Author: Lauren

I'm not a good writer, so I'll just keep writing until I am.

I Wonder If Anyone Else Does This

LaurenLeave a comment

I’m curious.  Does anyone else have a physical book, an e-book, and an audiobook going at the same time?

Is it just me?

Because right now I am reading The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall as my physical book.  My e-book is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.  Last but not least, my audiobook (I’m on hour 17 of 39) is The Eye of the World By Robert Jordan.

The physical book is for when I am at home.  The e-book is for when I’m out, such as sitting in a waiting room or standing in a line.  The audiobook is for when I am at the gym or car rides that take longer than 20 minutes.

See, I’m not crazy…am I?

The Poppy War-A Book Review

Lauren1 Comment

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

img_20191217_130746

There I was, minding my own business when a book showed up on my Amazon Recommend list.  Now I normally ignore these things as they are very often wrong because of books I have purchased for others in the past.  Or I’m just not into that author anymore Amazon.  You don’t know me!

Anyway.  The cover caught my eye. This is funny because I bought the ebook version so I can’t even look at said cover now.  I have since picked up a hard copy.

It’s a thing.

I read over the description and thought, yeah okay, it’s on sale, why not?

Thank goodness we sometimes stop and look at those lists, huh?  I loved this book from page one.

Now let’s be honest, this thoroughly amazing book does have some issues.  It’s a slower start then I would have liked, but that gives more time to some important character development. It also has some pacing issues, places where it felt the writer was just hurrying their way through, but I didn’t mind those parts which I feel is saying a lot.

There are a few trigger warnings for this book, so be prepared.  Our heroine is put through some stuff.  She also reacts very viscerally to what she sees and feels in the world around her.

All in all, I gave this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  Go check it out.

The Power- A Book Review

Lauren1 Comment

The Power by Naomi Alderman

img_20191217_123820

Let’s just talk about this book, shall we?

I wanted to like it.

I loved the premise.  Women around the world get a mysterious power that men don’t get?  Sign me up.

I had actually been wanting to read this book for a while.  It came out in 2016 to rave reviews.  Like, seriously rave reviews.  It showed up on bestseller list after bestseller list.

But why?

The premise is great, sure.  And some of the characters are entertaining.  But I just…I found my self putting it down more than I was picking it up. Eventually, I just stopped picking it up.

Yes, I DNF’d a book.  And mom,  DNF means did not finish.

I think my problem lies in the character development.  Three of the four main characters are interesting…ish.  And one is just flat out annoying.  In my opinion, really, really annoying.

That character is the whole reason I stopped reading.  I just got to a chapter that featured her and just stopped.  I put the book down and didn’t look back.

And now, well now I’m giving the book to a friend of mine in hopes she might actually enjoy it.  Good luck friend.

 

A Trip to Nerd Disney World

LaurenLeave a comment

AKA, the Kennedy SpaceCenter!

img_20191201_151452

The hubs and I were going to visit his folks for Thanksgiving this year, so when I threw out the idea of going to the KSC, imagine my surprise when all parties enthusiastically agreed!

A whole family of nerds!

Turns out, my in-laws had been wanting to go for a while.  I was overjoyed.

But internally.

Okay, so I was overjoyed all over the place.  Can you blame me?

We had a great time.  We went on the Sunday after Thanksgiving so the crowds weren’t too large, and the weather was perfect!

Which is great, because there was a whole lot of wandering around going “look at that!”.

It was a great day.  If you are at all interested in space or science, this is a must-do.

img_20191201_143200

img_20191201_141334

img_20191201_140003

img_20191201_132358

img_20191201_124000

img_20191201_131849

mvimg_20191201_122343

img_20191201_110139

img_20191201_105546

img_20191201_100339

A Nice Cup of Cocoa

LaurenLeave a comment

I’ve waxed poetically about the humble cup of tea in the past.   I figured why not write about its holiday counterpart, the cup of cocoa.

mvimg_20191118_182821

Especially because it’s now cocoa season.

Cocoa season and Christmas always seem to coincide with each other, but the two are not mutually exclusive.  Although, me putting a candy cane in my hot coca will cease after the holidays are over.  That’s mostly because they stop selling candy canes!

That’s a travesty.  Easy to make peppermint hot cocoa?  Why wouldn’t you want to put a candy cane in your chocolatey beverage?

Or a cinnamon stick?!?!?

Okay, so I might have a cocoa problem.

Can you really blame me?

A Cathartic Cooking Experience

Lauren1 Comment

Last week I made a pre-Thanksgiving treat for my husband’s co-workers.

My family’s Chicken and Dumplings!

img_20191121_105921

This recipe is a family rite of passage.  To learn is to have the knowledge of one of the most delicious foods to ever pass your lips.  It’s a fun tradition to have to pass down.

img_20191121_105945

But its also bittersweet.  See, my dad taught me how to make this recipe.  And while I was making it I thought about all the good times we had making this together.

A lot of the time it was me rolling out the dough and him going “it’s not thin enough”  or “you need more flour!”.  These are things I already could tell, except for that first time.  That first time I was still eager for my father’s guidance.

img_20191121_112104

But mostly it was about just being together in the kitchen.  Like giving mom a hard time, or talking to guests who had come over for the feast.  Let’s be real, for something like this, which is made from scratch and takes all day to cook, you only make it on holidays.

img_20191121_112026

I miss my dad, but I’m glad I have this meal with these memories.

 

Writers Blank

LaurenLeave a comment

I sat down last night with a great idea for a blog post.  I mean, it was fantastic.

We are talking mind-blowing levels of awesome.

And as soon as I opened the window to start typing, nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  Zero.

No words were forthcoming.

Thanks for that brain.  Much appreciated.

Sketching Out A Gift

LaurenLeave a comment

One of my favorite hobbies is embroidery.  Among other things, I find it soothing and relaxing.

The hubs and I are gaining a new niece this year!  How exciting!

These two things are connected.  I promise.  I’m not just randomly talking about two unrelated events and/or occurrences.

img_20191107_162918

See, I am going to be making an embroidered gift for the new baby.  I’d been looking for ideas on ETSY, something I could take inspiration from without actually stealing their work.  That is no good the stealing of work!

I stumbled across this one Etsy shop.  I can’t link it for fear that my sister in law might see it and have the gift spoiled.  Suffice it to say, inspiration struck.

I spent the last couple of days looking at line art online.  and I managed to come up with something pretty cool.

img_20191107_162844

I’m excited to get started on the actual embroidery part of it.

img_20191107_162858

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and buy all the DMC at the craft store!

 

This Weather Needs to Stop

LaurenLeave a comment

When it was summer I was wishing for cooler temps.

Cooler.

Not freezing.

Cool.

Basically, I wanted Fall.

What I got instead was Winter.

Now, I understand the old adage of being careful of what you wished for, but come on!!!  We skipped fall and went straight into a polar vortex of doom.

And I didn’t even get any snow!!!

Oh well, that’s the way the North wind blows I guess.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go curl up with a nice hot cup of tea, Disney+, and a cozy blanket.