30 Day Blog Challenge: DAY EIGHT - A picture that makes you angry/sad

This picture makes me both angry and sad for many reasons.  This was my mine and my ex fiance's first Christmas together.  He is also Alayna's dad.  It makes me angry and sad because for too long I dealt with his emotional and verbal abuse.  I dealt with his lies and his bullshit.  I let him make me feel like shit by being walked all over, but yet I loved him.  He was my first real love and someone I loved with all of my heart.  He was the person I was supposed to spend my life with and raise my daughter with.  He ruined all of that when he left me 6 months pregnant for someone else.

My oldest always asks about her dad and all I can do is show her pictures.  The asshole refuses to see her, even though I would open my life to him at this point if he ever did want to see her or be in her life.  I would not protest at all because she deserves to know who her dad is...but it will never happen.  Even though a DNA test proved he was the father, he denies her.  Constantly.  He says he doesn't have a daughter.  He makes my daughter feel like crap without even being in her life because she feels like her daddy doesn't care about her since he doesn't see her.  I wish he could see the pain he is causing her and understand the 2 years of pain he caused me when I had to get over the person I was supposed to spend my entire life with.

Things happen for a reason and I know it is better that we didn't get married, but it's still very upsetting to me to even look at these pictures.  It hurts.  

I need to post a lengthy post about her dad and what happened some day.  Just to get it off my chest.

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30 Day Blog Challenge: DAY FOUR - Your Favorite Book

My mom used to tell me that I would rather choose reading a book over watching TV, and that was very true. I started reading at a young age and just never stopped. The library was always my friend because it had so much available to me right in front of me! I would stay in the library for hours with my mom and when I had free time at school that's where I would hang out. Call me a geek, but it was my favorite place to be. I was an only child growing up, so my imagination kept me company. (Well, other than my friends!)

I kept up my large amounts of reading into High School and College. Now, I have read some amazing books, but just a few stick out in my mind. To me, a good book is when I can't put it down and can possibly read the entire book in one day. (It has happened before!) Books open up new worlds and can be more amusing (and more educational) than watching TV. It definitely is a higher preference, in my mind!

While most people love those Twilight books and Harry Potter books, I'm more into young adult drama. I love to read about real life things that affect teens and young adults these days. Even though they're fiction, you can learn lessons from them. That's why a lot of my reading preferences include this genre. (Lurlene McDaniel was ALWAYS an amazing author of types of books like this.)

A book I read in college, and finished within a day and a half, was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I had been hearing so much about this book and just had to check it out for myself. Wow, am I glad I did. This book is definitely, hands down, my most favorite book I have ever read.

The book, told through 14 year old Susie Salmon's narration, really tells the story of how a tragedy can tear a family apart in so many ways but yet bring them closer together at the same time. The book is extremely well written and the story is unique and definitely gripping. You really can't put the book down once you start it! It's both tragic and hopeful at the same time. It actually brought me to tears because of the way Alice Sebold writes. If you have a chance to read this book, definitely do!! IMO, the book is MUCH better than the movie, so if you have a choice between two, read the book first!

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