Getting Organized: Refrigerator

Look what I got today.

Healthy groceries :)

 Then, when I got home with all these groceries (and baskets) I decided to redo the fridge. (Yes, it was MUCH needed)

after I added the new groceries, there was NO room left

 I re-bagged all the veggies -putting carrots into 1 serving zip locks, and each romaine heart into their own bag. I cut up the strawberries and watermelon and put them in some tupperware. I used one container for veggies, and a small container for cheeses and lunch meats. The container on the bottom has waters in it :)
Not as fancy as the fridge I saw on pinterest, but it's much better than it was before. And, I think this will help me eat better too!

Organized!

Do you keep your fridge organized? Have any secrets/tips to share?

Diets

My goal this summer was to lose weight. That didn't happen. Some days, I would be extremely motivated, I would work out and eat better. Other days, I was so depressed I didn't want to do anything. It's almost time to start student teaching and I hate that I have to buy more fat clothes, but it's time to get over it and do something about it! One of my favorite things to do is stock pinterest and all things healthy. 

Last night I started to read about this 3 day diet that claims you can lose up to 10 pounds. 10 pounds in THREE days? Where do I sign up? Looking further into it, these people are starving themselves by eating less than 1000 calories a day. I passed on this diet and started looking at the "1000 calorie diet", then I moved on to MyPyramid and found SuperTracker - a place where you can track what you eat, your exercise, and your goals. This site says for my height and weight I'm allowed 2200 calories a day (even to lose weight). I think this sounds CRAZY! 

So, I decided I'm going to start counting calories.  I haven't quite decided yet how many calories I am going to allow myself -I'm thinking 2200 is too much! Before I looked it up I was thinking 1200 so I may start with that and see what my body tells me. While I was stalking pinterest I saw this:

 

 via

How pretty! Looking at this picture got me thinking that if my fridge looked this pretty and was stocked with healthy goods, I'd be more inclined to actually cook and eat it!

Are you in the process of losing weight, what is or isn't working for you? 

Review - Books 10-12 in The Saga of Darren Shan

Check out what I thought of the previous books


Book 10 - The Lake of Souls by Darren Shan
In the tenth book Darren and Harkat get a visit from Mr. Tiny, it is time for Harkat to find out who he was in his previous life. Harkat wants to go alone so Darren can stay and fight the War of Scars, but Darren will not let Harkat travel alone, and goes with him. During this adventure they run into panthers, snakes, dragons, and many other monstrous creatures. They travel to the Lake of Souls to retrieve Harkat Moulds body. When they fish out his body they cannot believe their eyes...


Book 11 - Lord of the Shadows by Darren Shan
There were many twists and turns in this book. The War of Scars brings Darren back to his hometown. He meets up with Vancha, Debbie, and Alice in order to get ready for the battle with Steve. I don't want to go into too much detail and give anything away. This wasn't the best book for me. There was a lot of suspense, but I was always guessing what was going to happen, and 9 times out of 10 I was correct. This made it not a great book for me, but it was still ok, and worth reading.


Book 12 - Sons of Destiny  by Darren Shan
 *Spoiler Alert* I was a little disappointed with the ending of the saga. Throughout the books 'Destiny' Darren or Steve were to become the Lord of the Shadows(an evil being that would destroy the world and everyone in it for power). Darren wanted to win the War of Scars, and therefore must kill Steve. But Darren does not want to become the Lord of Shadows, so he lets Steve kill him as Steve is dying. (Mr. Tiny is furious, because this is not one of the visions of future he saw) Evana the witch, Mr. Tiny's daughter brings back Darren and Mr. Tiny makes him a little person. Their idea is that Darren, as a little person, will go scare off Darren when he first comes to the cirque, so that he will not overhear Steve, and not steal Mr. Crepsley's spider, therefore making none of the other events happen. Although none of anything you read will now happen to Darren Shan, some random person will be put into his spot and go through all the same things Darren went through. This was disappointing because it was similar to "and then I woke up from a dream."


 Overall I would still recommend reading the Darren Shan Saga, it is a very interesting story. I have never ready anything like it. I just like to imagine an alternate ending :)






What are your thought on the series? Did you like the ending?

Review - Books 7-9 in The Saga of Darren Shan

Book 7 - Hunters of the Dusk by Darren Shan 
This book takes place 6 years after Darren has become a Vampire Prince. The not so well liked and scary Mr. Tiny shows up at the mountain with more news. He informs the clan 3 hunters must go out and look for the vampaneze lord, but only these 3 -no more, no less. The only other advice he gives is to follow their heart and they will have 4 more chances. If they do not succeed 2 of them will die, and then the war will go on and the vampaneze will win. The 3 chosen are Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and another Prince who is just being introduced in this book. Harkart, the Little Person, also chooses to go along with them.


Because they are to follow their hearts, the first place they go is back to the cirque du freak. It is here that they find a small group of vampaneze, and kill them. While 2 of them get away, one of which they found out later was the vampaneze lord.


When will they have another chance to kill him? Will they find him? Where will they travel next? How will he be disguised next time?
This book leaves you with a lot of questions as to what will happen next in Darren's journey.




Book 8 - Allies of the Night by Darren Shan 
After leaving the Cirque Du Freak the hunters decide to go back to Mr. Crepsley's hometown (while Vancha goes back to Vampire Mountain to let everyone know what they have found out). Once they have settled in, and their routine was in place (hunting for vampaneze at night in the tunnels) they get a house visit from a school inspector who tells Darren he must attend school or the police will come after him.


Darren runs into 2 very important people from his past (his ex, and his best friend Steve) who help him on his quest to kill the Lord of the Vampaneze.


They find where the vampaneze are hiding, and while fighting Steve reveals who he really is. The vampaneze let them escape and give them a head start of fleeing, although they had no idea why.


This book leaves you wanting more, just like the rest! Stay tuned to find out what happens once the vampires escape.




Book 9 - Killers of the Dawn by Darren Shan  
Once the hunters are safe from the vampaneze, above ground in daylight, everything changes. They are in all sorts of trouble. Then entire town thinks Darren and his friends are killing the towns people. They must escape the mad people during the day, and at night hunt the vampaneze once again to kill their Lord. One gives up his life to kill the Lord. After the vampaneze leave, Steve (Darrens ex-bff and half-vampaneze) lets Darren in on a little secret -they didn't really kill the Lord, he was a decoy!


The suspense in this book was great. I could kind of tell what was going to happen at the end though, but it was a great book. And leaves you wanting to find out where the real Lord has taken off to, and if Darren will find him. And if Darren will revenge the death of his closest vampire friend.




Want to know what I thought of books 1-6?

Review - Books 4-6 in The Saga of Darren Shan

Book 4 - Vampire Mountain by Darren Shan 
Six years have passed since the events in Tunnels of Blood. Eight years total since Darren has been blooded by Mr. Larten Crepsley. The Vampire Council is gathering soon Darren and Larten must go to Vampire Mountain, where the vampires gather in the caves and tunnels inside. They are accompanied by 2 Little People(one named Lefty by Evra and Darren because of his limp). On the dangerous trek to the mountain they encounter new friends and a bear who wants to rip him to pieces. The Little People have never spoken before, but Lefty (who has always been very friendly and nice to Darren) speaks, and tells Darren and Larten his Master, Mr. Tiny has sent a message for the Vampire Prince’s about a person who will lead the vampanaze to war (and victory) against the vampires.


Once at the mountain they are greeted by Mr. Crepsley’s mentor, Seba and a new friend Kudra who will soon become a Vampire Prince, and Arra one of the few female vampires. They go to a council meeting who decide that Darren must prove himself as a vampire by passing the Trials of Initiation (due to the fact the Mr. Crepsley blooded a child which is a big no-no). Darren agrees to the trials, and later finds out that if he fails a trial it means death -there is no turning back.


This book was similar to the 3rd in that there was not a lot of action. We learned even more about the vampire clan, as well as new characters who were introduced. Shan told a lot about the Vampire Mountain. This book was a set up for the next book -where Darren must prove himself with the trials. -Can’t wait to read it :)


Book 5 - Trials of Death by Darren Shan
Oh. My. Gosh. Best book so far!! 


This book starts right where Vampire Mountain left off, with the Trials. A lot happens in this book. Darren must complete 5 Trials. Some of the trials have been taken out, because Darren is not a full vampire, and does not have the ability to do some of them. The trials work as so: pick the trial, time to prepare, attempt the trial, rest period, repeat. I don’t want to give too much away, but he must complete each trial, if not he will be taken to the hall of death. Darren learns there is a traitor among the vampires, but we don’t know if he will be able to tell anyone. This book ends in a GIANT cliff-hanger. Unlike the rest of the books, which all had clear endings.




Book 6 - The Vampire Prince by Darren Shan 


I was dying to now what happened when Darren was escaping so I read this book in just a couple hours (I did mention they are super easy reads, right?).


 This book picks up right where Trials of Death left off. Darren is fighting for his life, falling down the mountains stream. When he finally makes it to a bank his wolf friend finds him and takes him to the pack to nurse him back to health. They then make their way back to Vampire Mountain to warn the vampires there is a traitor amongst them, and the vampaneze are in their mountain. A search party is made, and they find the vampaneze. There is a battle. Traitor is punished. And then Darren's fate is decided.


Does he die because he failed the trails AND ran away? Or does he live because he showed how brave he was by coming back, standing up to the traitor, and fighting in the vamapaneze war?





Are you reading the series? What do you think so far?


Check out the reviews on the rest of the series.

Review - Books 1-3 in The Saga of Darren Shan

Have you watched the movie Cirque du Freak? I have, and after I watched it I immediately looked for a second movie, but to my surprise there wasn’t one. That is when I started looking, and hoping, I would find a book series.


I found it. The Saga of Darren Shan. (Or Cirque du Freak series) This series of 12 books *gasp* are teen/young adult level so they are a very easy read.


Book 1 - A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan


Darren was a normal kid. His friend found a flyer for a freak show, they went. Steve had saw one of the performers before -in his vampire book. Darren stole his performing spider, Madame Octa (he had a thing for spiders). Steve wasn’t a fan, and Madame Octa bit him. She was poisonous. Only one person knew how to cure Steve. Darren goes to Mr. Crepsley(the vampire), and asks for help. In return for the antidote Mr. Crepsley wants Darren to become his assistant.


Do you say yes, give up half your life to save your best friend?


Go ahead, read the book. Its better than the movie! ;)




Book 2 - The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan

I was dying to know what happened in the book -if it followed the movie, or went a different way. I think we all know the answer -went a different way. It is so much better though, but of course it is.


Darren is now Mr. Crepsley’s assistant, a half vampire. Mr. Crepsley urges Darren to drink from humans, he needs it to survive and even though Darren does not have to kill his victims, he will not drink their blood. He wants to keep his humanity. They decide to travel with the Cirque du Freak so Darren can have some friends. He bunks with the snake boy, Evra who becomes his closest friend. Darren also meets two humans -Sam and RV. Sam becomes close to Darren. Sam wants to join the circus, and RV finds out some information he decides to deal with on his own, which puts himself and Sam in great danger.




Book 3 - Tunnels of Blood by Darren Shan
Mr. Crepsley is found by an old friend, Gavner Purl, after their secret meeting Mr. Crepsley informs Darren they are going to leave the cirque for the time being. Darren brings along his friend Evra, as if it were a vacation. Darren and Evra are free to do as they please while Mr. Crepsley is sleeping. One night while Mr. Crepsley is out they watch the news which reports the finding of 6 dead humans, all drained of their blood. Believing it is Mr. Crepsley they start to tail him each night, until one night when it seems he is going to kill an innocent man. Darren jumps into the rescue, only to find a mad vampaneze was who Mr. Crepsley was actually following. (Vampaneze are vampire’s who always kill the humans they are going to drink from) The vampaneze runs off, and kidnaps Evra on his way out. Mr. Crepsley believes Evra is dead, and the vampaneze long gone. Darren does not agree -Evra is his best friend, he must be alive. Darren must now risk his life -and others- to try and find his best friend, and outsmart the wild vampaneze.


This book was a little slow going with the action because we learned a lot about the history of vampires, and of the vampaneze. All in all it was still a great book, and the information really put things together.


..on to the next book!