Weekly Reads: Don't Stay Up Late

Don't Stay Up Late is the second book in R.L. Stine's relaunched Fear Street series. I used to be obsessed with these books as a kid. I've never been a huge horror fan because I jump at every single thing, but I love these books. I will say they're not nearly as terrifying as they were as a 10-12 year old, and I was able to figure this on out pretty quickly, but it was still a fun scary read.

My rating: 3 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Ever since a car accident killed her father and put Lisa and her mother into the hospital, Lisa can't think straight. She's plagued by nightmares and hallucinations that force her to relive the accident over and over again in vivid detail. When Lisa finds out that a neighbor is looking for a babysitter for her young son, she takes the job immediately, eager to keep busy and shake these disturbing images from her head.
But what promised to be an easy gig turns terrifying when Lisa begins to question exactly who — or what — she is babysitting.

Sioux Falls Half Marathon Training Week 3

Monday morning I assisted a yoga class, so I didn't get a workout in.

Tuesday I was up super early to take a power vinyasa class and then assist an express class after. It was one of the funnest flows I've done in awhile!

Wednesday night was group run at 605 Running Co. I actually had company on the run which was awesome. And after we continued our sweat by doing a nice and tough flow!

Thursday morning was another early morning class with a new to me instructor. So hard. So much sweat.

Saturday I had planned to run a 5k but a 45 minute drive and a 10am start time in the heat weeee having had me thinking otherwise.

Sunday I met Emily at barre for a class. I rarely sweat in barre (which I love) but I worked up a bit sweat in Katie's class!

Since I was already sweaty I thought I might as well take my bike out for a spin! I biked a leisurely paced 14 miles with a friend and then tried to haul some booty for 11 of the remaining 13. I was averaging 16 mph which is flyyyyying for me. Barre and yoga must be helping strengthen my legs up because this is my first ride this year. Oops.

And I ended the weekend with the magical unicorn hour of restorative yoga. Ahhhh....

Engagement Pictures

Yesterday marked two months from Kyle and my I Do day, so I thought I'd share some of our engagement pictures with you all!

I have to say, it was sooooo difficult for Kyle to be on a dock at a river and NOT be fishing. He was a good sport though. I wouldn't recommend taking engagement pics in 95+ degrees. I thought I was going to die and Ollie girl couldn't even come along for some famil pics because of the heat.

Fourth of July Weekend

I had to work on the 5th of July so as soon as I was off work on Thursday, Kyle and I loaded up our provisions and pug and headed up to the camper. 

Provisions = mix your own 6 pack. Obvs.

Ollie was thrilled to be going on an adventure.

And then she wanted to take a turn at driving. She has a hard time looking where she's supposed to go while driving so her dad is trying to give her pointers.

As soon as we arrived we packed up and were out in the boat. The sky was still all crazy because of the fires in Canada.

My view in the boat. <3

Ollie making sure her dad is catching something (spoiler: we didn't)

And then when the sun went down we got to fish with light up bobbers. How did I not know that's a thing?!? So fun. Except when your eyes suck like mine it's hard to even tell when you have a bite.

Look! There's my tiny little glowy bobber!

On the way home from fishing, I started to feel miserable. I had a monster headache and I couldn't breathe. I realized later that I was having some major allergy issues from all the smoke. Thanks Canada!

I was able to rally a bit in the morning after some heavy decongestant dosage. But the fish weren't interested.

Ollie was thrilled to be the co-pilot on the boat.

Patriotic hair ribbon FTW.

And then I made her a little tent to hang out in to keep her out of the sun.

And then around lunch time I thought I was going to die, so Ollie and I were dropped off to down some more allergy meds and nap. I think we slept for three hours, and got caught up on some reading.

And then I attempted to rally. It was the Fourth of July, after all.

We got hung out and met a lot of new folks that camp on the campsite and had a blast.

New Hairz

I was finally able to squeeze in a MUCH NEEDED hair appointment last Friday. I hadn't gotten my hair cut in 4 months, and hadn't gotten any color in ten. Ten MONTHS. That's pure laziness, even for me.

A really sleepy before picture:

A during photo:

And after:

!

One of my yoga teacher training classmates does hair full time, so I showed her some pics of what I was loving, and she did such a great job. Healthy shiny hair is a good look on anyone. 

Is there any day better than new hair day? (Ok, it might be tied with new contact day and/or new mascara day, but SERIOUSLY!)

Weekly Reads: More Happy Than Not

More Happy Than Not is one of the books I was most excited to read this summer after hearing tons of hype about the debut novelist. It was being compared to Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind in a YA book. Since that's my favorite movie, obviously I had to read it.

It. Was. Amazing.

I loved it, and I didn't want it to end.

Read it, you won't regret it.

My rating: 5 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

Happiness shouldn't be this hard…

The Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-relief procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto -- miracle cure-alls don't tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. But Aaron can't forget how he's grown up poor or how his friends aren't always there for him. Like after his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. Aaron has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it's not enough. 

Then Thomas shows up. He has a sweet movie-watching setup on his roof, and he doesn't mind Aaron's obsession with a popular fantasy series. There are nicknames, inside jokes. Most importantly, Thomas doesn't mind talking about Aaron's past. But Aaron's newfound happiness isn't welcome on his block. Since he's can't stay away from Thomas or suddenly stop being gay, Aaron must turn to Leteo to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he is.

Adam Silvera's extraordinary debut novel offers a unique confrontation of race, class and sexuality during one charged near-future summer in the Bronx.

Sioux Falls Half Marathon Training Week 2

Tuesday I woke up early to join the running club at the yoga studio for some early morning miles. I ran there, did a 5k tempo run and then jogged home. It was a thick humid run.



Thursday morning I was up early for power vinyasa yoga. Somehow it was my first yoga class in 2 weeks; no wonder it felt so hard!

Thursday night I was back at the studio for a barre class. Whoop.

And some more barre Sunday morning. I'm a bit obsessed.

And because I'm actually insane, I ran to and from barre. I love that my run home, recovery pace was faster than my run there because my glutes were awake and alive after class.

And Sunday night I went to a magical unicorn restorative class. I stopped going to Sunday night restorative during football season because class kept conflicting with the packers games. Needless to say, I'm back. Heaven. 

Yoga Teacher Training Update

As I've blabbered on and on about for the last 4 months, I did yoga teacher training at my local yoga studio which partnered with Lotus House of Yoga from Nebraska. In addition to our seven weekends of intensive weekend training, we also have additional hourly requirements: 30 hours of yoga classes, 10 hours of yoga class observations, 10 hours of yoga class assists, 4 workshops, and 6 hours of free yoga classes we teach.

Because training was so intensive, I put off doing these requirements until in between our 6th and 7th weekend, since there was a month break. I did 9 of my 10 observations in a two week span at the end of June. There were a LOT of 5:30am classes to watch. And then I moved on to my assists, and have over half of those completed to date. I have four of my six kula classes done, with my last two on the schedule, and I'm all done with my workshops. Somehow my yoga practice has been the hardest to wrap up, as there are only a couple of instructors who's classes count toward our requirements, and after observing or assisting classes, there aren't any left for me to take!

My Type A self has a list of all the available classes that fit my schedule with approved instructors for the next three weeks, and if all goes according to plan, I'll be all wrapped up by August 3rd. Wahoo! Do they give out yoga certifications for 187 hours because I'm ready to be done!

Namaste.

If anyone is interested, please like my Facebook page! 

Weekly Reads: Hold Me Closer

Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is the companion story to Will Grayson, Will Grayson, a most excellent young adult book co-written by John Green and David Levithan. This book is told in the form of a musical, and it's simply amazing. I want to sit down and take in an actual production of it, as I'm certain my imagination did not serve it properly. Read this book (and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, preferably in opposite order).

My rating: 4 stars

Summary from goodreads: 

It’s Tiny Cooper’s turn in the spotlight in this companion novel to New York Times bestseller Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Jazz hands at the ready! Tiny Cooper (“the world’s largest person who is also really, really gay”) stole readers’ hearts when he was introduced to the world in the New York Times bestselling book Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-authored by John Green and David Levithan. Now Tiny finally gets to tell his story—from his fabulous birth and childhood to his quest for true love and his infamous parade of ex-boyfriends—the way he always intended: as a musical! Filled with honesty, humor, and “big, lively, belty” musical numbers, the novel is told through the full script of the musical first introduced in Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Sioux Falls Half Marathon Training Week 1

Tuesday I ran to and from barre class. I ran hardish on the way there and did a recovery ish run on the way home.

Barre was tough per usual. But I did finally move up in weights! Whoop!

Wednesday was group run at 605 Running Co. It was a warm one. After the run we yoga'd it up!

Saturday I had a jam packed day so my long run got pushed aside and I fit in the one class that worked with our schedule: barre!

Sunday I told myself I could sleep in and skip my workout after a late wedding night. Then I made myself go because it was with an instructor I rarely get to go to. Go figure... Someone was there videoing class..... Uff.

Weekly Reads: The Island of Dr. Libris

The Island of Dr. Libris is the newest book by Chris Grabenstein. I absolutely adored Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. I recommend this book left and right at my library, and the kiddos eat it up. So when I got an advanced reader copy to read and review before the book's publication in March, I was ecstatic!

However, I was less than ecstatic about the book, unfortunately. It was good, but it wasn't OMG fantastic as I was hoping/expecting. I loved the classic book characters, but the story itself fell somewhat flat for me. I do think kids will enjoy it, but it is not a home run like Mr. Lemoncello was.

My rating: 3 stars.


Summary from goodreads:

Chris Grabenstein, author of the New York Times bestsellingEscape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and coauthor of the I Funny series with James Patterson, celebrates the power of imagination with this action-packed adventure that shows that sometimes the real story starts after you close the book!
 
What if your favorite characters came to life? Billy’s spending the summer in a lakeside cabin that belongs to the mysterious Dr. Libris. But something strange is going on. Besides the security cameras everywhere, there’s Dr. Libris’s private bookcase. Whenever Billy opens the books inside, he can hear sounds coming from the island in the middle of the lake. The clash of swords. The twang of arrows. Sometimes he can even feel the ground shaking. It’s almost as if the stories he’s reading are coming to life! But that’s impossible . . . isn’t it?