Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!

As 2015 comes to an end I wanted to go over my year in review as I do every New Years holiday. 2015 was definitely the best year for me, mostly because I got to marry my best friend. I accomplished many things, read many books (about 24 new and re-read 2 old), traveled to new places, and met new people. But it was great for many other reasons as well. Here are my goals that I set and hit last year:

1. Get married to the man of my dreams, AKA Madison Tyler Franek :)

Check, check, and check! Luckiest girl in the world right here!

2. Try something new in Bora Bora

Jet skiing by myself. In another country. I'd say that's something new! If you don't count that ask Madi about our spa experience LOL. 

3. Take a trip to a new place

Bora Bora definitely meets that requirement, but so did Boston with my best friend! :)

4. Do another 5K

I did the Miles for Moffitt 5K with my family and did a mile walk for Leukemia and Lymphoma this year in NC!

5. Hit my weight loss goal for the wedding!

I don't typically take selfies with my shirt off at the gym or in my bra so this will have to do.

My goals for 2016:

1. As always, travel somewhere new!

2. Pass my OCN exam

3. Attend one concert

4. Volunteer more

5. Read more books than last year ;)

2015 was a year of change: getting married, moving, starting a new job, gaining 5 new step siblings in-law, and traveling the world! I can't wait to see where 2016 brings us! Also, a big THANK YOU to all my frequent readers new and old. I hit over 25,000 views a few weeks ago and couldn't be more ecstatic!

Thanks for keeping up with me, and cheers to a new year!

- Olivia :)

Book Worm: Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl

Hello fellow readers,

So I recently finished up the book Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. Surprisingly I heard about this book from Sophia Bush's Instagram a while ago when the movie came out. For some reason once I heard it was a book, I never even watched the trailer, I just jumped right into searching for it at the library. Luckily, it was available! Anyways, back to the book. This book is about a boy named Greg Gaines, who goes through life trying to avoid every group at school so he has no enemies, but therefore also has no friends. Except Earl, his movie loving side kick, Then the story brings in Rachel, a girl he has known since he went to elementary school but never really cared for, and all of a sudden she is diagnosed with leukemia. Instead this being a typical book where he wants to be her friend, he actually avoids it until his mom steps in and guilt trips him.

This book was a little odd. Odd because it is written weirdly going from movie script to normal to bullet points. And VERY short chapters, making the pages fly by. If I would have had time, I could have read it all in one day, but instead it took me three days due to work. The beginning of the plot was odd, but I got more into it towards the end for reasons I can't say without giving away the plot. All in all, it was worth reading. Rating? Probably 8/10. Yeah that seems to be my go to lately.

My stack doesn't seem to be getting much smaller as we pass through December, but since these last two books have been shorter reads I have been able to conquer more than I thought I would. I recently opened up To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han who also wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty series that I read a few months ago, so I am excited to see if I enjoy it as much as I did that series. I am hoping the library will have the second book P.S. I Still Love You when I go to return this one. I probably shouldn't be checking out more books as I am not reading them as quick as I did when I had a month off, but oh well. So have you read Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl or seen the movie? I am curious and plan on watching the trailer as I could maybe see it being decent, but Sophia Bush loved it and it won awards at the Sundance Festival so hey, can't be too bad!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

My Random Addictions: Watching Underrated Christmas Movies

Happy December!

Can you believe it is already the middle of December? Where has the time gone?! With only a little over a week until Christmas, I have been watching Christmas movies out the wazoo. While watching said movies, I have talked to others about them and had people say "what is that?" or "I've never heard of that before?". Now don't get me wrong. I love the CLASSIC Christmas movies: A Christmas Story, Elf, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Santa Claus, Rudolph, but there are SO many other good Christmas movies out there! So spread the joy and watch some of these very underrated movies listed below :)

1. I'll Be Home For Christmas

This movie is like a 90s gift from heaven. JTT, Jessica Biel in her 7th Heaven stage. In this movie JTT goes to boarding school after his mom dies and his dad wants him to come home for Christmas, however the last thing he wants to do is spend time with his new stepmom and bratty sister. Truly hilarious due to 90s songs and clothes, and just incredible. The dad from Cadet Kelly plays JTT's dad and the sister is from Zenon. Is there another reason you need to watch this?! I am surprised at the number of sexual references for it being a Disney movie, and JTT is kind of a huge brat in it, but it is great and super unknown/underrated in my opinion.

2. The Family Man

I have talked about this movie in blog posts before. It is SO underrated. It is about a man who made a life decision and what would have happened if he chose differently. One of the best movies with meaning ever, and has back in the day Nicholas Cage (even though Reegan literally despises him). If you want to watch a heartfelt movie, watch this movie this year.

3. Arthur Christmas

A newer (2011) animated movie that I was introduced to by the Franek's when it came out. It is about Santa's son who didn't make the cut to become the next Santa. I was unsure of how I would like this movie, but it is one of the best Christmas movies in a long long long time. Any age would love it, and it is funny too!

4. The Ultimate Christmas Present

A DCOM classic. With baby Brenda Song and the mom from Lizzie McGuire, what else do you need? About two girls who find a weather machine and make it snow in California. Moving from Northern Michigan to Florida I used to wish that it would snow, and this movie makes it better.

5. The Holiday

With Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law this is a holiday must see. Great message. Great cast. Great plot. This movie is about two women who swap houses for the holidays. I am shocked how many people have not seen this movie or heard of it. It is great. I think that is the most I can say great in one description.

So there you have it. Now let me briefly say that this year his changed our movie watching due to not having cable, but I saw the list of the 25 Days Until Christmas from ABC Family and the week after Thanksgiving leading into December and I have to just say: HARRY POTTER AND HUNGER GAMES ARE NOT CHRISTMAS MOVIES! Like can I take the person's job who decides the movies for Halloween and Christmas on ABC Famiy?? End of rant. So what movies are you favorites? Have you seen any or all of the ones listed above? If you have seen them all, pat yourself on the back with the Olivia stamp of approval.

Thanks for watching with me!

- Olivia

Book Worm: The Beginning of Everything

Hello fellow readers,

I just got done reading the YA book The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider. This book is about a boy named Ezra who had it all going for him: popular, star athlete, good looking. But everything takes a turn when he gets in a car accident that makes him unable to play sports anymore. He is ostracized from his friends and goes through a period of depression. Then he meets Cassidy Thorpe who turns his world upside down. However, Ezra feels like she isn't telling him her whole story. 

So this book was an interesting read. It took me a while to finish it due to Thanksgiving festivities, however it would regularly be a quick book to get through. The idea of a woman writing a teenage male perspective is always interesting to me, but she did it well. The writing was good, the characters intriguing. Also the plot stays interesting and although I did not care for the ending, I still think people who like YA books would enjoy it. If you have ever read It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, this book has similar qualities, but isn't quite so weird. And if I didn't include it in my review for that book, Ned Vizzini actually ended up committing suicide. Super depressing. Overall rating: 8/10. Interesting, but not INCREDIBLE.

Have you read this book before? If so let's chat, I want to hear from others on whether or not they liked it. Next on the top of my stack, I've cracked open Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. I am interested in this partly due to the movie that I have heard about and partly because for some reason I just love YA books even though I'm in my twenties now. I have a huge stack of library books on my bedside table (thanks Durham County Library) and a huge stack from Florida (thanks mom!) that I will be getting to, but if you have any other books to recommend let me know! Looking forward to the holiday season and reading by the tree!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia Franek

DIY Peppermint Cookie Cholocates

Hello everyone!

With Thanksgiving checked off and Christmas quickly approaching, I have been working on some holiday baking and crafts! This week I made Peppermint Cookie Chocolates, which turned out delicious, so of course I wanted to share!

Here's what you'll need:
- One bag of chocolate chips
- One bag of white chocolate chips
- Five candy canes- crushed
- Five oreo cookies- crushed
- Cookie sheet
- Wax or parchment paper
- Cookie cutters (mini would be the best!)

Step One: Lay out parchment paper to cover your cookie sheet and place the cookie cutters on top of it

Step Two: Melt the chocolate chips at 30 second intervals and stir in between until melted (about three times)

Step Three: Pour the melted chocolate chips into the cookie cutters, making sure all the cracks get filled. Place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to cool.

Step Four: Sprinkle crushed Oreos on top of the chocolate

Step Five: Melt the white chocolate chips at 30 second intervals and stir in between, then pour as you did in step three

Step Six: Sprinkle candy canes on top of the chocolate

Step Seven: Let cool in the refrigerator overnight.

Step Eight: On the day you are serving let them sit out for about 30 minutes before and then push down to pop them out of the cookie cutter :)

TIP: When you serve them place on plate for appeal, however they are rich! So cut them into smaller pieces once people start eating them.

They turned out beautiful and delicious! These were originally going to be peppermint bark, however all the recipes I saw for that involved saltine crackers or another odd ingredient, so this little invention came out great, and the shapes actually worked well. I wish I would have used mini cookie cutters, because it was a lot of chocolate, but it still worked good. Try it out and let me know how yours goes!

Thanks for reading!
- Olivia