Good Endings make Better Beginnings. (Big Dreams Blog Update #27)

YEAR-END UPDATE DAY!

Thanks to Shah Wharton for the banner above.

I’m pretty sure I say this every year (like I do almost every Update post), but 2015 raced by. I can’t believe a year’s come and gone from my last New Years’ Update. Ahh. The time. Where you go?

*ahem*

So let’s review some of my year’s goals.

I actually have no problem with New Years’ resolutions. Some people mock them, other people revere them, I probably fell in the former category a few years back and since I started this blog, I began leaning towards the latter opinion of reverence. Heck! Last year I set these (favourite) New Years’ resolutions:

1) Eat healthier and exercise more.

2) Find a job (*cough*thatIlike*hack*)

3) Write two more novels and send them to agents or directly to publishers.

For me the same old goals I recycled (maybe tweaked) since 2014.

Sitting here mentally reviewing 2015 and writing this post has made me consider that resolutions are fine and dandy…when coupled with a goal plan.

It’s easy to say that this is the year that you’re going to cut down on chocolate, open a business and roll in the profit and quit the day job, and so on. It’s harder to put that ‘bigger’ plan to action.

So my broader goal in 2015 is to outline an action plan for each of my goals (even the small ones). How will I be doing this? By continuing my monthly Update reviews, and within those Updates setting smaller goals towards the bigger goals.

For example, one of my goals for 2015 is to renew my writing goals from 2015. This year, in particular, I wanted to write one sentence daily. That didn't happen. In fact that one-sentence goal was re-constructed from another failed goal of 750 words/daily. It's all here if you want to read about it. Instead of aiming for writing daily, I know that all my finished projects usually require me to focus and write on the project daily.

So if I can do that much, then great. Otherwise it's taken me two years to get to this point, but I now accept that I won't be writing daily. And you know what? That's just fine.

As long as I set my resolutions, have my mini action plans for each and I use this blog to keep myself accountable then I see a productive new year.

My resolutions for 2016 include:

✿ WRITING: this year I won't be setting a calendar of projects, instead I'd like to complete projects as per priority and take it a day at a time from there. For instance I'm opening the new year with a short story I have plans for but I can't speak about yet.

✿ READING + REVIEWING: I surpassed my goal of reading + reviewing 52-53 books for 2015. I actually read a little more than 100, but I didn't review some of those novellas. I reviewed only 100 and I'm all the better for those 100 and some reads.

Now I know this blog is called "Read, Review, and Rinse" and I started 2014 with book reviews, but I'll be stopping that this year. Why? I never really enjoyed reviewing books. It was an experience I'll cherish, not one I want to re-hash anymore. Maybe I'll feel differently after the next 366 days... We'll have to see. In the meantime, I will renew my reading goal of 52-53 books for 2016 and will continue to update my reading list -- I just won't be reviewing those books.

✿ MISC.: this is where my health and financial plans go. Health-wise I didn't really appreciate my body and my spirit all that much this year.

I was mostly equally depressed as I was happy, and some days I felt like I was tiptoeing around my mood to ensure my productivity for the day. 'Cause I don't know about anyone else, I just can't do anything when I'm all weepy and pissy. I also tend to binge-eat sweets when I'm sad, so I'd like to replace sugary treats with more fruits. I won't be doing baking reviews anymore. That was a trial for this year and I didn't like reviewing as much as I liked baking, so I'll keep up the baking just toss out the reviews. And I'll be searching for healthier desserts and whenever I find one I like, I'll share it real quick on here (or maybe Twitter or something). Fair?

Financial stuff is my business, but I'm hoping to turn around my finances this year. Pay off more student loans, and learn to budget better. I'll probably do the latter by visiting the library and reading up on how-tos and all that. You learn by doing, right?

Now that I listed my resolutions/bigger goals, I would go through each and break down my goals and they'd look something like this:

✿ WRITING: complete short story and edit short story; I'll see what comes after that but I've got an idea for another project I'm co-authoring so that's probably what will come next

✿ (JUST) READING: read 1 book/week and I already have my first two books lined up for the new year

✿ MISC.: continue exercising (I exercise every other day for 30 mins at least, and I tend to break out into dance throughout the day anyways, so more exercise); keep a food journal -- this will be within my art journal (<-- more on both these in January); try to keep spending down to a minimum (I still live with the 'rents and they're cool with it, but I'd like to start to pitch in with the bills more) -- I'm looking into some jobs, and hopefully I can talk about my progress in the first quarter of 2016).

Really vague, I know, but it's enough to expand from resolutions to actual do-able goals. Next up, I need that accountability. Some people don't, and that's cool, but I know that if I don't feel like I'm looking over my shoulder just a bit that I'll start to slack off. And that's where the Do You Have a Goal? blog hop has come in for a bit more than 2 years now.

If I didn't know that there were 11 other bloggers out there trying to achieve their goals

Created by authors Misha Gericke and Beth Fred, the Do You Have a Goal? hoppity hop invites you to set one (preferably big and crazy) goal to reach by July 2018 (five years after the blog hop's beginning).

My goal is 1 million words in completed stories because the 1 million and first word is supposed to be my first good word -- all lies, I just like "fullness" of 1 million. Whatever that means. But I am closing the year off with 192K (going down from ~250K because I haven't read some of those finished manuscripts, and once I do I'll add them to the count).

As a member of the blog, every month I do an Update post recounting my goals from the previous month. Where am I at? What did I do for the past ~4 weeks? What are my goals for the coming month?

Like I said, AMAH-ZING for folks like me who are shaky with time management.

Interested in the blog? Click the icon up at the top of this post, or right HERE or Uncle Sam to join in the fun now.

All in all, 2016 will be about upward change. Improving, stumbling along the way but remembering what worked and didn't work to ensure I don't keep falling flat on my face by repeating poor, old habits.

The reason I chose an English proverb* for this blog's title is to show how a New Year doesn't have to start at January 1st 12:00 AM; beginnings can start whenever, and there's always room to change, adapt and grow. Just make sure to have fun while you're doing all that. 

Here's to a healthy, happy and successful year.

Cheers!

*actual English proverb: "A good beginning makes a good ending."

BOOK REVIEW (100): A Home in the Sky (Twice Told Tales #6)

BOOK REVIEW:

A Home in the Sky

Like its predecessors in the Twice Told series from author Olivia Snowe (and illustrator Michelle Lamoreaux), I read A Home in the Sky in one sitting yesterday. This book, like the others, sticks very close to the fairy tale it is re-telling: in this case, "Jack and the Beanstalk".

Jack is a teenager in this re-telling, and like his peers he wants items of materialistic value. He's raised by his mom alone in a crappy neighborhood housing thugs and thieves and he's a smart kid who wants to climb his way out of his dead-end, poor stick at life, and he wants to take his mom with him.

So Jack, being a good boy, listens to mom and sells his awesome, super-fast bike to a creepy old man in a city alley in exchange for six magical beans. Mom freaks out and sends Jack back to get his bike and fetch it for real money to help catch up with all the overdue bills.

If you haven't figured it out, this story is set in the 21st-century, though it gets pretty weird and I felt at time caught in a fairy tale parallel to a 21st century city setting, if you catch my drift.

Anyways, Jack tosses the beans when he can't find the old man who "stole" his bike and the next day he happens across the empty lot he tossed the beans in and BAM! there's a beanstalk where his beans were overnight.

Jack does the most natural thing: climb that stalk and find out where it goes.
And you know how the story ends.



Well, nothing changes. Relatively nothing. Which, honestly given the nature of this tale, I was hoping something would give. When you take this story and drop it in modern times, it just DOESN'T work. I mean, the magic harp, the hen laying gold eggs, the giant, were just all terrible facades rather than charming outside a more fantastical setting.

Jack's mother is an idiot. I mean, she was pretty annoying in the original tale (or versions of the tale), but at least her greed made sense. It's like by trying to redeem her in this story -- put her in a better light -- Ms. Snowe failed to acknowledge how the plot turned out. Why would Jack's mother willingly go to a thug she knows is "a crook and a killer"?

And what's with the ending. It felt TOO perfect, even for a fairy tale.
I'll give it a one and a half because I liked the art as usual. Ms. Lamoreaux is really talented!

My verdict:

✮.5

(stars)

BAKING REVIEW (12): Gingerbread Cookies

BAKING REVIEW:

Ginger Cookies

 

 Lately I've been obsessing over Ever After High, and I couldn't help including this guy, Coach Gingerbread, from the cartoon series.
Haha, I can't imagine anyone taking a bite out of him -- would he taste like a sweaty gingerbread man? :D

As the year went by, I'm sure my baking reviews are getting more vague. In this case, I completely forgot to bookmark the site where I riffed the recipe for the gingerbread cookies and the icing. Lol.

So no comparisons from the site, but here's some pictures of gingerbread cookies around the net that make me envy my lacking decorating skills.

And here's mine straight from the oven:

When it's frosted:

 

It wasn't planning to share the frosted version, but *shrugs* why not?
I'm of the mind that if it tastes good, and looks somewhat appetizing, then I've done my job.

These are delicious, and as such I'm going to keep this review short.My only qualm was that it could have been more moist, but that doesn't make sense because we're talking gingerbread cookies.

What I liked especially was that there wasn't too much sugar -- other than 3/4 cup light brown sugar -- in the cookies because the icing could be sweet, and even a little too sweet...

In the end, this was a great way to end my baking review career. Haha. I can't replicate this, and I don't want to in 2016. Then again if I find that extra special dessert, I'd be happy to share. Until then...

EAT ON.



My verdict:

❤❤❤❤.5

(4.5 hearts)

BOOK REVIEW (99): Haunted Memories (Saranormal #2)

BOOK REVIEW:

Haunted Memories

Since I sort of left the first Saranormal book with high hopes for the series, I decided to grab book 2 and join Sara and see what new ghostly adventures she’s unearthed. Book 2, Haunted Memories, follows 12-year-old medium Sara Collins to junior high in her new port-side town, Stellamar.

Sara is not too excited to be at school because 1) she’s not really social and as the new girl, she’s on display, and 2) there are a lot of ghosts popping up around the school halls and the cafeteria which makes her plan to act normal kaput.

There’s a bit of plot carry over from the first book, but I think it’s still safe to jump into this one without being too lost.

Book 2 like Book 1 doesn’t have a lot of ghost showdowns. The ghosts so far are benign: if you’ve ever stumbled upon the Ghost Whisperer series with Jennifer Love Hewitt then you’ll see what I mean. There are the Ghost Whisperer episodes were you have the ‘ghost-of-the-day’ and they’re usually ghosts who are stuck because of some problem they need to solve, so on, so forth.

But you know why I really loved this book: Sara has a love interest!

Jayden Mendes is the new kid from last year and he's probably the only one who understands how Sara feels. It helps that he's hot and Sara's getting lovey-dovey vibes from him too. The thing is that she can't seem to escape the whole seeing-ghosts part of her and every time she's enjoying a moment with Jayden they're interrupted by the spirit of his dead older brother.

I can't promise action, but there's enough mystery to last the short read, and it helps that Sara is actually coming into her powers a bit. Oh, and she isn't sharing her secret with herself anymore! Want to know who's in on her secret, pick up Haunted Memories and find out for yourself.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮

(4 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (98): Fairest of All (Whatever After #1)

BOOK REVIEW:

Fairest of All

I really enjoyed the first book in author Sarah Mlynowski's Whatever After series. If you haven't guessed by the cover, the series re-tells some favourite fairy tales. This first book takes another look at "Snow White" and borrows elements from the Disney version, and a few local versions (i.e. poisoned apple, poisoned comb, poisoned pillow).

Whatever After #1, Fairest of All, follows 10-year-old Abby and her 7-year-old brother Jonah into a magic mirror in their basement. From the mirror they land in the fairy tale kingdom of Zamel. Currently ruled by Snow White's evil stepmother, Abby and Jonah realize they need to get home and fast before they are permanently stuck in the technology-free kingdom.

Snow White was annoyingly ditzy, and though she's sixteen, it felt that Abby and Jonah could take care of her better than she could herself. I should go easy on her though. She was orphaned at a young age and she has a (funny) evil stepmother. The evil stepmother was more funny than scary: she was a bit of a loon, and her plans to poison Snow were laughable. At least I could admire her tenacity... *sigh* The dwarfs were useless for the most part, although they offered a bit of comic relief and they happened to be a big part of the climax.

Of course no "Snow White" re-telling is complete without an appearance from the Prince.

Prince Trevor from the neighbouring kingdom of Gamel is AWOL until about halfway through the book when Abby (or was it Jonah?) remembers the Prince's role in the fairy tale. In the end Trevor is about as useless as the dwarfs (if not even more useless as he saves NO ONE), but the dude's nice and though he seems a bit eager to marry Snow, he isn't put out when she tells him to take things slowly:

"Listen, Trevor," Snow says. "I'm not looking for a serious relationship right now. I need to focus on my duties here, now that I'm queen."

"I get it," the prince says, nodding. "Look, why don't we take it a little slower? How about dinner?" (pg. 156)

And that, ladies and gents, is how fairy tales should be written.

Other than the endearing twists to this tale, the reason I really loved this re-telling and continued reading was to follow the relationship of Abby and Jonah. These two were hilarious! I could believe they were brother and sister. I'm so glad that each of the stories will feature these two together, otherwise Abby would come across too bossy and Jonah would be 'act first, think later'. Like all good teammates (and siblings!) they share weaknesses and strengths.

If you're at all interested, try this first adventure with Abby and Jonah.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮✮

(5 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (97): The Baby Project

BOOK REVIEW:

The Baby Project

It wasn't until I picked this title up from the library on a whim (while picking up other loans) that I realized I hadn't read a Harlequin in months. I've been on a dry spell and I needed to end it. And what a way to end it!

Susan Meier's The Baby Project, the 1st title in the Babies in the Boardroom trilogy. Each title features one of the three Andreas brothers. These trio of billionaires are powerful, intelligent, sexy...and damaged.

In The Baby Project hero Darius Andreas, the eldest Andreas brother, is in heroine Whitney Ross' family legal offices to hear his late father's will. When he walks out of the office, he's learned two things: 1) his father lived up to his womanizing ways until the end, 2) Darius is a father to his baby half-brother, Gino Andreas, and 3) Darius has to share his new parental/custodial duties with Whitney, the best friend of Gino's late mother.

6-month Gino is alone in the world, and Darius and Whitney have to learn to push aside their animal attraction to focus on raising the little boy in their care.

I liked this story because Darius didn't shy away from pursing Whitney, and Whitney didn't wilt like a flower (at least she didn't once she shared her sad past with Darius). Their chemistry leaps off the page, it kept me turning page after page considering it starts off a tad slowly (and maybe a bit melodramatically).

I think it also helped that I loved Darius' banter with his two brothers, Cade and Nick. These three were hiliarious. I only wish I was surrounded by these three. Seriously. I was jelly of Whitney.

I had nothing bad to say about this one. Even the build-up to the black moment wasn't cheesy. It set up the cheesiness then -- BAM! genius plotting saved the day and I closed the book grinning after a super-cute epilogue.

Now to hunt down Books 2 & 3.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮✮

(5 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (96): Beauty and the Basement (Twice Told Tales #4)

BOOK REVIEW:

Beauty and the Basement

I wanted to save this book for later, but I not only ended up reading it earlier -- I also finished it in one very short sitting.

It's too bad. As the second book from the Twice Told Tales series by author Olivia Snowe (and illustrator Michelle Lamoreaux), this fairy tale re-telling was better than the first book I read from this series (that was the Little Red Riding Hood one and you can find it here).

The plotting was better with this one. The characterization didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, and though the external conflict was worthy a few eye rolls the ending was plausible and I could swallow it comfortably.

But let's talk characters:

We got 15-year-old Belle Beaumont who has an obnoxious father -- the guy was more of a butt-hole than the original fairy tale version or Disney's take on the tale. I promise you'll feel no sympathy for Belle's father, Jack Beaumont.

Belle I liked.

She was spunky, optimistic, yet she had her morals all-lined up and that, IMO, made her a far better character than Scarlet in the LRRH Twice Told re-telling. Like I would actually want to meet this girl and have a chat with her and ask her why her parents thought it fit to call her 'Belle' when her last name already means 'beautiful mountain' (<-- with the extent of my French)?

Carlo Mostro*, a.k.a. the Beast, was also pretty cool. Like Belle's he is a 15-year-old boy whose become a summer shut-in since a tragedy befell his family. With his mother in and out of his life, Carlo becomes anti-social and mean. The thing is I LOVED watching Belle slip past his defenses without so much as saying a word at first: he just thinks that's she's really pretty and why not?

Then, of course, it goes the cliched way and I'm sure you can piece that together as it doesn't stray too much from the original plot.

You have Belle whose physical beauty matches her internal beauty. And there's Carlo, the misunderstood Beast. Disney added the twist of the cursed servants, and we get only one "servant" in this, the Mostro family chef.

If you can't piece it together, might I suggest picking up Beauty and the Basement. This installment in the Twice Told Tales series is fantastic and should be shared!

I only wish that there was an epic transformation at the end, instead of a boring old change of heart. ;) There is rain at the end, just no fingertip 'light-show' transformation.

*NOTE: Because it was bugging me, and it read like 'monster' I looked up Carlo's surname. 'Mostro' does mean 'monster' in Italian. What a last name! Haha.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮

(4 stars) 

BOOK REVIEW (95): Ghost Town (Saranormal #1)

BOOK REVIEW:

Ghost Town

Back with another review: this time I didn't stray too long after completing this one. Though I did read it super slow, I blame school (*ahem*andmybadtimemanagementskills*cough,hack*).

This is the first in the MG series Saranormal by Phoebe Rivers. This series stars heroine/MC Sara Collins and her ghost-seeing, medium-like abilities. Ever since Sara was four she's been able to see ghosts -- 12 now she's trying her best to keep her secret just that a secret. But it's getting hard with all the dearly departed hanging around her new home, Stellamar, a fictional seaside town in New Jersey.

She's making friends and that's keeping her over-protective dad happy. Still at this rate with a ghostly old man warning her about danger on the pier where all her friends hang out, Sara isn't sure how much longer she can pretend to be normal without packing up and leaving Stellamar for good.

What I loved about Book One Ghost Town was Sara's sarcasm and that she isn't 100% confident in herself; that made her seem normal, and she isn't exactly rushing out to save the world. She's also not a pity case: sure she's got powers, sure she doesn't have a lot of friends, but she's still a normal pre-teen (plus her extra special power).

I liked the pacing, too. I didn't expect anything super deep. Don't go in having watched too many episodes of College Medium and Long Island Medium and any other whacko reality show of that variety. It might go that way, sure, in the next 10ish books of the series, but Book one is clear of that nonsense.

Saranormal #1: Ghost Town was a quick, fun read. I recommend picking it up if ghosts and drama and MG is for you.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮✮

(5 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (94): Alice in Rapture, Sort of (Alice #2)

BOOK REVIEW:

Alice in Rapture, Sort of

This is the newer cover -- again, very pretty illustration here of Alice and sorta boyfriend, Patrick.

But here's the original 1989 version, and that's the one I borrowed from the library:

WARNING: this will be a short review. Although most of my reviews are short, this one will be definitely short short.

Once again Alice didn't fail to make me laugh.
Alice and I get along now, especially after the dreck (and horror) that was the beginning of the first book in this series by author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

So this 2nd book picks up where the first book left off with Alice graduating sixth grade and moving on from elementary to junior high/middle school. It's the summer before her seventh grade year and Alice has a boyfriend officially! And so do her two best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth. The group of six do everything together: until something happens to drive a wrench between them and get these tweens thinking about what it means to be "grown up".

Alice wants to be with Patrick, but not at the cost of her friends -- it's really a vicious cycle of thought. I think what I really liked about this book is that Alice has matured in a lot of ways. She isn't quick to judge people and there's more depth to her decision making. She actually sounds WAY wiser than I did at 12. That's why the title to this book was so awesome!

The ending is really great, too. You'll understand if you decide to pick this next book up and read for yourself which is way I gave it...

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮✮

(5 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (93): Noelle's Christmas Crush (Crush #4)

BOOK REVIEW:

Noelle's Christmas Crush

Okay, I read this a couple weeks ago but I'm getting to the review now.
This is the 4th book in the Crush series by Angela Darling. And you can go check out reviews to the first three books here, here, and here.

That out of the way, let's get to the review.
Like most of my Christmas-y reads this year, I read this a bit earlier then the actual season start (and now with American Thanksgiving over, Christmas and New Years' are in full swing).

So this book, Noelle's Christmas Crush is about, well, 12-year-old Noelle and her crush on a classmate, Noel. Hehe. I still giggle when I think or say their names together: Noelle & Noel sitting (under) a (Christmas) tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

This is what I found when I searched up that old playground song. Best picture of this ever (look at their lips!)... Hahaha.

So Noelle likes Noel and she wants to invite him to her birthday party. She's on of those (lucky? unlucky?) people born on (or near) a holiday: Noelle's birthday is on Christmas. She hasn't minded this before, but this year she's 12 and older and she wants an un-Christmas birthday. Basically she wants a separate birthday party and she wants presents that are a combo of her b-day and Christmas.

Anyways, she's in party planning mode and the best way to cap off her party would be if Noel were to accept her invitation. You'll have to read the book to find out if he does.

What I liked about this book was the family element. The other stories had bits and pieces of it, but not to the degree of this book. I think that goes to say it went with the holiday theme, but it was still heartwarming following Noelle interacting with her older brother and her parents and aunts and uncles and Grandmother.

The one thing I thought was cheesy was Noel was born on Christmas Eve. That had me rolling my eyes, but I let it go since it didn't get in the way...too much. The ending was my favourite surprise as Noelle comes to learn something really special about Noel's life.

Again: you gotta pick up Noelle's Christmas Crush to find out what I'm hinting at and join in on the fun and sweetness of this short read.

Other than making me hungry (the mention of holiday treats) I would recommend this book to anyone interested. Upside of picking this one up is that you don't have to read the first three books to enjoy Noelle and Noel's story.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮✮

(5 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (92): Cassie and the Woolf (Twice Told Tales #2)

BOOK REVIEW:

Cassie and the Woolf

I found this series by accident.
I was looking around in the MG/juvenile section in my local library and I found this title by author Olivia Snowe and illustrator Michelle Lamoreaux. I'm happy for the accident, even if the read wasn't so great.

I'll explain: like most writers/readers, I love reading fairy tales, comparing and debating the themes and subject matter in fairy tales and folklore, so I was perfectly at home with this re-telling of "Little Red Riding Hood" in Snowe + Lamoreaux's Cassie and the Woolf.

So in this version we have 13-y/o Cassie Cloak -- *ahem* real original name, lol and instead of a "red riding hood" she's got her nifty "red raincoat" -- and she's all grown up now to go fetch her grandmother's daily meal and deliver it to her without the company of her mom. On this trip she's caught up in a storm and she's cornered by Caleb Woolf, the antagonist and Cassie's school peer -- although Caleb's two grades older.

Caleb follows her to Granny's and the rest is history, of course, or according to Perrault the corruptness of stupid mothers and older females and naive little girls who let "big bad" men into their homes and lives...and between their legs?

DISCLAIMER: Cassie and the Woolf is PG, if you don't count the psychological eff-ery at the end of the book. Which brings me to the problem with this re-telling: how Cassie (or LRH) was portrayed and her character arc. There should have been some kind of warning that this read like a dark MG (think along the lines of Gaiman's Coraline). There was even a hint of magic that wasn't handled very well, because it felt more like a deus ex machina then a natural growth out of the conflict and plot.

Little Cassie was kinda...witchy. I mean, the ending was SO messed up. Like beyond levels of messed up. I really thought I was being Punk'd until I saw it was, indeed, THE END.

It was just weird. I won't spoil it, so go pick it up, but I warn you be prepared to make that ^^^ face above.

One pro (worth this review's 2 stars) was that the story stayed as true to Grimm version (and Perrault as well) as an MG read could without crossing parental boundaries and pissing people off. Basically the message remains the same, don't invite trouble and stay vigilant as naivety is NOT cute all the time and can lead to real problems (plus the modern caveat of settling scores).

My verdict:

✮✮

(2 stars)

BAKING REVIEW (11): Chocolate Crinkles

BAKING REVIEW:

Chocolate Crinkles

Hello! I can't believe I'm at baking review #11 already. I had a lot of fun in the kitchen, baking these treats and then eating them for the reviews. ^^

But as the year went on I started to get stuck on what I wanted to do, and since I'm limiting my resources to what I have in the kitchen, it's been pretty hard. Finally I settled on something simple enough to do without caving and making a trip to the grocers to buy ingredients.

My November treat was a type of cookie I'd never heard before, chocolate crinkles.
Have you tried it before? Yes? No? Let me know either way.

Now I used a recipe like this one (only with less eggs) for the chocolate crinkles. I don't recall the actual link for the cookies, but they were very similar.

Now here's an example of what the finished product looks like from this blog, Simply Recipes:

Very pretty. You can see why they call it chocolate crinkles.

And here's what mine looked like:

Doesn't look as great (I scrimped on the icing sugar), but apparently it tasted really good (according to my family). I had a contrary opinion. I should preface my review by explaining that I actually find brownies too rich for my taste, although I have no problem with double fudge chocolate chip cookies. The chocolate crinkles felt too dry. I had them with milk and it helped, but I would have appreciated them more if they were moist.

It was really a brownie-cookie rolled in confectioner's sugar.
Personally I'm not raring to try the recipe again, but I figure I might try to redeem myself with these cookies some day.

In the mean time, it was so-so and my 2.5 rating reflects that.
If you ARE a brownie person (like my siblings and parents) try the crinkles for yourself. It just might suit your tastes and give you a new recipe to add to your favs inventory.

My verdict:

❤❤.5

(2.5 hearts)

Not-So-Official NaNo Update #4 & #5: The end is just the beginning.

NOT-SO-OFFICIAL NANO (NOVEMBER 2015):

BLOG UPDATE #4 & #5

I wasn't planning to post this as it is obviously late, and I'm combining two weeks into one post. And it's gonna be a short post because it's only making it glaringly obvious how little I did this month where writing is concerned. -sigh-

I'm trying to keep my chin up though. I know I'll be freer in three weeks and I can play catch-up and try to finish the novella I started this month by the end of the year (hopefully).

What else can I say, but now as NaNoWriMo draws to an end that I'd like to congratulate all winners (present and future), as well as those who took the plunge, created and shared their novel goal on the official site and tried to write the 50K -- that's important, the trying.

Now whether you're writing for fun or hoping to one day write full time, you deserve this banner for your efforts -- 50K win or not:

The next step is for you to finish what you started if 50K didn't = THE END.

I'm serious. Go back and keep writing. Even if it takes 100 words/day (or 10-20 minutes/day) for another whole year to finish. Slow and steady still wins the race, remember?

Even if you plan to never write again.

It's one thing to hit 50K in a month, it's a whole other thing to finish a novel. An actual novel, folks. That takes a lot. (And it seems to never get easier.) I'm sure you heard it before 'but the end is just the beginning', and at the risk of repeating myself over and over, though you might not be planning to write another word in this lifetime at least I think you can agree with this at least: a lot of people want to finish a novel -- it's one of those "goals" like "eating healthy this year" or "exercising more", and a lot of people fail at it. Don't be one of those people if you've already made it this far. Don't make this the beginning of a failed goal. Just finish the darn novel.

Good luck with the writing and any other future goals, and thanks for sticking around (if you did).

Pre-winter blues. (Big Dreams Blog Update #26)

UPDATE DAY!

Quick update -- as I almost forgot to do this today...

Before I jump in, if any of you are interested in signing up for the Do You Have Goals? blog hop hosted by authors Misha Gericke and Beth Fred, click the big link above to the sign-up page. There's about 12 of us right now and the usual saying applies here, 'the more, the merrier'. You can also click HERE.

This month has been stressful.
Really stressful.
It's not that my plate is any fuller than it was the month before necessarily; I mean school is coming to a close, so with Finals looming closer and assignments, etc. I've just been worrying about everything and not really giving myself time to breathe.

As far as my writing goals for November went I didn't get far. I wasn't planning to do NaNo, but the idea was to write 500/day. I did write for about the first week and a half to 2 weeks, but the rest of the month was fruitless. I don't like saying this because it doesn't put me in a "good light", but I just wasn't in the mood to write. Mentally, I was worn out. I had a lot of days where I didn't want to get out of bed and start the day. I'm calling it the "pre-winter blues" or maybe it's an early bout of seasonal affective disorder. I know they say Blue Monday is in the 3rd Monday of January, but is there such thing as a Blue Month to describe the anxiety I've felt in November?

Reading was okay, too, for the first half of the month but that flopped as well. I'm in the middle of my 95th read for the year, so that's something to celebrate, but I still have a few reviews to catch up on.

For December I'd like to try to finish this novella that I started. I want to see the rough draft through by the New Years' Eve. And, though I haven't talked reading goal for a while since I completed it back in July, I'd like to try to read and review book 100. I know I can do it, especially as I'm free for winter break by Dec 18th.

It's getting colder over here. I hate winter.
I feel so sluggish and I wish we could hibernate, stay indoors for the four months and read and sleep the frost and snow away. *sigh*
We saw the first dusting of snow a few days ago, but it's just been rain and chilly gusts since then. I'm hoping it stays away for a couple more weeks.

How's the weather been for everyone else?
Is it getting icky where you're at, too? Or are you in summer bliss?

And before I forget anything else: Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to any Americans. The holiday spirit doesn't quite much the mood I set up here in this post, nevertheless there it is.