Friday, December 7, 2012

My November Adventures

November started out with some challenging days as our community was still recovering from hurricane Sandy that charged through the area in late October. Our school district was closed for nearly two full weeks, Halloween was more or less cancelled and the school calendar had to be re-worked to account for so many missed school days. Spring break is intact, but we lost some other days off in 2013 and now the last day of school has been pushed to June 25th! As much as I love a snowy winter, I hope we're not slammed with too many snow days this winter or the school year's never going to end!

In books: 
I read twelve books this month, but don't be fooled--only five of them were full length novels. Two others were novellas, another a graphic novel and then I also read five short stories, which are even shorter than novellas. Those short stories are counting towards my annual count of books read this year, which may or may not be cheating since they are so short, but I'm not stressing over it because my goodreads book count for 2012 is slightly off anyway because most of my re-reads this year aren't included in my total.

Total books read: 13
Romance................ 5
    [Contemporary Romance.... 2]
    [Steampunk Romance ....... 3]
Urban Fantasy........... 6
General Fiction ........ 1
Graphic Novel ........... 1

1. Poison by Jennifer Estep [online short story]
2. Web of Deceit by Jennifer Estep [online short story]
3. Spider's Bargain by Jennifer Estep [online short story]
4. Web of Death by Jennifer Estep [online short story]
5. Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas
6. Through the Lens by K.M. Jackson
7. Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep
8. Wasted by Jennifer Estep [online short story]
9. The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
10. Here There Be Monsters by Meljean Brook [RE-READ]
11. Fever Moon by Karen Marie Moning
12. Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City by Meljean Brook
13. This is How You Lose Her by Junoz Diaz

My favorite book this month is The Iron Duke, which I finally got around to reading thanks to the TBR Challenge! I loved it and can't wait to read more in this world. I also really enjoyed Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas. I also recommend This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz even though I didn't get anything really positive out of characters or their story. I'm glad I read it, but man was it sad in a pitiful way. It gets bonus points just for making me think about it so much.

In Photography: 

I'm still going strong with my Project 366 [leap year] photography project. I haven't missed a photo since one day last May, I think. I hope I didn't just jinx myself because I'm almost there!

Don't cry over spilt milk..
especially when you have kitties!
November 18. 2012
The spilt milk photo in the photo above was my 'most liked' photo of November. I had come home from the grocery store with a gallon of milk when it fell through the bottom of the bag onto the floor, splitting along the seam of the jug and a lot spilled out before I could pick it up and stop the spill. I only let them lap up the milk for a minute or two while I snapped the photo. They were so cute.

I've been having a lot of fun on Instagram, even though I think it is kind of silly from a non-user's perspective. I came across a link to a really funny spoof video about Instagram that shows you why. I laughed and cringed at the same time, because I do those things! So embarrassing, but who cares. I'm having fun documenting my year through photos and "meeting" people from all over the world.

Here's the link to the video:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6853117/look-at-this-instagram-nickelback-parody

But I swear wasn't being pretentious when I posted a photo of Anna Karenina! Honest!

The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
.. on a 34.4 mile bike ride in 41 F breezy weather..
November 24, 2012
Instagram has new user profile pages that can easily be found if you know someone's username. Here's mine: http://instagram.com/thehappilyeverafter . They don't always load properly for me, though, so I'm not sure what's up with that.

Anyway, that's it for my November adventures.. I'm sure I did more than read and take pictures on my iphone, but I can't think of anything else to report. lol
Moments from our first snow of the season.
November 7, 2012
December is always a busy month of activities and of course, holiday celebrations. It also mention lots of baking! And eating... oh boy. I'm already planning on a January detox followed by seriously healthy eating.

Have you had any adventures lately?

I wish you all a delightful, delicious and joyous December!
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13 comments:

  1. Brandy07 December, 2012 22:34

    No adventures here! We're pretty boring. Glad to hear you had a good month. I love seeing the pictures you've taken. Your kitties are so cute!

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  2. Linda07 December, 2012 22:37

    I'm getting over a cold but I'm looking forward to some fun this weekend!

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  3. Janet08 December, 2012 06:54

    Other than Sandy, it looks like you had a good November, Christine :) I love your 'snow' pictures - very nice. Are you finding with the challenge that you're looking at things from a photograper's POV (like: Ooh, that would make a good photo!). It's a neat challenge - also loved your link to the 20 Minute Challenge (absolutely agree with taking time for yourself especially at in the hectic December).

    Hmmm, no fitness updates for the month - although the picture of the 'swamp' indicates you were out on your bike (cold!).

    November was frenzied as I participated (and 'won') NaNoWriMo - 50,000 words on a new manuscript - not much time for anything else other than work!

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  4. TP08 December, 2012 08:10

    Loved the picture of the cat & the spilled milk. And that Instagram vid was hilarious - since I'm the last person in the World not using Instagram :-)

    Tanya Patrice
    Girlxoxo.com

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  5. Joy08 December, 2012 20:32

    Reading books and taking photographs is not a bad month!

    Loved the video. So far I'm avoiding Instagram because I'm sure I would like it too much.

    Joy's Book Blog

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  6. Paula Calvanico08 December, 2012 22:47

    What a great reading month you had :) a quick story about my friend who bought a cookbook in the Goodwill Bookstore down he street from me. I have yet to go in there, but she was scouting for our book club reads. She didn't find any but came across this book in their case. Metal cover all in french by Dior titled Christian Dior's La Cuisinne Cousu-Main. Cost her $3 got it home did some research and found out it's worth from $600-1000!

    See pets come in very handy :)

    Paula

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  7. Carole09 December, 2012 16:18

    Enjoyed reading about your November. Have a good December!

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  8. nath10 December, 2012 18:10

    The pictures are all awesome, Christine!! Really, really pretty! Perhaps I should try to join the photo challenge :)

    I see you're on a roll with the Elemental Assassin series! Yay!! :) I haven't read most of the short stories ^_^; Do you think I should?

    Glad you enjoyed The Iron Duke. Can't wait for your review. I guess steampunk is just not my style.

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  9. Hilcia11 December, 2012 19:57

    Christine, November just seemed like a long month because so much happened! You had a great reading month too...

    I'm so glad that you finally read and enjoyed The Iron Duke! You know how much I loved that story and the whole worldbuilding. And, even though you didn't seem to get much from This Is How You Lose Her by Diaz, I'm glad that at least it made you think and that you DID read it. :D It's too bad we didn't get to discuss it.

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  10. Lisa @ Two Bears Farm14 December, 2012 14:01

    Cute kitties! Are you doing your yearly questions answered by the books you read over the year? I always love to link up with that. I just finished book 82 for the year, so I'm on track :-)

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  11. Christine15 December, 2012 14:55

    Hey everyone, Thanks for reading about my November adventures. Last week was such a blur for me--I was barely online. I got caught up in some home projects--organizing and getting rid of things and phew! What a job! It consumed most of my free time last week.The good part is that my house is a little bit emptier and therefore neater and cleaner, but the bad part is that I barely read or blogged at all last week! That makes me sad. Hope you're all well. xo

    Brandy, we do have cute kitties! So do you! Actually, aren't all kitties cute? ;)

    Linda, hope you're cold is long gone and your in full swing holiday mode!

    Janet, Congrats on your NaNoWriMo project!!! WOW that's a great accomplishment!

    Doing the project 365 this year has definitely turned me into a chronic photographer. In other words, I'm always seeing things that I want to capture. It also makes me think about what specifically would document this specific day, you know? I like the way my photography stream depicts my year in photos. :)

    As for fitness, I've been plugging along, working out about 6 days a week. Today was day nine without a day off--we went on a 1.5+ hr bike ride at sunrise this morning in 34 F weather. I have to say my toes say BRRR! by the 45 min mark. Everything else is ok. I think I need those toe warmer things you stick into your shoes? I've been running regularly, too, but feeling discouraged that I can't seem to break 10:00 min miles for a 5K pace. I think the only way I'll get faster at this point is to lose these last pounds that are hanging on my hips! >_<

    Tanya, I laughed a lot at that Instagram vid. And cringed too, out of embarrassment. LOL! My husband thinks it's super silly. And it is! But too much fun to stop now. lol!

    Joy, Instagram is a lot of fun. I've met a bunch of people through there, too, which I love.

    Paula, what a COOL story about that Christian Dior cookbook. WOW!

    Carole, Thanks!

    nath, you can read all the Elemental shorts in just a few hours on your lunch break, so go for it! They're super short. I just posted a review/commentary on the shorts here the other day.

    Hilcia, I actually did get something out of reading This is How You Lose Her. It just saddened me, that's all. I think about it often and do intend to write a review. I've been writing it in my head for two weeks now.. time to get it all down.

    Lisa, YES! I am going to do the MY LIFE ACCORDING TO THE BOOKS I READ IN 2012 post thing. I'll do a link up with Mr.Linky, too. It's too fun not to! I'll tweet about it when I get it up and let you know!

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  12. Brie17 December, 2012 14:26

    Hi Christine! First, I'm wowing at you read so many books in one month! I'm struggling to meet my 25 book for the year goal. Currently at 22, which I guess is an improvement over the measly 2 books I read in 2011.

    Is Dream Lake a Kleypas contemporary? If so I may have to check it out soon.

    I cracked up at the Instagram spoof! It was pretty spot on, though in jest. I love the "spilled milk" pic!!! So cute!

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  13. Christine19 December, 2012 15:02

    Hi Brie!
    Don't be wowed by my list of November reads! Only five of them were full length novels. The rest were short stories (I mean SHORT), novellas and a graphic novel.

    I think you can make your 25 book goal! Read a Christmas novella or two or three and voila! You got it! ;)

    Dream Lake is a contemporary romance / chick lit. It's the third book in a series, but you can definitely read it as a stand alone.

    Glad you liked that Instagram spoof! LOL!

    ReplyDelete

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