Journey to Space Camp

I am currently hanging out in the Atlanta airport on a 3.5 hr layover on my way to Huntsville, AL. My flight left from Sioux Falls at 6:15 AM--OUCH! Surprisingly I am feeling exceptionally alive and awake today, I'm sure it has nothing to do with my excitement/anxiety level. As I sit here I have so many different feelings flying through my body. I'm excited--I'm so close (just 1 day!) to fulfilling a childhood (and adulthood) dream, I'm anxious- I am not in control of the next few days and not knowing what is going to happen is freaking me out. Will the hotel have a shuttle at the airport when I get there? What will I do today before camp starts tomorrow? What if I get to camp and something went wrong with my registration (this is a completely irrational question to be asking myself, but there it is regardless). What if no one "likes" me? What if I have to crap really bad during some kind of group project and I can't get to the bathroom in time? All such important things to be thinking about certainly.

Bucket List- 100 Books in 1 year

So I've already posted on one of my bucket list items- Space Camp- I thought I would expand on another item on my list.

It all started when I purchased myself a Kindle Paperwhite. I have to say that this is by far one of the best gifts I have ever gotten for myself! (it is a close 2nd to when I went out and bought a Playstation 2 with Guitar Hero as a Valentine's Day gift for myself back in college- although the Kindle is probably more practical). I guess it took a fancy new gadget to get me excited about reading again. I went from reading maybe a couple books a year to reading 83 books last year!

I've enjoyed reading ever since I was a little kid. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my mother reading to/with my brother, Jon, and I before we went to bed each night. I was even competitive with my reading, trying to fill up as many "book houses" as I could when I was in 1st grade. I filled up 5 when most of my classmates maybe filled up one by the end of the year. As I grew older I seemed to have less and less time to read--or at least I had much better things to do. I realize now that I always had time to read, it's just about finding books I like and am interested in, and then actually opening up the book! (or my Kindle). You would be surprised to find how many books you can read just by taking 30 minutes each night reading before you go to sleep. Plus, it can help to calm your brain down so you fall asleep faster and sleep better too!

One of the neat things I discovered after getting my Kindle is the website www.goodreads.com which can keep track of all the books you've read and ones you want to read in the future. It was from using this site that I realized I was actually capable of reading a large number of books and that I had a pretty good shot of getting to 100 in a year. So darn it that is my goal this year and I'm going to try. I'm certainly on my way!

Let me know if you have any book recommendations!