16 Books to Read Before They Hit Theaters This Year

I saw the buzzfeed article, and wasn't interested, but when the Library set the challenge, I said "Challenge Accepted".  #15Feb2014

These will be listed in the order I have read them:

The Giver by Lois Lowry - Read when I was a kid. Maybe that is cheating, but I'm counting it. I'll probably re-read it at a later time, but for now, I'm counting it.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead- I found this series as a senior at uni. I was skeptical at first, because of the lame vampire story stigma that Twilight left after the horrible casting and screen adaptation, but that's a different story. I read it, and loved it. There was one part where I was crying; my roommate came in and asked if I was okay. When I told her I was crying over something in the book, she said, "oh. I thought someone in your family died." #itfeltthatway One thing I like about the series, is it is one that can be reread and you still like it. I explained that to my sister, and she didn't understand what I meant until she reread it. I'm currently having one of my besties read them. She says the plot is a little slow, because all the conflict doesn't happen till the end of the book. I didn't mind it too much.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Finished 17 March 2013. Wow. I don't even know what to say about this book. It's amazing. You know it's going to be sad when the premise is about a young cancer patient. What I didn't expect was to feel like my heart was breaking as I read the book. I cried consistently at least for about an hour reading that book. I was bawling, with the i-can't-breath-and-snot-is-running-out-my-nose tears. The only other fictional books I have had this intense emotional response to recently would be: "The Book Thief" and "Me Before You".

Divergent by Veronica Roth. - Read 25 Oct 2013.  Oh Divergent. To be honest, I would recommend the first book to anyone, as long as they promise not to read any further. The first book is great! The second is mediocre, and the third book is the worst. It is a worst 3rd-book-in-a-trilogy than Mockingjay, which is saying something if you've heard me rant about Mockingjay. The premise of Divergent is clever. I love Tris and Four. It has the makings of an epic trilogy, but she cannot keep up the momentum in the next two books. Divergent as a stand alone is good. I would never recommend the trilogy. Stop at Divergent. *Spoiler Alert* If you do decide to read on, don't get to attached to any characters, because (like in Game of Thrones, or so I've heard) everyone you love dies. The ending is terrible too.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed - Started 24 Feb 2014. Finished Abandoned 3 March 2014. This is my review from my Goodreads accound. I've officially abandoned the book after 43 pages. I should have gone further, but honestly, I hate Cheryl already. I thought it was going to be a great book along the lines of "Eat, Pray, Love". However, instead of something inspiring, it is a sad story about a girl who doesn't know how to handle grief, cheated on her (what seemed to be) supportive husband instead of going to counseling and ran away from her problems. I just can't get into her head, because she has warped reasoning and is in serious need of therapy instead of hiking around America.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand- Started March 2014

I'll keep you updated as the reading continues.

A Workaholic's Tale (Part 2)

Short post with four funny stories from the summer at work. Because I started writing these post but stopped and now I will just post them.

After Philly, I had a super lazy weekend, spending it at home and enjoying Father's Day with my daddy. Then I had to hop onto a plane to Illinois. I started reading American Sniper and was loving it. As I met up with Dan & Tim, I was telling them about how much I love the book so far, and Tim was like "Isn't that guy dead?" And I was like, no, it's an autobiography, he's alive to write it." Tim said "noooo. i'm pretty sure he was shot this year while out working with returned vets." I looked it up, and he was right; Christ Kyle was killed this year, on Groundhog's Day while working with a returned vet who snapped and killed Chris,  another person, and then himself. It was really heart-wrenching news. I felt like my own friend was killed.

When you're on business trips with the same people over and over, you tend to get to know a little about each other rather than small talk all the time. We were talking about me not having a boyfriend. Tim told me "You have a car and a career; you dont need a boyfriend." He then went on to explain how boyfriends would be jealous of all the time I don't spend with them, because I travel for word and am never available. I said, "errrr...i'm pretty sure and car and career aren't good boyfriend substitutes" but I dont think he really understood. lol.

The next tale takes place in Atlanta. We were in the office for a long day of too much working. I take a break to read the news because Lindsay messaged me that there was an announcement with the Supreme Court ruling over gay marriage. I read the articles, and casually say "The Supreme Court announced their ruling on gay marriage." One of my co-workers looks at me and says "Do you fly the rainbow flag?" I pause and look at him saying "excuse me?" and he repeated his question. I said "I think you need to stop and think about  what you want to ask me and re-phrase your question." He did not. Paul is sitting across the table gawking at us, and I say "Paul, are you hearing what I'm hearing?" and Paul says "Yeah. It sounds like he's asking if you're gay." I nod my head and look at the guy and he's like "that's not what I meant" and I just had to laugh because it was such a horribly worded phrase, but it broke up the monotony of a long work day with a chuckle.

About a month later, (7/31) Paul is visiting Houston and having a workshop with Lindsay and me early in the morning. He is on the phone talking to someone and was like "yeah. natasha is waking up right next to me." He then pauses, looks at me and says, "that didn't come out right"  I think the best part of that day was during lunch when Paul opened up to us about how he used to work too much, and it started causing marital issues. He told us of how his wife gave him an ultimatum and how he felt that the Spirit told to discuss this with his boss, was also a Christian. His boss told him to cancel all his meetings and phone calls, and go home to talk to his wife. They talked and went to marriage counseling and really began to communicate better. He realized that he needed to make his family a higher priority than work and make sure he's making time. This made me stop and pause, because if I look at my life right now, there is little-to-no work/life balance. I may not have a spouse or kids who are suffering from my work schedule, but I'm working too much and not having enough me time. It's starting to affect my life. I went to get a facial and even the lady was like "you are breaking out girl" and it is the first time in my life that i am getting stress acne. It's gross. It is making me sleep less because when I get home, I want to stay up and do me-time things. It makes me re-think my priorities. What am I willing to sacrifice to have a successful career? How important is a high-level career to me? Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life: work long hours to make money, but not necessarily have time to turn off my brain, lay in the grass, and relax? What do I want in life, and how do I obtain it?

my life is a romcom....minus the rom

My life is insane. No really. I sometimes just sit and think, I am so weird/awkard/ridiculous. But, hey, that's my life. Just a list of things that happened recently that made me laugh.

I was looking at possible places to spend my birthday. This popped up on the screen: "Due to United States travel restrictions, we are unable to display travel itineraries that include Cuba.". BOO!!!

That awkward moment that you are trying to change lanes at a stop light and the little old lady next to you makes eye contact and shakes her head no. 

I was chatting with Lindsay about a boy coming over to my place and said: I feel like people think I'm cooler as soon as they find out I live in a hotel. I want people to like me for me, not for my hotel. #firstworldproblems

I told a joke to my work mentor that I already told to my boss, Michael, and my mentor thought it was super funny. Last month, Michael told me he wanted to have a graduation get-together for me and the other new-hires for our one-year mark. I told him we should do it at our facility in Brazil and have a team building sandcastle competition on the beach. My mentor thought it was very funny and said "You are very good at thinking outside of the box". #professionalpride #gtforever

Jarrett making an acronym in anticipation for our Groundhog's Day adventure in Punxsutawney, PA. #GHD2K13

Family dinner discussing a date I went on: 

     Mom "Did he try to kiss you?"

     Me: "No"

     James: "It's because he didn't want to"

     Me: "No, he probably did"

     Saryah: "No. He didn't"

and it someone turned into a debate where I was arguing that I could kiss any slutty guy if I wanted to, but I choose not to. #bestfamilyever

I have a new bff. He's my brother's best friend's wife's brother, Seth, who I always thought was younger than me until a month ago when I realized he was 30. lol. I told him he was my new go-to guy because he lives so close to me. I've always wanted a cousin bff. Just like, through this marriage, Saryah finally gets a cousin her age (Seth's youngest sister) who we're friends with. Way to marry into a cool family Stevie. Best idea EVER!

My grandma has decided to throw herself a birthday party....on my birthday, after weeks of me trying to determine what I wanted to do for my big celebration #speechless

I still don't have a name plaque for my cube....so I printed and cut one out for myself. It looks legit #proactive

At work we were practicing with a fake fire extinguisher and a virtually simulated fire, and the funny Brazilian lady had her turn and started singing the line from Alicia Keyes' new song "This girl is on Fire" #mylifeattheoffice

I even have the sassy co-worker bff character in my romcom life. This role is taken by my new work bestie, Charles, who denies that we're besties. I tell him about my boy problems and he gives me advice

Example 1:
     Me: So, I'm thinking of just going up to him and telling him I would like to get to know him better.
     Charles: Yes! If girls just did that, the world would be a better place
Example 2: 
     Me: I'm so mad he didn't text me back last night!
     Charles: That's because he was with his wife and kids.
     Me: He does not have a wife and kids.
     Charles: That's what he wants you to think. 

I had a really bad day the other day. In order to make myself feel better, I listened to My Favourtie Things from The Sound of Music on repeat. She's right, when I simply remember my favourite things, then I don't feel so bad. :) #iwishmylifewasamusical

Me thinking: I wish I had a dvd player for the tv in my room. I want to watch the Sound of Music from my comfy bed instead of the couch. #firstworldproblems

I sometimes forget/forgo sleep in order to read a book #bookaddict

I have been lazy all week and have been wearing my glasses. But it's sunny and I do not have clip ons. So I wear my big hipster sunglasses over my normal glasses and no one is the wiser. #twoglassesarebetterthanone

I've decided: if there was an actress that had to be me in my life movie, it would have to be Mindy Kaling. I feel like she is the only ones who would be able to capture my essence. (plus, erica agrees)

A Tired Tale

My week this past week was plagued with a bought of anti-social behavior and sleep deprivation. It was decided Monday night that we didn't have the energy to go to Croatia this weekend.

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to stay up late Monday night to read a book. BAD IDEA when you don't have an full time job and you have to wake up at 6am every morning because of it. The bad choice was only made worse when I did the same thing Tuesday night and Wednesday night. I recall a famous saying about insanity and making the same decision expecting different results. yep. what can I say. it's a problem and i need therapy.  But I did read 4 books this week. yay! and they were good, which makes it better. but then I was book hungover where I couldnt read anything else because my brain was still stuck in the book world.

Thursday we went to the B2Run 6k run because our company was going. It was colder than we thought and we ended up staying out later than expected. It was pretty fun though.

Friday was a little horrific as Lindsay and I received the news of the Denver shooting. Then our train back into Munich after work was delayed because of a dead body on the tracks. Needless to day, our day was a little depressing. My heart and prayers go out to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in such a terrible act of depravity. Friday night, Lindsay and I went to get those amazing salads again, and we decided it was our new place, because the waitress remembered us and our orders. I got a No-jito (a mojito without the alcohol) and it was pretty cool. Since it was cold and rainy, we didnt want to walk around Munich anymore and decided to see what was playing at the English movie theatre. So we saw they were showing a "sneak peek" movie and wanted to know what it was. It turns out they are not allowed to tell us. We called three different times to obtain clues and hints that would lead us to deduce which movie would be playing. We decided it was either between the Batman movie or this creepy Frankenstein movie that is really a play that was filmed. So we decided to take our chances and go. We were next in line to buy our tickets and then they posted a "sold out" sign. bah humbug. So instead we went back home. #angst

 Saturday, I woke up at 6:30 am and only to look out the window at the continued overcast skies and cold weather and fought the urge to go back to sleep because I had planned to go to Salzburg, Austria. I hopped the 7:30 train to Salzburg and arrived 1.5 hours later. Nice quick train. yay. I made it in time for the 9:30 Fraulein Maria Bike Tour. It was pretty epic. One the bike tour was me, two families, and a Canadian girl, who had intense problems riding a bike. Oh Canada... enough said. The bike tour was good. but there wasn't as much inside scoop-ness as I was hoping for. 

 We saw a lot of the sites of the filming and I'm not blogging all the pics, just some of my faves. Like the Abbey gates :) The Nonnberg Abbey. We biked and sang The Sound of Music songs aloud. It was pretty epic with cheesiness. It was a little drizzly and the tour guide kept asking me if I wanted to buy a pancho. Nope. I'm good because this is not real rain. That's what I thought at least. I just used my scarf to wrap it over my hair when it was drizzling to prevent frizzing, but it was fine because it never really rained. Linda and I became photo friends so we took pics of each other. It was pretty convenient.

16 Going on 17 gazebo :

The (front of the) Von Trapp (movie) House 

The Mozart Bridge the kinds sang and danced over

The Do-Re-Mi stairs :)

I did all the main Salzburg things you have to do. I was super tired and after wandering the Salzburg Castle, I was walking out and saw a kid shooting a crossbow. I thought, "no. that's too cool for school" and decided I must do it too. I'm pretty good. I got 3 shots for 2 Euro. Sweet! I hit the target the first time and i hit the bull's eye twice! literally hitting the same spot two times. I'm not that good at shooting guns, but it turns out I'm pretty awesome and shooting crossbows.

Mozart's House

On Sunday I went to church and saw this girl in a really cute jacket, so I went to tell her. I said it twice and determined she must just speak German and after I thought that, the lady next to her said in Spanish, "me gusta su chaqueta" and I said "you speak Spanish!" and we started to chat in Spanish. After church we were chatting and the lady, Gloria, asked me what I was doing after church. I told her my plans included going home and taking a nap. She said if I didnt mind skipping my nap, that I was invited to her home for lunch. I accepted. I was really excited. Gloria is sooo nice and her cousin is 21 and her name in Meilyn. Gloria's husband is Spanish and he made a yummy Spanish tortilla with some spanish salad. Oh it was like a Spain flashback. So amazing.  They were so kind and welcoming to invite me home for lunch. I love latinos. Afterwards, her daughter and I went to the S-bahn together and she showed me how to get home because they're doing construction on the weekends so the S-bahn is pretty much messed up. I got home and ended up taking a 3 hour nap and slept through the Sunday night YSA dinner. sad day.

Shooting at the Salzburg Castle. I made 2 bulls eyes 

On Thursday it was my one year mark of being home off my mission. It was a time for refection. It's been quite a year. A year of miracles and blessing, but a year of adjustment and changing too. I'll be forever grateful. I would write more about it but i've been feeling a lot of writers block lately and cannot say anything really. maybe one day.

Quote of the week: "Sometimes a person doesn’t know what he’s made of until strangers try to tear it down." -Walter Kirn