Songs I am Obsessed With Right Now

Maybe I am the only person, but when I hear a song I like on the radio I kind of get obsessed with it. I just want it to come on all the time! Or I go home and YouTube it over and over!

Here are a few of the songs I love right now!

This song by the Chainsmokers is awesome. It has such a great beat and it's always on the radio right now!

Dan and Shay are a great country duo, but From the Ground Up is such a beautiful song. I absolutely love it.

Florida Georgia Line has never put out a bad song. It took me a few times for me to get into this one, but I really like the song. It's another I love to sing when it comes across the radio (which is quite a bit).

I hope you enjoy your day! 

Until next time,

Kara







I do not own the rights to any of these songs or videos. You can find the videos on YouTube.

Book Recommendations for January

I haven't felt much like reading in awhile, but I still have a couple book recommendations for you!

Frostfire- Kanin Chronicles by Amanda Hocking

If you loved any of my recommendation for Fae novels, like this one, or these, then you will love the Kanin Chronicles series by Amanda Hocking. 

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It was a great adventure, mystery book. It's got a strong female character Bryn, who despite all odds, succeeds at whatever she chooses!

You are rooting for her the entire time, even though sometimes you just want to smack some sense into her! This three book series is worth your time!

The Frostfire description is:

Hidden deep in the heart of a snow-covered wilderness lies the secret kingdom of the Kanin—a magical realm as beautiful as it is treacherous...

Bryn Aven has never fit into Kanin society. Her blond hair and blue eyes set her apart as an outsider—a half-blood unable to hold a respectable rank. But she's determined to prove herself as a loyal protector of the kingdom she loves. Her dream is to become a member of the King's elite guard, and she's not going to let anything stand in her way...not even her growing feelings for her boss, Ridley Dresden. A relationship between them is strictly forbidden, but Bryn can't fight her attraction to him. And she's beginning to think he feels it too. Meanwhile, there's an attack on the kingdom—one that will test Bryn's strength like never before. Finally, she has the chance to confront Konstantin Black, the traitor who tried to kill her father years ago. It's up to Bryn to put a stop to him before he strikes again. But is she willing to risk everything to protect a kingdom that doesn't accept her for who she really is? And when her mission brings her closer to Ridley, will she be able to deny her heart?


Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series: The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan

I have been on the wait-list for months of books, so I'm always trying to fit in filler books. I always get on Goodreads to see book recommendations based on past books I have read. This was a recommendation I received. 

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This is a young adult novel, but it's fun to read and I could see myself reading this when our child gets to be 9 or 10. They would really enjoy the adventure that it holds. I haven't read the whole series, but the first couple books were really good!

I also love when stories tie in Greek mythology. I just find it so interesting! Plus, you never know when that trivia will come up on Jeopardy or trivia night!

Here is the description for Percy Jackson: The Lightening Thief

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

These are some fun reads! It's nothing too serious, but who really wants to start off the new year with something depressing or sad? Not this girl!

Happy Reading!

Until next time,

Kara

Happy 2016!

I can't believe we are already into to January! Crazy how time flies. The Hubby and I have been super busy with the holidays and everything going on the past couple months.

The Hubby and I have some exciting news. We are expecting in June, so I've been pretty absent from blogging because I've been so tired. That first trimester really kicks some rear end! I think I was asleep each night by 7:45 or 8. That was laying down or sitting up! 

We are super excited and can't wait to find out what we are having! 

I was really tired this year, so I decided to put up my smaller tree. The cat's didn't mind, they love to lay under the tree. 

Which means, when there are zero presents, we wake up to the tree skirt being in weird places because they decide to fight over who can lay under there!

I think we attended 4 different Christmas parties this year! I was wore out after that! We got a ton of great stuff for us and baby! 

Indiana decided to have weird weather for Christmas this year. We didn't have a white Christmas, because it was in the 50's!

It was really strange Christmas day, but that didn't stop Socks from getting cold and retreating to the covers! It's so funny to randomly see lumps in the beds... it's usually a Socks cat!

While the Hubby was off on Christmas break we decided to do some fun things. For the past couple years, we have attended the Pacer game right before Christmas, so we went again this year. It's always a fun time!

We also decided to do a mini-getaway and went to Fort Wayne to stay the night and attend a Mad Ants game. They are the NBA D-league team that feed into the Pacers. I got a great deal on tickets through Groupon!

We had a great time just getting away and spending time together, and we also got to try a new restaurant. 

It was called 800 degrees. They cook your pizza in a wood burning oven. It was super yummy! 

In anticipation for our new addition I took a trip down memory lane and went through all my childhood books. I have a ton of the Golden Books! I LOVE to read and I hope the baby takes over that love. 

It was so much fun to look in the covers and see the date I received the book. Some of them were from 1987... talk about old! HA-HA! Of course Bella had to inspect the books and see what was going on.

We are so excited for what 2016 holds. Last year was an amazing year, but 2016 is setting up to be the best yet! We hope that you and your families have a great 2016 as well!

Until next time,

Kara

Book Recommendations for December!

I know, I know....it's been too long! But I am back with some book recommendations for that book lover in your life (just in time for Christmas)!

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read. I just think it's so important to start kids at a small age of loving to read. I have a tub of all my childhood books. Many of them are from my great-grandma. She would get me a new book for my birthday, Christmas or special occasion. Many kids today are always on their phone and need a quick fix for their attention spans. However, a kid that reads can spend countless hours in fantasy lands, learning a new hobby, or having an adventure!

For the adult book fans, I have some new books that I really enjoyed!

Fever Series- Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

I started this book and was like where is this going?! But I kept reading and I ended up really enjoying the series. 

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I enjoy fantasy books that just keep you guessing and this series really did that! It had mystery, adventure, heartbreak, romance, and more!

Here is the book's description:

MacKayla Lane's life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she's your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks...until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death--a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone--Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister's killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed--a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae....

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane--an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women--closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book--because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands....

Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

I really enjoy books by this author. She has an entire series of books that are spin-offs on the fairy tales we all know and love. The stories are told in a way that is different from how you originally heard the stories. This is the newest one I have read, but I would recommend all her books!

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This book is about finding yourself and feeling comfortable in your own skin, and maybe along the way you might find happiness and love! 

Here is the book's description:

Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha—one of the few who speaks his language—understands the wild story.

Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin's message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself "Lord Colin" is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only is she unable to keep anything secret, she's sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. Though when Margaretha overhears Claybrook one day, she discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook's wicked plot.

The House of Night Series- Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I am not completely done with this series, but it definitely keeps you wanting to read. It pulls you in from the beginning!

This is another young adult fantasy series. I just can't seem to get enough of those! This was a recommendation on Goodreads for me, so I decided to give it a try!

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I love trying to figure out who is the good guy, who is the bad guy, and how is Zoey going to stop them? This series keeps you guessing as it twists, turns and flips around! This book encompasses teenage friendships, love, action, adventure and mystery. It's a must read!

Here is the book's description:

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire—that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampyre friends. 

I hope if you are looking for a new read, that you will check out these book series!

Until next time,

Kara

Some of My Favorite Blogs!

Wow, sorry for being absent for so long! I haven't been feeling 100% so I have been taking it easy in the crafting and cooking department.

I am currently trying to figure out my sewing machine. I have got it threaded and now just need to figure out the rest! HAHA, wish me luck there!

I'm back today with some of my favorite blogs to read and follow. These blogs really inspired me to share my own ideas and story.

The Brown-Eyed Baker
Wow, this girl can cook! She has a new recipe about every day and they all look delicious. She also shares pictures of her two golden retrievers and son, Joseph.

Her recipes range from rich chocolate cakes to homemade casseroles! You just never know what she will be posting!

Cookies and Cups
I love this blog. She has expanded this year and started incorporating savory dishes in her blog. However, she founded her blog on her love of buttercream. 

Shelly has an upcoming cookbook that is coming out and it looks awesome! If you like sweet treats, she is a wealth of knowledge!

I also love her because I won last years Creative Cookie Competition with my Hogwarts Worthy Butterbeer Cookies, you can see my post here or Shelly's try at my recipe here!

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Kristan is another blogger that I love to read. She loves dessert and posts the yummiest (is that a proper word?) looking food. I have tried several of her recipes and loved them.

She also has book, clothing, and make-up recommendation posts. I just love her funny, witty personality! She is a mom who keeps it real. 

She also helped throw the Creative Cookie Competition last year and she recreated my recipe here!

Sally's Baking Addiction
This blog is full of all kinds of recipes. Sally gives expert instructions behind all her recipes along with the science behind things! She's currently on a book tour for her new cookbook.

Sawdust & Embryos
This is a DIY blog. I find Beth and her husband, Nick, hilarious and ambitious. They created their blog to help earn income with they were struggling with infertility and trying to find ways to raise extra income for treatments. They can build something out of nothing, which I am extremely jealous over!

I follow all these blogs on a regular basis and love to read about what they are coming up with next. I wish I could have a tenth of creative juices that they all spit out! (kind of a gross analogy, sorry!)

Hopefully, I can build my blog to represent a little of what each of these ladies do, but I am happy just sharing my love of baking, crafting, and living life!

Until next time,

Kara

Book Recommendations for October

Here are some recent books that I enjoyed.

Mythos Academy Series- by Jennifer Estep

I really enjoyed reading this young adult series. It incorporates action, adventure, romance, mythology, and mystery all into one high school! It's an easy read that keeps you wanting to know more. 

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PLUS, it helped me answer a recent mythology Jeopardy question...Can we say invaluable information?!?

First Frost is the first book in the series. Here is the description:

I am Gwen Frost, and I have a Gypsy gift. It's called psychometry – that's a fancy way of saying that I see images in my head and get flashes of other people's memories off almost everything I touch, even guys.

My gift makes me kind of nosy. Okay, okay, maybe a lot nosy—to the point of obsession sometimes. I want to know everything about everyone around me. But even I don't want to know the secrets my friend Paige is hiding or the terrible loss that will send me to a new school – Mythos Academy, where the teachers aren't preparing us for the SATs, but to battle Reapers of Chaos. Now I have no friends and no idea how my gift fits in with all these warrior whiz kids. The only thing I do know is that my life is never, ever going to be the same...

The Bourbon Kings- by J.R. Ward

I love J.R. Ward. I have read and recommended her two previous series, The Fallen Angels and The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. 

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I really love her writing and the way she incorporates a ton of characters and story lines within one plot.

This book has scandal, love, lies, and family issues. Who doesn't love someone else's family drama?!?

Here is the description:

For generations, the Bradford family has worn the mantle of kings of the bourbon capital of the world. Their sustained wealth has afforded them prestige and privilege—as well as a hard-won division of class on their sprawling estate, Easterly. Upstairs, a dynasty that by all appearances plays by the rules of good fortune and good taste. Downstairs, the staff who work tirelessly to maintain the impeccable Bradford facade. And never the twain shall meet.

For Lizzie King, Easterly's head gardener, crossing that divide nearly ruined her life. Falling in love with Tulane, the prodigal son of the bourbon dynasty, was nothing that she intended or wanted—and their bitter breakup only served to prove her instincts were right. Now, after two years of staying away, Tulane is finally coming home again, and he is bringing the past with him. No one will be left unmarked: not Tulane's beautiful and ruthless wife; not his older brother, whose bitterness and bad blood know no bounds; and especially not the ironfisted Bradford patriarch, a man with few morals, fewer scruples, and many, many terrible secrets.

As family tensions—professional and intimately private—ignite, Easterly and all its inhabitants are thrown into the grips of an irrevocable transformation, and only the cunning will survive.

The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires- by Molly Harper

I just recommended Molly Harper's other series Jane Jameson. 

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This book is a spin-off of that series. It still has all the same characters, but the focus shifts to another character's life. 

I really enjoyed reading this fun romance!

Here is the description:

"The thing to remember about a 'stray' vampire is that there is probably a good reason he is friendless, alone, and wounded. Approach with caution." 
Iris Scanlon, Half-Moon Hollow's only daytime vampire concierge, knows more about the undead than she'd like. Running their daylight errands—from letting in the plumber to picking up some chilled Faux Type O—gives her a look at the not-so-glamorous side of vamps. Her rules are strict; relationships are purely business, not friendship—and certainly not anything more. Then she finds her newest client, Cal, poisoned on his kitchen floor, and her quiet life turns upside down. 

Cal—who would be devastatingly sexy, if Iris thought vampires were sexy—offers Iris a hefty fee for hiding him at her place. And even though he's imperious, unfriendly, and doesn't seem to understand the difference between "employee" and "servant," she agrees. But as they search for who wants him permanently dead, Iris is breaking more and more of her own rules . . . particularly those about nudity. Could it be that what she really needs is some intrigue and romance—and her very own stray vampire?

Hopefully this will give you a few good ideas for books this month! 

It's starting to get cool here in Indiana, so it's almost time to get a good book, a heavy blanket, something warm to drink and to hunker down for Indiana's cold weather!

Until next time,

Kara