Europe: Pictures & Life Happenings

I know it’s been a while (three months, actually) and I’m really sorry! It’s just that I’ve been so busy integrating my book blog (Symphony of Words) and juggling the move and everything that I didn’t have enough time for this one!

Just got back from Europe, and let me tell you it was definitely worth the wait and the cramps and the loss of reading time!

I loved Germany and Innsbruck!

20140522-185516.jpg

20140522-185548.jpg

20140522-185640.jpg

And Holland was beyond Tulip-amazing!

20140522-185750.jpg

20140522-185804.jpg

20140522-185846.jpg

20140522-185929.jpg

20140522-185959.jpg

And now for some snow pictures!

20140522-190042.jpg

20140522-190130.jpg

20140522-190159.jpg

20140522-190230.jpg

And more tulips!

20140522-190310.jpg

20140522-190324.jpg

20140522-190352.jpg

20140522-190429.jpg

I just had so much of fun and and more than thankful more having the opportunity to go to this place!

XOXO,
MADIHA

PHONE CRISIS

I am knee deep in a phone crisis, and I need your help. I am confused, confused, confused, between two phones:

Nokia Lumia 925

VS

iPhone 5c

Now I can’t afford the iPhone 5s, but I love Apple and have an iPad and iPod Touch, so I know I can trust them and I’m very comfortable with the UI. However, I already own an iPod Touch as I said, so buying an iPhone will essentially be the same thing except there’s call features too, right?

The Nokia Lumia is running on Windows 8 and is definitely not something I have ever tried before. But I want to experience something new and different, and I love the way Nokia Lumia 925 looks and it’s camera is supposed to be fantastic. I don’t mind the limited apps, and it seems to have all the iPhone features while having a lower price.

But again, I’m more comfortable with Apple products, and I guess I’m just too nervous to try out something different. What if I don’t like it? Which has a better camera? Because I NEED to have a good camera on my phone.

Help me, people. It is a matter of life and death.

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover amazes me yet again. This is the third novel of hers that I am reading, and let me tell you, after Hopeless, I didn’t think Hoover could surprise me again. But she doesn’t disappoint, people. Slammed has got to be one of the most thought provoking books I’ve ever read.

I love the name Layken. Its very lyrical and I feel it has immense elegance. And I also love Layken’s character. She’s smart and tackles things very nicely, although I got a bit fed up with how easily she cried. Don’t get me wrong, she had every right to, and isn’t a Mary Sue by any means, but I felt she could have held off the crying, at least in some of the situations.

While I didn’t exactly fall head over heels in love with Will, I respect him as a character and love how he assesses his situation with Layken. While he might have been a bit boring at times, he made up for it with his brain. He’s the clear headed one, the calm and centered one – the deep one with a love for poetry.

While I’m not a huge fan of poetry, this book opened me up to it and I guess I understand it a bit better now. I especially loved Kel, Layken’s younger brother. He was endearing and wonderful and funny. All in all, this book, probably not Hoover’s best work, still amazes and astounds me. It’s wonderful, and I would honestly recommend it to everyone who loves reading.

You can also find this review (and many more) on my book blog, Symphony of Words.

Quote

Dauntless Manifesto

We believe that cowardice is to blame for the world’s injustices.
We believe that peace is hard-won, that sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace. But more than that: We believe that justice is more important than peace.
We believe in freedom from fear, in denying fear the power to influence our decisions. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.
We believe in acknowledging fear and the extent to which it rules us. We believe in facing that fear no matter what the cost to our comfort, our happiness, or even our sanity.
We believe in shouting for those who can only whisper, in defending those who cannot defend themselves.
We believe, not just in bold words but in bold deeds to match them. We believe that pain and death are better than cowardice and inaction because we believe in action.
We do not believe in living comfortable lives. We do not believe that silence is useful.
We do not believe in good manners.
We do not believe in empty heads, empty mouths, or empty hands.
We do not believe that learning to master violence encourages unnecessary violence.
We do not believe that we should be allowed to stand idly by. We do not believe that any other virtue is more important than bravery.