Into The Shadow by Christina Dodd

I’m currently reading a fantasy romance novel. Well, it’s actually book 3 of the Darkness Chosen series… but I didn’t know which book it was until we were already home. Oh well. I’ll eventually find and read the first two. Anywho, so far, it is a great book. I ended up reading about 4 hours of the book last night. The book is called Into The Shadow by Christina Dodd.

Now, here’s the drawback of the book- Dodd uses the word “incredulous” or “incredulously” over and over. I think I remember reading it 5 times within a 20 chapter span. When I saw the word at first, I had no clue what it meant. By the 3rd time, I knew exactly the definition. Well, atleast anyone reading it would gain another word in their vocabulary if they had no clue what it meant.

I ended up picking the large print. That is such a good thing! I normally wear glasses when I drive or watch T.V. With the large print, I didn’t have to worry about finding a magnifying glass like I will have to with Fatal Lies by Frank Tallis. The print in that book is way too small! Maybe it will make up with a great story!

So back to Into The Shadow. What is it about? Well, here’s a synopsis of it:

Blessed—or cursed—with the ability to change into a sleek panther, and driven by a dark soul he’s accepted as his fate, Adrik Wilder abandons his family and his honor to pursue a life of wickedness. He excels at every vice, including kidnapping Karen Sonnet to use for his selfish purposes.

But Karen’s spirit and passion make him question the force of his family’s curse. And when a new evil emerges, Adrik must choose whether to enact revenge on his enemies and redeem his soul, or save Karen from a fate worse than death…

There’s thirty-five chapters in the whole book, and I think I’m only 9 away from finishing it. I will give you a disclaimer for it, however… since it is romance, there is sex in the book. So if you don’t like reading that kind of stuff, you can skip over those parts and still get the full effect of the book. Don’t worry… you won’t miss a lot if you do skip over it.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are definitely into fantasy and/or romance. I found it at Amazon, so go buy it if you would like!

Birthday Ideas For Mom

Because my mom reads the blog, I can’t really lay out all of the details I would love to gift. However, I am beginning to make a list of gifts to get my Mother. So, why am I doing a birthday list for Mom? Well… isn’t it obvious? Her birthday is coming up- June to be exact. Last year on her birthday, I was just getting over a mild case of food poisoning, so I couldn’t really get her anything. So this year, I plan on making it up to her. Now, I have a few things, without getting too detailed, that I would love to try and do for her. Even if it’s just one of the ideas, then I know that she would have the best birthday she’s ever had.

NOTE TO MOM: If you want to be more surprised, you should probably look away.

• The first idea involves a picture of her daughters. Of course it has to be something she can look at every time she passes by it. I better get some pricing/shipping ideas or this could get costly.

• The next idea could be something yummy. I would love to shut down our favorite Chinese restaurant just for her, but I’m no wh ere near having that much money. So, I guess I’ll stick with something feasible: A pack of gum. I’m just kidding!

• I wonder how much a personalized reading material costs. By the way, I don’t know if other states (other than Texas) had this, but remember about 10 or so year ago, they had this kiosk where you can personalize your own greeing card? You picked the stationary (by pressing buttons), and then you picked, or rather-typed out your own greeting on the little keyboard. You printed it out and then took it to a cashier to pay for it. I absolutely loved that kiosk!

• I seem to have gotten off topic. Actually, it’s right on topic. I’m just babbling. So back to gift ideas. Does anyone know where I can get a magical wand or a genie that grants 3 wishes? Or maybe even a fairy Godmother like Cinderella had? That would make it exciting!!

So now Mom is turning another year older this year. It’s too bad I can’t give her the world. Not just Earth- she should get Pluto, too! Go ahead and add Venus to that planet list! I better stop with the planets or I’ll never get any price hunting done!

Hunger Sets In

I have a bad habit. Well, I have several bad habits, but this particular one happens every day. I can’t exactly run from it. Also, I wouldn’t really think of it as a habit, although I’m not sure what you would call it… one of life’s cruel games?

You have no clue what I’m talking about, do ya? I thought so. Well, I tend to watch the Food Network when I am really hungry. Not only does it give me great ideas for dinner/lunch/breakfast, i t makes me drool over the fantastic food they make. I could even watch Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and think those weird foods look delicious. Although, I would probably skip the bugs and insects- they just look icky and nasty. I have tried squid before, so I don’t mind weird. Well, now I want Chinese food. Oh to have sushi and spring rolls right now…. I would be in food heaven. Sigh. Maybe one of theses days.

I also will look at food websites when online, when I’m hungry. I’ll find cakes, cookies, or other foods. I don’t do it on purpose, and I guess I do it subconciously. But also, I try to get gift ideas. Since my mom’s birthday is coming up, I have 2 ideas for a gift. She may say “Oh you don’t have to get me anything.” Yes, I do! First, she’s my mom and deserves the stars. Second, you have a birthday once a year (Yes, I stated the obvious… I wasn’t thinking about it), so you need to feel happy to see another year. So, hopefully I can either do one of both birthday gift ideas. I just hope I can get them or it in time.

Great, now I’ve made myself hungry once again and it’s way too hot to cook. I guess I’ll grab a bowl of cereal and use my imagination and pretend it’s a chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes. Mmmm….

Shopping For Baby Items

My cousin had her first baby either at the end of April or beginning of May- I forget which. Anyways, I wanted to start a basket not only for baby, but for her as well. Any new mother would appreciate that, right? So, since I decided to do some online browsing to get ideas, I thought I would start with Etsy. Now, if you don’t know, I have a huge love for Etsy. I actually have gotten some great ideas for gifts for friends and family.

This is a cute organic onsie! Since the nursery is done in butterflies, I’ve decided to do a butterfly themed basket. monkeycbaby is the shop name is it only sells for $25.00. Not bad for organic!

Now since every baby needs a bib, I decided to look for that, too! I I found a plethora of cute butterfly bibs! This one just so happened to grab my attention, first.

It sells for only $8 and can be found at pheandme. So darn cuuuuute!

I think diaper cakes are just gorgeous the way they have everything set up. So, I saw this one and I decided to take a closer look.

Simply gorgeous! I don’t know the going rate for diaper cakes, but I’m assuming since they take a lot of work and products to build, they can be quite costly. This one sells for $64. You can find it at ClassyBabyGifts. Her diaper cakes are wonderful!

I decided to pull myself away from Etsy and wanted to see what other stores were out there. I found this little cutie while doing just that!

You can even personalize it, as you can see, and put your daughter’s name on there. That’s just genius and so pretty! I can just imagine the name “Dallas” written across there (that’s her daughter’s name.) It only sells for $15 (inexpensive!!) and I found it at PersonalizedForBaby.com.

Also, I found this gorgeous necklace that I think my cousin would love to have! It’s $50, but it is beautiful!

See how gorgeous?? It’s found at Mama&BabyEssentials.com.

Well now that I’ve done some shopping for the baby, which I love shopping for others more than myself… It’s time to do some birthday shopping for Mom. Shhh! It’s a secret!

EZ Comb Review

You’ve seen the commercial, haven’t you? I know I have! Ever since I saw the commercial the first time, I’ve instantly wanted one. By the way, I am talking about the EZ Comb. I absolutely love this thing!

About a week or ago ago, my sister and I each got one of our own. Well, we got a package of 2- but we picked out which colors we wanted. She got the white one and I grabbed the brown.

So what is an EZ Comb From the definition on their website

EZ Combs™ is the new hair accessory that stretches to easily create popular hairstyles instantly!

Seems cool, huh? Well, they are. So far, every day I wear mine. I even where it to bed- even though I wake up with it on the pillow rather than in my hair. However, I love the ease of being able to pull my hair back and quickly get on with my day.

What I normally do when I put my hair back with it is called “The Fountain.” If you take a look at their website: http://www.ezcombs.com/, you will see what I am talking about. Plus, it’s the only thing my hair will do. It seems to have a mind of it own.

I absolutely love my EZ Comb. I kept losing ponytail holders because they would either slip out of my hair or I would take it out, set it down, and it would disappear. And with this, it doesn’t slip because of the prongs that hold the hair. With this EZ Comb, you can do many different styles. I’m still working on that. My fingers are quite clumsy!

Also, it’s very lightweight. It doesn’t weigh down your head of feel heavy at all.

So yes, I love my EZ Comb (think I’ve said it enough?). My hair is happier. Or, maybe it’s just me.

Darn Writers Block!

I have to apologize for not writing in a few days. “Why??” Well, it seems I have writers block. I will sit down and know what I will write about, and as soon as my fingers hit the keys, my mind goes blank or the topic doesn’t seem blog-worthy. I have thought about writing on several things.

• Zeus got a new crate yesterday. He has a love/hate relationship with it. He goes in there for a second, gets spooked, and out he goes. We plan on remedying that problem- unless Cesar Milan just happens to show up out of nowhere and help. Okay… maybe in my wildest dreams.

• Ya know, some parents should take a class on not leaving 2 kids under the age of 5 in a car, by themselves, with every window down. I saw exactly that yesterday afternoon and I was enraged. There were 2 kids, not even older than 5 or 6 (one was younger than that) and they were in the car by themselves- where I suspect their mother was in the store. I watched them like a hawk until she finally came out. Smart move there, Sherlock. Try taking them in there with you next time.

• It doesn’t matter how old are you are, spraying someone unexpectedly with a water hose is as fun as a barrel full of monkeys. Washing the dog was merely my plan for my “cruel” thoughts to take place. Sorry, Sis. Too bad he couldn’t keep still.

• I got to see my new baby cousin a few days ago. She is absolutely adorable. I’m not sure who she looks like more- her mother or father. Anyways, I am currently on the hunt for newborn butterfly baby items (tongue twister!). Etsy and Amazon, here I come! Time to start that baby basket. Any ideas?

I think I just had a major breakthrough on unlocking my writers block. Who knew just writing down ideas who unblock writers block??

And there you have it, a sentence that any English teacher would abhor! Lesson learned!

Twin Dinner Topics

Yesterday evening, about 7pm, everyone seemed to be getting hungry. It was close to supper time, so of course we would be hungry. But, we really didn’t want what we had here at home. You can only fill up so much on bologna and peanut butter. We hadn’t gone to the grocery store yet. When asked what I was hungry for, I screamed “Hambugers!” That didn’t last long at all. At all! My sister, being Miss Persuasive, was able to persuade us all into wanting Chinese. Darn she’s good!

So, we piled into the car and went to our favorite Chinese Buffet restaurant. The first half of the supper is quiet. We were more interested what we were putting into our tummies. Boy was the food really good! For the next half, supper got more livelier. I think most of it consisted of me and my sister bantering back and forth. Somewhere near the end, quietly, but loud enough for our parents to hear, sis and I sang “Mr Roboto” by Styx. So why did we break out into a song at the restaurant? I had asked Sissy if it was “Domo” or “Arrigato” that meant “Thank you.” I still have no clue which one is really is! Maybe this is why Google is my best friend. Even though we sand quietly, I’m pretty sure the long man in the booth next to us could somewhat hear us. He was nice and didn’t mind. I think he enjoyed his entertainment for the evening. Oh, and thank you sir, for not sttaring at the birds nest that was my hair. It has a mind of it’s own.

I love it when dinner ends in song and dance. Or in our case, song and remenants of low mein and fried shrimp.

popchips Review

When I woke up yesterday morning, I saw that I had a huge box from popchips sitting in the living room for me. My family seems to always get the mail before I even get out of bed. When I saw the bog, my stomach started growling at me. Apparently, it has to be fed quite often. So, I knew I was in for a treat!

Right away, I tore into the box:

Zeus, my dog, even tried to help by tearing away the tape on the box. Such a little helper he is! As soon as I opened the box, I gave my sister a bog of the Sea Salt & Vinegar and I opened the Parmesan Garlic. I was too hungry to worry about the review at that point.

How does popchips taste? Well, not only was I the main one chomping on them- I had a guinea pig. I call her sister. We sat down and opepned one bag of each flavor. Because we already knew how fabulous the first 2 bags we opened tastes, we only had 3 flavors left: Original, Barbecue, and Salt & Pepper.
First was barbecue. The red bag on the left. Oh… my…. goodness! If you’ve tried Lays Barbecue chips before, you don’t know what you are missing! Not only are popchips more healthy for you, they are fabulous! Me and my guinea pig… I mean, sister, had trouble stepping away from the flavor!

The next flavor was Salt & Pepper (above picture). I have to be honest, this wasn’t our favorite flavor. We had a little trouble getting past the overpowering pepper taste. Yes, I realize it’s called “Salt AND Pepper.” I guess we’re just not pepper fans. There’s no doubt in my mind that my father would eat it. He loves salt and pepper together… or he just loves them no matter what. I may have found another guinea pig. I’m only joking.

The last flavor was the Original. It tasted so good and it wasn’t greasy at all! That’s one of the pluses of all popchips.

All in all, we love almost every flavor except Salt & Pepper. I think I have changed which chips I will buy from now on… Don’t you just love trying new foods, even if they are healthy?

Dear Mom

Today is Mother’s Day for the people here in the United States. So, in lieu of Mommies Day, I have something for my own mother.

When I was younger, you prepared me for the big world of walking.

When I was a little older, you prepared me for the big world of attending kindergarten.

When I was a little older, I was ready for middle school. I knew I could handle it.

When middle school was over, I was petrified of high school. You pulled me into a hug and said it was going to be okay.

Although I know you can’t always hold our hand, I know you’ll always be there. Everytime I feel as if I’m going to climb St Helens, I can still feel your hand holding mine- helping me, guiding me.

I wouldn’t pick any mother but you. You’re one of a kind. You’ve helped me through so many problems and heartaches in my life, who else can do that? I know that if I ever have a problem, you’re right there with tissues and a hug, waiting for the breakdown.

You’re the shoulder I lean on whenever I feel I am going to just cry a river. You’re the person I learn most from in my life. You are everything a mother is: loving, caring, true. I say this with every beat of my heart: I Love You!

My Little Protector

For those who don’t know me yet, I have dog. His name is Zeus and he turns 1 year old in September… or was it August? I forget which… Anyways, he’s the sweetest dog you would ever meet- unless he feels threatened. Oh, you want to see a picture, right? Well, you get your wish. First I’ll post the picture and then share 2 stories, all within maybe 12 hours of each other. Meet Zeus, my puppy!

See how cute he is?? Hi puppy! I just want to eat him up with a spoon (figuratively speaking…) Whoops… Sorry. I got off track again.

Now onto the stories. This morning, around 3am, we heard gunshots (and yet, none of the news said anything about it.) Well, as soon as all of us heard it, he started barking. The shots (and his barking) woke me up from a nice dream. Zeus stayed by my mom until he knew things were safe. While my father went out to check to see if he could tell where they came from, both the dog and Mother stayed right by the door. Zeus was ready for a fight! Go Zeus Go!

All afternoon, Zeus has been my side as well. We have construction going on a few houses down and because he’s never heard those noises before, he’s been barking, whimpering, and pacing back and forth. I think he wore a path in the wooden floors. It kind of looks like the shape of Australia. I’m just kidding. So, while he hears these noises, he’s going to the front door, coming back to check on me, and sitting behind the computer chair just in case. There’s no doubt in my mind that if someone decided to break in, I wouldn’t have to worry because he would get rid of them in a second. I joke that 1) He’s immortal (Death has knocked on his door twice) and 2) He’s the strength of 10 men.

Who needs a gun when you’ve got a dog who will protect the people he loves and cares? Thanks, Zeus. You save me money. I don’t have to buy a baseball bat!