DIY Chocolate Peppermint and White Chip Cookies

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Christmas is approaching super quickly and I was super excited to test some new cookie recipes this year! One is a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips and candy canes, hence the name Chocolate Peppermint and White Chip Cookies! They were an instant hit on one of the doctors that I work with's birthday and a hit again in the cookie bags I made for my co-workers this year. I'm glad they went over well, because I loved them too! They are featured below with some yummy ginger snaps too (one of my good friend's Grandma's recipes) and another one of the ADORABLE pieces of bake ware that I got from my Grandma Sandy last year for Christmas. I really do believe in the power of baked good ;).   

Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 10-12 minutes, Total time: about 30 minutes

Makes about 18 cookies

Here's what you'll need:

Standard mixer

Spatula

Medium mixing bowl

Small mixing bowl

Rolling pin (or something to crush candy canes with)

Cooling rack

2 Cookie sheets

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick (8 tbsp) butter room temp

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

4-6 crushed candy cane pieces

How to make it:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2) With your standard mixer, whip the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract together for 2-3 minutes 

3) Meanwhile, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together well in a medium bowl

4) Melt the chocolate chips at 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring well in-between each increment to avoid burning. Once melted add this mixture to the butter and sugar combination

5) Add the egg and yolk into the butter/sugar/chocolate mix

6) Slowly add the flour mixture into the mixer while on a low speed 

7) Crush the candy cane pieces into small bites in a small bowl carefully with the end of your rolling pin

8) Remove bowl from mixer and add in chocolate chips and candy cane pieces by hand with a spatula or spoon

9) Roll into small 1 inch balls and place onto cookie sheet

TIP: If mixture is too sticky place in refrigerator for 5 minutes or so 

10) Place one tray at a time onto the center rack of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes

11) Let cool for 2-3 minutes before placing on cooling rack 

12) Enjoy!

Madi and I are looking forward to a quiet weekend together for Christmas as we both had to work last week and have to work next week too before heading to Florida for my brother's fiance's wedding shower and bachelorette over New Years weekend. We got to attend Christmas at DPAC last night for our church's Christmas service which was awesome as usual, and spent today resting as I am recovering from a head cold too (yuck). Excited to enjoy rest and relaxation (and hopefully read a book or two) with our time off! 

Thanks for reading,

- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: The Fever Code

Hello fellow readers,

My latest read was the final prequel in the Maze Runner series by James Dashner, The Fever Code. If you haven't read any of the Maze Runner series, you wouldn't understand this book very well. I definitely suggest reading them in the order that they were released. However, this book would make sense if you didn't read the first prequel, The Kill Order. For some reason the story line does follow but isn't necessarily dependent on The Kill Order to read easily. The Fever Code starts off with characters from The Maze Runner who are taken to WICKED to live prior to the maze trials beginning. The main characters from the original are followed the closest: Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Alby, and even Chuck. It really helps you understand most everyone's place in the maze and where they came from. That's really all I can say without giving away too much. Everyone knows that they all end up going into the maze, because that is what the first book is about. But the journey of getting there was super intriguing to me.

I read this book in a week, which did not have a lot of free time, so it was a quick and easy read, but also kept me wanting to read more. I think it is definitely worth reading if you are a fan of the series. Remember way back when, when I reviewed the first book, I thought it was super hard to follow and had a hard time keeping up with all the names? This book was not like that. Neither were the rest of the books really. I'm so glad that I gave the rest of the series a chance after not really loving the original, because they were SO good. Overall The Fever Code was 9/10. I really did enjoy it that much. I'm sad that the series is most likely over (book #6 PLEASE James Dashner?!) but honestly the ending answered a lot of questions and really closed the loop with questions I had from the first part of the series. I'm already getting excited for The Death Cure movie that is coming out in 2018, since the last one came out SO long ago!! (2015?!). I'll be attending opening weekend for sure!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia

DIY Spicy Turkey Soup

Hello all,

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and got to spend some time with family! If you have any leftover Turkey and don't want to have leftovers the regular way, try out this spicy chicken soup recipe that is a mock-Carrabba's Mama Mandolas Sicilian Chicken Soup! It is just as good with leftover turkey and pretty simple to make. It's a version of classic chicken noodle soup, but with a little bit different taste and ingredients. It takes about 2 hours between prep and cook time and has a good amount of servings, around 10-12 good size portions. See how to make it below.

What you'll need:


Others:
-Large pot
-Knife for chopping
-Cutting board
-Measuring cup
- Medium pot
- Large spoon
- Metal tongs

Ingredients:
- Leftover turkey
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 celery ribs
- 4 large carrots
- 2 green bell peppers
- 3 medium baking potatos
- 1 can (14. ozs) of diced tomatoes in juice
- 4 garlilc cloves
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 Teaspoons pepper
- 1 cup ditalini pasta

How to make it:
1) Finely chop the onions. Dice the celery, carrots, and green peppers into 1/4 inch pieces. Cut the baking potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces.
2) Place the onions, celery, green peppers, potatoes, tomatoes with juices, and turkey into a large pot.
3) Cover all with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil on high
4) Add the garlic, salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper and turn down to a medium-low boil
5) Let the soup boil for 1-1 1/2 hours
TIP: Skim the foam off of the surface of the soup during cook times during the cook time.
6) Remove any large pieces of turkey with large tongs and pull it into smaller pieces
7) Cook the ditalini pasta in a medium pot for 10-12 minutes
8) Turn soup to a keep warm or very low setting. Add the pasta and turkey back into the soup mix.
9) Mash some of the potatoes that you can see with the large spoon against the side of the pot and mix into the soup
10) Serve warm and enjoy

This soup turned out almost as good as the Carrabba's version, and was pretty simple to make. I haven't made any kind of soup from scratch other than general chicken noodle, so this is a good twist on a classic meal if you're looking to mix it up a little bit. I'm looking forward to the start of the Christmas season, including putting up our tree and decorations. But I do get sad that fall is ending, since it is my favorite season. Luckily the triangle still has some beautiful color on the trees, so I'll get to enjoy it if even for a couple more more days.

Thanks for reading,
- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: More Than It Hurts You

Hello fellow readers,

Wow. This book took me a long time to get through. What has it been, like almost two months? For some reason More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss looked super intriguing to me. Maybe because it has medical issues in it? I guess that's why. The plot is about the Goldin family, Josh, Dori and their infant son Zack. One day Josh gets a call that his son has been brought to the emergency department, and after a long night of trying to figure out what is wrong, they decide to take him home against medical advice. Not long after, police cars are chasing them, claiming that the family is harming the baby. Claiming Munchhausen's syndrome by proxy.  The rest of the story follows the Goldins and Dr. Darlene Stokes, a young African American doctor at St. Jude's in Long Island, NY. The plot thickens when you find out about Darlene's past and what she has done with it in the present time.


The first 100 pages of this book were dull and hard to keep up with. The first section that is written from the perspective of "Intelligent Muhammad" (an ex-convict) was very hard for me to read because of the grammar and language. Obviously the author was trying to make it fit the part, but it was super drawn out, long, boring, and somewhat unimportant. Once you got through the first 100 pages, it got better. More interesting to read and understand. However, the end of the book was kind of disappointing. Not a Gone Girl disappointing, but still disappointing nonetheless. It was interesting to read from a medical perspective, because it makes you realize how insane some people are and how sometimes when you act in a patient's best interest, it doesn't always help the patient and can make things worse. Overall I'd say its about a 6/10. Not the worst book I've read, but definitely not the best.

With the holidays approaching, I have a feeling that I won't have very much free time to read. However I have so many books that I want to dive into that my big stack might motivate me. It's hard being an adult with a real job. When I was in undergrad, I thought I never had any free time. What a joke. College kids enjoy your free time! Read as many books as you can! High school kids you have even more free time so same goes to you! I'll be posting some of my holiday DIYs this year, and keep trying to get through some good books to share with you all. Had anyone else read More Than It Hurts You? Or anything by Darin Srauss? I'm curious to see thoughts. Chang and Eng looked interesting but not sure how much more time I want to invest in this author considering this book wasn't all that amazing. I recently saw a tweet from one of my favorite authors, Sarah Dessen, who said that sometimes she has to shut a book if she's a couple dozen pages in and hates it because life is short and you should read things you love and not waste time on books you start and have to drag yourself to finish, I feel like she may have a point there... Happy reading!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

{Real Talk}: Cast All Your Burdens Onto Him

This week has been extremely difficult for me. I had the experience again where you make a phone call and can immediately tell that something is wrong. That phone call was just a regular check in with my Grandpa. He did not sound right. Afterwards, I went and talked to Madi to let him know that we needed to change our travel plans from going to see our parents in Florida to going to Michigan to see my Grandpa Juola. We already had the vacation time. We  hadn't even bought our tickets to Disney for the week. I think if that doesn't show how God was over the situation, nothing does because anyone who knows me knows that I plan everything WAY in advance. We ended up changing our travel plans as he started declining quicker and was readmitted to the hospital. I made it to Michigan at 3am on Saturday morning and was alone with him when he passed away at 2am on Sunday morning. I cherished every minute with him that I had. 

My Grandpa was a special person. You couldn't find anyone more kind of selfless in the world. He cared about every person and took time to always ask "how are you doing?" and genuinely wanted to know, not just to make conversation. His mind was sharp even until the end, which I am so grateful for. He could recall dates or events from his mind like they were five minutes ago. The math teacher in him was always counting down to something like when he would see us again, or when he was going back down to Florida. He was the best husband ever. The true definition of "in sickness and in health". He took such good care of my Grandma for so long before she passed away from Parkinson's disease. And to me, the most important thing, he was the best witness of his faith in God. I have no doubt about where he's at right now and that brings me so much peace. 

I am going to miss him so much. I will miss spending time with him every summer. Sailing on the lake and playing beach croquet. Hiking to Misery Inn. Playing word games. Eating ice cream. Watching tennis. Making bonfires. Just spending hours talking and catching up. 

I love him more than I can write in this post. And he always said "you don't have to tell me, I know you love me and I know you know that I love you." and I did know that. 

So I hope you're enjoying spending time with Grandma today. I hope you're playing sixteen games a day of tennis, and eating lots of vanilla ice cream and chocolate covered cherries, playing beach croquet or sailing on the lake. The world won't be the same without you, and neither will I. 

If anyone reading this knew my Grandpa and wants to help us celebrate his life, please join us at 10am with service starting at 12pm on Tuesday, October 24th at Word of Life Baptist Church in Alpena Michigan. If you can't make it, please share any memories you had with him.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is my strength and my portion forever"- Psalm 73:26

DIY Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Hello all,

IT'S OCTOBER EVERYBODY!! My FAVORITE month of the year. I love just about everything during this gorgeous season of Fall. Basketball starts, football games aren't so miserably hot, Halloween festivities, pumpkin carving, and pumpkin flavored everything! Which leads to what this post is about: I guess I have been super into innovative and experimentation baking lately because I have been baking up a storm yet again. Since Madi loves pumpkin and cinnamon rolls, I started putting together a delicious recipe for the combination of the two! Here is the link for my OG cinnamon roll recipe. Read below on how to make them!

Randoms:
- 9x13" pan and 8x8" pan
- cooking spray or butter
- olive oil
- measuring cups
- knife
- two big bowls
- dough hook

Roll recipe:
- 4 1/4 cups of flour (and 1/2 cup on standby)
- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 tsp of salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 packet of dry active yeast
- 1 cup of warm milk
- 1/3 cup of softened unsalted butter

Middle Recipe: 
- 1/2 cup of pumpkin purre
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp of cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp of nutmeg

Frosting Recipe:
4 oz cream cheeses
1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
2 Tbsp of milk
1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp of vanilla

How to make them:

Step One: Mix warm milk and packet of active yeast together in a bowl until it dissolves

Step Two: Mix all the other ingredients for the rolls together in a mixing bowl and mix on medium speed. Slowly add in the warm milk and yeast combination. Mix until thoroughly blended.

Step Three: Use olive oil to grease one of the big mixing bowls. Place tin foil over the mixing bowl. Place in oven and place on 170 degrees. Once it heats up, turn the oven off. This will help your dough rise in a warm environment. It should almost double in size. This takes about an hour, maybe 45 mins. While this is happening, you can clean up your bowls to re-use and make the cinnamon middle.

Step Four: Lightly place flour on a large surface that you will use to roll out your dough. Roll dough onto the surface. It should be about 16 by 12" and about 1/4" thick
TIP: If your dough is sticky, add the extra 1/4 cup of flour at a time as needed to it to make it less sticky, up to 1/2 a cup

Step Five: Place the pumpkin pie middle on top of your dough, spreading it out evenly. Cut away any edges of the dough that aren't even. You can use these later to make some extra rolls if you want.

Step Six: Place in oven to rise again, preheating the oven to 170 and turning it off once it heats up. Let them sit with a damp hand towel over the top of them in the oven for 20 minutes.

Step Seven: Take rolls out of the oven, they should have grown noticeably. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 18-20 minutes. *This may take longer depending on your oven

Step Eight: Make the frosting by adding all the ingredients together and using a beater to mix. This kind's consistency is in between canned frosting and a glaze. 

Step Nine: Let them cool for 5-10 minutes then lather the frosting on top of the rolls generously.

Step Ten: Enjoy! They're delicious!

They were a hit at home, we will see how they do at work!! What is your favorite pumpkin treat in the fall time? These were good, but I still favor my pumpkin spice cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting YUM! 

Thanks for reading,
- Olivia

DIY Blackberry Pie

Hey everyone,

My friend Kate had a birthday this week, and she requested blackberry pie. Something I had NEVER made before. Shocking right? ;) So I whipped one up following a couple of recipes and making some of my own adjustments. Here's what I used:

What you'll need:
- Large mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Dough blender
- Rolling pin
- Pie plate

For the top and bottom crust:
- 2 1/2 cups white flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
-1 egg
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 cup shortening

For the filling:
- 4 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup white flour

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add in the cup of shortening and mix together with a dough blender (or your hands works too).

3. Whisk the egg and cold water together. Add it into your other mix. Combine with a pastry dough hook (or your hands works too)

4. Place flour on the counter to avoid the dough sticking. Roll out the dough so it is 1/4 inch thick or less. Use your pie plate to measure how big the crush should be (9" pie plate is what I used). Place carefully in the bottom of the plate.

5. Use the excess dough and blend it back together. Repeat #4 to make the top crust except don't put it on the top just yet.

6. Combine 3 cups of blackberries with the sugar and flour. Carefully mix with a spoon, trying not to break up or mush the blackberries. Place this mix into the pie plate on top of the bottom crust.

7. Add the remaining blackberries on top and then the top crust over everything.

8. Pinch the edges of  the crusts together. Cut some small holes in the top in the shape of an X.

9. Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

10. Let cool and serve.

I was SO happy with the way that this turned out. It was so simple and the crust turned out AWESOME, which surprised me only because its been a long time, literally years, since I made a pie other than pumpkin. So if you're looking for a simple and delicious dessert: this is it! Isn't my pie plate so adorable?! Thanks Mom and Grandma for that one! Also HAPPY FALL Y'ALL! It is officially the greatest time of year!!

Happy baking,
- Olivia

#BookWorm: Wonder

Hello fellow readers,

So many good books have been getting added to my ever-growing list! There are also a lot of book to movie adaptations coming out this year which is changing up my order of what I want to read a little bit. I just finished the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. The movie for this book is coming out in November and I am so excited to see it! It is about a little boy named August (Auggie) who has facial deformities. He has never been to a real school together. Right before middle school his mom decides that it would be best to send him to school so he can be with other kids. Obviously a lot of kids aren't used to seeing someone with facial deformities, so it was not an easy transition. Wonder takes you through the already difficult for most kids journey of the first year of middle school, but with a kid who has never been to school before in his life.

What I really liked about this book was that it was not only told by Auggie's perspective, it was also told by his family and how they dealt with Auggie's transition from being at home to being in school. I found this book fascinating. It wasn't anything with crazy plot twists or dramatic trends and I think that made it more realistic. It was honestly just reading through Auggie's journey and it was genuinely interesting to read about. I also found myself wanting to learn more about Auggie's diagnosis: mandibulofacial dysostosis, also called Treacher Collins Syndrome. Some cases are more severe than others. It effects 1 in 50.000 people. I had never even heard of this before reading this book, but it is interesting to read about. Especially because it is a genetic mutation. Yes, I'm a nerd for being interested in this but knowledge is power y'all! Overall rating of this book: 9/10. Worth your time!

Have any of you read the book? Are you interested in seeing the movie? The cast is pretty stellar: Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts as the parents and the little boy from Room (Jacob Tremblay) as Auggie. Since Jacob Tremblay did amazing in Room, I am sure that he will do just as amazing in Wonder. Can't wait to keep checking books off of my list!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Savannah, GA

Hello all,


We have recently returned from the true South in Savannah, Georgia. This is a place that has been on our list for a while now, and we were so excited to explore it! Here are a few of our favorite things while we were there:

1) Forsyth Park
We stayed three blocks west of the park and went there every day that we were in Savannah. It is beautiful, often has someone playing live music. There is a nice park for kids and lots of cute dogs everywhere. If you go in the spring or summer: BRING MOSQUITO SPRAY! They ate my legs alive while we took pictures in the covered tree areas.The fountain is a great spot for pictures also!

2) Betty Bombers
A little spot that you just might miss if you aren't paying attention. It has DELICIOUS burgers and adorable decor. The waitresses dress like Rosie the Riveter. It is not fancy but it is a cute place to go that is not super expensive unlike many places in the city.

3) Olde Pink House
FREAKING DELICIOUS!! And also the oldest mansion in Savannah. If you are in Savannah and are willing to spend a little extra for a sit down meal, this is some of the best food I have ever eaten. I highly recommend the fried chicken and mac and cheese! But even just their biscuits and cornmeal muffins are soooo good. You walk a lot in Savannah so you will burn off some of this meal just getting around ;)

4) The Squares and River Street
One of the coolest parts about Savannah would be all of the squares. There are lots of cute shops in each area surrounding the squares. River street reminds me a lot of Wilmington, NC and also has a lot of touristy shops but other cute and unique shops as well. Everywhere just feels so old timey in Savannah, it almost transports you back to another time. Until you see another drunk bachelorette party screaming profanities down the beautiful brick roads.

5) Wormsloe Plantation
To be honest the best part of this place is the entrance. Well known from a movie I love The Last Song with Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth in their early stages of love! The oak tree entrance is BEAUTIFUL and a great spot for pictures.

I thought Savannah was beautiful, full of Southern charm and history. Madi thought it was cool, but wouldn't necessarily choose to go back if he had to pick a place. We are continuing to add places that we want to go to our list.  The fall is upon us and I can't wait for all the fun that comes with it in North Carolina which includes BASKETBALL SEASON STARTING IN OCTOBER! Ahh!! Can't wait! Have you been to Savannah? What did you like the most?

Thanks for reading and GO DEVILS!
- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: Once and For All

Happy Sunday!

I can't believe that the month of August is flying by so quickly. I feel like we were just cruising to the Bahamas, but that was a month ago! Where did the time go?! I felt like this summer I was going to make time to get some hard core reading done, but it did not happen. However, I did get to read one of the top books on my list Once and For All by one of my all-time favorite writers: Sarah Dessen! She is a North Carolina resident, and unfortunately went to UNC-Chapel Hill :( boo. Just kidding I still love her. This is her most recent book, which came out in June (yeah see how behind I am). It is about a girl named Louna who is against opening herself up to love after her last relationship. But the kicker is, she works in the wedding business with her single mom and is surrounded by people in love all the time. Instead of this making her fall more in love, it seems to harden her to the world of love and marriage. In comes quirky Ambrose, who is probably the most annoying person she has ever met, but was hired to work the wedding business with her and her mom in order to keep him out of his sister's hair for the summer leading up to his sister's wedding. I won't give away too much more than that.

This book was a quick and easy read for me, as I love Sarah Dessen's writing style. For the most part it is a predictable plot, but there are definitely some elements of surprise that make it a page turner. You'll see what I mean when you read it. Even though this book is for "young adults" AKA teens, I still love it. I still love the whole YA genre and will probably keep reading it even when I am 75 years old because I love it so much. I would rate this an 8.5/10. Really good, not life changing, but totally worth reading in your spare time. If you love Sarah Dessen or have liked any of her other books, this one is great! And has been on the NYT bestseller list for weeks!

Now I am onto the next book that I have in my stack: Wonder by R.J. Palacio. So far, SO GOOD. The movie comes out in November so I will definitely be posting once I finish and most likely heading to the theater to see it! What did you read this summer? I only knocked out four books. What is life these days?! Oh yeah, working... Good thing I love my job!

Until next time,
- Olivia :)

DIY Floating Wood Shelves

Hey all,

Now that we are getting our new place together and our vacations for the summer are over, we finally have had time to do some DIY projects for the house! We got the idea from this awesome blog, Mommy Suite, that I follow and has a lot of ideas on Pinterest too. It was pretty simple to do, and the shelves ended up costing about $12 each. We had wood cut for 10 shelves but only put up 6 for now. Below is how I made my shelves, you can check out the Mommy Suite link to see exactly how she did hers and for more detailed pictures about steps along the way, but it was pretty straight forward!

What you'll need:
-Sand paper (or sanding tool) $3
-Wood stain of your choice (I used Minwax 1 qt. Wood Finish Classic Gray Oil-Based Interior Stain) $8
- 4 in. stainless steel corner brace (ours was a pack of 2 for $7) $21 total
- 2x10x10 wood (cut into 2 ft pieces at Home Depot) $26 for 10 2ft pieces
- Dry wall anchors and screws (we got 50 screws and anchors) $10
- Laser Level (already had from IKEA)
- Drill with large bit (already had from Target)
- Hammer (IKEA tool kit)

How to do it:
1. Sand the shelves down so they are as smooth as you want them to be. This is easier with a sanding tool, but I did not want to buy one, so I sanded them by hand.
2. Stir the stain WELL. Stain the shelves and let them sit for at least 6-8 hours.
3. Use the laser level to mark the two spots where you will drill your initial holes. This will end up being about 1/2 an inch above where the bottom of your shelf will sit. My two spots were about 14 inches apart.
4. Drill a hole in the wall the size of the dry wall anchor in the two spots that you marker.
5. Place the anchor in the hole, you may have to slightly tap the anchors with the hammer.
6. Put the first bracket against the wall and screw it into place using a drill or screwdriver.
7 Mark the second hole spot with the bracket in place. Turn the bracket slightly and drill your second hole. Repeat process #5.
8. Place the wood shelf on the brackets. Screw the tiny screws into the wood that came with the brackets, or use 1/2"-3/4" wood screws to screw them into place.
Tip: You will need two people for this step unless you are tall and/or good at holding wood in place while drilling.
9. Use the level to make sure they are even (I had no trouble with mine)
10. Decorate!

Where we bought the decor:
- Mason jar flower holder,& sign, and fake plant: Michales, on sale for $7, $3, and $2
- Wine glasses, stemmed and non-stemmed, and candle : Marshalls, $20 for all 12 glasses, and $7

I LOVE these shelves! And for the price you can't beat it! We hung up one in the half bathroom downstairs and may hang up another above it, but for now I am just happy with how the dining room turned out. #proudwifemoment. Also take a minute to love our BEAUTIFUL table that my Grandpa Ristow built us. Isn't it gorgeous?! Literally chopped down the trees and made it by hand. He's the real MVP. Really excited as we keep putting together our home and can't wait to share all of our fun projects with you all along the way!

Thanks for reading,
- Olivia :)

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Disney Dream

Hello all,

Last weekend got back from our two week summer adventure and we had a BLAST! We traveled over 4000 miles driving, including a 22 hour straight drive from Bradenton FL to Alpena MI. IT.WAS.CRAZY. But I'd do it all again because it was worth having the extra day in Michigan. We drove from Durham to Bradenton FL, spent some time there, then headed to Cape Canaveral where we set sail to the Bahamas on our 3 night 4 day Disney cruise on the Disney Dream. IT.WAS.AWESOME!! After that we hightailed it to Alpena Michigan to spend some time with my grandparents for five days before heading back to home sweet home in Durham. A lot of people have been asking, how was the cruise?! Well it was much better than my first cruise experience in high school, even though at the time I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Disney definitely does it best. Below are a few of my favorite things about the Disney Dream and our trip to the Bahamas and I highly recommend each one of them if you are about to embark on Disney's beautiful Dream boat.


1) Eating at Animator's Palate
By far the coolest regular dinner restaurant on the boat. The others are cool and all, but this one had a Finding Nemo theme and Crush interacted with your table. It also had the best food and desert out of the three dinner restaurants in my opinion.

2) Riding the Aquaduck at Night
So awesome during the day, even more awesome during  the night. If you plan your day right, you can hang out on Castaway Cay in the morning, then head back to the ship early around 1pm and ride that slide with less than a 10 minute wait until about 3pm. But if you want to go at night, head there right after the evening show, we only waited like 5 minutes both times we went. SO LEGIT.

3) Playing with the Dolphins
This is a big ticket item as it costs about $300 to do the deep water dolphin excursion. You can pay more at Atlantis, but we did the Blue Lagoon Island tour and while the Island itself was "ehh" the Dolphin excursion was AWESOME. Well worth the $300. Do this in a group if you can, because you can get a USB of all your pictures and split the cost with your group. It honestly didn't even seem real that the dolphins were right there with you and they legitimately seemed happy to be there! If you can avoid eating on the island, I would suggest it because it's crowded, hot, and overpriced. Just head back to the boat and eat there.

4) Unlimited Ice Cream
I know this is on most cruises, but for real? As much as you want all day?! And it's freaking delicious. I don't remember it being that good on my last cruise.

5) Disney Everything
I am Disney obsessed. Many people on the Disney cruise love Disney too. You wouldn't pay the high ticket price for the Disney cruise if you hated Disney (or at least I wouldn't). They have characters on the boat, Pirates Night (with awesome fireworks), Disney shows, Disney trivia, Disney Karaoke. Hidden Mickey's everywhere, all right up my alley. The movie theater had new release movies like Spiderman: Homecoming and Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man Tell No Tales. So much to do and see. If you want to be busy the whole time, you can be busy the whole time. When we have kids I would totally shell out the extra cash to do a Disney cruise vs. a regular cruise.

Anyways overall we LOVED our cruise. It was expensive, and not something I would do over and over again, but if you want to cruise and also love Mickey (or have little ones who do), save a little longer to take this trip. Honestly I would probably have enjoyed three nights and four days at Disney World just as much but this was cool because you got to relax and have unlimited food that you already paid for so it was pretty legit too. We've had a busy busy summer, but the month of July alone has been SO busy and crazy. Watch our video below to highlight our awesome month and catch some footage of what we've been up to this month! So what do others who have been on a Disney cruise think? Better than a regular cruise? Or overpriced and not worth it? I'm curious to read thoughts.

https://youtu.be/h7ARQ7iOl1o

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia

#BookWorm: Before I Fall

Hello fellow readers,

As most of you know, one of my favorite things is reading books before they become movies. Which is why I picked up the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver in the first place. I heard about the book a long time ago, but only remembered adding it to my list once I heard that it was becoming a movie. And honestly? The movie came and went from the theater so fast that it made me question if it was even worth reading. But of course I did, which is why you're reading this post now! This book's plot reminds me of Groundhog Day, the main character Samantha Kingston dies in a car accident and relives the same day seven times. Each time she discovers something new about how the accident occurred, but also something new about herself. It reminded me of a mix between If I Stay and Mean Girls to be honest. The whole time you're trying to figure out what happened with her, but you're also like man this girl is mean. And so are her friends. Regina George style mean. I feel like in my high school the girls weren't really that mean... but maybe they were and I just wasn't getting slammed on like these people? I don't know, somehow I don't always connect with these books or movies like it because I don't understand that lifestyle at all. The party all the time, get wasted and get high lifestyle. It was never tempting or appealing to me so when I read books like this sometimes I just don't get it.

Anyways overall I thought the plot was interesting, and it did keep me guessing the whole time about what happened. There were some predictable things and some not so predictable things. The ending wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible either. Sometimes I read these books and I'm like "wow typical" and this one had some elements like that but others that were pretty suspenseful. Overall I think I would give it a 7/10. Good, but don't put it on the top of your list to read. This wasn't as good as If I Stay, as the two have been compared to being similar like I said earlier. I saw the movie recently while in Florida and thought it was a very different depiction than the book. Same themes but not quite the same vibe that I as getting in the book. I also haven't heard anyone talk about this movie, so has anyone seen it? And if so did you like it? Did you read the book beforehand? Thoughts on both if you did? Let me know, I'd love to hear!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Asheville, NC

Hello all,

Our first trip is in the books for this summer. We headed over to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina to spend some time with our family for the 4th! We had a great time! We've been over to the Asheville area before, but mostly to see the Biltmore and for our first anniversary we had gone to Lake Lure which is about 40 minutes south of Asheville. On this trip we kind of went all over the place in the area. Here were our favorite things that we highly recommend doing while in the Asheville area!

1. Rent a Boat with Lake Lure Adventure Company
My family went boating a lot in Florida, but nothing compares to the beauty of Lake Lure. It seriously is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The mountain view while on the clear water, it's awesome. And sorry to spoil the surprise but it is a man made lake, so it's not super marshy. The bottom is soft sand. Nike LOVED the water (not so much the boat) and we had a great time taking in the views that Lake Lure had to offer all over again. Making the 40 minute drive from Asheville for the day is well worth your time. Read more about our favorite things specifically in Lake Lure from our last trip here .

2. The Biltmore Estate
If you haven't been here and are going over to Asheville, this is a must do while in the area. It's an amazing house, but the gardens in the spring time are even more spectacular. The price is a little steep now-a-days but if you've never been it's worth the price. You can pay a little extra for the headphones and audio recording that tell you about each thing as you go through the house if you want, but you can also just read the brochure. We didn't go there this trip but have been three times in the past.

3. Sunny Point Cafe
This place... it's bomb. Seriously so delicious. It is BUSY so get there either right when it opens or be prepared to wait. Madi and his basketball coach said that their oatmeal banana pancakes were the best pancakes they have ever eaten. My french toast was bomb also. So were the home fries Madi ordered on accident. YUM!! I would have eaten there multiple days if we knew about it sooner, but we went on our last day.

4. Downtown Asheville
Lots of cute little boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, and an old school movie theater too. Worth going there just to walk around and see the area. They have touristy shops, but also just regular cute eclectic stores too. It's undergoing a lot of renovations, but seemed to be doing pretty well overall! If you like drinking, they have a LOT of local beer and cider (because Asheville has a lot of local breweries). Unfortunately the winding and turny roads in Lake Lure got to my stomach and I did not think trying local alcohol was a great idea while feeling nauseated. But I have heard it's delicious!

Overall Asheville was beautiful and we were blessed with good weather. However if we had to choose between there or Lake Lure, in the summer or fall I would definitely pick Lake Lure just because of the amazing views of the mountains and beauty of the lake. We went ziplining again at Canopy Ridge Farms (same place we did before) and it was just as great of an experience the second time. They seriously get a 10/10 in my book! Next is our big two week vacation where we will be going all over the place with a cruise in the middle. Can't wait for you all to see the pictures!

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia

#BookWorm: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Hello fellow readers,

The book I checked off my list last was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling. Yeah I know, I'm super behind the times as this book came out last summer. However, I have had it on my shelf for a while, and finally had time to crack it open. This book follows Albus, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's youngest son, who is sorted into Slytherin on his first day at Hogwarts. He becomes friends with Scorpius Malfoy, son of Harry's foe in the original HP series, and the two try to take on dark forces at work together. One day Albus overhears Cedric Diggory's father talking to Harry about how his son should have been saved, and after stumbling across a time turner Albus and Scorpius travel through time to save Cedric from his lowly fate. However interfering with time makes things messy, and changes many people's fate. They have to decide between changing the world to bring back Cedric, or leaving his father depressed and alone without a son. Of course they run into some more important characters from the past HP books along the way, making their journey even more complicated than originally anticipated.

This book was an easy read to me, especially compared to the later Harry Potter books that seemed to be hard to follow unless you sat down and read it straight in the summertime. I had no problem reading the play format, as many people stated was annoying to read. I also had no trouble finishing it quickly, as a lot of people I talked to said they got uninterested in the middle and stopped there. I did however find most of the themes a repeat from the original series, i.e. the time turner in The Prisoner of Azkaban, reliving the death of Cedric in The Goblet of Fire, and many more. It wasn't super original and exciting to me. It did make me want to see the play, but sounded more like something that would be done at Universal Studious not a Broadway production. Overall I would say it is a 6/10. Wasn't a terrible sequel to the series, but was nowhere near comparable to the original books. Not even close. But it does answer some questions that readers or fans of the movies may have asked at the end of the original series.

I have already picked up a new book and am working my way through it. This summer seems to be flying by and my free time has been quite limited as I am almost constantly busy at work, therefore exhausted when I get home and don't have energy to read. But I do try my best to make it happen! Did you read The Cursed Child? What were your thoughts? Has anyone actually gone to London and seen the play? Thoughts on the play in comparison to most Broadway theatrics? Let me know!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia

DIY: Chocolate Cupcakes with Birthday Cake Frosting

Hello all,

My friend's birthday was this week (HBD Nicole! Whoop Whoop!) and so I got back into the kitchen. I've been working on experimenting with cupcake concoctions, but wanted to find a simple chocolate cupcake recipe that would pair well with my birthday cake frosting. This was the perfect occasion for such experimenting! Here is a simple chocolate cupcake recipe and also the recipe for my birthday cake frosting (previously seen here with the birthday cake frosted brownies)

What you'll need:
- 2 cupcake tins
- 1 fork
- 1 mixer
- Cupcake Liners
- 2 medium size mixing bowls

Cupcakes
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk (can use buttermilk)
- 1/2 cup olive oil (can use vegetable oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup hot water

Frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter unsalted
- 1/3 cup yellow cake mix
- 4 tbsp milk (and have on hand to add PRN)
- 1 tbsp vanilla

- Sprinkles- any kind, color, or amount you'd like!
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F and place cupcake liners in the cupcake tin.
2. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together.
3. In a different bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Add the water to the batter and mix until well combined.
TIP: Do not be alarmed, batter looks way more watery than boxed cupcakes
6. Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 18-22 minutes or until fork comes out clean
7. Let cupcakes cool for at least 20 minutes. 
TIP: For faster cooling, take out of cupcake tin and place on baking rack
8. Mix together ingredients for frosting, adding the sprinkles in last. 

There you have it! Some DELICIOUS cupcakes with my favorite DIY frosting to date. YUM! What do you think of this recipe? Anything I should add or subtract to make it better? I know there are lots of complicated recipes for chocolate cupcakes out there, but was happy to find and experiment with one that is more simple. 

Thanks for baking with me,
- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: Extraordinary Means

Hello fellow readers!

While on vacation a few weeks ago I finished up a YA book called Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider. I picked this book from my stack because it seemed like a quicker read for vacation and also had an interesting plot. A boy named Lane catches tuberculosis and is sent to live at Latham House, a modern day sanatorium for multi drug resistant TB. While there he meets new friends, Nick, Charlie, Marina, and Sadie who have all been living at Latham house for various amounts of time. They struggle with the hope for a cure and with how to spend their daily lives at Latham house. 

I think for me the most interesting part of this book was that places like this really existed, and how did people deal with re-entering the real world when isoniazid was found after being trapped so long in isolation? Obviously this book is fiction, but it does have interesting points that I think a lot of my cancer patients deal with also. People walking by you hear a cough and panic like they're going to catch it and your own family afraid to come around because they don't want to get sick from you. Dealing with that all the time would make me crazy especially because people don't understand diseases all the time. 

Anyways, the book was a quick and interesting-to-me read but also semi predictable. The ending came quickly and all of a sudden I was like "oh that's it?" I would have liked to read more about what happened beyond Latham House for each character. I would say 8/10 for rating. Has anyone else ever read this book or one of Robyn Schneider's other books? Let me know how you like her writing. I'm going to keep going down my list of ever growing books! But I've been kind of going out of order based on if the book is going to be made into a movie soon or if I have a certain desire to read one thing vs another. But I have been adding everyone's suggestions to my list.

Thanks for reading with me,

- Olivia 

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Outer Banks, NC

Hey all,

The month of May was kind of crazy for the Franeks, as we spent a majority of our free time traveling. We recently took our first trip to the Outer Banks here in North Carolina and we LOVED it! If you are looking for a relaxing place to go that also has fun things to do and explore, this is a great place to do those things! We totally could have spent a whole week there, but a long weekend was a good amount of time too. There are not a ton of places to stay, but we did an Air BnB studio apartment in Kitty Hawk (central OBX) that allowed dogs which was perfect for us. Here are some of our favorite things that we did and places we liked to eat from our trip!

1) Barefoot Bernies
This is a pretty typical beachy restaurant, except to me the food was GREAT! For once I didn't order a burger or grilled cheese (my go-to's at these types of restaurants) but instead ordered their grilled chicken with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes. YUM! Madi got ahi tuna and loved that too. It was good service, not a long wait, and great food. Can't ask for much more than that!

2) Bodie Island Lighthouse
A friend at work told me about this lighthouse because I was worried about leaving Nike alone at the Air BnB for a long time to drive down to Cape Hatteras. This lighthouse was beautiful! It was $10 to climb to the top (a little pricey for us) but it had a spectacular view of the Outer Banks and you got to learn about the history of the lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper. If you know me well, you know that I love lighthouses. This one was no exception. But bring your bug spray because the fly bites are awful!

3) Stack 'Em High

This breakfast restaurant was super low key. You actually go up and order cafeteria style for things like fruit, oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, drinks, and then things like pancakes or omelettes are made and brought to your table. It was cheap, fast, clean, and delicious. You can't ask for much more than that! We wanted to go back Monday morning but didn't want to leave Nikes again, but we will definitely go back on our next trip!

4) Corolla and the Wild Horses
So I guess we got pretty lucky with our trip because we saw quite a few wild horses and a lot of people I have talked to went out looking and saw none. We did the Back Country Safari Tours and really liked it! We learned a lot about the horses, how many there really are on the cape (about eighty six documented) and the different rules and regulations of the horses.

5) Wright Brothers National Park
My mom's boyfriend told us about this as he is a pilot and they visited on their trip to the Outer Banks. It is a nice little outdoor museum ($7/person to enter and you can bring dogs! Score!) and has the site from where the first plane took off. They also have an indoor museum but that was being renovated currently. Places that allow dogs and encourage learning are a win-win in our book!

We always think it's funny that most people go on vacation to relax or would go to OBX to hit the beach the whole time, but most of our time was spent learning things about the area. That is pretty much how most of our vacations are. We really are just giant nerds. Another thing we loved about the OBX is that the beaches are SUPER private and chill. We had to go early or late because dogs could only go before 8am and after 5pm but both times we went there was no one with in a football field's distance from us. Super nice! The flies were definitely out there too though, so bring some chairs and spray! Our next adventure won't be until our big two week summer trip in July. For now we are just catching back up and getting ready for Sondra to move in! Less than two weeks y'all! :D

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: The Woman In Cabin 10

Hello fellow readers,

This past week I finished up The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. This was listed as a recommended read on Amazon after I finished Girl On the Train. I got my copy for free with Target RedPerks points (I love free stuff) and got to reading as soon as I had the time. This book is a mystery/thriller about a girl named Laura "Lo" Blacklock who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to take a free trip on a luxury cruise so that she can write an article on the boat and the boat's owner Richard Bullmer. One night while in her cabin, she hears a scream and a splash in the room next door to hers, cabin 10, and thinks that she sees blood on the next door balcony wall. She had met the woman staying there earlier in the night. But when she reports the story to the ship's workers, they state there is no one staying in that room. Lo is beside herself as she tries to figure out where the woman went, and why no one acts as if they knew her.

The Woman In Cabin 10 kept me interested. However, the middle of the book did drag a little as Lo spent a lot of time trying to figure out who had seen or not seen the woman from cabin 10. The ending was interesting, but I still don't understand some of the plot. I feel like some questions went unanswered and were not super well thought out. Over all I did enjoy the book, I would give it a 7/10, It did give me eerie feelings, as I read most of it when Madi was out of town coaching basketball. I didn't enjoy it as much as The Girl On the Train, of which it has been compared to. But if you have free time this summer and like mystery/thrilling books, borrow it from your local library. I'm not sure it's quite worth buying.

My list continues to grow, check out the My List of Books section to see more reads I would recommend as we head into summer time, and to see what I want to read in the coming months! Can't wait to keep crossing things off of my list!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Chattanooga, TN

Hey all,
So we recently got back from Chattanooga, Tennessee. One of our favorite places. After a long month in March with moving and working a lot we decided to take a long weekend for Easter and go hang out with some of our family. We have been to Chattanooga many times, and Madi's family even lived there for a short period of time, so the city has grown on us a lot. If we didn't move to Durham, Chattanooga was another top competitor for places to move. So here are our favorite things about Chatty:

1. McKay's Used Books and CDs
This place is the definition of what heaven would look if we could pick what it would look like for me. It is a warehouse full of used books for SUPER cheap. Like some books are 40 cents. No joke. They sell books that are no longer made, like Babysitter's Club and Boxcar Children. Board books for kids are also a great find there. They also have used movies, video games, and CDs. But if you know me, you know I love books. Yes we also love movies. I can easily drop $100 in this place, and I get so many things. You also can trade in items for credit. If you have books you no longer read or movies you no longer watch, they probably take them and you can spend the credit there at the store. It's awesome. I guarantee you can't walk out of there without finding one thing you want to buy.

2. Lupi's Pizza
THE.BEST.PIZZA.EVER. I love this place so much. It is DELICIOUS. They have a few locations, and if you are driving up or down I75 past Chatt town you should stop by the one off of the interstate (I think it's in Hixson?)

3. Tennessee Aquarium
This is one of the coolest aquarium's that I have ever been to. It has two buildings that both have different animals and also down the road (walking distance) an IMAX 3D theater that shows educational movies too. It's legit. And has a butterfly house. #winning

4. Coolidge Park/Northshore
Coolidge Park is one of the prettiest places in the fall. It also has access to the walking bridge over the Tennessee River. There are cute boutiques and touristy shops in this area (also known as Northshore). Clumpies Ice Cream is delish and there are lots of hipster restaurants in that area too. Definitely a must see place.

5. Ruby Falls
If you're looking for good views, head towards Lookout Mountain and go to Ruby Falls. Lots of light hiking areas and views of the falls. You can spend an hour there or a few, depending on how quick you move through things. This is also a good place to get a view of 5 different states. Pretty cool. And there is a creepy gnome village on the way out. So weird and random but whatever!

We LOVE Chattanooga and can't wait til we can go back. So many other fun things to see and do there, but these are at the top of my list. This last trip we did our first escape room which was super fun and did rock climbing on the outside of the building. Literally was shaking, but it was super cool and we made it to the top! Our next long weekend trip will be for our anniversary in May and we can't wait to check out the Outer Banks here in North Carolina. We've never been, so if you have suggestions of must see things or places to eat let us know!

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia :)

{Real Talk}: 13 Things I Think About 13 Reasons Why

A few hours ago I finished the new Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and I have a few things to say about it, thirteen to be exact. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, this is a new Netflix series based off the book I finished most recently by the same name, read my blog post about that to see what 13 Reasons Why is if you haven't heard of it already. If you haven't seen 13 Reasons Why and plan on watching it or haven't read the book and still want to, stop here and come back and read this once you have done both because there will be spoilers. Here are the thirteen things I think about the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. 

1. The TV Series is incredibly different from the book. 

Like the fact that it is "based on the book" is a loose term in this case. The 13 people are the same, Hannah kills herself, there are tapes, and that is about where the similarities end. In the book, Clays and Hannah's parents are not prominent characters. There is no law suit. Clay listens to the tapes all in one night. Even the way that Hannah kills herself is different. So. Different. 

2. I think the TV Series is good as it's own thing. 

This series answers questions you have when reading the book. Like what happens after Clay gets the tapes? What happens when he goes back to school? What happens with Jessica? Does she ever realize what happened to her the night of the party? Do Hannah's parents ever find the tapes? But it kind of is it's own story.

3. I think the worst character in the TV show out of everyone is the obvious choice: Bryce.

The scary part is, there are people just like him out in this world. And the people like him will never watch this show or read this book unless it's required of them. And I still don't know how I feel about it being required reading or required watching for teenagers.

4. Courtney is a stupid brat.

Like really? Your parents are gay? And you're afraid coming out to them will make it all cliche and they'll have a hard time with it. Get over yourself you stupid jerk. 

5. Tyler is a perve/stalker but...

Hannah is kind of a total biotch to him... Even though he shouldn't stalk people ya know that's what they're trying to get at. But then he tells her he loves her and she is a complete jerk to him about it. That part made me mad. Practice what you preach Hannah. Because in the end I'm still trying to figure out if Tyler killed Alex/is going to blow up the school/has a hit list. SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS NETFLIX?!

6. Where was Kat this whole time?

Like really you're her "BFF"? Did you guys ever talk? Clearly not. 

7. Why does no one pay attention to Justin and the fact that he is in the crappiest living situation ever?

Why is the guidance counselor not more involved with that one? Gosh darn I hate that guidance counselor. Justin is an ass I get it but really?

8. Tony, you are a liar and I hate you.

I don't know why everyone is all "OMG TONY YOU'RE A GUARDIAN ANGEL I LOVE YOU." No! He literally told Clay you are the reason Hannah killed herself. Then you start the next episode and Hannah literally says Clay doesn't belong on these tapes. Netflix, do a better job of making a stupid cliffhanger (even though I already knew that was going to happen unless they were going to change Clay's tape). I liked Tony's book character way better. 

9. Clay and Hannah were WAY closer in the TV series that what was depicted in the book. 

The fact that Clay and Hannah are BFFs in the TV series does make me blame him more than in the book. That was a big change.

10. I think the message of this show gets lost in the drama of it all. 

I think what Selena and the producers and the author were going for is: your actions matter. The consequences one small action may cause are way greater than you can imagine. For example, the hot or not list. Just a joke right? Wrong. But this honestly gets mixed up and as I said about the book, I'm afraid teenagers who have had issues like rape or abandonment or abuse will look at this show and say, see there is no way out I have to kill myself. That is wrong. 

11. This series addresses super important issues that aren't talked about a lot and aren't taken seriously enough. 

If you bring up the word rape, most people change the subject. If you bring up the word suicide, people get weird. Because it's hard to talk about. But if someone tries to talk to you about it, listen. A lot of people think this show is "too graphic" about both of these subjects. The rape scenes are realistic. So is the suicide scene. I actually had to turn my head because I could not handle watching Hannah cut herself. It's all too real for people who are close to someone who has attempted these things. Luckily the person I know who did was unsuccessful. But I can still hear the screams and sobbing in my head from my real life dealing with these things. And seeing the scars on that persons arm every time I'm with them. It's real guys. The show depicts it pretty well from my experience with it. And it's painful to watch. It should be. Otherwise it wouldn't be real. 

12. Suicide is a CHOICE.

So please, understand that there is another choice. There are people out there that care about you. Even if the world feels empty. If you feel like you're about to make this choice, or even just thinking about it, get help. Which leads to my next point.

13. This show misses an important target. 

Not once does it mention how to get help. It doesn't show Hannah finding a way to get help. Or anyone else being told about getting help. It shows Hannah struggling to ask for help from her guidance counselor who was a total idiot in my opinion. It doesn't start any episode or the series with a hotline number or advice for if this is you. I know there is that extra Netflix thing you can watch, but this should be included in the series just like Teen Mom includes the itsyoursexlife.org site on every episode. If you need help, there is a way out. There are people who will listen. It gets better. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255.

What did you think of both? If you watched and have no intention of reading, did you even like it? I'm curious to hear people's thoughts. 

- Olivia