Recipe, Review, and Award!

Happy Tuesday, peeps!! It's my first day of the week (thank you, MLK for being awesome), and I've already started the day in a parent meeting...and the day will be ending the same way. Boo! Oh well, nothing like jumping back into the week, full force, right?

Anyway, I'm bringing to you today a Book Review, a recipe and talking about a blog award I recently received! First up, the book review!

This weekend I finished the book Blood Red Road by Moira Young:

It took me a while to get into the book and I think my main two issues with it were that it is written how the girl speaks, which is not in correct grammar (ex: She will say things like "ezzacly" for exactly, and "an" for 'and') which threw me off a bit when I first started reading. The other thing that made it hard for me to get into the book was that there were no quotation marks for when someone was talking, so many times I would be reading and not realize that someone was talking, or WHO was talking and would have to re-read.

These things aside, once the story picked up, it was pretty good and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Her twin brother gets taken by strangers and she vows to go and find him and get him back. Along the journey she encounters some crazy things and has to fight through in order to reach her twin. That's putting it lightly. But, it's a good book filled with some interesting characters, about a land much different than our own. I would recommend reading it! (Thanks Trish for the recommendation!)

Now, for the recipe piece of this post. I made the Penne a la Betsy that I posted from my Pinterest loves last week from the Pioneer Woman:

{link to website with recipe here}

It was QUITE tasty, just as promised on the site! Mine did not have the basil because MG thought that he had basil at home, which he ended up not having, so maybe this would have been even more flavorful. My recommendation? Let it sit for a few minutes (maybe 10) after you are done cooking to let the sauce thicken up and the flavors come together a bit more. We ate ours right away, but when MG had seconds (after it had sat for a little bit) he said that it was even better.

I highly recommend this recipe! And, I think throwing in something like some really soft broccoli would be really good too, and add a bit of healthy stuff to the recipe as well!

And, finally, my award that the lovely Miss P!nky @ p!nkpers!stance gave to me yesterday! The Kreativ Blogger Award!

Woot! How awesome??

Here are the rules for the award:

1} Link back to the person who gave you this award.

2}Complete the form.

3}Award 5 blogs and let them know in a comment or email.

4} Share 7 random thoughts about yourself.

The form:

1} Name your Favorite Song: I dunno if I can choose just one, but I do enjoy me some "Say Hey" by Michael Franti...it always makes me happy and bouncy

2} Name your favorite dessert: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. YUMMMM!

3} What ticks you off? People who are rude, self-centered, dont care or think about anyone else

4} When I'm upset: I need someone to talk to. Sometimes I need my alone time but I always need someone to talk to whether it be my mom or my friends, or the boyfriend.

5} What's your favorite pet? Obvi, it's Coop-monster, my little fluff ball of a pup

6} Black or White? Depends what it's for....

7 }Biggest Fear: drowning or ending up alone (or ending up alone while drowning haha)

Seven random thoughts/things about me:

1} I can't swim but I am obsessed with dolphins. OB-sessed!!!

2} My longest relationship ever was 6 years (acckkk!!)

3} My favorite number is 3 (I thought it appropriate to write that in the 3rd slot, hehe, I am a nerd)

4} I am a reality tv JUNKIE....like, I seriously might have a problem!

5} I had 5 wisdom teeth...yes you read that right, 5. That must be why I'm SUPER smart, right?:)

6} I used to insist on being called Jenny when I was little, and now I can't stand it when people call me that--it makes me feel like a little kid. The only people allowed to call me that are my grandma and my parent's 90+ year old neighbor.

7} Part of me wishes that I had joined a sorority in college--it's so hard to find good female friends, especially after college, and I think it would be a nice connection to have in the post-college world. I don't have a ton of really close friends, but the ones who I do are awesome and I love them to pieces. It would just be nice to have that bond, I think, so that's one thing I regret not doing.

The blogs I would like to pass the Kreativ Blogger award to are:

                                              1} Casey @ Poodleism

2} Trish @ Tales From Trish

3} Amber @ Brunch with Amber

4} Shari @ The Daily Dish

5} Jenn @ Perfectly Imperfect

After that marathon post, I'm out! Hope you guys have an awesome day!