Fall Reads

I wish I was able to write reviews on all of these instead of posting them as a reading list, but I haven't had the time to read them yet so this is where we are instead. If you've read any post a comment and let me know what you think! 

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? 

This is our book club pick this month, and book club is in two days, so I'll probably start this tonight for a few hours haha! I hope it brings me laughs and I hope it's a quick read as she promised in the first chapter. Some loved it and some hated it, can't wait to find out which group I belong in.

For more click here.

2. The Girls 

I started this book three months ago and loved it but when I started reading my last bookclub pick (What She Left Behind - EXCELLENT book btw) I never finished. I'm dying to find out what makes this book deserving of weeks on the NYT best seller list and I am dying to know what become of this girl after she joins the Charles Manson-like cult. (That's what the book is based on).  

For more click here.

3. In a Dark, Dark Wood

Okay, I've had this on my past reading list but never got to it. Reese Witherspoon led me to this book, in addition to the many instagram posts I saw raving about Ruth Ware's other book "The Woman in Cabin 10." Apparently she's the latest fun psychological thriller author, so this is right up my alley. I need to get this one crossed of my list, asap. 

For more click here.

4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Ugh, I bought this book the morning that it came out at Barnes and Noble and my pediatric shelf exam prevented me from starting it. I am ashamed to say I haven't read it yet (Jake finished it in a few hours the first day). I also am reluctant to start it because I'm kind of sad, I cried after the last Harry Potter book, and I kind of like the idea of having something to look forward to reading. It's on my nightstand collecting dust.

For more click here.

What are your fall reads? 

psychological thriller book roundup

Some of my favorite books to read are psychological thrillers. They keep me interested the entire story, the chapters typically end with cliffhangers, they have an awesome twist at the end, and these are the book I can't put down. I also like that they are typically short reads so they are perfect to squeeze into a busy schedule. 

What is a psychological thriller ?  This is hard to describe but to me it's a book where the characters have usually been exposed to a trauma or experience (such as married to a con man or serial killer, their family was murdered, husband cheated on them, kidnapped, etc.) and their psychological well-being is a little off. They are usually the characters telling the story, so the reader usually sides with them and understands from their perspective - which makes it all the more fun. 

My love for these books began with Gone Girl. If you haven't read that , I recommend starting there. The rest of Gillian Flynn's books are also really good (darker than Gone Girl, but page-turners). Her other books you can explore here.

Then came The Girl On the Train, the book that's still on the top five of the New York Times Bestseller list (almost a year on that list - also the movie comes out in September this year). 

Reese Witherspoon's book club introduced me to another good one called The Luckiest Girl Alive. This one is about a successful woman who has a bad past haunting her from high school (really bad) and has to revisit all of it in the book. 

I found my latest page-turner (that I could barely put down long enough to write this post) on the shelf at Barnes and Noble and it's also been a New York Times Bestseller the past month or two. The Widow is a book centered on the wife of a monster and the press who's trying to get her to tell "her story" of living with that man. Well technically, the reader gets to decide if the husband's horrible, at this point I'm sticking with "monster" .  I'm sure something will surprise me at the end. 

The Hand that Feeds You is a page-turner that fits right in with the rest of these. The main character is finishing her thesis in psychology when she finds her husband mauled to death by dogs. She discovers her husband wasn't the man she thought he was - he's a sociopath basically- and she tries to stay alive while someone is killing all of her deceased fiancee's other fiancees that he had. 

The Good Girl is another great one that I finished in a few hours at an airport. This one has stalker elements and kidnapping - but the most fascinating part of this book is how you think you know the characters and they turn on you (like most of these books I guess). 

My Psychological Thriller To Read list includes:

• Find Her by Lisa Gardner (currently on the NYT bestseller list and has been for a while)
• In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (Reese Witherspoon bookclub pick)
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty(HBO series in the works from Reese W and Nicole Kidman)
• The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
• Second Life by S.J. Watson
• Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
• Pretty Baby by Mara Kubica

What is your favorite psychological thriller? Am I missing anything good? 

this season's movies

In college Jake and I started making a list each year after the Oscar nominees came out and attempted to watch most of them before the Academy Awards Ceremony. The Oscar-nominated movies are always some of our favorites because they are usually telling a deeper story and they require more brain power than a normal movie. Lately our Sunday afternoons have been movie time so I wrote a review on some of our favorites below in case you can't decide on what to see your next movie night. 

Here are some of the movies nominated for 2016 Oscars - the asterisked ones are the ones we've seen so far. I recommend all of them but one. 

Best picture nominees:

*Spotlight - winner

*The Big Short

*Mad Max: Fury Road

*The Martian

*The Revenant 

*Room (I loved the book, and the movie)

Bridge of Spies (@ Redbox, also want to see)

Brooklyn

Other movies with nominations (not a full list):

The Danish Girl 

*Joy 

Creed

Carol

Steve Jobs (@ Redbox, want to see)

*Inside Out

The Hateful Eight

*Cinderella

Star Wars

Straight Out of Compton (@ Redbox, want to see)

Spotlight 

This won best picture this year, and overall it was a really great movie. I think it was well-written, I loved the actors and I thought they all really meshed well together (I also really like Rachel McAdams). The movie is a bit difficult to watch, it tells the story of "spotlight" an investigative journalist team who tells the story of the many child sex abuse cases from Catholic priests, and the efforts that were made to conceal these incidents. These issues were broader than anyone initially thought and turned out to be worldwide in incidence. I'm not a proponent of "taking the church down" and I don't think that's what the movie is really about. Personally, I think stories like this occasionally need to be told to remind us all and maybe prevent future incidents or at least set up precautions to prevent future incidents.

The Big Short

I'm not going to lie, although it was one of the best movies I've seen this year, I was terrified and appalled at everything that happened in this "based on a true story"film (especially about some of the facts they showed that can lead us to another crisis like this). It's a somber movie, and it's a complex movie about a complex issue (the housing market collapse). The movie follows the few investors who decided to bet against the housing market when they saw something years before anyone else could see, or cared to see. They made a lot of money. The movie does an okay job at attempting to explain the financial and banking terms to us "common folk" but because I am very picky and want to know everything that goes on, I wasn't satisfied with the explanations and still had to discuss the  specific events that led up to all of this with Jake. The main ideas are told well and everyone should be able to understand, but the small banking and "betting against the housing market" details aren't described that well. Go see this one.

MadMax:Fury Road

I hated this. Don't rent it unless you like lots of explosions and car chases and scary costumes (ex: teeth on chastity belts). The story is not very deep and it's essentially just a two hour car chase. They won a lot of Academy Awards, but notice it was all for sound, sound editing, costumes, and production design. If you care what it's about , it's a scary dystopian world in the future where everyone are savages and hardly talk. I'm sure they would argue there's a deeper message about preserving the environment or something, but I don't care.

The Revenant

If I had to describe this movie in one sentence I'd say that a man almost dies multiple times but somehow doesn't. I was a little preoccupied with how his wounds and injuries were healing so nicely so quickly but it's really about revenge, culture, and man vs. nature.  A frontiersman is left for dead by his hunting-mates and multiple bad things happen and he learns a lesson....I don't want to give it all away. One of my favorite things about this movie was the costumes and the Native American lessons I noticed (lessons/fables from old stories I remembered from my Anthropology years - now I'm in my Anthropologie years but that's a different story) the lessons were hardly noticeable if you weren't paying attention to the details, but I recognized them right away. The costumes of frontiersman and French fur traders and Natives I thought were so realistic. Supposedly the main character was based on a real man who claimed all of these events were true.

The Martian  - This was surprisingly really funny! and visually impressive! If you want a not-so-serious movie but one that still keeps you on the edge of your seat go see this one.

Joy - Excellent movie, Jennifer Lawrence did amazing and I teared up multiple times. Keep in mind it's not the real Joy's true life story, just based on her life. Definitely worth your time!

summer reads: part 2

Here are the latest additions to my summer reading list. 

(Click on the book title and it'll take you to Amazon's website to learn more about the book.)

1. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

Last year, after finishing Gone Girl,  I've been really loving the psychological thrillers that have become so popular. This book is on the bestsellers list and it is a real page turner. I stayed up way too late reading this, and time seemed to disappear. In the last post about summer reading recommendations I mentioned The Luckiest Girl Alive which also fits into this page-turning psychological thriller category, but I enjoyed The Good Girl even more.

2. The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey

This book peaked my interest at Target, recommended as their book club reads. The 4.5 stars on ibooks, and the "real page turning" comments, convinced me it would be interesting. The back of the book reads like this:

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius."

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Before you buy this, you need to know this quick spoiler revealed immediately in the early chapters... and it was almost a deal breaker for me (don't read if you care that much): this is a zombie book. Is it a pretty good book? Yeah. Is it my cup of tea? Not really.

3. The Magicians by Lev Grossman

This is a book that was described to me as Harry Potter for adults (a college student finds out he's a magician, goes to a wizard school, and ends up in a fight with something darker then he intended). It's the first of a trilogy and has more adult themes then Harry Potter. The book blends a lot of the themes and experiences from Lewis's Narnia books and some concepts you can tell are from Lord of the Rings. If you enjoyed all of those books, it would be worth your time to check this out. The book spent time on the best sellers list and has been praised by many authors, especially George R.R. Martin and John Green.

 I didn't love The Magicians, because I felt like it spent a lot of time developing characters that I didn't care about. I am tempted to read the second book because I got really interested after I finished the last few chapters. Apparently the second and third book were the best of the trilogy and stayed #1 on the NYT best seller list for a while.

 4. Second Life by S. J. Watson

S. J. Watson wrote the bestseller Before I go to Sleep. I came across this book thanks to Reese Witherspoon's recommendation. She's recommended four books that I've absolutely loved, so I can't wait to read this one. In Watson's newest psychological thriller (which I haven't read yet, it's next on my list), a woman has a secret identity that threatens to destroy her. She helps investigate her sister's violent murder  and gets involved with a weird stranger. Sounds entertaining to me!

what to watch on netflix

I sometimes find it hard to make a decision and select a new show to watch on Netflix, so if anyone else has trouble choosing what will be worth their time watching, I put together a list of a few of our favorite series and a few movies that I've watched recently. Jake and I have watched these over the course of the past few years and loved them. 

1. Friends 

I hold this show very close to my heart. I was maybe ten years late to join the Friends fan club, but the nights during the months I spent alone this past year I kept my sanity because I had this show to watch and laugh at during after those long days of studying.

2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt 

You may not have heard of this one yet. It's the newest one I'm mentioning in my list. Kimmy is rescued from a cult and starts life over in New York City. She reminds me of Amelia Bedelia, and this show has me laughing so hard every episode. I've watched every episode twice and still found new jokes that I didn't notice the first time through. It's created by Tina Fey.

3. Modern Family 

If you've missed any of these episodes when they aired on ABC, you can get every episode here. 

4. The Blacklist

This show's creator is from Nebraska (he still calls Kearney home), and it's a thrilling show. The plot is fast-paced so it's easy to binge watch, and they don't make you wait long for new important details to be revealed.  One of the world's most wanted men turns himself into the FBI and makes a deal with them, but you quickly see he has his own agenda that's unfolded with each episode. 

6. Dexter

I never thought I'd empathize with a serial killer, but last summer Jake and I were absolutely addicted to this thrilling show. Dexter is a part of the forensic unit for the police department, he's an "average guy", but he's also a killer. This is one of my all-time favorite shows. A Kearney High School grad writes for the show. They even have an episode where they visit Kearney, and it's absolutely stereotypical Nebraska, but still. Hopefully I'll get a chance to read the book series this was based off of.

*I swear I saw the actor who plays the trinity killer at the Chicago airport last week. I shamefully followed him and stared for a few minutes then he walked up to us and stood creepily right in front of our dinner table to watch the NBA finals game above us. Meanwhile, I had to hide my iphone because I had pulled up his face on it for comparison. I will never forgive him for what he did in the Season 4 finale. :)  

7. Scandal

If you haven't got on board with Scandal yet, then it's your own loss. The amount of corruption, spy missions, and love triangles going on in this white house is so fun to watch. Olivia Pope can solve any problem and any scandal that arises in Washington. I studied this show in college (I was forced to watch it as homework), and we also learned Olivia Pope was partly based on G.W.Bush's press aide who still helps with the show's production. 

8. Friday Night Lights

As you probably know, the  drama in this show surrounds a high school football team in Texas. The teens get in a lot of drama, and Coach Taylor of course is the ultimate mentor for them. I've mentioned this show many times on this blog, and it's not just for sports fans. Texas forever.

9. (Currently watching) Orange is the New Black 

Movies on Netflix that are worth watching:

1. Imitation Game 

This movie is a 2015 Oscar nominee for best picture about a mathematician who doesn't work well in a team attempting to break enigma code during  WWII.

2. United 93

This film recalls the story of United flight 93 that was hijacked during the terrorist attacks of September 11. This was made with input from families of passengers and those involved at command centers tracking the flight and the other planes that were hijacked. The movie attempts to show the true story based on recordings from the cockpit and conversations held with families on the airplane phones. In real time it shows the take off and duration of the flight. It also shows the people in command centers across the nation and their reactions to the planes that were going off course and the sounds they heard through radio. Based on the cockpit recording, it details how these brave and heroic every day citizens took control of that plane. I had goosebumps the entire time, I don't know if I could ever be that brave. 

3. Django Unchained

In this movie (two Oscar wins), a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) sets out to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from a plantation. It has extremely horrific moments (slavery punishment), but it has moments of comedy as well. Overall it's a great movie.

4. Blackfish

This documentary was very touching and sad, and you'll never want to visit Sea World again. It's a documentary that needs to be watched. It's very well made, and I had no idea what goes on just so that we can "oo and ahh" at these miraculous animals. The film has real video footage and real accounts from Sea World trainers and visitors. It was surreal to take it all in.  

summer reads: part 1

I have at least 12-15 books I plan to knock out this summer, and so I'm going to share with you some of them each week.

1. The Luckiest Girl Alive

If you enjoyed Gone Girl and Girl on the Train you'll love this one. I liked it better then The Girl on the Train (which for some reason is still on the NYT bestseller list). The book is written in a way that makes each scene really easy to visualize . The main character appears to have it all but a dark secret from her past haunts her and piece by piece it's all revealed.

2. The Glass Castle

This book (an oldie that you may have already read) was recommended to me a few weeks ago, and it's one of my favorite books I've ever read. The story of this woman's childhood is awful but it's told in such a positive way. I can see the love she has for her parents even when, as a reader, their lives seem tragic. I was in disbelief in every single chapter, everyone should read this book. 

3. Brain on Fire

Another true story, this one tells the story of a 24-year-old woman who goes "insane" very quickly for no apparent reason. At some points she was even mental hospital ready. Her story tells her complete neurological decline, those sad specifics, how she made such a remarkable recovery, and how her case has helped saved thousands. I liked this book because she includes real text from her medical records that doctors wrote, her neuro exam drawings, and she describes all of the medical terms in and events in easy language so anyone can understand. 

4. The Husband's Secret

I haven't read this one yet, but I wanted to include it anyway as part of my summer reads because this will be my next book. 

Follow me by e-mail to stay in touch with this summer reading series!

march favorites

1. The Softest Summer Sleepwear Sets

These Gilligan O'Malley sleep sets from Target are so comfortable and soft. I bought one pair because I have so much trouble sleeping in my winter pajamas now that it's getting warm out and warmer everywhere in the house. I loved the first set so much I took advantage of their buy one get one half off sale the next week and decided to grab the other two colors. For some reason, black is the softest, then pink, then grey but they are all still wonderful. Find them here.

2. Thomas Bagel Thins

A while back I realized that a normal bagel can have 270 calories and 50 g of carbs, not the best food when there are so many other healthier options for breakfast. I've really avoided bagels for years, and have finally found a way to still enjoy them without feeling guilty. These are available at most grocery stores, learn more here.

3. The Girl On The Train 

Jake and I read this book during my spring break after seeing it for weeks on the bestseller's list. I loved the storyline, and I couldn't put the book down. I had a few issues with how the author told the story, and there are some things I would change. If you are looking for a page-turner check this one out!

4. French Pressed Coffee

C and E introduced Jake and I to french press coffee last month and we fell in love. The flavors of the coffee are brought out so much better, and the coffee is much stronger. We are always looking to find the secrets to great coffee thanks to this post, and this has become my every morning "go to" now. There are a ton of french presses available, we started with this model, but I'm guessing the nicer models will work even better!

5. Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream

I've held onto this product for a few months before deciding how awesome it really is. Think of it as a tinted moisturizer (I use it as foundation and then throw powder on top most days) that can fix discolored spots. I've been having trouble with my normal foundation that just sits on top of my skin and appears flakey, but this blends all the way into your skin nicely.

It's a light coverage so concealer is needed, and if you wanted you could layer another layer on top. I'll definitely be buying another bottle when I run out soon, because I've been using this almost every single day. I also use this blending brush to apply it and blend out my concealer and it works really well.

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january favorites

Last week was probably one of the most stressful weeks I've had since the first month of school. I'm not quite sure there was a real reason that it was any more stressful than the others, but I freaked out a few too many times and had to take the entire weekend to decompress after my cardiology exam. In fact, I'm taking this morning off to decompress as well ;) . 

Jake came home after another long week away Friday, and right after he walked in the door we headed to dinner and met up with friends who had tickets for The Funny Bone Comedy Club. We had such a fun time! 

After Jake finished working Saturday (while I bummed on the couch all day), we did take time to enjoy the warmer weather and started cleaning up the house. My entire counters were covered in dirty dishes, the laundry was overflowing, and you couldn't see our closet floor - this was all just from me and my week by the way. We finally took our christmas decorations down, cooked dinner, ran errands, and chilled the rest of the time. 

Here are some of my January favorites that I've loved this month!

1. Pitch Pizza 

Jake and I are attempting to make this a weekly (or biweekly) stop. So delicious.

2. Glossybox Subscription

Stay tuned tomorrow for my first monthly review. A Christmas gift that keeps on giving, what a nice treat to get a surprise present in the mail every month! 

3. 1989

I've been jamming to this on my commute every single day to lift my mood. This is what Taylor was meant to do. 

4. This painting at UNMC: "The First Year" by Neil Christensen

5. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I don't even know how I heard about this book, but I am so glad that I did. This book is for fans of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Divergent type books. It's more of an adult book than the YA novels because it has more detailed violence and terror than Harry Potter ever had. It's an easy read with much less characters to remember than what Game of Thrones asks you, but it's a complex story and you can't predict what will happen next. 

I can't review books as well as others. Check out Barnes and Noble's "Five Reasons You Should Read Red Rising." Don't be afraid by the fact that it takes place on Mars I was disinterested because of that at first but it only took a few chapters to get hooked.

october catch up

Hope you all had an awesome Halloween! Unfortunately on Friday, we didn't have too many trick-or-treaters (we had zero), so we get to eat all of this candy by ourselves I guess. 

To quick catch you up since my last post, Jake has started his new job as an auditor at McGladrey, and I survived Anatomy. Today we relaxed (well, Jake studied), ran some errands after church, did the laundry, vacuumed, and I reorganized the closet. I've also been working on my reading list, finished up Dark Places by Gillian Flynn this month (The book on the ipad - movie coming out 2015) and started Not that Kind of Girl yesterday - it's pretty funny. 

Dark Places, is an interesting book about a girl who's family was murdered when she was younger. Twenty years later she decides she wants to solve the murder and learn the truth so the book takes you through some twists and turns and secrets her family had as she uncovers the truth. Pretty entertaining, but like all of Flynn's books, also pretty dark.  

Oh, perhaps the most excitement came from news from these two today!

This week I have my OSCE exam, which is basically where hired patients come in with problems or issues and we are given an assignment right before we walk into these realistic clinic rooms and we have to pretend to be doctors and do different parts of a physical exam on them. There are cameras and microphones in the room and then we're graded on it as a part of our "ICE" class. So I'll be reviewing that material at the beginning of this week and hopefully my patient will be cooperative and nice and wonderful and perfect. . . as we all are when we visit the doctor ;) . I'll let you know how it goes. 

Enjoy some inspiration I put together to help me through the upcoming weeks of the OSCE's and biochemistry. (sorry for the poor lighting, didn't feel like editing any photos tonight! ) 

Stay tuned for a post with a reflection on my time spent in the anatomy core. (I'll try to do this with all of the cores in case anyone is interested)

sunny days and fall tv

After studying for what was deemed "the hardest exam in medical school" by multiple M4s , I've finally recovered and can crawl out of the hole that I've been hiding in and can think a little about a new blog post. 

The head and neck was not the most enjoyable thing on the planet to study. It might have been, in fact it could have been, if we were given more than a day to master each new area. Well, we were pushed to do what I would have thought was impossible, learn everything that quickly, but we did, and it's done, and we are already studying the lungs. To me, on those overwhelming days, anatomy feels like I'm on a train that I couldn't get off of even if I wanted to because it's moving so fast that I'd fall to my death if I jumped. But on days like today, only one lecture in for the next unit, I took a two hour nap and made spaghetti carbonara and I feel great . 

I went back to Fairbury to see my parents and grandma (and minnie) for the first time in months Friday after the exam. When I was talking to my mom I realized, wow, I've learned SO MUCH since the last time that you've seen me. Looking back at the last five weeks it's incredible to see how much I've learned in such a short amount of time. 

Saturday Jake and I took it easy catching up on our favorite TV shows that returned last week, went on a very long walk around Lake Zorinsky, and traded our summer clothes for fall/winter clothes in the closet. 

Because I was teary - eyed over multiple season premieres last week, the next thing I'm going to do is share some of my favorite dramas for this fall. (No major spoilers)

1. How to Get Away With Murder

(picture from here)

Thursdays 9:00 CST ABC

This pilot episode killed it in its premiere, well, literally. I don't think I've ever watched a pilot episode of a TV show that raised so many questions (besides Lost, but I'm still "lost" on where that show was going). The amazing Shonda Rhimes created Scandal and Grey's and she is a producer on this show. The show has just as much action and emotion as Scandal, and it makes you think about what you would do in the gray areas of ethics. The show immediately opens with students hiding a body, throughout the show you get more clues as to who, what, when, where, and why. You learn the students are taking an introduction criminology class with Dr. Keating who is tough as nails and she will do anything to win cases for her defendents, even when they are guilty. The show more than meets my expectations, and will definitely be one that's on the DVR each week. If you don't believe me, watch this one episode and you'll be hooked - at least for a few more! 

2. Scandal

(picture from here)

Thursdays 8:00 CST ABC

Where in the world is Olivia Pope? Many people are unsure if this show is for them. I'm not that interested in politics but this was definitely my favorite show of all time last season. In Scandal, political drama is anything but boring and it encompasses everything from top secret CIA missions that murder many (even those close to the President) , to feuds between lovers. Olivia Pope had a team of great associates (each one messed up in their own way - Olivia had "saved" them in the past), and these associated could solve any public Scandal. Last season Olivia left us not knowing what was going to happen, and the premiere is looking good for this new season. I started watching this show on an assignment from a college class I was taking, and I was hooked. Kerry Washington is gorgeous, intelligent, and amazing. Ask Scandal's newest fan if you have any doubts - Anna! 

3. Nashville

(picture from here)

Wednesdays 9:00 CST ABC

Bring the tissues for this tough season premiere, really pulled at the heart strings. Rayna has to make her choice between Deacon and Luke and it was incredibly heart wrenching to watch the interactions while she decided. Meanwhile, Juliette is as messed up as ever, but I was so sad for her because it appears as if she lost something she actually really cares about and she's genuinely sorry and heartbroken but it doesn't seem to matter. Teddy is growing on the audience again, and Scarlett has made up her mind about whether or not she's leaving Nashville for good. Plus, Connie Britton is fantastic (Coach Taylor must be the only man for her), and Hayden is great too!

4. Grey's Anatomy

(picture from here)

Thursdays 7:00 CST ABC

This #4 pick completes the "TGIT" Shonda Rhimes trifecta on Thursday nights (#1 and #2). Grey's Anatomy was the only show I watched in high school, and I've been keeping up with it ever since. In fact, I don't ever think there will be a time where the storyline possibilities could end - they are on Season 11! ton of exciting new drama introduced right away in the premiere, but it's always good to see the familiar faces of Mer, Der, Alex, Callie, Bailey, Arizona, Hunt, Richard, and those other new people. 

 Especially since they just brought in new interns last season (or the season before?) with messy lives that they can explore. I can't say there's a

5. Bones

(picture from here - this picture doesn't best describe the show, but I love when they are all happy, which is not frequent)

Thursdays 7:00 CST FOX

Although it was "Bones" that helped me choose my major in college (Anthropology). I stopped watching the show last year because it was getting boring, and then since I had so much time this weekend I picked up right at the new season's premiere. What a mistake. Bring your kleenexes, they lost someone precious. I need to catch up on this because it involves some sort of conspiracy theory within the FBI that leads to the murder of the loved one, and I'd really like to know more. (maybe over Christmas break I'll have time?)

6. Castle

(picture from here)

Mondays ABC 9:00 CST

I teared up at the finale of Castle last season, poor Becket on her wedding day. Where is Richard Castle? This show has almost gone on long enough I thought too, but we'll see if the new season brings anything new and exciting (a baby?) . (Spoiler - They have to find Castle first, he's MIA). 

Clearly, I may struggle watching all of these but I will be doing the best I can ;) . I've heard another good drama is Blacklist on NBC for those interested - haven't made it to that one yet.