Books, Books and more Books!

I love to read! It has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember. I am sure it has a lot to do with my competiveness and my 3rd grade teacher! She decided that for every book we read, we would write our name on a giant colored circle. Then she put the circle on the wall by the ceiling. Eventually we had a giant caterpillar-like string of circles going around our classroom. My competitiveness drove me to have the most circles than anyone in our class! Thus, my love of reading was born. Makes sense, right?

I had another reading type marathon the summer before I started 7th grade. My mom used to babysit kids and during the summer it was simply unbearable for me (an almost teenager) to be around so many kids younger than me.....can you imagine? ;o) So, instead of helping my mom out like a good daughter, I holed myself up in my room with Nancy Drew and the Sweet Valley High Twins!

I have to say after I got married and moved into the real world, books weren't a high priority on my list of things to do. There was a new husband, jobs, then kids, etc... Our first summer having three kids, Bill was home with me since he had gotten fired from his job that April. I am still so grateful for that time that we all got to spend together, and I got to keep my sanity! Anyway, he isn't one for sitting around the house all day eating bon bons and watching soaps (LOL), so he took the girls to the city library. With flashbacks of our college library in my head, I had no desire to tag along. Then one day, I did......

Now, four years later, and I am hooked! There is not a week that goes by that I don't visit our library at least once, but usually two or three times! And being the nerd that I am, I have taken reading to the next level by keeping a database of books I have read and need to read. I keep track if the books are available at my library, and if they are not, I keep track of them until they are, so that I can be the first to request them. I research my favorite authors (only about 50!) so that I know when to expect their latest best seller! Like I said, I am nerd and just a tad obsessed!! ;o)

My favorite genre is mystery. I have two favorite authors that I simply cannot live without and they are J.D. Robb with her Eve Dallas In Death Series and Janet Evanovich with her Stephanie Plum Series! It is really a shame that I read so fast, as I finish the new books so quickly and am left wanting more! That's a sign of a great author, though, right?!?

I also enjoy contemporary romance novels. And, I need to clarify that a lot of these novels have their share of smut, but they (almost) always have a great plot to carry you through. A couple of my favorite authors here are: Nora Roberts, Janet Evanovich, Carly Phillips, Catherine Coulter, Heather Graham, Jennifer Crusie, Linda Lael Miller, Suzanne Brockmann....Okay, I could really just go on and on with this list!

You would think with my extensive list of favorite authors, I would hardly be out of books to read from the library. But it seems a cold spell has descended and I am left re-reading some of the oldie but goodies! I have restarted the In Death and the Stephanie Plum books. I usually cannot stand to read the same book twice, but I have really been enjoying it so far. There are 25 In Death Novels with 3 anthologies thrown in the mix, and there are 13 Plum Novels with about 2 anthologies thrown in. So, it has been awhile since I read the beginning of these, and I found that I had forgotten quite a few things like how Steph and Joe got hooked up when she detested him so much and just when did Peabody hook up as Eve's aide.

If anyone is interested in starting either one of these series', you'll need to start with:

Also, be sure to check out my Recent Reads list on the left to see what else I have been reading! My friend, Joni has a really cool tool on her blog powered by Library Thing, and I just had to get it, too! It will automatically update your recently read books when you add it to your list in Library Thing! If you are an avid reader, it is definitely an awesome tool to have!!

Scary Thought!!!

You know how you can totally become (okay I'll say it) obsessed with one thing, that you completely block everything else out? Well, a very scary realization hit me yesterday......

As you all know, we are going to Disney. We have had this trip scheduled since April. We have our standard countdown of days, but we also have a countdown of events. So in order, the countdown goes/went like this:

11. My Class Reunion
10. Last day of School for Girls
9. Sydney spend June with Grandma & Grandpa
8. Steve & Keri's Wedding
7. Hayley spend 1 1/2 weeks with Grandma & Grandpa
6. Bill goes to Colorado Springs for School
5. I go to PTA Summer Seminar in Austin
4. Emyley spends 2 weeks with Grandma & Grandpa
3. PTA stuff to get ready for back to school night
2. First day of School for Girls
1. D * I * S * N * E * Y


Okay, what?!?!? Back up a minute! First day of school????????? Yep, in all my one-track-minded-ness with Disney, I was totally overlooking the fact that the girls have to start school first! I knew it, in the back of my mind, but it wasn't my main focus, ya know? So yesterday, I realized, if we have 2 months til Disney, then the girls only have 1 1/2 months til school starts!! EEEEKKKKKK!! Where has the summer gone?

Another Cute Ticker & More Disney!

I found this really cute ticker today! I couldn't resist adding it to my blog!!



I was putting together our daily schedule today and realized one important fact....we are never getting any time to rest!!! They say to be at the park gate 30 min before it opens, then allowing for transportation time, we have to leave an hour before it opens, then there's breakfast (may have to have at the parks), then there's getting ready for the day, and then there's actually waking up.....we're talking 3 hours before the park even opens we have to wake up!!! Whew!! Most parks open at 8 or 9 am!

We decided against the park hopper option this go around since it seemed we were always rushing around to go somewhere else the last time. So, we will just have to take some breaks during the day and find ways to get some rest!

Our big day will be our second day there. We are going to the Magic Kingdom and it is having Little Ones Early Magic Hours (opens 1 hour early) and Evening Magic Hours (closes 3 hours late!). So essentially, the park will be open from 8am til midnight! We will definitely be taking a break and heading back to our resort that day! We are also dining at Cinderella's castle for a late lunch, so that should help as well!

I guess we will need a vacation after our vacation, but that's usually the case, right?!

New Camera Means New Pictures!

When I was looking for the family picnic pictures, I stumbled upon these pictures that Bill took of the girls. He had just gotten his new camera and discovered the "frame" option. Just thought I would share them with you all!!

Family Picnic

On May 19, we went to my husband's company picnic that they sponsor every year. This year, we were very surprised to learn that it was being held at the Storybook Ranch in McKinney! We had driven by this place many, many times, and wasn't sure what to expect. From the road you can see some Victorian style houses and outbuildings. I wasn't sure how we were going to have a family picnic in such a little space!

Once we arrived, we immediately hopped onto a hayride. I was thinking that it was pretty excessive to have a hayride to drive us just a couple of feet, but I was getting into the mood and decided to enjoy it. To my surprise, we headed in the opposite direction of the houses, down a hill, over a rickety bridge, up a hill and around the bend where this beautiful Old West town is actually hidden!!! I had no idea it was back there! There was an old church, apothecary, saloon, jail, general store and more. All in the old west motif!

There was a playground set up for small children, and there were arts and crafts for the bigger kids. There was also a caricature artist doing free portraits! One thing we were most excited about was the horse and buggy ride! I was very concerned that the horse would not be able to pull all of us and a driver, but yee-haw he took off like a flash! It was great!!

Of course, we can't forget the awesome BBQ buffet that was set out. We filled our plates and headed into the saloon to eat. I really felt like I was living back in the day of an old prairie town!

The highlight for us at all of the company picnics is BINGO! Yes, I said BINGO! They have awesome prizes for these games! Sydney always wins when she plays there and that day was no exception! She took home a High School Musical DVD Board Game! She and her sisters couldn't wait to get home and play it! And boy did they.... I also won a game this time and took home a Scrapbook Kit. It is very nice and most of the pages are already decorated and just need a picture added!

We had an awesome time!!

Great Disney Tips

Don't worry, I don't intend on bombarding everyone with posts about Disney every other day. I just wanted to take the time to share some of the planning tips and tricks that I have stumbled upon!

It appears that any question I have that is related to Disney, someone else has had the same question and someone else has blogged or posted about it at some point in time! This has been really great when it comes to deciding which character meals are worth our time & dining points, which theme parks to visit on what day, how does Disney's Magical Express really work, etc...

One site that I have found utterly invaluable is WDW Info. They have all information readily available and easy to find. They have theme park hours, restaurant menus (from all restaurants as far as I can tell!), and message boards that offer that advice you just can't find written down anywhere else! I have found the message boards to be a great fount of information as well as just a source of fun! I love how everyone signs their posts with a disney icon and then lists every trip they have ever taken to Disney....EVER and then they include these really cute tickers that counts down the days for them! So, ours would be:


DH Me DD, 10 DD, 6 DD, 4

09/07 Grand Floridian
03/04 Carribean Beach Resort
10/02 Swan
5 Day Trips in 1995-96




Now, doesn't that just make you want to go to Disney right now?!?! It does me every time I see something like that!! ;o)

There is also another great website out there that includes calculators/planning tools for anything you could ever think of and lots of things I never thought of when planning for Disney! This website is PS Calculator. One of the tools that I enjoyed was the WDW Transportation Wizard. You tell it where you are and where you want to go and it will list 2-3 options of how to get there using Disney Transportation! Print out the directions, and you are ready to roll!! Anyway, check out that site, and I am sure you will find a calculator you didn't even know you needed! And don't forget the ever popular Advanced Dining Reservation Calculator. It is very handy in letting you know when you can make that all important ADR for your favorite restaurant!

Then there is Anita Answers. Anita answers a new set of questions every week, and if you don't see what you are looking for, you can submit your own question. She is really good at giving a no holds barred interpretation! I can't wait to tune into her page every Monday to see what the next questions are!

Well, I'll just let you all digest this information, and I hope you take the time to check out these sites! They will definitley save you some time in planning your next Disney dream vacation!!

Walt Disney World Countdown is On!!!

Well, we bit the bullet and decided to take a Disney vacation this year! Of course, after making that monumental decision, we had to decide when to go! Summer is out for us because it is just too busy to be enjoyable. We have done a vacation there in October for Halloween and really enjoyed it...low crowds and good weather. We also did one in March during Spring Break. Again, it was good weather and crowds. Well, the only problems with those times for this year, was that Spring Break had already passed and I did not want to wait a whole 'nother year! And then the girl's would not be having the big Fall Break that they had previously had, so October was out. In fact, there aren't a whole lot of breaks in the upcoming school year that would accommodate a good vacation. But, that would not deter us!

When browsing around at http://www.disneyworld.com I noticed that they were offering Free Dining with their Magic Your Way Packages. Everyone, I am sure, knows how expensive Disney food can be especially when you add in the character meals that are a must for our family! Those alone can run you over $100! The catch was that travel had to occur between 08/26 and 09/22! Well, the school year here starts August 27. There is Labor Day in there, but we were pretty sure that would be a busy day at Disney. So, we just decided for the first time ever, that our girls will have to miss a few days of school. I mean, it is Disney and Free Food! So, our dates were set: Sept 8-12 we will take on Disney!!!

Now, for another big decision...where do we stay??? Because there are 5 of us, our options were limited. We could stay in a deluxe resort or stay at Port Orleans Riverside. I really didn't have a care one way or the other, but Bill really wanted to experience staying at a monorail resort. The Contemporary was our first thought since it is quite a bit cheaper than the other two monorail resorts. But when I put the dates into the reservations system, the best rate of the three was actually the Grand Floridian!! I immediately started jumping up and down and almost even cried....The Grand Floridian is the place we have always wanted to stay, and guess what???? We are actually going to do it!! We have our reservations for the resort and our airfare and now we are in major countdown mode! So, I figure, I'll let you all countdown with us....so nice of me, huh?!? The official count is now at: 98days 13hours 25minutes!