Thursday, February 26, 2015

What I Read ~ 2014

I don't really know why I keep lists of the books I read other than the fact that I like lists...  And this list is coming pretty late since 2014 ended like two months ago, but better late then never, right?  Well, at least if you actually care what I read last year!

Stand out author for me this year would probably be Jojo Moyes.  I really, really enjoyed the two books I read by her this past fall.  I love that they take place in England and enjoy reading all the British-isms.  To top it off, the story lines were intriguing - all that human condition stuff I like - and the characters were believable.  Both books had me in tears...especially Me Before You.  I am looking forward to reading more by her this year!

As for a favorite book that I would recommend to anyone...that's a tough one!  I got a kick out of An Abundance of Katherines, and I loved Conversion because of the history tied into the storyline.

On my "least favorite" list would be the entire Beautiful Creatures series.  It's far from the worst thing I've ever read (and I've endured a lot of bad), but I didn't love it.  If I hadn't received the books as a Christmas gift, I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish the series.  Turns out I just don't have a lot of patience for the "tortured teenage love story" anymore. 

I didn't read a lot of nonfiction this year, but what I did read, I enjoyed.  Killing Lincoln appealed to the history buff in me, and Jennie Allen, Jen Hatmaker, and Rob Bell kept me thinking about God and life. 

Probably my biggest accomplishment (in my opinion anyway) would be how much of the Bible I read.  I actually started this project about a year and a half ago when I realized how little of the Bible I had ever read.  I was supposed to finish up in July, but of course I have gotten off "schedule," but I still knocked quite a bit of it out!  The Old Testament about did me in at a couple of points (laws and more laws!), but there were bright spots in there.  Loved the book of Esther!

Anyway, enough rambling.  If you're looking for a good book, here's a list of things that I read in 2014!


Reading List – 2014

 FICTION
Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451

 J.C. Carleson
The Tyrant’s Daughter

 Kiera Cass
The Selection
The Elite
The One

 P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Betrayed
Chosen

Melissa de la Cruz
Witches of East End

Lauren De Stefano
Fever
Sever

 Janet Evanovich
Twelve Sharp
Plum Lovin’
Lean Mean Thirteen
Plum Lucky

Gayle Forman
If I Stay
Where She Went

 Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Darkness
Beautiful Chaos
Dream Dark
Beautiful Redemption

 Jane Green
Family Pictures
A Walk in the Park
Another Piece of My Heart

 John Green
An Abundance Katherines
The Fault in Our Stars
Will Grayson, Will Grayson

 Elin Hilderbrand
The Castaways

 Jeff Hirsch
The Eleventh Plague

 Katherine Howe
Conversion

 Lauren Kate
Torment
Passion
Rapture
Fallen in Love

 Wally Lamb
She’s Come Undone

Marie Lu
Legend
Prodigy

 Richelle Mead
Frostbite
Shadow Kiss
Blood Promise
Spirit Bound
Last Sacrifice
Bloodlines

 Jojo Moyes
Me Before You
One Plus One

 R.J. Palacio
Wonder

 Tracie Peterson
House of Secrets

 Kathy Reichs
Death Du Jour

Ransom Riggs
Mrs. Peregrine’s House of Peculiar Children
Hallow City

 Rick Riordin
The Lightning Thief

 Veronica Roth
Four
Divergent

 Neal Shusterman
Unwind
UnWholly
UnSouled

 Heather Wardell
Go Small or Go Home
Planning to Live

 Jennifer Weiner
In Her Shoes

 Lee Woodruff
Those We Love Most

 NONFICTION

 Jennie Allen
Anything

 Rob Bell
What We Talk About When We Talk About God

 Candance Cameron Bure
Reshaping It All
Balancing It All

 Karen Ehman
Let. It. Go.

 Jen Hatmaker
Seven
Out of the Spin Cycle

 Bill O’Reilly
Killing Lincoln

 BIBLE
1 Kings
Obadiah
Jonah
Amos
Hosea
Nahum
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
Joel
Micah
Isaiah
Zephaniah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Jeremiah
2 Chronicles
Daniel
Haggai
Zechariah
Esther
Ezra
Psalms
Malachi
Nehemiah
Matthew
Mark
Luke

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

an unexpected party

My husband loves The Lord of the Rings.  LOVES.  I know for a fact he saw the second and third movies in the theater when they were first released (dunno about the first one...I didn't know him yet, but I'm guessing he did).  He also own the directors cut extended edition of all three movies - that means over 12 hours of movie!  He was beside himself excited when he heard that they were making the prequel, The Hobbit, into not only one movie, but three, movies as well.  In preparation for the theater release of the very first Hobbit movie, he paid $17 to sit in a movie theater all. day. long. watching each extended edition of LOTR back to back!  And then he turned around and went to the opening night of The Hobbit shortly after thatSince then he has watched the second and the third movies in the theater.  Not to mention, I can't count how many times he's watched them on DVD.  May I repeat:  My husband LOVES everything about The Lord of the Rings.

I, however, do not.  Like may even be too strong a word for my feelings about these movies.  Example:  I remember watching some MTV video award show in high school and the first LOTR movie was up for a bunch of awards like "Best Fight" or whatever, and I thought "Ugh...I don't want to even see that movie."  Indifferent may be the nicest way to describe my feelings at that point.

And then I met Justin.  And I watched the first movie on video with him, because, well, duh!  I wanted to like what he liked cuz I was an infatuated girl like that!  And I went to the theater and saw the second and third movies with him.  And I bought him all of the extended edition DVDs and watched them with him.  And I decided LOTR wasn't so bad, but that was about it.  I even read the books at some point during my college years, but I wouldn't say I enjoyed them much - it was more like an exercise in endurance just so I could say I did it.

So...while my husband was super excited for the release of The Hobbit, I was like...meh.  I sent him to the first movie in the theater alone, endured the second with him, and sent him on his way to the third while I stayed home and watched the kids...and I felt like I had dodged a bullet!

But then one Saturday we were a bit bored and talking about the third movie coming out on DVD and I made some comment about how it'd been so long I'd have to watch the first and second again just to remember what happened, and he had this great idea that we do it RIGHT! NOW! and I said "sure" and we did.

And I liked them.  Like A LOT!

I'm not sure what has changed about me in the last year or so, but....I really, really liked the movies this time around.  So much so that I was - and am still - seriously irritated that I have to wait for the third movie to come out on DVD to see it!  In fact, I liked The Hobbit so much, that I decided that maybe I needed to see all three LOTR again....that maybe I would find that I liked them now too!

So, believe it or not, the following is something that me - the not interested in the LOTR/Hobbit then girlfriend/now wife - suggested...

First came this idea:  let's spend a weekend watching all three extended LOTR movies!


Then out of my mouth came:  "Better yet!  Let's do it all in one day! We can have snacks!"

Then we were out of school for like four days because of "snow" and "ice" and "cold."  I was a bit bored, so I decided to put some thought into the food part of our movie marathon.  I visited Pinterest (Yikes!) and discovered all kinds of themed meal times and recipes and menus.  So, I made plans and lists and came up with this...

An Unexpected Party!  An appropriate title given the party organizer (me)...and stolen straight from the chapter title in one of the books (The Hobbit I believe, but don't quote me...I'm not that big of a fan remember)

First Breakfast kicked off around 8:00.  We all gathered around the table to share French toast, "nice crispy bacon," and sausages.




Second Breakfast - biscuits with honey or jam and coffee - was perfectly coordinated with the start of The Fellowship of the Ring shortly after 9:00. 


Gavin thought it'd be funny if I took a picture of him picking his nose....he's such a booger!


The first disk for Fellowship ended just in time for a quick break and the serving of our meal for Elvensies!  We munched on Lembas bread and ten cup ranger cookies served up with hot apple cider!



Gavin didn't stick around to watch very long, but Logan lasted the entire first movie and was ready to start up the second!
The first movie ended, we flipped disks and started up The Two Towers while enjoying our Luncheon.  Justin had picked up some amazing cheeses to go with our deli meats and crackers!



(Then we paused the movie, and Justin ran to Walmart to get me some medicine because it turns out my stomach doesn't like eating like a Hobbit.  Minor set back, but we were quickly back on track!)

Logan refused to do anything but eat and make funny faces for the camera!

Disk #1 wrapped up and we served Afternoon Tea - English Breakfast Tea with blueberry muffins and cinnamon swirl bread - with the start of disk #2.  At this point it was about 3:30 in the afternoon.

At this point, Logan had watched the first two movies with us, and Gavin was back in the game...probably because there was food again!


My boys are so well trained...even though the food was served on the coffee table, they took their plates to the dinner table since they're not typically allowed to eat in the living room!


After The Two Towers ended, we took a longer break.  Justin got the boys ready for bed while I set the table for dinner and dished up crockpot scalloped potatoes and ham.  We all sat down together and ate as a family - something that doesn't normally happen twice in one day! 





Then it was time to begin the last movie:  The Return of the King.  The first disk about two hours into the movie (the director's cut is just shy of four hours long), and we took a break for dessert...pie!  And of course beer since hobbits like beer!


Of course we drink our beer in wine glasses...we're classy like that!


At this point, Logan had been curled up with me on the couch the entire day watching each minute of every movie...and begging for pie!  Yet, when pie time came...he didn't want pie, he just wanted to get on with the movie!

My trooper - settled in and ready to finish this marathon!

We finished our movie marathon around 10:00.  I was exhausted!  And so was Logan who fell asleep with only an hour to go!  I still can't believe he watched all day long with us!  Gavin was in and out, watching at times, mostly playing, but even he had joined us there at the end and fell asleep in Justin's lap.  We carried our kids to bed and called it a success!

How do I feel about LOTR now?  I'm pretty sure I really, really like it.  Justin asked me why the sudden change, and the truth is, I don't know.  I know that I really, really enjoyed all the family time this adventure allowed me to have which would obviously have an effect on my feelings about the activity we did - in this case the LOTR movie marathon.  I also know that I'm not the same person I was in my twenties.  These past three or four years especially have changed me so much, changed how I see everything, and that has had a lot of carry over even in to what I find interesting and enjoyable and meaningful.  It's interesting to see how a few years (and maybe a bit more maturity???) can change my perception of my world and alter how I feel about things...even little things like movies.

One thing is for sure...we are looking forward to our Hobbit movie marathon to be held as soon as that darn third movie comes out on DVD!





Hey!  My name is Lucius and nobody paid any attention to me today, so I'm just going to sleep on this pile of coats.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

about lent

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the kick off for the season of Lent.  I struggle every year with this time.  I have good intentions to form new habits, break old ones, be sacrificial through it all.  I say I'm going to read the Bible each day - for myself and the kiddos...but then one day is missed and another and another, and I give up.  I say I'm going to give something up (like Dr. Pepper or Chocolate - you know something I'll actually miss, but need to learn to live with out anyway), but am back at it two weeks (and that's being generous) later. 

I also tell myself that I'm going to make a big deal out of the season for my boys, teach them about the meaning of Easter and Jesus and his sacrifice - the whole shebang.  I tell myself I will put as much effort into Lent as I do into Advent.  And I don't.  (In my defense I had some success a few years back when we did Love Life Live Lent as a church.)

Come Easter Sunday I'm a stressed out disaster - every. single. year.  I'm cranky about the kids screaming about chocolate bunnies and baskets and toys instead of Jesus and kicking myself because of course it's my fault - after all I dropped the ball teaching them.  And instead of focusing on my Savior, I'm worried about getting to church on time in the right clothes and the big meal that follows after. 

I don't want to do that this year.  Any of it.  Sure, I want to make this season special, but not in a way that crams it down the throats of my family and leaves me feeling drained and like a failure.  I think my biggest problem with Lent each year is that I overthink the details and forget the big picture:  Jesus' sacrifice for me, for all of us. 

So no details this year.  And no guilt.

We didn't make it to the Ash Wednesday service last night, and that's okay.  Things happen and Jesus gets it - even if other people don't - and his opinion is the one that matters.

I started up with my daily Bible reading again yesterday.  My goal for Lent:  to finish my "read the Bible in a year" project that I started a year and half ago.  I want to start reading through a children's Bible with my boys again, too (We HAVE done this before - SUCCESS!  Time to do it again!)

I'm going to dig out our Love Life Live Lent activity book from a few years back and choose some activities to do as a family on weekends. 

I gave up soda and fast food.  I believe that God wants me to take better care of my body - and teach that to my boys - then I do, and here's a start.  I also believe He wants me to use my money for better causes then the enormous amount of junk foods and drinks my family consumes.

I believe God wants my family to tithe more to our church each month.

I may not get all of those things above right everyday either, but I won't give up this year.  Each day I will see as a new day, another chance.  Lent is going to be special this year, but not because I'm going to make a huge production out of it.  Instead it will be special because it will be about Jesus and family and sacrifice and forgiveness.