Brandice.net Blog

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t think this sequel was as strong as the first book in the Outlander series, but I still loved it. A bit abrupt with the ending, the beginning just sucked me right in, some bits in the middle were a bit of a yawn with all the waiting and politics and history, but overall, it left me scrambling to download the third book and I’m already halfway through it!

Jamie and Claire are one of my favorite literary couples at this point, and I really just love the fact that this author just throws away the idea of fitting into one particular genre and just rocks these long, sweeping novels that defy definition. I cannot WAIT to see what happens next. :)



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Woo hoo! Jim and I had a great time in Cleveland on Saturday night for our friend Mike’s 30th birthday. Click on our purdy faces for a few more pics:

We went to Luigi’s afterward for pizza (which drunk Brandice did not track properly at all… drinks = too much pizza and no mathematical skillz), and I felt like a million bucks the whole night, because I just dropped another clothing size and I ALMOST fit into a size 10 while out clothing shopping the day before.

I feel REALLY great lately, and it was great to be my skinnier, healthier self with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. It’s a huge boost to have a weight loss week that includes sharing your success with people you don’t see often and also getting to wear clothes that you would NEVER have squeezed your ass into even two months ago. Rockin’ weekend!

Woah! Guess who has contacts after 26 years of wearing glasses every single day of her life?

I can’t even express how weird it is.

I went to my yearly eye exam last Friday and on a complete and utter whim decided to ask about contact lenses. My fifteen-year-old-looking optometrist cheerfully informed me that we could put some in same day and fifteen minute (and an awkward, eye-poking struggle between he and I) later, I was sporting some high tech saran wrap on my eyeballs.

Had some difficulty with the prescription being off initially (holy nauseating vertigo, batman!), but when I went in today, Doogie Howser strengthened the prescription in both eyes and I am suddenly REALLY excited. It isn’t as consistently clear as my glasses (astigmatism = strange weighted lenses that I have to blink into the right position and they easily blink back OUT of position), but man is the convenience ever worth it.

It’s so weird to be walking around with what I’ve always considered to be such a huge part of my “look.” I honestly had a bit of mourning, and I still get a little nervous about walking around without my specs, like I’m somehow more naked, but really, I’m just more… me. When I feel like wearing some nerd prop-ness, I can whip out the specs, but I don’t have to anymore, and that’s pretty cool.

I took a few shots over the weekend of the Hall of Fame Fest balloons taking off. If you’ve never been to Canton for the HOF Fest, the hot air balloons are by far the coolest part of the whole shindig. Rib burn off is pretty sweet too, but WeightWatchers will put a serious damper on a rib-eating binge.

Pics taken with Camera+, with my favorite Fx, Cross Process. I’m pretty much addicted to that effect. Love love love.

Playing around with a shot that I took of Jim’s bike in Camera+, which I continue to heart. ;)

He uses the black and white shot for his iPhone 4 background and he’s positioned all of his apps in such a way that they don’t block the picture. (Meaning: He has four pages of apps and app folders, but they only have five or six icons per screen… lol.)

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. Four stars instead of five because I feel a bit worn out from the stress of the almost constant struggling of every single character, and the intense description of cathedral construction was a bit much at times, but it was SO worth the read.

Several different passages at the end of the book brought me to tears, and overall this was such an epic, sweeping description of the struggle between good and evil, while also constantly detailing the grittiest and tiniest details of each significant moment. I don’t think I could go through it again, but I’m glad I read it this one time, and I loved the ending.

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Here’s a final shot from the last race I did on July 5th. Jessica (right) did the 5-mile and I did the 2-mile and we both had to do some walking because it was over 90 degrees at 8 freaking a.m., but I was really happy with finishing at all.

Later though, last Thursday actually, I went out for a run and I did the entire 2-mile course plus an extra 1.1 miles to complete a 5K without any walking whatsoever, to prove that I could do it at 5:30 a.m. even if I didn’t run the entire thing the day of the race. I was pretty psyched. :)

I’ve been slacking a bit with the running for the past week though… It feels like I don’t have anything coming up soon enough to keep me sharp with the running, so it’s more of a push to really get me out there 3 times a week. Still pushing, though!

I’m also pretty sure that my “yay, I’ve lost 50 pounds!” milestone gift to myself is going to be a bike (of the bicycle variety, not a hog). Something to keep me active seems like it would be a good pick me up when I will still have 25-30 pounds left until I hit my goal weight. Only 5 pounds until that bike, though! :)