Book Review: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

I really wanted to like this book. I have been wanting to read it for so long that when it finally came available at our local library, I quickly grabbed it. I don't know if the fact that the two previous books I read were so dark and heavy that I was too drained to enjoy all this book had to offer. All the reviews were great, the synopsis sounded amazing, and the first chapters really engrossed me. However, I just could not get into it that much until the end when I was sobbing like a child. If it seems slow to you, I promise you it gets better, just stick with it!

 

I love the character of Tom in the story. He is a quiet man who has dealt with a tough childhood and survived the horrors of the first World War. The war took its toll on him and he struggles with the things he had to do in order to survive. He works as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, an uninhabited island off the coast of Australia. It is a lonely existence with only a lighthouse to keep you company and a shore leave every three years. He loves his wife, Isabel dearly and when three pregnancies fail to produce the children she so longed for, he does not know how to keep her from falling deeper into despair. When a baby is swept ashore in a boat, he goes against every moral bone in his body and follows Isabel's lead in raising her as their own. 
 

My heart went out to Tom while reading this story. I could tell how much he wanted to make Isabel happy by completing their family with a beautiful, inquisitive little girl but at the same time he was completely torn apart by not reporting the incident as he knew he should. When the circumstances are revealed as to how the child ended up on Janus Rock, Tom struggles further with their decision to keep raising the child. He tries to make things right in his own way, but it only causes deep pain and suffering to all those he holds most dear. 

 

One of the things that really struck me was how much weight Tom placed on his wedding vows. He truly loved Isabel and was ready to do anything to make her happy and healthy. When she railed against him in anger and was ready to allow him to suffer severe consequences out of spite, he still loved her and forgave her for everything that she had done. He was patient and understanding and tried his best to be the husband she deserved. If you take nothing else away from the book, the love that Tom had for his wife was amazing. 
 

Finally, I'll end with a quote that really stuck with me. It is: "'I've learned the hard way that to have any kind of a future you've got to give up hope of ever changing the past'". I think that is good advice for anyone to heed. It is so easy to think about everything that did not go your way in the past and focus on your mistakes or misfortune and forget about everything that you have in your life currently. If you make the active decision to change your future into a direction you are proud of, instead of reflecting on things you can't change because they already happened, reflect on what you are doing currently and what you need to do to get where you want to be. 
 

Happy Reading!

Jackie

Monday Money - Setting Up Your Budget

Money Mondays

Budgets - Setting Up

Happy Monday everyone! After discussing why budgets are essential in the last Money Monday post, we are now going to go through how to set up a budget if you decide to make your own. If you do go with a website, such as Mint.com that creates one for you, this post may give you some things to take into consideration. 
 

Income

To start, think about your monthly income that you expect to receive. This includes:

• Paycheck
• Salary - Use the net amount of pay you receive after taxes, 401(k) deductions, and medical insurance has been taken out. Basically, whatever amount gets deposited into your bank account should be the amount you use for income for any given month. 
• Hourly - Use the average of what you typically receive. It is better to be conservative, so that way any extra you make is a bonus for that month.
• Interest/Dividends
• Miscellaneous - This includes birthday checks, work reimbursement, or any other income you receive that month.

The above list is not set in stone, feel free to include anything that makes sense to you.
 

Expenses

After listing your income, you should list the amount of fixed expenses in your budget. Fixed expenses are expenses that don't change month-to-month. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Car Payments
• Rent/Mortgage
• Insurance
• Student Loans
• Cable
• Miscellaneous - This is any amount that is the same amount month to month, like a gym. 

After listing your fixed expenses, list your other costs that are variable and set a budget by what you expect to spend. These type of costs include:

• Utilities
• Gas
• Groceries
• Savings
• Entertainment - I interpret this to include meals out, movies, ice cream outings, drinks out, etc. 
• Laundry - if you don't own your own washer and dryer and need to use a laundromat or apartment provided facilities
• Clothes
• Household Goods
• Miscellaneous

Again, this is not an all inclusive list, but it is a good place to start. Since you are estimating these amounts, they are subject to change. If after three months, you realize you are grossly over budget in one category and not using a lot of another category's budget, you will need to readjust your budgeted amount. The first couple months of budgeting are most useful for figuring out where your money is going and seeing where you may need to adjust your spending.

 

Let us know if you find this helpful! We'd love to hear any tips that you guys may have as well!

**Remember, we are not certified financial planners. We are simply offering a topic to start a discussion about money with the young adults. Before making any financial decisions, please consult with someone familiar with your financial position.

Ice Cream is Made With Milk so That Means It's Healthy, Right?

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Today marks the first full week that Vinnie and I have started making a more conscious effort to eat healthy and work out more. We just wanted to check in and update our progress and hopefully you guys can share some workout tips with us as we move into week 2. 

I'm hoping this lifestyle change will stick because I am loving the results I am seeing so far. I know it's only been a week so I wasn't expecting to notice anything but I've already lost two pounds this week and I think it looks like I lost some inches in my waist. However, I still try to justify my ice cream craving by justifying how healthy it is for me.

I think the most useful tool has been the meal tracker on my FitBit app. It shows how many calories I have eaten and how many I have burned throughout the day so that way if I feel like having something heavier at dinner, I can track my meals through the day and make sure I have enough for dinner. Take Thursday for example, I knew we were having an event at work where they would serve donuts and bagels for everyone, and my willpower is definitely not advanced enough to resist a donut so I enjoyed it then logged it in my FitBit app. When I looked at my intake vs. output of calories for the day, I still stayed in the target range because I had a lighter dinner to make up for the extra calories. 

As for working out, I started a "baby steps to 5K" program that I found on my phone. It gradually builds you up to running at a distance and I really enjoy it. You run 3 days a week and for the first week, you don't actually run, you walk at a brisk pace for .99 miles, while warming up and cooling down add an additional .36 miles. It has been great so far and I want to keep going with it. On the days I don't run, I do squats, lunges, deadlifts, and go to a fitness class. This way I can target some muscle groups not touched by running. 

This all has been great but I'm nervous that I will run out of motivation soon. I'm someone who needs change when it comes to working out and maintaining a healthy lifestyle or else I quickly find excuses to go back to my bad habits. Hopefully all of you will keep me accountable and we can all share fun new ideas for staying in shape.

Does anyone have some fun workout tips?

Happy Weekend!

Flashback Friday: Power Rangers

Alright everyone, for this week's edition of flashback Friday we are going to shine the spotlight on the original Power Rangers!

I remember as a kid growing up when the Power Rangers were first on television that my parents refused to let my sister and I watch the show because of the violence but they weren't smart enough to figure out that Chelsea and I conveniently chose to play in the basement every Saturday morning when the show aired where there was a second television. Eventually the ban was lifted and we could watch freely.

Over Christmas we visited FAO Schwartz in the city and were allowed to pick out one toy as our gift. Of course I immediately picked out the pink ranger Barbie doll and nothing else could replace it in my mind. I tried to convince Chelsea that she liked the yellow ranger doll better but it didn't work, so we both walked out of the store with our pink rangers in hand.

I loved the pink ranger Kimberly. I wanted to be her when I grew up. She got to wear my favorite color, she could kick some villain butt, and she had Tommy all to herself, or so I thought. Last night while channel surfing, Vinnie and I found an old Power Ranger's movie, and I was devastated to see that Kimberly moved on from the Power Rangers and was now with Jason and Tommy was with some blond chick, the new pink ranger.

That did not go over well. I then proceeded to vent to Vinnie that my whole childhood was a lie because it was clear to anyone who watched the original Power Rangers that Tommy and Kimberly belonged together. He was not having it... apparently what I considered a life crisis was not an earth-shattering event in his mind! Overall it was so much fun to revisit such a beloved show. We laughed at the hi-tech technology the show featured, the awful haircuts, and the acting that was just plain bad.

To further reminisce why Kimberly and Tommy were meant for each other, feel free to bask in the glory of the following clip

For all the entertainment Power Rangers provided, we had to feature them on this Flashback Friday.

Happy Friday!

Jackie & Vinnie

PS - In case you missed it, they are redoing the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and it will be in the theaters in June 2016.

How We Met

One of the first pictures of Vinnie and I during Freshman year. 

Since the blog will encompass pretty much everything being an adult entails, including relationships and how they change as you age, we thought we would share the story of how we met!

Vinnie and I met the first day of freshman year at school. There was a "Welcome Freshman" barbecue held in front of one of the dorms the day after all the freshman moved in. I was swinging my lanyard on my hand because that's what all the cool kids do (ha!) when to my humiliation the lanyard flew off and hit Vinnie square on the upper thigh. I just wanted to sink into the ground or quickly run away but since my lanyard had my id and key in it, I would not have gotten very far. It turned out to be quite the ice breaker and we quickly started a conversation and found out we had already made some mutual friends our first day there.

Night at the casino during senior week.

Fast forward a couple of days and we were seated in the back of an overcrowded jeep on our way to Josh's, a college employee's house, for some home cooked food. While savoring our banana French toast, which was delicious, and listening to Josh's stories about his time spent at the college, he suddenly looked at Vinnie and I and predicted that we would get married. Vinnie and I cracked up because a) we just met each other and b) we were both in long-distance relationships at the time.


Freshman year progressed and Vinnie and I became very good friends. I found someone who I could trust and have a genuine friendship with. Every Sunday we would get together so I could do his laundry (which hasn't stopped!) and go on pretzel "dates" to the mall where we could talk and unwind away from school. We stayed best friends and our relationship didn't become romantic until senior year of school. As soon as we decided to take our friendship to the next level, we were inseparable. When we told our friends about the shift in our relationship, no one was surprised. They all claimed to have known it was going to happen for years, we were just late to our own party!

Our first trip to a Yankee game together.

How did you meet your significant other?!

Book Review: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

I thoroughly enjoyed the book Still Alice by Lisa Genova. I loved how she was able to bring you the story through Alice's perspective and it felt positively authentic. So with that in mind, I decided to read Left Neglected. This book explores the neurological syndrome known as Left Neglect, which is  when "after damage to one hemisphere of the brain is sustained, a deficit in attention to and awareness of one side of space is observed. It is defined by the inability of a person to process and perceive stimuli on one side of the body or environment, where that inability is not due to a lack of sensation[1]."

 

The novel follows the story of Sarah Nickerson, a high-achieving, Harvard graduate who packs her day full of work, taking care of her 3 children, and answering e-mails and phone calls anytime she has a free 5 minutes. It is an unsustainable pace that only comes crashing to a halt when she suffers a traumatic brain injury as a result from a horrific car accident. She is diagnosed with Left Neglect and needs to learn how to live life at a different pace. As horrific as "losing" half of your body, vision, and awareness is, it allowed Sarah to reconnect with her family and realize there is more important things in life than work and status.

Genova's writing style is wonderful. She is able to connect you with her characters within the first pages. You understand Sarah's mindset prior to the accident and you feel her pain as she struggles to reconcile who she was before the accident to her new life after it. You never doubt how much she values her family even when it seems like work took the top priority in her life. You felt everything that Sarah experienced. You feel her doubt that her husband Bob would want to stay with her out of love instead of obligation, you feel her heartbreak when she can't run to her children when they need her, and you feel her acceptance as she realizes her life will never be the same but that could be a good thing.

Happy Reading!

Jackie