Top 5 Tuesday #5

Every Tuesday we will post a Top 5 list.  The content of these lists may or may not relate to the typical blog content.  The list won't necessarily adhere to the Top 5 in order of "best to worst".  We hope this will become a mainstay here on the blog and that people enjoy it!

I finally have gotten the chance to read some books, mostly on my new simple touch nook that I received for my birthday in August (since I had gone on blogatus, you didn't know).  Now I am both happy to get into my latest Top 5 Tuesday as well as share with you my reading list from the past month.  I know that I have found I tend to read in gulps, so although I have read 5 books in a short period of time, I don't know if I can count on this to continue...without further ado:

#5 Mockingjay (Hunger Games Trilogy #3)  by Suzanne Collins
The third and final installment was so much of a distant cousin to the first two it was hard to enjoy.  As I read the book I found myself getting upset with the main character, Katniss, who was constantly at war with things she couldn't change or couldn't understand or wasn't willing to cope with.  A part of me wanted to yell at her to grow up.  This is what I get for reading a book about a 17 year old girl.  A disappointing way to end this great trilogy.

#4 Supervolcano: Eruption by Harry Turtledove
The concept is really great, in this alternate future book, Turtledove tackles the question "what would happen in Yellowstone erupted.....tomorrow".  Great concept, but not executed to the full detailed extent I have come to expect from Turtledove.  Through the Ferguson family's eyes we see how this tragedy affects the United States and world, but it seems that the family is so involved with themselves that this great tragedy is overlooked and underplayed.  Although, one character makes a brief visit to Lincoln, NE!  Also, Turtledove will release sequels in the next two years so perhaps this story will pick up in those contributions.  Good read, not thought all the way through.

#3 The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Trilogy #1)  by Suzanne Collins
This book was a page turner.  Yes, I know it was written for young adults, so sue me.  How many of you have read Twilight and Harry Potter?  Let's continue, then.  Great story, pretty original.  Children in the nation of Panem must fight to the death in this post-apoc United States.  Yes, Panem is Latin for bread (see the irony....Hunger Games...)  Seriously, read this book!

#2 Catching Fire (Hunger Games Trilogy #2)  by Suzanne Collins
Yea, right, Rocky II is better than the original (is it?  I've never seen it...)  The sequel completely slapped me across the face with the huge surprise it rendered in the middle of the book, I didn't see it coming at all.  I would share a more accurate description but I don't want to give anything away.  Read this trilogy, have I said this yet?

#1 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (GwDT #1)  by Steig Larsson
Confession: I am only on page 123 of this 400+ page book (reading it on my Nook so I don't know how many pages the print copy has).  Yet, I know that in 123 pages that this will be one of the best books I will read this month, year, decade.  Heck, they don't make a book in a major motion picture because it stinks, right?  I am excited to read more and get through the whole trilogy.  Fun fact?  The Swedish version of this book (the author is-was-Swedish) is titled Men who Hate Women.

Things to do in 2012

Many people like to make new years resolutions when the calendar turns.  I don't.  In the years that I did, I usually would forget the resolution in the course of the first week, thus making it pretty useless, laughable.  So, instead of making personal resolutions, Amy and I decided to do a month by month of what we want to accomplish this year.

It is a bit more broad, but it gives the opportunity to get things done at our own pace while still achieving a bigger goal.  Here is our month by month breakdown for the first 5 months of 2012:

January
January could also be known as updating the house month.  The house is old, some parts are from the 1890s.  Thus, it is not in perfect 2012 shape.  For instance, the upstairs has no duct work that leads up to it, thus it is always a direct reflection of the temperature outside (right now it is around 40 degrees upstairs).  This essentially renders 3 of our 5 bedrooms useless, but we need to start thinking about kids rooms up there in the next year.  Thus, the heater guys are coming this week to update our whole house and make it heater/cooler friendly!!  We will also get both kids rooms (1st floor) ready for business this month with new coats of paint.  Custom shades are being installed in late January.  This is a busy month for the inside of the our house

February-April
In February we will welcome our first son to our home and our lives will be consumed by trying to figure out how to balance a 3 year old and an infant.  Wish us luck.  The home/land will have to wait, although we will seed our 2.9 acres that was corn field last year and start it's conversion to pasture.

May
By May it will have been almost nine months since we added an animal to or lives.  This will not sit well with Amy (who is our residence animal enthusiast!) We will order our first crop (batch?) of chicks.  Amy has had the catalog literally since the day we moved in last April and is super excited to get going.  All that has to be done for this to become a reality is really simple stuff...build a coop, fence in their area, ready the barn, all stuff that should be simple.
  Gardens, raised beds and produce will also dominate the late part of the month.  We will have a sweet set up for veges this year darn it!  

These first five months look like a combination of fun and craziness, luckily we have figured out how to mix both of these concepts well and are excited for the challenges ahead.

3000 hits! (belated)

June 26, 2011: 1000 hits to the Edge.
Early July: 2000 hits to the Edge
~Brief hiatus that is unfortunate~
January 1, 2012: 3000 hits to the Edge
  Thanks for visiting, 4000 is just around the corner!

What a Difference a month can make!

Dec 4, 2011: Snow everywhere!

It's really January 5?  Typically on January 5 in Lincoln, NE one can count on the weather to be cold, snowy, dreary and not at all sunshiny.  So, imagine everyone's surprise when today's high reached a record of 68 degrees here in the capital city. 

Out here on the Edge we spent the day more outside than in.  Coats were not needed, and sunglasses most definitely were.  To cap off a fun day Ayla and I went to PDP (Pleasant Dale Park) with the neighbors, it was a lot of fun.  I was surprised to learn that our neighbors, who have lived here longer than we have, had never been to the park let alone Pleasant Dale.

68 degree Jan. 5...odd!

If we time travel back to last month a nice snow storm hit this area on December 2-3.  I have included pictures of both today and the morning of December 4 when the sun reemerged (and really hasn't gone away since!)

Oh yea, since this is my first post of 2012-Happy New Year!