instalife

Ya know the feeling? And Kennedy just came in telling me her stomach hurts, "I kind feel hungry but also yucky." This is now the second/third time in the past few days. Hope she's not coming down with anything because everyone knows I don't fare well with stomach shit. 🙅🏼😫

behind closed doors + thirteen reasons why

Yippie Skippy, picking up like nobodies biznaz. Comin' atcha with books #7 and #8, both of which I've already completed leaving me in the process of debating which of the three unread books I have from my birthday to pick next.

What can I say about this little number? For one, it was absolutely nightmarish. After Gone Girl I was thriller hungry and tried scrounging up every last novel that had a glimmer of the jaw dropping and heart palpitating moments Gillian gave me. This book was published in 2016 after my psycho hunt had ended but luckily Angelique stumbled upon it and let me in on the deets. I think the title and tagline make it clear there is an issue within a marriage that is unknown to anyone else. But boyyyyyyyyyyyyy is it terrifying how different the problem turned out to be. I was uneasy and horrified the entire time and it was only made worse knowing that there are people who have endured something similar. If you are a fan of either Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins I highly recommend this book to you. Feel free to badger me if you read it and end up hating it.

My next decision was solely based on the new Netflix series.

This novel went undetected from my radar until I saw the series as a new release on Netflix. Maybe it all dwindles down to me being a glutton for punishment, but when I see people raving about a movie or show and I find out it's roots began as a novel, I absolutely love to give the author credit first. Do I understand that even when they do an amazing job it's never as good as the book? Yes. But hey, they took one book and turned it into a thirteen hour series so I find it hard to believe that any details are going to be ill presented. 

When I added this book onto Goodreads, the first things I read were the first few sentences of the top most rated reviews by other individuals and they were a mix of, "oh my god I loved this story so much! Such a good representation of missed signs" to "wow, I can't believe this book is so popular since it glamorizes teen suicide." Now that I have finished the book I can see both sides. I can see the reviews as coming from someone compassionate towards mental illness and from those that are not. Tonight I finally slip into the film version with Clay and the individuals who tore Hannah Baker down.

Olly-olly-oxen-free!

Leia

easter, finally

Candy and easter eggs and pretty dresses galore! I totally scored and will absolutely pat myself on the back for the amazing dresses I found the girls. I found Kennedy's dress three months in advance and it was the best/worst thing! So happy that I found the perfect dress, so upset the holiday was so far away. If you're thinking I could have let her wear it beforehand.. absolutely not. Giving a five year old free reign in a white dress? HAH. Piper's dress on the other hand almost didn't arrive in time. Three days before the holiday my package from Gap arrived promptly on my doorstep but lo and behold it was filled with a pair of men's size 36 khaki cargo pants. Yippee! Luckily the lady I spoke with over the phone got a dress shipped out and it arrived Friday evening. This ensured that her dress did not get ruined beforehand either.

Alright, enough about the dresses. Saturday afternoon, yeah the day before Easter, we dyed our eggs. I think next year I'll try a Pinterest method to make it more fun for the kids. We've typically always just used vinegar/water/food coloring and I guess truthfully it's pretty boring for them. Piper kept cracking her eggs on the edge of the table as if we were getting ready to cook with them and she was content enough to keep submerging them in the spoon rinse water. Whatever floats her boat, it kept her out of Kennedy's hair and for that we had peace.

And then it was time for the Easter Bunny to get to work. He did most of the shopping at Target aside from one pit stop at Lush for the most adorable chick egg bath bombs. I really appreciated the simple route he took and he made sure to get the girls exactly all the same items aside from a slight difference in the PEZ dispensers.

^^ can we just appreciate the way Piper looks at her big sis. MELT.

NOW YAY! DRESS TIME! Dolled up and ready for another egg hunt at papa's house. Ken's collar, Piper's huaraches. I was dying all afternoon long.

Vogue.

 Such sweet photos they took with dad. Piper had so obviously expended any and all photo etiquette in these few photos because afterwards she was off and running like a lunatic leaving the photos with me to end up as they usually do. Extremely candid with me usually grabbing at her arm pulling her back into frame. 

 And then I turn into psycho mom after frustrations with Piper, "I don't care that the sun is bright! Put your hands down and smile!" Damnit!

*Insert quote from the bible here*

Leia

instalife

We're ready for you E.B. 🐇 

everything, everything

Time to play a novel game of catch up now that I'm back at a desk for work! Yes, I'm corny and I hope you all now that I eat that shit up.

#6 for the year and I'm officially behind schedule. Should totally be starting up on #8 but hopefully things should be able to pick up for me shortly. I finished this little number in just a few hours when you consider that I finished it in spurts over two days at work. 

Every now and again I fancy myself a young adult novel and this was a nice, quick, read and it comes out as a movie next month. There are already a few character changes as far as their description in the book but that really looks to be about it from what I can tell in the commercials. One thing that I don't quite like about young adult novels is the sexual side of things. Sure! These are normal things young adults experience but it really gets me creeped out when I think of a grown adult male or female author writing about it. Still worth a read.

"You can do every goddamned thing right, and your life can still turn to shit."

Leia

lee county state park: a photo series

It's now almost two months after my Florida vacation with Adam and I still haven't documented my full trip. Also this has been the longest stretch I've went without a blog update in awhile. But hey, started my new job, Piper's sleep had me down in the dumps and trying to get back on schedule for next semester with school had me feeling completely blah.

Anyhow, our trip to kayak with some manatees! We were entirely geeked but little did we know we wouldn't come into contact with one. Almost no wildlife at all to be precise. Props to the few birds we saw.

 ^^ at this point we paddled like hell to get past this traffic jam

 So while we were disappointed that we didn't get to see what we came for we still had a grand time paddling around and complaining how much our arms hurt. It was a pretty overcast day which made it nice since we were all still somewhat recuperating from our initial day in the sun on the islands.

After kayaking we took a walk through the park itself and we still came up empty in the wild animal department despite multiple warnings about alligators and how we aren't supposed to feed them. Maybe next time!

All living things are connected.

Leia