What have you been reading?

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

I love to read. I love the feel of the pages, the smell of the ink, the pictures on the cover and the idea that the book will change my life in someway. I have to be careful when reading at work because if it's not a very engaging book I will be out to only jolt myself awake two minutes later. I have had some really good reads lately. So good that I started and finished one at work. ( That also meant that my patient slept =) ). When I get into a good book I don't want to do anything else so the housework doesn't get done, dinner isn't made and I have a general " Don't bother me I am reading" attitude. I am grateful that my husband understands and shares my love of books...most of the time. =) Usually when I get going on one good book I have to keep reading more and more so here are some of the good ones I've been reading lately.

 Every Soul A Star   by Wendy Mass, the author of A Mango Shaped Place, which is also an awesome book. It's a young adult book in which there are three teenagers narrating it through their common experience. It's a lot about changes and growing up. But the coolest part about it is that they are all there to see an eclipse of the sun. They talk a lot about astronomy and the description of the eclipse. I totally want to see one! The next one happens in 2016. I really liked it and grew to really identify and love the characters.

 The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini. It's the first in a series called the Elm Creek Quilts. It was an easy and fun read. It's about the woman who moves to a new town due to her husbands job and trying and trying to find a new job with no success, ( I sympathize). Then she goes to work for this old lady who her husband works for. She helps her clean this huge house and the old lady teaches her how to quilt. They become friends and make what sounds like a beautiful quilt. This book made me think of my mom and how she quilts. Also it talked about the symbolism behind some of the quilt blocks used and that was fun to know. It was fun and hey there is a whole series of clean, entertaining and fullfilling books. I tend to shy away from the Adult section in the library I have found that there is more swearing and love scenes then in the young adult books. So to find a good adult fiction series is good.

Then since it's been 100 years since the Titanic sank this month I got a little obsessed with it. It started with a funny t.v. movie on ABC, then there was a PBS documentary, then because Justin is cute he got me some books about it from the library. The one that was really cool is:  A Night to Remember   by Walter Lord. It was published in the 1950's and it tells the tale of the sinking ship as remembered by survivors and those involved. After learning more and more about the incident I just have to shake my head because there were SO many chances for it to not have happened. They were getting messages about ice but the receiver on the titanic was too busy sending out messages for the guests. There was a ship 10 miles away from the where the Titanic hit but was mad at them for being rude at them and closed the wire messages at 11:30....right about when they hit the ice. It also gave the view of the ship The Carpathia how it worked so hard to get there on time and the preparations they took to save as many people as they could. But still the biggest doh! moment is all the people who really truely belived that the ship could not sink, and they wanted to stay on it instead of get into a lifeboat, even in the end!

So hopefully those give you guys some good suggestions. What is your favorite book? What have you been reading lately?

Projects

Remember this??

Well it finally got done!

It turned out really cute and I love the pink ribbon weaved through. The lady in my ward who it was for loved it.

It's so cute. =)

When that project got done I was finally able to play with my sewing machine. I got some fabric to make a baby blanket for Justin's cousin. I think it turned out really cute.

I ended up with a lot of extra fabric so I made a little diaper bag just big enough for wipes a diapers. I also made some burp cloths. ( with still some left over!)

It was fun to practice something new and to play with my machine. Next up a skirt project for me! 

Date night

A couple of weekends ago Justin and I actually went on a date. We have been redboxing it lately and really needed to get out of the house. So Justin came home early, I got all cute and we went out. I had a gift card to Olive Garden from work so that's what we did for dinner. 

Then Justin had a giftcard to the movies and earlier that week got us tickets for , The Hunger Games, which came out that weekend. So it was practically a free date all we had to pay for was the little extra at dinner and a tip.

I loved the movie! I had read the series last year and I really liked it. I reread it in preparation for it. I have to say for a book made into movie it was really good. It stayed really true to the book and the things that they changed made sense. The only things I had problems with were more technical like the camera moving all over the place during the action scene, and then Katniss seemed to not knew her lines or something cause it took her forever to say them. But over all I liked it. I especially liked that I got to have fun with Justin and do something different. 

I then had a fun surprise date with my sister Natalie. She came over and woke me up ( hehe) and we went to the new awesome mall in Salt Lake! It was pretty awesome and we had fun shopping and looking around. 

It's always fun to spend time with the people I love.=)

Life

Lately I have really come to appreciate this quote,  "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato.

It's so true in so many ways and very frequently it's hard to tell what or how hard a battle someone is going through. There are many things that can cause us stress and heartache such as work, family, family illness or personal illness, relationship problems with spouse or children, money, or just the personal battles that we all go through at times.

As I was thinking about this and taking inventory of my hard battles I came to realize just how blessed I am. While things may not be going how I would like them too at this time I got the powerful reminder that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and has a plan for me. I became even more aware of the little and big miracles that I am blessed with daily to help me with my "hard battles." I know that he has a greater plan for me and that if I put my faith in him and become more like him then the pathway will become clear and I will not only know the plan for me but understand why.

Thinking of this got me very excited for General Conference this next week. ( Mar 31-April 1). I receive so much comfort, peace, and guidance in every minute. I know that President Monson is a true prophet and is the Lord's mouthpiece. I know with all my heart that I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that it's true. I know the Book of Mormon is a true book and that it can truly change lives. I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple and to be a part of an eternal family. I believe in Jesus Christ.

I look forward to the messages and hope that you will too.

A little bit of here and there.

One Saturday Justin wanted to make cookies so he got busy in the kitchen. Then he made himself a giant cookie and could only half of it. hehe.

My latest project is a baby afghan for a lady in my ward. I haven't ever made one before so it's new and taking a bit longer then I thought. But it's cool to see it grow and grow. 

One Sunday afternoon I convinced Justin to watch Gone with the Wind with me. If you haven't ever seen it you should. It's a long one about 4 hours but so good. He wasn't super excited but ended up really liking it. Rhett Butler is still awesome and my favorite. He has the best lines one of my favorites is when he's talking to Scarlett and says, " You need to be kissed daily and by someone who knows how." Then he kisses  her passionately. I realized after watching it this time how sad it really ends. Scarlett definitely got what she deserved but it's still kind of a bummer. Don't let that sway you it's still a great movie! It did make me want to read the book again. 

It came!

I have been saving my Christmas and Birthday money to get myself a big girl present. My very own sewing machine! I have been doing a lot of research into which brand would be best. I wanted a machine that would be easy to use but still be able to do some fun stuff. I got a Bernina 330 and I am super excited to play with it. The lady at the store showed me the basic stitches and then some fun stitches. Justin was so impressed that he wanted to play with the machine as well. =)

When I went to the store they didn't have the model I wanted in stock but it was coming. So I paid for it and got my name on one. They thought that it might not come for another week or two.  To my surprise they called me a few days later to say that they got there. My good husband went and got it for me since I was working and sleeping. 

Here are the fun stitches that it can do . The lady even showed me that it can do the alphabet and other fun stuff. 

I am excited and so glad that my momma taught me how to sew. She can make anything and is my best example of an " I can do it" attitude. 

February Birthdays

  I have been slacking on the blogging. I could say that we've been busy but let's be honest....I've been a bit lazy. =) Anyways, we had lots of fun family birthdays in February. It started with this cutie and then a few days later my dad.

Justin's sister Jyana's birthday is a few days before mine so we got together to have a fun family party. There was delicious food.

Jyana requested a pineapple upside down cake that I gladly made. I love a good pineapple upside down cake and the recipe I found used a good portion of butter and sugar my two favorite baking ingredients. =) It turned out really good. 

Here we are getting ready to blow out our candles with our flowers. My flowers  are still going strong.=)

And just cause he's cute.=)

A picture of the birthday girls. I am so glad that I get to share my birthday month/week with Jyana. She is awesome and a really great sister. She is a hard worker and super smart and creative with her job. I've always admired her and all that she does even when Justin and I dated in high school. Not to mention that I think she's gorgeous. 

For my actual birthday day we went to Logan and spent the day with my family. It was fun and I always love to play with my sisters and nieces.We went bowling and took my little niece. She was super excited. 

Here she is showing me her special shoes.

It was fun to celebrate birthdays and to have fun with family. I feel so blessed to be a part of my family and Justin's as well.