I knew she wrote it with her daughter and it was more of a young adult fairy tale. However the story line and plot is one I've always loved and grew up reading books like this when I was little (i.e., The Doll People). I love the imagination that went into this book. Once again, Jodi Picoult can do wrong in my eyes.

The Paris Wife (Paula McLain) - Great book! I didn't know a lot about Hemingway, although I enjoy some of his literature. But I loved learning about his life through the eyes of his first wife. I really sympathized for her and the amount of love she showed for Hemingway.

The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson) - I thought this book was going to be a lot different than what it was. It was alright, interesting and made me think about the people I interact with. I just wish it was more of a story and flowed better.

Recent Reads v4 (part 1)

There are so many books I've read lately. I can't get enough. I have six books in my Amazon cart to purchase and I am trying so hard to convince myself to wait (and to not add any more!). However, I've read so many books since my last recent reads post and I thought it'd be a good time to update everyone with my thoughts! 

I am going to have to break this up into two parts because I read a lot more books than I initially thought since the last update. And yes, I am aware I've been really into dystopian books lately!

Okay for Now (Gary Schmidt): This was a cute and easy read. The main character is a young boy who befriends another young girl in his new town and learns a lot about himself while he's there. I get so mad for him because his family pushes him around a lot but he eventually figures things out. All in all, I enjoyed it and it was a quick read.

Carly's Voice (Arthur Fleischmann): SUCH A GOOD BOOK. I actually heard about it because Ellen Degeneres tweeted something about Carly's website. And when I went there is had a link to a book her father wrote about what it was like raising a severely autistic girl and how when she finally learn to communicate it was so eye opening. If anyone has ever worked with special education children, more specifically children with autism, this book will change how you look at them forever. I highly recommend this book to anyone, even people who don't have an interest in it because it just makes you see everything so differently. 

Cinder (Marissa Meyer): I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was such an original story (despite having similar Cinderella undertones, it was definitely not obvious) and I am beyond excited for the second. Unfortunately, I have to wait a year or so. However, if you like dystopian books and interesting characters this book is definitely for you.

Pandemonium (Lauren Oliver): This book really threw me for a loop and I'm pissed I have to wait for long for the next one. I grew so close to a certain character in the first book and was kind of mad how things began to progress in the second one and finally when I got comfortable IT FREAKING CAME OUT OF NO WHERE. Such a good book though, much more action than the first one and I like that it kept going back to the past and then to the present until it was all caught up.

If You Ask Me (Betty White): This book was cute and it was interesting learning about Betty White's life but I thought it would be a lot more humorous. 

Legend (Marie Lu): This book I decided to read on a whim not ever having heard about it before and I'm super glad I did. I really enjoyed this story. I loved the characters and the plot and there was always something going on so it never had any dull parts. Definitely looking forward to reading the other books as they come out!

Matched (Ally Condie): I liked this book enough, it was a bit slow until the end so I'm excited to read the second one (which I heard was better) and see what happens next.

Photo Dump

Three days with my new phone and I cannot put it down. I want to take pictures of everything and text everyone and be on my phone all the time. I'm driving my friends crazy!

So with that in mind here are the pictures I've taken over the past few days.

first picture!

jumping in our pool

he tried to get me wet ... it looks like he's drooling, right?

camera obsessed with a naked face

target runs with my favorite couple

picfx app editing 

posing at breakfast

preparing for the day

homework time :(

DONE WITH HOMEWORK TIME ... until the next day

friday night jello shots (so good)

girlfriends

where'd all the boys go?

playing attempting drinking games

jello shot tongues

soaking in the sun before the afternoon thunderstorms

chippy chops bath

made a new best friends

bonfire at our friend's going away party

That was my past two days. I was a lot busier than I have been because I spent a lot of time visiting people and doing things when I usually just hang out at home every day because everyone else is always busy. However one of my best friends and her boyfriend are moving to Fort Meyers tomorrow and I'm very upset about that. All my friends are leaving me! I'll post a "Lately in my Life" post sometime in the next few days to catch up on things though(:

Purging the Android Phone

Tomorrow I finally join the iphone ranks! It's been a long wait and I kept putting it off to save money and for my own dumb reasons. But I am so ready for this phone and to have the nicest phone camera I've ever seen. Plus I'll be able to take so many pictures of myself with the front facing camera (That's always my problem, I'm never able to get a good picture of me while my phone is turned away). So in celebration, here are the many pictures from my old phone! Also, once I get my iphone and start snapping away I'll do weekly picture updates from the phone.

My Speech

I wanted to post the speech I wrote for my best friend's wedding so that I could always remember it and look back on it. Also, it was helpful for me to have speeches to read and get ideas from so maybe someone can get ideas from mine!

"Hi everyone! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Alex and I have had the pleasure of knowing Tiffany for 6 years now even though, in the best way possible, it feels like so much longer.

I remember clearly the first day I met Tiffany. She walked into our sixth period class, which was also our first day of high school ever, with her friend laughing and shrieking and she sat right in front of me. I just rolled my eyes and thought, “I bet she is a lot to handle.” And she later told me she thought I had on the worst outfit in the world. However, despite our first impressions of each other, we immediately hit it off and became the best of friends. This benefitted both of us, since she did my hair all through high school and I helped her with homework for the classes we had together. Now Tiffany has grown up to be an amazing woman. It is an honor to know and love the person next to me. Tiffany has a wonderful heart and she will do anything for the people she loves.

It is such a privilege to be Tiffany’s best friend and Thad; I am so happy that you are able to be that person for her now and for the rest of her life. I remember how excited she was that you FINALLY asked her on a date after months of her trying to get you to acknowledge her existence at work. I know you bring out the best in her and I know she brings out the best in you. I honestly believe that there is no better person for Tiffany and I know that the two of you will continue to make each other happy for the rest of your lives.

Lastly, I don’t have any of my own advice about marriage to offer, since I have yet to get married. But I found this wonderful quote from Lydia Netzer that I think sums up what I believe marriage should be:

“All the stuff you read in magazines about honesty, sense of humor, communication, sensitivity, date nights, couples weekends; can be trumped by one word: loyalty. You and your spouse are a team of two. It is you against the world. No one else is allowed on the team, and no one else will ever understand the team’s rules. This is okay. The team is not adversarial, the team does not tear its members down, and the team does not sabotage the team’s success. Teammates work constantly to help and better their teammates. Loyalty means you put the other person in your marriage first all the time, and you let them put you first. Loyalty means subverting your whims or desires of the moment to better meet your spouse’s whims or desires, with the full understanding and expectation that they will be doing the same. This is the heart of everything, and it is a tricky balance. Sometimes it sways one way and sometimes the other. Sometimes he gets to be crazy; sometimes it’s your turn. Sometimes she’s in the spotlight, sometimes you. Ups and downs ultimately don’t matter, because the team endures.”

I think you will all like to join me in this wish: To Tiffany and Thad Klenovich may you live forever in love and may love live forever in you. Congratulations!"

Editing Pictures

I'm going through all of my old pictures and re-editing them and noticing how cute they are! Picasa has some awesome new filters to edit pictures with so I mainly just use the 1960's and the Cross Process filters. Which makes all these pictures look the same, haha! But I just feel like posting them somewhere so I can look back and enjoy them or maybe someone else can enjoy them. Be aware that this is a very Stanley heavy post (Stanley because the cutest cat in the whole world)!