Book Review: the Divergent series

How's it going, everyone?  Today was my first day of work this year, and let me tell you, that alarm was a RUDE awakening this morning!  I was, surprisingly, wide awake after getting out of bed, and work went well.  I hope your day went well, too.

Today, I have a book review for you!

I finished reading all three books of the Divergent series, a popular young adult dystopia series by Veronica Roth.  A friend of my suggested this series to me since I loved The Hunger Games series.  I must say, she was right!

The first book begins with Beatrice Prior on Choosing Day.  The city of Chicago has changed into its own society, where each citizen belongs to one of the five factions.  At sixteen years old, citizens take an Aptitude Test to determine into which faction they best fit.  They then choose which faction they will belong to for the rest of their lives on Choosing Day.

I don't want to give too much away, but the rest of the book follows Beatrice as she goes through the initiation process of her faction.  It's a very intense, action-packed process that follows her as she forms friendship, struggles to find her place, and even experiences a little romance.

There is a huge twist at the end of the book, which I did NOT see coming.  This book kept me turning the pages, and I finished it fairly quickly.

The second book, Insurgent, picks right up where the first book leaves off.  I can't really talk about the plot without giving things away, but this is also a fast-moving book with lots of surprises along the way.  It was a great read!

The last book of the series, Allegiant, continues the story in a different fashion than the first two books. The third book is told from two different perspectives, which was a little tough to get used to.  The book picks up in the middle, but I was quite surprised and disappointed with the ending.  In my opinion, this was my least favorite book of the series.

Overall, this is a FANTASTIC book series.  I found the characters very relatable, especially the main character Beatrice.  There were many twists and turns (some expected, some completely shocking) that made the story a real page-turner.  I was also really impressed with the intricate society that Veronica Roth created.  That's one of my favorite things about dystopian fiction, and I think Roth did a great job describing her made-up society.  It was really cool!

Even though I was disappointed with the ending, I still enjoyed the story and was happy that there was closure to the books.  I highly recommend these books if you liked The Hunger Games, or if you enjoy the dystopian fiction genre!

...or if you're a kitty cat, apparently!!

Divergent is coming out as a movie in March, and I'm really excited to see it!  The casting looks great, and many of the scenes looked similar to how I pictured things.

Question for you: Have you read the Divergent series?  If so, what did you think?  If not, what's the best book you've read lately?

Make Every Day "An Event"

Good morning, y'all!  I hope your week is off to a great start.  It's the last day of winter break for me, which will consist of some reading/relaxing, cleaning, and getting a head-start on pulling some data for my teachers.  Fun times!

Yesterday morning, I was trying to wake Joe up for church, which involved the following exchange:

Me: "Do you want to go to church with me?"

Joe: "I kind of want to stay in bed."

Me: "Come on, it's the first Sunday of the new year!  We should go!"

Joe: "I like how you always try to make an event out of everything."

Me: "But it IS an event!  Every day is an event; we're alive!  That's reason enough to celebrate."

Joe then wound up getting out of bed and coming to church with me.

He's right, I do try to make an event out of everything.  During our first year of marriage, I'd recognize each of our month anniversaries.  I always recognize the first or last _____ of the year.  Half-birthday celebrations and birthday countdowns are regular occurrences for me.

Quite honestly, though, I have no idea where that last thing I said came from.  I've never really thought about each day that we are alive being "an event," but, the more I thought about it, the more that I pray that I live every day with that mindset!

You see, as much as we may not want to acknowledge it, tomorrow isn't guaranteed for us.  Here is what James 4:13-15 says:

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If tomorrow isn't guaranteed, then why shouldn't we live every day like it's a special event?  We get so wrapped up about what is coming up in the future that we often neglect today.  So today, and every day, here's my challenge for you:

• Praise God for today.  He gave us the gift of life today, so start it off by giving thanks to the Creator for this special day.
• Be PRESENT in the present.  Enjoy the event you are living right now!  Do whatever you need to do to be present in today.  Whether that's unplugging for a while, making time to share a meal with your loved ones, or just reflecting on the day, do it.
• Leave tomorrow for tomorrow. Matthew 6:34 says "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow bring its own worries.  Today's trouble is enough for today."  We can't enjoy the event of today is tomorrow is all we're thinking about
• Find something to celebrate each and every day.  You'll never get this day back.  Today is the only January 6, 2014 of your life.  So, do something that will make you look back and smile for the event it is.

My prayer for you is that we will live each day like it is a special event.  We can't get today back, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed, so just thank God that you are alive to see today and make it worth it!

Question for you: How is today "an event" in your life?
I'm thankful that I have one more day before school gets back into gear!  I'm going to enjoy doing my chores because I have the time and the patience to do them today.

HBBC Week 7 Recap

This week was the final week of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge.  After essentially taking two weeks off (except for two runs during those two weeks), I wanted to make sure to end the challenge on a high note.

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Activity
I got in three days of exercise this week.
Monday-I ran 2.99 miles in the morning.  I was pretty pleased with this run after not getting in many runs during the holidays.  Plus, I felt really stylish in my new capris my sister-in-law gave me!  VT colors!

I also joined my sister-in-law for an hour-long bootcamp class on Monday evening!  It was a lot of fun, and I really challenged myself with some exercises I don't do very often (tire flips, box jumps, increased weights on many different exercise).  It was a blast, and it made me want to find a similar group in my area.
Tuesday-travel/rest day
Wednesday-in Jacksonville all day
Thursday-2.25 mile run with negative splits.  First run of the new year!

Friday-lazy/rest day
Saturday-I attended the Les Mills new release at my gym.  I went to 30 minutes of CXWORX, 30 minutes of BodyAttack, and 30 minutes of BodyPump.

I've been to CXWORX and BodyPump before (and enjoyed them, as always), but BodyAttack was new to me.  I REALLY enjoyed this class.  it's a high-intensity cardio conditioning/aerobic workout.  You can read more about it frm Les Mills' website.  This is something that I will be looking to add to my regular exercise routine!

Water
I did a great job this week of getting my 64+ ounces of water a day, meeting that goal every day except Wednesday.

Fruits+Veggies
I did not do so well with this during traveling, nor did I get many in this week.  I got 5-7 servings 3 days this week.

Points This Week: 28.24

Overall, I LOVED participating in HBBC!  Amanda does a great job setting up this challenge for people of all fitness levels to feel motivated and successful.  I would make sure to do certain things throughout the day or make a better choice so that I could earn more points.  Added bonus: I was being healthy, too!  I also enjoyed participating in Facebook group for added accountability and encouragement.  Amanda will have another challenge in the spring, so I'll be sure to post when sign-ups are open!

Question for you: How did you motivate yourself to make healthy choices this holiday season?

Goals for 2014

Good morning!  I hope your new year is off to a great start.  Joe and I have still been busy since returning from our Christmas travels.  On New Year's Eve, we went to our landlord/next-door neighbor's party and had a blast.

We woke up the next morning, drove to Jacksonville, and watched the Gator Bowl (Georgia vs. Nebraska) in the rain.

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Then we spent yesterday sitting around and clearing out the DVR.  It was much needed after all of the going, going, going we've been doing!  I also got in my first run of the new year yesterday.

Speaking of the new year, I wanted to share with you my 2014 goals.  I know these posts have been popping up all over blog land, but I want to document these so that I can come back a year from now and

Deepen my Faith
This is a constant goal for me, but especially because I've been in a slight rut with my faith lately.  I saw a sticky note in the bathroom at the Gator Bowl on Wednesday that really spoke to me:

As I deal with some worries and struggles right now, I know I need to deepen my faith so that I can trust in the Lord.  I've signed up for another Bible study already, and I want to establish time in the morning to read His Word before things get busy.

Run 14 in 2014
Last year, my goal was to continue running after I completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  Well, with 3 half marathons under my belt in 2013, I'd say I did just that!  My first goal for 2014 is to continue running by committing to run 14 races in 2014!  I saw a bunch of people doing 13 in 2013, so I signed up for the challenge through Jill Conyers' website.

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I chose to run a combination of distances and already have 3 races (2 half marathons and 1 10K) lined up for 2014!  There's still time to sign up if you are interested.  Just click the link above, and it'll take you right to it.  You can do a combination of distances like me, or you can commit to 14 5ks, 14 10ks, 14 half marathon, 14 marathons, or whatever your heart desires!

Reduce the Clutter
I have come to realization that I am a bit messy.  It's not something I'm proud of, and it's making Joe a little frustrated with me lately.  So, my goal for this year to reduce the amount of clutter I leave lying around and actually put things away when I'm done with them!

Make a t-shirt quilt
One way I can reduce the clutter is by getting rid of some of my t-shirts.  I have SO MANY shirts, but I never want to part with them because they remind of things.  Now that my sewing machine is up and running, I finally have a way to deal with some of them: making a t-shirt quilt!

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This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, so 2014 will be the year that I do it!  The picture above is what I'm hoping mine will look like when finished.  This will be a challenge for me, but it's one I'm willing to take on!  I found some tutorials online and have some friends who have made one before that I can use as a reference :)

Attend a Conference (or two or three)
I want to attend a conference this year, either for work or for blogging.  I love the community of like-minded people, the sessions are always interesting, and I always have a blast when I attend a conference!  I've been to a few math teacher conferences in college, but I want to get back in it this year.

Do Something Adventurous
I may just have this planned already, but I wanted to do something that puts me out of my comfort zone in 2014.  I'm THINKING that I'll go sky diving out in Seattle with my friend Kristie, but we will see :)

I originally only wanted to set 2 or 3 goals, but I think these are all manageable.  I'm already taking steps toward completing most of these, so I hope that I will follow through!!

Question for you: Do you set goals for the new year?  If so, what is one of yours?  If not, how do you celebrate the new year?