Sorry I've been MIA

I had good intentions of joining a couple end of the year read-a-thons but have gotten waylaid by the holidays. I'm trying to finish up some presents for family, and haven't been reading... like, at all.

Well, I guess I can't say that, I read 3 pages the other day ;) But I have been making plans to start in again after the new year. I did get one new book for Christmas from my cousin in California. I had never hear of it but it sounds amazing and right up my ally!

I am planning on taking the Read Harder Challange over at the Book Riot site. For more info follow this link, http://bookriot.com/2015/12/15/2016-book-riot-read-harder-challenge/ My cousin Kris and I plan on doing it together so let me know if you plan on joining in so we can cheer each other on. I also have been thinking about my reading goals and decided I am doing a Series TBR Jar.

I have about 20 complete series on my book shelves that need to be read. So I put them all in a jar and at the beginning of every month, I will pull a slip out and read that series. There are a couple that may take two months to complete since I threw The Mortal Instruments in there. If you don't know the series it is 6 very large books so, it may take me a little longer. I would like to read about 100 books in 2016 so I will also throw in some of my stand alone books. That pretty much covers the reading goals I've made so far. There are other 2016 goals I've set but I think I will save that for another day. I hope you've all had a wonderful and productive December and are looking forward to 2016! Huggs from Minnesota!

Another awesome Lit Cube!

Not sure about the books this month but love the shirt!

And all the other bookish swag.

The lump of coal peppermint soap is a cute idea. The first book is interesting, set in the Christmas Carol world. From what I understand it's a murder mystery.

The second book is actually 2 books in one and are 2 love stories that revolve around a Christmas cabin.

I figured I would give then a try once I'm done with the Lux series and Cramathon TBR. Hope you're having a wonderful December!

Gearing up for #Cramathon 2015!!

Don't know what it is? It's a read-a-thon from the 19th to the 22nd. It's hosted by Whittynovels on you tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEsloLuTEQ4 She has 7 Challenges: 1. read an audiobook or ebook: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater 2. read a bindup: Lux Opal and Origin bind-up 3. finish a series/read the last book of a series: Opposition 4. read a book under 200 pages: Three Quarters Dead 5. Finish a book you DNF’ed: The Iron Trial 6. Read a graphic novel series (or as many graphic novels as you can): The Infernal Devices trilogy 7. Read 5 books total So here is my TBR

It's an extremely ambitious list to do in 4 days and I honestly don't expect to get them all read but hopefully most of them will be done and I can finish the rest before the new year! I'll be back here and on Twitter (@iluvmy5men) with updates! For now I'm gonna finish Duality by Kellie Sheridan. Huggs to all!

Post NaNoWriMo hangover!

Okay, so a week before the end of Wrimo I stopped writing for this, that, and other reasons. I fell 12,000 words behind and just gave up. UNTIL.... The afternoon of the 29th. My favorite group The Word Nerds were having a live chat with word sprints and I didn't want to miss it even though I wasn't going to win NaNo. I told my husband about it and he asked me the craziest question, "Why can't you catch up?" My response was, "Umm, it's 12K in a little over 24 hours! I can barely do that in a week!" I knew that the man was crazy, I mean he married me right? but this was bat crap lost your mind crazy! Then I started thinking about it, and thinking, and thinking. Why not? Sure, there wasn't going to be much sleeping involved, and my Keurig would be working over time, but why not?!? Can't hurt to try! So I Joined the WordNerds over on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSKHG1eUF7vnL1kieYiVasA and I re-watched some of their other live write-ins, I finally went to sleep at 4 in the morning when I couldn't write a word without misspelling it, and I mean if there were more than 3 letters in it I would spell it wrong! I got 4 hours sleep and went right back to work. I sat in front of my laptop all day and even up to this point I was saying, I don't want to do this!

And maybe because I'm totally stubborn, or just plain spiteful to thoes who doubted me, or the fact that I have an awesome husband and Amazing friends cheering me on but at 11:00 pm on November 30th I finished with 50,113 words!

Thank you all for visiting my Blog, and this story goes to prove, You can do anything you set your mind to! Even if you don't think you can! Huggs from Minnesota!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't updated lately because my life has been nuts! I had a great weekend and did really good word count wise but then I didn't write at all on Monday because my van broke down on the way home. Then I had a doctors appointment and went grocery shopping on Tuesday. Then yesterday it was catching up on all the things I hadn't done in the last 5 days. Then My mom and nephew are coming up on Saturday for our thanksgiving dinner which means today and tomorrow are prep days. I grabbed the wrong gluten free bread at the store so I have to figure out how to make it today so it can dry out in time to make stuffing, I still have to bake pies and finish cleaning the house, and I have come to the realization I am not going to win NaNoWriMo this year, but that is okay. I am a lot further than I ever thought I'd get my first try at NaNo, and next year I am going to kick ass next year because we are not going to have Thanksgiving dinner till December! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving or Thursday depending on your beliefs and Congrats to all the NaNo Winners!

Total emotional exaustion has set in!

I got up with a raging migraine today, which took a hot shower and 2 rounds of medication to dull to functioning level. Then, drove the 70+ miles to my best friends house, hitting every red light along the way. Got here just in time to pass her on her way to work. Sat down and wrote 3948 words! I find it totally amazing, if you have children back me up here, how much you can get done without them interrupting every 5-10 minutes. I honestly didn't realize it till now. I had my boys pretty close together, as in 4 boys in 5 years 1 month, so I haven't had a lot of quiet time lol. But that is not why I am emotionally exhausted. Today I wrote the goodbye scene and it has ripped my heart in two. I sit here trying to write through my tears. Did I know this was coming? Yes! Does that prepare my heart for this trauma? No! So, for tonight that is all I have... Let me know in the comments if you've ever written a scene that was filled with strong emotions. And until next time, Huggs from Minnesota!

32,348 and I'm done for the night.

Just a little more than the 31,667 for day 19 but not as far as I would have liked to be. I am leaving tomorrow to go to my best friends, so we will see how that goes. For tonight I need a shower and a good nights sleep. Huggs from Minnesota and update you tomorrow!