Updating Goodreads & Why I'm The Worst At Doing So...

Okay, so I'm not very good with social media, both with my blogging social media as well as my personal. I go on, check to see what everyone else is up to, but I'm just the worst at updating my own.

Social media, and actually using it, is a skill I'm still trying to learn and uphold.

Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. You name it. I'm the worst.

I love the idea each one of these social media subjects has; marking what books you want to read, or that you enjoyed, posting 150 character phrases multiple times throughout the day, or posting pictures of what you're doing. They all sound absolutely amazing, but for some reason, I'm just not actually doing them.


I use Twitter every time I post a blog post, so I'm pretty content with it. I do wish, however, do use it more on a daily basis, whenever something happens to me related to books, or Etsy, or Turning Pages in any other way. I want to use Twitter to share news with you guys as it's happening, but a few days later when I'm writing a post about it.

I'm starting to get used to Instagram. It's something new I'm still playing with, and actually learning how to use. Once I know all of the different aspects that come with Instagram, I know that it will become my most used social media, simply because it's run through my phone. I love the idea of sharing pictures of my new stickers, or paperclips, or snapping a picture of the book I'm currently reading.

And finally, Goodreads...

Goodreads is the hardest thing for me to maintain. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I run through books so quickly, that I would be updating it constantly. Maybe because I don't use it to post my book reviews there, because I have a blog to do that with. Maybe because it isn't directly on my phone, and I can't use it wherever I'm at.

But my Goodreads account is suffocating in dust.

Am I the only with this problem? I mean I don't even understand why I would have this problem. I love reading books, and sharing everything about them. I love posting pictures, and want to share all of the crazy things that happen to me. ESPECIALLY with a blog, Youtube and Etsy shop! Are you facing these same issues?

I want to challenge myself to use my various sources of social media each, once a day. This doesn't sound too hard to do for most, but for me it will be a challenge.

To make this possible, I know I'm going to have to download all of the apps onto my phone. With finishing up my last few days at work, and school starting up again soon, I know I won't be home or around the computer very often...unless I'm doing homework or blogging.

Another way to make this possible, is to share my social media with you guys more often. I want people to follow me, and actually see what I'm posting. If I may say so myself, my tweets can be pretty funny sometimes. A little sarcastic, but funny none the less....

Twitter

Instagram

Goodreads

I hope you guys check me out, and follow me through any form of social media. AND if you have this same issue, or have overcome this issue already feel free to comment down below! I would love to hear your suggestions!

TBR for....However Long It Takes Me To Read?

With my job coming to an end very soon, I’ve decided that it’s time to choose the books I plan on indulging in before school starts up again this fall. I’m excited to spend the afternoons, not only working on stickers, bookmarks, and paperclips, but also laying out and reading a few good books!

I can’t even remember the last time I laid out and just relaxed with a good book in hand, and my dogs surrounding me. Doesn’t that just sound so peaceful?

I don’t want to plan too far ahead in my reading schedule, because who knows what can happen. But there are a few trilogies and series I’ve been meaning to final get to and finish.

#1. The Pledge Trilogy, by Kimberly Derting:

I absolutely love Kimberly Derting! I fell in love with her writing style when I first picked up The Body Finder, and gobbled up that series in no time. When I got the chance to meet her, I loved her as a person, as well. She’s nice, funny, and truly has a passion for writing.

The Pledge, The Essence and The Offering have been on my shelf for a while now, not too long, but long enough. I’m already a few chapters into the first book, and enjoying it so far. I can’t wait to see what the trilogy has in store for me.

#2. The Eve Trilogy, by Anna Carey:

I actually won this trilogy in a giveaway on Twitter, all three books are signed and in perfect condition. I haven’t heard too many things about this trilogy, but what pulled me in were the gorgeous covers! This trilogy consists of Eve, Once and Rise.

I love books about the future, and what could possibly happen to the human population, and this trilogy seems to be exactly that. I’m excited to see how the main character deals with having to rely on a boy, after being told her entire life that they’re dangerous, and to avoid them.

I can’t wait to see what happens!

#3. The Heir, by Kiera Cass:

I read, loved, and indulged in The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I couldn’t get enough of the characters, the story line and the entire world in general. I gulped this “trilogy” down so quickly, even when I tried my hardest to slow it down and savor it.

When I realized that another book was being released, I almost died, but instead ran out to the store to pick up my very own copy! I still haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet, with a busy work schedule, and starting up Turning Pages Co, but I will be getting to it VERY soon!

So those are the seven books I plan on reading, and I can’t wait to see what these stories and authors have to throw at me! Have you read any of these books yet? What did you think?

Book Review: Stolen.

Stolen, by Lucy Christopher.

"A girl: Gemma, 16, at the airport, on her way to a family vacation.

A guy: Ty, rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar, eyes blue as ice.

She steps away. For just a second. He pays for her drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. To sand and heat. To emptiness and isolation. To nowhere. And expects her to love him.

Written as a letter from a victim to her captor, STOLEN is Gemma's desperate story of survival; of how she has to come to terms with her living nightmare--or die trying to fight it."

I recently wandered the aisles of my local Barnes and Noble, with my friend Shawnee (@YA Fiction Review). I wasn't really planning on purchasing any books, simply because I'm working on getting the number of unread books in my shelf down. But after walking through the YA aisle, picking up a few books and reading their synopsis, I knew I wanted something meaningful and powerful.

It's been a while since I've a read book, that truly shocked me or broke my heart. It's been even longer, that a book ended and left me that way. I needed something that would move me, that would make me think in a different perspective and that would leave me feeling something.

After spending an hour or so, I couldn't find too much, and decided to just purchase a book that I needed to complete a trilogy I've been meaning to read for a while. But as I was walking to the register, there was a small table with books displayed for summer reading. I saw Stolen laying right in the front, with the intense black cover, and it's award stuck right on it. As soon as I read the back cover, I knew I had to get it.

Stolen was exactly what I was looking for...it delivered all of the things I wanted, and even a bit more.

The story takes off quickly, a teenage girl named Gemma is at an airport with her parents, getting ready to go to Vietnam. While her parents are waiting for her at the terminal, Gemma runs off to get herself a cup of coffee. She can already feel him, before she sees him. But once she does glance over towards him, he almost looks familiar; as if she knows him from somewhere.

He offers to pay for her cup of coffee, when the barista doesn't accept the cash Gemma has. He even offers to go put sugar and cream in it for her. Which is when he quickly slips drugs into her drink. Before she knows it, Gemma isn't feeling well, and is being dragged out of the airport. She can't really see much, and everything around her is a blur.

He forces her out of her clothes, and into different ones, so no one will recognize her. Then her takes her back inside, and takes her to a different terminal going to Australia.

Gemma isn't fully conscious until she finds herself in the middle of the desert in Australia, in a little shack, living with her kidnapper. She has no idea what he plans on doing with her, but she doesn't even want to consider the possibilities.

She knows its going to be fight from here on out, even if it means trying to hurt someone who is twice her size, or stealing his truck and trying to escape without any knowledge of how. More than a month goes by, and Gemma is starting to feel hopeless. She knows she needs him to get her out of here, there is no way she can do it on her own.

He isn't exactly what Gemma expected him to be like. He shows emotion, and constantly wants to make sure that she's safe. He wants to be close to her, but also doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable with him. He shares some of his favorite things and places with her. He shows her how he survives in this dry and hot land. He shows her things, Gemma wouldn't have otherwise been able to see.

He seems like he would be willing to do anything to keep her safe and alive...even if it means harming himself.

Stolen is a book that takes the reader through the entire journey, through the pain and the emotion. It allows you to feel exactly what the main character is feeling. The confusion of being kidnapped by someone, and then all of a sudden having this weird relationship with them, simply because they "care" about you and you truly depend on them for survival.

When I purchased this book, I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into. Gemma was so strong, and I could never imagine going through what she went through. Ty had a lot of issues, starting from birth with his parents not being the best examples, being left to live alone in the desert, and then being dragged to the orphanage. And then Gemma's parents, and their relationship with their daughter.

There were so many things that made you think, make up your opinion, think again, and change your opinion.

Stolen was absolutely brilliant, and definitely deserved the award it received! Lucy Christopher does have another novel out, named "The Killing Woods" which I plan on picking up soon! I absolutely love her writing, her characters and her story, so I'm dying to get my hands on a copy!

So if you've read Stolen or The Killing Woods, I would love to know what you think!

Thank you so much for stopping by, and giving my review a read!

Life Changes, Different Perspective, Unknown Future...

If you happened to stop by yesterday, and check out my Sticker Release Post for this week, then you may know that I'm going through some big changes. These big changes aren't necessarily happening in Turning Pages Co, this blog, or my Youtube channel, but much more in my personal life. But because there are these big changes happening in my personal life, some changes will also occur in the social media aspect of my life as well, simply because of the ripple affect.

So what's causing all of these drastic life changes? What's making the future so unknown? And what's causing me to see things in a different perspective?

....the quitting of my job, that is!

No, I'm not quitting my job to pursue Etsy, or blogging, or Youtube full time. I love school, I love working, and I'm nowhere near that point in my life.

But it's true, I put in my two weeks notice, Sunday the 12th of July, and this Sunday is my last official day. If you didn't know, I worked as a barista, making coffee and selling frozen yogurt in a local business, here in the Pacific Northwest, and I've had the job for a year now.

In all honesty, I loved the job. I love coffee, I love making it, and I love anyone who loves it. It's fun going to work, and being around people who have the same passion as you. It's fun seeing the same customers, and even starting to get to know them. It's fun, making a yogurt with rainbow sprinkles and handing it to the cute kid in the back seat, with wide eyes. I loved working there, and I loved making people happy.

But in all honesty, there was also a bad side to the job. I worked in a drive through, with no AC, meaning on the hottest days here in Washington, which are almost 100 degrees, I was working a shift in this 115 degree box. If something was broken, for example a yogurt machine (yogurt is what they want us to push, because it makes the most profit), it wouldn't be fixed until weeks later (which makes no sense). If the floor drain to the front sink is clogged, they just wouldn't fix it, meaning we would have to run all the way to the back just to use a sink.

When our old and small ice machine wasn't working, they brought us this new and big one, which looked amazing. But sadly it didn't have a water hose, so for the first three weeks, it was just shooting water all over the floor, meaning whoever came in the next day, was greeted by inches of water, and an hour or two of mopping. And if that isn't enough, the front fridge, where we keep the milk and any other products used to make drinks, also isn't working..so every time someone orders a coffee or Italian soda, its a sprint to the back to get the ingredients.

And I know all that sounds pretty bad, especially for minimum wage, and crappy work hours, but the girls I worked with and the customers I got to know, made it worth it.

I worked with my boyfriend's older sister, Rosa, who is absolutely amazing! She works incredibly hard to get people motivated and caring about this job, even when upper management can't be bothered to do so. We've gotten super close over the last year, and became ultimate best friends. Seeing her and talking to her everyday, is what I'm going to miss the most about my job.

She does just live right down the street, so I can always just swing by and hangout.

What ultimately made me quit? 

You mean besides those conditions? The work hours. I work about five days a week, which isn't too bad, because I'm on summer break. I work weekend mornings, and most week day nights.

With another co-working quitting, due to having to head back to university, someone new needed to be hired. The new guy seems nice, seems professional, but sadly doesn't want to (or can't) work full time. Because he isn't working the full forty hours, it would mean that during the school year I would be working about thirty five hours a week. With four classes, no days off, and practically not a single weekend until winter break, I just couldn't do it. I would be exhausted after the first week, and wouldn't be able to find the time to complete homework and study.

School and pursuing a career, is much more important to me, and excites me even more than working there does. So I decided to put my two weeks in, take a few weeks of summer break, attend classes in the fall, study hard, and find an internship after the new year.

How does quitting this job affect everything else?

Well this job is what paid for my school. I do get a lot of help from the government, so I don't pay too much, but this barista job is what covered the rest of the costs. Thankfully I thought ahead and started to save my money, so I have enough to cover almost the entire next year. But there are other costs, such as textbooks, parking, school supplies, gasoline, etc, which also need to be paid.

Which is where my Etsy shop, Turning Pages Co, comes in. Turning Pages Co is still pretty new, and I'm trying to get the hang of everything. But I hope to spend the rest of my summer break, completely focusing on it, on providing new and fun merchandise, and on getting it running. I hope to profit enough to able to pay off school, and anything that goes along with it.

Turning Pages Co, is obviously run from home, so I can work on it any time of day, meaning I can work around my school and studying schedule. I only attend school two and a half days each week, in the first quarter of the year, which means this is absolutely perfect!

Besides my Etsy shop, I also want to get back to what makes me happy, which is blogging and Youtube.

I'm excited for the future, even though it sounds really scary! I can't wait to see what's in store for me, Turning Pages Co, and for school.

If you've made it all the way to the end of this rant, thank you so much, you have no idea what it means to me! This entire thing has been weighing me down, and I'm so glad I've finally gotten the chance to tell you. I hope you all check out Turning Pages Co, and if you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to leave them down below!

Sticker Releases 7/19

This week has been a very eventful week for me. Within just a few days so many big things happened, that completely shifted my future and my focus. I wish I could go into detail and tell you the entire story right now, but I'm saving it for tomorrow's post. Ultimately these changes are what caused me to focus and put all of my energy into Turning Pages Co, and providing new merchandise.

Not only was it very nice to get my mind off of all the things swirling around in my head, but it also allowed me to provide so many new stickers, and even some paper clips, that I wouldn't originally have thought of.

This week I'm releasing a total of 11 paper clips, but also 15 new sets of stickers!

I came out with some plain banners, as well as some weekend banners.

I even created three sticker sets! I'm staying playing with the idea of creating sets, and what I should include in them, but these are the first ones I've created!

Besides those I've also created some gasoline cost tracking stickers, some printed boxes, and some pastel rainbow dots.

You can find all of these goodies in my Etsy shop, Turning Pages Co, along with the paper clips, I also released!

I hope you guys check it out, and please let me know what you think! If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. Thank you!

Random Craft & Etsy Haul!

As of late, I've been picking up a lot of random things here and there. It doesn't matter where I go, if I see something that interests me or that inspires me I pick it up.

...obviously not everything...I can't afford all of the cars, or all of the designer bags I see and fall in love with, but you know what I mean.

It's difficult to explain. But with starting my own business on Etsy and having to find new ideas and create new products, inspiration can come from anywhere. It can come from the watermelon I ate earlier, it can come from the fact that I'm spending money on gasoline. It can literally come from anywhere. But because I own Turning Pages Co, and need to provide new merchandise, I need to take full advantage of this inspiration.

Some of the stuff that I'm going to show you has been sitting in my closet for a few weeks now. Originally I was going to film separate videos for each store I shopped at, as soon as I had enough to even bother filming. But as weeks went on, I picked up a few things here and there, but just never enough. I finally decided to just grab everything, and put it all into one video, so I can FINALLY start using it all!!!

At Michael's I picked up five of these SUPER ADORABLE sticker books, for only a dollar each! These are awesome for decorating your planner with a theme! Can't wait to finally be able to dig into these!

Hobby Lobby always has the BEST deals! Besides the 40% off coupon, you can use every visit on any regularly priced item, Hobby Lobby also has amazing weekly specials! Every time stickers are on sale, I have to go in and pick up a few sheets, I mean who wouldn't? They're only $0.75!!

I ordered two sheets of heart check list stickers, from Planner Heaven! And they were so nice and sent me a few freebies as well, that are shown on the right! These are just the cutest things, and I'm already excited to make another purchase!

I really wanted some cute social media stickers, for whenever I need to blog, record a video, edit a video or just update my social media! I found this amazing Etsy shop, named Willow Fields and I'm in love! They were also very nice to send me two freebie sheets of stickers, which are the two smaller ones on the bottom right!

Browsing through Etsy one day, I found these cute little monsters, that would work perfectly with my monster theme coming up later in the year, and of course I had to pick them up....along with five other sheets of stickers! These are from Papered Love!

The last Etsy shop I have to show you today is Plandemonium! I originally wasn't going to make anymore purchases, but after scrolling through Instagram and seeing an announcement for 50% off (I think?) I couldn't resist! There were so many cute stickers, and I picked up these 7 sheets for about $15!! Which is so AMAZING!

Besides those three places, I also picked up a few things from Walmart and a few things from Dollar Tree! 

Walmart...

Dollar Tree...

I've been dying to finally get to use all of these goodies! And now that I've recorded the video and uploaded the blog post, I can! If you've picked up any crafty goodies, and have a haul, leave a comment down below, I would leave to see what you've picked up!

Book Shelf Tour

Looking back at my 4.5 years of blogging, I realized that I've never truly posted a bookshelf tour. Isn't that amazing? I actually regret it, because I would love to go back to each year and see how my reading has progressed and changed.

But better late than never, right?

It took a lot of work and courage to finally do this. I've been going through a busy time in my life, and cleaning and organizing my shelves aren't always on the top of my list. Pulling out all of the books, dusting and cleaning the shelves, and then organizing them all back in, takes up a good portion of the day. It isn't something you can get done in an hour. It's mentally and physically exhausting.

My shelves take up an entire wall in my room, and they're something you can't over look. Every time I was in my room, this entire wall was a dusty mess. It was unorganized, dirty, things were stacked everywhere, and I couldn't find what I was looking for.

I knew it was well overdue to not only to clean my shelves but also to get rid of books I know I wouldn't read. If you've read a few posts ago, and watched the video, then you know just how many and just what books I got rid of. If you didn't you can go ahead and check out my Book Unhaul here.

So please watch, please enjoy....but please, don't judge!

If you thought that was bad, add another 60+ books, and like three inches of dust!

My ultimate goal is to have two or three cubbies be the books I haven't read yet, and my favorite books scattered throughout a nice and clean bookshelf. I want to be able to actually use book ends and decorate with small knick knacks or candles.

I know it won't be happening any time soon, but today and the day I unhauled all of those books, were two big steps to getting me closer!

Do you have a bookshelf tour? Link it down below! I would love to see what your shelves look like!

Sticker Releases 7/13/15

Hey guys! Things have been a bit wacky around here, and that's why this post is going up on a Monday at almost midnight...I have quite of explaining to do, and a lot of fun, crazy and interesting stories to share, but I'll be saving those for a post later this week!

But I'm finally here, after a long day of designing stickers, printing them, cutting them, working, and uploading stickers onto Etsy. I started my store with about five or six different sets of stickers. Obviously that didn't get me very far, and I still had a lot to learn about sticker designing and making.

Also if you stopped by a week or so ago, then you may also know that I had issues with my cutter.

But after slaving away last night and the majority of today, I've designed, printed, cut, and uploaded a total of 19 different sticker sheets!! YES!

My goal is to add new sticker releases to my store at the end/beginning of each week. I don't want to get bored of the same stickers, and I don't want you to get bored either.

I don't know if I'll be posting 19 different sets each week, it depends on the week, on the weather, and just how creative I feel. I want to get my shop stocked nicely with some basic stickers, and even some fun ones, so I'll probably keep up with these pace for a while, and then start slowing it down a bit.

Besides posting new sticker releases each week, I also want to write a blog post, displaying each sheet! I thought it would be a fun way to share with you guys, what I've been up to and what's available in my sticker shop!

Without further a do, let's get into it!

These first five sets of stickers I designed, are "Pay Day" or "Bills Due" stickers. I wanted to have something cute, small and fun in my planner to mark those good, and bad days...no one likes bills. I couldn't decide which design to go with, so I just went with them all.

After completely my "Pay Day" stickers, I knew exaclty what to make next! I LOVE "To Do" lists, and make them at least ten times a day, so I decided to make a few of those! I made some rounded in pastel colors, and some in a ombre square design.

To get away from all of the things I have to do, I decided to have a little bit of fun! I decided to start sketching and drawing my own sticker designs to prevent from any kind of legal issues. At first I thought this would the be the biggest chore, but turns out otherwise. Drawing my own stickers is relaxing, and knowing they are mine, feels amazing!

And finally to mark ANY AND ALL special dates, I created these colorful and bright dots! These are so bold, there is no way they can be overlooked, or something forgotten!

I'm SOO excited to finally get the chance to use them in my planner! I also can't wait to see them in your planner, and how you decide to incorporate them!

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope you take the time to check out my Etsy shop:

www.etsy.com/shop/turningpagesco