Nature of Costa Rica

It's no secret that Costa Rica is my favorite country that I've visited so far.  The main thing that I loved about Costa Rica was being surrounded by so much nature!  The variety of different plants and wildlife that we saw at the biological station alone was incredible and we were able to see even more in Manuel Antonio.  Today, I wanted to share some of the amazing sights we saw and were able to capture in Costa Rica, including a Toucan, which was way harder to spot than you'd think. 

Ms. Lopez

I am a big fan of Humans of New York.  If you don't follow this page on instagram, you should!  Recently a younger kid was featured and talked about how his school principal was the person who influenced him most in his life.  This kid lives in one of the highest crime areas in New York. 

A few days later, HONY featured a photo of the principal, Ms. Lopez, a photo of some of the students, and a photo from the teacher meeting.   As I was reading through the captions under the pictures I was truly amazed at how much this woman cared about her students and how much she wanted to see them succeed.  As inspirational as it was, it was also sad.  My feelings were very similar to my feelings after I read/saw the Freedom Writers Diary - why aren't all educators like this?

It's sad that not every teacher cares so much about their students and making a difference in the lives of the little people with whom they spend most of their day.   I really thought back to my school experience and I can literally count on one hand the amount of teachers I felt actually cared and went above and beyond for their students. 

My 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Knode

My 8th grade math teacher, Ms. Sparks (at the time I thought she was a bitch but that year was the first year I ever did really well in math)

My 6th grade Social Studies teacher, Mr. Bennett

My 10th Grade English teacher, Mr. Skelton

My College Sociology Professor, Mrs. Brewer

There may be one or two more in there that I just can't think of off the top of my head, but these are the ones that I really remember.   My school was not a school filled with kids living in poverty with drug addicted parents and gangs, this was a school with mostly middle class and above students.  So, yeah there will be difficult days but there is no reason why I should only have memory of 5 teachers who I felt really cared.  And I think kids living in poverty need the caring teachers because in my experience, a lot of the times their parents don't care.

Anyway, my point is that this lady is an inspiration, and what all educators should aspire to - in my humble opinion.   A lot of the children who live in that area have never been out of the city and Ms. Lopez wants to do an annual trip with the incoming 6th grade students to get them out of New York and show them that there is more out there than their neighborhood.  Her choice is to take them up to Boston to visit Harvard University.   HONY started a fund to try to help raise money for this trip and at the time I'm writing this, has raised over $400,000!  That is enough to take a trip for then next 6 years!

 (Click here if you would like to donate)

Also, a lot of people have been sending flowers and cards to Ms. Lopez and her staff thanking them for being such an inspiration to their students.  Between this and the amount of money raised, my faith in the human race has been restored a bit.  It's amazing to see that so many people throughout the US and the world want to see these kids succeed and get out of a life of poverty and crime. 

There really isn't much of a point to this post except to say that I'm glad to see that there are so many amazing people out there and that there are educators who truly try their absolute hardest to see their students succeed. 

Reading Challenges

Usually I am not one to participate in reading challenges.  The only ones I really participate in are the Semi-Charmed book challenges that Megan hosts each season.  However, this year I am trying to broaden my horizons a bit with reading.  Through the Semi-Charmed challenges I have been able to read many books that I otherwise probably would not have picked up - I've ended up enjoying most of them.  So, this year I will be participating in a few reading challenges.  I already mentioned the pinterest reading challenge which is going to be the one I focus on most this year, but here are a few others I've decided to participate in. 

50 States:  I've seen this all over Pinterest and actually started this last year.  This year I want to read a book from the remaining states.  I have read 10, so I need to read 40 this year.  This is one that I'm not that worried about finishing this year but I would like to get at least half way through.

Reading England 2015: This challenge is similar to the 50 states reading challenge, but involves the counties of England.  This challenges readers to read one book from each county in England.  I am aiming for Level 2: 4-6 Counties

 2015 TBR Pile: This challenge challenges readers to read 12 books from their TBR list.  These books must have been on that list for at least 1 year (so no new books).  I am hoping to read 12 books to complete this challenge 100%.

European Reading Challenge 2015: This challenges readers to read books that fall in the list of 50 sovereign states in Europe.  I hope to get to at least Level 5: 5 Books, but I will probably (hopefully) surpass that!

2015 Southern Literature Reading Challenge:  This challenges readers to read books by southerners that take place in the south.  The host has listed the states that count as southern in this challenge.  I hope to reach Level 4: 7-8 books.

Book Review: Home is Where the Bark Is

Home is Where the Bark Is 

By: Kandy Shepherd

Pages: 352
Date: 9/29/14

"Former model Serena Oakley has opened Paws-A-While, a doggy daycare and spa in San Francisco. When a ruggedly handsome client walks in, holding a Yorki-Poo too dainty for his personality, Serena knows something's not right.

Undercover PI Nick Whalen has followed a series of identity frauds to Serena and is determined to dig up secrets he's certain she is hiding. Despite their mutual distrust, Nick and Serena find themselves bonding over an injured, orphaned dog. And soon they're arousing more than just suspicions. But will the pair trust in love enough to thwart a danger circling too close to home?"
{GoodReads} 

This was a cute book.  Nothing fantastic but not bad either.  For the most part it was entertaining and had a lot of "doggy" parts, which I liked (the dog is the main reason I picked up this book).  It also had a bit of mystery to it.  I figured out the mystery pretty quickly but it was still a nice addition to the story.  So, not an all time favorite, but it was cute.  This would be a good vacation read. 

I gave this book a 3/5 on my GoodReads.

Book Review: My Name Is Memory

My Name Is Memory

By: Ann Brashares
Pages: 324

Read: 1/5/15

"Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has "the memory", the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he's previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short.

Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel's unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now "Lucy" in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together.

A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love, My Name is Memory proves the power and endurance of a union that was meant to be."
{GoodReads} 

This is the first book I've read by Ann Brashares since the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and I must say, I'm impressed! This book was so great!  I have thought about what it would be like if you were born again and were able to "re-do" life knowing what you know now.   This was definitely an interesting take on reincarnation and a very good story; I loved reading about Daniels life over time in different parts of the world.  I loved Lucy/Sophia and though I did find Daniel to be a bit whiny at times, who could blame him?  I read more about this book because of the cliff-hangers ish ending and apparently it was supposed to be a trilogy but since it didn't sell that well, no sequels have been released which is a shame!

I gave this book a 5/5 on my GoodReads 

The Vampire Academy Series

Vampire Academy Series

By: Richelle Mead

I feel like my review of these books will be similar to the Mortal Instruments Series.  It was OK but it seemed to get worse with every book; it should have ended with the third one.  Rose got more annoying and selfish as the series went on and it was just really hard to finish - this might be a me thing but I can't deal with girls whose whole life revolves around a guy.  I think it would have been a lot stronger if she'd just ended it with the third book because the plot (and Rose) just seemed to get a little bit more ridiculous after that.  Maybe it's me and I just don't like series that go on that long (with the exception of Harry Potter, duh) but if I had to give a star rating for the whole thing, it would probably get a 2/5.  If you like Vampire books or longer series don't let my opinion keep you from reading it, a lot of people seem to like the series - it just wasn't for me.

2015 Reading Challenge

As one of my goals for the year, I wrote that I wanted to complete the Pinterest book challenge.  I found this list on Pinterest about 2 weeks before new years and I knew I wanted to try to complete it.  I really want to branch out and read different kinds of books this year rather than sticking to the same thing.  There are several challenges that I want to participate in this year, but this one takes priority.  I can't wait to see where this takes me!  If you are taking this challenge, please let me know!  I'd love to see what you're reading!

January Goals

One of my goals for the year was to set monthly goals.  This month is really about getting back into the swing of things after the holidays and getting our house organized. 

Begin Organizing the Second Bedroom: We've been in our house for 6 months and the second bedroom is still completely chaotic and useless.  This month I want to start getting rid of things we don't need and finding places for the things we want to keep.  I don't expect to get it all done this month but I need to start somewhere.  I really want to start using that room.

Complete Level 1 of German:  I got Rosetta Stone German for Christmas and I really can't wait to get started with it.  I tried starting it at work right after Christmas but it's so loud there that I had a lot of trouble with the spoken parts. So, I want to try to spend 30 or so minutes a day with it and finish the first level.

Get Back to the Gym: With the craziness of being down a person for 3 months at work (when you only have 8 employees, one person is a big deal) and the holidays, I have gotten out of the habit of going to the gym and I'm starting to feel the effects of that!  I have a cruise in September and would like to be in decent shape at that time. 

Pay off my David's Bridal Credit Card:  Talk about a pain in the ass!  The interest on this card is insane and I don't want to see it ever again!  So, I should be able to dump extra money from Job #2 on the stupid thing and have it payed off by either the last week in January or the first week in February.

Tautavel Cave, France

Tautavel was one of my favorite places on my Europe trip.  This was what really got me thinking about majoring in Anthropology in college (of course I changed my mind 1038945 times before settling on that).   The morning was spent on the bus and one of the girls smuggled some extra croissants from breakfast because they didn't feed us on the bus.

The day at Tautavel started with a brief lesson about mammals and bones.  After the brief lesson we headed up to the cave where archeologist were digging.   We were told what the archeologist were digging for and learned a little big about techniques used in digging.  The view from the cave was incredible and we were given ample time to take photos.

After the cave, we were given some free time to eat lunch and swim.  I don't remember this but apparently me and two other people did not like the lunch (tomatoes and mayonnaise, eewww) so we went to the bus to get some pringles and the bus driver was not happy that we woke him up.  After lunch we decided to join in with the people who were jumping in off of a rope swing across the river - got to cross that one off my bucket list.

After our break we split up into groups again and learned about the evolution of humans (which I would go on to study in college) and were taken on a short hike before getting on the bus and making the 4 hour drive to Barcelona.

(some photos are mine and some are from my friend Kara ... her camera took way better photos).