Giveaways galore!

I've noticed several bloggers that do giveaways all the time! It's sooo cute! My favorite is Sweet Tea Diaries, she has great giveaways all the time and is just sweet as can be! I just love Southern people, they are the nicest, sweetest people on earth. Seriously!
My only question is, how does anyone find time to do all this? I can hardly keep up with my Google Reader! Seriously, what is the secret?!
Hmm... Maybe someday I will figure it out! Either way, head on over there and check it out. Enter the drawing and maybe you'll win some sweet stuff!

The Shack by WM. Paul Young

This book had been sitting on my mental "to be read" list for a long time now. I knew the plot from a friend of mine and I also knew I would have a hard time getting through it. I wasn't expecting it to have so much religion in it, but by the end of it I was very grateful and learned a lot about myself and my own beliefs.

The Shack is about a father, Mackenzie (Mack) Phillips of five kids. His youngest daughter, Missy is abducted during a family vacation. Although Missy's body was never recovered they did find evidence in an abandoned shack that she was brutally murdered by a notorious serial killer nicknamed The Little Ladykiller. This man preyed on young girls around the age of 5 and always left a ladybug pin behind.

The book takes place four years after Missy's death. Mack receives a note from "Papa" that invites him back to the shack. Papa is the name Mack's wife, Nan refers to God as. Mack doesn't know if this is a joke, but decides he has to go to find out.

He arrives at the scene of Missy's death and has a weekend long encounter with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God is portrayed as an African-American woman, although this is only the anthropomorphism of God she chose to possess in order to communicate with Mack. Jesus is a Middle Eastern man and the Holy Spirit is a small woman of Asian descent named Sarayu.

The Shack covers many theological topics although the main theme is Mack's inability to trust God since Missy's death and his anger towards him for allowing such pain to happen to his youngest daughter.

With each chapter was another topic that would send me deep in thought. Some of these topics included forgiveness, judgement, the Trinity, submission, free will and salvation. Even though it is only 250 pages long, it took me over a week to finish. There were many chapters that brought tears to my eyes, and many times I had to stop reading.

I would definitely recommend this book if you have ever asked the question, "why?" when bad things happen to innocent people.

My day...

11am: Signed my lease today!! I'm soooo excited! 23 days till I move in! I think Libby is excited too... ;)

12pm: Pedicure with Mercedes - the best manicurist/pedicurist ever! I don't get pedicures regularly but I have been wearing flip flops to work lately and it's probably not appropriate to have nasty feet at work, right?? That's my justification and I'm sticking to it!

1pm-10pm: Work! Had a shoplifter today. She couldn't have been older than 14 years old. It's just so sad. When she tried to leave the alarm went off because she took something with a sensor. I had been keeping my eye on her for awhile so I was at the door waiting for her. She had on a bulky coat and when I asked her to open her jacket her "boobs" were literally down to her waist. Umm... yeah. Not sure what was in there and I really wish I knew (because it definitely wasn't a body part) but I guess I will never know.

10:20pm: Saw "I Love You, Man". It was great! I laughed the whole way through, which let me tell you, after this hellish week I needed it!

I'm scheduled to be back into work tomorrow by 9am (I know, I should be in bed right now. Sleep? Who needs it?) but honestly, I haven't been able to relax lately. I have had a lot going on. Not so much good, so trust me, you all don't want to hear about it. Ehh, maybe someday I will burden you with it. Ha! Just kidding. :) Although, basically I'm wishing I still lived 1200 miles away on the Atlantic coast, but I know that is not the answer. Althoooooogh, laying on the beach sounds just like the medicine I need right now. If I had vacation time and the money to do so, I would so be there!

Keep your fingers crossed for a good day at work for me tomorrow, otherwise I'm going to find a cliff and jump off it.

Thursday Meme!

Janet over at Love is Blonde tagged herself and I'm tagging myself too! Nope Janet, there ain't no shame in that.

What is your current obsession? Since finishing American Wife I have been obsessed with Laura Bush. She is really someone to look up to, I really like her outlook on life and how she handles just about everything. I'm also still obsessed with the library, and check out more books than I can read.

Do you nap a lot? As often as possible! Although my "naps" usually turn into three hour blocks of time.

Who was the last person you hugged? The BF. He's finally about over being sick! Poor guy, he had pneumonia!

What was the last thing you bought? A pair of flip flops at work today because I wore the wrong shoes, again.

What are you listening to right now? The tv. "Big" is on! Classic Tom Hanks movie!

What is your favorite weather? Hot enough to lay by the pool but not so humid that your hair frizzes!

What’s on your bedside table? A small mirror (no idea why), alarm clock, comb, glass of water, iPod, a stack of magazines, Burts Bees lip balm and my phone.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you. Since I tagged myself here is what I would say, "I can't believe you just ate that entire bag of popcorn by yourself! You know carbs are bad at night, right?" (me to me) "You can kiss it, I don't care!"

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? London, England. It would have the highest resale value! Ha!
Then I would go buy a house (or possibly) houses! Definitely a house in my hometown and a house on the beach!

Favorite vacation spot? So far, my favorite vacation has been a cruise to the Bahamas. Soooo relaxing!

Name the things you can’t live without. My blackberry, family and friends, Libby, Google Reader, my car, books, and lipgloss.

What would you like to have in your hands right now? It's a "who" and I will keep that one to myself, wink wink :)

What would you like to get rid of? The pain that heels give your feet. Yeah, before I bought the flip flops there was a blister about the size of Texas on my toe. Ouch!

If you could be anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Hmmm, see the question before the last one. Awww, I know. Sweet. :)

What did you want to become as a child? A writer.

What do you like better, e-mail or telephone calls? Hooked on both! Definitely depends on the conversation though.

What do you do when you get time alone? Write. For some reason I have to be alone. Maybe someday I will overcome that.

I'm tagging:

Lesli over at Pretty Random Thoughts
Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia
Jenny over at Scintillating Salmagundi
and
Amber over at Amber Alert

Khloe Kardashian

I saw this picture of Khloe Kardashian over at Celeb Look (which is fabulous blog if you love celebrity fashion!) today and I think she looks amazing! Maybe a little unhappy in the picture, but none the less fabulous!



I hope she doesn't keep losing weight though because I thought she looked fine before and now she just looks a bit leaner. I felt so bad for her on the episode they shot the Peta pictures. I thought Bruce was really rude when he asked her if she was going to drop some pounds first. It wasn't really what he said (because she's been famously dieting for awhile now) it was the way he said it!

I know she's not the favorite from the show, bu Khloe is my favorite of the Kardashian sisters and I think she looks great!

PS: Guys, I'm sitting in the food court of the mall on my lunch hour and let me tell you, I totally feel like Perez Hilton right now! Ha!

Water lovin' cat...

My cat has always been a little strange, and I know because I have had more cats growing up than I can count.

No, I did not live on a farm (as much as the name of my blog likes to imply that I do...) my mom loved to pick up stray animals and bring them home. Best mom ever, right?! :)

Soooo, I know when a cat is just plain peculiar. Libby is peculiar.

She loves water. Since she was a kitten she had to be in the bathroom with me when I showered. She gets in the shower after I get out and walks around in the leftover water. She drinks the water that drips from the faucet (I swear, she has water in her dish). She also likes to sit on top of the door and stare.

I honestly do not believe she is staring at me (lol) she's staring at the stream of water. I think she wants to get in!

Have you ever met a cat that likes to get wet? I haven't. Which makes disciplining her sometimes hard. Most of the time we grab a water bottle and squirt her in the face. Too bad, she likes it!

Here's a couple pictures I just snapped of her on top of the shower:


The picture above is literally what I see when I shower. Nice, huh?



Don't mind me in the mirror still in my towel! Ha!

Good news!

I'm moving!!!

I have been apartment hunting for awhile now and on Tuesday I decided to call the complex I was living in before I moved in with my roommate and they had a fabulous deal! If you sign a 12 month lease you get $100 off your rent every month! That makes my rent only $530 a month!

I move in April 27th and I cannot wait!! I really loved living there and can't believe I didn't call them sooner!

Telling the roommate is going to be hard, and I'm definitely avoiding it. I will do it soon though, I'm thinking maybe Sunday night because I have plans with her Saturday night and I don't want to put a damper on the evening!

Advice?