Reading Feeds the Soul

Reading is one of my absolute favourite things to do. I can spend an entire day in bed with a good book. Having moved so far away from home I didn't bring really any books with me, which is horribly sad since my collection is pretty big (no where near as big as my CD collection but still large). I read pretty much anything. I love history, sci-fi, non-fiction, fiction, teen novels and anything else. Chapters and I have a love/hate relationship of I love going there and buying books, but I hate that I spend at least $100 whenever I go there. I have no self control over buying books. I bought a Kobo thinking it would help and I would save money on books but I didn't like reading off of it. I prefer to have an actual book in my hand. 

Some of my favourite authors are Sarah Dessen, M.C. Scott, Lois Lowry, and Gabor Mate. I could name tons more, but that would be boring and these are authors who I could read their books over and over again (which I have with all of Sarah Dessen's novels). 

I love getting recommendations for books as well. It is awesome to see how someone's face lights up when they talk about a book that they love. I have always wanted to join a book club but I'm not so good when I'm told I have to read a certain book. Or when I have to analyze and find meanings in certain passages. It takes all the joy out of reading the book for me. I just enjoy the journey that a well written story can take you on. Also I'm a grammar freak when it comes to reading. I may not be that good at typing or my own grammar, but when I see mistakes in a published book it can turn me off reading. I read one series that they first couple books were good but as the series continued there were so many spelling mistakes and contradictions from sentence to sentence that I stopped reading them. It was like there was no proofreading before the book was published. Funny enough they made the series into a TV show and it was just as awful as the books. 

At work we use reading almost as a punishment. If the kids aren't listening or behaving we make them read. To me reading shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. I don't understand how in a group of 30 kids none of them want to read. Reading is boring and stupid to them. I just say they aren't reading the right books. If someone handed me a romance novel I would be saying the same thing though.

With the beautiful weather we been having here I have enjoyed being able to go the park behind my house and read. Sadly I am uber white so I don't tan. As much as I would love to have a little colour while doing something enjoyable it doesn't happen. 

Happy reading!!

Have a great rest of the week!!

Song of the Day: Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo

Just the Beginning of Summer Fun

This is the gondola you take up and down

I have survived my first week of Summer Camp! It was an interesting week as I was at a different centre than I am usually at for breaks in the school year. I met a bunch of new kids and staff. The week got off to a shaky start as the weather decided to be cold and rainy and we had to stay inside instead of getting to do our water games outside. One day was nice so we got to go to the park and have some fun in the sun. On Friday we went to Grouse Mountain. I have never been there and I was excited to go. You have to take a gondola up to the top of the mountain or you can do the Grouse Grind, which is basically a staircase in the mountains. People call it a hike but from the stories I have heard it sounds a vertical staircase made by nature that is killer. With the kids we took the gondola up, which was still pretty cool. It was cold and rainy at the top, but still so beautiful. It was foggy so it looked like the buildings were just coming out of the mist. I thought it was pretty, but the kids complained about being wet and hungry. Just after lunch the sun came out and we were able to see the Birds of Prey show and the bears decided to make an appearance in their enclosure. It was funny to me when everybody was so excited to see a deer standing by the path. I guess growing up on a farm in Alberta deer aren't that exotic to me. Everybody else was going googoo over it. I was more interested in the Vulture and other birds we saw in the bird show. They were so cool. I would love to go back to Grouse Mountain without a pack of kids and get to explore more and possibly do the Grouse Grind. I think I need to work on my cardio more before I attempt to do it. I have heard people say how they could do it in 45 minutes and I think it would take me like 2 hours to do, but who knows. 

Song of the Day: The Middle by Jimmy Eat World

Canada Day!!

Happy Canada Day weekend!! Hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. I got to spend mine downtown Vancouver with my man and his friends. It was great to be out and enjoying the beautiful weather. We spent most of the time at a restaurant drinking on the patio, but we did go out and wander around downtown for a bit too. I'm glad the weather decided to turn nice. The day started out cold and rainy but turned into a nice sunny day. We didn't get to see the fireworks as we hardly made it to 11 pm we were all so tired. It was a great day and it was great to meet new people! Had fun exploring and spending the day with my man!

Song of the Day: Send My Love patty cake cover by Sam Tsui, KHS, Madilyn Bailey, Alex G