February this and that

The book nerd in me is coming out a bit again lately. 

I've always loved to read, but sometimes after I finish a book, I get in this weird slump where I am lazy and don't want to start another one. But the good news is that our local library (which is awesome, by the way) has about 15 of the 30-ish books in my current to-read list on Goodreads, so I have zero excuse to not be reading.

I most recently finished Yes Please by Amy Poehler. 

I'd heard a lot of rave reviews about it. Lots of "empowering to women" comments, that kind of thing. Jared downloaded it to his tablet and read it thinking it would be funny. He's always thought Amy Poehler was hilarious. So when he told me he didn't like it, I was thinking maybe it was too much "girl power!" or she referenced her monthly flow a couple times or something. So I picked it up at the library and read it anyway.

The following sentence sums up my feelings:

Meh.

That's my official book review. 

It wasn't really funny. 

Yes, I laughed a few times because I think the woman could rewrite the dictionary and still make it funny, but it wasn't a funny book. There were too many parts that I was like, "Yep, don't care." "Yep, still don't care." *skimming. skimming. skimming*

A whole chapter on her drug use. 

As someone who has never done a single illegal drug, this was interesting for a few pages, but it started to give that feeling you get when you're stuck talking to a 19 year-old, and all they can talk about is how awesome some party was last weekend. And how many people were there. And oh man, how drunk everyone was. 

And you're standing there, glazing over, trying to pretend to give a shit. 

And it seems like no one is ever going to come save you from this tedious conversation. 

That was my feeling during parts of the book. 

So in total, I don't recommend. 

Also, it's a memoir, so please write something we can't learn from reading your Wikipedia entry.

This past Sunday was the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that I have always despised the Patriots and don't give a flip about the Seahawks either, we watched. We always watch. As a football fan, it's what you do.

Oh, that and we always eat snacks.

Our kids thought it was the coolest thing ever that they didn't have to eat at the dining room table. 

A table? 

Filled with snacks?

In the living room?

While we watch TV?!

It was apparently special in the world of toddlers and preschoolers. 

It was a great game, even though I did lose the family pool to Justy.

Let's see. What else is new? 

What else... what else...

Oh, I've been obsessively reading reviews for our vacation to Puerto Vallarta in March. I am jotting down notes of people's tips on restaurants and tours and how to go bars at night without risking our safety. I realize this might be borderline obsessive, but since we haven't gone on vacation in forever, I want to make this the best vacation possible. 

Also, I bought a bathing suit.

Annnnnd it has two pieces. Eek! 

I feel okay about it. 

Wait, can black still be slimming even if your stomach is showing???

And speaking of my stomach, I am only showing you this photo because I am proud of where I've come in the last few months. And I know I posted it on instagram, but since I have like 12 followers on there, I am posting here too. Deal with it. 

Those are my shorts from this past summer, I was still wearing them in August. I can't even keep them up at this point - they slide straight down. I'm excited to need to buy a new pair of shorts for vacation. 

I know some people losing weight take all kinds of progress photos, and I can see why. It's motivating to see the loss. You see the scale number decreasing, and you feel yourself getting stronger, but it takes your brain a while to catch up. Seeing it in a photo helps.

What else...?

Lots of snuggles. With blankets. And books.

It is so freakin' cold outside. 

And even if I did want to throw them outside in the snow for a few minutes, Avery is currently minus one snow boot. I can't find that sucker anywhere.

(Maybe I should check in the magical drawer that Blankie always disappears into...)

I am currently reading a book that is nearly 20 years old.

It was an Oprah book club selection back in the day. 

This could be good or bad.

Oprah has done right by me (Pillars of the Earth), and she's also done me so, so wrong (Freedom).

In all honesty, I started this book almost 2 months ago. It didn't catch my attention right off the bat, and I just wasn't in the mood for it, and I read another book in the middle of it. I was about to quit altogether, but then I read some reviews on Goodreads and felt like thousands of people couldn't call it their favorite book ever and it be absolutely horrible. So I decided to keep reading. And when I think back, some of my favorite books were ones that built slow, establishing solid characters - ones that stick with me to this day. I'm about halfway through. And it's a good, solid book so far. 

So that is what is going on in my world. That and planning an Frozen-themed party for a certain girl who is turning five in a mere two weeks. Five! I can't even believe it!

Check back in later this month to see the huge, kick-ass Olaf balloon. 

At Long Last! Premiering in two days...

Those of you who know me personally have had to put up with my pushy book recommendations for years. One of my favorites is the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon. I got completely hooked when I was pregnant with Graham and devoured all seven books within a couple months. (And they are mammoth books. We are talking like 800, 900 pages each.) 
I talked both my mom and sister Catrina into reading the first one, but they didn't read any more and therefore did not become as obsessed as me. 
Obsession seemed to take over at book 3 I believe...

I am not going to even attempt to summarize the books because summaries just end up sounding cheesy and cheesy they are not.

Last year it was announced that filming had begun for an Outlander TV series.
Total excitement on my end.

And it premieres tomorrow night on Starz.

Now, we don't even get Starz. 
In truth we don't even get more than the most basic of basic cable.
BUT, we do utilize this amazing little site called Couch Tuner and it is AWESOME. Every current television show is on there. 
And did I mention it is free? 
Yep, 100% free with zero sign-up crap. Just click on it and watch. 
Amazing.

So yeah, I will be checking this out. Pronto.
I admit I have high hopes. The sneak peaks look great, and it is getting good buzz from multiple places. 

I am hoping it is on par with Game of Thrones (I know, I know, but I did say my hopes are high). It isn't main stream network TV, so they can actually do justice to the more racy parts (read: smut for ladies and brutal killing for the guys) of the books. Plus the author is overseeing everything about the series, so it is true to the books. 

I am hoping Jared might even give it a chance and watch the first few episodes at least. Buzzfeed even claims that men will like it (article here) and we all know they're always right, right? Okay, well at least I hope so in this instance.

At any rate, I am hopefully optimistic. 
Bring on the Scottish accents and the kilts, Starz! 
It's about time I learned how to pronounce sassenach properly.

Seven thoughts

{ONE}
Fe, Beaner, and I walked in our town's annual parade to support our youngest sister Justy's massage business. We handed out magnets and worked up quite a sweat. The girls got in on the action by donning their matching t-shirts and helping throw candy.

{TWO}
As I have mentioned before, I got serious about losing weight and getting into shape back in April. 
I am happy to report that I am currently down 17+ pounds in almost 4 months. 
It's no huge jaw-dropping number, but I am happy with it. I'm also happy that I am accomplishing it without totally giving up foods I love (milk, carbs, cake) or forking out money for memberships. It's just been simple exercising and not taking in more food than I burn every day. 
And it works. 
I have lost about a pound a week. And since my goal is to achieve a weight I can actually maintain, I am fine with a slow but steady decrease on the scale. 

{THREE}
I recently posted some photos of projects Jared had completed for his Etsy site. He is apparently on a real kick because he has been churning out all kind of new things lately. I think the newest one is pretty cute.

Source: Mason jar sconce/vase on painted wood

Source: Mason jar sconce/vase on stained wood

{FOUR}
This past week my parents were in Washington D.C. for a vacation and I was garden-sitting for them. We went out to pick green beans and cucumbers and sweet corn every two or three days. I was in bean snapping mode for hours and hours this week. Fresh garden produce is at the top of my list of favorite things about summer. Jared doesn't seem to truly appreciate the wonderfulness that is fresh green beans straight from the field - more for me!

{FIVE}
Some days it is just too hot to pretend I want to sit in the backyard watching the kids run around. Even if there is shade - don't care. Inside in the air conditioning is where it's at, folks. There is plenty of fun to be had reading books and playing in tents.

{SIX}
Speaking of books, I am back in reading mode. I have been wanting to read "The Fault in Our Stars" for months, especially since I knew the movie was coming out. Now if I want to go see it with my sister and her friend, I need to be finished in the next 10 days or so. So I should probably actually start it...

To any commenters: What is a great book you finished recently?
I love a good book recommendation, and my GoodReads "to read" list can always use a few new additions.

{SEVEN}
Check out my car wash cuties hard at work. The kids have fun and the car gets clean. Win-win situation.

And don't pretend like you weren't wearing your pink tutu the last time you washed your car.

And can we talk about Crocs for a moment? I don't love them. I have never owned a pair, don't plan on it. But Crocs (or a knock-off brand found basically anywhere) for kids? Amazing. 

They require zero assistance from me. And as many times in a day that the kids go out in the backyard and come inside again five minutes later, I figure I am saving myself at least a good half hour of work per day. 

Plus they are water proof. This is a big perk seeing as Avery abandons her shoes within one minute of going outside. I can't tell you how many pairs of soaked shoes I have rescued from the backyard after a rain storm. You throw in all the dirt they acquire at Papa's farm? Yep, Crocs, I have officially given in to your charms. 


Alright, I think that is enough random for now. 
Happy Monday!

Five on Friday

1.

Tomorrow is our 6th wedding anniversary. 

We aren't huge into presents (correction: I am not huge into presents); we prefer to go the experience route. I would much rather go do something or go somewhere new than get a pair of earrings. My parents volunteered to watch the kids overnight so that we can get away and go do that something new. I have been looking forward to it all week!

2.

My newest addiction:

It's a TV show about exactly what you are thinking it is about. It's on Showtime so it is naturally racy, but after the first episode or so it settles down... a bit. It isn't just smut though - there are complex characters and story lines that keep you wanting to watch the next episode. But let's be honest, there ain't nothin' wrong with a little smut. 

Bonus: it is set in the 1950s, so that always adds an interesting dynamic - the hair, the clothes, the gender inequality...

And in case you are wondering, no, we do not get Showtime. In fact our cable package costs about 20 bucks and all winter I hear my sisters whine during their visits about how we don't even get ESPN. We use an amazing little site called CouchTuner and it is awesome. You can thank me later.

3.

From smut to the anti-smut...

I have been in a classic book reading mood lately. I have zero idea how I graduated high school having read hardly any classic novels, especially since I love to read and was in an English lit class every semester. I was forced to read Beowulf (shoot me now), but never picked up a copy of The Great Gatsby or The Grapes of Wrath.

In the past month I finished both of those books. I felt like I needed to read them. 

I need to be able to answer those Jeopardy questions! 

No, but really. 

I am glad I read them. And maybe it is a good thing that I am reading them now instead of 12 or more years ago. I don't know if I could have appreciated them fully as a teenager. Both books had excerpts where I got caught up in the writing, reflecting about life. I think that those parts would have sailed right over my clueless teenage head.

Next up, an Agatha Christie classic: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

I have heard it referred to as one of the greatest mystery novels of all-time. I am looking forward to reading my first Christie novel.

4.

Random outdoor photos

5.

That's it, folks. 

My uneventful life is tapped out at 4 subjects this week. I am off to sneak in an episode of my aforementioned guilty pleasure while Jared is out drinking a beer with our neighbors. 

Happy Weekend!

Goodnight light and the red balloon

I'm an avid reader, have been as far back as I can remember. I love books. I love reading. And so does Jared. So naturally we would love to instill the love of reading in our children.

We read a lot of books at our house.
Pete the Cat is particularly huge right now.
I think both Jared and I have quite a few books memorized.
And of course we have a few books that accidentally get shoved to the far reaches of the bookcase on occasion...

Graham is particularly in love with Goodnight Moon.
We read it to both girls when they were babies too. Neither seemed overly excited about it.

But it is clearly Graham's favorite. If I tell him to go grab a book, he inevitably sifts through (ie: dumps out) the basket of board books in search of his beloved copy of Goodnight Moon.

It's barely holding on. 

I've had to resort to clear packing tape to hold the spine together. Some pages have also seen their fair share of tape and the cover is constantly being bent in half by little hands. 

But he loves it.

He loves turning the pages.
He loves hearing me say the word moon.
And he loves the pages with the kittens especially. He points to them and smiles his goofy Graham smile. And then he attempts his version of "meow" which sounds more like the typical response to "What does a cow say?" than the sound of an actual kitten.

I love that when I mention anything about books, he lights up and says, "Moon!" and tears off across the house to grab his book.

It sort of reminds me of another child, one who also had her own all-time favorite book...

Bailey loved Bubbles Bubbles - a cheap Sesame Street book that was purchased from the $1 section at Target.
To this day I can still recite it all.

Bubbles bubbles on my nose.

Bubbles bubbles on my toes.

Bubbles bubbles in my hair.

Bubbles bubbles everywhere!

It made such an impression that one of her first words was bubbles, which was particularly adorable to her father and me. She loved that book so much that it was pretty much worn out by her first birthday. I went to replace it - can't beat a dollar book! - and I couldn't find it anywhere. When I finally found it months later, I bought another three or four copies. Just 'cause.

With Graham now approaching a year and a half of age, we are leaving some of the simple board books behind. We are finding some new favorites (Pete the Cat and his different colored shoes, anyone?), but the girls still enjoy a quick reading of Elmo and his friends and their bubble rhymes.

Maybe Graham just has a thing for moons?

What are some of your kids' favorite books?

5 on Friday

1.
As I said in a recent post, I gave up Facebook. Not gave it up for Lent or something. Just gave it up. And I have to say it's been a great decision. It took a couple days to get past the initial itching-to-log-in-when-bored phase, but now Facebook just doesn't even cross my mind.

It is helpful that Jared still has it. We have quite a few of the same friends so he updates me when something major has been shared online. Other than that, I am glad to be missing out on it all. I never thought I would say that. I always thought it was sort of different when people refused to be a part of the Facebook world, but now I totally get it.

2. 
I departed the Facebook world just to enter the world of tweeting.
I know, I know.
But I spend all of one minute a day on Twitter. Mostly it allows me to blow off parental steam in a social media kind of way.

Plus I have zero idea how to manage it anyway. I followed a couple of people and now I am annoyed by their five bajilion retweets a day, but I have no clue how to unfollow them. And I also have little interest in really figuring it all out, so here I am. With a total of maybe four tweets ever.


3.
I have been in a reading kind of mood lately. I love to read but sometimes just don't make the time. Or I have so many books on my list, I don't even know where to start. Since I take the kids to story time at our library a couple times a month, I have no excuse not to ask our local librarian for her recommendations. We chat about books frequently and we seem to have similar taste. So she has pulled a few of her favorites and basically made me check them out.

Right now I am reading Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

It's a different kind of book, about a girl/woman that keeps dying and being reborn, living her life over and over until she gets it right. I am maybe a third of the way through it right now and like it so far.


4.
We are all getting a little stir crazy around here. I am tired of snow and temps in the 20s. It's time for some legit spring weather.
So when the temperature cracks 50º we all behave like it's a heat wave. We get out the stroller and bike and head outside for a walk. Bailey started riding her bike at the end of last summer. She does pretty well despite our long pothole-filled driveway.

As a kid I didn't ride bikes much. We lived out in the country on a gravel road so biking wasn't much fun. My sisters and I opted instead for go-carts, 4-wheelers, and mopeds. So the fundamentals of bike safety weren't on the forefront of my mind. Jared took care of that.
Bailey's new bike helmet arrived this week. And while Bailey protested it at first, she quickly gave in when she saw Daddy has one too.

We are hoping the weather warms up and stays that way soon.
 But in the meantime, I am looking forward to...

5.
...Our sister weekend!
Last year I met up with my three sisters, used up a free-stay hotel voucher, and spent 24 hours shopping, eating, and drinking.
This year we thought it would be fun to repeat last year's idea. So I booked a nice hotel suite on Priceline and we are all set to meet up this Sunday.

And as you can see from the picture above:
No kids.
No husband.
No responsibilities....
*Heaven*

Happy Friday!

the Friday 5

1.
So this is probably gonna sound very un-American-ish, but the winter Olympics in Sochi are underway... and I just can't bring myself to give a crap.

The summer games in London? 
We were all about them. We watched the opening ceremonies, recorded hours of coverage during the day, discussed the results... 
Honestly, this time around I will probably watch an hour or two at most, and probably while painting my nails or talking on the phone. 

I mean, yay! for the athletes, but I am just not that in to snow, let alone snow sports. So U-S-A! and all that, but I think I'm gonna pass.

2.
Speaking of painting nails, I used a Christmas gift card and bought myself a new brand of polish to try: Essie.

color: Russian Roulette

(I swear, only a coincidence to the subject in #1)

I have happened across quite a few people recommending it and singing its long-lasting praises. And since nothing is more annoying to me than actually getting around to painting my nails for once and then watching them chip on Day 1, I pulled the trigger and bought a bottle of color and the all-in-one base and top coat. It's a little pricier than a Walmart special, but only by a dollar or two. Plus the color selection looks pretty amazing. 

3.
We missed out on the last big storm that rolled through this week. We got maybe 2 inches is all. 
Most of the time the little stuff that isn't quite up to snuff in our house doesn't bother me. 
But then winter rolls around...
And it becomes quite obvious that living in a house someone else previously "fixed up" can be a bit of a pain in the ass.

Exhibit A:

Notice the cute little drift of snow in our front entry??

I am not shocked.

This room is tiny, and it is separated from the rest of the house by another door. This room also seems to have zero insulation. And tile floors. Talk about instant feet frostbite if you dare walk in barefoot. We never use the coat closet in this room, because to do so involves surviving the 30 degree temperature drop from the rest of the house. I can almost see our money floating out of this door. (And I can literally see the outside through the door frame when it is closed...)

I am all for do-it-yourself-ing. By all means, save yourself some money and tackle small projects on your own. But if you don't know how to do something right, then either figure out how to, or hire someone else. Because this is just so not legit.

Can anyone say Summer Project? 

It's next on the list. And sadly it will probably pay for itself just in the energy savings from one winter...

4.
I just finished reading American Wife.

It's not new. It came out in 2008 and apparently I missed all the buzz about it back then.

I like to get recommendations about books, but not overly research them. I like to know it's a type of book I would enjoy, but I don't want to read reviews and perhaps ruin a good book. So I didn't know ahead of time it was loosely based on what the author imagined Laura Bush's life to be like. And I don't even know if it is what she imagines her life to have been like, or if it was just an easy place for an idea to take off - a solid idea on which to base some facts and then let her imagination run wild. 

Either way, I really liked it. 

This has only been the second book by Sittenfeld that I have read, the first being Sisterland, but I liked them both. Apparently I like a journey into the mind of someone else, someone who might be vastly different than you, and finding the similarities that make us all human. Because even though she ends up a wealthy woman of privilege that becomes First Lady, she is still entirely relatable. 

Essentially it is a lot about marriage, and there were parts in the book that I found comforting. Like the small but definitely not-so-pretty parts that I am sure occur in every marriage, we just don't talk about them. It was wholly entertaining to me. I like to see how people get to where they are. 

What shaped them? 

What were they thinking? 

What drove them to do that? 

People are interesting to me in general, and her characters are jump-off-the-page real as you read, at least in my opinion.

I would definitely recommend.

5.

Then there is this cheeser:

He's doing anything for a laugh these days, even if it means eating a whole meal with a piece of ham on his nose.

He's learning new words - two in one day: yummy and baby.

His new favorite game is to get a long distance away and then run in to give you a hug. Followed by a big open-mouthed kiss of course.
Heart melted.

He is ornery already, following things he has clearly learned from sister Avery. She on the other hand seems pretty pleased with her new pupil.


Welp, that's all folks. 

Happy Friday!

Obsessed

I have become a reading addict.

Well, actually I have always been one. I am the family bookworm. There are home videos of my younger sisters running around, Justy probably playing with a fluffy kitten or something, and me engrossed in a book. And I had glasses. I know. Total Geek Alert.
For the most part I prefer reading to watching a movie or TV. (With the exception of watching my main man Jim Caviezel kick some ass on Person of Interest. Seriously love that show.)

Currently I have been completed absorbed into the Outlander series.
I got the recommendation off a baby website of all places. Someone was asking for great book recommendations and after about eight different people suggested this book, I decided I should probably check it out. So I logged on to my faithful website www.goodreads.com (love this place!) and looked up the deets. I decided to check out the first book and see what I thought.

I headed down to the local library. I figured seeing as the book was published in 1991... there probably wasn't going to be much of a wait list... The librarian led me immediately to the correct aisle - singing the book's praises along the way - and I was set. Unfortunately I read another book ahead of this one that a few other online readers said they loved. Yeah... not so much. {Sorry John Irving, but I just couldn't bring myself to give a crap about Owen Meany and the prayers being said for his scrawny butt. But I hate being a quitter, so I suffered through that dreadful, long, drawn-out book for over a month. Bleh.}

So now I am on Book 3 of 7 (soon to be 8) and they are like crack. Don't get me wrong - I am not saying these are Nobel Prize winning pieces of literature. But damn are they entertaining. At least for the female audience. Obviously it's a good book if it's got me thinking kilts and red hair are sexy. {No offense intended to all you ginges out there.}

I love reading. Books take you to a different place and let you be a different person, in a different life for a while. It's escapism at its finest.
I find myself hoping for a slow day at work so I can squeeze in a few pages. Or I am dead tired at night once Jared leaves for work, but somehow I still end up in bed reading until midnight. Oops!
So seeing as it's rapidly approaching 11 pm, I should probably go get at least a couple pages in...  ;)

my newest read

Since Jared has been gone to Des Moines for job training most of this past month, I have had a little extra time on my hands. Not too much, but some. And for some reason, if I am alone at night, I can find all sorts of reasons to stay up and not go to bed at a decent hour. I can be tired and dragging butt all day long, but 10 pm rolls around and I am online or reading a magazine or blogging or mindlessly watching TV. And when I do go to bed, it's quiet and I am all alone with no one to talk to. 

So one of the first nights he was gone I sat there, not ready to turn out the light and surrender to sleep quite yet. I looked over and noticed the Bible that sits on our bedside table. Now I will admit I have never been a terribly good Bible reader. We have had good intentions in the past, reading a chapter or more every night, but then something would come up to alter our routine and we got out of the habit. But since I had nothing else better to do, I decided to give it another go.

So every night, after the girls are asleep and I have grown tired of Facebook and blogs and mindless TV, I climb into bed, get comfy and crack open Jared's student Bible. I like his Bible. It's sort of like The Bible for Dummies. It's a student version with lots of little text boxes further explaining important passages and events that take place.  And it has a guided tour that helps you focus in on the "important" or more well known texts if you get bogged down in some of the chapters {or entire books for that matter}. I really like this because it's like a great English teacher in high school who helped you decipher all that confusing language in Romeo & Juliet. It's like a sermon in church where the pastor takes a passage and compares it to everyday examples and makes it easier to relate to and, thus, understand.

I came across a chapter in Deuteronomy that was outlined by the guided tour:

"When your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
                                                                   Deuteronomy 8:13-14

The guided tour went on to further elaborate the point with a quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Russian man, explaining why it was he learned to pray in a Siberian concentration camp:
"When things are bad, we are not ashamed of our God. We are only ashamed of Him when things are going well."

This really resonated with me.

It's easy to be faithful when you feel you truly need God. When bad things happen to us or those we love, it is easy to turn to prayer and ask/beg/plead for God's help. It's easy to need God when there is literally no one else. When a friend is having a tough time or a family member is sick, for many of us it is our first reaction to say, "You're in my prayers." It's easy to talk about praying when someone's health or life is on the line. It's probably even the expected thing to say.

It's much harder to remember to put your faith in God when things are going well for you. You just landed a great job, your family is healthy, and things in your life seem to be perfect. It's just simply easier to forget about God when life seems to be going your way.

And clearly he predicted that.

I am guilty of this, just as I am sure most people are. Thinking back to times when I felt the most in need of God's help and guidance, I am brought back to one recent example: when Avery was admitted to the NICU and was oh-so-very sick.

It didn't fully dawn on me for about two full days just how serious the situation really was. But then she developed a blood infection, and our doctor was worried about endocarditis, and then there was potential for brain damage from her extreme jaundice... It hit me.  People die from blood infections all the time. And she isn't even a week old. That night when my family thought I had gone to my room to lie down, I roamed the hospital and ended up in the chapel. I just knelt in the small pew, all alone, sobbing and praying simultaneously.

And then I did what I am sure every person in these kind of situations does:

I prayed, "I will do anything. Anything. Just please make her better."

I really, really needed God. I am a pray-er anyway, I pray about lots of things. But none of my prayers ever had the intensity of the prayers I said in those weeks. I had never wanted anything more in my entire life than for my tiny little baby to be okay. And as the days went by, she began to grow stronger and healthier.

Now that it has been almost a year since Avery was sick, the terror and the need I was feeling at the time seems a bit more dulled. You seem to forget the pleading and the begging and the bargaining. You forget just how much you needed your faith then - and how much you still need it now. You start to forget because things are going well.

I am a thankful person. Daily I thank God for the gifts He has given me, the family I am blessed with, and the opportunities I have been granted. But I also want to live my life in faith too, during both the good times and the bad. I am not going to become some awkward person who only talks about Jesus. And guaranteed my liberal viewpoints are here to stay. I just want to put more of my trust in God so I can give up the worry and know that in the end, everything is going to be all right.

Book It

The Hunger Games.
You need to read it. And then read the next two. Totally addicting. And hurry up and do it before the movie comes out later this month. And btw, I saw the extended trailer online... I will have to see it. And in-the-theaters-see-it, which is basically unheard of anymore in my child-filled world.

And while I am talking books, I have another recommendation for anyone reading this: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. A-mazing. It is a bit intimidating at 900+ pages (I know, I know...) but just trust me on this one. And don't judge it by its book jacket description either. I will admit when I first saw Jared reading it a few years back, I took one look at its description and its size and literally said, "Why in the hell are you reading that?" But after watching him blatantly ignore me for a week to read it, I figured it must be pretty good.

It's more than pretty good. It's great. I think it's safe to say it is my favorite book of all time. It's got all the components of a stellar book - mystery, love, drama, revenge, sex, killing (not necessarily all in that order) - against a backdrop of the 12th century and building of a cathedral. I have made lots of people read this book: my mom and sisters {excluding Felicia, seeing as the only book she has read in the last 10 years was Alan Iverson's biography...which I am sure was a work of literary genius...}, my grandma, some friends, and anyone else who would listen to me.

Ken Follett is also writing a 3-book series set from World War I to World War II called Fall of Giants. Only the first one has been released, but it is also a great book. Apparently I have become a bit of a Ken Follett fan, but anyone who can paint a descriptive picture in my mind of the building of a beautiful 12th century cathedral and a down-and-dirty sex scene gets the official Vanessa stamp of approval.

I love getting recommendations for good books.

[I used to trust Oprah and her book club, but then she recommended Jonathan Franzen's book Freedom... And for that I would love to request a refund. And I would also like those hours of my life back as well.] 

So if anyone reading has some good book recommendations, I would love to hear them! Just leave me a comment.  :)