Why I’ve Been in a Reading/Blogging Slump.

lifeupdate

Hey!

There are a few things I want to write about and the main thing being why I’ve been in a reading/blogging slump. This may get long! Right at the start of May (actually April 30) I was told that I may lose my job. Since that day I have been beyond stressed about what was going to happen with my job and what I was going to do, because we just bought a house in a new city four hours away from family! I currently do not have a license, I never got one as a teen for whatever reason. So it would make finding a new job a struggle. I currently work from home. I also have major social anxiety and talking to people I don’t know kind of freaks me out, so I was kind of just going crazy. What was I going to do? I can’t drive anywhere. I can’t talk to people. It was just a lot to deal with. FYI: I am going to start working on finally getting my license. It’s time!

When I found out about my job, I pretty much cried for a long time. Then I ignored everything happening and read book after book after book to escape that reality. That’s why in May I read so many books and got so many reviews posted. I was ignoring what was happening. I was also waiting to see what was going to happen with my job, because my boss told me he would let me know what is going on in June. Once June hit, I was so nervous waiting to see what my boss was going to tell me. So I stressed out so much and impatiently waiting for that email about what was going to happen. It finally happened 2-3 weeks ago and he told me I could work part-time. So that’s what is happening right now. I am still working, but part-time. It was a little bit of a relief to know I still had a job, but also a downer because it’s part-time. I also don’t feel secure with this job now. I feel like it could still end at any moment and that’s stressful and weighing on me a lot.

Another thing is that this week my work computer crashed and I lost all of my files. I lost all of the stuff that I use for my job. I now have to work on redoing everything. I had so many spreadsheets and starting over really sucks. I had five years worth of work stuff on that computer and a lot of it I use every day. So I’ve been annoyed with that and trying to remember the most important things and a way to start again. The last backup for some things I have date back to December, but the most important things that I use daily I didn’t have saved somewhere else. So now I am stressing about that on top of the work stuff.

My personal computer seems like it’s on it’s last leg too and I need a new computer. The problem is, buying a new computer. Computers are expensive! Now that I am working part-time, we are trying not to spend money as often. I need a new computer at some point, because I really don’t want to risk losing all of my personal stuff; like thousands of pictures and music. UGH. I want a brand new hard drive/tower (I have plenty of computer monitors so I don’t need that), but the hubby thinks we should get refurbished for now. I don’t want to do that, because I don’t want to risk a refurbished computer breaking down a year or two later. So I’ve just been stressed about that too.

I’ve been in this weird place in my head lately and I don’t like it. A lot of it has to do with work. Some of it has to do with the fact that I can’t spend money or do things like I was before. It is now all about saving, saving, saving. I hardly ever leave the house, which usually I’m fine with but lately not really. I want to go do things or buy things, but I can’t because we’re trying not to spend money until we figure out the job situation and what happens in the future with that. I was excited about buying this house, because we would get to fix it up how we wanted it and make it ours. We haven’t really been able to do anything with our house because of all of this. It’s frustrating and annoying and I hate it. I’m not even that excited about owning a house anymore, which is really sad!!

I feel like maybe I’m complaining, but honestly, I’m not the type of person that complains about anything. So this is all new and weird and I don’t like it. I’ve always been an “it is what it is” type person. I usually go with the flow and whatever happens, happens. I’m usually always happy and good vibes. The fact that I haven’t been that person in months sucks! This is not who I am and I don’t like it. I want to get back to my old self, but I’m not entirely sure how to get there. Even writing that line is making me start to cry. It’s so damn sad! I’ve never been like this before and I don’t know what this even is. I just want things to go back to normal, but I don’t think that can happen. At least not right now. I think our “normal” has changed too.

So with all of that being said, I haven’t been blogging much and I haven’t been reading much this month. It’s not because I don’t want to, believe me, I want to! My mind is drowning in other things/thoughts and I can’t seem to figure out a balance between everything. So instead I just do mindless stuff, like watch TV. I’ve been catching up on my DVRed shows and shows I’ve been wanting to watch on Hulu/Netflix that I haven’t gotten the chance to watch yet. I’ve also started exercising every day and I feel like I’m starting to finally see results. I still eat like crap, but whatever. Let me tackle one good thing at a time. LOL.

I also can finally say that I finished my two current reads; well technically I have like 50 pages left in one but it counts because I’m going to go finish it right now after I post this. I’ve been reading these same two books (Naturally Tan and Red, White & Royal Blue) for weeks now due to this reading slump. I’m so sad that this entire month I only read read three books. That’s not like me! My mind has just been elsewhere. I’m hoping that things will start looking up or that I can get out of whatever it is that I’m in in my head. I don’t even know how to classify it, because this has never happened to me before. I don’t even think I was this stressed when I was planning my wedding or even the process of buying a house. That all was a breeze compared to what I am feeling right now.

I am really hoping to finally do that picture update soon. Until then, here are my two favorite pictures that I took over the last month or so.

The first picture was when my friend and I went Pokemon hunting at Lake Mirror here in Lakeland, FL. All over Lakeland there are swans (real and fake) and this one has been my favorite that I’ve seen so far since living here. The second picture is when my family and I went to the beach. We were on a ferry when I took this picture, because we wanted to go to Caladesi Island and in order to get to the island you have to travel by ferry. I’ll have a post all about it with even more pictures soon. It was a fun time!

I think I will end this now (it’s gotten a lot longer than I thought), but hopefully I will be okay soon and you’ll see more of me soon. If I am a little MIA (missing in action), these are the reasons why. I’m still around, just not as much right now. I still try to blog hop and still try to post at least once a week if I can. It’s just harder with where my head is at and also the fact that I haven’t been reading much. Hopefully this all changes soon. Hopefully I can figure out some way to get out of my head and back to reality. Like I said, I just want to get back to my old self. I don’t like who I am lately and that’s never been the case before. I’ve always loved who I was. I’ve always been a happy person. I never let things bother me. Now it’s different and it’s really sad. I’m sad for myself, so much.

This weekend I am going to Cape Coral for my cousin’s son’s birthday party and I am really looking forward to that because I’ll get out of the house and because I’ll be able to see my family who I haven’t seen in almost a month. Do you have any plans for the weekend? What are you currently reading?

In case you missed it;
Top Ten Tuesday|| Most Anticipated Releases.
Mini Review|| Virtually Yours.

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

ashleyblack

Dr. Von D Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park.

travel

Hey!

Andy and I decided to find another park in our area that we haven’t been to and check it out. We used to do this a lot, but haven’t in awhile. We want to go to as many places as we can in this area before we move, so we decided to start checking out parks again. Dr. Von D Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park (damn that name is a mouth full, LOL) is pretty much just a few minutes down the street from us and I can’t believe we haven’t known about this place, because it was so nice; especially the the beach area! Part of the park is ocean and the other part is woodsy.

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These are all the pictures that I took in the beach/ocean part of the park. It was really pretty there and I was obsessed with the view, especially the very first picture that I shared. I think this is more of the fishing area, because a lot of people had fishing poles and they were fishing off the rocks as you can see in the first set of pictures. The last four pictures is more of a sandy area where a lot of people were swimming and laying out. It’s a lot more secluded in this area of the beach than the typical touristy part, which is pretty neat. Nice to keep in mind if I want to ever go to the beach. Even the bathrooms looked nicer than the typical busy touristy beach.

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These are the few pictures that I took in the woodsy area of the park. I didn’t take too many, because I was freaking out because of all the mosquitoes LOL! We made it through though and this was the view when we came out of the woodsy area. IT’S SO PRETTY! Heart eyes for days! We ended up on a bridge and when you cross over the bridge then you’re at the beach (the more sandy part)!

Below are just some random pictures that I took over the last week. I haven’t taken very many, so I figured I would include them in this post as well.

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It wouldn’t be a proper post if I didn’t include pictures of the sky. You all probably know by now that I am obsessed with the sky, so I take a lot of pictures of it. These are my first 2019 pictures of the sky LOL with probably a million more to come. 😛

It also wouldn’t be typical Ashley post without pictures of my furbabies. So the left picture of my kitties, this is the first time I almost got the perfect picture of them all three together. BUT of course the littlest one (Leaf – white calico at the top) ruined it. She was in the middle of smacking October (black calico), so I called her name and she looked up but October was still like “WTF” at Leaf and didn’t look up when I called. You can see little Leaf’s paw being held up slightly, lol. UGHHH. I just want one good picture of them all looking at the camera at the same time, is that too much to ask for? 😛 And then my pup Dax on the right.

That’s all for this post. I can’t wait to figure out which park we want to check out next. I have a few bookmarked and there’s a couple museums that I want to go to as well. So we’ll see what happens!

In case you missed it;
4 Star Reads of 2018.
5 Star Reads of 2018.
Thoughts|| The Wicked King.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Photo A Day|| June 1-5.

photoaday1

Hey!

I’ve been taking part in monthly photo a day challenges on my Instagram account (heyyitsashley) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them (when I don’t fall behind on pictures). I figured I would also cross post them to my blog as well. I think for the purpose of blogging, I will post 3-6 per blog post that I do throughout the month. That way I am not spamming my blog with a million photo a day posts back to back. You can follow me on Instagram (linked above) if you want to see them daily though! Some of these pictures will be taken with my Nikon. There will also be some taken with my iPhone.

June 1st-5th.

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Instagram Caption: the target balls are mickey mouse today! 🎯 || photo a day • circle.
Camera: iPhone X.

I went to Target on Friday and noticed that the balls they have outside of the store were dressed like Mickey Mouse. I was pretty stoked about it, so I had to get a picture. I remember when Pokemon Go first came out, Target painted them to look like Pokeballs. I was curious why about the Mickey Mouse ears, but when I went inside I noticed they had a new section of the store dedicated to all things Mickey Mouse.


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Instagram Caption: found a bunch of these guys munching on leaves at the beach today. 🐛🌿 || photo a day • snack.
Camera: Nikon D3400.

I went walking around the beach with my mom and aunt for a little bit and snapped some pictures. It finally stopped raining, so I was able to take my camera out. I seen a bunch of these caterpillars eating leaves. They look so fuzzy and a little creepy. 😛


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Instagram Caption: beach day with @lingytm 🌊☀️✌🏼 || photo a day • i sat here.
Camera: iPhone X.

On Sunday, my cousin Michelle came to hangout and we went to the beach and then wen to grab some tacos from a taco place on the beach. It was just her and I, so that was cool. The sun wasn’t too bad when we first got there (we went really early around 9am). We ate lunch around 11am and then went back to my house. I got in the pool to get a lot of the sand off me and because the sun really came out while we ate lunch and it was pretty brutal having to walk so much back to the car in the sun and heat. Our beach has a lot of restaurants and bars on a little strip, so we walked a pretty far amount to the taco place. It was a lot farther than we both actually thought it was. Still a fun time!


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Instagram Caption: “that dope ass beat in your heart, vibe to it.” || photo a day • this is so me! • i don’t know why, but i’m forever taking pictures of my shoes.
Camera: Nikon D3400.

Just a random picture. I don’t really have any explanation for it, lol. I tend to take a lot of pictures of my shoes for some reason. I’m not entirely sure why, but I guess it’s my thing. It was also perfect for the topic of “this is so me”, since it’s just something I always do.


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Instagram Caption: forever heart eyes for this apartment building every time i see it at the beach. it’s so huge and so pretty. || photo a day • favourite.
Camera: Nikon D3400.

This is a huge apartment building on the beach. This picture isn’t even half of it. It’s also so pretty. It’s probably one of my favorite buildings along the beach, lol. I actually really love how this picture turned out too.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a regular picture/life update, so I may do that soon or at least at some point this month. I’ve taken a lot more pictures over the last couple months that are not a part of the photo a day challenge, so I want to post those on my blog as well. I have a few reviews that I need to do, so those may be coming next week.

In case you missed it;
June TBR {Maybe}.
Photo A Day|| May 25-31.
Wrap Up|| May.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Random|| Picture Update.

pictureupdate

Hey!

I have a random picture update for you guys. Basically just what’s going on in my life, what I’ve done recently, what I’ve taken pictures of recently, etc., but really just a ton of pictures of my furbabies. Kidding…half kidding… 😛 There’s others too, haha.

The hubby and I stumbled upon a brewery (Hollywood Brewing Co) that was on the beach, so we had to check it out! Amazing beer and food! I got the sliders and they were so good. I also got a mango IPA and a Limon Lager. Loved them both! I don’t remember the first beer the hubby got, but his second one he got the Limon one too. Hands down though, the fries stole the show. SO AMAZING! We sat outside and you can see in the last picture the beach right across from us.

Speaking of the beach and food…we ate at this place another time called Taco Beach Shack and OMG it was amazing. I forgot my ID at home, so I couldn’t drink that day, sadly. BUT the tacos were so damn good. I need to go back ASAP! Maybe I can talk to hubby into going this weekend, because damn I need these tacos again.

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Here are some other random pictures from the beach from the last two times that we’ve gone. I love taking pictures at the beach. There’s always neat things. I need to go back again ASAP. I literally live like two miles away. It’s even walking distance.

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A random picture of some of my favorite things. I spotted Cadbury mini eggs at the dollar store last weekend and I was STOKED! These are hands down my favorite Easter candy (and probably my all-time favorite candy ever). I am impatiently waiting for the stores to get the bigger bags though, because I plan to hoard as many as I can because waiting a year to get them again SUUUCKS. Not going to lie, I ate every single bag in one day, but ot be fair, they were mini bags. 😛 I got this cute “crazy cat lady” mug from the hubby’s family for Christmas. I finally used it to drink my orange juice, because I am trying to do everything I can to NOT get the flu. GIVE ME ALL THE VITAMIN C!!!

The hubby’s parents got me a felt letter board as one of my birthday gifts (my birthday is in March) and I was able to have it early. I am OBSESSED with this thing. The pictures I take with this letter board will be endless, haha. I was reading your name. by Makoto Shinkai…..

and you guys…it was amazing. HOLY CRAP! SO MANY FEELS. Hands down one of my favorite books that I read so far this year. I cried quite a few times. I plan to watch the movie this weekend. It was SO FREAKING GOOD!! I am living for it. I also got some new glasses that I am currently living for right now. I haven’t taken them off (well besides going to sleep, duh.). I have four pairs of glasses, but these have been my go to ever since getting them. New favorites. 😀

Books I got in the past week and a half. IMMORTAL REIGN, YOU GUYS!! It is finally hear and I am dying to open it and read it. I’m kind of trying to wait until my Immortal Reign bookmarks get here, because I want to use them with this book LOL. But I don’t know if I can hold out much longer, to be honest. I also came home to a package of ARCs from Fierce Reads. I was SO STOKED! So many books!!! SO MANY! I am really excited about all of them. A couple (Outcast and Between Frost and Fury) are sequels in a series and I think Outcast is even the 4th book. I don’t know if I will be reading those anytime soon or if I will do a books for trade for those two. I am really excited for all of the other ones though! Thank you to Fierce Reads for sending me this amazing package of Spring ARCs.

Another thing I am LIVING for is the new camper bracelet from Pura Vida Bracelets. I had to have it. I currently wear it all the time. I am also reading it right now as I type up this blog post, just saying. 😛 Below are pictures of the front and back. Front is a little camper and the back says “happy camper”. Pura Vida Bracelets currently has so many bracelets I really want. They have these new desert themed ones (a Teepee and some arrows) and this pine cone bracelet. I NEED! I am trying to hold off though. I’ve been spending way too much money lately. I’m supposed to be in saving mode this year. I just love stuff so much, it’s hard. I’m trying though!

I recently found out that Snapchat works on my kitten, Leaf. I’ve tried it with every single one of my furbabies and it doesn’t work on them except for Leaf. I am now obsessed with taking pictures of her with all the new filters. She probably hates it, LOL.

And speaking of furbabies. This is the part where I spam you with a million pictures of my cats and dog, because I love them and they are so cute.

These are a couple pictures of my girl October. It’s hard getting many pictures of her, because she doesn’t always like to come up on the bed or she usually just likes to be in her own little world by herself.

My other girl, little Leaf. She loves cuddling. My other cats don’t really like it and RARELY do, so I am thrilled that I finally have one that loves it. HAHA. We actually almost lost her. I guess the front door wasn’t closed completely and she pushed it opened and ran out. Luckily we caught her just in time before she got through the fence. We have to be very careful with her, because she always likes to sit up against the front door when we get home and she likes to try get out a lot. By the way, I don’t know why I always end up with pictures of her sleeping versus awake, lol. It just happens.

My ColbyJack. Honestly, he was my dream kitten. I’ve always wanted and dreamed of having an orange kitten and I finally got one. He’s a huge drama queen though and likes to eat everything in sight. I still love him more than I’ve ever loved anything. He’s a total mamma’s boy too.

And of course, my boy Dax. He just had his eighth birthday yesterday (recycled last year’s birthday picture because I packed away the birthday hat). I love this guy so much. He’s the oldest of them all. He’s also ColbyJack’s best friend. It’s cute that when Dax is scared or hiding, Colby will go find him and check on him.

Dax went crazy licking Leaf one day and it was seriously THE BEST thing. I got some any funny pictures of it, but she didn’t mind it. She loves Dax. Everyone loves Dax and Dax loves everyone.

I love that they all four get along with each other so well and love each other. They don’t usually fight and when they do, 9 out of 10 times it’s play fighting.

Last but not least, here are some random flower pictures. I haven’t posted them to Instagram yet, so you’re seeing them first! They’ll eventually make their way on there. A few other pictures in this post haven’t been on Instagram yet either, but those will also eventually make it there too. I love the little red ones (I forgot what my mom said they were called), but we forgot to water them and now they are about to die. 😦 I thought the little purple flower was pretty cool. It was just this random purple flower in a sea of green leaves, lol.

That is all for this post. I hope you enjoyed seeing all of my pictures. I always think it’s fun sharing them. I love taking pictures for fun, so it’s nice posting them here too and to get random little updates about what is going on in my life. You’ll definitely be seeing more of that this year on my blog since I am changing things up a little bit and not only focusing on books.

In case you missed it;
Top Ten Tuesday|| Books that have been on my TBR the longest.
4 & 4.5 star reads of 2017.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Photo A Day|| January 22-31 & GIVEAWAY WINNER!

photoaday1

Hi!

I’ve been taking part in monthly photo a day challenges on my Instagram account (heyyitsashley) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them (when I don’t fall behind on pictures). I figured I would also cross post them to my blog as well. I think for the purpose of blogging, I will post 3-4 per blog post that I do throughout the month. That way I am not spamming my blog with a million photo a day posts back to back. You can follow me on Instagram (linked above) if you want to see them daily though! Some of these pictures will be taken with my Nikon. There will also be some taken  with my iPhone X.

I skipped quite a few days. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to take pictures of, didn’t have older backup pictures, or I just completely forgot about them. Here are the rest of the pictures for the challenge though. This post will also contain more pictures than the usual four. I want to get all of them up since it’s now February.

Days 22-31 of January

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Day 22: Scenic.
Instagram Caption: thalassophile 🌊
Camera: Nikon.

Thalassophile: A lover of the sea, someone who loves the sea/ocean. I am kind of obsessed with this ocean shot. I got a couple more really awesome ones too, but I’ll share them another day.


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Day 25: My morning view.
Instagram Caption: ♡♡♡♡
Camera: iPhone.

Random view outside of my house. I was walking my dog Dax before work and decided to snap a picture of the sky, because it looked really pretty that day.


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Day 26: Thank you for…
Instagram Caption: i have been waiting YEARS for this day. words cannot even express how happy i was when the dangerous summer said they were back! i am so stoked for their new album that’s finally here! 🖤🎵
Camera: Nikon.

What my caption says! THE DANGEROUS SUMMER HAS A NEW ALBUM OUT NOW!! Their last album was in 2013, because they broke up. When I heard they were getting back together, I was beyond so stoked! THEN their album was finally released and it was EVERYTHING I ever hoped it would be and more. I’ve listened to it at least 20+ times on repeat and I listened to it at least once all the way through every day since it came out. IT’S SO DAMN GOOD! AND ALL THE FEELS, HOLY CRAP!! GO LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM or at least listen to Color and Luna; those two are my absolute favorite. But I swear, every single song is on point and amazing. You will feel things.


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Day 28: Text.
Instagram Caption: i am pretty stoked to read this. 📖🖤
Camera: iPhone.

I seen this book floating around a little bit and honestly, it’s perfect for me. I am really stoked to read it. Hopefully I get around to it really soon. Currently have a ton of books on my immediate TBR though, because my library decided it would be cool to check out all my e-book holds to me at one time. I would recheck them out later, but a lot of them were holds that I’ve been waiting on for a long time.


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Day 29: Magic.
Instagram Caption: throwback to disney. ♡
Camera: iPhone.

DISNEY WORLD. I NEED TO GO BACK! I used an older picture for this day, because I honestly had no idea what to take a picture of for “magic” and HELLOOOO….DISNEY IS FULL OF MAGIC!


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Day 30: Secret.
Instagram Caption: adventure. 🌲
Camera: Nikon.

This is also an older picture I don’t think I ever posted anywhere. The hubby and I went to this really cool nature trail park last year. I want to go back, because I don’t think we were able to walk all the trails. There were several different ones.

Starting a new monthly challenge today for February! Hopefully I can actually complete an entire month without skipping. 😛


Now for the person that won my giveaway! I actually decided to pick TWO winners.

Kristi from Confessions of a YA Reader
&
Kelly from Another Book in the Wall

Email me at sociallyawkwardbookworm@outlook.com

I will have more giveaways in the near future, so don’t worry if you didn’t win this time! It was fun to do this giveaway and I am stoked to do another  one soon. 😀

In case you missed it;
Wrap Up|| January.
Book Haul|| January.
5 star reads of 2017.
Photo A Day|| January 17-21.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Versatile Blogger Award.

versatile-blogger

Hey 🙂 I’ve been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by drizzle and hurricane books! Thank you so much for the nomination! I love your blog! Everyone should go check it out! 🙂 I’ve already been nominated for this before, but I don’t mind doing it again. You can check out my other post over here.

How does it work?
1. Nominate 15 other bloggers relatively new to blogging
2. Let the bloggers know that you’ve nominated them
3. Share 10 random facts about yourself
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post

The hard part since I have already done this, is coming up with 10 new facts! So, let’s see if I can do this! I should know about myself, right? 😉

1: I love nail polish. I have about 80 bottles of nail polish and anytime I go to Walgreen’s (which is one of my favorite stores, lol), I end up buying more. One of my cousins bought me a nail polish rack for dogsitting for her and now I can display my nail polish. My nail polish rack below:

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2: I love pop punk music and going to concerts. I love music just as much as I love books, so I spend a lot of money on concert tickets and books. Some of my favorite bands: The Story So Far (seen them 3 times), Real Friends (seen them 2 times), Neck Deep (seen them 3 times in just one year, lol), Knuckle Puck (seen them 2 times), The Summer Set (seen them 2 times). I also seen SO many other amazing bands live. New Found Glory being one of my favorites to see live. Next month I am seeing Taking Back Sunday again. First picture: The Story So Far and second picture: Brian from The Summer Set.

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3: I am obsessed with TOMS (shoes). I have so many pairs of them and I actually just ordered a new pair last night and I am so excited to get them. I even got my boyfriend obsessed with them. We probably have TOMS thrown everywhere around our home.

4: I am addicted to Pinterest. I could spend hours on there and every time I pick up  my phone, I go straight to the Pinterest app first. I am constantly rearranging my pins and my boards. I am so proud of my Pinterest that I force my boyfriend to look at all the pins I’ve pinned, lol.

5: I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost seven and a half years. It’s kind of crazy that we have been together so long. It doesn’t at all feel like it’s been that long and that’s the amazing part of it. We are huge geeks, so it works out perfectly. We met at a grocery store we both worked at and have been together ever since. This picture is from New Year’s last year from a party at a local bar. And we’re that couple that has matching shirts. One happens to be Doctor Who. 🙂

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6: I am still a kid at heart. I love playing video games on my 3DS (especially Pokemon and Animal Crossing) and I love coloring. I have tons of crayons, markers, and coloring books. I also hate sharing my crayons and markers, lol. I’m always paranoid that someone will use them all up or break the crayons. hahah.

7: I have no idea how to cook. My boyfriend does all the cooking. I can make macaroni and cheese though! That’s about it. I do however make the best sandwich. Other than that, I am pretty useless in the kitchen. I really want to learn though, because my food boards on Pinterest are constantly calling my name.

8: I love the beach, but I don’t like getting in the water. I am paranoid about sharks and stuff, but I love sharks, lol. I usually just put my feet in the water and that’s about it, lol. I don’t even like going in pools though. We have a pool at our house, but I never use it.

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9: I love holidays and birthdays, because I love giving gifts. I take pride in my gift giving ability, lol. I always find the perfect gifts for everyone and I love seeing everyone’s face when they receive them. It’s probably one of my favorite feelings and things to see.

10: And for number ten I leave you with the song that I am currently obsessed with right now. I am actually on and off obsessed with this song. I’ll listen to it forever and then when I can finally get myself to stop and move on, I always end up coming back to it a few months later and I am now back on it. It’s just SO good and so relatable. Something’s Keeping Me Here by Real Friends.

I am currently jamming the hell out of it right now on repeat. You would probably be laughing at me if you seen me right now. Here is a good visual/example:
JAM OUT SUPER

I tag everyone for the Versatile Blogger Award if you haven’t done it already or if you want to do it again, that’s cool too! I would love to get to know everyone and read your post. If you decide to do it or have done it already, link me to your post in the comments. 🙂 Starting back tomorrow with the 30 day book challenge and I have a post lined up for The Glass Arrow. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Forever cursed.

I told myself that I would try really hard not to spend a lot of money on books and I would wait until I got caught up with more important things (rent and bills; you know…grown up stuff – I still wish I was in Neverland), but I bought a book.

FYI: I currently have at least a dozen books at home I haven’t read yet and I have a dozen books I bought on my Kindle app I haven’t read yet. I also have some I borrowed from the library, which are due back in two weeks. Oh yeah…not to mention the books sitting on my iPad from Kindle Unlimited. Books for days…maybe even months.

I was going to Target to buy pillows; you can never have too many pillows (or books).  Of course I look at all the books (and pointed out all the books I wanted to my mom – my birthday is in a month 😉 ). I carried around Amy Poehler’s book Yes Please throughout the store debating in my head if I needed it right now. I’ve been wanting to read this book. I am obsessed with Parks & Recreation and have been since the day it aired. I also LOVE Amy Poehler, so I knew I needed it.

Sadly though, I put the book back. It was $21 and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that money. I paid for my pillows and left the store. Random side note: I actually went to Target and left with what I came there for and nothing more. I usually end up buying close to the entire store.Target is a weakness of mine. I’m not sure if you’re ready to see my other weakness and what I can spend hundreds of dollars on without even thinking twice about it.

I came home and looked at the book on Amazon and the Kindle version was only $12, so I bought it. I’m horrible, lol. I really wanted it and I decided since I was good and didn’t buy any books last month, I could at least buy one book this month. At least that’s how I justified it to myself, lol.
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I have soooo many books to read that I bought over the last couple of years. Curse. It’s a curse. I’m pretty sure most, if not all, book lovers go through this very same thing. I want to own all the books! Hard copies, e-books, all books! I have more books than I do clothes. I buy more books than anything else; besides concert tickets. I buy probably just as many concert tickets as I do books. It’s a constant struggle loving books so much, especially on the debit card.

My boyfriend says he is in a relationship with a book. Seven years later and he’s still around though. lol ❤ Maybe that’s why we get along and have been together so long. He’s addicted to Call of Duty and I’m addicted to books. It gives him an excuse to play his Xbox all night and it gives me an excuse to read all night. Most girls would probably hate that their boyfriend plays video games all the time, but I find it to be a great thing when I really want to read. When I say I want to read, he has no problem turning his game on. hah.

I went to the beach again today. My last blog post I shared a bunch of pictures I took on Saturday. Saturday adventure #2. Today the sun was shining more and it wasn’t as cold. I actually laid out this time and read. I think I even got a little bit of a sunburn! Florida life. 🙂
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The boyfriend gets home from work in an hour, so that gives me an hour to either read more of Artemis Fowl or read more of Yes Please. I have never been this bad about starting a book and stopping to read something else. Toward the end of last year and carrying on to this year I have been bad with this.

I’m making February the month of finishing all the books I’ve started and never finished. I have three books I’ve started that I haven’t finished. I used to HATE doing that. I used to make myself push through it and then I started buying more and more books and wanting to read the newest books I bought. Starting today…no more buying books (hahaha – hopefully) until I finish and read the books I’ve already bought.

Are you the type of person that is always buying more books even when you have tons to still read?

Saturday adventure #2.

I love living in Florida because the beach is always a good idea. It was super windy today and kind of chilly, but it was perfect. I decided to grab Ender’s Game to try to finish at the beach. It’s my last book for January, so I have to finish it today! I have family visiting from out of state, so I didn’t read much yesterday or today. I took tons of pictures at the beach, so here are some of the pictures I took. 🙂

IMG_2099Stopped by an observation tower before heading over to the pier. I climbed to the top and snapped some pictures.

IMG_2158The water at this particular beach was so beautiful! The color of it was so pretty. I loved it here. It was a really nice day out, so it was great.

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IMG_2161Pelicans everywhere and they got really close. There were tons of people fishing on the pier, so they were probably hoping they got lucky and got some fish or bait. hah 😉

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Using my Doctor Who bookmark. It was a tag from my TARDIS hoodie 🙂 lol
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Overall it has been a good Saturday. Off to finally finish Ender’s Game and get ready for a cookout with the family. I was having fun taking pictures that I didn’t get to read that much. I got a chapter finished, oops! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and getting lots of reading done or having tons of fun! ❤