Actually, Who Am I?

A lot of you don't know me....well all of you don't know me personally...unless your some strange kid that used to go to high school with me...who is still stalking me two years later on my blog...then you might just know me.

But GENERALLY, you don't know me. You may know my face, you may know what books I do and don't like, and you may know I'm a student, struggling my way through life. So you basically only know the surface of me.

I wasn't too sure what I was going to post today. I didn't want to post another haul. I didn't really have a book I could review. And I just wanted to sit down, and type away, without having to get dressed to make a video, or take pictures, or do something else. All I wanted to do was roll out of bed (it's my first day off in almost two weeks), make a cup of coffee, sit down, and write.

After a little bit of thought, I decided I would tell you about myself.

My real name is Lisa (I would hope that you guys AT LEAST KNOW THAT), I don't go by a fake name or anything, and I'm turning twenty one years old at the end of October.

I attend the state university where I live...I don't want to give the name, because you know, creeps.

I absolutely love it. I have always loved school. I don't know what it is about learning, and the new school supplies every year that gets me so excited! I enjoyed high school, but university is a hundred times better. In high school every kid had to attend; if they wanted to be there or not. It was hard if you were thrown into a group of kids who could care less about being there, which is exactly why university is so much more enjoyable. The people there, WANT to be there. They LOVE being there, and I LOVE being around people who want to be there.

Besides attending school, I also work any where from twenty five to thirty five hours a week, making coffee and selling frozen yogurt. My boyfriend's older sister got me the job, and now, ten months later, I'm assistant manager in our little store. I absolutely love working there; I'm allowed to do homework and read during down time, and I always get excited when a regular customer pulls through so we can catch up.

When I'm not attending classes, doing homework, or working, I'm usually out and about with friends, family or my boyfriend. Joshua and I have been dating since I was sixteen...which is about four and a half years. He isn't sensitive or all too romantic (like how we constantly seem to read about in some of our favorite YA romance books), but he is a lot of fun, cares about me, and occasionally has his soft spots and sensitive moments...even though he would never admit to them (don't tell him I told you so). Its crazy how in one moment he can make me the happiest girl in the world, and then the next can get on my last nerve.

He knows exactly how to make me laugh, which makes it hard to be mad.



My goals in life right now, are to finish college, not only with a Major in Accounting, but also a Minor in Education and a Minor in Mathematics. I want to earn those degrees by using grants and working for my own money, so basically staying FAR FAR away from loans.

I also want to feel good about myself, and feel healthy. So my goal is to work out two or three times a week. I haven't been able to the last two weeks, simply because I was so busy finishing up school and working, but I hope to get started back up again this week.

My goals for blogging/youtube, are to become more consistent, with new and interesting content. I want to spread my horizons when it comes to video editing, pictures, and social media. I hope to buy a new laptop, and a new filming camera to improve the quality of my content.

Other random goals include starting up my own Etsy shop and purchasing a Circut Explore Machine to create my own stickers. Also to keep my room more clean, to declutter my bookshelves from books I don't want anymore, and to study harder, and stop procrastinating with homework.

Overall I want to become a better me. I want to improve. I want to make goals and reach them. I want to be friendly, happy and just enjoy life.

It's My First Week Back! What Am I Reading?

It's my first week back at blogging, and all I've posted so far are two introductions and a sticker haul. No book reviews. No hauls. No book or reading content what so ever...

To be honest, I didn't really know where I wanted to get started. I have a history with reading, books and reviewing, so I was torn between starting where I ended off, or starting entirely new. But after contemplating, and even pushing this post off until the end of the week, I decided that I'm starting new.

I reinvented this blog, changed the design, and basically started from a clean template. Why would I dig into the past, where I wasn't even having a very good time, and rehash all of that negative energy? Why would I go back to where I felt so pressured to read books I didn't want to read? I wouldn't, so I didn't.

Throughout the school year, I basically hoard summer books. I love "summery" and contemporary reads, so whenever I stumble across one (especially at a good price), I buy it. Of course I don't read it though! That's just silly! I save it throughout the entire nine months of school, to read in my three months of summer break.

Summer break is now in full motion, and I still haven't decided which books to read. I usually start the summer off, with a TBR, filled with books I hope to get to during those three months. But with the way things are going, I'm a bit more spontaneous, and actually a little afraid of forcing myself to stick to a list again.

So instead, I'm just going to show you what I'm reading for the week(ish), which will probably include what I'm reading right at the moment, and the book, or two, I plan on reading next.

...FINALLY, without any more rambling, what am I reading?

Currently I'm in the middle of two books...

This is What Happy Looks Like, by Jennifer E. Smith, is the first book I started reading. So far its pretty interesting. A girl accidentally gets sent an email from a movie star, but of course she doesn't know it's from him. I'm not too far into it, I'm right at the point where he finds her, or at least who he thinks is her...dah dah DAHHH!
I think its cute and lighthearted, and perfect for my first summer read. I really enjoyed The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, so I was excited to get started with this one.

 

Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris; I'm reading this one because I feel like its finally time to make the jump. I'm almost twenty one years old, and I haven't read a single adult series. Of course, I will forever buy and read YA, but I think it would be good for me to occasionally read an adult novel.

I'm not exactly sure what I plan on reading next. I don't think I'll be getting too much reading done this week, because of a busy work schedule, planning a baby shower and going on a mini vacation this weekend. I might take a book to read, but who knows! Afterall, it is vacation!

But The Heir by Kiera Cass has been calling my name, ever since I brought it home from the store, so I might just have to indulge in that!

What are you all reading? Anything interesting or out of the ordinary? I would love to hear some suggestions!

Meet My Planner!

On Monday I reintroduced myself...and today is Friday, which means it's about time I introduce you all to my planner!

I'm not too picky when it comes to the planner I want, ultimately it needs to have a cute cover, be simply and basic inside, and start/end in July. Cute cover, because who doesn't want one. Basic inside, so I can decorate and design to my hearts content. Start and end in July, because I'm a student, and enjoy having a new planner at the start of the new school year.

Other than those three conditions I was open to any "type" or "brand" of planner. Before I finally made my choice, I did do some looking around and searching. I'm new to the entire planning community, so I learned a lot when I did. Two of the most popular planners are the Erin Condren planners and the Plum planners. But when I made this purchase the 2015/2016 Erin Condren planners weren't available yet, and I hadn't heard too much about the Plum planners.

After watching tons of videos, unboxings and reviews, both brands sound absolutely amazing, and I hope to purchase their products in the future.

But because I'm still so new to planning, I decided to go with something a little bit less expensive, and then work my way up from there. After spending a few days searching for the PERFECT planner, I went with the Posy Paper 2015/2016 Navy Pink Floral Gold Pattern.

Carolyn, the owner of Posy Paper wraps this delicious planner in the prettiest brown envelope, and packages it in a plastic wrap. Nothing was damaged, ripped or bent! After making your order, you are sent a message, asking what name you would like to have written on the cover. I decided to put my full name, but for these pictures I blurred out my middle name and added a mustache...(sorry to disappoint..the mustache doesn't come with it...) The font style and color is absolutely gorgeous!

What I didn't know about this planner, was that it came with plastic covers, for both the front and the back. The floral cover is made from a harder card stock (not just paper), which is unlikely to rip, but it's still REALLY nice to have that extra protection!

(Weekly View)

While the cover is cute, and the entire book seems to be really well made, a planner is useless if it isn't practical and spacious. I have pretty big hand writing and I intend to decorate each month and week, I wanted something that was basic, and big. This planner is exactly that!
 

(Monthly View)

As you can probably see, I've already started doing to pre-planning!

And lastly, it comes with this pocket at the very end. I think it's cute and well thought out, but I don't know how I plan on using it just yet. Maybe to keep some sticky notes in, or the current sticker sheets I'm decorating with. I don't really know, I'll still have to think of something!

The only accessories I have right now (which probably will be changing very soon) are these two glitter bow paper clips from Two Krafty Chicks. I'm using these to keep my place for the current month and the current week...or else it would take me forever to find the right page every single time.

Another accessory I hope to purchase in the future is a band to wrap around my planner, to keep it nice and closed!

Sticker Haul: Etsy/Hobby Lobby/Michaels

Welcome to my very first sticker haul! After ordering my planner, I couldn't resist ordering some cute stickers, and head to my local Hobby Lobby and Michael's. Even though I wasn't receiving my planner for another 10+ days (since it was being shipped from Canada), I just had to get my hands of some cute stickers.

I did pick up quite a few sheets of stickers, but my excuse is that they were extremely cheap (some sheets only $0.75) and I needed to start off my stash. I did have a few sheets of stickers laying around the house, but most of them are at least 10 years old.

Two Krafty Chicks

Planner Mania

Stickeriffic

Created By Danielle1

I've been dying to finally be able to use these goodies, they are all just TOO CUTE. Let me know if you plan on picking any of these up! What stickers have you recently hauled? Leave a link to in the comments, I would love to see!

Please...Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

Its been almost two months since the last time I posted something here on Turning Pages, almost two months when I decided it was time I took a break from blogging, and really evaluated what I was doing in life.

I'm attending full time university, working 25 to 35 hours a week, and dealing with all kinds of other things that life has in store for me. Two months ago, I needed some time to think about what's important to me, what I love doing, and what I needed to get done. I was completely overwhelmed and just wasn't having fun anymore; not just with blogging but in general.

I started Turning Pages over four years ago to have fun, to share my love of reading, and to be able to express myself. But as the years went on that changed. I started accepting review books, and I wasn't reading for fun anymore, I was pumping out reviews that didn't make me feel anything, and overall it became a job...a job I didn't really like.

Throughout the last two months, I was able to sort out a few things, find myself, as well as the passion I have for blogging. I decided that it was time I finally get back to it.

BUT a lot of things need to change. I want Turning Pages to be about me, about what I love and what I enjoy doing...after all it is my blog. I don't strictly want to read and review books, but instead I also want to incorporate organization, planning, beauty, life and anything else I may think of.

Blog Design & Layout:

If you've been following me, than you can probably tell that a lot of things have changed around here. Because this is a new start for me and I'm not just blogging about books, I thought it would be a good idea to changed the layout and design of Turning Pages. I tried keeping it cute and simply, because I hope to post a ton of bright and colorful photos in future posts!

Scheduling Posts & Videos:

Blog posts will be going up every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Videos, on the other hand, will go up Wednesday and Friday. (I hope to add Saturday in the future, but I don't want to overwhelm myself right now.)

I don't want to restrict myself on what type of content goes up when, so I didn't plan anything accordingly.

Social Media:

I've also updated and added to my social media. I'm continuing to use Twitter and Pinterest, but have also included Instagram. Besides that I'm still on Bloglovin', Goodreads and Google+, but I just haven't found any cute social media icons to add to the side bar.

To improve the content and the quality thereof, I've purchased a few organizational tools, as well as a tripod for better video quality. I might purchase a better laptop and a better camera, but I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon. Before I purchase anything, I want to look around first and see what everyone else is using, and what computer and camera would work best for me. So if you have any suggestions, please them in the comments section!

And finally, I hope you guys are just as excited as I am about the future! I can't wait to get started, to see what you all are doing and to finally be able to freely express myself.

Its Not Monday...But What Am I Reading Anyways!?

With my manager quitting at work, and only leaving Rosa (my co-worker, and boyfriend's sister) and myself to work an entire coffee stand by ourselves, I obviously haven't had much time to do any blogging. I have been getting some reading done, in between work shifts, school and homework, and I'm excited to show you what I'm currently reading, and hopefully finishing by tonight!

Twist, by Karen Akins.

Releases TODAY! April 7th!

I absolutely adored Loop and loved the main characters, Bree and Finn. They are just too cute together, and I get excited every single time they come into close proximity. These two teenagers are anything but normal, considering the fact that Bree is from the future, and Finn is from the past (right around our time).

The world Bree lives in, people are time travelers, working different jobs, in different times, and different locations on Earth! How exciting is that?!

So when I was offered Twist for review, you know I couldn't turn it down! I was excited to see how things are going now that Bree is "unchipped" and how her relationship with Finn is working out, with the whole "time traveling dilemma".

I'm well into Twist, and will be spending my day off (today) finishing it up! I don't know if I'll be able to get my review up by tonight, because I still have a little ways to go, but I will write and post my review as soon as I finish the book. OF COURSE!

Have you guys read Loop yet? Do you plan on picking up Twist? Don't you just LOVE time travel as much as I do???

Monthly TBR: April

Are these months flying by or what? I feel like I just did January's a few weeks ago...its crazy...

With wanting to clear out my book shelves and minimize my TBR pile, picking out books to read this month, felt different. I don't know what it was. Maybe the fact that these are going to be the books I WILL read. That there aren't any quick shopping sprees to head out and buy a cool and new book that I'm dying to read right then and there...

Maybe it's different because I know every single book I read, I'm getting one step closer to this huge goal I have. That every time I pick up a new book, I'm that much closer to clearing out my shelves and to shortening this HUGE TBR I have going on...

It feels strange, but it also feels VERY good.

...ANYWAYS, here's what I plan to read this month!

I'm currently in the middle of reading Twist, by Karen Akins.

Twist is being released April 7th, so be sure to stop by then and check out my review!

I'm also currently in the middle of reading The Lunar Chronicles!

Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer.

Cress, by Marissa Meyer.

Fairest, by Marissa Meyer.

Besides these four, I decided to also add a few stand alone novels, that are absolutely perfect for the Spring weather we are having!

The Promise of Amazing, by Robin Constantine.

This Is What Happy Looks Like, by Jennifer E. Smith.

Belles, by Jen Calonita.

Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver.

So many goods books, that I pulled out from the back of my bookshelf! That I'm just SO excited to read! Have you picked any of these up yet? Which one? What did you think about it?