Top Five YouTube Videos

The holiday weekend is almost finished.  It was a relaxing weekend and I'm grateful for the reprieve.  I was playing around on YouTube and watching some my favorites to get a good laugh (some are vintage), so here they are:

1.  Ghosting
Meg introduced me Hamish and Andy.  Hilarious!  I laughed so loud I cried.  Ha ha!  Then we tried to reenact ghosting at Lakeside.  It didn't work so well because we couldn't start laughing.

2.  Muffins

Annie and I used to love this one.  She even tried to make her own version!  Ha ha!

3. Call Me Maybe

4.  Superbass

5.  He's a Lutheran too!

I probably forgot some but these are always good for a laugh.  And want a bigger laugh...

The dance video my sisters and I made a few years ago on Easter weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Happy April!!

Thursday Book Review: Being Henry David

Now that I'm doing all of the ordering for the YA collection, I get to see the new books first.  Something about this one piqued my interest...it could have been the Walden connection, the cover or the summar on the front cover but I knew I wanted to read it.

 

 

I took it home to read last weekend not really knowing what to expect. Aside from a few spelling errors, the book is fast-paced and suspenseful.  It's one of those books that you don't want to put down because you want to know what is going to happen next.

 

The book starts in Penn Station in NYC with our then unnamed lead character.  Unnamed because he cannot remember who is, where he is from or how he managed to end up in NYC bleeding with only $10 and a worn out copy of Walden.

 

As the story progresses, the unnamed character becomes Hank who is caught up in a youth drug ring in NYC.  He and two of his new friends end up in some trouble and Hank finds himself running again, although he has yet to figure out why he is running in the first place.

 

Hank runs to Walden Pond in Concord, MA to find himself, much as Henry David Thoreau did in the 18th century.  Here Hanks meets Hailey who he helps overcome some fears of her own and Thomas, a Thoreau enthusiast/librarian who helps Hank discover who he is.

 

There are lots of surpises along the way and had it not been for the mistakes or some questions at the end I found myself asking, I would have given this book a five-star rating.  There are lots of unanswered questions though.  Sequel maybe?

 

I would recommend this book to most teens, especially boys who might be reluctant readers because it has a great sense of adventure.  It also is a fast read, which most teens are looking for.  This would be a great movie one day.

 

Carrie's Link Love

Life has been so busy lately that again I find myself slacking on my blog.  To keep myself accountable and on a better blogging schedule, I've started to add themes for each day to follow if I don't have a post idea.  On Tuesdays, I'm going to share some Link Love for what I like lately, what I've been reading and what is going on in my life.

Love this Pinterest find...so I had to post...I need to remember this in my hectic life.

Right now...

I'm obsessed with watching old TV shows.  The last few weeks I've been watching the first season of...wait for it...Family Matters and this week I'm onto Boy Meets World.

I'm still working on some Pinterest projects for the apartment.  This is what I want to try next with some of Beth's postcards from the sixties.

Not sure if I'm crazy or not but I would love to try making these crock pot meals ahead of time. Just have to find the time to do it.

Books

I've read a classic, new teen books and Children's Choice nominee in the last few weeks, as well as listened to a memoir since I'm on a good reading kick.  When I was doing my book order for the teens yesterday, I realize there are a lot of great summer books coming out, which I'm really excited about, including these titles, Five Summers, Nantucket Blue and September Girls.

Everyone needs to read Wonder!  The children's librarian, Amanda, recommended it and I'm promoting it again.  My mom and sister read it and enjoyed it as well.  Read the post about it here.

I found this link from one of the blogs I follow, I'm shocked Amanda and I aren't on here.  Ha ha!  We are pretty cool librarians after all!

Running

Does anyone use this kinesio tape?  I kind of want to try it but my problem lately has been sore ankles not knee or shin splints. 

Wedding

Since we booked a DJ, Dennis and I have been thinking more about songs to play at the wedding.  We have a few choices for our first dance but I'm still contemplating songs for the father/daughter dance with Marcus.  This is interesting list that I read today on one of the blogs I follow, "A Practical Wedding." Any suggestions?  I really like You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan but its played a lot.

 

Thursday Book Review: Wonder

In my mind, getting made fun of during school is almost like a rite of passage and if you didn't get made fun of, consider yourself lucky.

Imagine though that you are so incredibly deformed that kids, parents and even teachers either stare too long at you or look away in fear. Remember the Cheese Touch in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, well according to the other kids at school, you have the Plague, which is much worse but basically the same thing.

That is exactly what it is like being Auggie, the main character in Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Auggie has severe facial deformities due to an extra chromosome. He has had so many surgeries that he was homeschooled until fifth grade when his parents decided it was the right time to start school.

Auggie attends a private school in New York City where he is met daily with fearful glances. The teachers and some of the kids have learned to accept his differences. However, kids can be cruel and its a wake-up call to realize how cruel as you read this book. Even parents, who you would think should set an example are cruel.

Auggie handles these challenges with courage. Middle school isn't easy for the best of us but Auggie takes each day one step at a time. He has a small group of friends but it isn't until he attends an overnight school camp trip that he realizes that friends and supporters may come from the least likely classmates.

Wonder is a absolutely fabulous book. Not only does the author present Auggie's perspective but she shows us the views of his sister, sister's boyfriend and friends. These perspectives show us how everyone has to deal with Auggie's needs. By the end of the book I was nearly in tears.

We all need to be a little more accepting. A little nicer. A little more caring. This world and especially our schools would be a better place.

Although this book is geared towards tweens, I would recommend everyone read it. Even adults. It might teach you a lesson that you hadn't thought about since grade school days.

Try it. You may be surprised.        

Meal Planning

There have been a lot of posts about meal planning from many of the bloggers that I follow, so of course I had to get in on the game.  Their meal planning strategy is a little different than mine tho since the majority of these bloggers are meal planning dinner for their husbands and toddlers.

My meal planning consists of packing healthy breakfasts and lunches ahead of time, especially now that I'm training and I need to be eating foods that keep me energized.

I'm hoping I can make this a habit because its a good one.  My old meal habits consisted of Cheerios in a baggie for breakfast on my way out the door and whatever else I could grab for lunch.  I'm lucky I get myself out the door since I leave at 7 a.m. now, so having everything prepared ahead of time is awesome!

On Sunday afternoons, I pack my breakfasts ahead of time in Tupperware and my lunches in big baggies.  Then all I have to do is remember to grab it from the refrigerator.

Here is a picture of breakfast:

Breakfast includes a hard-boiled egg (I only hard-boiled my first egg this week!), three slices of sharp cheddar, half an English muffin, an apple and a 1/4 cup of slivered almonds.  Sometimes I'm not hungry enough to eat all of it, so I save some it for a mid-morning snack or eat it at lunch.

I got the idea for my breakfast from Pinterest of course.  I improvised the breakfast pictured below.

Here is a picture of lunch:

Lunch consists of a peanut butter and whole wheat sandwich slims sandwich, carrots, orange and Greek yogurt.  

I pick my lunch items from this awesome chart I found on Pinterest a few months ago.  I have been doing better in recent months with buying groceries that fill these categories.

Cheers to healthy breakfasts and lunches!   

We Built This City

My new favorite song to listen to while I run is "We Built This City."

I've been working on my running playlist and had completely forgotten about this song until I watched Rock of Ages, which on a side note, I was disappointed in.  Anyways the song was featured on the movie.

Now when I run, all I can think of is running down the Boulevard of the Allies and seeing the skyline as I'm hopefully moving faster than last year to the finish line.

I've been playing it at the end of my training runs to keep me motivated.  Its working.

Training is going well, especially because of awesome tunes like this, but I still have a long way to go until I'll be running a half-marathon.  Nine weeks to be exact.  Nine weeks until I can feel like this again...