Book Club Friday

I found this blog hop and decided to link up today! If you want to check out other book reviews, hop on over to Blonde...Undercover Blonde.

As you know, I love to read. I recently starting reading a trilogy so I thought I would review book one of that series. 

First of all, NO, not Heather Graham the actress. The author and actress are two totally different people. I discovered this author thanks to my friend Martha, who let me borrow one of her books a few years ago. Her style is a range of mystery/suspense to supernatural/paranormal to romance (and sometimes a mixture of all of those).

Ghost Shadow is the first book in The Bone Island trilogy series. Heather's books are usually a fast, fun read, and if you have a whole day to do nothing, you can easily read one in less than a day. This book was no exception. I think I read it in two days (I started it late one night and finished it the next day).

Here is the synopsis:

There are those who walk among us who are no longer alive, but not yet crossed over. They seek retribution...vengeance...to warn. Among the living, few intuit their presence. 

Katie O'Hara is one who can.

As she's drawn deeper and deeper into a gruesome years-old murder, whispered warnings from a spectral friend become more and more insistent. But Katie must uncover the truth: could David Beckett really be guilty of his fiancee's murder?

Worse- the body count's rising on the Island of Bones, and the dead seem to be reenacting some macabre tableaux from history. The danger is increasing by the moment- especially as Katie finds herself drawn to David, who may be responsible for more than one killing.

- via

My Thoughts:

Ever since I was little, I've enjoy stories about ghosts. And I love murder mysteries (this explains my crime show addiction). This is a mixture of both and I think Heather Graham did a good job with it. I really liked the main character in this book- Katie is a very strong-willed person. I liked her immediately. I also liked Bartholomew (if you read the book, you'll know who he is). There were a few subplots, but I feel that it was written in such a way that it didn't distract from the main plot of the story. The ending surprised me a little (when I read mysteries I tend to try and solve it myself, sometimes I succeed, but not this time) but it was a good ending. I would recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal mystery books. It's a fun read.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! XOXO!

It's OK Thursday!

It's OK...

...to think that the movie 21 Jump Street wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. Although it had some "crude humor", which is something I'm not a fan of (it's just not my thing). SEMI SPOILER ALERT, KEEP READING AT YOUR OWN RISK: Fans of the TV show might recognize a few faces, that's all I'm gonna say for now. BUT, I think I prefer the original TV show to the movie. Sorry Channing!

...to think that all of your sweet followers should check out these two blogs (they are good friends of mine who are just starting out in the blog world!) Please click on the buttons below and go say howdy! :)

 

...to keep checking your bank account in hopes that your tax return has already been deposited (even though you just filed on Sunday).

...to have 29 boards on Pinterest.

...that your Hotties board on Pinterest is now at 96 pins.

...to think that all boxes of chocolate should come with a cheat sheet so you know what the filling is. 

Gift from one of my co-workers (love the baseball theme). 

 ...to think that coconut should NEVER be a filling in a box of chocolates (blek).

...to convince yourself as long as you are drinking water, it's okay to have three pieces of chocolate from the box pictured above.

...to be proud of yourself for working out at least four times a week for the past three and a half weeks (Turbo Jam workout rocks!)

...to wish you could just airbrush your body to look the way you wanted it to. At the rate I'm going, I will never been seen in a bathing suit ever again. :/

If only I still looked THIS good in a two piece! ;)

 

What's OK with you today?? XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That three weeks from today my friends Tonya, Ashley and I will be heading to Surprise, Arizona for our Rangers Spring Training trip! Wee-hoo! :)

I used our favorite Rangers players for the logo! ;) Thanks to Tonya for the pictures!

I'm loving...

That even the national media is going off on AT&T for slowing down the speed of unlimited data plan users. My friends and I may or may not be sending tweets to AT&T expressing our displeasure as well.

I'm loving...

The voicemail that the BFF left me yesterday. It made my day. :)

Besties!

I'm loving...

Songs by my friend James David Carter. I absolutely love his voice. I'm hoping if I keep bugging him, he'll eventually come do a concert in Texas! ;) Click here for more videos of him singing! Follow him on Twitter here.

I'm loving...

That these pictures make me laugh really hard and cause me to forget that I'm having a bad awful challenging day.

 

I'm loving...

That even though I'm pretty sure this movie is going to be really terrible awful disgraceful bad, I get to see it for free and get a chance to hang out with my home girl Monica! AND we get to see Channing Tatum (well, we will see him in the movie, he won't be there in person, which is a shame). 

Couldn't risk someone printing this and trying to get in! :)

Happy Wednesday my friends! As always, thanks for reading! I really appreciate each and every one of y'all!!

XOXO!

Tuesday Tunes

This afternoon I've been goofing off on Pinterest hard at work on job related stuff, and have been jamming to my country music YouTube playlist. I thought I would post some of those videos today for a Tuesday Tunes post. :)

XOXO!!

Phone Photo Fun Monday

Linking up again with Savannah for Phone Photo Fun Monday!

Currently in my iPhone picture album...

Me and my lovely friend Laura at the Rock and Worship Show Friday night.

Found this going through my baseball cards. I should have Wash sign this! For my non baseball followers, he's now the manager of my Texas Rangers. Yes, they are mine. ;)

One of the many reasons I love being in a carpool- hello HOV lane! No need to sit in that kind of traffic!

Weather conditions last night. It was snowing, but not cold enough to stick. Yes, we will be in the 70s on Wednesday. #TexasWinters

My love/hate relationship with AT&T continues. I still have the unlimited data plan (I've been a customer since 1999), but if I use it too much, they lower my connection speed. It means I can't watch Supernatural on Netflix on my phone at work. NOT THAT I WOULD, of course. ;) I'm not important enough here to have access to the company Wi-Fi account. :/

Saw this on Pinterest and took a screen shot of it. My personal feelings about Valentine's Day, or as I call it, "Single Awareness Day". Or in my case, "One Day Closer to Rachel Becoming the First Baptist Nun in History". 

My free sample of new Ricola cough/throat drops. Ricola saw me talking about them on Twitter one day and asked if they could send me a sample of their new flavor. Of course I said yes! Ah, the power of Twitter! :)

Another screen shot of a Pinterest pin. So very true. One day, one day...

And I was really wanting a boy toy too...rats! ;)

I wanted to end my post today with a tribute to Whitney Houston (I know, it seems everyone else is doing this, why should I be any different). Here are some of my favorite videos of her singing. R.I.P. Whitney.

One of my favorite performances of the National Anthem..

Wow, that's some make-up!

Gonna admit something here, I love this song, but I've never seen the movie The Bodyguard. Don't judge.

This was probably the first Whitney song I remember hearing when I was a kid.

Happy Monday lovelies!

XOXO!

Friday Q & A With Rachel

Happy Friday!! We made it! So, today I thought I would do a Q & A post. FYI, I'm stealing these questions from my friend Katie's blog!

1. What is the meaning behind our blog name? Um, hello, have you read any of my other posts? It's just randomness. I post whatever is running through my head (which can be scary!!)

2. Who is a blogger you look up to? I'm not sure if there is one in particular, I have made a lot of good friends through blogging though. Check out my sweet blogs tab for a few of the blogs I follow! :)

3. What is one thing on your bucket list? To visit all of the major league baseball ballparks and stadiums in the United States (and Canada).

4. If you could have any pet, what would it be? Either a pug or English bulldog, I think they are adorable! ;) Yes, I know, they are funny looking, but they are still cute!! :)

5. If you could go to one concert, who would it be? George Strait. Someone make this happen! ;)

 

6. How did you find out that Santa wasn't real?

Wait, he's not real?? ;)

7. What is something that is currently popular that you can't understand why it's popular (i.e. product, TV show, website, whatever). TV shows like The Real Housewives of (insert city) or Jersey Shore. I don't see how that's entertaining. But that is just me.

8. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? To be able to teleport from one location to another instantly (I think teleport is the word I'm looking for. That's what they did in Star Trek, right?) That way I could be at my apartment at 7:59a and then sitting at my desk at 8:00a. It means I would never have to sit in traffic ever again! Also, I could save money by not having to buy plane tickets for all the fantastic trips I would take! :)

I have friends who will be impressed with this Star Trek reference.

9. If I were to look at your DVR/Tivo, what would I be surprised to find? If you read my blog, you probably wouldn't be too surprised, but I do have some episodes of Murder She Wrote and Remington Steele that I haven't had time to watch. Don't judge.

10. If you could go back and redo one thing from your past, would you, and what would it be? I think I'd go back to junior high/high school and change my hair. It was bad. 

Maybe not THIS bad.

11. Do you have a lucky number? I wouldn't say it's lucky, but my favorite number has always been 4. I don't know why.

12. Are you a Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda or Carrie? I had no clue what this meant, so I Googled it. I never watched Sex in the City, so I have no idea.

13. If you could go on a date with ONE Hollywood hunk, who would it be? It's a toss up between Shemar Moore and Zachary Levi. I'm afraid if I went out with Shemar I would be too in awe to talk. Zachary Levi seems funny, I think we could have good conversations while we were out. :)

Shemar

Zachary

14. A plane just landed in front of you house. Where are you going on an impromptu vacation? Well, if money wasn't an option, I would say Europe.

15. If you were on The Bachelorette, what over the top date would you plan? I would NEVER be on that show, I have no clue. Since I don't watch it, I don't know what they normally do for dates. :/

16. What is your favorite book? One of my all time favorites is To Kill A Mockingbird, I love it!

17. What is your absolute dream job? Public relations for the Texas Rangers! DUH! ;) Or stay at home wife for an independently wealthy guy. Either one! ;)

18. What are three words that you would use to describe yourself at 8am? Not fully awake.

19. You're lost in the Amazon for a day. Who do you want with you, and what one item do you have? I have someone who doesn't mind protecting me from all the snakes, bugs and other fun critters that are in the Amazon (amazingly enough he looks like either Shemar Moore or Zachary Levi). And I have a camera (because knowing me I would do a scrapbook of "My Day Lost in the Amazon".) :)

20. Would you rather hitch a ride on the space shuttle or get a brand new car of your choosing? Yeah, I don't like flying in planes, I don't see me wanting to ride a space shuttle. So, I'll pick a car. I'm a truck/SUV kind of girl, but I wouldn't mind a DeLorean. ;)

Hope it comes with a flux capacitor!

21. What is your idea of a perfect Friday night? Depends on my mood. Sometimes I like to be out with friends. Sometimes I prefer to be curled up on my couch watching TV or reading. :)

22. What is one embarrassing fact about yourself that you would normally never blog about, but now you have to? I'm sorry, I've all of sudden can't read English. I have no clue what that question said. ;)

Happy Friday sweet friends!! Have a great weekend!

XOXO!

Thursday 13- Random Style

I honestly couldn't think of a specific topic for my Thursday 13 post, so I decided to just let it be random thoughts (I know, kinda scary, huh?) :)

1. After watching Criminal Minds last night, I think I like Dean Cain better as Clark Kent/Superman in Lois and Clark than as a psychotic killer (although he was a good looking psychotic killer). 

2. I have a new Netflix addiction- I've started watching Supernatural. It was a show I figured I would like (you know me, I like stuff like that), but I just never watched it (or I would forget to watch it). I'm still on season 1, but so far I like it, and I hear it gets better as the show goes on. And let's face it, Jensen Ackles is nice to look at. ;) For those who don't know, it's a drama, not reality show.

Hello Jensen...

3. I'm very excited that a sweet friend helped me out with buying my awesome new Rangers purse! Thanks again friend, I LOVE it!! :)

4. I am happy that the IT department finally replaced my keyboard. Some of the letters were coming off of my old one. My new keyboard is spiffy. Yes I said spiffy. And yes it was about a computer keyboard.

 My old keyboard. The C and N letters were completely gone and the E S D M and F letters were almost gone.

My new keyboard. How pathetic is my life that I'm blogging about computer keyboards?

5. After last week with temperatures in the 70s, winter has decided to make an appearance and it's going to be cold this weekend (I blame the groundhog, he saw his shadow!) Thankfully it will just be a for a few days, it should warm back up next week. As they say, if you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait, it will change! :)

6. Did anyone else ever think it was funny that Clint Black had a song called "Killin' Time" and one called "No Time to Kill"?

7. I'm pretty sure this will be my next Rangers merchandise purchase.

8. For the past 10 months the guy in my carpool (side note: poor man- he's has to carpool with three women every day) has been wanting to stop for dinner at this Corny Dog place in downtown Dallas. We told him we would stop one day for him but have never had a chance. This past week we noticed this as we drove by it:

Closed due to an asbestos hazard. SO GLAD we never ate there!

9. I'm pretty excited that my hair is now finally long enough to pull back into a ponytail WITHOUT having to use bobby pins or clips (yes, it seems the little things in life make me happy). For those who are new to my blog, last summer I cut off almost 10 inches of my hair to donate to Pink Heart Funds (click here for post).

10. Even though I'm happy for my nephew and his family on moving to Hawaii, I'm going to miss them terribly! BUT, at least I have a place to stay when I go to Hawaii! ;) He and his family were in town last weekend so I got to see them one last time before they moved.

Me and my nephew Greg (who is 2 years older than me) and his kids B and G.

Me and Greg's lovely wife Jenn!

11. In the past 2 weeks I have been to Half Price Books three times. I have an addiction. BUT, thanks to gift cards from Christmas, I didn't spend any of my money. Woo-hoo!

12. I'm seriously going to take a day off work and do nothing but watch stuff on my DVR. I only have like 15% free. I know, that's just sad. What is really sad is that it has movies that I like on it, but I'm too cheap to just go and buy the DVDs. Don't judge. ;)

13. Last Saturday I went to a fantastic Girls Night Out with some friends. We spent the evening walking around the Galleria in Dallas. I felt the need to have an Audrey Hepburn moment and try on hats. I think she pulled it off better than me! :)

We have almost survived another week!! Hang in there friends!!

XOXO!