growing up

My handsome little guy is about to be done with kindergarten! I don't even remember the year. It flew by! Where did the time go? I am about to have a 1st grader. Wasn't he just in my arms as a baby, then we were expecting little sis. Geez! When did he get so big?!

Next year, Dumpling starts 3 mornings a week in preschool. Wow....

11 years wise

So, i realized the other day, wow has my life changed! It was like a big hit me moment. As i was taking the babysitter home Saturday evening after hubby's and I's date, she was talking about how she couldn't wait to grow up. How she couldn't wait to be older. Then i felt like such the old lady, i said "you think your in a hurry now, but really enjoy this time. The demands of being an adult are nothing like being a teenager." Geez....its like i am wise now. Or at least in my mind.

There are days i would love to go back to being in high school and dealing with those dramas. They do help in getting you ready for life. I guess i never had that bad of drama in school. But, anything i felt then is nothing like now. Even now as a stay at home mom, my problems are generally with kids or the dreaded marital problems. But the stress of life now compared to being 16 really is nothing. The worries on whether or not your best friend is mad at you and starting rumors is nothing compared to bills and the stress of paying a mortgage and having money to buy groceries.

So, 11 years that i have over her. I am 11 years wiser. And while things really were easier at 16, i love my life! :o) However, i do wish i wasn't in such a hurry to grow up sometimes.

Its Monday, What are you reading?

I think i had a pretty good week of reading last week. It wasn't a lot of books, but it was a week of good reading. Be sure to link up with One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books

I read:

What The Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie. I love her. She is my favorite author and i was so glad that one was good. I have loved everything i read by her, but the two i read before this one, i was shocked that they didn't hit me craving more of her like they usually do. This one was a quick read.

I then read Change of Hearts by Jodi Picoult. There is a review i wrote one entry down from this one. This was my first book by this author. It took me 3 days to read. I loved it though. I have to get used to her writing and take the story in. I would have loved to have hours to dive into this book. But, the kids and hubby weren't feeling well, so i spent a lot of time with them.

I tackled my book from Booksneeze, Embracing Your Second Calling by Dale Bourke.

Right now i am reading and only have about 80 pages left, The Big Bad Wolf Tells All by Donna Kauffman. This is also a new author for me. The story has been very entertaining.  Not paranormal if you read the word wolf and got excited.  It about a columnist who writes a theory about men who are either sheep or wolfs. As in their personalities.  She considers herself a wolf and of coarse, we watch her through the story no longer being a wolf and becoming the sheep she never wanted to come. A classic romance.

So, that was last weeks reads.

I have no idea what i am going to read this week. The new Emily Giffin book Change of Hearts should be arriving this week to my door. And i plan to tackle my book club book Cold Fire by Dean Koontz.

Happy Reading!

(this is also published on Beck's Book Picks. I am in the process of getting all book content and followers to this blog. Come follow me there too!)

Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and hubby's mom, and well to all the moms! Its a day we deserve to all kick our feet up and relax. Which is what i plan to do. I plan to take my book and read all day. I am going to try a new recipe in the crock pot (stuffed peppers, but all chopped up and then put over noodles). Sounds yummy to me...i guess we will find out tonight. Yesterday the kids marched out with the daddy and got me some flowers, a card and then they made some cards. Ethan made those cute tiles at school.

To all the Mama's out there...enjoy a day of hopefully everyone in your life you take care of, shows you how thankful they are. Because really, without mama...would the household really survive? I would like to think not...but thats just me :o)

New Book Blog

So, i am thinking of starting a blog just for book reviews and so on. I have created the page...but haven't really done much with it. I have mixed feelings on it. Do i dive into a blog where i review the books i read and like and some i didn't. Will i have time?

I guess my biggest concern is, do my faithful readers who have been reading me for years mind seeing book reviews ever now and then?

I love reading and i love writing about the books i have been reading. I am just skeptical right now. I know i will post the reviews under book reviews here on my main blog.

Check it out for now....http://becksbookpicks.blogspot.com/  If your a current follower and love reading, come on and follow!

Embracing Your Second Calling---Review

I recently joined Booksneeze.com and this was the first book i chose to review for them.  The line on the cover of the book is what drew me into wanting to read this book "Find Passion and Purpose For The Rest of Your Life."

So as i sat down to read this book, i realized it was geared more towards women who are in midlife. Seeing as I am 27 and still  home with two kids ages 3 and 5, i am not quite the reader she was writing towards. Still however, i sat and read the book in the perspective of what i have in the future. With this train of thought, i did in fact learn stuff. I think i learned lessons to remember for the future and things that just might help me through out my life.

One chapter in particular, that i felt like anyone, man or female could really benefit from reading, was Chapter 4--Making Peace With The Past.  The chapter talks about looking at those open wounds you can't put behind you. She uses a friendship of hers from the past that ended. She blamed the friend for it ending. She felt as though she had done no wrong. From making a list that turned out to look just like a list of her whining, she was able to look at each thing she disliked about her friend and things her friend did. She then realized she enabled a lot of these things. In return, she realized that it was just things her friend did, it was her too. And when bringing it up to friends of hers years later, her friend gave her the truth then they felt about it. When at the time the friendship ended, her friends gave her comfort in her hurt instead of how they truly felt.

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us." -- Herman Hesse

Overall, i liked the book. It is one for me to defiantly hang on to and read when the kids are grown and on their own. When it is time for me to embrace my second half of life, when the whirlwind of parenting starts to slow down. When i am left figuring out who i am. 

(this book came from booksneeze.com. It was free, all i had to do was give my opinion on it)

I have a problem

Ok...i admit it. I have a problem. I need to quite biting these darn nails. I have bitten them down to nothing. And i was already blessed with my Gram's finger nails that are freakishly smaller then everyone elses. So, mine bit down, well they look like nothing.  And my nails are very low.

So, i started thinking, when do i bite my nails the most?

Well, i always have bitten my nails. But never as bad as now. Well, it was almost two years ago that i picked reading back up. I love to read and had put it down with kids because it was hard to do when they were young. We are at a place now, i can read and its ok. But, while reading, i bite at my nails the entire time because i have nothing else to do.

Obviously, i am not going to give up reading, but i need to find something to do instead of chewing on my hands. Maybe gum? I have tried the nasty stuff you can paint on, and it is nasty! I would use it, but i rubs off on everything. So eating a cracker and if your finger touches your lips at all, its just nasty.

So, now i have admitted to my problem, i now need to figure out how to get help!

Its Monday, What are you reading?

So, this is a new meme i am doing. To link up, visit One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.  So, as someone who reads all the time, this is a perfect meme for me. So, what do you do? Well, i tell you what books i read since last monday and what i plan to read this week.

So, onto last week. I finished the 6 book Janet Evanovich and co authored with Charlotte Hughes. It was a great series. It was a quick entertaining read. And i love novels full of comedy and a little love. Last week i think i read the last 3 in the series. I would recommend it to anyone who loves comedy romance.

I also read a quick series that a friend gave me. To start this meme and i am going to tell you that it was a short erotica series! I will try anything. The Books in the series are Pack Challange, Go Fetch, and Here Kitty Kitty. It was written by Shelly Laurenston. I must say, these books make a cheesy harlequin book look like young adult. The language in these alone was a little hard to get used too. However, i did enjoy the series. It has been awhile since i had picked up anything paranormal. These were about shape shifters, mostly wolves. It was a good series, in honestly.  The books were between 200-300 pages, so they were quick reads. They had a decent plot. And if you are looking for steamy....they were defiently steamy. These books even came with a warning on the back! Good thing...b/c we wouldn't need a teeny bopper picking this up thinking its the next Twilight!

So, whats on the list this week? Something a little less steamy. I plan to get back to some chick lit. I have bought two Jodi Picoult books and have yet to read one. So, i plan to read one of those this week.

Jodi Picoult Change of Heart. I picked this up at the libray for 25 cents!

So, far thats all thats on the list.