Ten Things I Like This Week

1. Eclipse [Movie] - I loved every sappy moment of it!
2. Moleskine Passions Book Journal
3. Getting ready for Fantasy Football Draft
4. Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper with good ice
5. Little League Football
6. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
7. 3 hour breakfast with friends
8. School starting!
9. Hard Knocks on HBO - featuring the New York Jets this year
10. Pentel Energel Needle Tip Black Pen .7

Eclipse - The Review

Beautiful Brooding Vampire + Loyal Buff Werewolf + Indecisive Dumb Girl = ONE FANTASTIC RIDE!

Ten Things I Like This Week

1. Boys with blond hair and blue eyes who pull their shorts all the way up, tuck in their shirt and dance to "I'm Fat" by Weird Al.
2. Rhodia Notepads - I struck gold at Target last night and found some in stock!
3. The school supply display at Target.  WOW!
4. Pilot G-2 pens - perfect for writing in your new Moleskine
5. The Pen Addict Blog
6. Notebook Stories
7. JetPens Website
8. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - A MUST READ!  I read it in one day...could not put it down.
9. Kevin Durant staying with the Thunder until 2016 season.  Woot!
10. Fossil Watches

NEWSFLASH!

The iPhone has shipped!

Update: Still in Hong Kong so it has a ways to travel.

Lake Books

Here's what I'm taking on my long weekend:  (Wonder how many I can read before I get back??)

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• Fantasy Football Guidebook by Sam Hendricks
• The Lion by Nelson DeMille
• Assorted classics I got for free for my iPad from BN.

Ten Things I Like This Week

1. Long weekends 
2. Firecrackers
3. Cooler weather
4. Moleskines
5. New Super Mario Bros. for the DS
6. Charlestons (restaurant)
7. Finished projects
8. Chris Tomlin 
9. Celebrating Peanuts:  60 Years (book)
10. Football Guys Fantasy Football

Paper v. Paperless

I want to go paperless.  It would cut down on some of the clutter in my office.  I would especially love my magazine subscriptions to be electronic.  But, there are some things that just aren't the same.  I've tried doing to-do lists on my computer, phone, and iPad.  Somehow, though, there is nothing better than organizing a to-do list on paper and then scratching those items off.  I love a real book and I love being surrounded by stacks of book to read.  But, you can't beat traveling with an electronic reader.  Take all the books you want in one small package.  I've read two or three books on my iPad, and surprisingly, I loved it!  I especially love that the screen is lit and that I can make the font bigger for my "old" eyes.  And, nothing beats a good ol' Moleskine journal/notebook!  I recently rediscovered one I'd bought quite a while back and I absolutely love it.  It is great for jotting quick notes and prayer requests. 

Oh My!!

iPad Agony. I would have totally freaked, that's all I'm saying.

Note to Self

When playing with sparklers, be sure to follow the number one rule your mother
always told you: "Wear shoes!"

Ten Things I Like This Week

1. Java Chip Frappuccinos
2. Snowcones (aka Raspas for those of you in McAllen!)
3. I'm Alive by Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews
4. Celebrating birthdays!  (You knew that one was coming didn't you?)
5. Apple Wireless Keyboard
6. Hot in Cleveland - Betty White cracks me up!
7. Lifechurch.tv
8. Bananagrams Game
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2
10. Riding in convertibles

Can It Get

any hotter??  Only solution is a Venti Java Chip Frappuccino and lots of air conditioning.  Well maybe there is one other solution...a big ol' snowcone and a swimming pool!

Summer Reads

I'm not sure what got me started on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.  One thing was that I wanted to try reading something on my iPad and the first book was only $5.50. (HOLLER!)  Then I started seeing ads for the third book in the trilogy and I remember thinking, "Am I that late to the party?"  Here's my advice:  buy all three at the same time because as soon as you finish one, you'll want to read the next one and then schedule off work for a long weekend and enjoy the books!  You may have a little trouble with the names and there are quite a few characters so you might need a piece of paper to keep track of things.  I don't think this is really necessary until maybe the last book.  But, the names are all Swedish and so are the town names, etc. so keep that in mind.  And last, but not least, get a bit of kleenex out because when you finish all three you will cry because there isn't another one.  The author, Stiegg Larsson, died in 2004 and didn't see his books published.  I can't even think about it.  It makes me feel so bad.  There is a great article in Entertainment Weekly this week about the series.  (In fact, the book is featured on the cover of EW.)

I heart Birthdays

I took the whole day off yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. Spent a leisurely morning at home hanging out with the boys and then went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D IMAX. It was awesome!! Who would've thought the third movie could be as good as the first?  It was worth the 11-year wait!  (Warning...take a few kleenex.  The movie choked me up at the end.)  We went out for an early dinner at BJ's Brewhouse and then got snow cones and hung out by the pool.  All in all a nice relaxing way to spend my "29th" birthday! ;)

Reading List

Below is my "spiritual" reading list.  I chose these books because someone recommended them or they were on the recommended summer reading list of Bible Study Fellowship.  I am not the best at reading non-fiction books.  In fact, I often start them and then never finish.  I sometimes get overwhelmed by all the new stuff I'm learning and feel I can't stuff another thing in my head.  At that point, I put the book down to think about all that new stuff and then never pick it up again.  I am determined to read these books by the end of the year.  Anyone want to join me?  Anyone have any tips on reading non-fiction that will keep me going until I actually finish the book?

• Crazy Love by Francis Chan
• Forgotten God:  Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan
• The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel
• Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis
• The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
• The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller
• Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller
• In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson
• The Magnificent Obsession by Anne Graham Lotz
• Respectable Sins:  Confronting the Sins we Tolerate by Jerry Bridges

Let the Celebration Begin!

My birthday really isn't until next week, but I've already started celebrating.  (I know you are so surprised that the month-long celebration has already begun.)  FirstI received a package in the mail and couldn't remember what I'd ordered. I ripped the package

open and lo and behold there was the Gelli Case for my iPad that I'd be wanting. (Thanks, Sis!)

Last night we celebrated Father's Day, my birthday and my in-law's anniversary.  We went out to dinner and then back to their house where I was presented with my favorite cake (carrot cake - my mother-in-law's is to die for!) and my favorite character (Snoopy!).

This was followed up by the biggest birthday card ever and these cool gifts (Ipad not included but check out the wireless keyboard)  WOOT!

I'm a Sucker

for electronic gadgets. (Like you didn't already know that...)  After two days of desperately trying to order the new iPhone, I finally was able to get my order placed.  Apparently, they sold 600,000 phones yesterday.  Can you imagine?  No wonder I couldn't get through on the AT&T website or the Apple website.  My shipping date is now mid-July, but at least I finally got through. Woo Hoo!! In case you're wondering, I ordered the black version.  I figured the white one would look black after about a month of use. ;) 

Guess the Book

Try to do it without googling!

First line:  "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

Farewell Mr. Salinger

J.D. Salinger the author of Catcher in the Rye died at age 91.  He was something of an enigma.  Great article about him here.  (Thanks, Keeks!)

I vividly remember reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time.  I didn't read it for class or anything, just happened on it at the library.  I think I might have been in college when I read it or maybe in high school.  It is still one of my favorite books.  Not because everyone else likes it...I didn't know that at the time.  I just thought Holden Caulfield was one of the most real and interesting book characters I had ever met.  I also remember thinking "I hope my mom doesn't open this book because she'll see GD used over and over and she'll wonder what they are teaching me at school."

Well I'm off to dig for my copy of the book. I have no idea where it is. Then I'm going to read his short stories which for some reason I never bothered to read.   I don't think I wanted to tarnish The Catcher in the Rye by reading anything else.