Shot In The Arm

Book Challenges

2012-01-07T01:47:00.000-06:00

Updated as of 25 January: added more books I've been reading. I realized that I am going to be doing multiple book challenges this year. I keep track on Goodreads for the most part of what I'm reading. The only thing I don't keep track of on there is all the romance books I read..because there are times I read 2 or 3 of those in a day and it would be crazy to track that. But..here I am...

Steampunk Reading Challenge

2012-01-07T00:56:00.000-06:00

Over the past few years I have gotten into reading Steampunk. I didn't actually know there was a name for it to begin with. I actually seek these types of books out when I hit the bookstores and have found some pretty amazing books. But here's a description if you are curious. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into

In My Mailbox 5

2011-11-13T21:56:00.001-06:00

I'm finally getting around to reading books now that I've moved and have stopped into Powell's a few times to purchase a few to complete trilogies. Purchased: This is the 3rd in the Beka Cooper Series by Tamora Pierce Funny thing about this purchase. I am OCD about my books and realized last night when looking at photos of my bookshelves at my parents house that the first two books in

My Bucket List

2011-11-08T22:55:00.001-06:00

There are things I've had in my head for a while now that I would LOVE to do...after watching The Bucket List a few months ago, I realized I had my very own bucket list to share. Do you have some ideas for your own bucket list? Let's see how our lists compare. Ready? 1. Visit Italy 2. Skydive From Here 3. Go on a Motorcycle Ride From Here 4. Go to Las Vegas and see

So you are about to buy a new phone/game system/tablet....

2011-10-07T12:24:00.000-05:00

There are those who are always on the cutting edge of technology. Those who buy an iPhone or Android phone as soon as it comes out. Or perhaps you are into tablets and e-readers. What happens when 6 months from now a bigger, better item comes out on the market? What do you do with that gadget you spent a couple hundred dollars or more on? Well you might Cragslist it, give it to a kid or

Some of the basics on PC vs. Mac

2011-10-07T11:48:00.001-05:00

You might be wondering what your next computer purchase should be. You might even be wondering if the information you are being given at the store is honest and accurate. So I'm here to help you when you are pondering whether or not to buy a PC or Mac. There are links throughout to help you with more information directly to the Apple website. Here are the main differences between the PC and

In My Mailbox 4

2011-10-03T00:37:00.001-05:00

Well I am in Pre-Order heaven here....my mom told me she is sad I'm moving because she has been enjoying seeing what I get in the mail every couple days (lately). So here goes: Excited to start :) Read Anna and the French Kiss, hoping this one will be as awesome as that one. I've read several of Maureen's books but this looks completely different then her others. So I'm

In My Mailbox 3

2011-09-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

This week I received books in the mail to read :) Yay for Wild Iris Books in Florida where I pre-ordered books. 3rd in the Leviathan series I went to read this on Tuesday night but had to go back and see what happened at the end of Behemoth. Unfortunately a friend has Leviathan and Behemoth so I went online to remember the ending. 3rd in the Mortal Instruments seriesWhat are you

In My Mailbox (2)

2011-09-11T16:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a long week filled with work and many naps. The only excitement I've had is to get through some of the books that were IMM last week. So today after work I went over to Borders to see if there were any last minute books I HAD to have before they close on Thursday night. Ended up getting 6 books, only because there was an extra 15% off the already huge markdowns in the store. This

How to wow....on my Resume

2011-09-08T23:23:00.000-05:00

So as those of you who follow me on Twitter of here on my blog know that recently I have gotten fed up with my job. And I decided to move but, in order to do that my resume has to be completed. From 9 to 5 Comic Luckily, I have a friend who is also fed up with her job, (same corporation different location) so she has also worked on her resume. I asked to look over hers for ideas on how

Learning from Twitter

2011-09-06T18:27:00.002-05:00

There's a saying, 'Every Day I Learn Something New'. This seems to be a theme in my life, especially at work. Since I work at an electronics store there is always something new to learn. Most of the time I am learning from my co-workers when I help out in other departments. Sometimes I learn from websites such as Engadget, Gizmodo and IGN. Photo from http://sleepearmuffs.com/ So last

In My Mailbox

2011-09-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

With Borders going out of business I have been going in and stocking up on books at least once or twice a week the past few weeks. I was keeping track of when they were getting their final warehouse shipments. Wondering what IMM is all about? Go visit The Story Siren. So here is what I've bought recently for Young Adult Titles: Books I've read/currently reading since purchasing:

Silent Sunday

2011-09-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

For my Silent Sunday I'm sharing photos of things that happened this Summer: Harrie Graduated High School Corn Grew Front Porch (Early August) Front Porch (End of August) Spending the night in Dubuque at a Bachelorette Party Back to Dubuque for the Wedding Overheating, drinking liquids & spending time together at the Farm Progress

Changing time

2011-09-02T15:04:00.001-05:00

It's that time again where I feel like it's important to move on. Here are some of the things I've been thinking about: 1. Changing jobs. It's been 3 years in the current electronics store job. While I have changed positions going from Media (Music, Movies, Games), to Computers, to Media again, to Merchandising/Inventory for Media, over to Project Team (going between 2 or 3 stores to reset

On a jet plane...to Pensacola

2011-03-23T18:19:00.000-05:00

This is more of a record for me then anything exciting. But this is what happened on my trip to Penscaola to see my friend. On Monday I drove to Chicago only stopping once for a bathroom break after drinking too much Gatorade. I made it to the park and ride. This is my Park & Ride Ticket. It has my location written on. There was an obnoxious guy who couldn't understand why we had to stop

How I went internet free on my vacation...and it didn't cost me a thing

2011-03-23T16:18:00.001-05:00

A few months ago when I sat down to plan my vacation to Florida the main things I was concerned about were the flights (being at times that worked for me and were not expensive), the hotel (to be safe and not far from where my friend lived), and saving money towards all the extra things ie. eating out and activities. Never once on my list of things to think about was anything to do with how many

A healthy...mostly...meal

2011-02-02T01:20:00.001-06:00

Tonight my mom and I made something new...for us...so maybe you will want to try it to! It's easy and only took about 20 to 30 minutes to make. More check-ins at HomePowered by Whrrl

All Fall Down

2011-02-01T15:03:00.000-06:00

This is turning into a pretty strange week. Sunday at work was hectic and there were a lot of changes since it was the last Sunday of the month. Last night I was able to move the entire Comedy section of dvd's over and we only have 1- 4ft section that is completely bare. I'm still working on alpha'ing and fixing the music area as well since it is a huge mess after the holidays. So the only

Writing, oh writing, planning, oh planning

2011-01-26T01:53:00.000-06:00

The past few weeks has been full of fun and work. I am finally at the stage in planning my trip to Florida, that I bought my plane tickets. Mind you, I have not purchased train tickets to Chicago (to get to the plane), nor have I actually booked a hotel, although I have one picked out), but this first step is exciting. I started my new cleaning job, and have cleaned the house twice, 6 hours

Travels

2011-01-12T19:39:00.000-06:00

In an effort to actually write something out, here I am... My best friend left to go back to school on Tuesday. In an effort to do something fun instead of being a mope I took my niece to Chicago to see Empires at Lincoln Hall. When the idea came about, I decided I wanted to actually enjoy the weekend, so we took Amtrak. YAY for decently priced tickets and a few hours of reading/listening to

The luxury of time

2010-12-22T01:45:00.001-06:00

We all have time. Time we choose to use by spending it with family, working, going on road trips, or just sleeping. What do you use your time to do? Have to say, lately, my time has been mostly sleep, and then about a good amount of work. The winter weather is cold and I am not someone who enjoys the cold at ALL! I'd much rather be in my nice warm bed or wrapped up in a blanket. So after

A day out..and other adventures

2010-07-26T23:38:00.000-05:00

There has been much to write about and no time to do so. When I sit here I try to think of what to write down, of what to remember and of what to share. I haven't been taking many photos lately. So here is a LONG rundown of what I've been doing lately. 1. Did I tell you I changed jobs? Yes about 3 paychecks ago I changed over to Project Team. I'm supposed to wear a black shirt, but they

The Gallery - Still Life

2010-06-01T21:34:00.003-05:00

That's right it's time for another week of The Gallery. This week's theme is Still Life. The first thing I thought of were my photos of Chicago, but I came across my set of photos from our apple tree last autumn. I decided to do something different and climb up into our apple tree and look for some new items to photograph. As you can see I found a birds nest in the apple tree. (Feel free to

The Great Cupcakeathon

2010-05-27T10:33:00.001-05:00

If you read this blog for any amount of time you know I love to read. Heck, I worked at a bookstore for a couple years! One of my favorite new authors is Lisa Mantchev. She has been writing a wonderful Young Adult Series, starting with Eyes Like Stars, and continued on with Perchance to Dream. I read her blog and follow her on twitter. This week to celebrate her release of Perchance to Dream

The Gallery - Friendship

2010-05-25T11:21:00.002-05:00

I have been following a few lovely ladies from the UK, Sian and Ellie (names are linked). Every week they post photos on Tuesday based on a word. I have been inspired to start to find new ways to blog more and this seems like a fun idea since I LOVE taking photos. This week's theme is 'Friendship'. Friendship is going by train to Chicago to get your best friend who is coming from

My favorite photo

2010-05-24T15:10:00.001-05:00

I am sharing with you my favorite photo...this is one I took in June of 2008 while in Chicago. I love going to Millenium Park and this shot, as well as the one below it are my two favorites. I framed them in metallic purple and blue frames I bought at Michaels and gave them to a friend. I need to do the same for myself. I love the energy and fun in them both. The top one is my most favorite

Attempt to write more

2010-05-18T01:57:00.000-05:00

Saturday was...a team meeting at work at 8 am...and then going to the DMV for a sticker so my license plates are current. I took a 4 hour nap before waking up and watching some movies in the living room. Oh and a stranger came to the door to tell me he almost hit one of our calves who was on the road. Flash, our dog, protected me by barking a lot. So Flash and I went outside and located the

Tonight...this week....

2010-05-15T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hmm...so tonight I was in a car accident. Yes I am okay...yes my car is mostly okay. It looks like I have some damage on my front bumper and grill...well the license plate did pop off. But the car drives and nothing is leaking or broken. I am still sort of going between exhaustion and emotional (wanting to cry). I'm mostly happy that I didn't injure anyone even though I did injure two cars.

I owe myself an explanation

2010-04-23T00:50:00.000-05:00

I haven't written in eons...and I don't know if it's because I haven't felt the urge to record the many things I've been up to or because I look at this page and wonder where to start. I can't begin to summarize where I left off from my last post so instead I'll go over the highlights in no particular order: 1. I bought an XBox 360. I bought it with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-02-24T20:20:00.005-06:00

This photo looks awesome big..but I can't resize it larger or it's not fully viewable. Check it out full size here.

Something new and something old...nothing borrowed here though

2010-02-21T19:45:00.001-06:00

I promised to tell you where we went on our birthday trip...so here goes. We decided to go somewhere that was within 4 hours driving distance, somewhere that had an indoor water park, and some new restaurants (at least to us). Any guesses? We went somewhere new and chose Wisconsin Dells. We ended up deciding to eat at the Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing Company. It was delicious. We had

Trying new things and letting you in on some old things too

2010-02-20T01:32:00.001-06:00

Warning: This post is full of links that will cause you to get hungry, want to travel and spend money on fun products. Sometimes it barely takes anything for a road trip to occur. Sometimes it's out of a need to get away and sometimes it is for a bit of fun or celebration. Most recently it was for the latter. My friend Sarah and I decided to go away for a weekend to celebrate our birthdays,

Today is...DeLurker Day

2010-01-14T13:19:00.000-06:00

This graphic cracks me up. So tell me a bit about yourself, or leave a link to your Twitter or Blog so I can stop by & say hi :) Thanks for reading!

All the things I've not been doing

2010-01-12T13:01:00.000-06:00

One of the many things I have not been doing is enjoying Christmas...as you can see I most definitely didn't get 3 of my friends together and go on an amazing road trip just days before Christmas to actually have fun and get away from everything...and we most certainly did not go to a museum, an antiques shop, and then over to see an amazing lights in the park show..nope not us! And while

Zhu Zhu nutty

2009-12-09T23:08:00.000-06:00

At this point I'm going to guess everyone has seen the new Zhu Zhu toy. Nicole even had a review/giveaway of it earlier this summer. Well it turns out my friend Ryan's niece wants it for Christmas. It's been sold out everywhere and is difficult to find. After two weeks of random shopping I was finally able to find some at Toy's 'R Us when I was visiting my friend this past weekend out of town

Baking success and failures

2009-12-02T15:59:00.001-06:00

Last week I felt motivated to bake. I love baking, it's relaxing and usually pretty easy to do. I bake brownies, from a mix, every couple of weeks. I admit it, I'm a chocoholic, so is my dad. So last week I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies and some chocolate chunk brownies. YUM right? No. The chocolate chip cookies were from scratch based on the Betty Crocker recipe. The

Happy 6 Months Birthday Oliver :)

2009-11-07T00:28:00.000-06:00

My nephew is 6 months old today...well yesterday since it's 12:25 a.m. on the 7th of November. Better late then never right? My brother fed Oliver his first bites of homemade applesauce today and it went really well :) Isn't he a cutie?

Time goes

2009-10-26T12:43:00.000-05:00

I've been all over the place lately. I went to Walt Disney World with my mom, who had a work conference there. And most recently I went to Six Flags Great America for Fright Fest this past weekend. At Disney we stayed at the Dolphin Resort which was really nice. It was right next to Epcot so we were able to take the ferry to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We also took the bus to the Magic

Finding humor in the day

2009-09-07T23:44:00.005-05:00

I'm giggling right now after reading this entry by Nicole...Check it out!

Blurb-a-licious

2009-09-05T18:18:00.006-05:00

Yesterday when I arrived home from work I had the urge to take photos in black/white of the barns on our farm but I needed to take a nap before heading out to see Sarah and a few other friends. I hate putting off creativity for taking photos so I told myself I would definitely do it today. The light was amazing this afternoon so I headed outside to use up the color film in my camera. I

Wandering, a wondering

2009-09-05T17:50:00.006-05:00

I think I've come to a decision about my working. Will be odd but I am going to let go of a job and only work at one place. This means I need to get on the ball about extra hours at the other job which can easily be done. It also means I need to get off my bum and print those business cards from ages ago with my various odd job abilities on them for mum to give out at work. I need to do this

Dreamin'

2009-09-01T00:14:00.002-05:00

Along with my crazy work schedule, I've thrown a going away party for one friend and attended another. Helped move a friend. Taken a Scrapbooking 101 class (didn't learn much but had fun & met some nice ladies). Worked crazy hours & had only one full day off between the 2 jobs as well as putting together a Blurb photo book (finally!) and purchasing said book so I have a nice copy to share with

Where in the world is Mel now?

2009-08-13T11:19:00.003-05:00

Do you remember playing the computer game 'Where In the World is Carmen Sandiego?' I used to play that back when I was in grade school. My mom bought that game for us to play at home and I always enjoyed learning about the many places Carmen could go. Later on they even made it into a cartoon for TV. Obviously not as interactive, but still an educational experience. I started thinking about

Time to write

2009-08-05T17:05:00.005-05:00

Since getting home from BlogHer09 I've managed to unpack and eat/drink most of the food/drink products I brought home. By far the stand outs are Goldfish Grahams Honey & SoBe Apple Pear. I love the new Goldfish Grahams! They are crispy and oh so yummy. Plus I can eat them with fruit for a wonderful snack & feel filled up. The SoBe Lifewater was new to me as I've never tried any of their

After the fun

2009-07-27T16:01:00.004-05:00

So you may be coming here to see what I'm all about or you may be wondering if I have some interesting things to say? Let me find you a few of the things I can give as examples okay? The few posts under this are really just a rundown for me so I can remember what I did...when I travel I try to do that since I scrapbook and it's helpful for me and my photos to know what order I do things in.I'm

Day 4 BlogHer09

2009-07-27T11:33:00.003-05:00

This morning was saying goodbye to SAHM and heading to breakfast in the suite at the end of the hall where the CheezeBurgHer party was on Saturday night. I also phoned up Fake Plastic Fish (who I had been looking for all weekend) and twittered HollyK. I ate breakfast and sat by the window to enjoy the amazing view of Navy Pier. I also found Sassafrass when I saw a lovely lady walking around

Day 3 BlogHer09

2009-07-26T01:09:00.004-05:00

After volunteering I went up to the room, dropped off my laptop and accessories and ran downstairs to find SAHM Ramblings. Great timing because she was talking to Tim Gunn when I arrived so I was able to take their photo and talk to Tim quickly. Then we walked around and got ice cream for the Wal Mart booth. I went outside while SAHM went up to the room. After finishing my ice cream I went

Day 3 BlogHer09

2009-07-25T13:30:00.003-05:00

Since I'm sitting at Registration now I thought I'd take some time to write about this morning so I won't need to write about so much tonight :)This morning I woke up feeling sick around 8 am so laid in bed for a while then made some hot tea before getting ready to go. Came downstairs for the Keynote at 9:30 am although it didn't start til 9:45 am or after. We had AMAZING keynote ladies here

Day 2 BlogHer09

2009-07-24T23:36:00.003-05:00

Today was crazy! I was woken up by text (forgot to set it on vibrate) then back to sleep til my roomie SAHM Ramblings woke me up for breakfast at 8ish. YAY for breakfast of fruit and hot chocolate YUM!so 8:20 am - Newbie Breakfast where I met 3 Wienermobile Drivers who have one here in Chicago. Need to go outside tomorrow for a ride :) an author and a bunch of other ladies...After

Session 1 Identity/Passions

2009-07-24T11:22:00.003-05:00