I'll bake you pies...

During my weekend adventure in the snow I started reading "The Hunger Games."  I had bought the book before we went down to Disney in case I wanted a more not-so-heavy read on the plane ride down instead of teh haunting, "Never Let Me Go." (Not-so-heavy... bah!)  I didn't read it on that trip.  However, my mom gave me the second book for Christmas... inspiring me to pick up the book on my weekend with Matthew.  So, the past two weeks have pretty much been me staying up late to finish reading this series (and one day to go to NYC to see a taping of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart! ^_^) 

It was such an intense read.  There was no good place to put the books down, so I'd read until the point where I'd have to reread a sentence or paragraph because the words were blurring or I'd misread some words like seeing the word minimal but reading it as animal.  By the time I finished it yesterday, with the combination of being exhausted by staying up a bit later than usual on school nights to read this book, and also being a very empathetic person/reader/viewer - I was very emotionally drained at the end and I felt like I went through the action in the story along with Katniss and the others.  (Add on the series finale of Chuck last night... I was a wreck!)  I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience, and like a good 21st century fan, I went to the internet to check the discussions on Goodreads, found fan videos on Youtube, and actually looked into the movie details.  If you've read the series, and haven't seen the Finnick and Annie shorts... do that!  They are wonderful and beautiful!

Another good thing from reading the series is that I'm a bit more motivated for training for the Tough Mudder.  I could train for the Hunger Games, just minus the killing and the weapons! 

More books to cross off on my book list for this year (well, I made it towards the end of last year.)
Here's the original list... I'll cross the ones I've finished, and italicize the ones I've started:
Never Let Me Go
The Three Musketeers
1984 (I started this book after I graduated high school, but was always interrupted by Harry Potter.)
Jane Eyre
Stardust
Sense and Sensibility
The Hunger Games Series
Eragon Series (1 down 3 to go.)
Magyk (Septimus Heap) [I've been borrowing the book for a while. I'll read it next so I can return it! >_<)]
Moonwalking with Einstein (a nonfiction book that doesn't deal with education!)
Looking for Alaska
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galexy
Thursday Next books (The Eyre Affair...)
The Alchemist
Pillars of the Earth
The Help
The Book of Lost Things
The Fault in Our Stars

Yay reading!  Hopefully I stay motivated to finished at least 7 more books this year.  I can be a slow reader sometimes.  And sometimes I like to reread books.  I'll probably reread The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Pride and Prejudice.  It seems inevitable at some point.

So, yeah... that's been my life for the past two weeks.

Ciao for now!

My weekend in the snow...

 So this year for MLK weekend, Matt and I decided to head up to Northeastern Pennsylvania (The Poconos area) and do some snow tubing, something I never did before.

Day 1 - Snow Tubing

The only snow anything experience I have is sledding when I was younger, and skiing once in 2009, so snow tubing sounded like an inviting idea for a fun weekend.  We decided on Big Boulder Ski area, which had a good deal for a 1-4 p.m. session of tubing.  It wasn't really windy, so the wait wasn't bad.  They were making snow the whole time we were there too.  It was nice to see snow in a winter month and be bundled up in winter gear (even if I had to borrow boots from my brother and snow pants from Matt.)  I did, however, buy two very cute winter hats from Kohls for the weekend... one you'll see in the pictures below.  Snow tubing was very successful; we went down the hill 4 times (it was a long wait.)  Everyone had separate tubes, but you could go down with up to four people.  So Matt and I went down alone once, I picked up a lot of speed, but it was nothing compared to the speed when Matt and I paired up.  We flew down the hill which was great, until the last time; I hit my foot twice on compact piles of snow.  I didn't hurt my foot, but the sting was enough for me to say, "Time for hot chocolate!"  Here are some pictures from Saturday's Snow Tubing adventure:

The line to go up the hill.

Matt (in his Shredder mask) and Me waiting

Going up the carpet-escalator to get to the top.

Hot chocolate time!

Day 2 - Snow boarding???!!!??!!!

So Matt threw out the idea Sunday morning to snow board instead of snow tube again.  He always wanted to go, and I wanted to try (though not that day,) so we went to Jack Frost, and took a snow boarding lesson.  I can't really say it went swimmingly.  I wasn't necessarily mentally prepared.  I knew I had to have the "Just do it" mentality to be somewhat successful.  Unfortunately, my mind couldn't wrap around it.  I could skate, one foot strapped in while the other foot pushed.  Gliding, one foot strapped while the other foot stepped on the board, was a bit more challenging for me.  The instructor gave us a 30 ft goal to get to, and I felt no matter which way I aimed my board, I always ended up gliding towards this huge pole towards where he wanted the class to meet.  I ended up falling... a lot.... a lot a lot to stop myself or just to think.  Matt did a bit better than me... he didn't let fear get in the way.  There were some great moments of success for me when I was actually gliding for like a minute and could make a turn, then fall (of course!)  An 11 year old girl who was in the class tried to coach me too; she was very sweet, and I did attempt with a bit more oomph with her inspiration.  Although, once the instructor said "Okay, let's strap both our feet in." I called it a day.  I don't like giving up, but I wasn't feeling successful and I was a bit sore and tired.  However, I'd love to try it (or skiing) again next year when I'm a bit more fit (BTW: got my Planet Fitness membership and I've been good so far!)  I didn't get an action shot of me snow boarding (although I'm sure it would have been me on my behind trying to figure out how to stand up,) but I did get a picture of me with my snowboarding helmet on.  

My pride is not hurt after a painful 1.5 hours of snow boarding.

 

 

 

Overall, it was a successful weekend in the Poconos.  Good snow, good food, and good company = great weekend!

Not sure what I'll be up to next, but I'll update soon. Ciao for now! ^_^

Why hello there, 2012. It's nice to meet you.

Happy New Year!  I've joined the gym and I've already been there twice!  Counted calories for 3/5 days.  Reactivated my LeechBlock app on Mozilla for facebook, twitter, and tumblr (only allowed 1 hr. on those sites per 12 hours.)  Utilized my remodeled "To Do List" system.  Started to read the "Hunger Games."  And got a cold.  Boo.  At least it's mostly good so far.

So, I'm a New Years Resolution type person.  I like to make goals and have something to look forward to or strive for throughout the year.  With that, here are my 2012 plans/resolutions/goals... whatever you'd like to call them. 

Let's see... 25 things, since I'm 25.

1.   April Tough Mudder (Already planned....)
2.   In prep for Tough Mudder - get into shape, so I don't die during the Tough Mudder.
3.   Read all books in the Hunger Game series (shouldn't be too hard to do.)
4.   Finish "The Three Musketeers"
5.   Film at least one movie with friends
6.   Visit Marissa again in Disney World
7.   Feel more confident as a music educator
8.   Upload at least one video of me singing onto my youtube account
9.   Attempt to go on more trips/day trips than last year
10. Maybe start some grad school classes... an idea I've been playing with for a while.
11. Maybe get my own apartment if I get a full time position?? >_<
12. Write one story/script... short long... as long as it's complete.
13. See "The Hobbit" (duh)
14. Celebrate some awesome people getting married!
15. See Sarah again!
16. Visit a state I've never been to before... or at least a place.  I'd love to visit Boston and Chicago this year.  San Francisco would be amazing since my cousin lives there now.  I'd love to go to Comic Con too, but I don't think that'll work out. Especially if I get my own place. Kentucky/Tennessee might happen if Matt and I visit our friends there.
17. Keep in better contact with people. (I think this is on many lists.)
18. Read "1984" (which has been on my To Do list for years.)
19. Seeing the Daily Show live! :)
20. Take vitamins everyday (Yay healthy living!)
21. Drink more water. (Yay more healthy living!)
22. Cook more/bake more (I think last year, I baked more than actually cooked.)
23. Stretch more.
24. Dance and karaoke more
25. Create more things (doesn't matter what, as long as I'm creating!)

So that's a long... good list.  Hopefully at least half of them will happen, if not all.  I think they're all doable.  I just need to be the one to make them so.  I'm can lean a bit on the lazy side and I also can procrastinate like the worst of them.  But I do enjoy an adventure and having fun... so I have hope that this year will prove to be a good one.

Ciao for now!