Oh boy... I have left you in the dark...

I have a good excuse, to some extent, as to why my blog posts have become fewer and fewer ... ok non-existent over the past few months.  The word busy cannot aptly describe my state.  To be honest... I have embarked on starting grad school, still attempting to work, and deciding to have a baby.  This takes up a lot time, those three things combined because my health does not always cooperate.  We have not taken any epic trips, those are actually on hiatus so we can save up money, which is the responsible and smart thing to do...though we are itching to get out of the US again, hop on a plane and go somewhere amazing.  I think one of the reasons Adam and I are so great together is we think on the same wavelength about those sorts of things and both of us feel better when we travel.  We long to do it as much as possible and when we don't get to... something is missing.  
But, with a baby on the way and my grad school sinking all our funds... it will be worth it in the end to put things on hold.
I promise I will write more.

Starting it Up Again

To start off my return to blogging, here is a great mother's day gift for anyone looking for something special!

Fresh and Lovely Lemon and Fresh Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

It has been a while, for whatever reason, I haven't written in a long time.  I think I am exhausted, and I have a lot on my mind that I feel like I have no avenue to really speak about.  I'm really stressed.

2/1/12

Happy February, and Please let this weather go away...everything hurts and I am miserable... moving on.

This blog may go from a daily blog to an every few days blog until my body and my schedule isn't killing me.

thanks.

1/28/12 (Posted on the 30th)

I am located in the bedroom today, doing some research and trying to take it easy since my RA is acting up.  I know I usually pull my book of the day from my shelf in the Study, and I don't want to totally get out of sorts, but since I am here and the study is so far away, I will be extra cool...feature two books and try to make up for losing my place.  :D
Been feeling a bit sick, so this is a few days late.

Books of the Day:

Common Book of Prayer 1941

This is a nicely bound gift edition of the Anglican Common Book of Prayer, I bought this one online.

Some fiction

I picked that one up at a book sale, these are the books currently on my night table.  

What's On My Nook!

Interesting book.

I picked this up because the title seemed sooo interesting.

Get it here

Music of the Day

1/27/12

After a vacation of getting things in order and adjusting to school and such, I am back.  A lot has happened.  I am back doing research at school and I am really enjoying it, but being back at school also brings unwanted dramas...which have really dampened the mood.   There are days, more and more of them, that I wish I were not the stand up and say what I think type.  While I believe it is the right way to be, the unwanted stress always just pulls me down.  I think the perfect storm of that and the fact that our stranger than strange weather here in Middle Georgia has caused me so much trouble with my RA that when I get home from school or work I am too tired to do anything else, even post in my awesome blog, but I am going to try to be better... I am back from my self imposed hiatus and things should be back to normal.  I am going to Florida in February to see some family, so my blog may not be as traditional those days.


Sometimes older books by the right authors just fit... like they should remain in that form, look worn and aged.... this is one of those books...

Milton's Complete Poems (1899)

This book is over 100 years old, printed in 1899, a student edition of Milton's works and mine for a whopping 2.50 at an old book store.  The book has an old portrait of Milton in the front of the book, with the aged tissue paper over it and then it opens up to a splendid collection of beautiful works.  

Anyway, I love the book, its not perfect, someone used it as a text book way back when and their markings are inside of it...which to me...makes it even more wonderful.

What's On My Nook?

I currently have a tug of war going on between two books....  The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and We Two, which is a biography of the relationship between Queen Victoria of England and her husband Albert.  Both books are engaging and interesting, but I cannot stay on one... I read a few chapters in each a night.    Also, I will have to be fair to my beloved nookbooks and be honest....

I have also been reading Of Plymouth Plantation  by William Bradford for school... so that has caused a bit of a lull in my fun reading, along with the research I am doing... it cuts in on the fun times... but... what to feature from my nook library today.... 

Oh...

These books are usually inexpensive and wonderful things to own, this one was only 3.99

I speak a lot about being an advocate for the poor, maybe not as much on here... but on my other outlets like facebook and twitter, I think its important, I think it is vital to understand the devastating effects of poverty on families, on children, and on a person's ability to perform later in life.   As I also spend a lot of time studying history, this book was a no brainer at 3.99 and a book I heartily recommend to everyone.  

How the Other Half Lives

By: Jacob A. Riis

Get it Here

What am I listening to???

The Cranberries

Zombie

This song was one of my favorites as a teenager, and its message... well, yea...totally me.

vacation

1/16/12

Man, I thought the new year would put you ON track not pull you off of it.  I have had a lazy day or two and its showing so I have to catch up.  
I totally fell off the be healthy bandwagon and ate three krispy kreme doughnuts today.... and ate hamburgers, and tater tots, and drank beer... geeze.... Living the wild life I swear!!!


But, back to normal and doing some computer clean up tonight, transferring some stuff off the old laptop to this one and moving on.  Man I loved that laptop... even if that one a year ago and maybe I am kind of snarky with this one since the first new one broke so many times they had to replace it with this... regardless, this one works wonders.  I cannot complain too much.


So in between moving 11 gig worth of pictures and exercising and cleaning up, I am posting my blog.  :D

Long German novels... YES!!!

If you know me, you know I love Downton Abbey, so its only fitting that I would wrap myself around this German novel about the slow death of the upperclass German society as well.  It was a sweeping and sappy novel and I loved it.  We had to read it for a Modern Germany class and I would read it again.   LOVED IT.

GET IT HERE

Apparently it now comes not only in paperback for around 13 dollars, but you can also get it as an Ebook, which is awesome!!  If you like stuff like that, read it.. I liked it.  I always felt sorry though for the father in this book, his whole family just slowly falls apart, its strange.

What's on my Nook?

Today I don't have a picture of the cover for the book I am featuring, it is what we call a public domain title, which means 1. its free  :D  2. its old

Sometimes I like reading these old history books just to see the perspective from when it was written.  

Today I am featuring THIS GEM!!!

The Trials of Five Queens

Its a really old one but I couldn't resist... it was free...it had Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Marie Antionette, AND Mary Queen of Scots... so this should be fun.  and free.. free is always good.

The bonus with this one as well... IF you don't have a nook, you can probably find this in google books for free as well.

Music of the Day!

We have been buying a lot of records lately.  One of the gems we found in our search was Duran Duran for only FIVE dollars.

OMG I loved this song as a kid.

1/14/12

It has been a busy last few days, sorry I haven't had the chance to update appropriately.  Today Adam and I did get a chance to go to the antique mall and I purchased seven records of classical music, which will be helpful during studying time.  

Another awesome Book Sale find!!!

This one cost me a whole dollar, what is bad about a one dollar history book??  Nothing!

What's On the Nook?

This one was suggested by a fellow student

Past Imperfect

By: Peter Charles Hoffer

GET IT HERE!!!

For just 10 bucks, totally worth it if you like to read about the craft of writing history, very interesting already.

Song of the Day!

Loved this song when it came out.

1/12/12

The weather here in Georgia is a bit strange, and when I say that.. I mean a lot strange.  Somehow Georgia has this knack of creating this weather void of strangeness where one day it is 60 degrees, the next day it is 20, raining and windy.  For someone like me who has RA, weird weather can be a bane.  But, I am up with my lingering cough from the mess that I had over Christmas, bundled up and writing my blog, which I love to do.
For the book of the day today... I am going to cheat... I know I know, but I just got a new book in and I wanted to share it, because it is so cool.

Favourite English Teatime Recipes


I paid a little over two dollars for this gem, but I had to order it from a shop in England through Amazon.  Apparently there is a whole series, which I now want all of.  There are awesome recipes in here like Belvoir Castle Buns and Lakeland Lemon Cake, all which sound rich and good... so we shall see if I make any.


What am I reading on my Nook?


OH man I got distracted last night before I went to bed in the nook shop. I can do that quite easily and there are a few books I really want to buy, but I am being frugal since I have a ton of books I have not read.  That being said, there is an awesome biography of Anne Hutchinson that I found...that I must have.  If you don't know who she is... 


Here is a website dedicated to her


I have a fascination for Hutchinson because in some senses she sparks some parts of feminism in a time when that concept was unheard of.  She also called out the often eloquent but also often hypocritical John Winthrop for his paradoxical behavior when it came to reading and interpreting the bible as an individual and then saying... no not for you Anne, you child of the devil.


Anyway... This is the book I want....

American Jesebel:  The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, The Woman who Defied the Puritans 
As a nook book it is only : 10.99
Author: Eve LaPlante
Get it HERE!

What do I already have on my nook of interest you ask?

Henry VIII
By Allison Weir


This is a popular history of the Tudor monarch so its not something you would want to use as a source or anything, that being said... Weir does use notes and she isn't horrible.  I love reading about Harry here, he was a good king...he just had some lady issues that really got in the way of people looking at what else he did in England during the time he ruled.  His interactions with people like Thomas More and his defense of the Catholic faith (until the pope made him angry) are amazing stories within themselves, and he was not a huge fan of Martin Luther.   Good book to read, pick it up!

HERE, it is totally worth the 13.99 in nook book


   Musical people are just that... they listen to music, they love music...it has more meaning than just having something going on in the background or playing in the car to avoid silence.  Adam and I are music people...that is one of the reasons I think we love each other so much, similarities like the realization that music is vital to life. 
We just added an awesome record player to the kitchen, its amazing.

Our sweet setup

I am proud of it, and I broke it in by listening to the Cure last night.  I love the Cure, I have loved the Cure since I was a kid.  So today's music is brought to you by Robert Smith

This is a little old for some people, but amazing.  So... if you have never listened to the Cure, listen to this song and become a fan.