Too Much Snow?

Personally, I don't think there's such a thing as too much snow ... but I admit to a hesitancy about wanting MORE. 
I got stuck in my own driveway this morning trying to leave for work.
No big deal. I just kept going back and forth until I'd made enough of a track to get me out into the street. 
Still, if we get any MORE snow, I have a feeling I'll have to use a shovel at the end of the driveway finally. I was putting that off as long as possible. It's finally arrived. The winter, I mean. 

I know that that girl is not me ... but that is indeed a lot of snow ... not as much as we've had in the past here in Michigan, but it seemed a good representation of what we got recently. That and I liked her hat. 

But hey, since you don't know...
My sister Tatum has her own blog on here. It tells the stories of ALL her dogs, her whippets Zero, Khayman, and Squint. 
On Monday after I finished writing  my blog post, I went to the mall with her to have the dogs picture taken with Santa Claus. It was kind of a riot because when it was their turn, 'Santa' was having fun holding onto their leashes and talking to them all. 
So ... ready to see the photo, everyone? Here it is!!!

Squint (far left), Zero (middle), Khayman (far right)

I wound up having a very good time with them. For being allowed in the mall, they weren't frightened by any of the noises, they didn't bark, they didn't pull. Perfect Whippet Angels. 
As soon as I get the web address for her blog too, I'll post it here. Because the stories about her dogs ... hilarious. 
So that was what I did on Monday evening. 
Wanna know what I did on Tuesday? Closed up and got out SUPER early considering that we're now in the holiday rush time. 10:30pm. That's a record. AND I got 32 books donated to Family and Child Services which makes me extremely happy. That's 32 more books for 32 more children who typically don't get a gift at Christmas. 
SPEAKING of the donations in our Book Drive ... I managed to complete my goal this morning. Since this started, I have strived to get one of each Harry Potter book in the series donated. 
The Seventh and Final Harry Potter book was donated as of 10:00am. WIN! 

Has anyone here been waiting for Christmas as anxiously as I have? I think I've finally finished all my Christmas shopping?
Even for my Secret Santa at work. 
Most of the presents are already wrapped and under my little tree that I have set up in my bedroom right now. 
I'm just so excited. I can't believe that Christmas is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. 

I'm just very excited about it. 

But that's just me. 

I've been working extremely hard to make that extra money for any additional presents I need to give to people for the holiday season. 

So I have been sitting here at the ChocolaTea with a little demitasse of sipping chocolate. Essentially, that's just really rich hot chocolate. I have been nursing it for QUITE some time, but here is the picture I took of it when I first got it. It looked SO delectable that I almost didn't want to take that first taste. 

I was looking at it and I immediately thought of my dear friend, Jeanne who I miss very much. The first time we had this was when we were playing the game "Chocolate-opoly" and Polly gave us each one to keep the cravings away. *laughs* And tonight, I was feeling a bit nostalgic. So one for me! 

Since the holidays started, I know I slacked in the blogging department. I hope that this week's posts have assured you that I AM in this for the long haul and I am wishing each and every one of you the very best.
Now, I think I'm going to wrap this up but I hope that everyone enjoys the weekend and if you're here in Michigan, be careful ... that snow is still coming. 

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn

Christmas Spirit Anyone?

It is that wonderful time of the year. The MOST wonderful time of the year. 

There will be peace on earth. 

There will be giving.

There will be joy. 

There will be love for everyone. 

Anyone want to raise a hand to how great that is? I thought so. 

It sounds like the perfect world. There's just one problem and feel free to comment if you disagree with me at anytime as I am an open minded individual. 

It only lasts 24 hours. 

Think about it. 

I was watching of all things 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' with my dad on Sunday when I noticed this one little detail. The Spirit of Christmas Present who sings about how everyone feels love in their hearts and it feels like Christmas, right? Well then ... at the stroke of midnight ... the spirit grows old ... and dies. 

The spirit of Christmas DIES on December 26th and even though THAT was just a movie/book, there was something so odd about that. 

People around this time of year are open and loving and giving for a grand total of 24 hours on Christmas day. As soon as Christmas is over, everyone's done. The giving stops and the kind words turn into slander against one another again. Peace on Earth shouldn't have a shelf life of 24 hours. 

God created us to be peaceful to one another, didn't He? 

So I kinda think that we should be more kind to each other throughout the WHOLE YEAR. Not a measly 24 hours. 

I don't think Christmas wasn't meant to just amend for our wicked ways until the next year. Christmas was meant to bring families closer together and remind them that they're important to each other. It was meant to remind fellow Christians that Christ was born as a baby from humble beginnings to be the Savior of the world. 

And ... it's sad to think that it's been turned into something that can be celebrated and forgotten the very next day. 

So in case I just ... made you cry ... I'll move on to a happier topic. 
We've been doing a Secret Santa at work and I got to open mine. They KNEW me. I got a cute fuzzy blanket covered in owls and fluffy socks. 
Best. Day. Ever. 
AND ..... I got a TON of books donated in the Book Drive at work today too.

All right, all right! I've gotta take off. I just wanted to leave my thoughts for you to chew on. Feel free to leave a comment or even engage in a light debate. I encourage it. 

As always,
Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself.
Taryn

Been Shopping

Exhausted from shopping? 

You might be if you've been running around like I have the past week. 
I don't think anyone will be left out this year. I even managed to get an AWESOME gift for a little girl for the Angel Tree Project. 
It was a giant blue fuzzy elephant. 

Picture the Elephant in BLUE and that was my Angel Tree gift.

I had a lot of fun shopping for that too. I had gone into Target, looking around because I love their toy department and when I came across this big, fuzzy elephant ... I KNEW that that was the gift. 

How's everyone else been doing? NaNoWriMo is done as you probably guessed since it's now December and ... let me tell you ... I lost. 
Again.
Once I made it to the 30,000 word mark, it went ALL downhill. I lost my momentum, I forgot where the nonexistent plot was going, and I couldn't keep my characters from running around like chickens with their heads cut off. It was annoying and I got tired of dragging them back to their respective corners to give them a stern talking to about running away from their author. 
It's quite pesty when that happens. ANYWAY!

Tomorrow is Friday. It's been another week. And ... I'm considerably poorer from Christmas shopping but it has been 100% worth it because this year, I have HAD the funds to go all out for people. I'd share what I've gotten but ... some of my readers are that list and then the surprise would be gone. 
Lots of people are getting books (no surprise there, have ya met me?) but they already know that because DUH, it's me and there may or may not be some gift cards involved. One place that I need to hit again is World Market. 
Their jewelry is really cute. I love their bangle bracelets and am regretting not putting some of them on my Christmas list because I think I'd wear them ... like ... every day. 

Plus at World Market, you can get the Hello Kitty Pink Hot Chocolate. Not kidding. It actually makes your Hot Chocolate PINK. 

See? It's pink! 

Moving on again,

You will be pleased to hear that I have indeed read Divergent by Veronica Roth which I mentioned in a previous post. 
And ... I'm in love with the series now. 
Tris Prior was raised in the Abnegation (Selfless) Faction and is now at the age where she will be tested to see where she SHOULD be. Will she remain with the Abnegation and her family or will she walk away to be in another faction? 
Basically, her test was inconclusive and that makes her a Divergent or essentially someone who defies the simulations that were performed in the test. To save her life, the person who tested her ERASED her results and hand wrote in Abnegation. 
Tris, who has no idea why Divergent is so dangerous in the first place, thinks nothing of it other than she has NO CLUE what she's going to pick on Choosing Day.
Deciding to hide among the Dauntless (Bravery), she chooses them as her faction. 
There, Tris meets new friends and one young man in particular named Four who seems to know more about her than she realizes. 
What does Divergent mean? And why is the Government and the Factions so threatened by it? Tris Prior finds out in this epic dystopian novel. 

From Divergent, I have moved onto the fifth and final book in the Shadow Falls series, Chosen at Nightfall by C.C. Hunter. 

In this series, we're FINALLY getting to the end of the actual conflict in the series. Kylie Galen has gone from normal girl to supernatural to freak of nature to ... chameleon? 
Basically, the author decided to cop out and say that Kylie is not JUST a supernatural (i.e. werewolf, vampire, shapeshifter, witch or fae) but she's what is called a chameleon (not a lizard) and she can take on the elements and powers of all the other supernaturals. 
She had left Shadow Falls Camp to train her newfound skills with her longlost grandfather and great aunt, but it only lasts four chapters before she winds up right back at the camp. This seems to be C.C. Hunter's only desirable setting and it gets quite obnoxious because nothing ever changes at the camp except for when some of the supernaturals get rowdy. *rolls eyes* So you can get my disappointment when Kylie leaves this new setting and returns to ... the camp. 
Then the mention of her archnemesis Mario comes up again and the reader gets all excited that something is about to happen ... and you're disappointed again. We get little jumps of adrenaline whenever Kylie 'sees' something in the forest and that turns out to be nothing until the very end when we actually get a CONCLUSION to this too long series. 

I give this book only 2 stars out of 5. 

NEXT on the list ... of books that I have read recently. 
I finished Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer. Again, another book that I mentioned in a previous post so if you want to see the covers of these books, visit www.bn.com and you'll get all the information you need about each book. Including cover, titles, and prices. (I'm a huge Barnes & Noble fan)

Wolfsbane! 
So it LITERALLY picks up right where it left off at the end of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. 
This book is the continuation of the story of Calla Tor, the Alpha of the Nightshade werewolf pack and her forbidden love with Shay, who she turned into a werewolf or Guardian as they are called in Andrea Cremer's series. 
I actually really recommend these books. Calla is a strong female character who knows who she is and she really suffers from indecision at times the way REAL PEOPLE do. 
Basically, book two is all about how she has made the decision to walk away from the Keepers who have bossed around the werewolves their whole lives and they expect no questions asked of them. The Searchers are providing those answers. But Calla has more decisions that she has to make regarding her former love, Ren and where he fits into the Keeper's plans for them. Andrea Cremer knows how to write a story that keeps you enthralled to the last page and I know that this wasn't my most epic review of a book for you ... but I just have to say that this book gets 4 out of 5 stars from me. 
Pick up Nightshade by Andrea Cremer! You won't regret it. 

I feel like that's how I should end this entry. With all my book reviews. Sound good, huh?

I hope that you enjoyed this week's entry and I'm really hoping that I'll get back on track with the Monday/Wednesday schedule. This is what happens when you work in retail.

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself,
Taryn