Blog Challenge Day 7- Guilty Pleasures

Day 7: Four guilty pleasures.

1. Binge watching TV shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Most of these are shows I never watched when they were originally on. I'll shamefully admit I'm currently watching Party of Five on Amazon Prime. I never religiously watched that show when it was on back in the 90s, but I would catch an episode here and there. Oh, there is so much drama on it- but it's laughable. But at least once an episode I want to tell Bailey to "man up". Sheesh, he whined so much! 

2. Singing when I'm by myself. For anyone who has heard me sing, you know this is not a pretty thing. This is why I take advantage of it when no one is around. :)

3. Taking a weekend to myself and doing absolutely nothing. I love making plans to have no plans. I have no problem ignoring phone calls or texts so I can sit around and watch TV or read a book.

4. Eating ice cream out of the carton. Hey- I live by myself. Why dirty up a bowl?

XOXO!

Blog Challenge Day 6- Turn Offs

Day 6: Five turn offs. I meant this as five turn offs when it comes to dating a guy (although some could apply to friendships as well).

1. Smoking. Now, I'm not judging people who smoke, and I don't mind if my friends smoke, but when it comes to dating a guy, I prefer a non-smoker. 

2. Bullying. I don't want to be with a guy who is constantly putting others down. This applies to my friendships as well. No one has time for a bully.

3. Unreliable. Now, last minute things come up and plans have to be broken, but if a guy is constantly canceling plans or not being somewhere when he says he will, that is a major turn off. I'll assume he's not really interested and just move on.

4. Negativity. Bad days are going to happen, and I don't mind if someone vents or complains about them, but when everything out of his mouth is negative, or he has to put a negative spin on EVERYTHING, yeah, it's not going to work.

5. Laziness. I don't think I even have to put a description down for this one, do I?

XOXO!

Blog Challenge Day 5- Ways to Win My Heart

Day 5: Six ways to win your heart. There are probably a lot more things I could list, but then I would look picky. ;) And I'm going to skip the obvious stuff like "love Jesus" and "don't bother me while I'm watching the game". ;)

1. Pray with me. I know that sounds cheesy to some, but seriously, a guy who will lead a prayer, even if it's just before a meal, that's a big deal to me. And when I say prayer, I mean, something from his heart, not your typical "God is great, God is good, thank you for our food" prayer (although that one works when I'm really hungry!) 

2. Learn to love my big, loud, crazy, family. I'll admit, they can be overwhelming at times (especially to those who come from small families), but they grow on you. And my mom will bake you cookies. And pies.

3. Laugh at my jokes. Hey- I'm a funny person, I need a guy to appreciate the comedian that I am (or that I think I am). ;)

4. Know what to do when I have a bad day. It's pretty simple- I need Blue Bell ice cream and reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show. That will help make it better. Or take me shopping, new shoes help too. :)

5. Don't judge me when I binge watch TV shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Just pass the popcorn, or find another TV. :)

6. Don't try to constantly "fix" what is wrong. Sometimes just holding me and letting me cry is all the therapy I need. I don't need advice or lectures. I just need a hug (and possibly ice cream). To be on the safe side, always have ice cream nearby, it will never hurt. :)

XOXO!!

Blog Challenge Day 4- Favorite Posts From My Blog

Day 4: Seven favorite posts from your blog. Here are seven of my favorite posts from the past four and half years of my blogging experience. Click on the title to read the whole blog post.

1. New Years. New Beginnings. New Adventures -this was one of my most read and most shared blog post. 

2. My Battle -This was the blog post I had the most difficulty writing.

3. What I've Learned in 2013 

4. My Name is Rachel, And I Am Single -this was my second most shared blog post

5. Difficult Letters to Write

6. Are You There God? It's Me, Rachel!

7. Blog Challenge Day 16- Pet Peeves

Thanks for reading (or re-reading) my old posts today! :)

XOXO!

Blog Challenge Day 3- Places I Want to Visit

Day 3: Eight places you want to visit. Like my list of books to read, my list of places to visit is long as well. Here are eight of those places (in no particular order).

1. Belize. I work with someone from Belize and every time she goes home to visit, she'll bring back pictures and it makes me want to get on a plane and go right then! I'm sure the pictures don't do it justice! 

2. Prince Edward Island. I grew up reading the Anne of Green Gables books (and watching the movie). I'd love to go to the place that inspired the story!

3. Rome. Okay, I'd love to visit more of Italy than just Rome, but it's probably my first stop there!

4. London. I have friends from London, and also part of my heritage is from England, I can't wait to go visit!

5. Paris. I think Paris is on a lot of people's bucket lists. I think I want to go just to say I went. :) 

6. Scotland. I found an article about the haunted Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. This is my first stop when I go! :)

7. Colorado. I don't ski (well, I went skiing once in New Mexico, it didn't go well), but I want to go to Colorado, it looks beautiful! I might as well try and ski again while I'm there (or at least dress up and look cute in a skiing outfit). :)

8. Disneyland. I was deprived as a child and never got to go to Disneyland or Disney World. I WILL go one of these days! :)

Check out my friend Trish's blog (click here)! She accepted my 10 Day Challenge! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend, happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!

XOXO!

Blog Challenge Day 2- Books I Want to Read

Day 2: Nine books you want to read. Like I said yesterday, I will probably die next to a pile of books I intended to read. I have way more than nine on my "to read" list, but here are nine of them (in no particular order). You can click on the name for more information about the book.

1. The Maze Runner. I found this book on a list of "Books to Read in 2014 Before the Movies Comes Out". I actually own the book, it's in my "pile" right now. 

2. A Whole New Ballgame. A friend of mine reviewed this on GoodReads, and hey, if it has anything to do with baseball (fiction or non fiction), I'll read it. :)

3. Gone Girl. This is another book from the list of books to read before the movie comes out. I recently read another book by this author, and I like her writing style. This one looks really good.

4. The Phantom of the Opera. I have wanted to read this book for years. One of my favorite musicals is Phantom of the Opera, so I want to see how the novel compares to it. And yes, it's another one in my pile.

5. Calico Joe. Again, I'll read anything that has to do with baseball. And this one is written by John Grisham, and I'm rarely disappointed in his books. 

6. The Harry Potter series (sorry buddy, I'm not listing each one individually). ;) I have a friend who is going to end our friendship if I don't read these books, so all seven of them are on my list. And yes, I'm one of the few people who have never read the series. No, I haven't see the movies either.

7. Stalk Me. I randomly found this one on GoodReads. It looks like a suspense-mystery novel, which is right up my alley! 

8. Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story about Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables. I also like reading biographies, and as a fan of  Veggie Tales, I want to read the story about the guy who created them.

9. Rally Caps, Rain Delays and Racing Sausages. This book is one guy's adventure traveling to all the baseball ballparks. As you know, that's my goal in life. And yes, that makes three baseball themed books on my list of nine. :)

You can always check out books I've read, want to read, or are currently reading on my GoodReads page (click here). Feel free to send me a friend request on there! :)

XOXO!

10 Day Blog Challenge- Day 1

I thought maybe I needed some motivation to blog every day, so I came up with this 10 Day Blog Challenge (it's not as intimidating as a 30 Day Challenge). Lately I just haven't wanted to blog at all, so I'm hoping this helps. I'm in a "Blogging Funk". I kind of took ideas from other challenges that I saw online to make this one. Feel free to take the challenge as well if you want!

Day 1: 10 things about yourself (which seems to be the first one in every blog challenge out there). Well, here I go (I really tried to think of new things this time).

1. Even though I'm very talkative and a "dictionary description" of what an extrovert should be, there are times where I just want to be by myself and not be social at all.

2. I sometimes hide my problems just so I don't have to bother other people with them. I would much rather help someone else with their problems than talk about my own.

3. When I visit new places, I try and find a historical location or museum to check out while I'm there (I'm a nerd).

4. Even though I can be spontaneous, I usually like making plans in advance, especially when it comes to traveling. :)

5. Even though I like to joke about "The Wrath of Rachel" on social media, deep down I am way more patient than I probably let on. :) VERY FEW people have ever seen me really angry (it's probably for the best). :) I have a dark side, but it's "enjoyable". :)

6. If I have a bad day, a pint of Blue Bell ice cream and reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show will improve my mood at least 99% of the time.

7. Even though I love sports, action movies, and despise anything written or produced by Nicholas Sparks, there are times I like being girly and will watch AN OCCASIONAL chick flick (there is a list of chick flicks I will watch). But I still don't like Nicholas Sparks (okay, with the exception of Safe Haven, because it wasn't your typical Nicholas Sparks mushy crap movie). Even saying that, I will usually pick watching a sporting event over a chick flick, even when I'm having a girly moment. :) I'll just get a mani/pedi while watching the game. :)

8. When I love, I love hard.

9. I will probably die next to a pile of books I intended to read. There never seems to be enough time in my life to just sit and read anymore. 

10. There are certain people who can make me smile just by texting me.

Okay, there you go, ten things about me! Hope you are all doing well! 

XOXO!