This is how I view my summer going...

 

Day 23- A Picture of your favorite book.

Okay...let's be honest....we ALL know I am a book nerd. I read non-stop. So honestly, I am going to list more than one, and you're going to be okay with it.

Okay- I am an HP nerd, and I am not afraid to admit it! Ever since my 8th grade English teacher put a poster on her wall of the cover the first book I knew I had to read it and I knew I would love it. I love Harry Potter, I love the symbolism, the allusions and the magic. I am a total fan, and if all books for kids were written this well I believe literacy would be at an all time high.



This is the first piece of "classical lit" I fell in love with. The symbolism, the love and the mystery makes this a book I can read over and over and over again.



The Geography of Bliss - is absolutely amazing. This book took the wanderluster in me and set it ON FIRE. I can reread this book and it's a total study in what makes people happy. This book is one of a kind.

This is Return of the Native- it's amazing and kinda crazy. It's the first book that's made me go a bit outside the box.

I love Atticus. I love Scout. I love Boo Radley. I love this novel.

READ IT!

This novel is all about growing up, and it's wanderful, insane and an absolute joy.

30 Day Challenge- Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts

1. I have acromegaly.

2. As much as I love to read I cannot get books from a library...

once I read I book...I have to own it...it's a compulsion.

3. My dream is to travel the world and to fall in love, and sadly I feel like if I had to pick between the two I feel like I would pick to travel the world.

4. I have an irrational fear of midgets.....it's like the whole elephant mouse thing....

5. I received a Division I College Swimming Scholarship and there isn't one day that goes by that I don't think about swimming and wish that instead of having shoulder surgeries I could have competed the way I was supposed too.

6. I talk to my family, everyday. I am close to my parents, grandparents, aunt and brother (and step-siblings!) and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't communicate with each other them (well not the step-siblings everyday).

7. I am extremely loyal, and because of this once you are friends....

 with me you're basically stuck with me for life.

8. There are some many days when the only person I want to spend time with is my puppy!

9. I am the Orange Belt Conference (Osceola County) Girl's Varsity Swim Coach of the Year! (And I'm only a 2nd year head coach!).

10. I am an Osceola High School Kowboy and a College of Charleston Cougar....and I couldn't be a prouder alumni!

A book everyone should read

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Place in the World , by Eric Weiner is a book that has truly changed my life. (Geeze that sounds corny...)

I realize this is a ridiculous claim, but one that could not be truer and isn't a claim I take lightly. You see I am an avid reader. I was the child who got in trouble for reading because I was neglecting other things - chores, family, activities. I was  the child who began reading Baby Siter Club books in first grade and has had a book in my purse/backpack and bedside table ever since. I am the adult/child/teenager who has always read before bed, books haven't changed my life they are my life. However, Weiner's book has caused me to live differently, look at things differently and apperciate life differently.

As Weiner's starts in Amsterdam and ends in the good ol' USA he not only explains his reveleations he teaches them. You see, Weiner begins with the world wide happiness index, and selected a few countries based on his scores. His grumpy search for happiness not only revealed happiness but brought him happiness. As Weiner travels through impoverish countries, rich countries, and war torn countries he serached for truth. In India he revealed that while they live in greater impoverish numbers their homeless people are still happier than our homeless people due to the fact that they still have a community, they aren't pushed to the side, or ignored, like their American counterparts they are embraced loved and cherished. It's this simple revelation that a sense of community, of being appreciated and loved makes us happier, despite the degree of our physical condition that truly is prooven. These may seem like obvious insights but they are ones that we forget about and look over time and time again. So many times have we heard people make comments about if only they could have this they would be happier, or if only they made more money they would be happier or if only.....but really it seems through Weiner that we learn this isn't true, that while those things improve our quality of life it's impact on the happiness index is much less.

That tiny revelation learned in India is one of MANY MANY that Weiner makes that truly makes you stop back and look at your own life. While I personally think that man...if I could travel like Weiner...boy would I be happy. But, on his own ommission he's a grump, unhappy and he is able to travel the world for a living. I highly recommend you join Weiner on his journey through the Netherlands, Maldives, US, UK, India, Thailand, Iceland, Holland, Bhutan, Sweden,Qatar, and others as he reveals and you realize that maybe happiness isn't just economical or maybe it's not even geographical, and it's definietly not personal....but maybe it's just realational.