Half Agony. Half Hope.
This morning I heard my boys whispering intently in their playroom. I waited a while until I went to inquire as to the topic of such debate and found them playing amicably. I inquired as to what they'd been whispering about and was told, by my five year old Evan, "We were working out our differences." I smiled and said, "Oh. Okay." Then went about my business. There are some days when you feel like you're failing as a mother and other times when you feel like you're doing it right. This morning I felt like I was doing it right.
Love & Hopexo
The One Where Jolene Perry Guest Blogs & We SHOULD Be Buds!
I love when authors come to visit! Please welcome Jolene Perry! So. When I'm on blogs that I don't visit often, I feel the need to skim them over and check them out, and the longer I was on Nicole's blog, the more I was like - WE MUST BE FRIENDS! WE HAVE LOTS AND LOTS IN COMMON.FIRST - PROJECT RUNWAY. I love this show. LOVE. This is the only bit of reality TV that I watch. I have not missed an episode. Ever.SECOND - There are a lot of Twilight posts on this blog. I will readily admit that I don't have TV and when I want it on just to have it on... I usually toss in a Twilight movie.THIRD - I Have a board on Pinterest labeled - STUFF THAT MADE ME SMILE.For real.SO, there.Anyway. Since I gave you three reasons why me and Nicole should be friends, I thought I'd also give you three reasons to read my book ;-)ONE -Writing a guy with one arm who is falling for a girl and is trying to figure out how to be with her, how to get closer to her, when he's used to having two arms... It was fun.TWO -Kate is a scattered mess who rarely does the right thing the first time - very much like me.THREE -The hair cutting scene, the scene where Kate helps him drive his stick shift car before he has to sell it, the scene where he kisses her in the back of said car, the night she sleeps over and where I wrote my fav sex-scene EVAH :-)So. Thank you SO much for letting me "invade" for a day!!!!~ Jolene
"All they have in common is that they're less than perfect. And all they're looking for is the perfect distraction."
Scoop up The Summer I Found You on AMAZON/BARNES & NOBLEFind Jolene Perry Online: Blog • Twitter • Website • Facebook • Tumblr Jolene Perry is a YA Author of:Out of Play The Summer I Found You (March 1, 2014)Stronger Than You Know (September 1, 2014)Love Blind (2015)Other Books By Jolene Perry Thanks Jolene!Can't wait to read The Summer I Found You!xo nicole
The One Where Jolene Perry Guest Blogs & We SHOULD Be Buds!
I love when authors come to visit! Please welcome Jolene Perry! So. When I'm on blogs that I don't visit often, I feel the need to skim them over and check them out, and the longer I was on Nicole's blog, the more I was like - WE MUST BE FRIENDS! WE HAVE LOTS AND LOTS IN COMMON.FIRST - PROJECT RUNWAY. I love this show. LOVE. This is the only bit of reality TV that I watch. I have not missed an episode. Ever.SECOND - There are a lot of Twilight posts on this blog. I will readily admit that I don't have TV and when I want it on just to have it on... I usually toss in a Twilight movie.THIRD - I Have a board on Pinterest labeled - STUFF THAT MADE ME SMILE.For real.SO, there.Anyway. Since I gave you three reasons why me and Nicole should be friends, I thought I'd also give you three reasons to read my book ;-)ONE -Writing a guy with one arm who is falling for a girl and is trying to figure out how to be with her, how to get closer to her, when he's used to having two arms... It was fun.TWO -Kate is a scattered mess who rarely does the right thing the first time - very much like me.THREE -The hair cutting scene, the scene where Kate helps him drive his stick shift car before he has to sell it, the scene where he kisses her in the back of said car, the night she sleeps over and where I wrote my fav sex-scene EVAH :-)So. Thank you SO much for letting me "invade" for a day!!!!~ Jolene
"All they have in common is that they're less than perfect. And all they're looking for is the perfect distraction."
Scoop up The Summer I Found You on AMAZON/BARNES & NOBLEFind Jolene Perry Online: Blog • Twitter • Website • Facebook • Tumblr Jolene Perry is a YA Author of:Out of Play The Summer I Found You (March 1, 2014)Stronger Than You Know (September 1, 2014)Love Blind (2015)Other Books By Jolene Perry Thanks Jolene!Can't wait to read The Summer I Found You!xo nicole
Book Review: "And We Stay" by Jenny Hubbard
And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard the author of Paper Covers Rock is a story of overcoming tragedy and is full of good prose and in a few instances poetry which caused me do that thing, where you inhale and hold it for a second…because you want to pause for a moment to give yourself enough time to really absorb the words.Though I enjoyed the story overall, I felt disconnected from the main character Emily Beam, as she tried to deal with her guilt over the role she played in the events that transpired in her school's library. Events, which ultimately led her to be in Amerherst, the home town of her favorite poet Emily Dickinson. I have to wonder if the author didn't choose to write in third person so that the reader would feel a separation from Emily, much like she felt from the world as she struggled to face the pivotal moments that shattered her life. It is through her poetry the reader really begins to feel for Emily, and I suppose that is the point.If I had one issue with the plot it's with regards to Emily Beam's character mirroring to perfectly in a lot of ways that of Emily Dickinson. I however enjoyed some of the history regarding Emily Dickinson and the treat of both her poems and those written by her namesake.And We Stay by Jenny HubbardPublished by Random House LLC on 28 Jan 2014Genre: Young AdultStand Alone or Series: It's a loner.Source: NetGalleyFormat: eARCBuy on Amazon • Goodreads
Book Review: "And We Stay" by Jenny Hubbard
And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard the author of Paper Covers Rock is a story of overcoming tragedy and is full of good prose and in a few instances poetry which caused me do that thing, where you inhale and hold it for a second…because you want to pause for a moment to give yourself enough time to really absorb the words.Though I enjoyed the story overall, I felt disconnected from the main character Emily Beam, as she tried to deal with her guilt over the role she played in the events that transpired in her school's library. Events, which ultimately led her to be in Amerherst, the home town of her favorite poet Emily Dickinson. I have to wonder if the author didn't choose to write in third person so that the reader would feel a separation from Emily, much like she felt from the world as she struggled to face the pivotal moments that shattered her life. It is through her poetry the reader really begins to feel for Emily, and I suppose that is the point.If I had one issue with the plot it's with regards to Emily Beam's character mirroring to perfectly in a lot of ways that of Emily Dickinson. I however enjoyed some of the history regarding Emily Dickinson and the treat of both her poems and those written by her namesake.And We Stay by Jenny HubbardPublished by Random House LLC on 28 Jan 2014Genre: Young AdultStand Alone or Series: It's a loner.Source: NetGalleyFormat: eARCBuy on Amazon • Goodreads
Busy Life
Since my husband deployed last October, the "busy" in my life has grown exponentially - and not the normal playing "two roles" busy, but busy with volunteer activities, meetups, kids things, and I've been faithfully working on my fitness. All in all apart from the expected mishaps that only seem to happen when one's husband deploys [key word for sewage spewing from your pipes] and the part where my husband is deployed things have been pretty great here. I'm still in love with Italy but as I've lived here nearly a year I am beginning to miss some of the conveniences that we have in the U.S. that just aren't part of the culture here.This last week I've been fighting this sinus thing I've aptly named the "Aviano Funk" and so today I am at last taking a full day to rest which involved me not leaving my house for anything apart from dropping off and collecting my boys from their school bus stop. Watching old movies and working on giving my blog a makeover I've wanted to do for some time.I am absolutely pleased with the results. I initially was veering toward using fonts that mimicked a typewriter but found it to be too distracting and since the overall look I'm going for is plain and simple I settled on what you see before you. It's probably the happiest I've ever been with a theme for my blog in years.Yay!It's hard to believe our first winter here is nearly over. We've had a lot of rain which I wasn't expecting and to my surprise absolutely adore. If I remember correctly in the last month we've only had a few days where we saw the sun. It's beginning to get annoying but I just think about how glorious and green our Spring will be.
Here I Love You, Aqui Te Amo - Pablo Neruda Poem
Being separated from my husband is not something that is unfamiliar to me. This poem expresses the longing I feel to be near his bones so perfectly. So keenly. Indeed I think what made Neruda a great romantic poet was not his ability to write about love but to express it's completeness, it's at times imperfection, or complication so truthfully.
Here I Love You
Aquí Te Amo
En los oscuros pinos se desenreda el viento.Fosforece la luna sobre las aguas errantes.Andan días iguales persiguiéndose.Se desciñe la niebla en danzantes figuras.Una gaviota de plata se descuelga del ocaso.A veces una vela. Altas, altas estrellas.O la cruz negra de un barco.Solo.A veces amanezco, y hasta mi alma está húmeda.Suena, resuena el mar lejano.Este es un puerto.Aquí te amo.Aquí te amo y en vano te oculta el horizonte.Te estoy amando aún entre estas frías cosas.A veces van mis besos en esos barcos graves,que corren por el mar hacia donde no llegan.Ya me veo olvidado como estas viejas anclas.Son más tristes los muelles cuando atraca la tarde.Se fatiga mi vida inútilmente hambrienta.Amo lo que no tengo. Estás tú tan distante.Mi hastío forcejea con los lentos crepúsculos.Pero la noche llega y comienza a cantarme.La luna hace girar su rodaje de sueño.Me miran con tus ojos las estrellas más grandes.Y como yo te amo, los pinos en el viento,quieren cantar tu nombre con sus hojas de alambre