best books of 2013: top 10

It's that time again: time to pick my favorite books of the year. (And this year, I'm actually posting before the new year—if only by two hours. That's quite the improvement over my 2011 and 2012 lists!) If my Pinterest board is to be believed, then I read 87 books in 2013 (and I'm not sure that I remembered to pin each book I read). Out of those 87,...

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a december of living dangerously

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my cats getting in the Christmas tree. Soon after, I came home to this:At that point, I was certain that I wouldn't decorate my tree. But then I remembered the angel.My mom's cousin made this angel ornament for me when I was young, and ever since, I've believed it should go at the top of the tree. (My sister disagreed...

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my cats love christmas...

...Surely that's why they're climbing the tree, right? They just want to get in the Christmas spirit?Hammond climbed the tree so quietly that I didn't know he was there until I walked by and saw this face looking out at me. He has a bell on his collar—how was he able to turn himself into stealth cat?And then it's monkey-see, monkey-do. If Hammond can...

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mid-november holiday thoughts

I used to be one of those people who couldn't stand hearing Christmas music before Black Friday. I was of the opinion (as I'm sure some of you are) that Christmas music should be reserved for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I even blogged about it way back in 2007.All that changed this year. In the week leading up to Halloween I was dying to listen to Christmas music ... so on November 1 I pulled out my Christmas music. Or at least...

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no surprises here

These are my Amazon Quick Picks over the last two days. I think they've got a pretty good read on me, don't you?Also, these movies remind me that the Christmas movie season is just around the corner. Yippee! The Hallmark Channel will begin showing Christmas movies on November 1. Two months of Christmas movies ... I can't wa...

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celebrate my drive--help my school win $25,000 or $100,000

Much of my life has revolved around Nebraska Christian Schools. First, I was an NC student (grades K-12!). I even lived on campus for six years during elementary school, as my parents were the boys' dorm parents. Then, after graduating from college, I got a job at NC as the superintendent's secretary. Nine years later, I'm still at Nebraska Christian,...

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girls' weekend!

My mom and I just got back from a weekend in Omaha with Blendy. It was unexpected and fantastic! I thought I'd tell our story through pictures ...We're excited to see Blendy!!!As soon as we got to Omaha, we headed to Chick-fil-A. It had been way too long since I'd had their delicious chicken!Then we headed off to the Omaha Symphony. We were given free...

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why i don't miss netflix

When I wrote about dumping Netflix a few months ago, I closed with the following:As of right now, I think I'll come back to Netflix someday. But maybe I'll discover that I don't miss it much at all.Well, I was right ... about the second sentence. I don't miss Netflix, not one bit. Here's why: for the first time in my life, I'm experiencing the wonder...

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35 before 35: #17

#17: Get a house catAfter going nearly two years without being able to cross one of my 35 before 35 off the list, I accomplished two in two days: buy a house and get a house cat. Well, technically, I got three house cats.In July of last year, I got three cats: Isis, Hammond, and Skaara. Per my lease, they had to live outside. When I decided to...

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35 before 35: #15

#15: Buy a houseI've already written quite a bit about buying a house (here and here), so basically what's left is to show you the pictures! I moved in one week ago with the help of my parents, Blendy, two uncles, an aunt, and a cousin. They were an absolutely amazing moving crew; we started at 8 a.m., and by 4:30 p.m., I was all moved in, and my old...

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it wasn't supposed to be like this

When I was a kid, I learned my parents were 24 when they got married. That sounded positively ancient. Surely I'd get married much sooner than that!I am currently mere days away from my 32nd birthday. And I'm still single.I had always imagined that by this point in my life, I'd have a husband, two or three kids, and be a stay-at-home mom. For whatever reason, God has put me on a different path. Most of the time, I'm okay with this—I'm actually glad...

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nothing to make much ado about

Last month, Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing finally reached theaters. Of course, it didn't reach any theaters near me ... indy movies never come to Central City, and rarely do they play in Grand Island. But my sisters were as excited about this movie as I was, so we decided to see it in Chicago while Blendy and I were visiting Val...

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my (current) favorite things, june 2013 edition

This post has been a long time in the making. I've been thinking about it since before school got out, but then I had yearbook deadlines, book review deadlines, the excitement of searching for and buying a house, and an obsession with Covert Affairs that kept me from blogging. But finally, here we go—my current favorite things!Vaseline Spray and...

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dumping netflix

I joined Netflix in the summer of 2007. At the time, streaming video was fairly new, and members could stream 1 hour of video for each dollar they paid per month (or something like that). There wasn't much available to stream then, but Netflix soon began devoting large amounts of money to acquiring streaming content.When Netflix announced its price hike in 2011, I ditched the DVDs and selected a streaming plan. And I remained happy with Netflix.I'm...

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buying a house

About six years ago, my aunt told me I should buy a house. She said it was a good investment and I was at a point in my life where I should be thinking about such things.I ignored her completely.To be honest, I really never considered buying a house before because it seemed like to do so would be admitting defeat. Admitting that I truly might never...

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quitting aspartame

About six weeks ago, I quit aspartame. Cold turkey. I'd been hearing bad things about aspartame for a long time, and, regardless of the truth behind all the dire warnings, I knew that consuming so much aspartame couldn't be good for me.When I was a senior in high school, I spent a month on the Atkins diet. I was miserable, and I ended up dreaming of potatoes before I decided to run far away from the diet ... but one thing from the diet that stuck...

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look what i got!

As a book blogger, I get a lot of books in the mail. (Duh.) You might think that getting packages in the mail becomes old hat—that the thrill of seeing a package outside my door would diminish. You would be wrong. Each time I pull into my driveway and glimpse a package by the door, my heart leaps in anticipation!Today, I saw three packages. The first...

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chew spry gum and watch a great movie!

I went to the dentist yesterday. It was a pretty normal experience, as far as preventative care visits go. My dentist always gives the same spiel about eating foods that are good for your teeth, staying away from sugary drinks, etc. And he normally says to chew gum that contains xylitol because it can actually help your teeth. Well, he changed it up a bit yesterday, recommending (and giving me samples of) a specific gum which contains no sweeteners...

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snow day in april? yes, please!

We've been having some weird weather here in Nebraska recently. I mean, Nebraska weather is always a bit spastic, but the last few days have really been wild. On Monday, our high was near 70 ... and then things fell apart. Monday night into Tuesday morning, we had severe thunderstorms. My town didn't get hit nearly as hard as some other towns in the area ... but still, we had high winds, hail, and lots of rain. (Yay, rain!) Then Tuesday the temp...

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