Soft Kitty...

Seriously... does anyone know a cure for having Soft Kitty stuck in your head to the point where you find yourself singing it under your breath most likely annoying all of your co-workers... or at least making them think you're crazy as even if they can't hear you they can see you mumbling to yourself as you work...

So just ignore it if there is random purrring in the middle of this blog post :)

I  just checked out my "owning 2013" list again and I *gasp* think it actually seems doable... with that said I haven't actually accomplished anything on the list yet :-).   I'm eager to get to some of the reading but I've got one more book to read for a training I've got coming up on Monday and then a book to review and then finally I should be able to read something for *fun*.  First up, Catcher in the Rye.  I'm also hoping for some lazy days to check out some TV and Movies that friends have been recommending.. why are there not 5 days of weekend every week.. I've got lots of hobbies and socializing I need to keep up with :-)

Now for two to-be "regularly scheduled portions of my blog ":

Books I've Read:

Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

The One and Only Ivan by  Katherine Applegate 

I posted some brief comments on the goodreads site but the sad thing for me is that I liked both of them fine but I didn't *love* either of them... and I'd like to love at least one of the books I read going into this Mock Newbery discussion.  No pressure for the last book I need to read :-)

Song I'm loving right now:

Bruises by Train featuring Ashley Monroe from the Pistol Annies

Purr... purr.. purr.....

101 Things - Time's up

I ran out of days in my 1001 days in mid December and shockingly I didn't finish all of the items on my list! I did finish just over half of them and I'm going to call that a success.  I think the most beneficial part of the process was simply putting thought into things that were important to me and that I wanted to accomplish and then reflecting on those things afterwards.  Life gets in the way of checking things off lists sometimes but that's ok... that just means other worthwhile experiences I didn't imagine came up and created memories of their own.  I'll make a new/shorter/perhaps more attainable list in the next day or so for 2013 :-)

Best of 2012

2013 is here! Everyone is posting goals and wishes for the new year, and don't worry I plan on doing that later today but right now I thought I would take a look back at 2012 and give my personal "best of" list.  I know you all just can't wait to know my personal favorites of the year :-)

Song:  I liked a lot of the new stuff out of country radio this year...I feel like its a little less pop then it was for a while and a little more soulful and gritty.  The song I went with though is just plain fun. It always makes me smile and turn the radio up and to me that's what makes an awesome tune.  So thank you to new to the radio Florida Georgia Line for this hit:
Cruise
favorite line: she was sippin' on Southern and singin' Marshall Tucker.

Concert: This is a really tough one.. I saw several really good shows in the past year: Lady Antebellum with Thompson Square and Darius Rucker, Metric, Luke Bryan, Kip Moore, Legwarmers, All American Rejects with Boys Like Girls, Miranda Lambert with the Pistol Annies.  I think it winds up being a tie for me between Luke Bryan and Kip Moore and here's why:

Luke Bryan: Luke (I like to think we're on a first name basis.. lol) puts on an incredible show and aside from that I was with an awesome friend and despite the CRAZY HEAT we had a great time watching people and then dancing and singing along.. we had so much fun we're going to see him again this coming summer (there's no such thing as too much Luke) with Florida Georgia Line (YAY!).  I don't have to mention (though I will anyway) that Luke Bryan does as good of a job shaking it as the girls do in his video.  Not hard on the eyes.  Just sayin.

Kip  Moore: First of all the venue is pretty much my favorite as this was a show at the Carroll County Fairgrounds :-)  So I got to be in one of my favorite spots in the world with two great friends who were new to the world of concerts held in an "arena" that's used for things like horse shows, tractor pulls and demolition derbies.  Secondly, Kip Moore does a fantastic job connecting with his audience, storytelling, and sounds as good live as on the radio.  Funny memory from this: two teenage girls standing up at their seats only a few rows back from the stage for the ENTIRE show but who did not dance at all.  Kip Moore tried to interact with them several times to get them to act like they were having a great time but they just did not have dancing in their bones I guess :-)

Book: I'm pretty sure I don't really need to even restate this.  You all already know how much I love John Green and The Fault In Our Stars did not disappoint me (or the rest of the world apparently - yay for new people loving my John Green).  I find all of his books witty, funny, emotional and poetic.  Looking For Alaska will probably always hold the special place in my heart as my favorite but I can see why a lot of people are touting The Fault in Our Stars as his best work to date. I know some people are reluctant to read it because it's a book about kids with cancer but more than that it's a book about teenagers living their lives. 
Because that was such an obvious choice here's two more of my top reads for 2012: Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (her first book Anna and the French Kiss is also great)

Movie: Admittedly I didn't see many movies this year.. and the movie I planned on talking about here was actually from 2011 when I looked it up (Midnight in Paris in case you're wondering).  Even with that said though.. when I looked back at what I did see two movies stuck out for me... two very very different movies: Les Miserables and American Reunion.  I was a little skeptical going into Les Mis because I loved the stage show so much that I wasn't sure famous actors on the big screen could pull it off for me but I was happy to be proven wrong about that.  I thought the live action singing was incredible and emotional and perfectly not perfect.  As for my second choice - I know people tend to either love or hate the American Pie movies and probably a lot of people find them silly but I thought this one was pretty touching actually... friends coming back together is something near and dear to my heart as I am so blessed to have my core group of friends from high school as my best girls. 

Ok - so that's enough rambling about my favorites!  I'd love to hear about yours!