I Miss My Friend

I'm really missing someone who used to be a really good friend of mine so I thought getting some of these thoughts out in the ether might help... We shall see.

"I miss my friend, the one my heart and soul confided in, the one I felt the safest with, the one who knew just what to say to make me laugh again, and let the light back in..."

"So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep, and I'll feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe, and I'll keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are, I hope it's nice where you are, I hope the sun rises and it's a beautiful day and something reminds you, you wish you had stayed."

"Well this is not your fault, But if I'm without you, Then I will feel so small, And if you have to go
well, Always know that you shine brighter than anyone does."

Reading Time?

In case anyone needs something to read this summer I have a couple of suggestions...

1) Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series- magic, hot soldiers, spying, and some love connections. Gotta love it.
2) Georgette Heyer- she's an author who writes witty romances set the the 1800's in England. Totally clean and good for quite a few laughs. A few of my favorites are - Devil's Cub, Cotillion, Friday's Child, Regency Buck, and The Nonesuch.

That's pretty much all I've read this summer.

Happy reading!!!

Where did the fun go?

Okay, so it's been a long time since I blogged... a LONG time. But I just have to have a tangent right now. We all know that I'm pretty old fashioned. Last night at a get together at a friends house I was reminiscing about growing up on The Andy Griffiths Show and Bonanza (I still have a huge crush on Adam). I loved those shows, I loved the values intrinsic in even episode. It was all about doing what was right no matter what. That's how I was raised. I was also raised outside. We played outside all day, regardless of the weather, until it got dark or until our mom's whistled us home. These days I don't see kids playing outside ever. They are all inside tethered to a computer or the tv. I read books. I grew up in a small town so you get pretty creative about how to entertain yourself. I miss that. Here in the big city I find all the guys really boring- you know why? Because they never had to be crazy and adventurous or creative, they had all their fun built in at mini golf and Peter Piper Pizza. I miss doing ridiculous and stupid things just because there wasn't anything else to do. Anyone up for a game of get lost in Paragonah? Or perhaps lay in the middle of the road until a car comes? Maybe we could break into the church just for kicks and giggles? I feel like my life is so boring. I do the same things every week. Go to the same classes and learn the same things, hang out with the same people and have the same conversations, and go to the same movie and watch the same tv shows over and over again. Nothing is novel, nothing is exciting, it's all just blah. And I've been realizing that growing up in my small hometown gave me two illusions that have proven false in the world outside of home: 1) that people are generally nice and friendly, 2) that I am free. I have been realizing lately that so many of the people around me are just looking out for themselves. No one cares about anyone else, no one has your back. If you know me you know that I never have my own back and that means I feel like the quarterback who just keeps getting sacked over and over again. Growing up, I kind of just did whatever I wanted. If I wanted to drive to this place, I did. If I wanted to sleep outside, I did. I didn't worry about my safety in doing it, I never even thought about it. Here, I feel so constricted, like there's this huge list of things I'm not allowed to do. Don't go here, don't do this, I feel like it would be shorter to make a list of things I can do. And all for what? So I can associate with people I'm not interested in, live in a place that makes me feel like I can't breathe, and spend thousands and thousands of dollars to get trained to help people who don't want my help. And then people wonder why I like Bonanza and Jane Austen books and miss Mayberry. I like knowing who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, and that the good will come to good ends, the bad will come to bad ends, and that every girl gets exactly what she deserves. So yes, I miss my small hometown, my loyal friends, and my idealistic views of the world.

The Book Boss Part 3

So, I have been reading A LOT lately.

Here are my new recommendations:

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett- if you are in the mood for a good old fashioned detective novel... this is the book for you. It comes complete with the private dick sitting behind his desk, a dame who needs rescuing and wears bright red lipstick, and bad guys packing serious heat. The word "look-see" is even used. What more could you ask for?

The Girl on Legare Street by Karen White- An amazing ghost story/ mystery. Not too scary, but I wouldn't recommend reading it alone at night. Plus, a super frustrating almost relationship... I'm a sucker for those.

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson- A mystery wrapped around a totally dysfunctional family that loves and hates each other...

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton- This is about a girl trying to find her grandmother's real family. It goes back a couple of generations and reveals some pretty crazy family secrets. I love the mystery of uncovering family secrets.

If you are looking for a book series may I recommend:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- I seriously couldn't stop reading until both of the books in this series were done. The third one comes out in August. I can't wait. Literally.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull- This series is geared towards a younger audience (they were recommended to me by a 12 year old). But they are really good. There are secret preserves with mythical creatures, kids with special powers, and awesome demonic dragon bad guys. Truly a fantastic fantasy.

That is all for now. Happy reading.

The Book Boss Strikes Again

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks for a good cry.

Dracula by Bram Stoker for a little mystery, a little vampire hunting, and lots of manly men.

Dracula

My mom signed up for this book club many moons ago. They send her a leather bound copy of one of the 100 greatest books of all time every month until she has all of them. She started like six years ago. No one has ever read any of them. They just sit on the shelf collecting dust. A travesty. So I decided to read them. All of them. I'm half way through my first selection, Dracula and I am immensely enjoying it. It is a very easy read and it is written beautifully. The only problem is that I'm a big baby and it scares me to read it at night. Haha. I thought that giving updates on what I'm reading and what I think about it would fulfill my Midget's request for a book review (let me know if I'm wrong) and give me something to blog about. So here's to vampires!

Disneyland!!!

So for spring break (yes, I am actually that far behind...) my Ho and I took a trip to Disneyland, aka, the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH (unless you're stupid like my Robert friend and think the happiest place on earth is Zion National Park). We stayed at my mom's house in Vegas the night of Sunday the 14th. Then we woke up around noon and drove to Anaheim. We checked into our hotel and took off to Disney. The first night we hit Pirates of the Caribbean (our favorite), the Haunted Mansion (our least favorite), the finding Nemo submarine ride, and the toy story ride where you shoot things... haha. It was so exciting to be at Disneyland- I hadn't been there since high school and I have to say- it really made me feel like a child again. It's exactly the way it was when I was little so I can still remember how everything seemed like magic then. It's still pretty magical- mainly because of that. We went back to our hotel when the park closed at midnight.
The next day we got up and had breakfast at our hotel- it was possibly the worst service I have ever had in my life... we waited a half an hour for our bill!!! Then we finally got to go to Disneyland! We thought we were going to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience but it was really Captain EO- a Michael Jackson video. It was soooo awesome! haha. We laughed pretty dang hard. I now dream of using a rainbow as a weapon. We went on rides until like four then we went back to the hotel and Casi took a nap. Then we went back to the park to catch the parade. We continued on to ride all the other rides in Disneyland, except Splash Mountain. I remember finding the Alice in Wonderland ride a lot more exciting as a child. And no matter what I always love It's A Small World. I even tried to get Casi to ride it again.
Wednesday we hit California Adventure. It was St. Patrick's Day- my absolute favorite holiday! So of course I was wearing a green Kiss Me I'm Irish shirt. The front of my shirt said kiss me and the back said I'm Irish. While we were standing in line Casi was trying to get a tan so I traded her spots because I had better sun exposure. She thought I was being nice... I turned around and said "read" and she was like "I'm Irish" and I said, "Yes, that's Gaelic for I melt in the sun." Haha. I have to admit the Soaring Over California was pretty cool. However, California Screamer or whatever it is called made me sick to my stomach. We enjoyed the Toy Story shooting ride immensely. And Casi got to know a side of me that she had never seen before. While playing the Toy Story shooting game Casi got a better score than me (she's in the army) but her accuracy was only like 30%. So I had to point out to her that she might have scored more than me, but my shots were 20% more accurate than hers. She turned to me and said, "And I never knew you were so competitive." Haha. We went to the Bug's Life show. I did not like getting slimed, stung, and bitten. Haha. We went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and as we were walking back Casi started cheering, "U-G-L-Y you ain't got no... what the heck is that?" I said, "It's a cheer." And she said, "No, that!" and pointed at a man in a Bubba Gump Shrimp costume that looked kind of like a penis. I said, "Oh, that's a shrimp". We decided that was one of the funnier sounding conversations we have had. We went back to the hotel for another nap after that. It was around this time that I was really wishing I could fly because my feet wanted to disconnect and run away. Haha. We went back to Disneyland and stood around for an hour in the pavilion waiting for the fireworks show. After the fireworks we went on Splash Mountain. I kind of wish we would have gotten the picture because if you could have seen my face you all would have died. I hate log rides. When I was little I used to close my eyes as soon as we got in the log and I wouldn't open them until the ride stopped. As a grown up I only felt the need to close my eyes for the drop. But they were very firmly closed and scrunched up. Haha. Gotta make sure I absolutely do not see any of the drop.
Thursday we decided to just take pictures. Here they are. For you my Midget. We actually stood in line for like an hour and a half to get our pictures taken with the Princesses. Tiana was very spunky- we liked her a lot.


We got to meet Minnie, my favorite... see our Minnie ears and my Minnie shirt?

And Mickey- while we were standing in line to meet Mickey, Minnie cut the line and made-out with him! Scandalous! Haha. Did you know that they are just dating after all these years? Men.
Jasmine...
Belle is my Princess! Nicole is Ariel, Bridget is Aurora, Casi is Mulan, and I am Belle. She has brown hair and likes to read... ME!
This was in Minnie's house. Her fashion magazine has Jessica Rabbit on the cover. Love it!

After we finished taking pictures we thought our feet needed to be amputated. Then we got lost in Anaheim. Then stuck on the 91 for a good two hours. Haha. It was an excellent trip over all. I loved going to Disneyland, meeting all our favorite characters, and spending four days with one of my best friends in the whole universe. Thanks for a great week Ho! I love you to pieces!