I'm a bookworm and I'm proud of it :)

so its already a known fact that I love a good book - one of my favorite things to do is get sucked into a book.  But once upon a time I went through a phase where I didn't read a lot, and what I did read I said was to boring/to hard/blah blah blah.  (sorry mom - I know I can be a pain :/)  but a long long time ago, I read everything in sight (btws I met my bestie through a book series - so ya, books rock :)

since I was going through my not reading any books phase at the beginning of this year, I decided to write down all the books I read, and track them throughout the school year (basically this list starts with anything I read in September all the way to this month :) and I wrote the date I finished it to see how long it would take. in case anyone cares - I read 13 books in the month of March alone.  I'm very proud of that thank you ;)

as May drew nearer for me I got to thinking, man I have read a lot of good books this year, and maybe the internet folks want some good recommendations?? r maybe some other bookworm wants good book recommendations?? and since I suck at doing diy stuff (awkward overload cause I never follow through with anything :/) I was like 'ka blamoooo' and boom, that is how this post was born :)

so I'm gonna proceed with every single book I have read this school year (aka my sophomore year, don't do sophomore year all you freshman reading this, it is horribly horrible.  but I have many friends (I know me with friends.. ;) **and by many I mean like 2** that have said junior year is easier. thank goodness!!!)  and I'll give a little review on my thoughts on the book, a small story line (not to many of those cause I kinda spoil things a lot!)  that kinda stuff :)

Mara daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

this was my first official school book, and i did really enjoy it! It was about a young slave girl named Mara (I'm sure you already guessed that thought huh??)  and how she is set free, but not really... I suck at not spoiling things so i wont give you to much info except that it was really good (and it helped that there was a tad bit of romance involved ;)

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
umm hehe :) do i have to explain much more than its Nicholas Sparks, so there's love, drama and someone dies ;)

Silk Road Stories by Mark and Lynda Hausfeld
this one was just a collection of stories from people persecuted in the

I'm not her Janet Gurtler
this one i got over a year ago to read on my iPad while traveling, and i thought it was horrible!  (basically this is one of those i read 5 pages and stopped) and i accidentally re downloaded it one day and finished it that day #sorrynotsorry.  It was basically about a girl named Tess, and how her older sister Kristina gets cancer and how their family dealt with it and such.  pretty good, not the greatest book ever, but it wasn't terrible.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Most normal human beings read a book and if its a series finish it right?? not me.. see i read the hunger games over a year ago, was sucked it but decided it wasn't my style, and didn't read the 2nd or 3rd.. until this year.  I loved this book though!! :)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Same as catching fire - really good and i was extremely happy with the ending :)

A walk to remember by Nicholas Sparks
you're probably shaking your head now going,'really anne? another Nicholas Sparks book??'  well guess what i loved this movie so naturally you read the book!! duh ;)  I'd say the movie was better though ;)

Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch
I really loved this book!  like seriously loved it!! It centers around a young Mayan Girl named Eveningstar Macaw, and when their king dies all the sudden she has to help end the evil high priests reign!

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
yup - shake your head again.. I'm a sappy hopeless romantic person okay?? and i bawled for about a day after i read this - which my mother loves to remind me about :)

Falling Fast by Lucy Kevin
this was a free book i found on iBooks - and it was meh.  i finished it fast, but it wasn't the greatest as the story just literally ended.  That's probably why it was free huh?? Not a recommendable book really.

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
I didn't really enjoy this book, but it was a school book so i read it (very slowly i might add ;)  it was about a boy named Daniel and it was written in the time of Jesus's ministry

The Giver by Lois Lowry
This was a re-read for me and it was just as amazing as the first time I read it!  I am so excited for the movie actually :)

Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren
I cant say how much I love this book!!! Its a book series about a young girl named Cora that finds out her real family past and gahhhh i loveeee this book!!

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The second book in the giver series, so again a re-read and definitely amazing :)

Messenger by Lois Lowry
the third book in the giver series, and same as gathering blue

Son by Lois Lowry
the fourth book in the giver series and the last book in it and the first time I've read it.  definitely my favorite book in the whole series!!

Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
This was another school book, and honestly i didn't follow it well and it wasn't the greatest.

Divergent by Veronica Roth
OMGOSH i looooove this book!! and i cannot wait for the movie!! :)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
just re-read the divergent one ;)

Allegiant by Veronica Roth 

same as the last two ;)

The lucky one by Nicholas Sparks 

hehe - ummm sorry?? no I'm not sorry ;)

Love comes softly by Janette Oke

Another re-read for me, and just as amazing as when i first read it :)

Salvaged by Stefne Miller

Another romance novel :/ it was really good - it was supposed to be a 'Christian' novel (Christian as in they through in how God is all love, and puppies and rainbows)  I did disagree with a few things said (aka at one point it was mentioned that God gave someone the free will to choose what he was to do.) it was okay overall :)

Loves enduring promise by Janette Oke

do i need to explain why the love series is amazing?????

Loves long journey by Janette Oke
Loves abiding joy by Janette Oke

Loves unending dream by Janette Oke

Loves unfolding dream by Janette Oke

Love takes wing by Janette Oke

Love finds a home by Janette Oke

The fault in our stars by John Green

Don't hate me but i wasn't crazy about this one.. :/ I do really really want to see the movie though!

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis
My dear mommy got me this book, and as it is very different from every other book i read this year I did enjoy it!  It was all about Katie's life while living in Uganda.

Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren
this is the 2nd book in a series (the first is Glamorous Illusions) and i loveddd this one :) I'm going to be getting the 3rd book ASAP - must.read.more!

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
This one was a book i read as one of the ladies my dad knows had told me about it and then gave it to him for me to read.  it was meh, since it was written more for younger kids (like 5th graders, which i am not)

A northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
I saw this one at our library and thought it look good.  personally, I'd say it was ok.  definitely not life altering and not something I'd probably recommend since it was kinda confusing.  If I was giving stars id give it a 2 1/2 ;)

Walk across the sea by Susan Fletcher
here
Here's the dealio with this one - I loved her book shadow spinner when i read it 3 years ago, so when I saw she had another I was like, 'yesss must read it!!' so that's what i did.  I had to giggle as the story took place in Crescent City - just 2 hours away from my home :)  it was written for a younger audience, but it was pretty good :)

Uncompromising by Hannah Farver
My bestie recommended me this one at the beginning of the year, and after coveting/staring/being to cheap to buy it all year, my grammie got it for me for my birthday.  A really good book for teen girls to read though as it covered everything from insecurities, staying pure, and learning to glorify the Lord in everything we do

so ya, if you counted that is a total of 37 books i read this year!  i wanted to get 40 by the end of May, and I didn't get to far off :)  I plan on counting my summer books... so maybe another post like this will come after this summer :)
anne :)

Polka dot jeans

so right now this is the last DIY until i have a Friday that I'm not doing something on - then i can convince my  momma to go to the thrift store with me :)

I found this on pinterest, and so i wanted to do this with my other pair of old jeans - since I've already bleached my other jeans I decided to do this with my last pair!

what you'll need

• a old pair of shorts, capris, or jeans - what ever you want to polka dot :)
• some fabric paint -the DIY I saw was with a light grey, but mine was a white.  I've also seen navy blue polka dots which is very pretty!
• a wood skewer, or anything else to dot your pants with
• and a ruler if you want to be precise.

now if you aren't patient or don't have a lot of time on your hands, don't do this.. it will take awhile.

I started with jeans and cut them into shorts.. this is optional but i suggest doing larger polka dots if your doing capris/jeans.

I then just took the wood skewer and went polka dot crazy :)  I didn't like the uneven look so I did add more polka dots.  more polka dots doesn't hurt anything right?!

I left the shorts for a few days before starting on the back. originally i was just going to do the pockets, but then some little one smeared them, so i ended up painting the back of the pocket - hehe :) and then again i went polka dot cray ;) (I can't figure out why the picture is flipped! sorry :(

and that's it!! it is very tedious - so don't do if you don't have patience and time :) i love how they look - even though my mother said she wouldn't wear them and refused my offer to make her some of her own ;)

in other news - Lindsay turned 9 this last week :0  I made her birthday cake, aka my first official layered cake!  It wasn't half bad if i do say so myself :)

anne

ombre shorts DIY

DIY #2 - right now I have 1 more that I will be doing, and as soon as i can get to the thrift store I'll look for stuff to do another :)

so my jeans are about 2 years old.. and the bottoms are all ripped up, the certain pair pictured here had bleach on the side of 1 of the legs from cleaning the bathroom and the other had a patched hole (thanks to a certain friend dragging me on a bike ride :)  so needless to say i was in serious need of new ones.

thanks to the lovely target (yay for shopping ;) i got 2 new pairs!! so now i get to destroy my other two!

I've seen this DIY before all over youtube, but I never thought I would do it.  My inspiration for this DIY didn't come from pinterest actually, but more from this video.  I did not do everything that was in the video, but hey if its your thing go right ahead!

so for this pair of awesome shorts you will need...

• a pair of old jeans
• bleach
• scissors

I started out with regular old jeans, and i tried them on and measured where I wanted them to come to.  My personal length was to the end of my fingertips, but if you want it shorter/longer go right ahead!  I marked where I wanted the jeans to be with a piece of chalk, and then marked a little bit down so i had a little bit of extra

after that i got the bleach into a spray bottle. 

I took the jeans outside and sprayed the jeans a whole lot on the bottom, and then lighter towards the top to get a ombre effect going on.  After I sprayed the jeans on the bottom I let it sit and lighten a bit, and when I notice that it wasn't the color I wanted I sprayed more.  I did that about twice.  

After the jeans had lightened to what I thought I wanted I brought them inside and rinsed them off in the sink.  I then tossed them in the washer for the quickest washing cycle and then into the dryer after.

and TADA!!! my new favorite pair of jeans :)

until the next post... :)

Jeans to skirt DIY

So i have a new addiction.. its pinterest (I'm so behind the times huh?? :) and many of my friends and family have been enjoying being Guinea pigs for new recipes/ and or laughing at me when i make a DIY mask :)

Well recently I've been sucked into the DIY & crafts section of pinterest and i found this. I absolutely loved it, especially since she cut the pockets!  I have to have a pocket in my clothes so i can have my phone on me.. seriously i need my phone on me 24/7 (i have issues okay??)

little unknown or maybe known fact, i am a MAJOR shopaholic.. MAJOR.  when i go to the mall i need serious self control. so when i saw that skirt i was like, i have jeans i could use for that.. ones that are sitting in my drawer cause i wore them once and didn't like em.. hmmm..  and since my dear mommy has a fabric addiction i looked in her fabric stash and found the perfect fabric for the skirt! yay!!

so since i rarely post on here, want to do many more DIY's... i thought maybe it could kinda be like a journey type thing, and i can feed both addictions of mine (shopping and pinterest) and it would be helpful for the internet!! :)

so without further adieu here is how I made that lovely skirt :)

so for this adorable skirt you are going to need..

• a pair of old jeans, i got mine from the thrift store awhile back and i ended up not wearing them.. typical me :)
• a long piece of fabric (approximately double your waist in length maybe a little more)
• a sewing machine
• paitence lots and lots of paitence

okay so to start you are going to take your jeans (you could also use shorts, less cutting that way) and cut off the legs, it helps to cut the pants in stages.  after the legs are cut off, you could do a me and put the little 'mini skirt' on and make your mom laugh at you or you could be normal and cut a bit more :)



so next, I wanted the pockets cut out on the back, so what my dear sewing genius mother told me to do was cut the pockets out (go up about half way to the top of the pocket) and then cut a diagonal so the front is shorter than the back.



after that lay your fabric out wherever you want.. and time to cut that!  you should cut the fabric about double your waist, so for me i needed to cut 62 inches but i did 65 just so i had extra.



once you have it cut sew up the side to make a skirt piece, and then do a gather stitch around the top of the fabric.  once completed gather your fabric.





after you've gathered piece the jeans and fabric together (i so love my mom for doing it for me :) and then sew around it!

I of course had my difficulties with the sewing machine, so i had to rip out a few areas.  but thats besides the point. after that hem up the bottom and thats it! super easy and adorable!





this is going to kind of be a series, and i guess ill just keep going, but i dont plan on doing just clothes, ill try out other things to!  yay for pinterest and how addictive it is :)

stay tuned for my next DIY... :)