Sunday Post: Week 47


Posted November 27, 2016 in Roundup Tags: , ,

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Welcome to this week’s Sunday Post. This feature is brought to you by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, so swing by after you are done here and get the full list of participants!

What I Reviewed:

What’s Coming Up:

  • Downed by Jen Frederick (better than anticipated since I HATED Ace in the last book!)
  • Hail Mary by Nicola Rendell (Loved it!)
  • Pursuing the Bear by Kerry Adrienne (naive heroine)
  • The Fire in You by J. Lynn (better than the last book)
  • A Veil of Vines by Tillie Cole
  • Unforgettable by Cindy Skaggs

This Week’s New Releases:

Open Giveaways:

What I Found Online:

This Week’s Book Haul:

None!! Aren’t you amazed? I don’t think this has ever happened before… (Ok, I did grab some Alexa Riley books via KU, but that totally doesn’t count!)

Non-Bookish News:

Thursday here in the US was Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving for several reasons but my top 2? Time off work and being able to break out the Christmas decorations without being judged! The food is good too, and I enjoy spending the afternoon with my parents so its a pretty kick ass holiday. But, its officially Christmas time now!!

This week I have been thinking about pursuing my PhD. I would love to do it. Its a dream of mine. But, it would take 5 years (only taking 2 classes at a time since I will be working full time as well) and the cost….$85,000. Yeah, thats as much as my bachelors degree and masters degree combined! But, its my PhD!! Do you see my dilemma? Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone out there have their PhD? (My PhD would be in School Psychology. Currently, I have a BA in History and an M.Ed in Special Education. I have trouble making up my mind…)

That has pretty much been all that is going on in my world. I am enjoying my mini break from work (we get Monday off as well!), then it will be the crazy rush up to Christmas vacation. My students will have exams and state testing right before we break for Christmas, so its a bit busy! However, I just keep reminding them that they get 2 weeks off once we get through the preChristmas crazy. Its usually enough to keep us all going.

My birthday is Friday (December 2nd). I don’t have any plans or anything and I prefer it that way! My students usually get me a card and decorate my office, which is super sweet. I have a great group of kids!

So, whats new with you this week? Did you read any of the same books I did? Did you find any great book deals I need to grab ASAP? Let me know in the comments!

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Samantha
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23 responses to “Sunday Post: Week 47

  1. You will never be judged negatively by me if you break out the Christmas decorations early. 🙂 I am looking forward to decorating the house today. The rain outside is perfect weather for it–although not for hanging out the outside lights, unfortunately. I am glad you enjoyed your time off and Thanksgiving. I wish I could take another week off from work, but alas, tomorrow I have to go back.

    I think you should go for your PhD if that is your dream. It is expensive and time consuming, but the rewards will be great for you, I think.

    I hope you have a wonderful birthday! And enjoy your week!

    • I’m so glad to find people who understand and support my need for early Christmas decorating!
      Thanks for the PhD advice. Honestly, I think I do REALLY want to do it and that is what makes the decision difficult because I am not sure I can be unbiased. Its a lot of money and that affects my husband as well!

  2. Your Thanksgiving sounds amazing, Samantha! Food, family, time off of work 🙂 It’s a complete win, right?
    Oh my gosh, that’s expensive for your PhD!! And so completely different from here!! Those who go for their PhD here don’t have any classes (actually, most of them teach classes and actually earn money as assistants in the department where they do their PhD.) they ‘only’ have to work on a pretty big research project (where they basically end up writing a book / monograph) on a specific theme or subject. I always find it so strange that getting an education is SO expensive overseas. I only pay $1’000 per year for my Uni classes, and this means that anyone can get their Bachelor’s or their Master’s degree if they want it… It doesn’t have anything to do with money.
    Happy birthday on Friday!! I hope you’ll have a wonderful week, happy reading xoxo
    ps: Archangel’s Heart is a book that should be read in order of the Guild Hunter series… I think you’d be quite lost if you tried to read that one without having read the prior books, both when it comes to characters, overall storyarch and the politics of angels…

    • Thanks for the tip on Archangel’s heart! I was getting that impression so I will have to put it on hold and catch up with the series. everyone seems to think its amazing so it won’t be a hardship!
      Yes, college in the USA is crazy expensive. Every time I speak with friends from other countries I am reminded of it. The sad thing is that even once you get an advanced degree here in the USA, you don’t necessary make enough money to pay for the degree. I mean, as a teacher with a Master’s degree I make about $50,000 a year. I owe 80,000 in student loans. I will be paying them off for 30 years (which is the same 30 year term as my mortgage on my house!)
      So, right now I pay about $450 a month in student loans. After I finish my PhD it would be another $450 or so a month in loans. Thats $900 in student loans a month! Seriously-thats how much my mortgage is! So expensive.
      But, it has always been a dream of mine. I love school. Such a terrible dilemma, right?!

  3. I’m glad you had a great Thanksgiving! We’ve finished the leftovers which makes me sad LOL. I hear ya, about the PhD! I’m finishing up my undergraduate studies in May… it’s a pretty penny, altogether. I’m not even consider education beyond the two Bachelor’s degrees at the moment. Way too much $$!

    Look at all of those romance novels! I adored Duke of Pleasure. Hoyt is one of my favorite romance authors. I can’t wait for Duke of Desire!

    Have a fabulous week, Samantha. 🙂

    Check out my STS post!

  4. Breaks are nice, yay for Mondays off! Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving, and I’m with you- good food and time off are a good combination ha ha. And the neighborhood here is already all it up so yeah I think everybody pretty much loves to get the decorations out once turkey day is over. 🙂

    Education is so ridiculously expensive now. I feel for your dilemma and have no advice to give other than to wish you luck with your deliberations! I think Lexxie’s comment is interesting, that it’s different in Europe. Too bad it’s so profit driven here… anyway have a super week!

    • I am always intrigued to find out what education and life in general is like in other countries. How often do we assume the USA is just the best? But, the best for whom? The people making the profit sure love it, but for teachers like me who will never make enough money to pay back the debt, its not so great.

  5. Sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving. I brought out my Christmas decorations two weeks before Thanksgiving, since my parents won’t be back for Christmas we celebrated both. I’m ready for the Holiday’s. I do miss snow though. I’m in CA now, but originally from IN.

    Have a great birthday. Hope it’s a special day.

    I liked your review on Dark Protector by Katie Reus. I haven’t yet read her books, but I have this and the others in the series on my TBR. Looking forward to your reviews coming this week.

    Have a great week and happy reading!!

    • Katie Reus is one of my favorite authors! Her books are great. She has paranormal romance and romantic suspense.
      I couldn’t live without the snow! I love it too much!

  6. Oh my! A PHD is how much?!?! That is a lot to think about. I wish the education in the US wasn’t as expensive as it is. prevents a lot of people from going after what they always dreamed of.

    I was banned from putting up christmas stuff before thanksgiving, I was BANNED! The entire family BANNED ME! but they are up now and I am very happy and will stay up until New Years day! I love the house like this, it’s all cozy!

    Have a great week, Samantha! Happy Reading! ox

    • My family would suffer if they tried to ban me from Christmas decorations!
      Yes, education is so costly and that is something that proves to be a huge roadblock for so many.

  7. Happy Birthday week! I hope your day is very special.
    I think if YOU really want your PhD, then you should go for it. I think the cost is definitely a factor, but then you will have PhD, so there are probably perks that go with it, right? Do what you want to do, the money will come for it, if it is meant to be.

  8. I’m glad you had a good Thanksgiving 🙂 And haha, yes, Thanksgiving is the cutoff between crazy and festive when it comes to Christmas decorations 😛

    That’s awesome that you’re thinking of getting your PhD! I mean, I think you should go for it if you want it, but obviously I understand the dilemma since it does take a lot of time and money, and I don’t have a PhD so I don’t have any actual advice to give. I guess it depends on whether or not you think it will be useful enough to be worth all that effort?

    Have a great week!

    • I really want my PhD. Its such a dream and it would allow me to do something slightly different but still work in schools, which I love. But, ugh, the price! Gah!!

  9. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and a lovely thanksgiving! That time from work sounds like it was much needed. If that’s a dream that you’ve had, there is nothing stopping you from pursuing it! Even despite the cost at least it’s something that you’ve always wanted to do. Have a lovely week ahead!

  10. I still can’t believe high school students get only 2 weeks of Christmas break. Here in Puerto Rico, it’s 3 weeks! Sometimes it extends to a full month. And they never get assignments during those weeks so it’s great, too.
    I think you should totally pursue your Ph.D. If you keep putting it off because of the cost, you may never do it (credits always go up after a year passes). So I say go for it 🙂

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