Thursday, December 27, 2012

Caring is Creepy: Book review


Caring is Creepy – David Zimmerman (c. April 2012)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

WARNING – Spoiler Alert. Come on. You’re reading a review. What did you expect?

I love a good book – good stories, yes; but also books that teach and make you wonder. I hadn't read much recently before starting my new job a few weeks ago. Conveniently, my new office is located on the top floor of the largest, most lovely library right in the heart of our city. With all of those books downstairs calling my name, my hiatus from reading has ended.

Caring is Creepy is the story of two 15-year-old best friends, Lynne & Dani. When Dani receives a computer for her birthday, the two girls begin using the Internet as a way to play pranks on people. One day, Lynne makes the huge mistake of using her real identity, and the story progresses from there. She gets caught up with an older man who has gone AWOL from the Army, and the plot twists to intertwine with the story of Lynne’s mother and her drug-dealing boyfriend in the deadly climax of the story.

I was interested in a book that used the Internet in a mostly-modern way (although I don’t necessarily buy that these girls are JUST starting to use a computer) because the Internet itself can be a predator. However, Lynne’s real problems come from a lack of parenting. Lynne is forced to be an adult, and when she gets way in over her head, she just keeps going. She rationalizes the situation to survive it, just as her mother and boyfriend do.

All in all, I give Caring is Creepy 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was interesting and really captured me at the beginning, but it dragged on after that and I had trouble suspending my disbelief. There were too many unanswered questions at the end. This technique has its place, but I hate leaving a huge WHY?! up in the air.

Fun fact: The book is named after The Shin’s 2012 song Caring is Creepy. I hadn't heard it before – and still can’t say I’m a fan after listening – but here’s the video so that you can check it out.


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

It's beginning to look (kinda, sorta) like Xmas!



We have not started decorating at our home yet, but since Kyle brought up our Christmas totes today, I’m sure we will start on that soon.

I’m one of those people who isn’t ready for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. Honestly, I can just wait until December. But now that it’s upon us, I am really starting to get into the spirit and I will basically be celebrating the holidays until the second week of January.




















On Sunday, we helped our BFF Smash decorate forChristmas. I have to say, despite the Lion’s loss that day, we had a most fantastic time.

It's almost always cold in Michigan, but there's no snow yet!




















Smash & I had to head out to Meijer for a couple things before we could start happy fun Christmas decorating time. Once we got back, we started with the tree.



















After the tree was decorated (after much deliberation about ornament placement, of course), we worked on our glitter balls.


  
















These are only half done, so they're still a secret, but I had to post about them because they have a funny name.

An adorable kitten helping with decorating.




















When do you start celebrating the holiday season? What do you do with family & friends to celebrate?

Friday, August 31, 2012

My 26th birthday (or, my 27th year)

My 26th birthday was August 15th. First, let me say that I am one of those people that celebrates my birthday for the entire week of my birthday. Ok, the month of August, really. This can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations for birthday time, but even as I have gotten older, the novelty of celebrating has not worn off.

My bday was awesome and probably ranks second on my Top 5 Birthdays list. I had the day off if work, so I enjoyed a 5 mile run and then a mani-pedi, followed by the Kickin' Chickin' salad (my fave) and a delicious beer  at Logan's for dinner with Ky.

Afterwards, we visited our brother from another mother, Nick. He always makes me laugh. This is me and his kitten, Reggie Johnson

Reggie Johnson Wieber




























I received some calls and cards on my bday, but the best bday card ever has to go with my creative Mom.


Batman bday card from Mom. That's right.



























All in all, I have to thank Ky for making my bday a great day - relaxing and happy. :) He is the best person I have ever known. 

27 is my favorite number. It's random, which I've always liked, and Kyle and I got engaged on June 27th this year. I suppose I'll celebrate 27 for two years; the year and the age. It's an awesome number.

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Green Monster

Ever since my last attempt at a green smoothie, I've been browsing Pinterest for a better smoothie recipe. Breakfast is essential to my mood and mind function when I'm working, so I'm always looking for something with protein that is fast and healthy.

So I came upon this awesome recipe by Kristin. I wanted to try it because it basically has everything in it I wanted, plus she said it didn't taste healthy. The reason I was worried about that last part is that Kyle recently ate some Greek yogurt for the first time (which is a part of this recipe) and thought it was really gross. 

Green Monster Smoothie

















Looks yummy, huh? So while making it this morning (and seriously, less than 5 minutes) I had to sample the Greek yogurt. I didn't think it was as bad as Kyle said, but it is a lot tangier. I know, yogurt is good for you, but I actually can't stand it in general. Luckily, you can't taste it in the Green Monster. I couldn't taste anything except the peanut butter and the bananas, and it was so delicious!


Representing Ferris State!

















I can tell these are going to be addicting, but it's definitely not something I would have every day. Bottom line, though, is that I think you should try it! Spinach is good for you, and it really does taste good.

Ironically, this also happened today. We love to laugh here. HULK SMASH!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Celtic Pride

Since the death of my first pair of Skullcandy headphones (which got me through Ice Brigade and many hours at the gym, thanks to Kyle), I've been using the shitty stock ibuds. (Do you like the name I just made up for them?) They're uncomfortable, and they don't fit anyone. 

I ordered a pair of Titans for Kyle for Valentine's Day, and while shopping I found another awesome pair and decided to order them for myself. I love basketball, but the Celtics aren't my favorite team...I just loved the design!

Celtics Skullcandy earbuds





















I finally got to use them yesterday, and of course, they sound amazing. Kyle and I decided to do the crazy Hundred Workout, and I used my iPod during the running portion. Absolutely love them! They don't have inline volume control, but they're great ear buds for the price, and they come with the interchangeable ear gels, so they fit perfectly. You can find them on Best Buy's site.

Sadly, Ky still hasn't gotten to enjoy his ear buds. When they arrived, they did not have the nylon cord that the product description and photo showed. It was super disappointing, and we ended up returning them. So we ordered a Rasta pair on Amazon that should have the correct cable, so hopefully they will be here soon!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

My First Green Smoothie

I've always loved throwing fruit and ice into a blender for a quick breakfast smoothie, so when I started seeing these "green smoothies" online everywhere, I wanted to try one! We had some spinach so I decided to make one on Friday morning.

Green Smoothie ingredients
















I followed this general recipe which only calls for fruit, spinach, water, and ice.  An important tip to keep in mind is that you need to add much more water than you think.  My blender is a couple years old and has blended many beverages in it's time, so my smoothie didn't blend as easily as I hoped, but adding more water helped. 



My "Green Smoothie" that wasn't green, but still delicious!























I only used berries in my smoothie, so it turned out purple, and not green.  It was still really good and I really loved it as a way to get more greens.  If you use bananas, mangoes, etc., the smoothie will be green.  I also know a lot of people add yogurt or some type of protein to their smoothies, but that isn't something I've tried yet.  The smoothies are super filling though, and now that we have some bananas, I think I will try another one tomorrow morning!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Super Lasagna 2012

We're just taking it easy tonight and watching the Super Bowl, so we decided to make some delicious (vegetarian) lasagna.

Lasagna prep.














It's so easy to make and super delicious.  You can add meat if you'd like, but obviously I'm not a fan so we omitted that.  Also, we used fat free or reduced fat ingredients where possible, so it's healthier!

Here's what you need:
1 box of lasagna noodles
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 container of cottage cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 bag of mozzarella or Italian cheese
Spinach
Onions
Garlic
Celery


1. Preheat your oven to 350*.
2. Prepare lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box.
3. While you're cooking your noodles, cut up the onions, garlic, and celery and saute in a pan, along with any spices you want.  When the veggies have cooked down, add your spaghetti sauce to the pan.
4. Begin layering the ingredients in a 9x13 pan.  We did noodles, spinach, cheese, then sauce.  We had enough to do 3 layers, and left a little sauce and cheese to sprinkle on top.
5. Bake for one hour, or until the wetness has cooked out. (Yes, that is a scientific cooking term.)


Delicious lasagna!


























Here's the link to this post on Pinterest.

Also, happy 52nd birthday to my Daddy today!  I can't wait to see him next weekend.




posted from Bloggeroid

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Kensington Palace

I am behind on everything this year. I finally got a calendar.

This is February: Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace
















I have been there, but the flowers weren't in bloom then. More on this later.
posted from Bloggeroid

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Christmas 2011*

*Yes, this photo was actually taken today.

So just like every parent's child, I'm always saying I won't be like my mom (who I actually do share quite a few personality traits with). But today that was all thrown out the window, because we just took down our Christmas tree. Today. February 1st.

O Christmas Tree!














This has Theresa Benham written all over it.

This was our first year with a live tree. I was so excited and happy to get it, and I really did enjoy it for a long time. But I highly DO NOT recommend that you keep a live tree in your house for this long. I actually had to wear work gloves to even take the ornaments off. Oh. And it's a HUGE fire hazard. There's that.

Right now I'm just glad it's the hell out of our house. As Kyle dragged it outside, leaving sharp, dead, pine needles everywhere, he said, "Can we get a fake tree next year?"
posted from Bloggeroid

The cone of shame

It's been a crazy couple weeks! Little Miss Leela went in to get fixed shortly after my last post. Her wound wasn't stitched properly and became infected, so she had to stay at the animal hospital for a few nights.

The cone of shame!













We missed her terribly, but she is doing much better now! She came home with us Saturday, 1.28.12 wearing this cone. In case you didn't know, cones of shame have come a long way. This one is not only cute, but also inflatable! Kitten doesn't like it, of course, but she is almost back to normal.

I definitely have to give mad props to the Lowell Animal Hospital! They fixed both Bender and Leela, and when we had problems with Leela, they took her in right away and even provided us with medicine. We will definitely be returning for her follow up care!
posted from Bloggeroid

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Elephants

Thursday, 1.19.12.

I got to pet an elephant on a shoot for the Circus! Elephants are on my list of Top 5 Favorite Animals, so this was very exciting! Even cooler, when I stepped inside to mic the talent, the elephants were drawn to me immediately! What an awesome experience.





posted from Bloggeroid

Wednesday, 1.18.12

So I'm a couple days behind, and I actually didn't take a photo yesterday, so maybe I will just share a previous photo instead.

We shot an episode of our Morning Show at a reception at Trōppo before the Michigan State of the State adress.

This is the only pic I took that day. What can I say? I love posh bathrooms.



posted from Bloggeroid

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Longcat

I was actually going to skip posting today because I hadn't taken a picture and I told myself I wasn't going to post another pic of the kittens.




I was walking in to go to sleep and I looked down and there was Leela imitating longcat. She is getting so big! We still don't know how old she is, but we will probably find something out on Thursday when she goes to the vet.

Longcat is lonnnnnnnnnnnng.

posted from Bloggeroid

Monday, January 16, 2012

Contrails in the sky...with diamonds(?)

So as I was getting ready to upload this photo and write this blog, I realized one important thing.  I didn't know the name of the things that were the reason I even took the picture in the first place.  So...to Google.



















Today's fun science fact: You know those white lines in the sky that follow jets?  They're called contrails.  They're formed when water vapor in the exhaust of the engine form ice crystals.  This happens no matter what the temp is, which is why you see it in the summer too.  Pretty cool huh?