Movies

So everyone knows about the issue Netflix has been having.  First, raising their prices by about 25% (or more).  And then threatening to separate the websites for the mail-in dvds and the instant watch.  Two different websites were supposed to be in the best interests for the consumer?  Yeah whatever...

Jared and I decided to try to look into alternatives to Netflix to see if we could save money.  We have the instant and two-dvds-at-a-time plan.  Our list is typically outdated, so the movies we have we sometimes wonder why we wanted to watch them in the first place.  And they sit in our house for about two weeks before we finally get to watching them.  Yeah, not a good use of our money.

Here's what we found as an alternative:  the library.  Looking at the movies in our list, we could put holds on these movies and potentially have them in a couple of days to a week from now.  Granted, some of the newer movies have about 500 holds.  But if we want to watch them sooner, we can use Redbox.  Redbox only costs a dollar (soon to be a dollar twenty), and we can be sure to watch it (who would rent a movie if they didn't have that "I wanna watch a movie" mood?) and return it within a day.  Bottom line, using the library and Redbox will ultimately save us up to twelve bucks a month (I could get Taco Bell with that kind of money - one of my guilty-but-I-don't-know-why-I-love-it pleasures).

We're still sticking with the instant plan because we use that almost every other day.  So, it's still worth it to us.

If you don't have a library card or haven't looked into what your library offers, then you're really missing out.  I love the City of Madison's library system.  My local library is really small and hard to browse for books, but I tend to browse for books online now.  All I have to do is put a hold on what I need, and the library will have it for me within a day or two (unless there's a line of holds ahead of me).  Using your library for your media is a definite potential for saving money (even if you happen to get hit on by random people while there - a story for another time).

Hair

I dyed my hair about a week ago.  It's a little redder and darker than it was beforehand.  I have pictures, but I don't think the pictures show enough red.  I have gone from a dirty blonde/really light brown to a red-brown.  I think I like it.

Before

After (so it doesn't look much different - I promise there's more red to it now)

Family

My mom and my sister are in town this weekend.  They've been here since Thursday afternoon.  And we've had a blast.  During our down time moments, we've been reading books.  I'll probably post more about what we've done this past week at a later time.  Not sure if there will be pictures since we haven't really pulled the camera out yet.

Time

My last day at work was yesterday.  It was fairly uneventful except when I sliced my thumb open.  Yes, imagine me trying to recycle paper by trying to remove the spiral binder from my notebook.  The metal spiral sliced down my thumb.  I must be super accident-prone because I still can't believe it happened.  And the cut is deep enough that I can feel it tingle...

I have an interview on Monday.  I'm excited and hoping for the best.  I'll let you know what happens in the future.

I asked for a lot of book recommendations from friends and placed about fifteen holds at my library.  I have eight books at home with me now waiting to be read.  I also opened a GoodReads account and received some book recommendations that way.  Let's just say, I know how I'll be occupying my free time in the next couple of weeks.

I made an eight layer dip for the football games today.  Jared appreciates my cooking.  I'll be making home-made baked macaroni and cheese tonight as well.  One of the nice things with having a lot of free time is being able to cook homemade meals.  I've missed those...

Reading Blog

I recently made a reading blog.  So now you don't have to deal with my pesky book posts.  But if you enjoy those, then you can check them out on my new blog.  I'll also take suggestions for a better blog title and recommendations for good books (my list of books to read is getting dangerously low).

Cold

I help out with the nursery at church.  It helps give me my baby fix for the week.  Unfortunately almost all babies came to church with runny noses last week.  One of the little babies always recognizes me from afar, comes near me, and decides I wasn't who he thought I was.  Anyways, all those runny noses equated to me receiving a cold during the week.

It started off with a really sore throat.  After that was over, I was wondering if this would be a sinus-free cold that only gives a very sore throat.  Fat chance.  My voice is low, and my throat isn't as painful, but my sinuses are full and slimy...  Ugh, I hate colds.  I believe the last time I had one was over a year ago.

Maybe it's an indication that if I'm not ready to be sick with colds constantly, then I'm not ready for babies...

I've been checking our finances in preparation for me to be jobless for a couple of weeks.  It's kind of disheartening to know that we achieved our dollar-amount goal in savings to prepare for buying a house, but the money won't be used for that purpose anymore.

Let's hope I find a job I like soon.  And preferably one with less stress (I'm sick of all the grey hairs popping up)...

Reading Habits

So, I've been reading quite a bit.  I'm thinking of starting another blog to separate my reading habits from my other life.  I might turn it into a better review process instead of just a record of what I have read (it's sad when I can't remember if I've read the book before or not).  We'll see what comes up in the next couple of weeks.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Reading about Dragons.  I enjoyed how this plot played out however I hated how it ends.  Granted, it's set up for a sequel that was released last month.  Let's just say there are some parts of a teenager that I am super glad I outgrew...  But I still enjoy young adult books.

Stork by Wendy Delsol

This book was definitely interesting.  It involves a secret society that chooses who gets to give birth to select babies (hence the title), but it goes around how the girl deals with life.  In a new school, newly divorced parents, went from sun to cold in 5 seconds flat (California to Minnesota).  Yeah, I don't like snow either...

Jeaniene Frost

Destined for an Early Grave     First Drop of Crimson

 

Eternal Kiss of Darkness

I had to keep going in my vampire series.  I have two books left to read in this series.  I've really enjoyed these books.  And as much as I hate the covers and the fact that they're in the romance section in the library, I'll still read these.  Yeah, you had me at vampire...

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This book had a really interesting concept and goes through how a town deals with suicide.  One girl's life was hell to live, so she made sure all the reasons why she decided to die knew about it.  Granted, a person may make your life hell, but taking your own life is still a choice you make.  The girl was just as guilty (if not even more guilty) than those she blamed.  However it was a good read, and I think everyone needs to be reminded about how our actions affect others.

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

This book holds an award that very few books will ever receive from me.  It is the award of putting me to sleep.  It was a good plot and made you think, but it was too slow for my tastes.  It's set in the future where people only interact with each other online.  It's a very realistic future with the way the world's heading, and I think that's what makes this book a little disturbing.  If there happens to be a sequel to this book, I'll most likely read (regardless of how easily it might put me to sleep).

What I Said and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

I'm not going to lie, I randomly picked this book up because of the cover.  This is set after World War II, and it's a realistic story about a family who manages to get themselves into some worldly troubles.  The daughter, a 15-year-old girl who's desperately in love with a 23-year-old veteran.  I'd honestly say this story was just stupid and dumb.  But a couple of days afterwards, it was still in my mind.  If you were left with a very difficult decision, would you do what's right by your family or what's right by a moral society?

Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce was one of my favorite authors as a teenager.  So, I decided to try this book in tribute to one of my favorite authors.  And yes, I enjoy reading young adult books, but there are some I shouldn't pick up anymore.  This plot fell falt for me.  I had it picked about 20 pages into it.  If you're not familiar with Tamora Pierce, her books are always set in a fantasy world where there's magic and all sorts of things.  They're really good reads, but I didn't enjoy this one as much.

Die for Me by Amy Plum

For people who love reading anything supernatural but are kind of sick of the vampire/werewolf bandwagon, this book is for you.  It has a supernatural twist to it that is totally interesting.  I don't care if the plot was a little obvious once things were explained a little, I still enjoyed it.  And I want to read more of her books.

Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

I should have read this book in the summer time when it came out, but I forgot to.  Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors, her twelfth Otherworld book doesn't disappoint.  This book is from spell-caster Savannah's point of view, and I enjoyed it.  I don't want to ruin the plot or anything, but you see a lot of the characters from other books in this one.  It seems like the books are all culminating to a huge event.  But again, I'm sick of the cliff hangers already.  Even if this isn't one of those cliff hangers that cause you to throw the book across the room after finishing the last page, it's still a cliff hanger.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

I just finished this book today.  And I enjoyed it.  It seemed like it was set in the future after human civilization collapses (I'm just guessing here).  It has a Southern twang writing style that I absolutely loved reading (you Mark Twain kind-of-but-not-really twang).  It's from Saba's point of view and follows her life after her brother, Lugh, is mysteriously taken.  The one issue I did have with Saba is how poorly she treated her sister.  I wanted to wring her neck most of the time when she talked to her sister.  Anyways, it was an interesting book to say the least.

Still Here

Yes, I am still alive.  I've just been up to the usual, going to work and reading books.  Now that Jared goes to night school, I don't see him all that often.  But that'll change soon.

My mom and sister will be out here in three weeks.  We're going to have a blast showing them around the town...

I have been busy looking for a new job.  It's been interesting to say the least.  But again, not a whole lot to talk about.

The fall colors are beginning to show.  The tree leaves aren't green anymore.  And it's been freezing outside these past couple of days.  If I'm considering 60 degrees (40-50 at night) to be freezing, I'm in for a surprise come winter time...

Yesterday, I attended an intensive bible study.  It was a four hour session starting at seven pm.  The topic was the biblical perspectives of Heaven and Hell.  Let me tell you, information overload and a lot of food for though.  By the end of the night, I was super tired and getting a little confused.  Anyways, there was a lot of information I took out of the session, and I have so many verses to follow up on.

And tomorrow, I get to satisfy my baby hunger by helping out in the nursery.  Super fun.  I love weekends...