Linger

About 2 days ago I finished reading the second book in the Shiver series, Linger. It was a very enjoyable book with the addition of a new character. I enjoyed how each chapter was the point of view of different characters in the book. Most books that I've read are always in the point of view of the main character but this one switches so you know what all the characters are feeling and thinking; I really enjoyed that about this story. Most reviews say that the first book is the best one in the series, but I kinda liked this one better. There were certain parts that I liked more about the first book and a few parts that I liked more about the second book. I'm not exactly thrilled about how the story ended but we'll see what happens when I finish reading the final book in the series.

Krissy-Pop

I bought a 6-pack of mini 8 FL. OZ Dr. Pepper's to take to work for the days when I need a little caffeine fix. I can NEVER drink a whole can of soda and so I thought these adorable little minis would be perfect for me. I decided to drink one on my lunch break today and it was the PERFECT size for little me. I was feeling a little hyper while I was drinking it and I ended up texting a friend and telling them that I was drinking my mini DP. My friend was super clever and dubbed my new drink....
KRISSY-POP!!!
Maybe it's just me, but I absolutely love that name and I will forever call it Krissy-Pop now.

PS: Krissy is a nickname I received when I worked at Palais Royal.

DWTS Season 14

I'm excited that another season of Dancing With The Stars has started and it is going to be an awesome season. By far, Season 14 had the best first episode of any other season. Most everyone did an excellent job and hardly anyone was flat out horrible. Who are my favorites this season?

Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas are gonna be my favorite couple this season, I think. She was so graceful and beautiful when she danced that it made me cry. Not only that, but they got the first 9's (2 or them) of the season...which never happens on the first week of dances. She is a classical singer from the UK and so I hope that they get the votes that they deserve.Gladys and Tristan are going to get plenty of my votes because Tristan is HOT!!! He was partnered with Nancy Grace last season and I think I voted for them a few times just because I wanted to see Tristan dance!!! I want to say that he is Irish and his accent makes me weak in the knees....love him. Let's be honest though...Gladys is cool too!
Kym and Jaleel "Did I do that?" Yup...he's Steve Urkel...but he's no geek on the dance floor. They too got two 9's from the judges and I think that they will go far in this competition. Chelsie and Rashon are just cute. He's the youngest this season, though I'm not sure how old he is. Anyway...I thought he was adorable and my mom thinks he is a force to be reckoned with.

So those are my favorite couples this season. There are some other good couples but those are my faves! Wish them luck!

Highway and Road Construction

Just about every highway and even busy roads in the Fort Worth area have some sort of construction going on. It's getting pretty annoying actually because I almost get lost everyday when I venture out and try to find stuff. I've had some pretty interesting experiences with getting lost, but my worst experience was Saturday night and I've already posted about it. I made another wrong turn today when I was coming home from work but I was able to turn around and get on the right track again. I think that by tomorrow I should be able to get to and from work without any hiccups. I'm finally starting to get used to the exits and stuff that I'm supposed to take. I just wish this construction would FINISH and leave me alone!

Hylian Shield, Obtained

I'm still playing The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, but I'm almost done with the game. These games usually take a long time to play since there are so many different side quests and extra stuff to do. Sometimes I would have to spend some time just hunting for bugs and treasures so that I could upgrade weapons or infuse potions. Anywho, the last several days I've been trying to obtain the Hylian Shield before I head to the last temple. My little bro, who beat the game before Christmas, told me that I didn't have to get the Hylian Shield but that it would make the world of difference if I had it during the last temple. The problem with obtaining the shield is this:

1) You have to fight at least 8 of the previous bosses
2) You CAN'T use ANY potions
3) Your life meter DOES NOT replenish between fights
4) If you die or quit...you have to start over from the BEGINNING and receive NOTHING for your efforts
5) You DO NOT get to pick the order of the bosses you fight except for the first fight

My brag of a brother informed me that he obtained the shield one his first attempt. BRAT!! I don't remember how many attempts it took me...either 5 or 6, but I was really getting annoyed because the first few times I died at the same boss!!! It was really getting annoying when I'd make it to the last round...and DIE!!! I finally read in the cheats that I could buy a Guardian potion and infuse it so that I wouldn't lose any life for 3 whole minutes. The cheats also told me that if I equipped my potions medallion in my pouch, I wouldn't lose any life for 9 whole minutes...as long as I drank the potion right before I started the challenge. It still took me 3 attempts to beat the challenge even with the infused guardian potion in my system. Anyway, I finally obtained my Hylian Shield today. Wanna know how I did it?
I PRAYED!
That's right, I prayed. Sounds a little stupid but I got so tired of this challenge and I really wanted that shield. I was so lucky because I chose my most challenging opponent first and beat him in about 2 minutes. Then the second opponent thrown at me was another challenging one that I beat in about 2-3 minutes. Potion still going strong, I beat a third challenging opponent. I can't remember for sure but I think my potion either ran out at the very end of the third battle or the beginning of the 4th. Fourth battle was super easy cuz it was one of the first bosses in the game and I didn't lose any life even without the potion. Fifth battle was super challenging (when it usually isn't) but I lost several hearts and I began to freak. Sixth battle was with an easy beginning boss that has several heart pots to break so I broke them all and only had one heart unfilled by the end of the battle. Seventh boss was another super easy beginning boss that has a butt load of hearts to pick up and so I had a full life meter when I started my final battle.
This was the point when I paused the game and prayed!
I knew what opponent was awaiting me...and it wasn't an easy one. Probably the second most challenging boss in the game to this point. I lost a lot of life...but I never died....Hylian Shield OBTAINED!!! Yeah!!! I was so grateful that I finally beat this obnoxious challenge. I don't know if the prayer had anything to do with my victory, but I like to give credit to the prayer. Now I can start the final battle fully equipped with nothing but the best!

Joseph Smith's First Vision

Today at church, our Relief Society lesson was on Joseph Smith and his first vision in the sacred grove. Although everything in the lesson was on information that I've learned in years past, I really felt the spirit when several of the women talked about personal experiences they had when visiting the sacred grove, particularly my own mother's experience. After this lesson I have a strong desire to visit the sacred grove myself and feel that spirit. I'm going to make it a goal to visit the sacred grove sometime in the next few years.

Bealls

Today I started my new job at the Bealls in Grapevine, TX! I was lucky that my boss at Palais Royal was able to secure me this position. The company I work for has stores with 5 different names depending on what part of the country you are in. Stage, Bealls, Palais Royal, Goody's, or Peebles...all different names but all the same store. All the stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are Bealls stores. Unfortunately I don't live close to a Bealls and the closest one is in Grapevine. I have about a 30 minute commute which doesn't sound that bad except that they are doing intense highway construction that is extremely difficult to maneuver. I've been told that the construction is going to last for 2 more years. Yikes!! The drive to the store isn't that bad, but the drive home is HORRIBLE!!! I got off work at 6:30 and by then it was already pitch black outside, plus, it was pouring down rain. My directions home were pretty much useless since I couldn't navigate through the pouring rain and read directions. I made it home safely after I met my new boss a week ago, but it wasn't dark or raining that time either. Truthfully, I only made one wrong turn cause I couldn't see the exit, but it wasn't too detrimental. This new store is smaller than the last one I worked for and business was REALLY slow but overall everything went really well. I think I'm going to like the people I work with but I have some adjustments from what I'm used to.

Jefferson's Ten Rules

My mom is extremely patriotic and she has decided to decorate the living room in the new house with a patriotic/colonial theme. She won't be able to buy her colonial furniture until later this year or even early next year, but she has already started decorating her fireplace and mantel with some patriotic decor. One of the decorations on the fireplace is a framed picture of Jefferson's Ten Rules. I took the time to read them one day and this is what they are:

1) Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
2) Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3) Never spend money before you have earned it.
4) Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.
5) Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
6) We seldom repent of having eaten too little.
7) Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8) How much pain the evils cost us that never happened.
9) Take things away by the smooth handle.
10) When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

I just loved what most of those rules had to say. I especially love the first 3. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did! Maybe we can all learn from these few simple things.

Cat's Pride: Fresh & Light

Hehe....I love this commercial!!

Stressed

Do you crave delectable sweets when you are stressed!? I do!! In fact, I've become a little stressed with this new move. Lots and lots of things to take care of. My current stress is getting my vehicle registered. My registration expires at the end of this month but what I didn't realize is that I most likely need to get my vehicle registered in my new county. I received my renewal notice for my old county a few weeks before I moved but I never even thought that I would have to register it in my new county. I looked it up on the website the renewal mentioned, but I never got the answers I was seeking. So I called the number on the renewal notice and waited FOREVER to speak with an agent. The girl had attitude but basically she told me that my renewal notice was void since I no longer live in that county. Looks like I have to re-register it for my new county before the end of the month. I was feeling a little too stressed after the phone call that I decided I needed to buy some chocolate. My mom had a need to visit Walgreens to transfer her prescriptions and so I went with her. They had a sale on the King Size candy bars: get 3 for $5....so I bought 2 kit kat bars and a mr. goodbar. I'll be all set for the next few days and I' feeling a little less stressed already.
After all, STRESSED is DESSERTS spelled backwards!!!!

Shiver

My sister recommended that I read this series because she thought I would enjoy them. I read reviews on the books and came to the conclusion that I probably would enjoy them and so I downloaded all three onto my iBooks app. I've been reading the first book, Shiver, since we started the moving process and I finally finished it last night. I really enjoyed the book and there were only a few parts in the story that annoyed me. Overall I really loved the book and I started reading the second book, Linger, last night. The reviews said that the first book was the best of the three but I'm sure that I'll enjoy them all. I can't wait to read some more tonight before bed.

New Furniture

Today my parents and I went shopping for a new console table for the big screen TV we have in the upstairs Family Room. We found the perfect console table and my dad happened to notice a sign that advertised a great sale on the whole furniture set. To make a long story short, my parents ended up buying the whole furniture set!

Meet Chapel Hill! I'm kinda surprised that my parents picked out this set because usually my mom goes for fabric/floral type sofas. I'm really excited for them and I think the new furniture is going to look great. We didn't get the leather chair and ottoman but instead we bought the accent chair that goes with the set and its matching ottoman!
Yeah...I'm so excited!! Only thing is we have to wait a month for them to deliver.

Making Progress

We've been in Fort Worth for a week now and we are still unpacking and organizing all our stuff in the new house. I thought we would be done by now but we are making progress. We still have a bunch to do but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! At least we don't have boxes everywhere anymore!

So far I'm really liking Fort Worth and the people here are really nice! The people here are so much friendlier than the people in Houston. I've been really tired and overwhelmed from all the unpacking which is why I've been blog absent. I'll try to keep posted more often now that things are starting to slow down a bit!