Be Gone Baby Fat | Six week six pack

Even though I used to be a ballerina, my body had always been thick. I'm tall and have broad shoulders. Not the typical dancer body, at all. I've struggled with my weight and self esteem issues for most my adult life.

Recently, I finished the Jillian Michaels 60 day shred. I'm stronger, my arms are more muscular and my legs are a little thinner. The only thing I didn't get out of the program is anything to do with my abs. My abs are my biggest problem.

I picked up this DVD from the library, to see if I liked it. First day down, five weeks and four days to go.

So far, its not hard. I'm wondering what I'm really going to get out of this workout, but its only been one day and results don't come overnight. We shall see in six weeks when I share with you again my results.

Wish me luck!

The Killer to be Found | The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold



Title: The Lovely Bones
By: Alice Sebold
Genre: Crime
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 7th, 2010
Publisher: Brown and Company

Summary from Goodreads: The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.

The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.

Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.


Review: Here it is. The review I promised you.

A strange telling of death and the afterlife, one that I wasn't too thrilled to finish. The first 50% of the book was an enthralling crime story. Who killed Susie Salmon? How will the family cope with the death of their child? Can the second Salmon sister escape from the killer? Its intense and exciting. 

The story was so short, the author added a "What happened after" to the story and it was dull and boring to me. Frankly, I put the book down around 80% because I had lost interest. To tell you the truth, the movie was much better, which I watched right away. 

Still, if you only take the story into consideration, and not the after show, I really enjoyed the book. Four stars for The Lovely Bones.




Book Bingo | Summer Reading 2018

Summer is in full swing and my boys are bouncing off the walls. Literally. Have you ever seen a kid with server ADHD run out of meds? Let e tell you, nothing is safe. My middle child actually bounces off the walls. You can hear him in the afternoon. Tap, tap, tap, tap, thud. Tap, tap, tap, tap, thud. For hours...

This Gorilla portrays a small amount of what I have been through today. Ugh....


The other two are strange children as well. The older one likes to stand still, then out of the blue, tumble across the living room floor. The younger one just hates everything... But what four year old doesn't.



Well, now that that's out of my system, lets get to the summer reading challenge I have for you.

It's book bingo. Can you get five in a row? Or will you black it out and finish the whole board. That's my goal.


BINGO! Who's playing with me?...

Their Lives in Ashes | The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon



Title: The Fiery Cross
By: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 1443
Release Date: August 30th, 2005
Publisher: Dell

Summary from Goodreads: The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge. Claire’s unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.


Review: Ok, come on. Sometimes your favorite book series can let you down. I really didn't enjoy this book. It felt like a bunch of small Outlander stories jumbled up into a super long book. 1400 pages of garble. There seemed to be little story line and there wasn't much to hold onto as far as romance. It took me a long time to get through it, but I knew I had to if I wanted to read the next book which sounds amazing. A lot of wonderful thing happen within the last 5% of the book, but that's as much as you get. I'm disappointed and sad. Very sad. 



What I'm reading this week and the #WeeklyMenu Week #254


Welcome back to Monday. We had a wonderful first full week of summer break. The boys and I ran into a cool event at our local library. It was a park and play... or something like that. The local fire department and police force were out with all their cool vehicles. The boys got to sit in them and talk to the police and fire fighters. Their favorite part was trying to find who had the cool stickers. 



Saturday, my husband and I took a mini vacation and went to a friends wedding in Scappoose, OR. There isn't much there, but cow poop and air planes. We did find a llama and it made some weird noises. The weather was strange. Rain, sun, rain, sun. Come on, Oregon. Pick one.

My husband and I like to play a game. If we were to open a shop in this little town, what would it be called. I came up with the "Scap and Poose." A hole in the wall bar. "You want to go down to the Scap and Poose and get a beer?"


What I'm reading this week...

This week I'm reading The Raging Ones by Krista and Becca Ritchie. I've heard a lot of good things about this book. Its got great ratings on Goodreads and I've been awarded a book for review. I can't wait to dive into this one and share the review with you.

​In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

Here is this weeks menu!


Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday
Leftovers Night

Fight His Way To Freedom | Warning Light by David Ricciardi



Title: Warning Light
By: David Ricciardi
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 335
Release Date: June 26th, 2014
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Summary from Goodreads: A massive earthquake strikes southern Iran, potentially exposing the rogue nation’s most secret military facility. When a foreign airliner is forced to make an emergency landing at a nearby airport, the Iranians quickly become suspicious. American businessman Jake Keller is separated from the other passengers and secretly arrested on charges of espionage. Alone and against overwhelming odds, he soon finds himself battling for his life as he attempts to fight his way to freedom and return home.


Review: This would not be a book I would normally pick up, but the premise sounded intriguing. The author has a way of describing mundane events and turning them into something worth reading. I was really interested in the story, but at times felt a little lost. The characters were great. They helped me stick with the story just to find out what happened to them in the end. 

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.



What I've been reading Lately


It's been a while since I've sat down and shared what I've been reading. I've been reading and even though I share some of my reviews, I don't share all of the books that I've read. I guess it just comes down to time, and what I'm able to fit on the blog. The problems of reading too much I guess.

My reading life consists of 205 books this year already. I know that's a lot, but I listen to audio books while I work. The longer I listen, the faster it gets, until I'm listening to a book at almost 300 works per minute. So 205 books isn't really that unusual.

Lets dive into what I'm working on right now.


The Lovely Bones
by Alice Seebold

This book has been on my TBR shelf since 2013. It is the oldest book. I've never seen the movie, but I might after I read the book. A lot of controversy surrounds this story with a terrible murder of a child and how her family has to cope. There are mixed reviews on Goodreads, but it carries a 3.78 rating. I'm excited to dive into it and hopefully I can finish it by the end of the week.

Summary: The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.

The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.

Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature. 


The Fiery Cross
by Diana Gabaldon

This book is the reason why I can't finish anything else. It's 1443 pages long. Even in audio form that takes a while to get through. I'm totally enthralled with this series though, and the long read is worth it. 60% done. I'll get there.

Summary: The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge. Claire’s unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.



Shadow Academy
by Kevin J. Anderson

I read this series as a kid and loved it. To pick it up now brings me back to those childhood memories and makes me wonder what kinds of things I really liked as a child. The books are great if you are a huge fan of Star wars, which I am :)...

Summary: The Dark Jedi Brakiss--the student Luke Skywalker expelled from his academy--has learned much since he left. Enough to master the dark side of the Force, and enough to establish his own school for training Jedi--the Shadow Academy. Now Brakiss has an even greater task--kidnap the heirs of the Skywalker bloodline, and turn them to the dark side of the Force.



Dragon's Code
by Gigi McCaffrey

This book I picked up on Netgalley. My coworking spoke highly of this series so I thought I would try it. Although its not a preferred genre, the writing is good. I'm just not into the story, but that might just be personal preference. Lets see if I can get through this one this week.

Summary: A new hero emerges in a divided world as one of sci-fi's most beloved series--Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern--relaunches with this original adventure from Anne's daughter, Gigi McCaffrey.

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Dragonriders of Pern series, Gigi does her mother proud, adding to the family tradition of spinning unputdownable tales that recount the adventures of the brave inhabitants of a distant planet who battle the pitiless adversary known as Thread.

The last time Thread attacked Pern, the world was unprepared for the fight--until the Oldtimers appeared. These courageous dragonriders arrived from the past, traveling four hundred years to help their descendants survive. But the collision of past and present took its toll. While most of the displaced rescuers adapted to their new reality, others could not abide the jarring change and found themselves in soul-crushing exile, where unhappiness and resentment seethed.

Piemur, a journeyman harper, also feels displaced, cast adrift by the loss of his spectacular boyhood voice and uncertain of his future. But when the Masterharper of Pern sees promise in the young man and sends him undercover among the exiled Oldtimers, Piemur senses the looming catastrophe that threatens the balance of power between the Weyrs and Holds of Pern.

When the unthinkable happens, Piemur must rise to the challenge to avert disaster and restore honor to the dragons and dragonriders of Pern. Because now, in a world already beset by Thread, another, more insidious danger looms: For the first time in living memory, dragons may be on the verge of fighting dragons. 

~

Have you read any of these? What did you think?! Any of these going on your TBR? Tell me what you’ve been reading!

Catch the Wave or Die | Tsunami Riders by Rita Stradling



Title: Tsunami Riders 
By: Rita Stradling
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 
Release Date: June 12th, 2018
Publisher:

Summary from Goodreads: 2036 was the year that the ocean goddess Tiamat woke up and unleashed her wrath.
Daily tsunamis.
Sharks the size of merchant vessels.
Humans survive by cluttering into mountaintop settlements. Cut off from natural resources, they only have one hope for survival.
Us.
The tsunami riders.
Risks high and survival rates low, we ride at the peak of a mountain of water at five hundred miles an hour and love it. The rag-tag crew of the IÅ¡tar and I never miss a wave or lose a shipment container.
But the ocean isn’t the only bitch we have to contend with.
Admiral Parker wants to monopolize the trade routes with her state-of-the-art schooners, and she’s not opposed to taking out riders who won’t yield the wave. If she wins, all of the settlements in North America will live or starve at her say so.
We’re not going to let that happen.
Surf’s up, and as all tsunami riders know: you got to catch the wave or die.



Review: I'm always excited to share with you another book by an author that I'm excited about. This book is part of the Empire of Shadow and Ash anthology. Rita Stradling has come out with another wonderful story. Who rides Tsunamis? That's just cray, but that is exactly what the characters in this book do. There is more to it than that thought, we follow a love triangle and a deep unrest among the settlements as the world succumbs to the ocean. A thrilling dystopian that will keep you on the seat of your pants. I read this book in one sitting, cover to cover. Great read. 

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.





What I'm reading this week and the #WeeklyMenu Week #253


Hello Monday! Welcome back to the new web page. Its looking fancy, isn't it. It was a long weekend, lots of father's day festivities and weird weather.

The day started off with wonderful with sun and a day at the water park. Good thing I lathered up the kids in sunscreen... Would have been a good idea to put some on myself. Crisped up my shoulders a little.

Snapped some pictures of our pup Shore waiting for her boys to get home from Church. I wasn't able to go with them this week since I had a photo shoot with some fantastic kids, but they had fun anyway.



This weeks book that I'm going to try and tackle is The Lovely Bones. It was turned into a movie that I haven't seen yet. I like to read the book before I watch the movie. This read has been on my TBR list the longest. Its a long list. Over 500 books. So, I thought I would start with my oldest and work my way forward. We shall see how well that goes.

Read on for this weeks menu!





Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday
Leftovers Night

I Have a New Web Page!!!

Hello! and welcome to my new layout.


Please, look around. Get a feel for it. 

There are a few new features on the menu above that I'm excited to start exploring. There isn't much there now, but just wait. The Ballet tab and Lifestyle tab are going to explode with content. Come back for more and just to make sure you don't miss anything, make sure you follow me on one of my many social media sites.

Happy Saturday!

A Word Not Spoken | On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan



Title: On Chesil Beach
By: Ian McEwan
Genre: Contemporary/Historical 
Pages: 166
Release Date: March 23rd, 2007
Publisher: Jonathan Cape

Summary from Goodreads: A novel of remarkable depth and poignancy from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.

It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University College of London, who unexpectedly wooed and won her heart. Newly married that morning, both virgins, Edward and Florence arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their worries about the wedding night to come. Edward, eager for rapture, frets over Florence’s response to his advances and nurses a private fear of failure, while Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by sheer disgust at the idea of physical contact, but dreads disappointing her husband when they finally lie down together in the honeymoon suite. 

Ian McEwan has caught with understanding and compassion the innocence of Edward and Florence at a time when marriage was presumed to be the outward sign of maturity and independence.On Chesil Beach is another masterwork from McEwan—a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.


Review: O...M...G... This book is so messed up. I only picked up this short little story because of the author and the fact that they were making it into a movie. You would think that if a book is picked to be a movie, it should have something that makes it awesome. Holly cow, it was not. 

The main characters are some of the most selfish people I have ever read about. The wife thinks its disgusting to have sex and the husband only married the wife because he wanted to have sex with her. They fought the whole book and to tell you the truth, I fell asleep half way through. 

If you are really into the dry, historical, old fashioned stuff, you might like this book, but for me, it was a no go.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.



One Final Battle | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling



Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
By: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 759
Release Date: July, 2007
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

Summary from Goodreads: Harry Potter is leaving Privet Drive for the last time. But as he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid’s motorbike and they take to the skies, he knows Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters will not be far behind.

The protective charm that has kept him safe until now is broken. But the Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything he loves. And he knows he can’t keep hiding.

To stop Voldemort, Harry knows he must find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them.

He will have to face his enemy in one final battle.
--jkrowling.com


Review: It has taken me way too long to finish this series, but I'm finally done. A lot of people are probably saying "Well, its about time," but trust me, If I had more time to read this series I would have. To tell you the truth though, the writing style of Rowling isn't really my favorite. At times, I was bored and thought that some of the stuff was filler content. Even though I have my reviewer hat on, the story was amazing and the creativity was to die for. There is nothing out there like this series and Rowling should be very proud of herself. 


A Past You Can't Outrun | Splash by M.E. Rhines #Giveaway


Splash
M.E. Rhines
(Mermaid Royalty #3)
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: June 12th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Fawna is happy with the new life she has made for herself on land. She has her child and her youngest sister Pauline by her side—plus an amazing new human boyfriend named Randy. So when an old friend from Atargatis shows up, she immediately feels the weight of everything she stands to lose. But the news can’t be ignored – there’s been an attack on their kingdom; her aunt Myrtle is dead and her mother is missing. Angelique, their middle sister, is now ruling a kingdom to the north, leaving Fawna as the only royal left to help save Atargatis. Torn between responsibilities in two different worlds, the decision is made for her when the powerful sea witch who attacked the kingdom also takes Fawna’s son. Now she has no choice—to save her life on dry land, she’ll have to dive back into the ocean…
The final installment in the beloved Mermaid Royalty series, Splash is a heart-pounding fantasy romance that will have you feeling like you need to come up for air!
Grab book 1 – SINK – for FREE!
EXCERPT:
”And if you’d acted before you did, defied your mother and refused her order to kill him, do you believe you could’ve won?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. For all we know we could’ve stopped it long before Gene. Aunt Margaret just kept telling us to be patient, that the catalyst would show itself. We rallied against my mother more because Pauline was in danger, not so much because of Eddie. To me, that was the ultimate incentive to proceed. Seeing her in danger was the reason we stood so strong together.”
“Maybe your aunt knew a human wasn’t a strong enough reason to fight such an epic war. I mean, you might’ve rallied behind Gene, but could you say the others in your resistance would? With everything Gilcrest has told you, you’ve got magic in you, Fawna. You stood a chance against your mother. Your aunt probably knew that.”
“You may be right, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve committed some terrible atrocities.”
“Because you were scared! You didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t even here and I can see that.” He clanged his knuckles against the cast iron frame of the cauldron. “You said you wanted to give this old heirloom a second chance, an opportunity to be used for good. Why can’t you give yourself that chance? Cut yourself a break.”
A smile cracked on my lips, and I shook my head in exasperation. “Why is it you always insist on seeing the good in me, even now when there’s none to be found?”
“There’s plenty of good in you, Fawna. If there wasn’t, you wouldn’t be so ready to risk your soul to rescue the ones you love the most.”
“There’s no talking any sense into you, is there?” I wrapped my arms around his torso, using his weight to anchor myself in place.
“Not a chance,” he grinned, planting a sweet kiss on my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s like I said before, Queen, my heart is yours and only yours. The sea is in my blood, always has been. Now I know why. I was meant for this life, down here with you and Sebastian. Don’t take it away from me because of a past you can’t outrun.”


Author Bio:
ME Rhines a southwest Florida native currently living in North Port with her two beautiful children and a third, much larger child whom she affectionately calls husband.
She writes young adult paranormal romance to feed her belief that fairy tales are real and
nonsense is necessary.
You can visit her on most major social media sites:
www.facebook.com/merhines
www.twitter.com/merhines
She also writes adult romances under her edgier alter-ego, Mary Bernsen.

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