The Mystery Date

Enoch and I have really been trying to find time to date each other lately. We agreed to follow this idea (but did not sign the contract) to do a date a week, most of them at home after the kids have gone to bed, alternating who is in charge and just watching TV does not count. Last week, we got invited by my sister and her husband to go play at the local golf course.

I took 20 strokes off of my game and hit a 70 instead of a 90 - aren't you impressed!!!

Okay, we only played nine holes. Probably shouldn't make that call to the LPGA yet...

Anyway, last week was my week and I thought I would tie it in with the date of the month that Enoch selected (for March...yea, got a little behind) which was the mystery date.

When I put that option for him, I thought it sounded like lots of fun, but then when it came time to actually implement it, I struggled. What was the mystery, how much, how could I pull it off, etc. Then, epiphany came from here and I gave him a piece of paper where he had to pick one out of each of the following pairs of choices.

Hot/Cold

Sword/Whip

High/Low

Light/Dark

Needless to say, the sword/whip choice had him VERY confused, but that's part of the fun, right? So, after he made his selections, I started him out on the date (a week later).

I gave him an envelope that was sealed and gave some instructions for him to drive to a particular location. (Drive down Midvalley and then Minersville, getting on to I-15 going south, exit when you can see the lighthouse, turn right at the light, turn right again as soon as you can, enter the location with a girl surrounded in green, upon entering, open the envelope and follow the instructions).

I put a ten dollar bill and my order for caramel apple cider with whipped cream and told him to order what he wanted. Then return home. (HOT)

Then, when we had finished our drinks, we broke out the game controllers and played a level of Lego Indiana Jones. (WHIP)

For those of you with inquiring minds, the sword was Lego Star Wars...:)

He then got a really good, long, relaxing back massage (HIGH - low would have been feet)

For the last one he selected dark.

Moving on.

It turned out to be really fun, and cost me $5.00 plus the gas for him to drive in and back out. The kids were in bed the whole time and it was fun to just hang out and have fun like we used to "way back in the day." I know there are many who are frustrated with things in their lives, and we (men & women) tend to take things out on our spouses. But when you were dating, did you? We know there is stress, but try this idea - shoot for once a week, but if you need to start with once a month, it's better than nothing. It's nice to remember on a regular basis how to have fun with your spouse. And it doesn't have to cost a gajillion dollars either.

All the links in this post have amazing ideas on how to have fun, rekindle the romance and keep it very under budget, regardless of what your budget is.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This is a book that I have been curious about for over a year, but for whatever reason kept putting it off. Dumb, dumb, dumb. This is an AMAZING book. I know, I really love books, but I fell in love with this one very quickly and found it consumed my thoughts until it was finished. It is a beautiful, delightful, charming book that I simply adore.

This is the story about a group of people who survived WWII on an island that was expected to harbor the German military. It is a little island in the English channel, and they were completely cut off from any communication, food was scarce, they had sent most of their children to live with others in England proper and endured many hardships, including an ever changing and forcibly controlled curfew. One night, a group of people are stopped by a German guard, and in an impromptu decision, they create a literary society as a cover for why they were really meeting. Then, when the occupation and war are over, a woman discovers this island, it's people and the amazing stories they have to tell about this time.

I wish people still wrote letters after reading this. I am amazed at the voice that the authors were able to capture through the letter writing format. I was a little hesitant, curious as to whether or not it would get confusing, but the characters seemed so real to me. Such an amazing book (Laurel, really, give me another chance - try this one, if none of the others...) This book feels like that blanket most of us had as kids - friendly, comforting, inviting - I really did love this book and regret that I waited so long to read it. Please, give it a try.

Celebrating and Refocusing

I'm not sure this is new news at this point as Enoch texted everyone in his phone and I posted it on Facebook, but I successfully defended my Master's thesis and will be graduating a week from tomorrow. I've had so many people ask me if I'm thrilled and on a high.

The answer?

No.

I'm tired, exhausted, lacking motivation and wanting to have a lazy day. I think I'll probably hit that high next week during the celebrations, etc. but I'm really just worn out for now. Super glad to be done and moving on to other things, don't get me wrong. But I've been pushing pretty hard for the last year and a half and I think it finally caught up with me :)

With that being done, I'm hoping that now this can turn back into a blog about something besides books. I still plan on reading and posting all my reviews, and summer's coming up so it will probably pick up the pace a bit. But I really, really want to bake.

I'm planning on making these VERY soon, want to make some scrabble cookies like these but maybe not quite on the scale that she did. I am Baker has the best recipe and tutorials for making amazing looking cookies that I just have to try out.

My girls REALLY want to do more baking as well, and in my dream land, I would buy some of these

but maybe I'll just visit my neighbor's fabric shop and break out my sewing machine and make some myself.

In other words, I'm getting domestic about my life and am super excited :)

On Writing

For those of you who have read this blog for any amount of time, you will be well aware of the fact that I have a general like for most books and I read all different kinds of genres. The one genre I really haven't gotten into (and not sure that I will) is horror fiction. I teach the horror story to my creative writing students (they love it - gets them writing) but I really haven't read much. But I kept hearing about how this book was one of the greatest on the craft of writing and exceptionally real. I put it off for two years and finally picked it up. I figured it was in my classroom and I recommended it to my writing students so I should read it right? I was pleasantly surprised at how much enjoyability I found in reading this book.

The first 100 or so pages of this book are some of King's memories - his horrific, chronic ear infections that had to be drained, his natural draw to the old horror films as a child and his early passion to write. He covers a bit about meeting his wife, Tabitha, his passion for writing, and getting the idea to write his first book, Carrie. He also covers the great number of rejection letters he received through his career, the crap jobs he worked trying to make it as a writer and the day things started to turn around. Then, he spends the rest of the book talking about what he considers to be the essential skills a writer should possess, what is important and what is crap (he chooses some other words...) and reminds the reader many times that nothing matters if the story isn't good.

I LOVED this book. I laughed out loud several times, which I really did not expect. As before mentioned, I have not read any of his books, but I wonder if his tone is as straightforward there as it was here. I think that is one of the reasons I loved this book. I appreciated the praise he gave to many authors, but also the way he would state both name and work when he found something that was a disgrace. His boldness was refreshing, especially in a world where everyone LOVES everything anyone has written. While I really, really want to be a published writer, I really want to be one that is GOOD - not one who is published for the sake of publishing. If nothing else, reading this book reinforced that idea, and has me very excited to get going.

*DISCLAIMER: There is some pretty strong language in this book - not really excessive, but still there. If ANY of the swear words offend you, this may not be the work for you.

My Pre-Order Cart w/Amazon

These are the books currently set to be sent to my house on their release date. I also have Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson and Alcatraz versus the Shattered Lens, but they don't have pretty covers to show you yet.

Take Two Chocolates and Call Me in the Morning

I bought this book when I went to Time Out for Women after I heard Emily Watts speak. She was hilarious and down to earth - reminded me a bit of Mary Ellen Edmunds, and I wanted something fun to read. Obviously, it's taken me a while to get to this one, but I found it was just the book I needed at the time.

Emily is a working mom, but that doesn't mean the book will have no application for the stay at home moms. If we are being honest, both are kindof both anyway. She talks about ways to manage a crazy busy life, how to balance what mom wants and what kids need. I loved her stories, laughed out loud on more than one occasion. Her life lessons were perfect. I also loved how she has had body image issues that she has battled her whole life. There are very, VERY few people I know who look in the mirror each day and say, "Thank you Lord for this perfect body that I would not change one bit." I love the way Emily deals with this topic and so many others.

This book is broken up into chapters in such a way that you could choose to read the book in order or jump around from chapter to chapter as your whim dictates. I am having a hard time right now thinking of a woman who I know reads this blog that this book wouldn't be good for. It isn't brain taxing - a nice book to read before falling asleep and ending the day on a good note. Best when read with a little chocolate...

Everything is Fine.

I had this book recommended at the UVU conference last year, and praised by some Utah authors as a book they wished they had written but didn't, but I forgot about my list until I saw this book in our school's library. The picture of the girl stuck with me from the conference and this author is friends with Carol Lynch Williams so I figured she had to be decent. I was pleasantly surprised.

This is the story about a girl who is living with her mom while her dad is working. Her parents aren't separated, but they might as well be. She is in charge of her mom, who apparently has something very wrong, but it isn't known immediately what that is. This young girl deals with the frustration of people who are supposed to help her, but don't, and people (the government) who want to help her but she doesn't want their help. As the story progresses, the reader gets to learn about her family, what has happened, what's wrong with her mother and understand (remember) what it is like being a girl who wants to be woman, but just isn't yet.

This story was addicting. It is a short book - took me maybe an hour-ish to read, but I was blown away by the narrative skills. I loved the way this was told, that the reader doesn't know immediately what is going on in this house. I know that Ann Dee Ellis is a new author, but I hope to find some more of her writing. If it is this good, I know I won't be disappointed.

The Pulley

The Pulley - George Herbert

WHEN God at first made Man,

Having a glass of blessings standing by—

Let us (said He) pour on him all we can;

Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,

Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way,

Then beauty flow’d, then wisdom, honour, pleasure;

When almost all was out, God made a stay,

Perceiving that, alone of all His treasure,

Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said He)

Bestow this jewel also on My creature,

He would adore My gifts instead of Me,

And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:

So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,

But keep them with repining restlessness;

Let him be rich and weary, that at least,

If goodness lead him not, yet weariness

May toss him to My breast.