Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Express Yourself - Favorite Family Recipe

Express Yourself  is a weekly meme hosted by myself and Jackie. It's goal is to help our fellow bloggers get to know one another better by being nosey of course.

Each week we will find something different to post about. It will correlate with writing, blogging, and life in general. Then, we hope, you’ll follow suit and post what it is that motivates you.


This weeks question:

Nov. 24-28: What's your favorite family recipe or meal?


My favorite thing to make for gatherings is Broccoli Casserole.





I use:
3-4 16oz. bags of broccoli florets
1 16oz. cottage cheese
1 block of velvetta cheese
2 tbs flour

Mix all of the ingredients either in a crockpot or mix in a bowl and pour into a crockpot (doesn't matter to me how you do it).

I usually let it cook for about 2+ hours, depending on how tender I want my broccoli. I usually like it a soupy consistency.

Then serve and enjoy. It's good during the cold winter months.





Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Top Ten Winter TBR

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is...
 
 
November 25: Top Ten Books on my Winter TBR:
 
My Winter TBR are older novels I need to get read!
 
Wraith (Wraith #1) by Angel Lawson (Library)
Red Run by Kami Garcia (Library)
Gravity (Gravity, #1) by Abigail Boyd (On My Kindle)
 
 
Never Fade (The Darkest Minds, #2)  by Alexandra Bracken (Gifted from Author)
In The Afterlight (The Darkest Minds, #3) by Alexandra Bracken (Gifted from Author)
Revealed (House of Night, #11) by P.C. & Kristin Cast (Library Audiobook)
Redeemed (House of Night, #12)  by P.C. & Kristin Cast (Library Audiobook)
by Cameron Jace (On My Kindle)
Bound (Arelia LaRue, #1) by Arelia LaRue (On My Kindle)
Demon Girl (Rae Wilder, #1) by Penelope Fletcher (On My Kindle)
 
 
What does your Winter TBR list look like?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest

 
It’s that time of year again! Hosted by Andrew Leon, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Matthew MacNish

For the bloggers you miss and the ones you would miss.

List one to three bloggers you really miss.

List one to three bloggers you would really miss if they stopped blogging.

And then go let them know!
Click here to sign up!
 
List 1-3 bloggers you really miss:
 
1. Jeremy @ Geeky Tendencies - Some of you might know about him; Jeremy didn't blog for very long but he left a little hole in my heart where his funny banter and charming personality burrowed in. He had health issues which him and I used to talk about, then one day it all stopped. I really miss him!
 
2. Kristin @ GrowingUp YA - I miss this girl like crazy! I know you're out there, please come back to us!
 
 
List 1-3 bloggers you would really miss if they stopped blogging (this is just downright cruel to make us pick no more than 3):
 
I'm sure everyone thinks I'm gonna list Jackie @ Bouquet of Books... well heck yeah I would miss her but we are also family so she has to live with me regardless! And I'd hurt her if she quit blogging. So I'm picking bloggers who I can't bribe with batting eyelashes (and chocolate & coffee).
 
1. Suzi @ Literary Engineer - She cracks me up and she is just as random as I am and I love it. Outside of blogging she has become a really great email, FB, Instagram pal! I would visit ND just to meet up with her for sure!
 
2. Morgan @ Morgan Shamy - I can relate to this babe! She is down to earth, has heart, always has the prefect things to say, and really loves life! After ND I'd travel to UT and stalk Morgan around but with her permission of course!
 
3. Giselle @ XpressoReads - When G first started out she was running the site by herself, now she has added two new (and cool) chicks. Xpresso goes thru books like my household goes thru undergarments... A LOT! She has all the new and current insight in the publications coming out and she has the 411 on ARC's and tours.
 
I am SO thankful to have met everyone one of them/you and so many more. I joined blogging to learn more about writing and books but I ended up learning more about myself thru others.
 
Is there anyone you are missing or would miss in the blogosphere?
 
 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Top Ten - Awaiting Sequels

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is...
 
 
 
 
November 18: Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait To Get
 

Ensnared(Splintered, #3) by A.G. Howard
Winter (TheLunar Chronicles, #4) by Marissa Meyer (No Cover Yet)
 
This ShatteredWorld (Starbound, #2) by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Fuse (Pure, #2) by Julianna Baggott
Day 21 (The Hundred,#2) by Kass Morgan
 
 So, any sequels you are looking forward to getting your eyes on?!
 
 
 
 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Express Yourself - Five Fictional Characters in My Life

Express Yourself  is a weekly meme hosted by myself and Jackie. It's goal is to help our fellow bloggers get to know one another better by being nosey of course.

 Each week we will find something different to post about. It will correlate with writing, blogging, and life in general. Then, we hope, you’ll follow suit and post what it is that motivates you.



 This weeks question...
 

Nov. 17-21: Name FIVE fictional characters you would want to have in your life.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aphrodite LaFont - House of Night (Novel Series)
 
Zuzanna - Daughter of Smoke and Bones (Novel Series)
 
Ragnar Lothbrok - Vikings (TV Show)
 
Daryl Dixon - The Walking Dead (TV Show/Comics)
 
Tally Youngblood - The Uglies (Novel Series)
 
Two of them are purely at my disposal to gawk at all day. Sure they would be awesome to have as friends if I'm in need to pillage a village or fend myself from zombies and maybe their conversations would entertain me all day long but they are just to pretty to not to have in my circle of fictional friends.
 
 

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Top Ten Tues... Umm... Thursday - Characters Who Should Have Their Own Book

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is...
 
 
I missed posting this on Tuesday so I'm turning this into Top Ten Thursday. Why not. No harm done.
 
 
November 11: Top Ten Characters You Wish Would Get Their OWN Book (minor or just maybe a semi main character you wish a book was from their POV)
1. Lettie Hempstock – The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
 
2. Captain Carswell Thorne – Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
 
3. Aphrodite Lafont – House of Night by the Casts
 
4. Michael – The Program by Suzanne Young
 
5. Soap aka Phineas B. Crow – Finishing School series by Gail Carriger
6. Sidheag Maccon - Finishing School series by Gail Carriger
 
7. Morpheus – Splintered series by A.G. Howard
 
8. Zuzana – Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
 
9. Anna Korlov – Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
 
10. Cian Mac Cionaoith – Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts
 
 
 
Are there any characters who you love to see get there own books?
 
 
 
 

 
 

Monday, November 10, 2014

Express Yourself - MBTI, Movember, and Winning

Express Yourself  is a weekly meme hosted by myself and Jackie. It's goal is to help our fellow bloggers get to know one another better by being nosey of course.

What makes you tick? What inspires you to write? How is the outside world influencing you? Whether it be a quote, a list of favorite things/people, a question, a song, and so on. Each week we will find something different to post about. It will correlate with writing, blogging, and life in general. Then, we hope, you’ll follow suit and post what it is that motivates you.
This weeks question...


Nov 10-14: Do you know your MBTI personality? If so, please share. If not, go take the test, please!
*bats eyelashes*
Here is the website: www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

My MBTI is: INFJ - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging (Introverted Intuition with Extraverted Feeling)

Dominant: Introverted Intuition
Auxiliary: Extraverted Feeling
Tertiary: Introverted Thinking
Inferior: Extraverted Sensing

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. (This actually happened when my brother passed - I had nightmares every night for week up until it happened.)

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubbornness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions.


Movember(Mo Bros take action by changing their appearance by growing a moustache for the 30 days of Movember, to spark conversation and raise funds. Mo Sistas commit to supporting the men in their lives while helping to promote men’s health.)

So my husband is all about showing support for Movember but usually it's a full blown beard... ugh... this year he went for the straight mustache and I HATE IT!!!!!!!! I am not a fan of them whatsoever! Absolutely not a fan, especially on my man. BUT... I have to be supportive so I became a Mo Sista...


Winning! Over at Parajunkie I won an amazing Red Psi (there were 5 different Psi giveaways) set of The Darkest Minds prize pack which includes a candle, tote bag and the complete trilogy! I loved the first installment of TDM so I'm so excited to get the other two!


What is your MBTI ?!
What have you been you to lately?!


Friday, November 7, 2014

Novels to Shows/Movies - My Rambles

I'm sure many of you have read a book and thought, this would make a cool movie (or show).

However, many moons later, or maybe not so many moons later, a trailer for said novel pops up somewhere and you think to yourself, oh great, how stupid is this going to be? Especially for the lovers of the venerated YA genre.

Right out of the gate there was a huge setback with the Twilight Saga. Let's face it, Twilight sucked the biggest egg in egg history for this generation of novel pop culture. And although each movie gradually, and I mean in a painful way, got better, it still left a sulfur stench in the air.

Sadly, Twilight isn't the only casualty to this onslaught of literature war. Vampire Academy came in at a rump-bumping second. When I have to cover my eyes because I'm embarrassed to be watching it - and I'm by myself so who do I have to hide from, it's not a good adaptation. And that is frustrating as all get-out.

The Mortal Instruments and Beautiful Creatures were entertaining movies and followed their novel counterparts almost perfectly with a side of cheese but I still found myself cringing during some eye-rolling moments.

Since then though, I can see a rise of YA books being churned into big screen adaptations and the money behind it making sure the movie projects is what the author intended and superior than the one made before it. Hunger Games, Divergent, Fault of Our Stars, and much much more. And these also some of my favorites.

Which actually bring me to my main point *transition*

About six months ago... no wait let me check so to make sure... brb...

My bad, nine months ago, I read The 100 by Kass Morgan (still need to read Day 21) and it turned out to be an alright space-come-to-earth kind of book. Adventurous and exciting. Multiple points of view and each view was kept on point and never confusing. And, I had one of those moments when the thought of it becoming a movie or TV series would be great. Well low-and-behold, it was. March of this year on the CW network premiered the first season.

At this point you are probably wondering if I started watching it? No, unfortunately I didn't. I thought it looked cheesy and a little too dramatic, in the girly sense, for me. Well, let me just say... I stand corrected! Not on the girly part, it has plenty of touchy-feely but it has just as much in the heated action department. I had some down time this week (which I totally should have been writing) but I decided to give this show a try, and it turned out to be pretty amazing and I instantly became hooked. In four days I back-watched the first season on Netflix and caught up on the first three episodes of the second on the CW app. And now I am rip-roaring and ready to go for next weeks episode!

Has anyone else watched The 100? What do you think?
Have you read the book(s)? How do you compare the two?


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

November EYM - Warning Labels

Another new month is here, which brings us another set of Express Yourself questions.



Express Yourself is a weekly meme hosted by myself and Jackie. It's goal is to help our fellow bloggers get to know one another better by being nosey of course.

What makes you tick? What inspires you to write? How is the outside world influencing you? Whether it be a quote, a list of favorite things/people, a question, a song, and so on. Each week we will find something different to post about. It will correlate with writing, blogging, and life in general. Then, we hope, you’ll follow suit and post what it is that motivates you.
This weeks question...
 
Nov. 3-7: If you came with a warning label, what would yours say about you?


 
 
There you have it! So, what warning should we have for you?!
 

http://danibertrand.blogspot.com/p/express-yourself-meme.html