March Reading List

Sometimes it's nice to get away from the party planning and work of normal life.  My escape has always been reading.  I love a good book.  If you are the same way, you might enjoy a few of these books that I read during March.

March was a super busy time for me.  I closed down my store and spent Spring Break enjoying the time with the kids.  It was nice to be able to close that chapter of my life, but it was a lot of work.  I didn't get much time to read, but really tried to make the most of the time that I had.  

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull   

From Amazon review:

"Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among the greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. But when the rules get broken, powerful forces are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and maybe even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most..."

Mini Me and I read this together as a bedtime book.  I knew he would like it, but it wasn't until he was trying to read Aragon and not enjoying it that he allowed me to start reading to him.  He was hooked in no time at all.  He's only nine, so it was a great adventure to read.  We did have to read the Mid Summer Night chapter during the day to avoid bad dreams, but since he was super excited to read this, we read a lot during the day too.  

I have read all five books in this series and am certainly looking forward to rereading them with him.  Especially now that I heard there was a movie in the works for this book.

Fablehaven, vol. 2: Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull

From Amazon Review:

 "At the end of the school year, Kendra and her brother, Seth, find themselves racing back to Fablehaven, a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists — a potion master, a magical relics collector, and a mystical creature trapper — to help protect the property from the Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to infiltrate the preserve and steal a hidden artifact of great power. Time is running out. The Evening Star is storming the gates. If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. Will Kendra learn to use her fairy gifts in time? Will Seth stay out of trouble? Can they overcome paralyzing fear? Find out in book 2 of this bestselling series.

  "

Mini Me and I are still reading this series at bed time.  He is loving it.  There are times he asks me to stop at night so he won't have bad dreams and then sit with him for a few minutes until he falls asleep, but the adventure and excitement is keeping him enthralled.  He takes it to school and reads whenever he gets a spare moment, so it's really helping his reading and school goals.

I love that he's also thinking about it a lot too.  He told me that he wishes he could meet Brandon Mull so he could ask him a few questions about the story.  When I asked him what kind of questions, he went into a full narrative wondering why the characters couldn't take a sledgehammer to Olach and destroy him so no one would ever have Seth's problem again.  

I love that this series has him thinking and living in the books.  

 iBlog Magazine March Issue

I know this isn't technically a book, but as much time as I spent reading it this month, I had to share this new magazine.  I love my computer time, I really do, but I will be honest and admit that I like to read away from the computer.  I don't know if it's because I spend so much time at the computer, that it's relaxing for me to take a few moments away from it or I just like hard copies of lists, information, and knowledge.

iBlog Magazine is this first magazine devoted directly for women bloggers and influencers.  It has all kinds of information that will help to grow your blog and make you a better blogger.  In this premier issue, I found several articles that I have read and reread several times.  

Some of my favorite articles are:

 "Grow Your Blog with a Book" about the benefits of giving away a book or other freebie to visitors and subscribers of your blog.  I already do this on this blog with my monthly freebie for newsletter subscribers, but I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work best for me and my readers.

"Instagram Branding Tips and Strategies".  I am currently working to figure out Instagram.  I love the idea behind it, but haven't figured out how best to use it.  We are in such a visual world, that this platform could be such a fun and useful tool. I have read this article several times and probably will a few more.

"How to Generate Leads with Google+ Hangouts" has been another article that I've been trying to work my way through.  I am slowly working on Google+ but have not figured out hangouts or how best to utilize this area.  I'm not sure it's something that I'll develop anytime soon, but it would be nice to figure it out and how to best use it before I do.

If you are a blogger, I REALLY recommend this magazine.  It also has a helpful website with lots of information that you need to check out if you're serious at all about growing your blog.

February Reading List

January Reading List

I didn't take as much time as I thought I would to read in January.  That was the result of spending a lot of time getting organized and not being able to find the books that I wanted to read at my local library.  I'm way to cheap to go buy a book that I might not like, so when I hesitate to go buy anything my library doesn't have because I don't want to own books that I will never read again.  Here are the books I managed to find and read.

The Bitter Kingdom (Girl of Fire and Thorns) by Rae Carson
From Amazon: "he third and final book in the trilogy takes the young queen on a journey more dangerous than any she has faced before. Elisa will stand before the gate of the enemy. And she must rise up as champion—even to those who have hated her—or her kingdom will fall. "

This was Elisa's final journey and it was wonderful.  I loved this series and am a little sad to see it end.  Can I make a request to the Movie-Gods-that-be to consider making this one into a movie? There's a ton of action, adventure, love, magic, and more, plus queens, sorcerers, loyal friends, and a handsome Captain of the Guard.  Everything you need for a wonderful series.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
From Amazon: "When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift."

This book was very confusing at first.  Due to the nature of the story, it took a while to introduce the setting and get to know the characters.  Without any back story, the reader is as confused as Thomas.  But after reading through the confusion and frustration, I enjoyed the book and was rooting for the Gladers to solve the maze.

I'm pretty excited to hear this book will soon be a movie.  You can find out more about The Maze Runner movie here.  I am going to go check out the cast and add the next book to my library wish list.

How to Blog for Profit (Without Selling Your Soul) by Ruth Soukup
From Amazon Review: "Whether you've been blogging for years or just weeks, How to Blog For Profit offers solid guidance for writing great content, creating compelling images, capturing viral growth, and maximizing revenue. It is an invaluable tool for experienced and novice bloggers alike, explaining not only what it takes to create an authentic, successful, and profitable blog, but how to get there."

I read this book slowly over the month in between other books.   At the end of each chapter there is a bit of a review with actions that you can do to implement what you learned.  So I wanted to take it slowly and take each section and put it into practice.  I wasn't so good at that, but after reading it all the way through, I do have a list of things I want to work on.  I'm sure I'll go back and reread this ebook many times since there are so many good ideas in it.  I recommend it if you're a blogger.

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
From Amazon review: "Abandoned by her mother when she was five years old, Paige O'Toole has been left with painful doubts about her self-worth. She leaves her Chicago home for Cambridge, Mass., at 18 to fulfill herself as an artist, but must work in a diner because she can't afford art school. When she marries Harvard medical student Nicholas Prescott, his parents disown him, disapproving of their Irish Catholic daughter-in-law. Again Paige is forced to sideline her creative needs and work as a waitress in order to support Nicholas until he is able to establish his career as a cardiac surgeon. Paige is soon overwhelmed by the demands of Nicholas's socially sophisticated world, and after the birth of their son, Max, she becomes emotionally and physically exhausted. Unable to communicate her terrors about herself to Nicholas, she leaves him to search for her mother, who may hold the answers to her life."
For the first two parts of this book, everything seemed so familiar, like I had read this book before.  I knew what was coming, but I couldn't seem to recall the ending.  It wasn't until I got to the end of the second part of the book that I was hating it and wanted to stop reading right then.  I think that's what had happend the first time I read the book.  I stopped.

So I decided to plug on and see what happend.  With Jodi's books, you can never be sure.  She's not really one to have a traditional Happy Ending.  I was glad that I finished it for the most part.  There were many things in the book that I liked and many that I didn't.  You could certainly read some life lessons in the book about taking your partner for granted, how we need both a mother and a father in families, and forgiveness both for ourselves and for others.  I was just glad she didn't kill everyone off like she has a tendency to do.

Valentine Fairy Tale Mantel

Valentine's Day is almost here, so I wanted to share my Valentine Fairy Tale Mantel with you.

As you know, I've been working with a fairy tale theme this year for Valentine's day.  After all, what could be more romantic than a Happily Ever After?  Isn't that what most little girls dream of for their life?

Most of these fairy tale projects were DIYs that I completed for my daughter's Disney Princess fund raiser for our church's girls camp last year.  I loved how they all turned out, so I kept them and use every excuse I can to pull them out and put them on display.

As usual, in the center of our mantel decoration is our family name letters.  Above that is my interchangeable picture frame.  I filled the frame with a picture of the Salt Lake LDS Temple.  I had it printed at my local Walgreens during a 40% off sale and added the saying "YOU Are My HAPPILY EVER AFTER."

Under my picture frame sits my Hercule's Muse Vase, Cinderella's slipper, and the Frog Prince that I found at my local Goodwill.

On the right side of the mantel and our name sign, sit Lumiere, Chip the teacup, Beast's rose, and Rapunzel's frying pan.  (Frying Pans...who knew?  That quote always makes me laugh!)

On the left side sits Aladdin's magic carpet, his magic lamp, the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty, and Maleficent the dragon.

I am really excited about how my Valentine Fairy Tale Mantel turned out.  It really puts me in the mood for some magic and happiness in my home this Valentine's day.

January Blog Review

I knew January was going to be a let down after December's highs, but the numbers weren't as bad as I was expecting.  I still had a lot of visitors if I compare to October or November's visitors, so I'm glad about that.  The content on the blog in January wasn't my usual party content, so I'm not sure if that helped things or not.  The biggest concern I had was the complete drop in adsense and infolink numbers.  I don't think it should have dropped as much as it did, so I need to figure out what's going on there.

February will bring us back into party mode, so we'll see what that does to the numbers.  Adding the Shindig Saturday posts hasn't had much effect yet, but I'm still trying to invite people and boost the party up. I'm going to give myself a few months before I decide what to do about the blog linky party.  I would like it to be a great resource for my readers as well as a good source of views for the linkers.

In the meantime, here are January's numbers:

December: 

Google Analytics:
People Visiting Site:   24417   (-5647)
Unique Visitors:          26637    (-6866)
Page views:                   61164    (-23526)
Pages/Visit:                     2.30     (-0.23)
Average Visit:                0.50    (-6 sec)
Bounce Rate:                31.38     (+6.1)
New Visits:                     89.03    (+1.94)

Alexa Rank Worldwide:      174635  (-9717)
Alexa USA:                                 35649    (-8811)
Blog Followers (GFC)               309      (+0)
Twitter Followers:                    493   (+24)
Facebook Followers:                983  (+20)
Pinterest Followers:               2824  (+115)

Amazon                    +27.27
Infolinks                   -104.24
Rivit                           -0.36
Google Adsense       -36.05
Escalate                   -28.85
Sverve                       +3.00
Swagbucks               +20.00
Social Spark                 0.00

Decrease in profit:  -125.23

Snowman January Bulletin Board and Printables

I know this is a little late posting this month, but being away for the holiday really threw me off.  Then when I got back, I had everything ready to go, but I've lost my stapler.  I went and bought 3 different staplers in the last week and for one reason or another, none of them will work.  With all the problems, I was super glad I went with an easy theme this month in my January bulletin board idea...snowmen.

If you're stuck in the Arctic Vortex or it's after math this month, you might as well enjoy the fun side of the snow and cold and build a snowman.  Plus, my sister keeps singing the song from Frozen to me "Do you want to build a snowman?" so I can't get it out of my head.

I started with a simple snow themed border.  I print them off about 2 inches tall by 11 inches wide.  This causes me to need 4 sheets of borders to fit around my bulletin board.  After that I filled the center of my bulletin board with a snowman I made from a large sheet of poster board.

Our monthly announcements are inside Star and Snowflake frames.  There are two different sizes for the different needs of our board.

Each month I try to highlight the birthdays that will take place and I find this to be the hardest/most time consuming part of my whole bulletin board.  I wanted to do snowflakes to go with my theme, but didn't want to cut out each of the many point to the snowflake.  So instead, I sized them to fit my 2 inch punch and just added the ladies' names and birthdates.  This made a quick and easy punch.  Then I just added the snowflakes around my snowman in a random way.

It was a pretty simple bulletin board this month.  I hope that it gives you an idea or two on making a board for your church or school.  If you need the printables, you can find the Snowman Bulletin Board zip file HERE.

December Reading List on Off Topic Tuesday

Due to the craziness of the holidays, I didn't get much time to read this month.  Two of the four books I read were listened to on audio book while working on Christmas crafts and the other two were squeezed in during a few forced "me" moments.  I have so many books on my "To Read" list now, that I can't wait until January gets here and things quiet down so I can go back to enjoying a few more good books.

Pivot Point by Kasie West
I loved the premise of this book.  According to Amazon: "Addison Coleman's life is one big "What if?" As a Searcher, a special type of clairvoyant, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she is able to look into the future and see both outcomes. So when her parents tell her they are getting a divorce and she has to pick who she wants to live with, a Search has never been more important."

This book was a little difficult to read as each chapter switched between Addy living with her mother and in the next cchapter she is living with her father.  Much of what happens is mirrored in the two realities, but it still took some doing to remember what was going on in each time line at the start of the next chapter.  In the end I loved this book and can't wait to read the sequel next February.

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments) by Cassadra Clare
After watching the movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, I wanted to give Clary her happy ending.  At the time I didn't realize that this book had another one coming after it, although I don't know why since I've read it once before.  So I decided to read it again.  I enjoyed it the second time just as much as the first time.  I know the movie kind of bombed, but I enjoyed it for what it was worth and enjoyed all the books too.  If you liked the movie at all, you'll enjoy the books more.  Now I can't wait until next spring and the last book comes out.

The Crown of Embers (Girl of Fire and Thorns) by Rae Carson
This is the sequel to Girl of Fire and Thorns.  If you remember from November reading list, it took me a while to get into that book and I almost stopped reading it several times.  I picked up the sequel because I enjoyed Elisa's journey very much.

In the Crown of Embers, Elisa tries to find her way as queen amidst murder attempts, a traitorous court, and a rioting kingdom.  I loved that she is a growing character that you can't help but root for.  She isn't a strong ruler, but has the potential to be one and her journey to becoming a strong queen leads her to adventure, self realization, and love.  I can't wait to read the last book and have it on my reserve list already.

Christmas Mantel & Stocking for Jesus

A Nativity Themed Fireplace Mantel. Very simple but beautiful!

With the temperatures below zero today, I'm extra glad to have my fireplace.  I love to sit in front of it with my comfy chair and a good book, and just while away the evening.  But it makes me even happier to sit there today as I enjoy the tree on one side of my living room, and this beautiful nativity themed Christmas mantel on the other.

I started by having Walgreens print me a picture of the Kneeling Santa that I found here.  The picture is a little grainy up close, but I think it adds to the rustic charm of the picture.  It's just so beautiful and reminds me not to forget the true meaning of Christmas this season.

With our Elliott sign in the center as always, I added the few nativity scenes that I own around the edge of the fireplace mantel.

On the left side is a wooden plaque that my sister made for us last year for Christmas.  It says "Every Family Needs a Stable Foundation".  The Precious Moments nativity scene next to it was actually bought as a gift many years ago.  After carrying it around for five years, I decided to just keep it since it was so sweet.  The small scene on the end is one that I received my first year of College when my mother did the 12 Days of Christmas for me.

The center nativity is a full set featuring kids acting out the nativity scene.  I just love how cute they are.

On the right side of the mantel is a Chalkboard advent calendar with the nativity scene on the bottom.  My sister also made this with her Vinyl business to sell a few years ago at our Christmas craft show.  She had a few left over, so I quickly snatched it up for my advent calendar collection.  The snow globe nativity scene finishes out the Christmas mantel.  It's the only snow globe I have left after collecting them for 10 years and so makes me smile when I see it.

We normally hang our Christmas stockings on the mantel, but I'm afraid of them hanging when we have fires so often, so I'll probably wait to hang them up on Christmas eve.  We have a special stocking for Jesus where the kids give Jesus gifts through the season by doing small acts of service for others and then writing them down and placing it in the stocking.  On Christmas morning we open the stocking first and read all the things that we've done to celebrate the birth of Christ.  I have this stocking hanging by the front door so we can all add our gifts through the season.

November Reading List on Off-Topic Tuesday

I love to read.  To escape into a book and enjoy the trials and ultimate success of the characters is my favorite way to spend an afternoon.  I read so many books each month that it's hard to keep them all straight in my memory when I want to go back and revisit some of my favorite characters.  So I've decided to start a list of each of the books I read each month and share them with you.  Maybe you will want to visit my new friends too.

Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris

I enjoyed the sequel to Unraveling so much that I had to pick it up mere days after finishing the first book.  It was a little slow getting started but I guess we has to see the consequences in full force of societies melt down after the end of the first book.  I admit I spent much of the book thinking there would be a way to fix the deaths and results of the first book and was a little sad when that didn't happen.  So I guess I shouldn't have been too suprizes to see it happen at the end of this book too.  But work a happy ending coming a little like an ads on, I'm okay with it and glad I read it.

The Forgotten Locket by Lisa magnum 

This was the final book to the Hourglass door series.  I struggled in the beginning to get into it after reading so many other books between the series.  Once I did, I read almost straight through trying to discover the happy ending when there was so much chaos in the timeline.  I didn't see the end fight coming, although really I should have if you think about it.  I guess that was a sign that I wnjoyed the book too much to worry about trying to figure it out.  The was that Abby and Dante fixed the time line was a little strange bit if you're willing to just go with it, it was a sweet ending.  I will miss the characters in this series and hope that someday Leo will get his happy ending and we can meet up with the characters again.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

I spent the first half of this book trying to decide if I liked it or not.  It was such a different form of romance than what I'm used to reading that it took me a while to get into it.  But once I decided it was good and the plot started to reveal itself, I enjoyed it.  The "romance" scenes were totally skipped over so much that if you weren't catching it clearing, you would probably not have guessed what had happend.  I am a fan of historical fiction and so enjoyed that aspect of the story.  It wasn't my favorite of all the books so far this month, but I'll probably pick up the second "Dark Triumph" and third book before long.

The False Prince by Jennifer Neilson

This book is the story of 3 orphans chosen to impersonate the lost prince.  Or at least I assume so.  I got about 10 chapters in and just didn't enjoy the story.  I'm not sure if it was the slow pace of the book or just that I didn't really enjoy the story at all.  I finally put myself out of my misery and returned the book.  Then I moved on.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This book really caught me by suprise.  I had put it last to read because I just didn't think I'd like it.  But I really, really enjoyed it.  In the beginning of this book, Mia and her family are in a car accident.  Everyone dies but her.  While she decides whether she's going to fight to live or give up, the story tells about her past and her family.  It was very well written and despite the fact that it all happens in a hospital room with flashbacks, I loved it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

I enjoyed "If I Stay" so much that I ran out and got the sequel right away.  This book happens 4 years later and is from Adam's (Mia's boyfriend in the first book) point of view.  It tells of the results of Mia's choice and Adam's struggle to let go.  I'm not going to tell you too much since I don't want to ruin the first book, but I will tell you that there is a happy ending and a very good story to be told.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

This is the third book in the Divergent series.  I was super excited to read it when it first came out since I absolutetly loved Divergent and like Insurgent.  But after seeing all the one star reviews on Amazon about it, I got nervous so did a little searching and read some spoilers.  Knowing what happend in the end of the book, made me very leary to read it, but knew I had to finish the series.  I enjoyed it for the most part and am sad about the way it ended, but it's good to remember that one life can make a big difference if we just keep moving on despite the hard sacrifices and troubles of life.

I think the book was worth reading just for one quote that stood out to me above all the others.  "I fell in love with him.  But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or dissapoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me."  (Allegiant, p. 372)

Entwined by Heather Dixon

From Amazon review: "Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.  The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late."

This was a simple yet sweet book about healing and the power of love.  I was unsure at first and almost put it down a few times.  Yet something kept me coming back until the end when the story picked up, then I couldn't put it down.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

From Amazon review: "Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one. But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can't see how she ever will. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king--a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior, and he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young. Most of the chosen do."

What I loved most about this book what that Elisa wasn't the perfect heroine at the beginning of the book.  She's not considered beautiful. She's not strong.  She's not sure of herself.  But through the trials of the book, she learns to become an amazing heroine and we can see the changes as they happen. I enjoyed this book and am glad to see there are a few sequels to add to my reading list.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

From Amazon review: "What if you could see how your life would unfold--just by clicking a button? 

It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out."

I read this book in about 5 hours and must say I enjoyed every one of them.  I found it pretty funny to see these two kids try to understand and figure out Facebook from the past.  It really makes you realize how much our way of life has changed with the interenet, facebook, and blogs being such a prominet part.  But it was also interesting to see how these two kids tried to change their futures based on small snipets of our internet posts.

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin Trilogy)

From Amazon review:  "Sybella's duty as Death's assassin in 15th-century France forces her return home to the personal hell that she had finally escaped. Love and romance, history and magic, vengeance and salvation converge in this thrilling sequel to Grave Mercy."

While the first book in His Fair Assassins trilogy had a good deal of focus on the problems facing the realm, Sybella's book is a more personal story withtthe problems being on the edges of the book. I did like that as you got to see the trials that went into making her the hand of justice that she is.  It wasn't an amazing book, but as part of the trilogy, I enjoyed the read.