Oh, Fifty, Fifty, Fifty

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Amanda

*DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE A GRANDPARENT OF MINE YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST SKIP THIS ENTIRE POST – I guess grandparents and any LDS readers of mine that are easily offended by the subject of SEX and bleeped out words*

I almost don’t even know where to begin with my raving about probably the BEST series I have EVER read. The Fifty Trilogy starts with Fifty Shades of Grey, then moves into Fifty Shades Darker and is finalized (I hope this changes) to Fifty Shades Freed.

This trilogy touches an area that most people might be uncomfortable to talk about, but lucky for you I. AM. NOT. SEX! Controlling, dominating, insanely delicious SEX. This story follows a very successful dominating man who wants a very pretty girl that literally stumbles into his office as a submissive…. the journey between them is a journey that you literally cannot stop – no matter how badly you want to. The dominating sex scenes will make you blush and at times have to walk away from your book, compose yourself and then find yourself rushing back to the book for more.

I can honestly say that my life is forever changed from this series. I look at my marriage differently, my sex life differently –ACTUALLY SEX IN GENERAL DIFFERENTLY, and I think my husband is forever changed as well…. I honestly think he’s considering reading the series to fully be on my level.

This book is not just about sex – even though the kinky fu*%ery and the vanilla deliciousness in the book is AH-MAZING – there is a story, a journey, and a character development that is by far one of the best I’ve seen yet. You go through fifty shades of emotions, which includes emotions that you probably have never experienced before. Every aspect of this book right up to the very last page will stay with you probably forever.

Words of Christian Grey “We aim to please” And pleasing me is exactly what he did!

Laters, Baby!

Flat-Out Love

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Amanda

I’m adding a new little addition to Enchanting Havoc. I LOVE Goodreads and think it’s amazing that after I write a review about a book over there that it gives me the html to post it over on my blog. SO – you all get the exciting reviews that I’m going to be doing on all of the trashy, young adult books I’m highly addicted to! If are a member of Goodreads you can find me {HERE}

Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really wasn’t sure what to think about this book in the beginning, but found myself excitedly drawn to it. I loved the Facebook status updates and messages – I knew that something else major had to be going down and that kept my interest. This book has a way to just knock the wind out of you as it all unfolds. There are tears, laughter and a beautiful romance that I couldn’t help but just LOVE! Flat-Out Love is a feel good, satisfying read!!

View all my reviews

Beautiful Disaster…. OMGoodness!!!!!!

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Amanda

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t even know where to possibly begin with this book. There are so many emotions that have gone through me from when I first started this book to days after I finished.

Travis is hands down the man of my book dreams. The relationship between him and Pigeon drew me in to fall in love with him over and over again. It’s a rarity for me to find a book like this that totally captures me to the point of hardly being able to shake the feelings that I felt while reading it – even days after – Beautiful Disaster is hands down the most beautiful disaster I have ever read!

View all my reviews

Just a Motivating Monday

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Amanda

I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that others would as well!

It’s been so long since I’ve done Motivating Monday, but it’s back! One of my favorite books that I think every single person alive should read is called {The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews}. Today for Just a Motivating Monday I wanted to share a quote out of it that sang to my heart when I read it.

“Circumstances do not push or pull. They are daily lessons to be studied and gleaned for new knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom that is applied will bring about a brighter tomorrow. A person who is depressed is spending too much time thinking about the way things are now and not enough time thinking about how he wants things to be.”

I know that when we go through a hard time in our lives it’s hard to not dwell and focus on just that. Changing our focus to how we would rather things be going turns a negative situation into a positive one. Focusing on what lesson we can learn from our hard times only betters our lives in the future.

I’m hoping that this quote inspires you in some way in your life. And I hope if you have some inspiring words or posts that you’ll link them up! I love to read inspiring things.

Just a Motivating Monday – Positivity

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Amanda

Welcome to the 2nd EVER Just a Motivating Monday! If you are just joining us here’s the scoop.

-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others.

-Please link back to Garibay Soup

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!!!

With that being said……

Last week I gave away a copy of the book The Secret. The reason why I gave away a copy of this book was mainly because it has inspired me more than words can describe. I have ALWAYS looked at the negative side of things. Before that book came into my life I thought negatively, I spoke negatively, I lived negatively. Guess what… my life became quite negative.

When reading the book I thought, there is absolutely no way that just changing the way I think will bring upon different results in my life. If I’m tired, it’s because I’m tired. I can’t change that by thinking about being awake. So, I tested it one day. I was so unmotivated, exhausted and saw no hope in me getting off the couch, away from my movie and cleaning up the mess of a living room my kids made. So, while my mind was thinking how I couldn’t do it, I decided to stop dwelling on the fact that I was too tired, and started thinking about how wonderful it was going to be to have my living room clean. I got this jolt of energy, had it done quickly and was motivated to move on from there.

I promise, it works!

This book also explains the importance of gratitude. If you’re not grateful, what makes you think the universe (or God in my eyes) will grant you more wishes? Wake up grateful everyday for the things you have, and not dwell on the things you do not have. You may think this is easier said than done, but I’m doing it now, and that’s HUGE!

I feel like I have changed my life, my family, my marriage, my financial situations all because of positivity and this book. When I’m not feeling right, or being depressed I instantly change the way I feel and watch myself transform right before my eyes.

The mind is the most powerful thing, and we have power over our minds. Use them for the better, change your ways to positivity and be grateful…. see your life transform right before your eyes!

A few of my favorite quotes out of the book:

Bob Doyle: The emotions are an incredible gift that we have to let us know what we’re thinking.

Therefore, if your emotions aren’t positive I can pretty much guarantee you that you aren’t attracting anyt-hing positive into your life.

Robert Collier (1885-1950) “See the things that you want as already yours. Know that they will come to you at need. Then let them come. Don’t fret and worry about them. Don’t think about your lack of them. Think of them as yours, as belonging to you, as already in your possession.”

Regarding that quote… this is something that my husband does ALL THE TIME. He even got a Chrysler 300 this way…. he visioned, knew it would happen and one day I just went and traded my car in for it ~ he got his wish… and it was a surprise. The car is his dream car, and all he did was put it out in the universe.

Charles Hannel “To acquire love… fill yourself up with it until you become a magnet.”

I hope this inspired you ~ and I can’t wait to read what inspires you!

On another note, if you won’t be attending the BlogHer conference I’m holding a Happy BlogNerd bash here! Please join me on 7/23/09-7/25/09 for some fun, and giveaways!!! You can snag my button on the side to spread the news.

Inspiration Works for Me!

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Amanda

What works for me is something that I believe works for everybody. Inspiration. I thrive on it, and am constantly looking for good inspiring things to read and share with others. I’ve started noticing that a lot of the blogs I visit have a way of touching my soul a little more than the usual inspirational book. Maybe it’s because it’s mothers like me that are struggling with the same things, and talking about it in a way that completely reaches out to me.

So I have decided to start a weekly carnival on Mondays called Just to Motivate Your Monday ~ it’s a carnival where we as bloggers can come together and link up inspiring words that we have to share with one another. You can read more on the carnival {HERE}
In celebration of the launch of Just to Motivate Your Monday I am going to be giving away multiple prizes to multiple winners with multiple ways to enter!!! I am definitely completely stoked about this launch.

I hope you join me on Monday, July 13, 2009 to kick this off!

Earlier today I announced what one of the giveaways were, which is a bouquet of Cookie Pops ~ to see that announcement post click {HERE}
Now for another announcement for another thing I’ll be giving away!!! A copy of a book that has completely inspired me. It has helped me to look at the positive in life and not dwell on the negative. I hope that one lucky reader of mine will enjoy their own copy of one of my favorite books!!!

To make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to win one of my giveaways going on during the launch or that you don’t miss out on reading inspiring words, or inspire people with your’s, make sure you either

FOLLOW ME VIA {RSS FEED}
FOLLOW ME VIA {TWITTER}
SUBSCRIBE TO GARIBAY SOUP BY EMAIL LOCATED ON MY LEFT TOOLBAR TOWARDS THE TOP!!

I hope to see you on Monday!!!

Works for me Wednesday – Summer Learnin’

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Amanda

Welcome to {Works for me Wednesday}!!

Summer time is a great time for kids to start to forget all of the things that they learned throughout the year. That way when school starts back up it takes them a while to get back into the swing of things, because let’s face it at the end of August Long Vowels and Short Vowels are pretty much the same thing in the mind of my 7 year old.

I found a way to see to it that this doesn’t happen to my main lil’ man!

Passing through my mall we have this awesome store where you can buy curriculum packets for homeschooling and a ton of other awesome educational things, and they had a stand right outside of their store with {Summer Bridge Activies} books. I stopped looked through one and was sold I bought one for my son going into 2nd grade and LOVE it!!!

It has a summer reading list, flash cards, a fitness program, things on feelings and every day there is a worksheet for them to do that keeps them brushed up on the little things. Plus there’s a TON more things packed in this nifty workbook. Every day’s worksheet is different, it takes them about 15-20 minutes for them to finish it up, and you don’t feel like the day was a complete waste of their minds!

So, this summer this is what’s working for this family, and my son even loves doing his worksheets! I highly recommend this program for the summer.

To read about what works for others head over to {We are THAT family}

The Secret… some Saturday inspiration

Posted on May 2, 2009 by Amanda

A couple of years ago I picked up the book The Secret. I couldn’t put it down. I probably finished that book within a day, and started to apply the things that were inside of it to my life. The outcome was phenomenal.

It’s been a couple of years, and I know that I’m not so conscious of what my thoughts are and I’m making goals for my life, and I thought it would be good to pick up the book again and be refreshed. I’m so glad I did.

There’s a couple quotes that I’ve read that I wanted to share on here. The first is

Others cannot create your happiness, they can only share in your happiness. Your joy lies withing YOU.

Matthew 21:22 Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive

Mark 11:24 What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

You can start with nothing, and out of nothing and out of no way, a way will be made ~ Michael Bernard Beckwith

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. ~ Albert Einstein

Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you are right. ~ Henry Ford

There’s tons of inspiring quotes inside of this book. If you haven’t read The Secret, I highly suggest picking it up and reading it. You are in control of your life, and how it unfolds. If you want more debt and struggles, then think about just that and it will come to you. If you want success, money, love, decide that, focus on that and achieve that.

The Secret Life of Bees

Posted on February 1, 2009 by Amanda

I just closed this book after reading the final page and was compelled to run to my blog to talk about it. What a powerful story. This book was so satisfying and is up there as one of my favorites. If you haven’t read it, I HIGHLY suggest it.

Forgiveness. It was mentioned in the book that people would rather die than forgive. Forgiving is a VERY difficult thing to do, but it is also something that we are supposed to do. Matthew 6:14-15 it states For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will will also forgive you: But if ye forgive men not their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. I don’t know about you, but I definitely know that there are many things that I’ve done wrong, and I most definitely hope that one day I will be forgiven for those things. It is hard to forgive, but it’s necessary. We’re all human, we’re not perfect, we make mistakes. Your entire past could be a mistake and full of wrong doing, but you can definitely say your prayers, repent, and try to change your ways. Try to make the best of the rest of your time on earth. It’s never too late, and it’s not right to make other’s suffer that are in need of YOUR forgiveness. While it’s easy to just turn your head, and and not forgive those who have done wrong to you, would you want your Heavenly Father to do that to you?

Mothers. This is definitely a book based on mothers. Lily struggles with so much in this book with her mom. Her mom died when she was young and Lily is constantly searching for love. When your mom leaves you or when you die, you are constantly going to be searching for that void inside. Many emotions probably arise from this, and in Lily’s case there’s a complete love/hate relationship with her dead mom. I know that the way that Lily has been effected by her mom’s death can be the same for children who’s mom left them behind….. moved on with their life. Selfishness. Those kids will always have a love and hate relationship with the memory of their mother. Yearning for her love and hating her for what she did to them.

Dealing with our problems. Dealing with our emotions. We all have ways in our life that we deal with our problems. Some people write about them, some people try to ignore them, sometimes we turn to our Heavenly Father. In this book there was a wailing wall, where you write it out on a paper and stuff it into the wall of rocks. Whatever is on your mind, you just write it out and stuff it in there and be done with it. I wish that problems could be that easy, but it did make me think of lists. Weird, I know. I thought how when something’s bugging me I should just keep a journal with me, and write it there. It’s not there to completely forget, but it’s a list of things that I need to take care of, either within myself, or something that literally needs to be done. It’s not good to keep things boggled up, and if you can write it down and get it off your mind it could help. So, instead of a wailing wall, I think I might incorporate a wailing book into my life. I have issues with dealing with the things that are on my mind, I let things bog me down.

These are the feelings that I felt while reading this. These are the things I would’ve talked about at our book club had I gone this month. My next book that I will be reading is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I’m anxious to start it and have read great reviews about it.

I Finished Breaking Dawn

Posted on August 31, 2008 by Amanda

and it was WONDERFUL! The ending was perfect and I’m completely satisfied and okay that it’s over. I didn’t think I’d be able to say that, but it does leave wonderful closure. Of course, I’d love for it to keep going on and on, but that would eventually ruin the whole story. It has to end eventually. Hopefully we still get Midnight Sun someday ~ I think that hearing things from Edward’s perspective will put a whole new spin on things.

My next book I’m going to start reading is The Host. Also by Stephenie Myer. The story line seems a little different, but it has some pretty good reviews and I really love her as an author.