Jillapalooza

IM IN UR OCEAN. EATIN UR CARDZ.

Devine Intervention

Eep! I haven’t done a book review in what feels like forever. I read Devine Intervention back in July. At the time I knew exactly what I wanted to write about it, but it’s been so long I forgot most of it. I feel bad too, because I’m friends with authors, and I know how important reviews on sites like GoodReads and Amazon are to them. Let this be a lesson learned.

Devine Intervention by Martha Brockenbrough

My experience with YA books is basically limited to love stories with either vampiric or dystopian themes. Devine Intervention . . . is absolutely nothing like that at all. Brockenbrough had me at the summary, but Devine Intervention was nothing like I expected.

The chapters alternate between Jerome’s and Heidi’s points of view. Jerome never failed to crack me up. Oh, to be in the mind of a good intentioned yet trouble making 17-year-old boy. I found myself giggling more than once. Especially because of that damn arrow. Although I couldn’t really relate to Heidi on a personal level, I felt the awkwardness of being a teenage girl all over again. Yikes.

Devine Intervention was full of twists and turns, and just when I thought it was turning predictable and I had it all figured out, it threw me for a loop I couldn’t believe. The plot was so unlike anything I could have imagined. I could not put the book down until I knew how it ended.

One of the things I loved the most about this story (other than Jerome’s interpretations of the Ten Commandments for the Dead, the hidden adult humor, Vincent Lionheart, etc. I could go on forever.) was watching the characters really grow and develop and blah blah blah—I know it sounds lame, but that’s something I don’t get to see much in YA novels. Sure there’s a lesson to be learned and the main characters usually become more self-aware. But in Devine Intervention, you actually get to see the progression as the characters make the transition from teenager to young adult.

I absolutely love the way Brockenbrough wrote the ending. It fit the story perfectly. With that being said, it did hurt my heart a little bit. Okay, a lot a bit. It was bittersweet, but I think that’s what made it so powerful.

I heard rumors that there’s a sequel in the future. Sign me up!

30 Days of Thanks – Day #30

I might as well jump on the bandwagon for the last day of 30 Days of Thanks. Like Nick and BRK, I am thankful for Curtis.

First and foremost, he has a holey shirt.

Second, we have a newly formed sense of camaraderie now that our spouses are both CrossFitters. In fact, this post may have been written on Wednesday, but I have a feeling by the time it goes live, we will have already exchanged a few eyerolly glances due to the amount of times CrossFit has been mentioned.

This has been a fun 30 days. Thanks to everyone who humored me by participating! Start saving up your ideas for next year. ♥

A list of those participating 30 Days of Thanks bloggers can be viewed below. Want in? Leave a comment and I’ll link to you.

Ashley
BRK
Jill (me!)
Kitty
Mary
Nick
Sara
Sarah
Susie

30 Days of Thanks – Day #29

Vacations! I am thankful for them. Today I am experiencing the second crappiest part of vacation: plane hopping to arrive at my destination. What’s the crappiest part you ask? Plane hopping to arrive home.

It’s all worth it though.

A list of those participating 30 Days of Thanks bloggers can be viewed below. Want in? Leave a comment and I’ll link to you.

Ashley
BRK
Jill (me!)
Kitty
Mary
Nick
Sara
Sarah
Susie

30 Days of Thanks – Day #28

Although I’ve OD’d on Jimmy Johns more times than I care to admit, I will forever be thankful for their freaky fast deliveries.

I forgot my lunch today because all my head can seem to think about is my upcoming vacation. I was busy at work and didn’t want to take the time to pick up lunch. That and it was cold outside! I can’t be going out in this inclement weather. My delivery options were limited: pizza, pizza, more pizza, Chinese, pizza, or Jimmy Johns.

I think you can figure out why I OD on it.

Now, I don’t know if you have ever ordered Jimmy Johns online, but there’s a place where you can add a name to your sandwich. I’m sure it comes in handy when you’re placing an order for multiple people. Sometimes I like to put random things in this box. Once I entered “I’m starving.” What came written on the sandwich was “not anymore.” See? These JJ peeps get my sense of humor!

Today I named my sandwich “omnomnom.”

A list of those participating 30 Days of Thanks bloggers can be viewed below. Want in? Leave a comment and I’ll link to you.

Ashley
BRK
Jill (me!)
Kitty
Mary
Nick
Sara
Sarah
Susie

30 Days of Thanks – Day #27

So he doesn’t think I put him off until the last minute, I’m thankful for Nick. There are many reasons, but I’ll just touch on a few.

Nick does nice stuff for me (most of the time with minimal bitching) like rub my feet. He also does the pain in the ass stuff I don’t want to do, like clean the gutters. I try not to ask him to do too much, but when I do, he usually says yes.

I remember one time when he said no, and it changed my life forever.

Once upon a time we I had a short-lived wedding website. It was my first taste of WordPress. It was foreign and confusing and Nick was like DON’T MESS IT UP! About a year or so later, Jillapalooza was born. I remember wanting to change something on the site, though I don’t recall what it was. I asked Nick to change it. He basically said, do it yourself, Google html, and DON’T MESS IT UP!

I did what he said and never looked back.

Though I’m no web designer by any means, I learned a lot over the course of the following 5 1/2 years. I’ve helped numerous friends set up and customize their own self-hosted WordPress blogs (including Nick).

So thank you, Nick. I’m grateful for that one time you said no (none of the others though). Whether you did it for my own good or because you didn’t know the answer, I’ll never know. ♥ ♥ ♥

A list of those participating 30 Days of Thanks bloggers can be viewed below. Want in? Leave a comment and I’ll link to you.

Ashley
BRK
Jill (me!)
Kitty
Mary
Nick
Sara
Sarah
Susie

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