It's Here!!! It's Here!! BEA has begun!

Photo by Nina at Nina Reads

So how many of you are wishing that you could be in the Big Apple this week for BEA????  I know I do.... I will get there one day, I promise! Armchair BEA  is the next best thing.  All week long there will be bloggers around the country and world participating in great discussions and giveaways.  You may even see some videos from NY.  Make sure you check out some of the great blogs participating.

We start off with Introductions.  This will give you the chance to get to know some of the bloggers in our book world. Lots of bloggers are participating, I'm sure that you will find some new blogs to follow and learn something new even from the ones you have been following!

So, let's begin, shall we??

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?  My name is Kat, I love baseball, SEC football, anything to do with the beach and firmly follow Cinderella's idea of a new pair of shoes can change a girls life.  I joined Goodreads back in 2007 and loved writing the reviews and then began searching for other sites with reviews and found a whole new world in book review blogs.... so I thought why not....and started my own almost 3 years ago. I took some time off for graduate school and a few other things, but I am back now and plan on being here a LONG time.

2. Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location.  I live in Alabama...a true Southern girl......

We love our football teams

Have some of the best sugary white beaches with AMAZING sunsets

Photo by Diane Davis Photography

And if you like NASCAR, we have that too!

Talladega Superspeedway

3. Have you previously participated in Armchair BEA? What brought you back for another year? If you have not previously participated, what drew you to the event?  This is my first time participating in Armchair BEA... I loved reading all the blogs last year and wanted to join in the fun this year.

4. If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why? This is a hard one...... I can think of so many that I would love to have dinner with.... but if I had to choose one......it would have to be Atticus Finch......... he was my first "literary crush" and I guess he still is....even 30+ years after I was first introduced to him!

5. What is your favorite part about the book blogging community?  My favorite part of book blogging community is the friendships that I have made, the way everyone sticks together, finding great new books and the love of reading we all share.

Join in and tell us about YOU!

Let's Talk: Challenge Yourself

Let's Talk is a weekly meme hosted by Melissa at I Swim for Oceans. Let's Talk will feature questions or prompts, which she will answer, too. Love it or hate it, weigh in or don't, it's her hope that Let's Talk will at least get you thinking...and maybe even get you discussing with the rest of us!

This week's question is:

 What would you like to challenge yourself as a blogger and/or reader to do this year?

As a reader, I would like to get back to reading as much as I used to.  Over the past year-year and a half, I haven't been able to read as much for various reasons. Life has settled down some and I have made some much needed changes.  I am hoping that with those made I can get back to doing one of the things that I love....... Reading!

As a blogger, I would love to build up my followers, post more, and connect more with other bloggers.  I love finding new blogs to follow and meeting new people.  

So.... goals for the year:  Read more.....Blog more.... Let life and stress get in the way LESS!!!

What are YOUR goals???   

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

This weeks Question:

Q: The #FF is 150 weeks old! And we want to hear from you! What would you change about the hop? What do you like about it? Or just suggest a question to be used for next week!

I wouldn't change anything about the hop.  I love being able to jump around to different blogs and see what everyone is doing and finding new friends.  I love that a different blogger each week is featured with new questions.

2013 E-Book Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Sarah at Workaday Reads, you can sign up HERE

The 2013 Ebook Challenge. Encouraging readers to expand past just physical books to embrace ebooks in all forms, whether on Kindle, Kobo, computer, or any other reader.

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013.
2. Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
3. Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
4. You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

Levels:

1. Floppy disk – 5 ebooks
2. CD – 10 ebooks
3. DVD – 25 ebooks
4. Memory stick – 50 ebooks
5. Hard drive – 75 ebooks
6. Server – 100 ebooks
7. Human brain – 150 ebooks

At the beginning of each month there will be a roundup post for you to add your reviews for that month. The linky will remain open for the remainder of the year, so if you forget, feel free go back and add them when you remember.


I'm going to go for level 2: CD and shoot for 10.  Hopefully I can bypass, but 10 is a good round number. 

What a difference a year makes....

Well, time certainly has moved fast the past year.  The past year has brought lots of changes to my life both personally and professionally. Some may be wondering where I have been, others maybe not so much.....but I am about to share :)

My boys are grown now and I have been having an "empty nest" feeling.  I recently moved to a new place (3 months ago) and for the first time in my life live alone.  Moving from a place where someone was ALWAYS there, to a place where it's just me has been....strange to say the least.  I am adjusting to cooking for one instead of cooking for a houseful of boys...did you know that a single person can eat for weeks on the same amount of food that was gone in just a few days when boys are around?? ....Adjusting to the noise level..... with boys in and out all the time, there was a noise level that never came below the sound of a TNT bomb going off......now I can actually hear the birds chirping.....not to mention every other sound that goes "bump in the night".

Some of you may have seen my post of going back to graduate school.... I took some classes, but have decided that with the new move, I think I am going to enjoy some much needed relaxation time. Read more, go to the beach more, blog more, and not worry right now.

My friend, Emily, at Blogaholic Designs, is in the process of replacing parts of my blog that Photobucket decided to take away a few months back.  She does some amazing blog designs and I am so grateful that she is able to do this for me.  Emily, you're the BEST!

So.... with my new plan in motion, I'm off to read some more and bring you all some new reviews soon.  I also will bring you some photos of the beach when I get there.... until then, here is a little preview of a beautiful sunset at a place that is one of my favorite places to read.......

Where did my blog design go??

So,  life has settled down some and I have lots of reviews to post..... I come on and begin to look around at things I need to update and my design is GONE! My header, signature, rating system, contact links...you get the picture........  Where did it go?????????

I contacted the designer and will wait to hear back from her..... don't want to mess it up anymore than it already is!!  I loved my Phantom of the Opera theme!!!

Miss Me???????

Hello!!!!!!

Wow, it seems that it has been forever ago that I was last able to post.  For those of you who are still here, THANK YOU!!  The past months have been a little crazy..... have had some things to deal with.... sickness, moved to a new house, finished a semester of grad school, started a new Mon-Fri job and I started my own business on the side.... That's not to mention the everyday things that happen to us all. I have been keeping up with some of the things that have gone on in the blogging world and I sure do hate that I missed BEA!!

Over the next week or so, I am going to attempt to update some of my side bars (seems some photos are MIA)..... Also be watching for some of the reviews that I have coming... I haven't been able to read much the past few months, but the ones that I have read have been really good!

Now I have to go and see if I can figure out the new Blogger dashboard that has changed!!  Hope you all have a great Sunday!!!!