Just a Canary Bird...

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.  source I enjoy fantasy books that just keep you guessing and this series really did that! It had mystery, adventure, he...

Wow the holidays are just around the corner! I am looking forward to eating at Thanksgiving. I LOVE turkey!!! Have you started Christmas shopping yet? I am almost done! Now I just need to get to wrapping! I was in my college roommate's wedding last weekend. Here are a couple pictures of the Hubby and I. Isn't he just the cutest?!? I got super lucky! I am super pumped for the week. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 comes out. We are going to see it on Thursday with my sister. I CANNOT WAIT!!! source I have been excited all week when I see commercials for it!  We have been busy battling a roof leak, so hopefully our roofer will be out this week to fix it. If the weather would just cooperate, it would make it so much easier. I hope your week is going great so far! Until next time, Kara

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 t...

We officially made it through the work week! YAY! I am pumped for a free weekend of nothing to do. Did you see Adele is coming out with a new album? I just love her... I can't wait to hear it. Here is a single she released from the upcoming album called 25. The song is Hello. It is awesome! Hopefully you have a great weekend! source Until next time, Kara

source It's Wednesday!!!! The weekend is within reach! Until next time, Kara

The Hubby had a pitch-in lunch at school on Friday. I decided to make my traditional chocolate chip cookies and then throw a non-traditional cookie in the mix. I made a triple chocolate- chocolate chip cookie! These were super rich, but good! If you are up for something different and you're a chocoholic, give this a try! Triple Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies   2 1/4 cups  all-purpose flour 1/2 cup baking cocoa 1 teaspoon  baking soda 1/2 teaspoon  salt 1 cup (2 sticks)  butter or margarine, softened 1 cup  packed brown sugar 3/4 cup  granulated sugar 1 teaspoon  vanilla extract 2 large  eggs 1 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips Preheat your oven to 375° F. Then combine your flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set it to the side. Beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy.  Add in your eggs  a...

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.  picture source 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 Ac...

I am officially back to the land of the working people. P.S. I hate it. Can't we just always be on vacation? No? Okay, well I guess I'll just tell you what we did while we were on vacation. We just got back from 7 nights in Las Vegas. Don't get me wrong, Vegas is still our city, but 7 nights was a little long. Our butts dragged all the way home! We packed in a ton in the week we were there! I always love being in Vegas during March Madness or during football season. Everyone is so pumped to cheer on their teams. Our football gear is always a huge hit! We saw Nathan Burton's comedy magic show. It was awesome, we really enjoyed it. We got our tickets on Groupon.com for $10 each! You can't beat that! We saw Zarkana at the Aria Hotel & Casino.  Wow, this hotel is gorgeous and Zarkana was AWESOME. It was one of our favorites! We also saw Love at the Mirage. The music was good, but it wasn't our favorite show.  It didn't have the...

Wow, September has came and gone already! We celebrate a lot of family birthdays in September. Mine, my Dad's, and the Hubby's are all within a week of each other. We celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. The Hubby surprised me with some pretty flowers! Fall is here and of course Indiana weather can't decide between summer and fall temperatures. The week started off in the 80's and the low this weekend will be 44... really?!? We went to the local orchard this weekend and got pumpkins and apple cider! It was packed! The Hubby has been trying to teach me how to play chess. Can we just say it is a frustrating game? I am not good at thinking ahead on strategy or figuring out why he is doing what he is doing... if I can ever check-mate him, I will be amazed! I saw this article on Facebook and loved it. People really do not understand how a small, insignificant question can break your heart every time.  I am also 2-1 in my Fantasy Football leag...

Today is our anniversary! We have been married for 4 years. I cannot believe that 4 years has passed by already. We have been together for 8 1/2 years and I couldn't imagine my life any different. I love the Winnie the Pooh quote, " If you live to be 100, I want to live to be 100 minus a day so that I would never have to live a day without you ." I was so lucky to find my other half. Since we have been together for so long, I put together some of my favorite memories we have shared! Happy Anniversary! Love always, Kara

One of my favorite actresses is Mindy Kaling. I think she is hilarious, beautiful, real, and a great role model. She has taken control of her career and doesn't let anyone tell her she can't do something.  I found this quote by her and I totally agree! source So many kids today, boys or girls, really base their self worth on what others think about them. What they don't realize is that in the scheme of things, those people in high school are a speck of sand in the lifetime they plan to live.  I saw a quote somewhere that stated, the friends you have in high school were your friends because you saw them five days a week. I completely agree. It is rare to hold on to a few good friends, because most of the time those relationships are relationships of convenience. High school isn't an easy place to be, but if you get through it so many wonderful things await beyond that.  September is suicide awareness month. I really just wish so many people truly saw things...

WE MADE IT! Whew, I'm so glad Friday is here. I'm in a good mood today because the Broncos won last night AND Peyton did great! If they would just let him throw the ball and not bother with all this running nonsense, they would be just fine. Hopefully, the rest of my fantasy football team will perform this week. I need to get a win! We had a great time last night. I went golfing with the Hubby. Well he golfed and I caddied for him. Really I just am keeping him company and probably being annoying most of the time by asking him, are you sure you want to use that club? Oh well an annoying caddie is better than no caddie! We will be busy with golf sectional this weekend. I am hoping the weather holds out, we are supposed to get some rain! source I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Until next time, Kara

Football season is finally here. In our house this means soup, snacks, fantasy teams and afternoon naps (for me at least).  Let's not discuss how mad I am at Peyton Manning... I just don't think he realizes how important he is to my fantasy team and how he under-performed this week. C'mon Manning! At least my food is always good during football season, even if my players aren't playing well.  Since I'm on the low-carb diet, it's hard for me to eat a lot of dip without chips, so I decided to turn one of my low-carb wraps into chips, so I can eat this dip. Because it is heavenly good! Bacon-Ranch Dip 1 container of sour cream 1 packet of dry ranch seasoning 1 bag of real bacon bits 1 cup of shredded cheese, I like the mixed bag kinds This is a easy recipe that is just so good! You just need to throw all these ingredients into a bowl and mix them up. Store in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving! You could add some green onions for a l...