What I'm Loving!

I'm loving...

That I finally got to check out a few RoughRiders games (that's the Rangers AA team in Frisco). I love minor league baseball (okay, I love any kind of baseball), but minor league games are super fun to attend. I went to a game last Thursday night and on Sunday afternoon. Sunday was Bark at the Park Day and there were so many cute dogs there. I wish I had gotten a picture of some of them.

My friend Daniel went with me on Thursday. I forgot to tell him that I'm always taking pictures. :)

My baseball homegirl Beks works part time at the Roughriders games. I had to stop by for a hug. Yes, I hug. A lot. If you have never met me in person, this is your warning. :)

My friend Art also works for the Roughriders and I got to see him on Thursday too!

My view Thursday night and Sunday afternoon (yeah for free tickets!)

Sunday was my friend Eric's first time to see a Roughriders game.

I'm loving...

The crazy weather in Texas. We had a week full of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Then Saturday a cold front hit and it was overcast and freezing (in the 50s- yes that is freezing to us). Nevertheless, my friends and I enjoyed our tailgate before the Rangers game. Even cold temperatures couldn't stop us from being out there. 

My friend Andrew works with me and saw on Facebook that I was tailgating, so he came by to say hi

It was cold, but at least we looked cute in our Rangers beanies

Former Rangers great Rafael Palmeiro was signing autographs before the game

I'm loving...

Cute gifts from my friends. My friend Lisa made us all fans to use at baseball games (obviously we didn't need them on Saturday though). She put a picture of Steve Avery on my fan. As you all know, he is the "Avery" behind my "Averyfan" handle. So, it's basically an Avery fan for Averyfan. :)

I'm loving...

Going to Rangers games. I know, this shocks you, especially after the first part of my post. Lol. I went to two RoughRiders games and three Rangers games over a five day period. I promise I don't have a baseball problem. :)

For those of you who make fun of me for posting on social media when I'm at the games- it pays off. My friend saw that I checked in on Friday at the Ballpark and texted me saying he wasn't at the game, so I could sit in his season ticket holder seats. He texted his usher to let him know I was coming so I had no problems sitting there. :)

With one out in the 9th, it started pouring. Thankfully my friend Monica and I were prepared with ponchos. The rain only lasted about 10 minutes so we were able to see the fireworks show after the game. :)

Watching Saturday's game with some of my Twitter family- I love these peeps!! I never would have thought that I would get such wonderful friendships from Twitter. These people are truly the best!

I actually took Monday off work to get some rest and take care of a few errands. My friend Harry texted with a last minute Rangers ticket for that night, so of course, I had to go. 

I'm loving...

That I finally saw my high school friend Matt Belisle pitch in a big league game. He's a relief pitcher and it seems I was never at a game where he pitched. Monday night he came in to pitch for the Twins. As much as I want my friend to succeed in his career, I wish he hadn't pitched so well against my boys. :)

Matt and I were on newspaper staff together my senior year. Super sweet guy, just wish he played for the Rangers so I wouldn't feel guilty cheering for him. :)

I'm loving...

When I get to see friends I haven't seen in FOREVER. After 15 months trying to plan lunch/dinner, my friend Landon and I finally had brunch on Sunday. It's ridiculous how busy we both are, we laugh about it. And on Saturday I got to see my friend Cheryl. I've known her since I was 14, but we hadn't seen each other in about 12 years. She and her fiance were in town for a Rangers game so we met up before the game. 

I joked with Landon that I thought he was a figment of my imagination since I hadn't seen him in so long.

Oh, the stories I could tell about the trouble we caused when we were younger- but I won't. :)

I'm loving...

That I'm on week two of my 30 Day Shred workout. We will see if I can keep it up. This is how I feel about working out. Lol.

What are YOU loving today??

XOXO!

What I'm Loving!

I'm loving...

That I was able to go see my folks for Easter. I was deathly ill on my deathbed writing out my will on the bathroom floor suffering from food poisoning on Thursday night and Friday, so I wasn't able to go to their house until Saturday, but I still had fun with my family. I was sad I wasn't up to having Easter lunch (it took a while before I was brave enough to eat again), but I have almost fully recovered right now. :)

For the record, I did wear a dress to church (my mother would NOT have approved of me wearing a T-shirt on Easter Sunday). This was taken right before I left to drive home

Yes, for the 38th time in my life, I got an Easter basket

I'm loving...

The new windows in my apartment. The complex installed new windows and put up new blinds (they are sturdier than the flimsy plastic ones I used to have up). While they were working in my apartment, I had to take all the stuff off my walls. I spent about three days putting everything back up in my study. I also bought some new bookshelves so I'm happy to report I no longer have books stacked up on the floor. 

My "Woman Cave" 

I call this my celebrity wall. Pictures and autographs from different celebrities

I had to buy another bookshelf for my bobbleheads

I'm loving...

That I have a busy but fun weekend coming up. I'm looking forward to hanging out with a lot of different friends. :)

Please leave a comment if you have a WILW post! :)

XOXO!

Book Reviews 2017: Thirteen Reasons Why

**All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.** 

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

I read this book back in March and I've been meaning to post a review of it, but I have been lazy. With the majority of my social media feeds talking about the Netflix show based on it, I felt I needed to go ahead and post my review of it.

First of all, YES, I read the book before I watched the Netflix series (because I always try and read the book before I see a movie/show based on it). And yes, I mainly picked up the book because I knew a series had been made about it, and I wanted to read it first. I'm a nerd.

I'm not going to lie- this book sucked me in. I couldn't put it down. I started reading it one Sunday afternoon and spent the rest of the day finishing it.

I've heard (meaning I've read other reviews) people complain about ALL THE DRAMA throughout the book but remember, this is a young adult book. Everything is dramatic to teenagers. What might seem like no big deal to an adult is earth-shattering to a teenager (don't you remember your teenage years?) Most teenagers feel that the world is against them.

If you have watched the series but didn't read the book, there are some pretty big differences. There are characters in the series who are not in the book. There are also plot lines in the series that are not in the book, so if you end up reading the book too, you might be surprised.

I like how the writing style went back and forth between what was going on with Clay and to Hannah speaking on the tape. Suicide (especially teen suicide) is a sensitive subject that no one seems to want to talk about, but I think the author handled it with delicacy and didn't downplay the seriousness of it at all. Even if someone leaves a suicide note (or tapes in this case) that doesn't mean that they explain every reason why they killed themselves. Some of the reasons might seem petty, but to that person, they weren't petty at all. It also stresses throughout the book that suicide is NEVER the answer. I don't feel that it glorifies suicide at all. 

MINOR SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD (but it won't ruin the book for you). 

Since the book is done in first person, we really only saw how Hannah's suicide affected Clay. I would have liked for some of the other characters to have shown or expressed remorse (or at least had reactions to receiving the tapes). 

I liked the writing style and look forward to reading other works from the author.

Book summary:

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That baseball season is back. I am NOT loving the horrible start to the Rangers season, but it's not about how you start, it's how you finish. Maybe THIS will be the year they won't break my heart. I know, I say this every April.

Fun times with friends last weekend at the Ballpark- we actually saw a WIN on Sunday. We got giveaway jackets on Saturday night and Rangers umbrellas on Sunday

I met former Rangers catcher Jim Sundberg- one of the greats!

So, former Rangers great, and future hall of famer catcher, Pudge Rodriguez is on a pre-game show called Rangers Live. They film it at the Ballpark. My friends and I were watching him prepare for the show on Saturday night. His wife walked over to us and was like, do you want him to sign something? She offered to take it over to him. Um....YES!! So I have Jim Sundberg and Pudge Rodriguez's autographs next to each other on this little batting helmet. Total fan girl moment.

I'm loving...

That after eight years of saying I needed to take pictures in the bluebonnets again, I FINALLY did it. It wasn't until AFTER I took these pictures that I realized there could have been snakes in the high grass. Cue mini panic-attack. Lol.

I'm loving...

That I got to hang out with my friend Lynn (and her adorable babies) last Friday. We've been friends for years. She just moved back to town after being gone forever (okay, like a year, but it felt like forever). We had a blast. It was fun to have girl time and just catch up with each other.

I'm loving...

That my office let us wear jeans last week if we participated in National Walking Day (we basically had to walk up and down the street behind our building and that counted as participating). Hey- to be able to wear jeans, I'll do (almost) anything!

It was so windy that day, I was glad I had my Rangers hoodie

I'm loving...

Spring storms. I know, they can be dangerous, I don't like the DAMAGE that they bring, but I love a good thunderstorm. Especially when I can watch it from my office window and it's over before I have to pull my car out of the parking garage. :)

I'm loving...

Free food. Granted, I love food in general, but especially when it's free. Today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day (no lie- it was printed on my day planner). Norma's Cafe gave away free grilled cheese sandwiches in honor of it, so I went there for lunch. 

I'm too lazy to make a link up this week. If you participate in WILW, please leave me a comment below with your blog so I can check out your post! Even if you don't participate, please leave a comment below! :)

XOXO!

Mobile Monday!

I realize I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would catch y'all up on what I've been up to!

A few weeks ago I went home for my mom's 80th birthday party. She had so much fun. All six of her kids were able to be there and a good amount of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there too. Her best friend (a woman I've always called Aunt Beth) surprised her by showing up for the party, none of us knew she would be there. I hadn't seen her in years. A fun time was had by all!

The birthday girl!

We had a table with items representing some of my mom's favorite things

An arrangement of photos of my mom over the years

We love our Blue Bell

My Aunt Beth!

My nieces and nephews who were able to attend the party (I have 16 total). Somehow my nephew Danny escaped the mandatory photo with Aunt Rachel- he was there too. Lol

I have five great-nephews and three great-nieces. Three of them were able to attend the party. Oh, and we found out my niece Stephanie is pregnant, so I will have another great-niece or great-nephew to add to the bunch. Yes, my family is huge. 

The same weekend as my mom's birthday party, I rushed back to Dallas for the last day of the Fan Expo (formerly Dallas Comic Con). I wasn't originally going to go, but I decided to go at least one day. I'm so glad I did! I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet both Mark Hamill and Tim Curry. I also got to meet one of my teenage crushes, Sean Patrick Flanery. He played the young Indiana Jones in a short-lived TV series and TV movies. If you bought an autograph, he took a selfie with you. He actually took my phone and took a few selfies of us together. He called me darling twice. I will confess that I swooned. Lol.

He's 51 and still makes my heart swoon, I'm not gonna lie. 

For those who never saw The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, here is a glimpse of the greatness that you missed.

Yes, I had a moment when he followed me on Twitter

I had a Star Wars nerd moment when I met Luke Skywalker himself- Mark Hamill. He laughed at my shirt

This was the line we had to wait in so we could even meet Mark Hamill- it was crazy, but worth it

I was a little tempted to buy the life-size cut-out of Jensen Ackles, but I refrained. Mainly because I was out of cash and they didn't take credit cards. Lol

I love Back to the Future so I was super excited to meet Tom Wilson (Biff)

I got a hug from King Ezekiel himself (The Walking Dead), Khary Payton. This guy was probably the nicest person I met all day (well, besides Sean Patrick Flanery). I didn't tell him, but I've never seen The Walking Dead. It's not my thing. But, my friend wanted a picture with him and I agreed to split the cost and be in it too. He kept getting pulled away for professional pictures but he always came back to his booth and promised everyone he would meet them. One of the convention workers said the day before they were trying to get him to cut off his line so he could leave and he said he was going to stay until every person had a chance to meet him. He spent a lot of time with each fan, so it wasn't like a quick picture and you were gone. You can tell he really appreciates his fans. He gained a new one that day.

Tim Curry. What an icon. I love his movies. He had a stroke in 2012 and doesn't talk a whole lot, but he still wants to make an effort to give back to the fans. As we were walking away I told him thank you and he said "you are welcome". 

April 3 was Opening Day for my Texas Rangers. Well, technically it was Opening Night since the game started at 6pm, but we started tailgating at one, so it was a day long event. Despite the outcome of the game, I still had fun with my friends at the Ballpark. I'll take a bad day at the Ballpark over being at work any day. Lol.

Tailgating fun

Before the game some friends and I got to meet country singer Neal McCoy. He was one of my favorite country singers when I was in high school and college. He's a huge Rangers fan and is at a lot of games. I finally ran into him for a picture!

A view from my seats this year (I got a 20 game pack again)

I met up with my friend Corina (she wasn't able to make the tailgate). It's a must for us to take a picture together any time we see each other! :)

My friend Bob got last minute tickets and stopped by our section to say hi

Don't worry, I will have plenty more Rangers pictures throughout the season, you have been warned! :)

Oh, I have more book reviews coming soon- I know, I know. I'm way behind again!

XOXO!