One More Week!!!

Holy crap people, I am getting married in SEVEN DAYS!!!

SEVEN DAYS!!!!

...I'm a little bit excited.  Actually, I'm a lotta bit excited.  Or maybe you couldn't tell.  Anyways, I just wanted to inform all of you that I will no longer be posting to this blog after I'm married; I'll be starting a new one.  :)  I'll post a link to it when it actually has something worth looking at.  But until then, happy holidays!  You know what, never mind, screw politically correct--

Merry Christmas!! 

And a happy New Year, and all that jazz, and thank you for reading, and here is a picture of an orangutan contemplating a tiny banana. 

Merry Christmas again, everyone, and I will talk to you again soon--most likely as a married woman.  :)  Cheers!

Book Review: "The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963" (and corresponding unfortunate events)

Dear people, what a sad, sad day.  As I sit here and ponder the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conneticut, it breaks my heart.  Snow is falling outside my window, deceptively calm and quiet, reassuring and restive.  Here in my wonderful valley, with my family asleep nearby and the Christmas lights softly glowing, it's hard to believe that anything so awful could happen. (If by some chance you haven't heard the news yet, you can read it here.)

Today, I finished another beloved book, and it just so happens to correspond with the shooting in Conneticut. 

The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis

Synopsis:  Kenneth Bernard Watson tells many a tale of his family in Flint, Michigan in the early 1960's.  He tells stories of his schoolmates making fun of him for his lazy eye and for being so smart for a ten-year-old; he tells stories of his older brother (and official teenage delinquent) Byron, when he gets his lips stuck to the freezing cold mirror of their car, the Brown Bomber; stories of younger sister Joetta's unfailing Sunday School attendance, his best friend Rufus, the World's Greatest Dinosaur Battle Ever, and many other stories that will leave you falling in love with the whole family of the Weird Watsons and laughing at the antics of the entire family--until a trip to Wilona Watson's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama and the deaths of four little girls due to a bomb placed in their Sunday School class changes all of their lives forever.

My Rating:  * * * * (out of 5)

I remember putting this book down today with B's head on my shoulder, hoping to get some sleep before he went to work the night shift at our local hotel, and literally thinking, "I am so glad that as Americans, we don't have to deal with this kind of violence anymore".  It wasn't until later that I found out about the school shooting.

People, there is no need for this.  The killing of any human being is an awful, awful thing, and the killing of so many, and so young, is completely unnecessary.  Hold your loved ones close this season and thank God that you will not have to send back unopened Christmas presents this year.  Send your love and thoughts to those who are grieving at this time.  And let's hope that someday, we really won't have to deal with that kind of violence.  Ever again.

New Recipe: Crockpot Italian Chicken

We tried a new recipe this week!  On Tuesday night actually.  Sorry but I forgot to take pictures :/  But anyway, here's how it went:

4 chicken breasts
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used that Neufchatel...stuff...instead)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 packet zesty Italian dressing mix

Basically, you just dump everything in the crock pot and cook it on low for 4 hours and serve over pasta (or, in B's case, brown rice).  I actually had to cut the recipe in half because our crock pot is teeny tiny, but the size of the finished product was the perfect serving size for both of us!

And according to B, who is my most honest food critic ('cause he's Mr. Fitness Guru and he hates eating anything that's not completely healthy if he thinks it might affect his physique negatively), said:

"On a scale of 1 to 10, as far as taste goes...this is definitely a 10."

So not only a 10, but a definite 10!  :)  Yay for recipes found on Pinterest!!  I told him it would come in handy.  So here is the link to the recipe on my Pinterest board.

Happy cooking!!

p.s.  Going to try making egg-nog cookies tonight...stay tuned.  ;)

Book Review: "Inkheart"

Hello, friends! 
To everyone who is interested, I just finished re-reading "Inkheart" today and I figured I'd give a bit of a review in case some of you haven't yet read it.  (p.s.  I love it.)

Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke

Synopsis:  After reading aloud from a book called "Inkheart", book doctor Mortimer Folchart's wife disappears into the story while some of the characters from the book transfer to our world.  Mo and his daughter, Meggie, live without Teresa for nine years, while every copy of "Inkheart" is mysteriously stolen.  One dark night, Dustfinger--one of the characters from the book who got snatched from his story and plopped into our world--shows up at Mo's door and tells him the villain from the story, who also appeared in the human world, is after him.  Dustfinger, Mo, and Meggie all travel to Teresa's aunt's house.  Elinor, as a collector of books, seems a viable option to hide "Inkheart".  However, shortly after their arrival, Capricorn's men show up at Elinor's door, kidnap Mo, steal "Inkheart", and leave.  Panicked, Meggie and Elinor follow, with the help of Dustfinger.  Upon arrival at Capricorn's village, they discover Capricorn's men waiting for them--the book they thought was "Inkheart" was, in fact, a different story.  Unfortunately, Meggie and Elinor had brought the real book with them as collateral for Mo's release...but now Capricorn and his men have everything right where they want it--Mo, the sorcerer who can lure things out of their stories by the mere sound of his voice; his daughter, the one thing he will do anything to protect; the book itself, of which all other copies have been destroyed; and Elinor, the troublemaking, bold-tongued woman who would have gone to the police otherwise.  Now all Meggie has to do is figure out how to escape, release Mo, steal the book back, kill Capricorn and his men, and rescue Elinor...and maybe bring her mother back, too.  She only needs the help of "Inkheart"'s author, Fenoglio, and, of course, the elusive fire-eater Dustfinger.

My Rating:  * * * * * (out of 5)

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys tales of adventure, suspense, and unexpected twists and turns.  Ms. Funke does an incredible job weaving a tale of mystery, betrayal, and the incredible deeds accomplished by human love.  I actually read this book a while ago, and had almost forgotten about it until I started moving some of my things into B's apartment.  I was swept away by the story all over again when I restarted it!  Seriously.  Give this book a try.  Or, even better, give it to your favorite bookworm for Christmas.  Cheers!

ONE MONTH!!!

Dear friends, this is it!!  In exactly one month, I will be a married woman.  :)  I can hardly wait!!  It's weird that it's really coming.  Craziness.  This is the sort of thing you always imagine happening to someone else.  And even if you plan it for yourself from a very young age (like most Mormon girls do) it's still weird when it actually comes.  Weird...in the best way possible.  :)
So anyway, here's a great video about how the Avengers movie should have ended.  Laugh it up, enjoy life before finals.  Cheers!
p.s.  You can definitely use what Loki says when you don't want to tell someone what you're up to.  Actually, I encourage it.  :)

How The Avengers Should Have Ended

Also...Read This.

Seriously.  So cute.  If you like love stories anyway.  If you don't, then you have no soul and I don't know why I'm even bothering to share something warm and fuzzy with you at all.

"You Had Me At Hello"

Cheers!!  Happy reading.  :)

Spiderman Cheesecake

So I'm working on my homemaking skills due to the fact that I'm getting married in--drumroll please--a month and 2 days!!!  *squeee*  ...But who's counting.
No but anyways, so I made my fiancee (hereafter known fondly as "B") a birthday cheesecake, since he doesn't actually like regular cake.
Here's the finished product:

FYI, peanut butter makes awesome frosting if you heat it up for about 15 seconds and then use it in a pastry bag.  Melted chocolate chips, on the other hand--well, they work great for some things, like covering raspberries in, but they're not so good as a frosting agent.  To use B's own words:  "You can't really break off a little piece, it all comes off at once, kind of like a scab".
Lovely image, dearest.
But there you have it!!  Next time you're strapped for frosting, out of powdered sugar or simply don't feel like the overpowering sweetness of most frosting recipes, reach for your can of peanut butter.  It works charmingly!
Until next time.


p.s.  In case anyone wonders how to get the spiderweb-ish effect, just drizzle the frosting in spirals, starting in the middle, and go in circles until you reach the edge.  Then drag a toothpick from the center to the outer edges.  It works well when going for a tye-dye look too.  Happy frosting :)

sing, be, live, see

My motto in life.  Recently I decided to examine why my motto is such.  Four simple words:  Sing, be, live, see.  I took each element on its own and studied why each meant something to me.

Sing.
"A bird doesn't sing because it has the answer, it sings because it has a song"
Such a lovely and simple concept, singing simply for the sake of singing.  But when I did a bit more examining, I realized that it's so much more than that.  If birds refused to sing simply because they didn't have the answer, would we ever hear birdsong?  It strikes me to think about what springtime would be like without that integral and magical music that accompanies the rising of the sun every morning.  And it brought home to me the fact that I don't have to have all the answers to sing my song.  I have a voice, and I have ideas.  I have the two essential parts of a song.  So why should I stop singing when I don't have the answers?

Be.
"Whatever you are, be a good one"
What a little word that is!  And yet so much is contained in those two letters.  What does it mean, to "be"?  In my opinion, it means more than to simply exist.  It means to exist in such a way that you can feel every fiber of your being vibrating with life.  Hearing the little sounds around you, like crickets or rain on the windows.  Seeing the things that most people overlook--the shape of a cloud, or the colors on a butterfly's wing.  Feeling the coolness of a breeze on your cheek, or the soreness in your legs after a long run.  Smelling the subtle difference of the evening and the middle of the day.  Truly being--alive, aware, amazed.

Live.
"There are only two ways to live life.  One is as if nothing is a miracle.  The other is as if everything is"
Not just survive, but truly live.  Thrive.  Flourish.  Bloom.  Take each day as it comes and embrace it.  Fill each moment with the things that make you happy and that will help you to make each day count.  Leave behind you a legacy that will make everyone smile because of how happy you were able to be with life.  And sometimes, it's okay to say you can't be happy that day.  Sometimes you just need those bad days.  And that's okay too.  But live with no regrets.  Regrets mean that there's something you haven't learned yet.  Don't let opportunities slip through your fingers, but rather create opportunities wherever you go.

See.
"Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first, and last, time"
Including people.  See them with your ears.  Listen to them.  Let them talk to you, trust you, open up to you.  Often you will be surprised at the things you discover, about those people, about yourself, and about the world around you.  Look up at the sky while the sun is setting.  Admire the colors.  Watch the effortless way a hummingbird darts about.  The veins in every leaf.  The look that a father gives his sleeping child.  Open your eyes, and look...there is beauty and wonder everywhere.  Sometimes we just forget to open our eyes.

"Earth Song" Frank Ticheli

Dear Friend...

Dear Friend,
I just wanted to remind you that we're here.  We have always been here, and we always will be here.  Even if you forget about us.  Even if you forget about the fun times and adventures we've had, we won't forget. 
We'll never forget.
You're important.  You're important to me.  I hope you never forget that, even though you might move on with your life and forget about how important I once was to you too.  We were best friends.  Remember?
I remember.  I'll always remember.  I'll remember Summerfest, and Bear Lake.  Raspberry and oreo milkshakes.  Nerf gun battles.  Action movies.  Pirate adventures.  Rolling down hills.  Skittles.  Little Caesar's pizza.  Choir concerts.  Carpooling to work.  Spy driving.  Famous Dave's. 
But  most of all, I'll remember the way you always made me feel.  Like I'm special, just the way I am.  Like I might have something to offer this world.  Like maybe I don't have to grow up as fast as I thought I did.
This letter is to thank you for that.
And to let you know that I remember.
And a silent prayer that maybe you will remember me sometime, too.

-a Musketeer

"If Only Tears Could Bring You Back" --Midnight Sons

"This Too Shall Pass"

Hey there little girl
with the tears rolling down your face,
I know it's hard to see now
but I promise you'll find your place.

Hey there little girl
different from everyone else
I know right now it feels
like you've been stuck up on a shelf

But this too shall pass,
This too shall pass.

Hey there little girl
Feeling overlooked and unwanted,
I know it feels like everyone
leaves you hurt and disappointed

Hey there little girl
It's okay to feel this way,
And when the sun rises tomorrow
it'll be a brand new day

And this too shall pass,
This too shall pass.

You pride yourself on being different
Different from the rest
And someday someone will see that difference
and realize that it's the best

I know you feel lonely now
but that won't last forever
Just keep pushing on for one more day
you can make it through whatever

Is put in your way
You can make it through today
Through all the pain and sorrow
And if you can make it through today
You can make it through tomorrow

Hey there little girl
Lift your head and dry your eyes
You don't have to be perfect
all you have to do is try

Hey there little girl
Don't be afraid to smile
This pain and loneliness you feel
will only last a little while

And this too shall pass,
This too shall pass

too much, too soon

Have you ever had that experience when you think you're totally over someone...and then you find out you're not?
Yeah.  That happened to me last night.
Here's the story.
I love to go swing dancing.  And every Wednesday where I live there is a place where you can go swing dancing.  So guess what I decided to do last night.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that a certain someone and I used to go swing dancing together a lot.
He wasn't physically THERE, like not PRESENT.  But I swear, everywhere I turned, he was there.  Plaid shirts.  Cowboy boots.  Short guys.  Dark, curly hair.  Bandanas.  Designer jeans.  "Crazy Girl".  Line dances.  I couldn't get away from him. 
Maybe I didn't give myself enough time.
That's what I'm hoping. 
Because someday, I want to go swing dancing, and not have it hurt.

Why I Write

So today my English teacher asked us an interesting question:
"Why do you write?"
A bit of an odd question, or so it seemed, to someone like me.  And it took me quite some time before I came up with the answer.
I write because I am an artist.  Art comes in many forms.  Sometimes, my emotions are best expressed when I sit down at the piano and let my fingers flow across the keys, creating something unique and beautiful.  Once in a while I can express myself best through a carefully arranged photograph, or a snapshot of something that snatches something and holds it forever, a moment too quick for the eye or the mind to follow.  Other times, what I feel is better expressed by paint, and the nasty emotions I feel are captured in color and motion, pinned on the canvas for me to examine at my leisure.  And still other times, words are the brush that I use to color my world.  My thoughts, my feelings, my insights and inspirations and inquiries, are simply sometimes best expressed through words. 
Some people say that a picture is worth a thousand words.  But to a writer, the right word is worth infinitely more.