Books of 2009

Growing up, my Dad taught me to keep track of the books I read. But as I got older I got out of the habit. For whatever reason, the idea came to me last January and throughout 2009 I kept a running list of the books I read. And here they are! If anyone is looking for some good books to read I could certainly suggest a few--and a few not so good ones too. I'm hoping that in 2010 I can make more time for reading and have an even longer list by next year.

The Christmas Sweater--Glenn Beck
Hostile Makeover
Feet First--Leanne Banks
Underfoot--Leanne Banks
Footloose--Leanne Banks
Bachelorette #1
Plum Series. Books 1-14--Janet Evanovich
Twilight Series. Books 1-4--Stephanie Meyer
Midnight Sun Manuscript--Stephanie Meyer
The Host--Stephanie Meyer
Pacific Vortex--Clive Cussler
To Die For--Linda Howard
Drop Dead Gorgeous--Linda Howard
Jane Eyre--Charlotte Bronte

Plum Spooky--Janet Evanovitch
Confessions of a Shopaholic--Sophie Kinsella
Shopaholic Takes Manhatten--Sophie Kinsella
The Mediterranean Caper--Clive Cussler
Shopaholic Ties the Knot--Sophie Kinsella
The Starter Wife--Gigi Levangie Granger
Little Women--Louisa May Alcott
Rhett Butler's People--Donald McCaig
Bet Me--Jennifer Crusie
Thanksgiving--Janet Evanovich
"A" is for Alibi--Sue Grafton
Sense & Sensibility--Jane Austen
"B" is for Burgler--Sue Grafton
"C" is for Corpse--Sue Grafton
Emma--Jane Austen
Hot Stuff--Janet Evanovich
The Work & The Glory 1--Gerald Lund
Foul Play--Janet Evanovich
The Work & The Glory 2--Gerald Lund
The Constant Princess-Philippa Gregory
Sundays at Tiffany's--James Patterson
Iceberg--Clive Cussler
To Die For--Linda Howard ( I read this one twice last year)
Safe at Home--Alyssa Milano
Twenties Girl--Sophie Kinsella
Julie & Julia--Julie Powell
The Mysterious Benedict Society--Trenton Lee Stewart
The Wednesday Letters--Jason F. Wright
The Boleyn Inheritance--Phillipa Gregory
Carpe Demon--Julie Kenner
California Demon--Julie Kenner
Persuasion--Jane Austen
A Christmas Carol--Charles Dickens
Demons are Forever--Julie Kenner
Sister Carrie--Theodore Dreiser
Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins
Something Blue--Emily Giffin

Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins
Deja Demon--Julie Kenner
Phantom--Susan Kay
Mistborn:The Final Empire--Brandon Sanderson

Called To Serve

D&C 65:2 The Keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth.

Last Wednesday, Collin went into the MTC! He is going to be serving in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. We're so proud of him!

Giving Thanks

D&C 78:19 "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family. With my Mom & Dad in Europe enjoying Dad's 2 week leave, I got to help Grandma with this year's dinner. I've always helped in years past, but I've never actually been "in charge" and I was worried! But luckily all the food turned out great!

After dinner, everyone claimed that they wanted to watch the football game. In truth, they all just wanted to sit on the couch and take a nap! Grandma & Kaya snuck off to Grandma's comfy bed for a quick nap.

I love that this holiday brings us together as a family and we get to enjoy so much time together.

Throughout the rest of the week we had fun hanging out with Alicia & Rusty. We played lots of video games, watched movies, and

ate lots and lots of yummy food! Most of all, just relaxing and enjoying being together.

We were blessed to be able to have Alicia & Rusty hanging out with us all week long, and had such a wonferul time. Parker and I talk often about how full and blessed our lives are. We are so very thankful for our family and friends--we love all of you so much. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and were able to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for.

A Little Organization

I have a shelf! This may be mundane news to some of you, but I am SO excited about it! Parker and I have a storage closet on the outside of our condo and for the last year it has been a complete disaster. It didn't matter how I tried to organize it, it was always such a mess. And in order to get the box or item we needed I would have to unload the whole closet. Such a hassle.

Well, not anymore! My super helpful brother Rusty came over during Thanksgiving break and built a shelf in my closet. I can practically hear the Hallelujah chorus! I'm wishing I would have thought to take a "before" picture but here is the "after"!

Isn't it wonderful?!

And of course Krug found a way to include himself. He had fun playing with all the 2x4 scrap pieces.

Thank you so much Rusty!!!

The new shelf is perfect!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Have I mentioned that I have the MOST wonderful husband?! He somehow manages to put up with all my craziness--including my need to get my Christmas decorations out as early as possible! I am a complete Christmas nerd and love all things Christmas. The week before Thanksgiving he took the initiative and helped me haul out all the decorations and put up our Christmas Tree (which, if you saw the base close-up, you would realize what a complete and utter hassle that is.) He sang along with me to all our cheesy Christmas albums and helped me make our home look so very festive.

Even Krug enjoyed getting into the holiday spirit with his little doggie candy cane.

And apparently I wasn't supervising Parker's decorating efforts close enough. Can you tell what's wrong with this Nativity scene?

Here's a closer look. Can you see it now?

He put the little snowboarder next to Mary & Joseph! He thought he was so sneaky and funny but luckily I caught him. He was a little disappointed that I noticed so quickly :)

And I even managed to get all our shopping done and all the presents wrapped. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Finding Answers

The last couple of weeks I've been feeling like I was in a bit of funk. Something was missing and no matter how I searched, thought or prayed, I just couldn't figure it out. Life is really wonderful right now--my blessings far outweighing my trials. But somehow, I was just feeling lost.

During my lunch break today, I was reading through some past posts on a blog I've been following since the beginning of summer. It is written by a woman named Stephanie Nielson. Have you heard of her? I hope you have. Her posts are wonderfully inspiring. Her words change me. Her story has made me think about my own. It's reminded me that my life is my own--to make of it whatever I will. I need and want to make some changes.

I sat at my desk reading one of her posts about her beloved Mr. Nielson...and in that moment I found my answer.

If you haven't read her story, please do. Many times our days are filled with wasted moments. This will not be one of them.

This link provides the short version of her story.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090924-tows-stephanie-plane-crash\

The link to her blog (The NieNie Dialogues) is in my sidebar.

Rules

Rule #1: Projects involving glitter should always be done outside.

Rule #2: You should never wear a brand new expensive white shirt while doing said project.

Rule #3: Do not make the mistake of thinking the project will turn out exactly how you planned.

Needless to say, I broke all three of these rules this last Saturday. My Mom had given me some pumpkins a few weeks ago and after my Jack-o-Lantern disaster (more details on that project below) I decided that I would come up with an alternative to carving. I found a fun example of some pumpkins that had been decorated with glitter and used as Harvest decorations. A little glue and some glitter—how hard could this be? Famous last words!

I won’t go into detail but let’s just say that despite my best efforts glitter got everywhere. And I do mean EVERYWHERE! I also now need to scrub glue and glitter speckles out of a new white shirt (what was I thinking?!) And for some reason the darn red glitter ended up looking like oozing, dribbling blood. Not very Harvest-y if you ask me. But you know what? I actually had a fun time and enjoyed my afternoon glitter disaster. Hopefully I’m learning my lessons and my holiday projects next year will go a little smoother.

Since I didn’t get a chance to post them earlier, here are some of the pictures of my Jack-o-Lanterns from Halloween. I won’t go into details with this little project either. To make a long story short, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my pumpkins and it didn’t turn out. Not One. Single. Bit. Apparently pumpkin carving is not my forte. Or maybe it's just pumpkins in general?

Luckily, I have the BEST sister in the entire world and she took over my pumpkins (with a little help from Krug) and carved my mini Jack-o-Lanterns for me.