The Brambler

How does he do that?

2012-01-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

You may have seen this, but if you haven't...

:)

Music news

2012-01-21T12:14:00.001-08:00

A couple of years ago, Morgan entered some music into the LDS Church Music Submission. (Or whatever it is called.) A few months later, we found out he received special recognition. They asked if he wanted to sign over rights to the song (kind of) so they could post it on lds.org. He agreed. We checked the site over and over and never saw it. However, look what we found this week! (He's about ten down.)

So if you are in a ward choir, print off his music and give it a try! And it's free for you! :)

Morgan arranged this for a stake conference choir piece. It was supposed to be one of the prelude numbers, but because of circumstances beyond our control, we didn't get to sing it for prelude. Morgan was a little disappointed, but was rather pragmatic about it. However, some whispering went on (by other people) and it was announced that it would be the piece would be sung by the choir right before the general authority who was visiting spoke.

We sang our little hearts out and it was very beautiful, if I do say so myself. So beautiful that when the general authority stood to speak, he looked back at Morgan and told him how much he enjoyed the piece. That was quite the thrill!

Increase in Learning

2012-01-19T17:12:00.001-08:00

I've been reading David Bednar's new book "Increase in Learning." It is excellent. I've been taking it quite slowly, as he encourages, trying to really pick up the patterns of what he is saying. I've been tempted to share lots of quotes from the book, but one I read today hit me particularly for sharing.

President Hinckley said "We must go on growing. We must continuously learn. It is a divinely given mandate that we go on adding to our knowledge."

Fun, isn't it? And there are so many, many things to learn about. I started thinking of all the things I've been learning in the last year and the plans I've made for this year, not to mention the unknown lessons that will be rather thrust upon me. While there are times I get frustrated with how slowly I learn a lot of life's lessons, I do feel excited for the wonderful variety of things to learn about. I just wish I could master it all!

Things I realize I've been learning about this week alone: scriptures, the family, politics, quilting, juicing, exercise, relationships, patience, house hunting, crocheting, mailing things, insurance, Afghanistan refugees, creativity, cooking, time management... (Oh, and Hobbits.) :)

Okay, I think I've only started. Anybody learning anything particularly fun/interesting/insightful these days?

Hats

2012-01-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

I learned to make a new hat. Beezie graciously agreed to model.

This is slouch mode. Cuz it's a slouch hat. Get it? Get it?

I modified the pattern to make a different look.

Original pattern found here.

Darcy and... Jane?

2012-01-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

In a letter to Sir William Elford (December 20, 1814), Mary Russell Mitford wrote:

...it is impossible not to feel in every line of Pride and Prejudice, in every word of Elizabeth, the entire want of taste which could produce so pert, so worldly a heroine as the beloved of such a man as Darcy. Wickham is equally bad. Oh! they were just fit for each other, and I cannot forgive that delightful Darcy for parting them. Darcy should have married Jane. He is of all the admirable characters the best designed and the best sustained.

I find this hilarious! I've never heard anyone express a similar wish, so it rather startled me. But it very much amused me to rewrite the story quickly in my head with Darcy and Jane getting married after Elizabeth eloped with Wickham.

Then again, maybe not. I think I prefer Austen's storyline. :)

Something funny

2012-01-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

After reading Carol Burnett's "This Time Together" a couple of months ago, I decided to look up one of the sketches she mentioned. Tim Conway played a brand-new dentist serving his first patient. Harvey Korman was his patient. Conway decided to improvise.

Even funnier than Conway, to me, is Korman cracking up. I love watching people try to maintain a character and not succeed at all! :)

If Shakespeare had written The Three Little Pigs

2012-01-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

A friend passed this on to me and I was so grateful because it combines two of my great loves - great language and retold fairy tales.

[warning: he smokes in part of this]

I've always been curious as to how large my vocabulary is, so if anyone knows where to find a test... I suppose I could count all the words I've written in the past ten years, but that seems a little time consuming. :)

2012 Reading Challenge

2012-01-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

For our 2012 Challenge, Austen Knows Best and I decided on a less creative, more straightforward approach. :) It's a 10x10 challenge meaning ten categories of ten books each. The categories are (drum roll, please):

1. 10 Children's books
2. 10 Juvenile Fiction books
3. 10 Young Adult books
4. 10 Nonfiction books
5. 10 Classics
6. 10 Church books
7. 10 Adult Fiction published no earlier than 2000
8. 10 Books from your to-read list on Goodreads (if you are a member) that were added prior to 2012
9. 10 "Choose Your Own Category" books
10. 10 Other

So to explain, for the "choose your own category," it's a category of your choice that isn't up here. :) So you could pick something general like "Science Fiction" or "Mystery" or something specific like "Books on Gardening" or whatever. The "Other" category is for books that don't fit into any of the other categories. Or if you've filled the other categories, I suppose you could dump surplus there. Basically anything could go into "Other."

For my own category, I'm going to read books on writing. :) I think that's kind of funny, but there it is.

Report for December Reading

2012-01-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

To wrap up the 2011 Reading Challenge, here's my December report, but first of all, understand that I tend to read less on vacations. So despite the fact that I was excited for the December challenge, I really didn't read all that much past the first week.

Nonfiction:
The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life - Glenn Beck and Keith Ablow (****)
The Heroine's Bookshelf - Erin Blakemore (**)
A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love, Friendship, and the Things that Really Matter - William Deresiewicz (*****)
Started several biographies on Walt Disney
Read some critical essays on Jane Austen and her work

Challenge (Jane Austen and Walt Disney):
Jane Austen Ruined My Life - Beth Patillo (***)
Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart - Beth Patillo (****)
Pride and Popularity - Jenni James (****)

Other:
Love Finds You in Pendleton, Oregon - Melody Carlson (***)
Buttercream Bump Off - Jenn McKinlay (**)

As you can see, a lot of my nonfiction reading dealt with the challenge. It was a fun reading month. I still have a stack to go, so it might show up in this year's reading. :)

First Finished Quilt Front

2011-12-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

I've been dabbling in quilting for the last couple of years, but this is the first pieced quilt front I've finished so far. It was my Thanksgiving project.

It's not perfect, but I did it!

Now I just need to figure out how to put the rest of it together. :)

If you haven't seen...

2011-12-20T09:27:00.001-08:00

If you haven't seen the new videos about the life of the Savior put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, go watch them! Right now, they have several up about the birth of Jesus. I especially love the one where the shepherds learn of His birth.

Juicing

2011-12-14T08:06:00.001-08:00

I got a juicer for Christmas (I know, it's early). I've been making green juices (very yummy), but this morning I decided to experiment with an all fruit juice. I used a cup of organic cranberries, two organic oranges, and one organic apple. Yummiest juice ever. I'm all sorts of proud of myself. It's the little things. :)

The Amazing Organ

2011-12-08T06:11:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually the biggest organ fan. I'm a pianist and I prefer the piano. But check out this rendition of "Go Tell it on the Mountain."

My piano students have often complained about playing two hands at the same time, but two hands and two feet, all doing complex things! Wow!!

For this second one, I didn't know if it could compare to the first, but just you wait. ;)

Did you hear it at 2:22?!!!! "Good King Wenceslas" is a favorite in Morgan's family, which makes this video even cooler to me.

December Challenge

2011-12-02T12:54:00.000-08:00

Both Jane Austen and Walt Disney were born in December. Read a book that is somehow related to either of them. (Spin-offs, about the park, biographies, relating to the movies, etc….)

I hope you had a wonderful month of reading in November. The challenge being for reading fun books, I read mostly fluff. :)

Challenge books:
North by Northanger - Carrie Bebris (should have saved this one for Jane Austen month!)
Love Finds You in Sisters, Oregon - Melody Carlson
Prada & Prejudice (likewise should have waited for Dec. Forgot it would be Jane Austen month)
The Reluctant Heiress - Eva Ibbotson (not that great)
A Billion Reasons Why - Kristin Billerbeck
Kissing Adrien - Siri Mitchell (read at the same time as Siddhartha, which made them both more thought-provoking, believe it or not)
Cut to the Quick - Kate Ross (mystery from the 1820s, I think)
Sprinkle with Murder - Jenn McKinlay (wish I could try the cupcake recipes!)

Nonfiction:
This Time Together - Carol Burnett (very fun!!)
Fat Burning Furnace - Rob Poulos (recommended to me. Just reiterated all the things I have found to be true. Kind of disappointing, but a quick read, at least.)

Other:
Siddhartha - Hemann Hesse (been meaning to read this one for a long time. Finally got through it. Reading at the same time as the other book, I found it an interesting contrast that strengthened my belief in "all things in moderation.")

My favorites of the month were "This Time Together," "Cut to the Quick," and "Sprinkle with Murder." I guess I'm back in mystery mode. I also reread a few books, which was fun, but I didn't write those down so I can't report on them. :)

Happy reading!

Quote

2011-11-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

"[My gram-gram] is the one that taught me it is better to be truthful and good... than to not.

November Challenge

2011-11-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the challenge for the month: November is the best month of the year. Read a fun book!

Report for October:
When I said a book concerning America, I really meant that as broadly as possible. In other words, I counted books set in America. :)

So my "American" books were:

Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania - Cerella Sechrist (which was okay)
Love Finds You in Snowball, Arkansas - Sandra D. Bricker (pretty fun)
Time and the Hour - Faith Baldwin (love her style for some reason I haven't pinpointed yet)
I Just Got a Letter from Allyson Pringle - Anya Bateman (cute)
The Makeover of James Orville Wickenbee - Anya Bateman (loved it)
Fat Cat - Robin Brande (okay)
Consider Lily - Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt (okay)

My nonfiction books were:

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years - Julie Andrews Edwards (very good)
Through His Eyes - Virginia H. Pearce (excellent!)

My other books were:

Marshmallows for Breakfast - Dorothy Koomson (thought-provoking. Difficult in some parts. Glad I read it.)
Suspense and Sensibility - Carrie Bebris (part of a Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series. Fun.)
Amrita - Banana Yoshimoto (my first Japanese book in a long time. Interesting, but...)

All in all, it was a pretty interesting reading month. I read a lot of books that were out of my usual zone. It was broadening in a lot of ways, but also reminded me why I tend to read the way I do...

Current thoughts :)

2011-10-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

I've been reading the Book of Mormon over and over this year, pretty fast. I figured change my method (normally slow and very detailed), change my perspective. It's been a fantastic way to study for a while. I've seen the past and present collide in ways I'd never thought of before.

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." Winston Churchill

Worthy to be heard

2011-10-12T08:18:00.001-07:00

My friend has been telling me about The Sing-Off for a long time, but I never watched it until last week. (I'm not a TV watcher.) The group that got kicked off were quite good and had an amazing lead singer. This guy deserves to be heard. Check it out.

Okay. I wasn't going to do this, but I'm going to go ahead and highlight my other favorite parts. You don't have to listen to the rest of these, but I gotta tell you, you won't be sorry if you do.

This next one is a jazz group and WOW, I love their style. [If you don't want to watch back story, start at 1:13. And I don't know if you're watching the comments, but Shawn's reaction is awesome. Watch out. A tiny bit of language.]

Here's an adorable performance. It's got some sweet percussion, etc... Loved it.

And can't forget one of my favorite a capella groups. (If you're getting sick of listening, don't stop now!) Love all the styles they go through in this one song.

Quilting Giveaway

2011-10-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE fabric. Therefore, quilting really calls to me. I've been following a lot of quilting blogs lately, including Stray Stitches, which is one of my favorites. Anyway, there's a giveaway today of some beautiful fat quarters.

Aren't they gorgeous?!

Anyway, the giveaway ends next Monday, so if this appeals, check it out. (The link is in the name of her blog up top.)

October Challenge

2011-10-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Challenge for October - Columbus discovered America in October. Read a book concerning America. (I realize that is pretty wide open. I wanted some options by this time.)

I read a couple of doozies during September. First of all, I read the graphic novel of "Jane Eyre" by Amy Corzine and determined once and for all that I can't stand reading graphic novels. Blech. I had to read Charlotte Bronte's full "Jane Eyre" so I could get all the depth of the story again. I haven't read it since college, so it's been a while. The graphic novel version hit a lot of the "highlights" of the book but managed to not get any of the heart and soul of the book. I thought that was fairly impressive. :) I really did enjoy rereading the full novel. I read with pen in hand and marked my book to death. I forgot how good that book is! If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend "Jane Eyre." It is truly exceptional.

I read David McCullough's "The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris," which was fascinating. McCullough is always interesting and this book was a treat. Another high recommendation from me.

I really enjoyed "Daughters in My Kingdom," put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I found it very inspiring.

Other than that, I read a few light and fluffy books - "Powder and Patch" by Georgette Heyer, which put me in the mood for (and therefore subsequently read) "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy. "I Now Pronounce You Someone Else" by Erin McCahan. I had some real bones to pick with that one. "Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky" by Andrea Boeshaar. That was actually quite fun. I wouldn't rush out to recommend it, but for a light, quick read, I enjoyed it.

Happy reading this month!

Little rant here

2011-09-27T16:00:00.001-07:00

WHO's idea was it that using lots of adjectives and no passive voice is a good way to write? Let me say it right here. THEY WERE WRONG.

"A smile curved her pink lips."

Give me a break. The girl was eight. Of course she had pink lips. For an adjective describing the color of her lips to be appropriate, they would need to be a color OTHER THAN pink. And really. The smile curved her lips? (Pink ones, don't forget.) She smiled, okay?

To continue just a little further in my rant... When an author avoids any form of the word "say," it gets really irritating. It pulls you out of the story, for one. Secondly, when an adjective or other verb would be necessary, it weakens the strength of the exception. Let me explain. If a person declares, states, answers, announces, asserts, etc... all the time, it really detracts from those same words when they are used sparingly.

Okay. I'm being really vague here, but I'm trying not to pick on particular authors. I could give you all sorts of concrete examples from real books, but I will restrain myself. All I'm saying is I remember being taught in English class that I should NEVER use passive voice (Have you ever read a book that didn't use passive voice very often? It's a horrible experience.), avoid boring verbs like "say," and put in adjectives wherever I could. Maybe those teachers were just trying to get us to expand our vocabulary, but unfortunately, the lesson often sticks too hard.

It all comes down to balance. That's all I'm saying. :)

Arden's Vale

2011-09-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Morgan has spent some of his downtime over the last couple of years making a computer adventure game a la old school adventure games. He put it out so people could play it about a month ago. Last night, he looked it up on Google and found all sorts of fun things!

You can find some reviews here.

He even found websites from Germany and France that gave reviews. :)

But best of all, it's on YouTube!

The guy is British and has all sorts of fun comments. We enjoyed watching it. You don't have to watch the whole thing, but check it out. [Watch out. There is a very tiny bit of language.] If you only want to watch a little bit, start at about 7:08 to 7:38. Fun-ny. (By the way, check out his tags. They're hilarious! Very clever guy.)

I'm proud of him for this game. It's really great! He and his sister came up with the story. He did all the coding, animation, music, puzzles, etc... There are all sorts of references to the old adventure games like King's Quest and Quest for Glory. Yay for Morgan!

What do you get...?

2011-09-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you put Joseph von Eichendorff, Robert Schumann, and Barbara Bonney together? Something beautiful, of course!

Joseph von Eichendorff wrote a beautiful poem in 1837 (I think) called "Mondnacht" (Night of the Moon). I learned this in a German class a long time ago. I won't even attempt to translate it, but it sure is beautiful in German.

Es war, als hätt' der Himmel,
Die Erde still geküßt,
Daß sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nur träumen müßt.

Die Luft ging durch die Felder,
Die Ähren wogten sacht,
Es rauschten leis die Wälder,
So sternklar war die Nacht.

Und meine Seele spannte
Weit ihre Flügel aus,
Flog durch die stillen Lande,
Als flöge sie nach Haus.

Or if you want a different interpretation of Schumann's song.

I'm so proud of myself

2011-09-09T10:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, really this is easy, but I figured this out yesterday:

The first picture is better, but the second picture is more what the colors actually look like. (Our camera stinks inside!)

This and that

2011-09-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

My favorite word:

Indubitably

For an example, listen particularly to 1:21 - 1:27

Doesn't it just roll off the tongue? :)

Also, I found a quote of which I feel all sorts of fond right now:

"Personally, I am always ready to learn - although, I do not always like being taught." -Winston Churchill

I am working on my attitude about being taught. In theory, I am grateful for it. Now I am working on "in practice." :)

Beauty and the, uh ...Beast

2011-09-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a mink farmer* who had three beautiful daughters. The oldest daughter was really great at making the pelts shiny, so she was known as 'Beauty.' The second daughter was especially good at scraping the guts off the pelts, so she was known as 'Stinky.' And the third daughter was particularly good at catching the minks, so she was known as 'Sneaky.'"

One day, the mink farmer noticed he was running out of mink, so he got ready to go into the woods to set traps. The traps he set were special because the minks' feet need to stay in tact for their fur to be valuable. Women who wear fur coats (or who did when it was socially acceptable to do so) think it's extra special to have all four feet still attached. In order to bait these special traps, the farmer used elderberries because everyone knows no mink can resist an elderberry. He went out into the woods to search out elderberries and ALL the elderberries had already been eaten by the mink out in the forest! So the man kept searching and searching.

He came to a castle in the middle of the forest and walked around it. On the far side of the castle, the mink farmer came to a bush full of gorgeously ripe elderberries! He started picking the berries off the bush and putting them in his pouch. After he had picked all the berries he could find, he turned around to leave and what did he see but a beast that had a mink's head! The man was, of course, frightened, especially when the mink beast began to speak.

"Why have you picked all my elderberries? I have waited and waited for those berries to be perfectly ripe and I was going to pick them tomorrow night at the height of the full moon, when they are the best," the mink beast said in a great and scary voice.

"Um... I was picking them to catch mink for my fur trade," the man answered, trembling.

"You are one who catches my mink children for fur? Go home and bring me back of your children so that I may have her pelt. If you do not, I will eat you right here."

The man hightailed it away from the castle and ran all the way home to his daughters. "Daughters, one of you needs to sacrifice herself for the family." He explained about the mink beast and said, "I have to take care of the other two daughters, so one of you needs to go." He really was a very selfish man.

The oldest daughter, Beauty, volunteered to go back to the mink beast thinking that she could appeal to his mercy. Well, she couldn't. The mink beast ate her. The End.

*No animals were hurt in the telling of this story.

I wish I could have transcribed the way Morgan told it. I tried to get the various details, but some of his wording was so exquisite. So here's my attempt to stay true to the feel, at least. Isn't he a born storyteller? :)

Music and a teaser

2011-09-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

A friend passed this piece of music on this evening. For your enjoyment:

As for the teaser, my husband told me his version of Beauty and the Beast tonight. It was a little different than the usual. I'm too tired to write it fully right now, but it started "Once upon a time, there was a mink trapper who had three beautiful daughters. The oldest daughter was really great at making the pelts shiny, so she was known as 'Beauty.' The second daughter was especially good at scraping the guts off the pelts, so she was known as 'Stinky.' And the third daughter was particularly good at catching the minks, so she was known as 'Sneaky.'"

Are you intrigued?

:)

September Challenge

2011-08-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

The challenge for September - The first comic strip published in an American newspaper was on September 11, 1975. (According to several sources none of which I'm sure are accurate. What does it mean by comic strip, for one...?) However, we'll just take that date to spur this month's challenge which is to read a comic book, graphic novel, or a manga book. (I'm not sure if I'm using "magna" correctly, but forgive my ignorance. I've never actually read one before! Anyway, you know what I mean!)

As for reporting August, I have little to report. I was traveling and, uncharacteristically, I read almost nothing on my trip. Although I didn't quite finish all the books for the challenge, I'm taking points anyway since how many kids never finish their summer reading? :) Not that I know about that. I always finished my summer reading. (No, really. I did. I'm a reader and a bit of a nerd.) ;)

So for my non-fictions:

"Covenant Hearts" by Bruce C. Hafen - I really did finish this one. And it was excellent. I highly recommend it.
"Promptings or Me? Recognizing the Spirit's Voice" by Kevin Hinckley - Another excellent book. I will finish this one soon, but seeing as I read over 200 pages of nonfiction books (in addition to "Covenant Hearts") I'm going to go ahead and count this one as it is "most finished." I know, I know. Cheating here.

School book:

"Don Quixote" by Cervantes - Again, didn't actually finish this book, but got quite a ways through it. Probably could pass a teacher's "did you read this summer?" exam on the book. :)

Other:

"Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynn Jones
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

I love J.K. Rowling for her Harry Potter series. I know some disagree with me, but I think that series is one of the best ever written. I love, love, love her characters and writing style and plot and symbolism and brilliantness in tying everything together and... Well, there's not much I don't love about the books. But more than anything, her characters. As one who tends to read books for characters and their relationships, the Harry Potter series is pure joy. I could write an essay and maybe I will. For myself. Hm... There's an idea.

Anyway, here's a sweet cloud picture.

Bwa ha ha!

2011-08-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

It's the hat that really gets me. :)

Something Beautiful

2011-08-20T00:10:00.001-07:00

Quilting Give-away

2011-08-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Quilting looks very fun to me, probably because I love fabric so much. My sister-in-law is a great quilter and has been encouraging me to learn how. I just learned about a give-away on the site 1 Choice 4 Quilting. I thought I'd pass it on if any of you would be interested.

August Challenge

2011-08-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

The challenge for August it is back to school time. Read a book from either a summer reading list (high school, of course,) or this link.

As far as my report for this past month, it kind of stinks. But for good reasons generally.

The book I read for a place I wanted to visit was set in Lyme. It was "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier. It was a very interesting book about two women in the 1800s who were fossil hunters. And I have to say that I want to go to Lyme even more now...

For my nonfiction books, I read The Book of Mormon (start to finish) and 150 Power Foods by the editors of the Martha Stewart Magazine.

Read a few more books, but mostly was busy with other things this month.

Happy reading in August!

Overheard Conversations

2011-07-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

I have always loved to write down the random bits of conversation that I hear. I thought I'd share today's.

Young man: You've NEVER heard of iambic pentameter?!

Old man: No.

Young man: Never?!!!

Old man: Nope.

Young man: It's a form of Japanese poetry.

I was laughing to myself about the first part of the conversation, but when the young man said that last bit, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud! The funniest part was he was so condescending about the older man not being as knowledgeable as he was.

:)

Kira, you'll be so proud

2011-07-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

This is what I did yesterday.

I used a pattern. Kind of. But they turned out okay, yes? I was very proud of myself. First time sewing a pattern by myself. Ever. (Almost my first time sewing by a pattern for that matter.) Did I mention I was proud of myself? Okay, okay. I know it's probably not that big a deal to most of you reading this, but for me...

And my husband is a natural model. Lucky me! :)

July Challenge

2011-07-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here we are into July and I have totally forgotten that means posting the challenge for this month. (Happy 4th of July, by the way! Hope yours is patriotic and full of family.)

The July reading challenge is that July is vacation month. Read a book about a place that you want to visit, but have not yet visited.I think it's funny that I actually traveled last month and will be traveling next month, but not this month. But there you are. Not to mention this is particularly a challenge for me since I have visited most of the places I want to visit. Hm... Well, this is why we call it a challenge, right?

Okay, so June report.

Some old:
Daddy-Long-Legs - Jean Webster
Danger in the Shadows - Dee Henderson (Not a favorite, favorite, but a fun reread)

Something new:
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
Darcy and Anne - Judith Brocklehurst

Something borrowed:
Please Pass the Guilt - Rex Stout
Becoming Queen - Kate Williams

Something blue:
Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball - Donita K. Paul
The Final Deduction - Rex Stout
Too Many Cooks - Rex Stout

Nonfiction:
Shakespeare: The World as a Stage - Bill Bryson
The Duggars: 20 and counting - Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

Besides my old favorites, I particularly liked "Becoming Queen," "The Final Deduction," "Shakespeare," and "The Duggars." "Darcy and Anne," "Too Many Cooks," and "Two Tickets..." were all right.

Happy reading this month!

Colonial Williamsburg - Governor's Palace

2011-06-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

More pictures to bore - I mean, entertain you. :) These are of the backside of the Governor's Palace. I don't know why I never have pictures of the front of a building. Or maybe this is the front...

Lichen on the brick wall.

A pretty bench.

An entrance. Front? Back? I should have paid more attention on the tour.

Gardener.

Pretty gate.

You could walk through that tunnel in the back.

More of the gardens. I didn't get very far with this camera. The battery died. Again. I don't think it lasts very long. Although, thank your lucky stars, I am not putting up every picture I took.

I liked the gates, okay?

And the blue sky.

And the plants.

Did I mention the flowers?

And the palace itself?

The cupola?

And the gates.

I caught a cute couple kissing on the bench.

I love greenery against brick.

The end. For now. Possibly for good concerning this subject.

Mount Vernon

2011-06-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind on blogging. This post goes back to weeks, but was definitely a highlight of our trip, so I wanted to post about it. We went to Mount Vernon. I'll skip the long story of how we got there. But we made it and I'm so glad we did!

Here's Bug and Mike with the house in the background.

Here's the group in front of us as we walked towards the house for the tour.

A very cool tree trunk.

There were lots of signs around with information. Here is the sign that told about how the wood used to build the house was made to look like stone. They were actually in the process of "rusticating" part of the house. We didn't get a picture of that.

The view from the back lawn.

Down the hill a bit in the same place.

To the side. Gorgeous view of the river.

The side of the back of the house. I put this one in so you could see how tall that tree was. Look at the itty-bitty people under it.

A full view of the back of the house.

Back to looking down the hill in the back yard.

A view of the back of the house from half-way down the hill. It was quite a steep hill.

A better shot of the tree.

I like trees. And hills, so long as I don't have to walk on them very much. Much nicer to just look at them. :)

Are you getting sick of this house yet? Sorry. There are people sitting in chairs on the back porch. Must have been a nice way to spend an evening, looking at the river with a cool breeze.

The covered walk-way from the house to the kitchen.

Another information sign.

And there is the riding chair itself.

Ivy looks pretty on brick.

A path leading down to the tomb where Washington was originally buried. He then was moved to another tomb by direction in his will. It just had to be built first.

More of the path. It was really beautiful.

There is the old vault.

And the reason I don't have a picture up of where he is actually buried now is because our camera ran out of battery. Sad day. But I imagine you are probably feeling grateful. After we saw his tomb, we also saw the gardens, which were really nice. The actually sell seeds and plants from their farms, which was tempting. There were two really neat museums that we walked through on our way back to the parking lot. All in all, a really interesting day!

Baseball

2011-06-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

The game started with a thunderstorm. Or should I say, did not start.

There was a tarp that covered the field. It took a rather large crew to clean it up.

They dragged it first off the field. Then, they folded it.

Here's more folding.

Still dragging.

Wide shot.

Players finally on the field only an hour late!

Cute pitch. :)

Batter up.

Swing!!

Bases loaded.

Grand slam. No joke. My first professional baseball game and I get to see a grand slam. Too bad it was for the team we were NOT rooting for. :)

There we are, watching the game.

Stat board. Took me only seven innings to figure out.

Stadium at night.

Yesterday

2011-06-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is what we did yesterday. We started here:

Then we took a drive and started a walk here:

Which led us here:

Which looks like this from the inside:

Then we walked back so we could go around the lake.

And kept walking.

There were some pretty cool trees. Bug is showing this one off.

A pretty path:

Ducks in a row.

Look. There's the Jefferson Memorial across the water.

WWII Memorial.

View of the Washington Monument from WWII.

I liked the flag.

Bug and Mike showing off the fountain.

This was above our heads.

More ducks.

I liked this shot. (Obviously you could see this one from everywhere.)

Cool trees right before the Vietnam Memorial.

The Vietnam Memorial was fun to take pictures of.

Another fun shot.

Lots of people had left flags and flowers.

Did I mention you could see it everywhere?

The sun was shining right above the Lincoln Memorial.

There he is.

Korean War Memorial.

Liked this quote.

You could barely see the Lincoln Memorial through the gap.

Um...

On the walk back, we saw this some more.

It looked so pretty.

The waterside walk was nice and shady.

From everywhere. Really.

Can you see Jefferson?

Finally almost back to the car!!!

May Report

2011-06-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

No pictures for this one. I didn't read too much in May because we were busy with getting ready for our trip as well as many other things. My two non-fictions were borderline cheater books, maybe. Lots and lots of pictures. :) But I finished two. So here it is.

Non-fiction:
Williamsburg, Jamestown, & Yorktown - Robert Llewellyn
Monet: Life and Works - Marianne Sachs

Green covers for the challenge:
A Thousand Tomorrows - Karen Kingsbury
Close to Famous - Joan Bauer
Stuck in the Middle - Virginia Smith
Leaving Carolina - Tamara Leigh

I read several non-challenge books, also, but none to particularly recommend. I wouldn't particularly recommend any of these, either. They were mostly fine, but nothing I felt the need to rush out to share with somebody.

On a different note, look for pictures of what I've been doing recently in the near future. (Maybe even today if I'm productive!) :)

June Challenge

2011-06-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is late. I'm on vacation, so I probably won't be updating much over the next few weeks - if at all. But I wanted to put up the challenge for this month. (I'll have to report about last month later.) So here it is:

I got this idea from a group of Goodreads, but I love it. It's a longer challenge, but once again, I love it. :) June is the month of weddings. There's the saying "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." Read an old favorite, a book you've never read before, a book you borrowed either from the library or a friend, and a book that either has "blue" in the title or the cover is blue.

And don't forget the two non-fiction. :)

Awesome Finds

2011-05-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

So, I just posted a song sung by Deanna Durbin. Look what I found yesterday!!!

It has six of her movies. Two of which I've already seen and love and four more I still get to watch! So excited!!!

Also, found a DVD of a movie I've been looking for for a long time. Someone told me it was the most romantic movie ever.... I'm inclined to agree.

My last find for the day was this fantastic quote:

"The thing about quotes on the internet is you cannot confirm their validity." -Abraham Lincoln

Something Fun

2011-05-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wow. This just made me laugh and laugh. It's short. Enjoy!

2011-05-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

After a difficult conversation this evening, I feel almost a compulsion to share my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So to you who read my blog, I would like to bear my testimony that I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church and that it is there that we find the gospel of Jesus Christ in this day. The gospel was restored to the earth through Joseph Smith, a prophet in the 1800s, by the inspiration and power of Jesus Christ. We have a prophet today, Thomas Monson, who leads the church and is God's spokesman to the earth. I know this to be true. I know the Book of Mormon, which Joseph Smith translated, is the word of God. It preaches of Christ and when I read it, I draw closer to Jesus Christ. I also believe the Bible to be the word of God.

And as they say, you don't have to take just my word for it. :)

If you'd like to see the webpage this video is shown in (much nicer than my blog) :), you can find it here.

My second project last week

2011-05-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Last week was productive, crocheting-wise.

I love the color ripples in this yarn. The picture captured them really well!

Michael Meets Mozart

2011-05-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Forgive me if you've already seen this, but Jon Schmidt said to pass it on, so ta da. As usual, he is my piano-playing hero. Wow. For your enjoyment:

I was going to title this post, but thought it might drive some away...

2011-05-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Okay. Just kidding. I know you guys aren't accordion snobs. Anyway. My sister discovered this guy. I've been listening to quite a bit of his stuff this morning and wow. But here's the sample I picked for you.

Who said the accordion wasn't cool? Not me. You can find more of him here.

I love dusk

2011-05-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention I love living here? Almost every time we are in the car together, one of the topics of conversation is how beautiful everything is.

"Look at those clouds!"

[I took those right in a row, by the way.]

"Look at that tree!"

[Oops. Was there a cloud in that picture?]

"Look at the moon!"

"Look at the sunset!"

"See that osprey!"
[Unfortunately, though these bird sitings are so common that I'm rarely in the car without seeing at least one of these, we have no pictures of them...]

"See that heron!"

"See that egret!"

"See that bald eagle?!!!!" (He has yet to see one, actually.)

"See that ibis!"

And on and on and on. But my favorite time of day is when trees are silhouetted against the sky.

Mark J. Nielson, in the March 2004 Ensign, said: "We can draw three lessons from nature’s grandeur: first, God exists; second, God is powerful; and third, God loves us."

As per Kira's request

2011-05-14T13:56:00.001-07:00

This is one of the blankets I have made this week. (The other one is only half-finished. You can see a picture later.) This one is an old theme, new yarn.

Fun while making an afghan

2011-05-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to finish two afghans quickly, so I decided to watch a movie while I crocheted. I don't know what made me think of her, but somehow Deanna Durbin popped into my mind, so I watched two of her movies. For those of your who have never heard of her, she was an actress in in the '30s and '40s and has one gorgeous voice!

Here's a little sample from "Three Smart Girls Grow Up." (Very cute movie, by the way.)

For those of you...

2011-05-06T07:14:00.001-07:00

...who don't read comments. Mona from Mona's Musings has resurrected her Mona's Gospel Musings blog. Both are really fantastic! Check them out!

May Challenge

2011-05-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Since emerald is the birthstone for May, read a book with a green cover.

April check up:

I read Emerson Eggerich's "Love and Respect" for my marriage book in April. It was super fantastic! And since I've been paying more attention to the issues he brings up, I have noticed some interesting things. Curious? You should definitely read the book! :)

I started several other marriage books, but that was the only one that was good enough to finish of the ones I tried this month.

My nonfiction books for the month were:
"How Starbucks Saved My Life" by Michael Gates Gill

"And Furthermore" by Judi Dench

and "Reading Like a Writer" by Francine Prose

I loved "Starbucks," enjoyed "And Furthermore," and was disappointed by "Reading."

Some of the other books I read:

A different way of thinking...

2011-04-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

This video is quite different from most music I listen to, but I love a lot of the sentiments of this song. Besides, several of the ideas were presented in a different way than I am used to thinking, which gets me thinking deeper and therefore expanding my view. Hope you enjoy.

Good day

2011-04-09T10:47:00.001-07:00

And that's all I'm going to say.

My favorite...

2011-04-05T10:38:00.001-07:00

Beethoven. Always loved him. But when I first heard this piece, I cried. It is so beautiful. Hope you enjoy.

April Challenge

2011-04-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

So several of my favorite people, including the most important person in my life, were born this month. So the challenge is to, in addition to two non-fiction books, read a book on marriage. Interpret as you will, I guess.

For March reading, I didn't read nearly as much as I generally do in a month since I was so busy, but I did manage to finish the challenge!

I'll go in order of favorites and this month, I even have icons for you to see what the book covers look like!

I read "Eat the Cookie... Buy the Shoes" by Joyce Meyer, which was about getting over feeling guilty and learning to rejoice. I liked the general message, but I wasn't all that impressed with the book. Not one I would actually discourage a person from reading, but also not one I would go out of my way to recommend.

For my mystery (as March was mystery month), I read "The Big Over Easy" by Jasper Fforde. Bizarre and very British. But funny. PG-13, so if you decide to read it, don't say I didn't warn you. :) I loved how all sorts of nursery rhymes were woven through the story. And found several obscure movie quotes, twisted.

The other non-fiction book was "At Home: A Short History of Private Life" by Bill Bryson. As usual with Bill Bryson, I adored the book. It was fascinating! And horrifying! I knew things were a lot different 150 years ago, but there were some things that I hadn't quite pictured and wow! I am so grateful to live now and not then!

Other... notable... (can't think of a better word) books I read this month were "The Rogue Shop" by Michael Knudsen and the Whitney series by Judy Baer. ("The Whitney Chronicles," "The Million Dollar Dilemma," "Norah's Ark," and "The Baby Chronicles.")

Wanna hang?

2011-03-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of a "hang duo." I had no idea what that was until I watched this video. I love steel drums. By the way, when I listened to the first few seconds, I was like okay, whatever. Just keep listening.

I hope these videos have been interesting to you. I love music and there is just sooooo much variety to appreciate!

Mr. Martin and the Banjo

2011-03-11T10:06:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I have mentioned that I love the banjo. Well, now I have I guess. My great-grandfather played the banjo and now several of my family members do. So, what does this have to do with Steve Martin? I'll tell you.

I saw a clip of Steve Martin on the Muppet Show. He was holding a banjo and I thought it looked like he was really playing it. Sure enough, he was. I had no idea, but he's actually been playing the banjo for a very long time. Here are some of my favorite videos.

This first is of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." The BYU Folk Dance Team's band (I think) played a version of this when I was a kid. I had no idea what it was called, but I was delighted to hear it again.

So then I found this one.

And then this. Check out Noam Pikelny's face near the end. :)

Mark

2011-03-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

I've been lucky in my life and know many very talented people. One that I met over a decade ago made a lasting impression on me, even though I haven't seen him for years. Let me introduce you to Mark Brignone.

I suggest you visit his website. On each page, there's a different professional recording. I love his gorgeous voice and smooth style. Hope y'all enjoy!

Book Challenge for March

2011-02-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

March - Beware the Ides of March. Read a mystery.

I made the February challenge by the skin of my teeth. (Finished my final nonfiction today, but finished the other nonfiction and special challenge only in the past few days!) I read "The Private Life of the Cat Who..." by Lilian Jackson Braun for the animal book. This month I discovered I don't so much like reading about animals. Hm... I started a couple of other books, but couldn't get through them, so this is what I ended up with. I remember liking "The Cat Who..." books mainly for the how she writes about cats, so this was a fun, if very short, book. Now I want another Siamese cat. :)

For my nonfiction books, I read two books by writers: "Knit Together: Discover God's Pattern for Your Life" by Debbie Macomber and "Page after Page: Discover the confidence & passion you need to start writing & keep writing" by Heather Sellers. I really enjoyed "Knit Together" and I found a lot of good information in "Page after Page."

Other than that, I didn't read a whole lot because I was so busy with solo and ensembles and work this month.

Any good books y'all read this month?

Another Mmmm...

2011-02-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is wonderfully calming to me.

An Angel

2011-02-19T13:32:00.001-08:00

Yesterday evening, we were having a John-Eliot-Gardiner-is-the-coolest-ever fest. We listened to our favorite version of Voi che sapete. Pamela Helen Stephen is the best Cherubino I've heard.

We stumbled upon the John Eliot Gardiner version of Handel's Messiah and we met, in someone else's words, this "angel of light in an otherwise dreary world." (They then asked, "WHY IS HE NOT THE MOST FAMOUS TENOR OF ALL TIME?!") I'm not positive I totally agree, but he does have quite the lovely voice. Hear Anthony Rolfe-Johnson for yourself.

I really liked this version of "And the Glory of the Lord." Reminded me of a stream running over rocks on its way down a mountain.

And continuing in the vein of J.E. Gardiner, here's some music I am very familiar with. I studied The Magic Flute in college a bit and fell in love. This is what we watched. (I couldn't pick just one song, so you get two. I was quite divided among about seven.) The first is Papageno singing about how he wants a wife. The second is Papageno and Tamina singing about love. One of my favorite pieces.

I realize I've put quite a bit up here and it might seem a bit overwhelming, but truly it's worth it to listen! Go ahead. Indulge yourself with great music, well-executed!

Nope. I lied. I have to put this one up, too. So amazing! (Check out what they say about liars.) :)

I can't stop laughing... No. Really.

2011-02-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

Okay. I saw this this morning and laughed and laughed. Enjoy the hilarity. (Recognize him, Seth?) :)

A trumpet and a harmonica

2011-02-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

Beezie sent me these two links. The first is a trumpet made from a piece of tubing. (A minute and a half. Very cool.) The second is a man playing a harmonica in Carnegie Hall. At first, I thought eh, so he's a great harmonica-ist. :) But the second half of the four minutes... Well, you'll just have to see for yourself.

Over my head

2011-02-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

This sounds better accompanied by strings than by a piano, by the way.

Book Challenge for February

2011-02-01T09:28:00.001-08:00

February – Groundhog’s Day happens in February. Read a book about an animal.

I enjoyed my reading for January. I read "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin and "Of Pigs, Pearls, and Prodigals" by John Bytheway for my nonfiction books. I read "Tuesdays with Morrie" for my book that I've been meaning to read for a while. And then various and sundry other books, none of which particularly stick out.

Heidi asked a few questions concerning the challenge.

Question - Can more than one book fill the goal for the month? Or can we only fill the goal with one book and all others count as 5 pointers?

And if we read more than 2 nonfiction in a month, do each of them count as 10 points, or are they also just 5?

Well, Heidi, I say we can read more than one book to fill the goal of the month, each worth ten points. And also, go ahead and count any nonfiction for 10 points. Why not? It's always fun to get more points. :)

Any other questions?

Happy reading!

What we are doing...

2011-01-28T09:40:00.001-08:00

So here's what we are doing these days.

Manatees came to town. There were lots. The discolorations in the water are mostly manatees.

Here are some more manatees:

And yet more manatees:

The manatees were in in droves because of the cold weather. Another side effect of said cold is all the pretty fall colors, which we have been enjoying.

We are once again Sea World pass holders. This picture didn't turn out very well, but it's a person who has been pushed into the air for a dive by two dolphins. One of my favorite parts of the show.

We got a number of games for Christmas. This one is Blockus. Morgan figured out how to fit all the pieces on without breaking rules. Impressive. We have been playing quite a few other games as well. Anyone want to come over?

We have been having gorgeous sunsets as usual. This is one Morgan got pictures of within the last couple of weeks.

Right now, we are working, and today we actually got to work together!

Here's proof that I am working in the same room. :)

A cool little link

2011-01-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

This will take you less than two minutes to watch. I think the title is funny: When kids aren't glued to video games they can create this awesomeness. :)

A Long List

2011-01-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

So I can't blame you if you don't read this whole list, but we were trying to put together a list of lots of dinners that we like. (Or parts of dinners, as the case may be.) If you don't want to read the whole thing (which is in no particular order), just comment with some of your favorite dinners. I feel like you can never have enough ideas. Most of these are very easy and fairly cheap, by the way.

Dinners:

taco soup
taco salad
black beans and rice with roast pork
vegetable soup (my mom's way, obviously. Yum!)
stew
chicken and rice
spaghetti (I particularly love it on spaghetti squash)
hamburgers (with either ground beef or ground turkey)
lasagna/lasagna in a pot (less mess the pot way)
oatmeal burgers (a personal favorite)
stroganoff (however you spell it)
pork chops and scalloped potatoes (or ham)
pizza (my favorite is green peppers and pineapple)
shepherd's pie
stir fry
Hawaiian haystacks (don't forget the whipped cream and cherries)
rice and beans (my roommate's style)
burritos (my uncle's style)
chicken teriyaki
chicken a la king
chicken pot pie
ginger ale pot roast
chicken broccoli stuffing yumminess
BBQ chicken
baked potatoes with toppings
corned beef and eggs
Hoppin' John
stuffed peppers
lentils, especially on quesadillas
sweet potato pork roast with peppers
fajitas
French market soup
meatballs
calzones
chicken broccoli casserole
chicken broth soup
cornbread with chili (emphasis on the cornbread!)
ravioli
chicken cordon bleu
parmesan chicken
sloppy joes
chicken enchiladas
French toast
tuna casserole
sweet and sour chicken
salmon
chicken fettuccine
whole wheat waffles with strawberry and peach blend
mac & cheese with cabbage and hot dogs (cabbage is a must! cabbage and onions would be good, too)
funeral potatoes
potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce. No kidding.
creamed egg on toast
cream tuna on rice
meatloaf
Salisbury steak
quiche
jumbalaya
chicken paprika
Swedish pancakes
subs
fancy nachos
brisket
chicken salad
tuna salad
Chipotle chicken

Bored yet? I love lists of food so there are lots of options. I like lots of variety. I would love more to add to my list, so add away, please.

And for some pretty music... Did I mention I love Thomas Newman?

Happiness

2011-01-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

"Happiness and unhappiness... are not opposite sides of the same emotion - they're distinct and rise and fall independently..." - Gretchen Rubin

I'm not sure if that's the exact quote. It's what I wrote in my notes from the book. But I thought that was interesting. I've often felt like I was happy and sad at the same time and that seemed paradoxical. So when I read this sentence, it rang true to me. It was why I could feel both at the same time.

Another thing Rubin points out is that happy people tend to focus on the positive things in their lives while unhappy people tend to focus on the negative things. I've made a concerted effort for the last week to focus on the positive and I have to say, it's made a difference. In the past, I've tried to be a positive thinker, but this time, I am focusing on doing so. Funny how in some ways, I didn't learn anything new when I read Rubin's book, and yet it struck me anew - things I've always known, but need to put back into practice.

Here is yet another song (this version in particular) that I love to listen to. (I have a thing for mellow music I guess.)

Mmmm...

2011-01-11T10:47:00.001-08:00

Here's another song. Sorry for the lame music videos sometimes. I just listen to the music and ignore the video. The song is much prettier by Il Divo and NOT in English. :)

2011-01-10T07:57:00.001-08:00

We talked about a lot of our favorite composers for a long time on Saturday night. We listened to a lot of great music. In our wanderings around fantastic musicians like Alan Menken, John Williams, and Hans Zimmer (to name a few of our heroes), we found this version of a song in Hebrew. We thought it was pretty cool, so I thought I'd share it.

This and that (with some beauty thrown in)

2011-01-05T12:09:00.001-08:00

I've just read my first nonfiction for the year. A book called "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. I don't know if this book is for everyone, but I loved the practical application of how to take your life and feel happier. Happiness takes work. I liked how much I identified with things she wrote about and I got all sorts of good ideas about how to help myself feel happier so I can help others feel happier.

The shortcuts that I learned a few weeks ago are becoming more natural and I love them.

And for the beauty part of this, I decided to post one of my favorite Barbara Bonney videos. She makes me happy. :) I can listen to this music over and over...

Book Challenge 2011

2011-01-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

Two non-fiction books (of any length) a month plus one challenge a month. (10 pts per book)

Here are the challenges:

January – January is the month of resolutions. Read a book you’ve been meaning to read for a long time.

February – Groundhog’s Day happens in February. Read a book about an animal.

March – Beware the Ides of March. Read a mystery.

April – A very important person was born in April… Read a book on marriage.

May – Emerald is the birthstone for May. Read a book with a green cover.

June – I got this idea from a group on Goodreads, but I love it. It’s a longer challenge, but once again, I love it. :) June is the month of weddings. There’s the saying “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” Read an old favorite, a book you’ve never read before, a book you borrowed either from the library or a friend, and a book that has “blue” either in the title or the cover is blue.

July – July is vacation month. Read a book about a place that you want to visit, but have not yet visited.

August – Back to school in August. Read a book from either a summer reading list (high school, of course), or this link: http://www.neh.gov/projects/summertimefavorites.html.

September – The first comic strip published in an American newspaper was published on September 11, 1875. Read either a comic book or a manga book. (Is that a correct way to use that word? I have no idea. But you know what I mean.)

October – Columbus landed in America in October. Read a book concerning America. (I realize that is pretty wide open. I wanted some options.)

November - November is the best month of the year. Read a fun book.

December – Both Jane Austen and Walt Disney were born in December. Read a book that is somehow related to either of them. (Spin-offs, about the park, biographies, relating to the movies, etc….)

Bonus: Any other books you read this year over 75 pages. (5 pts per book)

Reading Report

2011-01-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

A shameful confession here. I did not finish 8 of my categories! (That is if you count each letter of the alphabet as a separate category.) Letters I, N, U, V, and Y got me. Lame, I know. And I never did see a movie that I had not seen and read the book I had not read this year. I read and watched Persuasion, but I had both read and watched Persuasion before, so I did not count it. I didn't read a retold fairy tale, surprisingly, that I had not read before. Usually this is a favorite genre, but not one I got around to this year. And lastly, I did not read a book that was written between 1776 and 1850. So I failed my own book challenge.

Still, I did read a lot of books and even a number that I would not have normally picked up, but was goaded into doing so for the book challenge. Let me highlight some favorites for you [note: not all the categories I finished are interesting enough to include]:

A: It was fun to read a few books by Hannah Alexander (Christian medical fiction). I think I started with "Second Opinion."
B: Really enjoyed some Judy Baer (Christian fiction) books this year. "Mirror, Mirror" was probably my favorite.
C: "Out of the Rain" was probably my favorite Elizabeth Cadell (general fiction/light romance from the '50s to '80s) book read this year.
E: Enjoyed "Middlemarch" by George Eliot.
G: "Never the Bride" by Rene Gutteridge (Christian fiction - at least this book was) made me think a lot. I liked a lot of what it made me think about, though I didn't necessarily agree with lots in the book. Still, got to love a thinker.
H: Dee Henderson's (Christian thriller) series starting with the prequel "Danger in the Shadows" was a fun one for me. I also really liked Dr. Harley's "His Needs, Her Needs." (marriage). Excellent!! And Helene Hanff's "Charing Cross Road."
O: I read Janette Oke's (Christian historical fiction) "Prarie Legacy" series. Very interesting to me.
S: I loved "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart (children's).
W: Discovered Laura Jensen Walker's book club series. Very fun for me, a book lover. Also really enjoyed "Reconstructing Natalie" about a breast cancer survivor.

Water book: Read Elizabeth Cadell's "Shadows on the Water" for this. Liked it. I love Cadell's seemingly rambling style.

Title: Another Elizabeth Cadell. (I was on a kick this year, obviously.) "Enter Mrs. Belchamber."

Plant: "When the Bough Breaks" by Kay Lynn Magnum (LDS young adult). A tie-in to her "Secret Journal of Brett Colton," my favorite LDS young adult novel. (Okay, so it was a bit of a stretch...)

Visited: "Excellent Women" by Barbara Pym. Takes place in England. I wanted to visit England and then I GOT to visit. :) Perfect.

1851 - 1900: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. One of the best books I read all year. A very short, wonderful read with an amazing moral to the story. LOVED it!

1901 - 1950: Read a Georgette Heyer book and also "Winnie-the-Pooh."

War: "In Our Strange Gardens" by Michel Quint. Another short, but fabulous book.

"Best" book of the decade: "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss

Science: "A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. I actually could follow along for longer than I anticipated. Made me feel smart. (Until I thought about how this was his dumbed down version...) :)

History: "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. History of the Appalachian Trail.

Goodreads author: "Dragon Slippers" by Jessica Day George (YA). "Sweet Caroline" by Rachel Hauck (Christian fiction). "Impossible" by Nancy Werlin (YA). This was particularly interesting to me. Once I got into the book, I couldn't put it down!

2010: "Caught" by Harlan Coben. One of my favorite endings to a book. Ever.

Meant to read: "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Another thinker of a book. An excellent read I would recommend to everybody.

Politics: Read several here, but the only one I would recommend is "Amazing Grace" by Eric Metaxas. It is about William Wilburforce and not only a lot of great information, but a good read, too!

Before 1776: "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. Very interesting, especially when put into historical persepctive. I think that's very important for this book.

Nothing much

2010-12-21T16:07:00.001-08:00

So really I should be doing other things right now, but I wanted to share something that's exciting to me, although it might make me look a little slow. Here I am someone who types for hours and hours every week and the only shortcuts I knew were cut, copy, and paste. Last week I learned how to skip back and forth a word at a time and also delete and highlight a word at a time. Which I have been practicing. Today, I learned how to make my own shortcuts! Which means that now I have a shortcut to highlight words (very much used by me) and also, I have a shortcut to the AutoCorrect function! Hooray! SO MUCH FASTER. Where has this been all my life? Oh, yeah. Exactly where it is now. I just never bothered to learn.

And to reward you for actually coming to read a post called "Nothing much" and then making it through that short bit of nothingness, I'll post something fun and interesting. We were researching classical music that has been "jazzified" and found this Christmas-y piece.

I really hope you took the time to listen to at least part of that. Isn't it great?!

Sunday

2010-12-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have been having a little bit of a hard time getting into the Christmas Season this year. The year just passed by too quickly and I can't believe it's already December, much less halfway through! Anyway, my dad had a brilliant idea that we executed on Sunday and I've been much more in the Christmas Spirit since. It involved this:

And this:

Not to mention lots of other similar songs. (Anyone guessing a theme here?) :) Anyway, a group of about 25 people and Handel's Messiah. It was a joyous occasion.

(As a side note, I'd never heard of this soprano before. Should I be ashamed? I think she has a beautiful soprano voice!)

Christmas time

2010-12-09T06:40:00.001-08:00

I still want you to go on and comment on my previous post. I really would appreciate recommendations. But in the spirit of Christmas, I wanted to post this beautiful Irish Christmas hymn. It's one of Morgan's favorite songs. We love this arrangement.

Personality

2010-12-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

Personality tests have always fascinated me. I was just heard of a new one and learned a little bit more about one I've heard of, but don't really know anything about. Does anyone have a favorite personality theory/test/book/style/whatever I should put here? Please recommend!

Celebrating Christ in a Food Court—Don’t Miss This One!

2010-12-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

Many of you know how dear Handel's Messiah is to me. What a joy for me to stumble upon this today. Really. Take the five minutes to watch this. It is worth it.

Celebrating Christ in a Food Court—Don’t Miss This One!

It would have been amazing to been in the Food Court this day, but I'm so glad it was well-taped.

I think what really gets me about this recording is the diversity represented in the people singing (Jesus is the Savior for all of us), but more importantly, everybody who is singing is also smiling. I don't know that it is possible to sing this shout of praise without grinning. I've never been able to manage it except when struggling to keep tears of joy and humility from running down my cheeks. Our God is good.

On the road again

2010-11-15T00:37:00.000-08:00

I had dinner with a delightful group on Saturday. I was introduced to this duo:

(They do a lot of comedy a la Victor Borge, too. Thought I'd pass them along.)

During dinner (where an iPad is a necessity) we watched this video [Kira, I don't think you'll like the end of this.]:

We also listened to a lot of music like this:

And we ate a delicious, very British dinner. Except the cheese course, where we had, of course, Wensleydale cheese, and a delicious French desert. (Served with my favorite British clotted cream.) Fantastic blend. :) A most beautiful evening.

Bath

2010-11-13T02:29:00.000-08:00

May I recommend that you pop over to Mona's this weekend. She posted some pictures that she took while we were in Bath. She has some fun quotes and links, too. Bath is delightful!

Hyde Park!!

2010-11-11T03:23:00.000-08:00

The Rose Garden in Hyde Park. Can you imagine the riot of color in the summer?

One of the beautiful flowers.

Walking through Hyde Park. Lots of walkers, runners, and cyclists.

All sorts of gorgeous trees.

"The Dell." One of my favorite parts of the park.

Isn't it beautiful?

This is the best picture of this tree I could get. I wish it turned out better. The stark contrast of colors was so amazing.

Another beautiful, overexposed tree.

The Serpentine.

See the horses coming down Rotten Row?

Kensington Gardens.

The Albert Memorial is through the trees.

There it is. (Isn't that blue sky wonderful?)

There is Prince Albert.

Top of the memorial.

Middle. (Make sure and click on these, so you can see them bigger.)

A whole bunch of movers and shakers.

Another day in the neighborhood

2010-11-10T03:12:00.000-08:00

Went to Leicester Square to buy tickets. This is for you, Seth:

Went on a walking tour based around this group:

On the walk, we saw this beautiful piece of art outside of a children's hospital. Any guesses as to who it is?

Obligatory cloud picture. :)

Where we ate dinner. Sorry for the bad picture. My camera isn't much into night pictures. (It's called Garfunkel's by the way.)

The amazing, wonderful, deep, funny play we saw last night. It was fantastic!

Monday, Monday

2010-11-09T01:48:00.000-08:00

Don't have much time to write, but wanted to give you a glimpse of my Monday. We went to Hampton Court and got to the gardens right at sunset! Well, you can imagine my delight. And the fact that I took way more pictures of clouds than I did of the palace. Hm....

Hampton Court from the front.

View of the sunset.

Another view. (By the way, sillouhettes against a sunset sky are one of my favorite things on this earth. [sigh])

In honor of...

2010-11-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

In honor of another part of our Saturday, I have two recordings for you. The first was actually recorded in Carnegie Hall, but is the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields or whatever it would technically be called. (I chose this recording because I love this piece.)

This second is actually recorded where I have stood. Fun for me! [Note: this is only the first part of the piece. It will have a link to the rest, but just thought I should warn.] This piece is also very beautiful.

Here are a few of my pictures. The first is of the church there kind of in the background. I'm sorry to say I didn't get a better picture.

Here's the inside. Isn't it gorgeous? The ceiling is so beautiful.

Here is the organ.

Here is the crypt underneath. Some of you have probably heard that there is a cafeteria in the crypt that you can eat at. So we did. As we sat at a table, there were inscriptions under our feet on the floor with people's names and dates, etc...

Check out these clouds

2010-11-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

The clouds looked gorgeous today.

Do you agree?

Oh, look! There's beautiful clouds AND Big Ben.

Beautiful clouds AND Parliament.

It was such a wonderful day! LOOK at these clouds!!

I love these clouds AND where I am.

What a day, what a day!

And on top of it all, a book market. A BOOK market. Does a day get better than this? Not much anyway.

On a different note, a highlight of my trip was yesterday when we went here:

I hadn't planned on visiting there, but it worked out that way. And I was so glad we did. In our wanderings through the store, we came to the musical instrument part. Lots of grand pianos. Of course I was drooling. There were signs that said not to touch, but ask for assistance. The man working there had been singing, but while he was taking a break, I asked if I could play a piano. He said I could unless I was going to play Fuer Elise. That made me smile. I promised to play something else. At one point, I started a pretty fun piece and quit when I got to where I no longer had it memorized. When I stopped, I found him looking at me. He said he was waiting for the big part. He sat down at the piano next to me and we both played the "big, bangy part." Then I started another piece he also knew and we played the bangy part of that one, too. We gathered quite a crowd. What a high! He absolutely made my day. I'm so glad we met!

I'm here

2010-11-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

The colors are gorgeous here.

Beautiful walking areas.

This is what I saw today. Pardon the non-perfect picture. I was just about to cross a street.

We walked around here. A very long walk. Wonderful memorials. Unlike anything I've ever seen. (A non-traveler here.) I loved seeing the William Wilberforce memorial.

Something from the outside. This picture turned out better than I thought it would.

I'm going somewhere...

2010-10-30T16:28:00.001-07:00

I'm going somewhere.

But it is not here.

Do you ever sense a theme to what we take pictures of?

We get a kick out of it, I guess.

But did you check out those clouds

Or that sweet shadow?

These are not in order of when they were taken.

But it was a beautiful drive.

Oh. How did that get in there?

Exciting news!

2010-10-26T07:05:00.001-07:00

I was really excited about this and thought I would pass it along.

Last time a trumpet. This time a...

2010-10-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

...n English Horn (cor anglais). And Sibelius. [sigh] Sorry about all the YouTube videos recently, but we went on a search recently for some great instrument show-off pieces and found quite a few I wanted to share. I'll try to intersperse these with other interesting things, but really. What beats well-played beautiful music?

Not to mention the strings aren't so bad. :)

Beautiful

2010-10-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

We ran across this video this weekend and loved it. Although I think it's funny that a trumpet is playing a piece called "Gabriel's Oboe." But whatever. This is a beautiful piece of music, but I decided to post it because the trumpeter is so amazing! Gorgeous, gorgeous tone. Hope you enjoy!

10/10/10

2010-10-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

*Note: I realize it is not yet the 10th. I wasn't sure if I would get to posting this later. If you don't want to read it before the 10th, wait a couple of days. :)

In honor of 10/10/10, an article was published in Meridian Magazine. (A very fine online magazine. If you have not subscribed, you might want to check it out.) Anyway, I thought I'd post a link to the article for anyone interested. It talks about the significance of the number 10 in scripture.

And on a totally different note having nothing to do with anything in particular, here's an Elvis song that I love to hear Michael Ball sing.

For S6E

2010-10-07T07:01:00.001-07:00

Fingerless gloves. A totally new project for me and very easy. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Christmas dishcloths. I know. Boring. But I like how they remind me of peppermint candy.

Cool ocean video

2010-10-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

Have y'all heard about the ocean census that they just finished? It took them ten years to do! You can read about it here or here. While we were looking around for information, Morgan found this:

Check it out.

What I did over the weekend...

2010-10-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

I like to work on projects that don't take much thought during Conference. It helps me stay awake. :) Actually, it also helps me concentrate. This Conference, while listening to amazing talks which inspired and comforted me, I did this:

And this:

Which together makes this:

I found both patterns for free on Ravelry.com, a fun site my friend introduced me to. The pattern for the scarf is here. The pattern for the hat is here. I didn't come up with these patterns. However, the more patterns I try, the more I really feel I understand how crocheting works. That's kind of fun seeing as I've never really understood it before.

The River

2010-09-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

So I think I have mentioned that I am not a poetry person. I think it's probably also well-known that I am most definitely not a country fan when it comes to music. Despite all that, when I ran into this song again today (it's been years), I listened and really enjoyed the message.

I have often said that we need to make plans so the Lord can change them. My mother-in-law put it as "The Lord cannot steer a parked car." I think this song captures the essence of my thought.

For those of you who don't want to listen to the music, here are the words:

You know a dream is like a river
Ever changing as it flows
And the dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores

And I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the water slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide

I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry

There's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the Good Lord as my captain
I can make it through it all

Yes, I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry

Another Book Checkup

2010-09-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

I keep telling myself it's not time for a book checkup yet since I just did one, but when I looked this morning to see how long it had been, I realized my last book checkup was in March. So I suppose this is a fine time. Is anyone still trying to meet this challenge? Well, I am. Here are my stats:

Out of 25 categories (assuming that the alphabet category is one challenge), I have 17 fulfilled. I have read 145 books. I think. I may have miscounted somewhere in there. That's 1215 points.

Here are some of the books I have enjoyed since my first checkup:

The Friendly Air - Elizabeth Cadell
The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart
Daring Chloe - Laura Jensen Walker (about a book club!)
When the Bough Breaks - Kay Lynn Magnum
Winne-the-Pooh - A.A. Milne (believe it or not I had never read)
In Our Strange Gardens - Michel Quint
A Briefer History of Time - Stephen Hawking
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson (just a warning - lots of language, but one of my favorites!)
Impossible - Nancy Werlin
Caught - Carlan Hoben
Amazing Grace - Eric Metaxas
The Prince - Machiavelli

Anybody want to report their score or even just recommend a book they've enjoyed recently?

Forgiving

2010-09-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

I read the most wonderful quote on forgiving by Elder Richard G. Scott:

"Forgiveness ... allows the love of God to purge your heart and mind of the poison of hate. It cleanses your consciousness of the desire for revenge. It makes place for the purifying, healing, restoring love of the Lord."

This is from the April 1992 General Conference. The manual explained the quote like this:

"...forgiving others does not mean approving of their wrongdoing or offense. Forgiving someone means that with the help of our Father in Heaven, we can cleanse our hearts of anger or hatred toward the offender, cease to dwell on the offense, and feel peace. This process is not always easy or quick, but Heavenly Father will help us as we try to forgive."

What a wonderful definition of forgiveness! To me, it once again goes back to our relationship with God rather than whoever offended/hurt us. I've always known that forgiveness is more for us than for whom we forgive, but this was a clear explanation why. Just thought I'd share.

A new blog

2010-09-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine started a new blog. He is studying Human Development and posted something very interesting. I encourage you to not only read what he wrote, but the comments, which are very interesting. (Not to mention, I got quoted! That's a first!) ;)