Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015 -- bookish, blogging or otherwise!

On this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), we are looking forward to our top ten goals/resolutions for 2015.

Here we go:



1. Get ready for the baby: Since I am four months pregnant, obviously a lot of my goals will focused around becoming a mom for the first time. Its a big transition in life and will take a lot of work.

the wee one at 10 weeks

2. Find a way to document my child's life in photographs: Growing up in a very large family, my parents did a decent job of making sure there were plenty of pictures of us growing up. From baby to adult, there are quite a few pictures of each of us.  My husband on the other-hand, has practically nothing. The youngest picture I have seen was one when he was 9, then again when he's 17, but most pictures start around age 21. I want our kid to have lots of pictures, but I am not a huge fan of sharing them online. Facebook, Instagram, and blogs are ok for the occasional pictures, but not a lot of them. Any suggestions on creative and easy ways to keep these precious memories?

my best friend and I as we get ready for prom

3. No new debt: I had this same goal last year and was able to keep it.  But with a munchkin on the way, it's about to get a whole lot more difficult. But I still want no new debt in 2015!

4. Be more outdoorsy: Growing up, I was always outside. I hiked, biked, camped, and more. Since I became an adult, life got in the way.  I want that to change. While I still camp at least once a year, I want that to increase.  I want to take more hikes as well, and play more games outside, like Frisbee golf, bocce ball, and tennis.

beach fun in Oregon with the hubby

5. Go see the Foo Fighters in concert: The Foo Fighters are by far my favorite band, but I have never seen them in concert. In September, they will actually be near me and I already have my tickets.  Now I need to make sure I make it all the way out there to see them!

6. More date nights with my husband: My husband and I have been petty good about going out on actual dates lately, but this will become a little more difficult as our family grows. But it's still important, so I definitely want to keep it up!

7. Maintain my blogging speed: I have decided that I am comfortable with 3-4 posts a week. Now I am hoping to maintain that into the new year.

8. Collect all my favorite books from my childhood: I have very fond memories of my mom and dad reading to me when I was young. Many of those books have stuck with me over the years. My goal is to collect all my favorites and pass the tradition of reading on to the next generation. Any suggestions on other good children's books?

9. Get back down to pre-baby weight after the baby: Right now, thanks to the wonderfulness (sarcasm) of morning sickness, I am still under my pre-baby weight, but I am now gaining instead of losing, and expect to go above.  I would like to be back to normal by the end of the year (and perhaps a little lower!)

10. Be more social:  This has been my goal every year since probably birth. I am terrible about being social. I am not a shut in by any means, but when I meet new people, I get very shy and usually don't talk much. It makes it hard to make new friends. It's something I would like to change as I have kids, because I would like them to be more social than I was as a kid.

my sister's and I in Kentucky with Indiana just across the river

Making Up For Monday: Goal Rewind

 It's time for Making Up For Monday!

This week's question:  How did you do with your reading goals for this year?

I had a few goals this year: 

1. In the next five years I need to read 50 classics, so I needed to read at least ten of them this year. Here is the list.

2. I am also working on the Pulitzer Prize Winners in the next two years.  That means at least 31 of them this year.  Here's that list.

3. On top of those challenges....I wanted to read 125 books! 

Here's how I did: 

1. I read 14 classics, making a good dent in my list and exceeding my goal!

2. I have read 17 of the Pulitzer Prize winners, which is a good number, but well below my goal of 31.  Next year I will have a lot of catch up to do! Perhaps I should make this a three year goal.

3. I only read 90 books.  Wah wah. 

My main reasons for missing my goals is that I had ten and a half weeks of severe morning sickness and didn't read a single book in that time. Considering next year I will have a wee one distracing me, I don't think I will be setting such lofty goals.

How about you? How did you do?

The Hours: 2 Stars

The Hours by Michael Cuningham

Virgina Woolfe committed suicide in 1941 by filling her pockets with rocks and throwing herself in the river. But back in 1923, she was more hopeful as she wrote the novel, Mrs. Dalloway. The book is about a woman who is happily married and preparing a party for her husband. But she harbors the secret of her true love, Sally. Virginia spends time with her sister, nieces, and nephew, knowing deep down that she will never have children and will likely let her depression consume her.

Laura Brown is preparing a cake for her husband, and is reading Mrs. Dalloway in 1949. As she in the kitchen preparing, she shares a kiss with Kitty, who she secretly loves as more than a friend. Consumed with the need to be alone, she leaves the house and ends up in a hotel room to read. While she does eventually return home, suicide keeps coming back to her mind. What seems to hold her back from it throughout the day is that it would sadden her husband and son and kill the child she is carrying.

Clarissa Vaughn is preparing for a party in honor of a poet friend, Richard, who is dying of AIDS in 1999. He is Laura's son. She lives with her partner, Sally. She is like the modern day Mrs. Dalloway.  Clarissa reflects upon her life and those she has been in relationships with in the past, mainly Richard.

I wanted to like this book far more than I actually did. In fact, for the first few chapters, I thought, "I must recommend this book to everyone I know!". However, by the end of the book, all I could think was, "How did this win a Pulitzer Prize?"

While the books seems beautifully written, the words don't flow well. The book comes off more like a pretentious author who wants to show of how eloquent he can be, rather than telling a story. I found myself rolling my eyes several times at the way the novel was written and wish the author had set his ego aside for a bit while he wrote.

One of the issues I had with the book was the language used in Clarissa's tale. Now, swearing doesn't bother me at all in books, unless it seems forced and out of place. This was exactly the case with Clarissa. She rarely swears, but uses the word "fuck" often. The word comes off out of place and forced, like a cheap attempt to remind us that Clarissa is in modern times. His writing is done well enough that the reminder is not needed. If he had used language throughout the whole book and more than just the one word, it wouldn't have felt so forced or out of place.

I also struggled with all of the characters.  They were unlikable and this made it difficult to care what happened to them. While I can see that Cunningham was trying to show the change of social acceptance of lesbianism over the decades and the effect this would have on women who are arguably lesbians, he failed to make the characters sympathetic. I was truly disappointed.

Rating: R

Recommended for those who enjoy: modern tales of classics, LGBT, and mental issues.