Laina Turner's Blog, page 53

What I’m Reading

I’m currently taking a class in Young Adult Fiction. For the past year, I have been slowly pursuing my MFA in Creative Writing. Since I write fiction and blog, I thought it only fitting. Plus I LOVE to learn. I’m such a geek. Even though I’m not a fan of homework, I am thoroughly enjoying these classes. I’m learning a lot and it’s fun interacting with like minded people.

Anyways the point of my post today is I wanted to share a few books I’ve had to read for class that have really surprised me. I haven’t read Young Adult (YA) fiction since I was a young adult. When I think of YA books, I think of Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, by Judy Blume. Today it’s on a whole different level.

The 3 books we’ve had to read so far are Belzhar, Pure, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime. None would I have classified as YA left to my own opinion and out of the 3 I only liked Belzhar but that was more due to personal taste than a bad book.

 

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer – was the story of a young girl who was sent to a special school for intelligent but fragile kids. Jem, the main character had suffered a loss. A loss so great she was shut down emotionally. At this school, she was put in a class with others who had similar tragic losses. They discovered through a special journal a way to go back to the incident and relieve it again to provide closer in a sense. The book was well written and insightful as to the feelings and emotions of the characters.

 

 

 

 

Pure Book 1 by Juliana Baggot – this story was more science fiction like that what I would normally read about a world before and after the Denotations. This tragedy separated the Pure people who lived in their perfect world in the Dome from the ones left behind that ended up hurt and deformed. Once the ones left behind turned 16 they were sent off and often never heard from again.

And no one ever left the Dome until one day when a boy named Partridge did. This set off a chain of events that threw him into the world of the ones left behind and finding out where he really came from.

It was also well written, and the visuals the author created through her words were amazing.

 

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon – was about a boy who displayed signs of Asperger’s or high functioning autism even though the book never directly said it. His mother dead, or so he thought, his father was his caretaker.

One day he came across his neighbors dog, murdered, and part of the book was him trying to find the killer in his own awkward way due to his lack of social skills. His dad finally forbade him to pursue it further, but that didn’t stop him. In his search for a journal in which he write down the story of the murdered dog, he came across letters from him mother. She wasn’t dead after all. He went to find her, and this revelation caused a rift between him and his dad that at the end of the book was still not fixed.

Even though the main character was young, I didn’t understand how the content was geared to YA. Although again like the others it was well written.

I’ve enjoyed being exposed to works I normally don’t read, and our next 2 books are The Giver and The Fault In Our Stars. Both which I am looking forward too.

What have you read that you didn’t particularly care for due to the story but thought was well written and could appreciate it?

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Our Forever Home

Yeah! Yesterday, the day we’d been waiting an eternity (or so it seemed) finally happened. After years of living in limbo I feel I’m finally settling into my forever home. Since my divorce, and subsequent financial backslide, several years ago I haven’t felt ready to put down permanent roots. It’s been bothersome because I felt like I didn’t have a true place to make memories and call home, but things just didn’t feel right until now.

After months of searching, we finally found the perfect house. Perfect in the sense it needs a LOT of work but then will be perfect. The work is a little intimidating to me because Matt and I are swamped right now with work (it’s a good thing) and to add working on the home and moving to that is overwhelming. BUT I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I know this is the right place to make ours. To make the families. And to enjoy making memories with everyone who is special to us.

The house is only 16 years old and is in good shape. We need to have come construction done to the upstairs to reconfigure one of the kids bedrooms and the master bed/bath. The previous owners changing it up a bit that isn’t user friendly to a family of 5.

Their sense of décor didn’t quite run along the same taste as ours though I must say I do LOVE the pink 50’s era basement décor.

We don’t have to be out of our current house until June 15th so we have almost a month to get ready. The downfall is the contractors won’t be able to get the upstairs done by then so the girls will have bedrooms, but Matt, Caden, and I will have to rough it somewhere. It’s only temporary so while it will be a pain is the ass the kids aren’t in school and we can deal with anything for awhile. And if Caden doesn’t stop complaining I will stick him in a closet. Problem solved.

Today’s post is the launch of a blog post series on our renovations. I will need all your ideas and assistance because home decorating, and design is NOT my forte.

Though I’m looking forward to the journey!

Now link up your fav posts!

One of my personal mantras is Being Fabulous is a Skill. I guess because I like to think I’m fabulous. Some days I feel this more than others but I truly believe we are all fabulous in our own way. It’s just not always as effortless as we make it seem (ha).

In today’s link up I want to celebrate the fabulousness in each and every one of you by sharing your fabulous blog posts (I know I’m probably using the word fabulous too much).

Being Fabulous is a Skill Link Party Guidelines

Link to any post that shows your fabulousness
Link to the specific post
You can link up to 3 posts each week
Please don’t link to shops or other link ups
Make sure to comment on other fabulous blog posts

 

And most importantly…HAVE FUN!

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Yummy Bread Pudding

I posted a couple weeks ago about the absolutely delicious cinnamon French toast I made. Yes, I know that sounds little conceited but seriously, it was amazingly good.

I had a ton left, and I didn’t want to throw it away, and I knew it wouldn’t be very good the next day, so I stood there in the kitchen wondering what to do. Then it came to me. Bread pudding.

Now…I’ve never made bread pudding before this but as I’ve been binge watching Chopped on Netflix it seems that ever other episode someone is making bread pudding. So I thought why the hell not. If anything were good in bread pudding, it would be this yummy cinnamon French toast.

I looked up a few recipes, and they were all about the same and pretty simple. Bread, milk, egg, pan, oven. Even I can’t screw that up too bad.

And it turned out pretty darn amazing if I do say so myself!

 

 

Cinnamon Bread Pudding 2015-05-20 00:21:36






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Save Recipe Print Ingredients 6 pieces of thickly sliced cinnamon bread. I used leftover french toast which was divine. 4 eggs beaten 2 tbsp butter 2 cups of milk 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions Tear bread into small pieces and put in a 8x8 or a 9in round pan. Melt butter then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and put in the oven at 350 degrees about 40-45 minutes. Let cool and serve. It's even better warm with ice cream.
Laina Turner http://www.lainaturner.com/

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Evergreen’s the Thing!

This isn’t an early post about Christmas trees. Rather it’s about creating timeless – Evergreen – content.

First, the important part. Why the hell is it called Evergreen? Well you are probably smarter than I am and have already figured it out but I had to Google it. And then feel really stupid because it’s pretty obvious. So I’m going to make myself feel better by pretending some of you are stumped and share the why.

Because Evergreen trees stay green all year round.

Yeah…I felt pretty dumb too, but we can keep this a secret.

When you write posts that aren’t timeless they have a much shorter shelf life. You want to write things that will still be relevant a year or five from now. That’s not to say you never have to update or tweak them, but overall they will still have meaning and be of interest to your readers.

Some ideas on the type of content that can be Evergreen:

How to’s
Tutorials
Tips & Tricks
Explanations
Lists of Resources

These are topics that won’t expire or at the most need a small update from time to time as you learn new things.

Evergreen posts are a great place to start your new readers at. Think about having a Start Here post with all your favorite Evergreen posts that new readers can enjoy and get to know you.

You can continue to utilize Evergreen posts on social media even after the first time you push it out. I’m not saying send it out 5 times a day every day but having the ability to push out old content along with your new just ups the chance you will get noticed by new readers.

So go green. Evergreen.

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Mother’s Day Gifts and Random Thoughts

I know we are a week past Mother’s Day but hey all us mothers know that every day is Mother’s Day.

At least it should be.

I just didn’t get a chance to post last week about the wonderful Mother’s Day gift I got from my delightful children.

My daughter loves gift giving much more so than her brother. She is also very astute for a 9 year old and is often able to anticipate exactly what I want or need. We had a few conversations about what I might want.

She said to me, “would you like plastic wine glasses to take out on the deck this summer?” and then rushed to say, “not that that what you’re getting or anything.”

She may be astute but she hasn’t quite mastered the art of subtlety.

She’s also heard me complain about the ugly cupcake/muffin tin and 9×11 baking pan I had. They just weren’t all that pretty for taking pictures of stuff I made for the blog.

So her and her brother (courtesy of my ex-husband) went shopping and got me stuff I wanted, needed, and excited for.

I especially like the pink polka dot journal and cupcake cookbook. I cant wait to start working my way through that thing. Putting my own spin on the recipes and hoping they turnout.

I can’t wait to see what they come up with for my birthday in June!

This weekend Matt and I decided to take a 2 week challenge to not drink anything with caffeine or alcohol. The caffeine, no problem. The alcohol….we’ll see. I stocked up on my favorite Pineapple Coconut water from Wal-Mart. It’s carbonated and so yummy. Though I will have to remember to not put vodka in mine at night.

We close on our forever home on Tuesday so you better bet there will be a post about that and an upcoming series documenting the remodeling we need to do. The house looks like my mom decorated it. Which was a great look back in the 70’s. Today, not so much. It needs a little lovin!

The kids will be out of school soon and will be going to camp. That means I will have to start making lunches again. Currently, they buy theirs at school. Ok, who am I kidding. I will just yell at them to hurry up and make their own lunches or go hungry all day. I’m their mother not their personal assistant. Besides I’m teaching them independence. It’s all-good.

What’s on your mind?

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Fab 5 Friday

The best part of my reading is reading other fabulous blog posts but amazing bloggers. Here are just a few that I wanted to share.

Honey & Birch – Red, White, and Blue frozen yogurt bark…this looks so yummy!

A Fresh Start on a Budget – 15 blogging tips to better your blog…she won me over when she said she struggled with finding her passion until blogging came along. I’m so in her shoes!

Frugal Beautiful – I just got laid (off)…and it feels great. This was such an inpriational post. After I read it I felt I could climb mountains!

Northern Belle Diaries – The easiest (and quickest) Kitchen Transformation. Since I’m in the process of redoing our new house (or will be next week when we close) I thought this was not only beautiful but great tips as well.

Everyday reading – 6 Tips for Beter Instagram Photos. I need all the help I can get.

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In Pursuit of Perfection Link up

I don’t really believe in perfection. I mean we should always be striving to do better and if that’s the case then do we even achieve perfection? Probably not BUT we can most definitely pursue it. For years book editing has been the bane of my existence. I’ve written about it a million times (or so it feels like). My books have been to countless editors, and yet I still didn’t feel I had a perfect product.

But then I read all kinds of big publishing house books that contain errors so maybe there’s a point where you have to say it’s perfect enough and stop driving yourself crazy and move forward.

That’s what I decided to do one last time. Last fall I decided to go through my entire backlist one at a time and have them re-edited and re-formatted and then leave well enough alone.

To quit obsessing.

But best-laid plans and all that. I started going through the first book, Stilettos & Scoundrels and realized that it needed story work. So I updated the content and then had it edited and formatted. As I’ve been going through the books one by one I’ve been doing this. It’s taken a lot longer and my current projects have been on hold but I know that by the end of summer (I hope) when all my backlist has been touched one more time I’ll be so happy and proud of my products.

So to all my Presley Thurman fans, I know you’re anxiously waiting for the next book so just be patient. It’s still coming by the end of the year.

And now it’s time for the weekly link up!

One of my personal mantras is Being Fabulous is a Skill. I guess because I like to think I’m fabulous. Some days I feel this more than others but I truly believe we are all fabulous in our own way. It’s just not always as effortless as we make it seem (ha).

In today’s link up I want to celebrate the fabulousness in each and every one of you by sharing your fabulous blog posts (I know I’m probably using the word fabulous too much).

Being Fabulous is a Skill Link Party Guidelines

Link to any post that shows your fabulousness
Link to the specific post
You can link up to 3 posts each week
Please don’t link to shops or other link ups
Make sure to comment on other fabulous blog posts

And most importantly…HAVE FUN!

 

[image error] Loading InLinkz ...

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10 Ways to Recycle Old Content

I believe in recycling though I don’t always do it. It’s such a pain to separate cans from trash and have 2 separate containers. But I know I need to make more of an effort because it will cause less stress on our environment.

Another thing you can recycle that will cause less stress on YOU, is old blog posts.

I’ve been blogging for about 6 years, and I don’t know about you but some of those old posts, heck some from last year, aren’t all that great. Especially, in regards to images and such. Blogging has changed a lot in the last couple years (weeks/days).

So one of the many things on my to-do list is to once a week update an old blog posts make it awesome and push it back out on social media.

I mean I didn’t start pinning my posts until January of 2013 so right there is a lot of opportunity.

There are many way to accomplish this and create shiny new awesomeness from old and dull.

Add a Pinworthy and Instagram worth image. Use Picmonkey it’s awesome.
Add links to related posts you’ve written.
Update content with a new perspective or new information.
Update posts and then write a follow up post.(2 for 1).
Create a companion infographic. Easel.ly and Visual.ly are both free resources.
Add tweetables. I use Click to tweet.
Make a vlog from old content.
Add a new, catchier headline.
Do a past posts round up.
Use old content for a current newsletter. I use MailChimp for my newsletters.

What are some other ways you’ve given new life to old posts? I’d love to hear!

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Cinnamon French Toast

The other day I was at the store and was walking by the bakery section. They had just put out some homemade cinnamon bread and raisin cinnamon walnut bread. Now I love anything cinnamon so I couldn’t pass by without grabbing a loaf.

It was great as toast with butter and I liked it plain. My daughter, however, complained that there wasn’t any icing. There’s a restaurant we go to often that has toasted raisin bread with icing. Basically, sugar on bread. But she’s a kid and she likes her sugar.

After a few days I knew we had to eat the rest of this bread or it would start to old since there weren’t any preservatives in it. I didn’t want to waste it, it had been pricey, so I decided I would make French toast with it for dinner.

Instead of my normal eggs and milk combination to dip the bread in I decided to be all fancy and get heavy cream.

I know. Crazy, right!

I also wanted to make sure everyone left the table with a sugar buzz so I did as requested and made icing. Buttercream icing. It may have been the best icing I’ve ever made.

The bread was dense which as you know is the best kind for French toast as it will soak up the egg mixture and not fall apart on you.

The final product ended up being the best French toast I’d ever made, according to the family.

Cinnamon French Toast with Icing 2015-05-11 23:03:34






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Save Recipe Print Ingredients French Toast Thick cut cinnamon bread 6 eggs 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla Couple tbsp butter Icing 3 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup butter softened 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions French Toast Beat eggs and heavy cream. Add vanilla. Heat griddle and allow butter to melt. Put bread a slice at a time in mixture making sure to coat both sides thoroughly. I always let it set a few seconds to completely soak in. Put on griddle cooking approximately 3 minutes each side or until golden brown. Icing Melt butter and slowly add powdered sugar with a mixer or by hand. I prefer by hand so the powdered sugar doesn't fly everywhere. Add milk slowly until you get the desired consistency.
Notes Use as much icing on your french toast as you like.
Laina Turner http://www.lainaturner.com/

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Weekend Recap

We had an awesome weekend. In fact, we named it the first annual Mother’s Day retreat. The husband of one of my best friends, Penny, organized this weekend as a surprise for her, A combination celebrate Mother’s Day, her birthday (which is later this month), and goodbye to her son who is leaving the 20th to go to DCI camp.

Her hubby did an awesome job planning this trip, inviting my family and another one of her friends and family, and boy was she surprised. It was one of the best times we’ve had in a long time. Everyone had a blast.

We stayed in a cabin in Nashville, Indiana. It’s about 2 hours south of where we live in Carmel and much more wooded and rural. There’s a beautiful downtown area with some fun cool shops and it was great to hang out with awesome friends.

Love taking pictures of people taking pictures.

Torturing my son by making him take a picture with me.

Silly signs at the shops.

Checking out some antiques.

Hope you had an awesome weekend too! What did you do??

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