Friday, January 1, 2010

Books I Read 2009

I read 33 books this year!! I could have read more, but I have been taking an online class that has eaten up reading time. Oh well, there is always next year :) Here are all 33 books.

The Moor by Laurie King
A Letter of Mary by Laurie King
No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty
A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie King
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esme Raji Codell
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Ultimate Weight Solution by Dr. Phil McGraw
DarkTower I: The Gusnslinger by Stephen King
Sleeping with Fear by Kay Hooper
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Thr Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Bellwether by Connie Willis
Nancy Drew and the Kachina Mystery by Carolyn Keene
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Bestiary by Nicholas Christopher
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Leguin
Bruiser by Ian Chorao
The Pilgramage by Paulo Coehlo
The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice
Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Cross by James Patterson
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Looking Back at 2009

Happy New Year Everyone!



It's the beginning of another year. Time to look back at resolutions from last year and make some new ones :)



Here are my resolutions from 2009. Wonder how I did......



1. Keep my checkbook balanced. I did pretty well with this one. I kept track of my spending all year :)

2. Continue the diet and exercise regimen I started in the summer. This resolution went really well until I started the whole house-buying process (which was around the same time that I started neglecting this blog). I am starting up again on Monday, January 4.

3. Knit myself a sweater. Ok, this is where it goes bad. I have made very little progress on the sweater. I am a little bit furher than when I posted here in March. I also noticed that I made a mistake back in the first few rows. I'm not sure how noticeable it is, but I may frog the whole thing and start over :(

4. Keep up with the block-a-month crochetalong that I joined on Ravelry. This one did not go well at all. I think I am currently working on the May blocks :(

5. Go to the local knitting group more often. They meet at a wine bar once a week; you just can't beat that :) I went twice :(

6. Do some charity knitting. I knit one hat, but have not donated it yet :(

7. Practice some new knitting and crocheting techniques. I tried cables. They are fun. Also I started crocheting with embroidery floss. I have been practicing lots of different patterns with the CAL blocks. :)

8. Make my crafts into a business, either throught Etsy, craft fairs, Saturday Market, or some combination. I participated in my first craft fair. Can't wait to do more :)

9. Find a second income to fund my crafts until they become a more viable business. I did find a second income by getting a job teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in the evenings, although the original motivation was because of a layoff. Now that I have my first job back, I can actually use the second income to fund some crafting :)

10. Be happy with my life :) This one is easy. Just bought the house of my dreams :)

11. Almost forgot: Project 365. I will take a picture every day and post it to my second blog. This resolution went really well. Visit the blog and you will see all the great pictures my fiance and I took. However, in the last month, we fell behind. Our computer died; we moved; we missed about a month, so we will continue the project into the new year.

Overall, not too bad. Here are my resolutions for this year.
1. Knit a sweater.
2. Continue working on my diet and exercie routine.
3. Continue working on my craft business.
4. Try some new crafts, like fimo canes for example.
5. Write a novel in a month.
6. Do some charity knitting.
7. Enjoy my life.
8. Keep reading and keep a list of what I read.