Currently (2)

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've updated you guys on what has been going on in my life. So I figured that today would be a great day to do just that!

• Reading: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. I started reading this book because it was recommended to me. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and so far, so good.
• Watching: American Idol and When Calls the Heart. I haven't watched Idol in a few years, so I figured that I'd give it another try. And as far as When Calls the Heart, I've been loving it so far!
• Feeling: Sick. I've have a fever. :/
• Excited for: The day that I actually find out where I'm moving to!
• Loving: My reading challenge!
• Writing: My second novel! 

So that's what going on in my life! Have a great weekend everyone!

-Chelsea 

Forgiveness

For my entire life, I've struggled with forgiveness. I was notorious for holding grudges. I couldn't help it. When people hurt me, betrayed me or did anything wrong to me, I would get so angry that I probably wouldn't talk to them for weeks. Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly something that I'm proud of. But it's something that I've been working on recently.

Last night, I had a huge fight with someone that I really care about. Their words hurt me so much and I could not stop crying. I cried for over an hour before I finally calmed down. This person called me later that night, apologized and told me how bad they felt for what they said and did.

Now the old Chelsea would've scoffed at them and not accepted their apology but after taking the time to think about the situation and the fact that they apologized, I decided that I didn't want to be mad anymore. It takes a lot for a person to apologize and admit their wrong-doings. So I figured that if they could do that, then I could forgive them. And I did, which is a big step for me. I couldn't fathom how quickly I forgave them and I was actually pretty proud of myself.

I'm not saying that no matter what a person does or says to me, I'll forgive them instantly. I'm just saying that life is too short to hold grudges. This morning, I talked to this person again and it was so nice forgetting that the fight had ever happened. Life goes on and you have to pick your battles. Although I was upset yesterday, it isn't worth dragging out for the next few weeks or months and possibly losing a good friend.

So I'm going to continue trying to let things go and stop holding grudges. If it works out as good as it did yesterday, there must be something to it.

Happy Monday!

-Chelsea

Why I Prefer Books

People often wonder why I don't use a lot of the available social media sites or spend hours upon hours on the internet. My friends tell me that I need to start using these sites more and jump on the bandwagon already. The problem is, while I see nothing wrong with using these sites, I have other ways that I like to spend my time: in books.

And this is why.

• Books don't require wi-fi or a charged battery. I can read almost any time, anywhere and my book won't die on me or refuse to work without an internet connection.
• I am able to escape into fantasy worlds, war stories or epic romances with just my imagination and some words on some pages. I think that's quite amazing, actually.
• Reading makes me feel productive and smart. Depending on what I'm reading, that might not be the case. But it makes me feel better.  
• When I read, I am supporting the industry that I so desperately want to be a part of.
• I can escape into someone else's imagination. Isn't that an amazing concept? We see worlds and characters that only exist in someone else's head. I know that we can do that with TV and the internet but I feel more in tune with the characters' thoughts and personalities in books.
• Every book that I've ever read is different combination of 26 letters. I saw that quote on Pinterest one day and my mind was blown! I had never thought about it like that until that day. Seriously, how spectacular is that? 

I do still love social media, TV and all of that jazz but whenever I can, I like to curl up with a good book instead. Right now, I'm reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth and I'm loving it! So I'm going back to it right now!

-Chelsea

Sunday Social (2)

Hey guys! It's Sunday and you know what that means! It's time for another Sunday Social over with Neely on A Complete Waste of Makeup!

1. What are your top 3 favorite foods?
Spaghetti Carbonara, Chicken Parmesan, Buffalo Chicken!

2. What are the first 3 things that you do in the morning?
Brush my teeth, get dressed, make coffee!

3. What are the last 3 things that you do at night? 
Brush my teeth, change into my pjs and set the sleep feature on my TV.

4. What 3 TV shows do you NEVER miss? 
I don't watch much TV actually and what I do watch is recorded. But I record Grey's Anatomy, When Calls the Heart and Ellen.

5. Name 3 places that you'd like to visit.
California, Spain and Italy.

6. Name 3 people that you can always count on. 
My mom, my husband Kristopher and my dad.

That wraps this week up! Head on over to Neely's page to link up!

Happy Sunday!

-Chelsea

Required Reading Tag

As I've mentioned before, I'm participating in a reading challenge and I have been reading a lot. So far this year, I've read 9 books and I'm currently just about 50 pages away from finishing the 10th. Although for the challenge, I have to read a certain number of books, it does not tell me what books to read. That is, thank goodness, completely up to me.

So I've been going onto YouTube to find book review and book recommendation videos. In doing so, I've also found some interesting book tags, like The Book Sacrifice Tag, which I find very fun and hilarious. But I also found the Required Reading Tag and I thought that since I'm doing a lot of reading and reflecting on old books that I've read, that I should do one. I mean, why not?

1. Did you like required reading? Most of the time, hell no! I don't like being told what to read. Once a book has been assigned to me, it becomes work and reading should be fun, not work.

2. What is the first book that you remember being required to read? Number the Stars by Lois Lowry in the 5th grade.

3. What is the last book that you remember being required to read? Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

4. What was your favorite summer reading book? This is going to sound really weird but the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school, I was assigned to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. I had to read it before I took A.P. English and I surprised myself when I fell in love with it. It was so well-written and thought-provoking, I couldn't help but enjoy it.

5. What was your least favorite required reading book? Oh my gosh, this is the hardest question so far. I hate to say this because I'm a bookworm but I really didn't enjoy 95 percent of my required reading. But if I had to pick just one, I'd say Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I know that this book is a classic and super popular, but I just don't get it.

6. What was your favorite required reading book? The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I know that you're only supposed to pick one but I actually loved these books a lot.

7. What was the best non-fiction book that you read in school? The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

8. Did you not finish any of your required reading books? If so, which ones? I'm ashamed to admit to you that this list is too long to write them all down. Oops?

9. Did you ever use SparkNotes? Let's be honest, most students do and I unfortunately, have as well.

10. What book do you wish you were required to read in school? Any of the Harry Potter books! I read them multiple times and would've been able to ace all of those tests with ease!

11. What is your favorite Shakespeare play? I've only read 3 of them but my favorite is Romeo and Juliet. Is that cliche? Maybe, but I don't care. I'm a hopeless romantic.

12. What was your favorite book-to-movie adaptation that you had to watch in class? The Outsiders. It stayed so true to the book that there were hardly any differences at all! Plus, it had people like Patrick Swayze and Matt Dillon in the cast. Swoon!

13. What is the fastest that you've ever read a book for school? 2-3 days I think.

So that was the Required Reading Tag! It was kind of fun to take a trip down memory lane and think back to my middle and high school days! But I think I'm going to go back to finish book 10 now!

-Chelsea