Goodbye Blogger

This will be the last time I post on blogger. I am now switching everything over to my new WordPress blog, Kricket's Korner.

There's a couple reasons why I'm doing this.

1. Technical difficulties. A few months ago I got this Surface which has Windows 8 RT on it, not realizing the difference between RT and regular Windows. I thought the Surface would just be a touch screen laptop, but it's more of an inflated tablet and thus has some limitations. One of those is that it does not play nicely with Google. I can't download Chrome and things such a Blogger just don't work without a dozen error messages. So, since I can't use Blogger easily on my main computer, it was time for a change.

2. Consolidation. I've been running two separate blogs for a while now and it's just become a hassle. I've been wanting to put them together but I wasn't sure how I could do it. It just seems easier to start over.

3. Everybody's doing it! Well, a lot of people I know use WordPress and it doesn't have the Google connection like Blogger. So it seems like a good way to go. Anyway, I have managed to import all my post from Konfessions and Kricket Writes, so everything will be there, but we're going to be starting fresh now. So please, come find me over at Kricket's Korner! The place might have changed and the format might change, but it's still me and that why we're here, right?

Mommy Konfessions: First Child Mistakes

When I first became a mom I read all the books and blogs about babies and toddlers and I thought I had it all figured out. I was still scared to death, but I really thought I had it all under control.

Well, there's nothing like some time and a second child to realize how wrong I was.

My boys

I've made so many stupid little mistakes with William that I am now trying to rectify with Jacob. Just to list a few:

• Allowing him to watch too much TV
• Letting him have a binkie for so long
• Letting him have a bottle in bed
• Not enforcing table manners
• Not taking care of his teeth from the beginning
• Letting him graze all day long

You know, stuff like that.

And at the time that I did, or did not, do these things with Will, it all made sense. He loved his binkie from day one. It kept him happy and calm. As he got older and could hold his own bottle, and then sippy cup, he wouldn't sleep without it. Letting him graze all day, in front of the TV and not really forcing him to sit and eat meals with the family made him happy.

But the bottom line here is, I was being partially lazy and just willing to keep him happy so that he wouldn't scream and cry all the time. This stuff starts so innocently. I worked during the first year of Will's life and hated it. So by the time he was a year and a half and I became a stay at home mom, I spoiled him out of guilt.

It just became easy to give him what he wanted. It wasn't until we were around other people that I realized that William was the person in control in our relationship. And then I had Jacob and I realized that my kids needed more discipline. And so I tried.

But it's still so hard during the first year of any baby's life. You can't really spoil an infant and they are so demanding, I just got used to giving Jacob, and Will, anything they wanted. It felt easy, at the time. Until I realized I was pretty much their slave, and I did not like that feeling.

Now that William is four and Jacob almost two, I see more and more the mistakes I made. It is so hard to try to fix those things, but it is absolutely necessary. So now, the TV is turned off at 3 pm everyday, no matter what. I've begun regulating their meal and snack times. We already broke Will of his binkie and then bottle-in-bed habits, but we still need to break Jacob of having milk in bed.

Damage has already been done to William's teeth, but we now brush everyday and so does Jacob. And I'm sure as time goes on, I'll find more stuff that I wish I had tackled earlier in their lives.

So to all my fellow parents out there, know this: You will make mistakes with the first, maybe even second, child. Those mistakes are fixable. It'll be a lot of work, but worth it. So just keeping working on doing what you think is best for your child.

What are some things you realize now that you could have done better when first became a parent? Leave a comment! Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Book Review: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

By: Neil Gaiman

5 STARS

A brilliantly imaginative and poignant fairy tale from the modern master of wonder and terror, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman’s first new novel for adults since his #1 New York Times bestseller Anansi Boys.

This bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival, and memory and magic, makes the impossible all too real...

This was a very interesting and imaginative book. It's told from the point of view of an older man looking back on events that happened to him as a child. So it blends the initial thoughts of the child and the realizations of the adult man.

As is typical for Gaiman, the images his writing invokes are pretty amazing. Some pretty and light while others are dark and dangerous. It was a really enjoyable and short read and you leave it thinking. I like books that make me think.

If you're already a Gaiman fan, I highly suggest this. Also, if you're a fan of very imagery driven stories.

In other, blog related, news, since I have a huge back log of posts I want to do, I'm going to start posting twice a week. On Mondays and Fridays. Otherwise it will take me months do write about all the things on my mind and that are relevant to me.

So what book will you be reading this weekend? Tell em in the comments! Thank you for reading and have a great day!

It's been a while...

Wow, um, yeah, I totally skipped January. My bad. The beginning of the new year has been kind of crazy. I have all these goals for this year and things I want to improve. My resolutions list is pretty long, maybe too long. But it's doable.

Looking back over last year, I realized that I didn't do much. Nothing major happened and I just kind of floated along in life and didn't accomplish much of anything. But this year will be different. The key will be to not get overwhelmed.

I'll just briefly go over some of my goals:

1. Improve my spirituality. This includes going to church every week (I get lazy, a lot) and doing the daily stuff of reading my scriptures and saying prayer. I've struggled with that one for a while.
2. Make and keep to a budget. Another thing we've been meaning to do for a while, but just keep skipping over. But this year we're going to start knocking out some debt.
3. More discipline and structure for the kids. Jacob is totally passed the do whatever he wants all day stage and I need to get William ready for preschool.
4. Health stuff. Daniel and I are going to start working out regularly and I'm trying to do more good home cooked meals and less fast food.
5. And finally, my writing goals. Which include, finishing my current project (which might happen this weekend), start a new project and to update my blogs once a week.

It's a lot, but I've got a year, so I think I can do it. Just have to adjust the daily schedule a bit and stop being so lazy. I'm insanely lazy.

Anyway, as I said in #5, I'm going to keep up with my blogs this year *pause for laughter* yeah, yeah, I know. :) But I've got a lot of ideas and stuff.

So what do you have to look forward to? Well, I plan on updating this blog every Friday and the Writing blog on Wednesdays. Some topics we'll cover here are, Kricket Krafts, Kricket Kooks, more Mommy Konfessions, more book reviews and just whatever else I do in my life.

So please, stick around, I want to do more with this blog and I can't do that without your help and support. :)

Happy Valentines Day and have a great weekend!

P.S. I'm going to be doing some adjustments to the blog today, so it might look weird for a bit.

 

Book Review: Undead Chaos

A book review! I haven't done one of these in a while. :)

Undead Chaos

By: Joshua Roots

5 STARS!

The job was simple: decapitate the zombie, get paid, get out. Warlock Marcus Shifter followed the plan perfectly.

The corpse, however, did not.

Now there's a body on the loose, accusations of illegal necromancy are flying, and the answers are waiting in the perilous alleys between the mortal and paranormal worlds. They're no place for someone who mostly gave up magic after a childhood accident. And given his tendency to shoot off his mouth and his Glock, Marcus is having a hell of a time digging up more than just bodies.

When an apocalypse-minded megalomaniac threatens Marcus's family, things get personal. Marcus will have to embrace the magic he's been avoiding for years—and even that might not be enough to save the world from a hellish demise.

~~~

In the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Roots is a friend of mine from Absolute Write

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure I was going to read this at first. I'm not really a fan of zombies (they're overused, much like vampires), but Root's clever writing style pulled me in 100%. Marcus is a great character, fully realized and believable. I love that he relies more on his gun than his magic. I also loved how not jaded he was. Many characters like this are bitter against the world for one reason or another. Yeah they kick ass and take names, but they're also emo and it can be annoying after a while. But not Marcus.

Yeah, he's been through some crap in his life, some of it his own making, but he still has a lot to live for and be happy about. Like his loving family and his bees. I will never look at bees the same way again.

And Marcus isn't the only awesome character in this book, there's also Steve. Every line of Steve's dialogue is pure gold. Quinn is also wonderful and unique.

In short, I really enjoyed every moment I spent with this book and I'm dying to spend more time with these characters in their world.

Well thanks for reading! I hope I've given you an idea for something fun to read this week.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

And here follows the obligatory gratitude post. ;)

But seriously, I have a lot to be thankful for. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll notice that I don't do the daily gratitude thing in November because, well, why try to do something I know I'll forget to do two days in?

So here follows some things that I am grateful for this year.

1. My family. Daniel is the most amazing husband and father ever. My boys are gems (most of the time). I'm so lucky that I live near my sisters and that my parents are able to come visit us, as well as being not too terribly far from Daniel's family. Oh, and Happy, I love my dog. :)
2. My job. I'm so grateful that I get to be a stay at home mom. As hard as it can be sometimes, I love being home with William and Jacob. Also, I love being able to spend a whole day in my PJ's. ;)
3. Writing. I love to write and create new worlds and characters to populate those worlds. I love coming up with stories. Again, it's not always easy, but it's worth it.
4. All the material things I take for granted. I live in a nice place. We have a good car. I'm able to buy food, clothes and other, less essential things. I love the internet and the TV. And books, so many books!
5. My religion. I'm grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints. It gives me peace and direction in my life, as well as connecting me to good people and new friends.

Well, I think that about covers it. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) and try not to over eat.

Oh, a programming note: Starting next week I'm going to start a series of writing tips over at Kricket Writes. I've been thinking about doing this for a while and I finally figured out a plan. So look forward to that. :)

And Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading!

*Poke, Poke*

Are we all still alive? I am, mostly.

I did that thing where I kept forgetting to update this thing or I felt like I just had nothing to talk about. Now, I'm not going to sit here and promise to keep to any kind of schedule right now, because we know that's not going to stick. Because, really, I'm not a politician. ;)

So let's do a quick run down of what's been going on and then we'll see where we're at from there. We'll start with the bad, just to get it out of the way.

Bad: I've been dealing with a lot of headaches and back pain as of late. I could use a chiropractor but that is expensive. I'm making due with drinking more water and watching how much sugar I take in. Plus I'm trying to not sit slouched over so much. Also, I haven't been writing like I should. Despite it being NaNoWriMo. I have no excuse except that I'm lazy. And I'm currently trying to come up with ways to teach William not to wet the bed at night.

And now some Good: I got a sweet new hair cut and color the other day. I've never had it this short and I'm totally loving it. Also, I got a new techie toy, a Microsoft Surface. I've only had a couple days but so far I'm liking it. It doesn't support Google Chrome, which sucks, but I'm managing.

And in other news, William turns four on Sunday. Is there a way to get kids to stop growing?

Well I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back in a week, but no promises. I do have some book review I can do though.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday! And thanks for reading!

Fall, Already?

Okay, so this month got away from me in like every way possible. The first week of September I was in Utah visiting family. Then the next week we brought home a guest and she stayed with us for a week and a half. Then last week I went to a Fall Out Boy concert, which was my first ever concert. And somewhere in there, I turned 27. God I'm old.

Anyway, I've been busy and have totally forgotten to blog, or write, or do much of anything productive. I can blame some of it on a wicked cold, and then thus weekend I had a migraine from hell. I call those my "Post Stress Migraines". They only seem to happen after all the crazy has gone away. It's how I decompress I guess. It was either that or I killed my neck trying to see over people at the concert. Which was awesome by the way. And no, I don't have pictures because I was too busy enjoying the moment to film it.

And so, life is now back to normal. I'm in the process of revamping my daily routine, again. I do this a lot, but I'm still struggling to find something that works. Of course, one day I'll figure it out and then something outside of my control will change and I'll be right back to square one again.

But one thing that will not change is what I do here on this blog. We will be back to normal and hopefully I have something more to say at Kricket Writes, on Wednesday, than, "Not much." But I'll wait and get into all of that then.

So, I hope you have a Marvelous Monday and I'll see you on Wednesday!

BTW, do you follow me on Kricket Writes? Well you should. Go click that link and follow me, because, I mean, really, who doesn't want more Kricket in their life? ;)

Happy Birthday To Me!

I have a cold. Picked it up at the in-laws, go figure. :)

Anyway! Vacation was great, the boys had a blast. I know they've had a good day when Will comes up to me and asks to go to bed. But, it's good to be home.

Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm going to do for my birthday. I want to go out and stuff, but it all depends on how I feel by the time Daniel comes home from work. So off I go to make my self feel better.

Have a good week, dear reader! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all my birthday buddies out there. 9/9 is the best!

Going On Vacation

I feel like I don't have much to say today. We're going out of town for Labor Day so I won't be back on this blog until next Friday.

I got a couple kid related post in the works. One talking about the shows my boys like to watch on Netflix and one about the games William likes to play on my Kindle. Beyond that, not much else is going on.

I will be on time with my What's Up Wednesday post on Kricket Writes for this week and next, and hopefully I'll have more to talk about there.

Have a good Monday and and good week!

Book Recommendation

I don't feel like doing my usual Krank today since Monday's post was pretty cranky.

So I'm going to throw out some book recommendations.

Do you like YA with awesome female protagonist? Do you like a rich fantasy world full of magic? Do you like knights, mages, gods/goddesses, spies, international politics, mysteries, or crime solving? Then you will like pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce.

I'm a special fan of her Tortall series. I do own every book there is. I'm amazed by her writing skill. She's managed to write 5 different series that all exist in the same world. And each female protagonist is amazing and original.

So lets run down the list of awesome. Let me start by saying that you can pick up any of these series in an order. They do well standing alone, but you get the full effect of awesome if you read it in order.

First there is Alanna and The Lioness Quartet. Alanna is a girl with the Healer's gift, who also wants to be a knight during a time when such things are not allowed. So she must disguise herself as a boy to achieve her dream.

Next is Daine and The Immortals Quartet. Daine is a young woman who has a special gift with animals, looking for a new home while hiding dark secrets about her past.

Third is Kel and The Protector of the Small Quartet. Now that Alanna has paved the way for girls to become knights, Kel is the first girl to openly try for her knighthood.

Fourth is Aly and The Trickster Series. Aly is the only daughter of the famous Alanna. While trying to find her place in the world, Aly gets pulled into the dark underbelly of spy work and international politics.

And finally there is Beka and her series. This series goes back in time a bit to a, many times over, great grandmother of Aly. Beka wants to be a Provost Dog (aka a police officer). She has a special magical Gift that gives her a unique advantage when pursuing murders and other criminals.

Each of these characters and their series are so unique and original. That's what truly amazes me about Pierce. They are all young adult, coming of age stories, showcasing a different part of the rich world of Tortall. I've been a fan since I was a teenager and even now, as I reread these books, they still hold up and capture the same magic for me as an adult.

As a writer, I can only hope that my female characters will come off as amazing as Pierce's. Where each has a unique voice and story to tell.

So hopefully I've given you a good idea of something to read this weekend. Tell if you do or have read these and what you think.

Happy Friday and thanks for reading!

Mommy Confessions: My Big Fat Lazy Bum

This, you will notice, is not the usual Happy Korner, but it's not a Kranky post either. It's confession time!

Sometimes I feel like I'm the laziest person I know. I've been a lazy, procrastinating, lazy person most of my life. Why did I have less than average grades in school? Too lazy to do my homework. Why did I flunk out of college? Too lazy to go to class. Why did I have so many sick days when I was working? Too lazy to go to work. Why does my house get dirty and stay that way for days, if not weeks? Too lazy to get off my ass and do anything but the bare necessities.

Oh, I come up with all kinds of excuses for my self and those around me. I'm sick, I'm tired, the boys were crazy, I'm in a bad mood. The list goes on and on. But what it really gets down too is that I allow myself to get distracted with things. Books, games, this damn internet. I lack self discipline, period.

But man, what really gets under my skin is people who think that being a stay-at-home mom is easy. That we just get to do whatever we want and sit around and watch soap operas all day while we eat tootsie rolls (I do neither, I prefer M&M and Star Trek reruns ;)) Being a SAHM means that you have to be your own boss. You have to learn how to manage your time and keep your self on track. This is not as easy as it might seem, especially for me.

So how do I overcome this? Do I have the secret formula? No, but if you find one, please share, I'll pay you! The best I've managed to come up with is momentum. I have to get up in the morning and just get right to work and not stop until I have no more energy left. I've learned, over time, to pace my self. There was a lot of trial and error in that, but I've figured out what works for me.

And for all the tricks and tips I've learned and applied, there's still the part where I get up off my butt and actually move. Sometimes I think I need tasers on every chair and attached to all my electronics just to keep myself moving throughout the day. One day I'll have a computer smart enough to not turn on until I have proven that I got all the stuff on my to do list done.

But until then, I guess I have to hold my self accountable and not be a big fat lazy bum. Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to do the laundry I go!

Thanks for reading and have a Marvelous Monday!

Kricket's Happy Korner: Volunteering

Let's talk about volunteering and how awesome it is. :) If you didn't know already, I volunteer for Foothills Animal Shelter. I go in on Saturday's and walk dogs for 2 hours, and then spot clean the kennels. It's pretty much the best thing ever.

Not me, but you get the idea. 

My previous volunteering experiences have not been as good. As a teenager, the youth organizations of my church gave us a lot of "opportunities" to serve, and most of them I did not like. Going and singing to old people at a nursing home always scared me (thanks traumatizing experience, Brownies). And going to other people's home to clean it, worst idea ever. "Service Projects" always made me cringe because it generally involved helping other people. I'm not really a people person.

Don't get me wrong, I love people. I'm also pretty good in social situations and I'm even comfortable standing up and giving talks or teaching a class. It's just, given a choice between helping people or picking up dog poop... Hand me the pooper scooper please.

So what made me think of spending my Saturday afternoons volunteering? Well, for a while now I've dreamed of the time when the kids would all be in school and I'd have entire afternoons to my self and the idea of volunteering at an animal shelter always appealed to me. Then, one day it dawned on me that I didn't have to wait that long.

I'll admit, my reasoning for starting were 100% selfish, and that's okay. I wanted to get some time away from the kids and I wanted to play with animals. All of these desires are totally self serving. But yesterday, as I was walking dogs and seeing how happy they were, with their cute little puppy smiles and the way their tails wag, I realized that I'm helping them more then they're helping me and it made me feel really good.

You're smiling because he's smiling. :)

And who doesn't want to feel good?

So, if you're looking for something good and productive to do on the weekends, a good place to start is JustServe.org . There you can find projects in your area. Also, if you're interested in helping animals, look up your local animal shelter or humane society to see if they are in need of help (trust me, they are).

Well, thanks for reading and I hope you have a Magnificent Monday!

Kranky Kricket: Poop

I posted a little thing on Facebook about this yesterday, but I thought I'd expound upon it here, because this is my blog and I can do that. ;P

So I have some neighbors that I, believe, have two cats. A gray tabby and a black one. I know the tabby is their's for sure, and the black one is always around so I just figure it's my neighbor's as well.

Anyway, I live in a little town home complex that has a rule about keeping your animals on a leash when outside, INCLUDING cats. And along with that rule is one to pick up after your animals.

Well, these cats have decided that my garden is their litter box. I used to have flowers there, but they died, so now it's just an empty patch of dirt by my front door. And for weeks now I've been finding cat poop in there and there has been dirt spread all over my front walk. It's annoying and it's messy, not to mention gross and dangerous. Poop of any kind is full of nastiness.

I'm getting fed up with this. I've even moved some of my potted plants so that the cats can't get to the area, but that hasn't stopped them. There was dirt everywhere just yesterday. I shouldn't have to put up with this or clean up the cats' mess. They're not my cats.

And what really gets under my skin is that I have a 10 lb Chihuahua who is the same size, if not smaller, than these cats. I pick up his poop when we go out. You'd think these cat owners could do the same thing.

So, now I'm waiting to catch these cats in the act. And when I do, I'm going to talk to their owner. I'm sure the owner isn't aware that their cats do this and hopefully by making them aware, they'll stop letting their cats out. They're not supposed to be out by them selves anyway.

And for the record, I like cats, never owned one, but I do like them.

I mean, come on, who couldn't love a face like that? :)

Well, thanks for reading and I hope you have a less cranky Friday and a fun filled weekend!

I'm alive, I swear!

Hello dear reader. I am sorry for my absence. I have not forgotten you. Well, actually, I did, but it wasn't on purpose. Life keeps me busy and away from my computer a lot, which is good, but still.

Daniel bought this fancy new Chrome Book thing for school, which he started yesterday. But when he's at work it's all mine. So now I'll be able to update my blogs and be online more without having to lock my self in my room and away from the boys. They didn't like that and it's hard to concentrate when there are boys screaming at the door.

So here I am, telling you that things will be going back to normal now, promise. :)

Thanks for reading and have a good Tuesday!

Kricket's Happy Korner: Happy Animals

I can't believe I totally forgot to do a post Friday. And I had something to Krank about too. But, it's a new day now, and a Monday at that, so let's think happy thoughts.

This past Saturday I started to do volunteer work at Foothills Animal Shelter. It was all orientation stuff and training, but I'm super excited. I've always wanted to work with animals. When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian, but as I got older and realized how much school that required, I gave that up.

I've always loved animals and growing up we hardly ever went without some kind of pet. Mostly dogs and countless hamsters, but we also had parakeets, and a cat, once. My dad is allergic to cats. And I am much more an animal person than a people person.

Once Daniel and I got married we went through two hamsters and now have a dog.

We got Happy from Foothills Animal Shelter two years ago and I love him to death. He's a great little dog. He loves to cuddle and play and he's as his name implies, happy.

So here in a couple weeks I'll start really working at the shelter. Part of this is to just get me out of the house and away from the kids once a week. And nothing is more relaxing and happy than hanging out with animals.

And now, if you have a pet, give it a big hug and a treat. If you don't have one and want one, go to your local shelter. Some of them, like Foothills, even have small critters like birds and rodents or reptiles. Save a life, an animal's and your's. :)

Kricket's Happy Korner: Girl Power!

Okay, I meant to post this yesterday, but yesterday went to hell in a hand basket, so here we are today. :P

I woke up this morning not having a clue what I was going to write about today. This last week has been kind of cruddy for me and I couldn't think of anything happy to talk about. But then I remembered what people always say, when you're feeling down, count your blessings and what you're thankful for, so that's what I'm going to do.

So, once a month, like many women, I get super grumpy and irritable and my body seems to go on strike and do everything it can to make me feel miserable. For a week or more I sit around hating the fact that I am female. But today, I want to talk about all the reasons it's good to be a girl. :)

1. In my opinion, girls are just naturally prettier than boys. We're all round and soft and squishy in all the right places. There's a reason God made Eve last, it takes time to make something this perfect. ;)
2. With that, we have more options in how we beautify ourselves. More clothing styles, more hairstyles, make up, perfume, the works. 
3. Our reproductive organs are all nicely tucked away inside of our bodies. I just can't imagine men are very comfortable most of the time.
4. Speaking of reproduction, we are the only ones that can have children. Maybe one day technology will be able to make men have babies (and I'll be totally on board with that) but until then, we're the ones that get to do that. As unfun as it is sometimes, overall, having children and raising children is a wonderful and amazing thing. That's why we put up with this monthly pain and annoyance.
5. I'll try not to be all sexist and say that women are better than men at almost everything, because that is more on an individual basis than a gender one, but it is nice that in this day and age, women can do practically anything they want. We can stay home with kids or we can go out and have a career in almost any field. Thank you, early feminist.

And there you have it. This is what I tell my self when I have those, "I don't want to be a girl!" days. It helps to think positive. :)

Thank you for reading and have a happy Tuesday! 

Kranky Kricket: Smart Phones Don't Like Toilets

So, I didn't update this last week because I had family in town and I went an entire week without getting on my computer. Minor miracle for me. But I'm back now and we shall move forward into the Krankiness. :)

Let's talk about smartphones and the people that provide them to us. About three weeks ago I upgraded to a smart phone and I was very excited. It can do everything my Kindle does, plus make phone calls. Only thing that kept me from putting my Kindle aside for good was the tiny phone screen. I don't like squinting at screens.

Anyway, when I bought the phone, the nice guy at the store talked me into getting insurance on the phone. At first I almost didn't do it. I've never once broken any of my previous dumb phones. I always managed to keep them safe in my pocket and away from sticky/slippery children hands. But as the salesman was describing the insurance, I got this image of Will or Jacob dropping my phone into the toilet so I went ahead and signed up for the insurance.

And lo and behold, I dropped the phone into the toilet. Serves me right trying to multitask at 5 a.m. I tried to save it as fast as possible but it was a goner.

So then I went to my local cell phone store to get a new phone and that's when stuff started to get annoying. Apparently, not all Verizon stores are the same. See I got the phone at the Flatiron Mall in Bloomfield with my sister. And the stores that are in the mall operate differently than a stand alone stores, at least with the insurance and stuff. So after driving all the way to one store and waiting around a bit with Will and Jacob in tow, I'm told I have to go all the way back to the original store.

I got sick later that day so I had to wait until the next day to drive over half an hour just so the salesman could call the insurance place for me and then I talk to the insurance lady and get it all settled. $100 later and now I'm just waiting for my new phone to arrive in the mail sometime tomorrow.

Of course, with all of this, I've lost my contacts and all the pictures that were on the now dead smart phone. I didn't have a ton of stuff on there yet, but it's enough to be annoying.

But I've learned my lesson. Never take a smart phone into the bathroom with you and make sure you're paying attention to all the fine print.

And that's my crankiness for the week. I hope your's has been less irritating. :) Thanks as always for reading and have a good weekend!

Kricket's Happy Korner: Who Are You?

I'm going to start this off with a little book review, because I like books, so there. :P

Storm Front by Jim Butcher get 5 stars!

Harry Dresden is a Wizard for hire, the only one listed in the Chicago phone book. Business is slow but things begin to pick up when he is called in to help the police solve a gruesome murder that could only be done through powerful magic.

I was told to read this book, so I did and I loved it. It's a fun read and Harry is a great character to be in the head of. The story never stops and even through the crap just gets piled on higher and higher for Harry, he always manages to scrape out by the skin of his teeth. It's intense and keeps you guessing. I didn't stop reading until my Kindle died and reminded me that it was past midnight and time to go to bed.

I highly recommend this for anyone who likes urban fantasy or crime mysteries. 

The other thing I want to share was a personality quiz a friend showed to me just this morning. I'm a sucker for these things but I have never found one that was so accurate. It's kind of scary. It had me down to a T. Try it out, it only takes about 20 minutes and maybe you'll learn something new about your self.

Personality Test

Thank you for reading, as always. Have a happy Monday and Happy Canada Day to my northern neighbors and early Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans.

Kranky Kricket: Not So Kranky

Yeah, I have stuff I could whine about today (I always do) but I don't want to do that because yesterday was Daniel and mine's 5 year wedding anniversary. :)

Back on June 27, 2008 Daniel and I got married at the Salt Lake City Temple.

In front of the Temple doors

It was a pretty amazing and stressful day (as wedding days always are).

In the 5 years since, I have moved a total of 4 times between 3 different states (GA->UT->CO), worked for 2 years, had 2 kids, been too poor to buy milk and then had enough money to buy a car, wrote one book that sucked and am working on another one that hopefully doesn't suck as much. Daniel has gotten his Associates degree in Accounting and had a few different jobs, and all the while we have weathered the ups and downs of life together. I couldn't have asked for a better man to have by my side through all of it.

And the best part is, I get to keep him forever and ever! You know, whether I like it or not. ;)

So looking forward, what will the next five years bring?

• Daniel will get his Bachelors in Accounting
• We'll get out of debt
• We'll buy a house
• We'll have at least one more kid
• I'll finish a book that is good enough to be published
• And the rest of life will just be smooth sailing....

I mean, that's how it works, right? Once you make it through the first five years everything gets easier? No? *looks disappointed* Oh well, I guess we'll just keep doing what we do, BEING AWESOME! :D

Wow, we looked so young!

Thank you for reading while I gushed and have a happy weekend!