5 Random Things In My Room: Tag :)

Hey there! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I love book blogs. I love reading book reviews and keeping up with tons and tons of recommendations. But I also love getting to read posts about the people behind the blogs, and I'm sure you all do, too!

So, I was delighted today when one of my new blogging friends, Jillian over at Random Ramblings tagged me in a post. Before I go any further, I want you all to go check out her blog. I'm serious! Do it. She's a really sweet girl, who always posts intelligent, thoughtful, and honest reviews, and hosts a great feature called Top Ten Picks, which is always a pleasure to read. So go check her out!

Anyway, here are the instructions for this tag:

I decided to do this fun little activity where if you're tagged, what you have to do is to basically show, as the title says, 5 random things in your room. It could be anything at all -- a prized possession, something from when you were a kid, something with sentimental value, etc. If you would like to do this, feel free! I tag everyone who would like to make their own. Specifically, I tag these fellow book bloggers! Leave your link as a comment if you ever decide to do this :)

Before I go any further, I would like to tag these cool folks:

1.  Lori @ The Coffee Girl 
2. Amelia @ Imagination in Focus 
3. Steph @ StephTheBookworm
4. Jo @ Diggin' Around
5. Fiona @ The Book Coop

Like the instructions say, feel free to join in (even if I didn't tag you), just make sure to leave your links in the comment box! 

Without further ado, here are my five random things: 

Okay. So. As booklovers, I'm sure all of you can appreciate this. Uh, this is my bookshelf. My officially overflowed bookshelf (note the four stacks of books on the floor that don't fit). What you can't see in this picture is that the shelves are two rows deep, each row complete with multiple stacks atop them. This is my pride and joy...despite the stress that it gives me from all of the unread ones! 

This is the dreamcatcher that I bought in the fourth grade while visiting the Smoky Mountains. I bought it off of a nice, elderly Native American woman who was making them. I'm not sure of her tribe, but she did have a lasting effect on me and my life. I remember talking to her for a long time, while my parents and brother were off shopping or whatever in the store next door. To this day, I hold Native American culture with the utmost respect and actually find that most of my spirituality reflects much of what they believe. 

Not to gross anyone out, but this is one of my hermit crabs. Her name is Betsy, and she's a doll. She's so sweet. The other one, Walter, is a bit bigger and a lot crankier. I named them Walter and Betsy not really in memory of the Kronkites, but because I liked the way their names sounded together. So sweet :) Anyway, yeah, Walter acts like a senile old man--he freaks out, runs and hides anytime anyone comes near. But Betsy has a much sweeter demeanor. Listen to me. Talking about my hermit crabs having demeanors. Anywho, here she is. I love her :) 

Ahh, my Bobby corner. After my freshman year in college, I decided to devote a corner of my room at home to Bob Dylan who is definitely up there as one of my absolute favorite singers. I think he's a genius, and I love just soaking up the poetry of his songs. The title of this blog actually came from one of my favorite Dylan songs, as did the title of my Tumblr, but that's for another day. For anyone who's curious and wants to try him out, I recommend starting out with his album Blood on the Tracks (which is where "Tangled Up in Blue" comes from). It's my favorite album of his. 

This last one is a sentimental one for me. I got this as a gift from one of my very best friends, Cate, before she moved from here (central PA) to Minnesota after 9th grade ended. I only knew her for about 2 years, but we were really close and spent a lot of time together. We really clicked. She was one of the first people who I could talk openly about books with because she, too, was a booknerd. That was great for me because I was teased a lot through elementary school and junior high for loving books. She was such a sweet girl and still is! I'm so grateful for things like Facebook because it allowed me to reconnect with her after all of those years. She still comes back here every so often, but not often enough for me! Naturally, we've drifted apart through the years, but I remember this little trinket helped me through missing her. 

Anyway, those are five random things from my room. What about yours? 

Happy reading and until next time, 

xx

Jess