Readddding Rainbow!!!

...you know you're singing that song in your head right now. You're welcome.


Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely love to read. If I could just read my days away I totally would. I came across this list of books that everyone should read before college. Granite I've been in college for a few years now, I still think that I'll give it a try to read over the next few years. I thought it'd be great to make a tab as well as this post to track my progress. The books I have read, I'll highlight or cross off. Granite, I did read a few of these books in high school, but I want to re-read them for pleasure. I take away different things from the book when I know I'm reading it by choice. I hope this gets everyone inspired to start reading books off the list. As much as I love my "junk food" books, there is just something about the classics that I love. Enjoy! 

•   Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe

•   A Death in the Family: A Novel-James Agee

•   Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen

•   Go Tell It on the Mountain-James Baldwin

•   The Adventures of Augie March-Saul Bellow

•   Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte

•   Wuthering Heights-Emily Bronte

•   The Stranger-Albert Camus

•   Death comes from the Arehibishop-Willa Cather

•   The Cherry Orchard-Anton Chekhov

•   The Awakening-Kate Chopin

•   Heart of Darkness-Joseph Conrad

•   The Last of the Mohicans-James Fenimore Cooper

•   The Red Badge of Courage-Stephen Crane

•   Inferno-Dante

•   Don Quixote-Miguel De Cervantes

•   A Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dickens

•   Crime and Punishment-Fyodor Dostoyevsky      

•   Narrative of the Life of FrederickDouglass

•   An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser


•   The Three Musketeers (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Alexandre Dumas


•   Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison


•   The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot


•   Selected Essays (Penguin Classics) by Ralph Waldo Emerson

•   As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

•   Tom Jones (Wordsworth Classics) by Henry Fielding

•   Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics) by Gustave Flaubert


•   The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

•   Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


•   LORD OF THE FLIES by WILLIAM GOLDING


•   Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

•   The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

•   Catch-22 (1961) by Joseph Heller

•   A Farewell to Arms (Scribner Classics) by Ernest Hemingway

•   Homer-The Iliad

•   The Odyssey by Homer


•   The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Signet Classics) by Victor Hugo


•   Brave New World by Aldous Huxley


•   A Doll'sHouse by henrik ibsen

•   The portraitof a lady (The Laurel Henry James) by Henry James

•   The Turn of the Screw - Literary Touchstone Classic by Henry James

•   A Portraitof the Artist as a Young Man (Signet Classics) by JamesJoyce

•   The Soundand the Fury by William Faulkner


•   Robinson Crusoe (Modern Library Classics) by Daniel Defoe

•   The GreatGatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

•   Their EyesWere Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

•   Beowulf(Signet Classics) by Anonymous

•   The Canterbury Tales (original-spelling Middle English edition) (Penguin Classics) byGeoffrey Chaucer

•   The Metamorphosis by FranzKafka




•   
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

•   One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez




•   Bartleby the Scrivener (Hesperus Classics) by Herman Melville




•   Moby-Dick or, The Whale (Penguin Classics) by Herman Melville




•   The Crucible by Arthur Miller




•   A Good Man is Hard to Find (A Women's Press classic) by Flannery O'Connor




•   Beloved by Toni Morrison




•   
Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill




•   Animal Farm by George Orwell




•   Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak




•   The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath




•   Edgar Allen Poe, Selected Tales (Oxford World's Classics) 



•   Swann's Way (Dover Thrift Editions) by Marcel Proust




•   The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon



•   All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque




•   Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand




•   Call It Sleep: A Novel by Henry Roth




•   The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger




•   Hamlet by William Shakespeare




•   Shakespeare - Macbeth by William Shakespeare




•   A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare




•   Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare




•   Pygmalion By George B. Shaw 



•   Frankenstein 



•   Ceremony - Leslie Marmon Silko 



•   One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: (50th Anniversary Edition) (Signet Classics) by Alexander Solzhenitsyn




•   Antigone by Sophocles




•   Oedipus Rex by Sophocles




•   The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck




•   Treasure Island (Enriched Classics Series) by Robert Louis Stevenson




•   Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe




•   Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift




•   Vanity Fair by William Thackeray




•   Walden by Henry David Thoreau




•   War and Peace (Vintage Classics) by Leo Tolstoy




•   Turgenev, Ivan Sergeyevich-Fathers And Sons

•   The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain




•   
Candide by Voltaire




•   Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut




•   The Color Purple by Alice Walker




•   The House of Mirth (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) by Edith Wharton




•   The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty

•   Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition (Thrift Edition) by Walt Whitman




•   The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde




•   The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams



•   To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 



•   To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


•   Babbitt (Dover Thrift Editions) by Sinclair Lewis




•   The Call of the Wild by Jack London

•   The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine


Hong Kingston






An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seek knowledge. Proverbs 18:15

Losing My Wisdom..

At the beginning of August, I had gone to the dentist. I used to absolutely love the dentist. Nothing made me happier than coming home with sparkling white teeth so clean and perfect after a teeth cleaning. I never had any issues other than needling one filling when I was 16. Now, I'm sure you noticed I said that I used to love the dentist, as in past tense. Well, I went in for what I thought was a normal cleaning and check up, only to leave in my classic Karen tears. It turns out that when I got my first filling, I had actually needed a root canal because my back molar was dying and needed to be pulled. That was just fantastic, especially after I learned that even with my insurance a single implant would be running over 1000 dollars. That is not even counting the crown I would need after the implant was healed. Needless to say I may consider going hillbilly and not getting one.

After looking at X-rays and concluding my tooth needed pulled, we saw that all four of my impacted wisdom teeth needed to be extracted as well. I went to the oral surgeon and he agreed that I would indeed need to remove them. I made an appointment for the beginning of September and just decided to get it out of the way before Matthew came home. I am actually so incredibly blessed. I had numerous people praying for me, and God answered them. I had an unbelievably easy recovery. I didn't have much bleeding or down right pain. The most painful part of recovery was the feeling of my skin stretching from the swelling. I had a crazy amount of swelling, but I'd take that over the pain that some people get. I was actually pretty proud. I received a prescription for Percocet, and was told I could take an entire tablet every 4 hours. I only took 2 and 1/2 throughout a 5 day period taking only a 1/2 tablet at a time. I really don't like the idea of taking anything stronger than ibuprofen so I'm very proud of myself, not to sound full of it. I managed not to get dry sockets too which is what I prayed over and over about. I have heard horror stories of when people get their wisdom teeth removed, and I thank God for an easy recovery.

This was the night after my surgery. I had very minimal swelling after my initial surgery, but I woke up around midnight to find this....

This was the morning after my surgery, needless to say, I felt like a chipmunk.

These pictures were from the beach on Sunday, two days after my surgery. Tricia decided I needed to get out of my house so we went on an adventure with another good friend. I actually felt pretty great other than my swelling. It wasn't the pain that made it hard to eat, it was the fact that my face was so fat I couldn't open my mouth very wide. But, I did manage to eat Olive Garden for lunch! 

Matthew sent me a beautiful order of a dozen pastel color roses along with a lavender spa set since he knows how much I love to take baths. It was so nice knowing that even from half way around the world, he could cheer me up.

I was not only blessed in a sense that I had a smooth recovery, but I also had an amazing support system. My family made sure to ask me for updates and wished me well wishes since they weren't here. My sister was nice enough to take me to my surgery and set me up at home. Tricia brought me my prescriptions along with sprite, which was a life saver. She also visited with me practically all day saturday. Then of course she busted me out of my house along with our friend Marina so I could get some fresh air. I received so many prayers, and I can't thank people enought. It truly made the difference. 

Household Binders

Ever since I came across Jen’s blog over at I Heart Organizing , I knew that I was going to take a ton of great ideas from her blog. The biggest project I’ve conquered yet? The Household Binder. It has literally been months in the making. Basically, a household binder is a place where you can put anything and everything important to make your household function smoothly. Everyone’s binder can be different. The first thing I needed to decide is what kind of “categories” I wanted for my tabs. In no particular order, here they are; vehicles, school, important information, bill information, cleaning/home, pet information, and I have one free tab that I’m not sure of the category yet.

I needed to pick up a few things for the binder itself. I went ahead and bought a large and very pretty binder, protective sleeve, and divider tabs. I also used google to find templates for various things. I honestly can't remember where I got some of them, so if you recognize them please let me know and I'll give credit where it is do! 

First I added a little something at the beginning of my binder. It's a personal goal tracker. It's not anything big, just something that records goals I have one year from now, five years from now, and ten years from now. Things like paying off student loans, how to go about doing it, and exactly when I want to complete them. It's just fun to have a reminder of what you want to work at.

Let’s start by exploring what to put into each category. First up, vehicles. We own two vehicles, so I like keeping separate information for the two. We have a car maintenance logs for each the Yaris and our truck. The maintenance log has everything from getting the oil changed, to getting major work done. I write down the dates, what was done, the mileage and cost. Then I put the receipts behind the log incase, Lord forbid, I have to check back to them if something comes up. I also have our loan information for each car, and also our updated car insurance declarations.

 The school tab is just for me at the moment. It has my degree completion plan with classes that I have taken and classes that I still need to take. Luckily, I have a large portion done! I also keep my class outlines in it if we are traveling, or I keep it hung by my desk. I can never remember my student IDnumber when I’m on the phone with financial aid or my academic advisor so I keep that information written down as well. 

The “important information” tabs is just for that, important information. I really should do “sub” categories because this tab contains everything from contact prescription, explanation of insurance .coverage, shot records. It’s really for anything and everything I find important at the time. I don't have any photos because I don't have any fun templates, just boring things

And yes, I even have a tab for my children pets. I plan on adding an updated photo for each pet, and basic information. I found this great little template that is perfect for us. It is a place for us to keep microchip information and pet sitter information. I also have a section for both Buddy and Soto for their Vet Records. Their rabies and their pay and neuter certificates are also in here.

      I find having a bills section a lifesaver to say the least. I have part for log in information for different websites since I always seem to forget them.  I also have an excel spreadsheet that lists all of bills, what paycheck they are due, if they are an automatic withdraw and if they are how much the bill is. The bills that aren’t automatic are also listed, and then I write how much they were as soon as I pay them. It’s an easy way to see if I paid the bill that month. I also look at the monthly average, which is nice for making our budget.

The cleaning and household section of the binder will probably be split into two different sections in the next few years. Right now, while we’re renting, the household section only the home of our renters insurance. But, eventually it will house our home maintenance log. Like our vehicle log, our home maintenance log will help keep of track of things like when to change the air filters, when to power wash the house, when we’ve had the repair man come and things like that. This section is also a great place to put a notation of brands of paint and shade of paint used in painting your home. Maybe even add a popsicle stick with a paint sample to take with you when shopping for new drapes or home décor. Like I said, right now it just houses our renters insurance, but it will eventually house our homeowner’s insurance declaration.

The “cleaning” part of this section is such a great tool. Right now, I have a list of things I do daily, and my weekly cleaning list. I like a weekly list has things like Monday and Friday are laundry days, but sheets on Wednesdays. I also have days where just one day a week I deep clean the bathroom, or mop the kitchen floors really well. This way, I don’t get overwhelmed on Sunday afternoons to get everything done before the workweek start Monday. When we finally get out of a rental, I plan on having a monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual cleaning list. This will have things like cleaning out the garage, cleaning baseboards and organizing closets.  Right now the section is small, but there will be a lot more things added in the future.

When we have children, I will obviously modify my tabs, but right now it works for us. I have take out menus in the back for the nights where we don’t feel like cooking. I also have two “mini” types of binders. One is for our warranty information and manuals for different projects. The other is kept in our safe. This is where we keep our birth certificates, marriage license, social security cards and life insurance policy information. I call it my “important” binder. I don’t use it often but it’s nice to have when I do. 

Everyone can modify a household binder to meet their own needs. you can add a section for bible study, homeschooling, or project plans. I plan on adding an address portion for Christmas Cards, Invitations, and various announcements. I also plan on adding a "food" section as well. I may try to incorporate it to my household/cleaning section. This could keep things like a "master" list for freezer and pantry invantory. It can also have a meal planning portion. It has so many possibilities. It is a tedious task to start, but once you establish your base it is simple to add or remove as your needs change. It really does help make life easier! Until next time.. 

But all things should be done decently and in order- 1 Corinthians 14:40