More Books

My name is Katie, and I'm addicted to books. Have I admitted this once before? It feels like it .... 
There's been a lot of talk about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. On my week off of work, I finished two books in the Percy Jackson series and also finished The Hunger Games. I'm now reading Catching Fire. Now, this blog is not a book review site in any way, but sometimes it's fun to talk about the books you're reading. Maybe others have different points of view or explain something that didn't make sense, etc. Perhaps joining a book club is the way to go. But then I wouldn't enjoy reading because it would be something that was "assigned" rather than a hobby. Like Oprah's book club. I think I started two or three different books she suggested, and ended up hating them all. Not a good way to read. 
Anyway, it took a while for me to get into The Hunger Games. 

Everyone said how addictive it was once you picked it up and started reading. Honestly, I kept reading because there wasn't much else I wanted (or needed) to do. It's a fast read, which I like, but the story seems so unbelievable. It's not like the world of Harry Potter. I got lost in that, even though I knew it was totally unrealistic. This series isn't like that. This series is more like let's-see-how-unbelievable-and-out-of-this-world-we-can-make-it. The third book, Mockingjay, comes out at the end of this month. I find myself hoping it's the last book in the series ....
Mom and I went to Costco last week. They always have a large selection of books. I found a series by V.C. Andrews called the Dollanganger series. 

It's five books, and Costco had two books in one for $6.97, so I got the first four books in the series for practically nothing. That will be my next read (probably after I finish the last three of the Percy Jackson series). 
I guess the point of this blog is that it's nice to have a hobby I really enjoy. One of these days, I'm going to have more time to enjoy books that are church-related rather than young adult fiction or fun stories. Because of time constraints with school, work, and life, I'm not able to focus on books that take a lot of thinking since my brain is already pushed to the limit with other information that's supposedly going to provide me with income the rest of my life. 
On a side note (that has nothing to do with books), I slammed my right middle finger in the bathroom stall door at work. THAT was pleasant. Maybe I should write a book about it ....

Thank heavens for little girls!

My 77-year-old friend got married yesterday. Happy day! 
We went to the reception. Lots of food, small cake, totally the way it should be done. 
UNTIL she sends her granddaughter out to collect the "single girls", specifically me, so she could throw the bouquet. Now, I don't put weight on silly things like that. Just because you catch a bouquet does not mean you will be the next to marry. 
I tried to get out of it. Tried to talk Mom into leaving. Tried to hide in a group of people. Tried to pretend like I didn't exist. It didn't work. She wouldn't throw the bouquet until I was standing in the group of single women. 
As she's getting ready to throw, she notices several little girls at the front of the "pack" of singles and says, "No, no. You girls are too young for this. You go play." I (from the back of the crowd) say, "Oh, no. They're fine. Really! Let them be a part of this." 
Thank heavens for little girls!!! She looked at me, tried to "aim" where the bouquet went, and totally missed. All the little girls ran for the bouquet and one of the taller ones caught it. She had a huge smile on her face and was overjoyed that she caught it. 
I was smiling, too, until I saw my friend's face. She was NOT happy that I had avoided catching the bouquet. In fact, I think she was rather upset. I gave her a big hug and told her thanks for trying. Relief! I'm glad I didn't catch it! 
When I found Mom, I told her what happened, laughing about it. Then, when I said my friend looked kind of upset, Mom said, "I bet she was. She really wanted you to catch it." 
Oh, well. I feel bad she was upset, but you know, catching a bouquet really doesn't mean anything. It's just a tradition we do. And it's kind of a silly one at that. Catching some flying flowers in no way means you will be the next to marry. Because if that's all it took, I'd have been married for the last 20 years. 

Fun with family

Mom and I wanted to do something fun this year that didn't cost a fortune. We opted for the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City - and it was SO much fun!!! We invited my mom's sister, Kathi, and their aunt, Nadine, to come with us. We saw three plays (The 39 Steps, Pride and Prejudice, and Much Ado About Nothing). They were wonderful, and so funny! 
We only stayed one night, but it was the perfect amount of time. Alex came and "tended" Dad during the day and then stayed the night to help David listen for him if he needed anything. I think Bear (the poor dog) missed us more than any human. We are already planning another trip next year because we had such a good time being together and getting "cultured." 
Here are some pictures of our time together. I also took several pictures of the sunset as we drove home. It was incredible! The weather was great, but lightning storms were coming in as we drove home. There were beautiful, fluffy clouds in the sky and the sun tried to peek through. I've included those as well. 

Mom bought us all a "tiara" to wear. You can't see hers because her hair is so much lighter than the rest of us, but it was fun to wear them and feel like princesses for a little bit. The lady who took our pictures was funny. She kept hitting the button on my iPhone and we ended up with LOTS of these pictures. Several of those pictures included her finger. Nice! And in one of those with the finger, Mom said it looked like Nadine was going to throw up. We laughed so hard over that none of us could breathe. I'm sure the people trying to watch the greenshow really appreciated the idiot ladies laughing their heads off. Oops! 

One of the things we did was shop in the gift shop. Mom found a display of hats, so she made me try them on and take pictures. Every time we saw a hat after that, I put it on and she took a picture. I don't know why we thought it was so funny, but here are her photos of our hat fun. 

I don't know why, but the last hat made me think of Strawberry Shortcake. I used to love her! I had a doll that smelled like her, had a board game with her theme, and just loved to watch the cartoon. That phase only lasted a little while, but I have fond memories of Strawberry Shortcake. 

These are pictures of the sunset I caught out the window of Mom's van as we drove home. There's no explanation needed, but I will say that God has truly created some beautiful things in this life, and sunsets in Utah are one of the most beautiful. 

My obsession with sunsets (and the occasional sunrise) continues. I don't know why, but there's something about the picture that Heavenly Father creates when the sun goes up and comes down. No two pictures are ever the same. It just makes me appreciate how small I am in this world, and yet how much I am loved that I could witness something so beautiful. It was the perfect ending to two wonderful days with three of my favorite people. I'm really looking forward to next year, and hope that we really and truly do it again. 

One last thing - if you're ever in Cedar City, you have to visit The Pastry Pub. They have excellent food, and their pastries are to die for! Now, I don't eat pastries anymore, but when I did, these were the ones I craved. We had a wonderful lunch there on our second day. They have good food and it's a fun environment. I didn't get any pictures, but you can check out their website at www.cedarcitypastrypub.com.

Handy Woman

There are lots of things you learn to do for yourself when you've been single as long as I have. Things like fixing a toilet, cooking for one, assembling desks, entertainment centers, and other furniture, and changing light fixtures. 

Well, the last one was a new one for me. Truthfully, I called the bro-in-law for help. But only because I stuck a fork in a light socket when I was four and had trouble sleeping that night. Dad slept on the floor with me because the parents weren't certain I was really okay. My hair stood up on end and I was kinda buzzed. So, visions of that whole incident ran through my mind as I considered changing the bathroom light fixture by myself. 

In the end, the bro-in-law was busy bathing kids and putting them to bed, so (since I'd already ripped the old, broken fixture out of the wall) I had to have light to put my face on for Sunday morning. I could have waited, but, well, patience has never been my strongest virtue. At least not when it's something I can do myself by reading a few instructions. (There are some gospel/life lessons here, I'm sure.) 

So, I installed the new fixture - all by myself. I told Mom if she heard a faint buzzing or if the lights in the house flickered or went out to come and check on me. It only took about 15 minutes, but I got the new fixture up and - voila! - it actually worked when I flipped the switch. AND, because it's a four light fixture that replaced a two light fixture, I can totally see in the bathroom now! That's good and bad. Good because I can see my face better, but bad because I can see my face better. 

Go me! I am handy woman! Hear me ... meow.

Dreams vs. Nightmares

Last night, I had a dream. It woke me up at exactly 4:00 a.m., at which point I could NOT go back to sleep. (This makes for a not-so-great day. I'm barely coherent with a good amount of sleep, but limit me to four short hours and we have trouble ....)

My dream was this:

A certain cute boy, who shall remain nameless, told me to meet him at Provo High School to go on our first date. Traffic was bad, I was late, and he wasn't there. I ran towards University Avenue to look for him, and sure enough he was running in place on the corner of University and Bulldog with two of his best buddies. He didn't hear me when I hollered his name, so I started running to catch up with them. The light (of course!) turned red so they could run across the street. I picked up the pace to try and reach them, but the boys, having ultra long legs, out-ran me. Somehow, I had a cardboard box around my waist that was keeping me from moving my stubby legs any faster, and no matter how hard I tried to get the blasted box off of me, I couldn't get rid of it! The boys kept running, crossed another street, went up a set of stairs, and then did a 180 to run down a set of stairs. I was standing across the street watching them as they turned and wishing my lungs would fill with air so I didn't pass out. At this point, cute boy waved at me and smiled. Then, I woke up. 

This is not all. Oh no. It gets better. The thing I remember most vividly was the color of cute boy's running outfit. He had on light pink sweatpants, hot pink shoes with two wide white stripes, a dark pink hoodie, and a hot pink sweatband on his head that matched his shoes. It was over-the-top in pinkness. 


So, tell me psychoanalysts, what the heck all that means?! I can handle the whole running away from me thing (it's really nothing new), but what the heck is up with all the pink? For real, I need answers, because I'm beginning to think this was not a dream - it was a nightmare!

One of my dreams has come true!!!

August 28th can't come soon enough! Michael Buble is in concert at the MGM Grand in Vegas and I WILL BE THERE!!! I can't believe it. Honestly, I keep pinching myself to make sure this isn't some cruel dream I will shortly wake from and plummet back into reality. 

IT'S NOT A DREAM!!! I'm really going to see him in concert! One month from today! 

If only I could promise not to throw myself on the concert floor and ask him to marry me ... he's engaged, but he's not married. Still fair game, right?

This face could sing to me ANY time, ALL the time:

Give me some of this any time!

I need a key to his room!!!

A gorgeous face

July 24th Festivities

Every year our family celebrates July 24th. We've done it so long that I don't remember NOT doing it. Spanish Fork (where I grew up until we moved when I was 13) celebrates their "Fiesta Days" and they have a carnival come to town, a big parade, and a rodeo. We've never really been into the carnival or rodeo, but we usually have a family BBQ, eat tons of yummy food, light fireworks, and generally just have a last summer shebang before school starts. 

This year was no exception! We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, had a delicious broccoli salad, Mom's World Famous potato salad, chips, scrumptious shrimp dip, cream cheese and salsa dip, and a fruit salad with Oreos in it. Plus, Dave (the dutch oven guru) made a cherry cobbler and pineapple upside-down cake - served with REAL whipped cream. Delish! Oh yeah, we can't forget these bad boys:

This picture doesn't even do these justice. Go to Walmart and buy some. You won't be disappointed.

These things are HUGE! One marshmallow doesn't even fit in your hand. And I have big hands - like man-hand size! Boy are they yummy. And gluten free (which is a plus at our house). I think I ate two. And later wished I had not met the dang things! 

After we ate, we hung out in the front yard. We have two giant willow trees there and, since our house faces east, it makes for a very shady spot in the evenings. Mom bought bubbles for the younger kids, and I bought pop-its and sparklers. The sparklers weren't such a hit, but the whole box (40 small boxes total) of pop-its got used. The kiddies basically dumped them on the ground and stomped on them to their heart's content. Great fun! 

Once it got a little dark, we lit a few sparklers and then went for the main event - the "light your driveway on fire" fireworks! We had some really good ones this year (thank you, Sam's Club). Alex lit them all off (which is my least favorite job of the night) and we saved a couple of really good ones for last - the grand finale! Overall, one of the best 24th's we've ever had. 

On top of that, one of my best friends, Ashley, and her family came down to stay with me. Her husband, Paul, and their two little girls, Aubrey and Hailey, came as well. We got up early the next morning and went to the parade where we all got a little tan. Before they left to go home, I torched some steaks, made a really yummy green salad, and grilled some corn on the cob. Ashley made brownies for dessert (I had another marshmallow ...) and it was a wonderful meal with my favorite people. 

As much as I have disliked summer in the past, I find myself loving it now. Not only am I happy to not be freezing to death (which I do quite often now), but it's a fun time of the year to hang with the family and be active while we laugh and joke and poke fun at each other. There are fond memories made, and I really like that the most. 

Here are some pics of the events: 

Aubrey doing Pop-Its

 Hailey deciding what to do next

Paul keeps the little ones entertained with bubbles

Paul and Ashley laughing at the family (it was well-deserved)

My favorite adopted family

Um, yeah, not sure what I'm doing, but Pop-Its are being opened

They said to do a sexy pose. Notice how I'm the only one doing that? My sexy is scary!

It's fun to make memories with my favorite people. Thanks, Lisa, for taking pictures so we could have visual reminders of July 24th.

Mmmmm, cookies!

We got a new Primary presidency in our ward, so I decided to make M&M cookies and welcome the new ladies to Primary. As I was engulfed in the sound of the mixer, I thought, 'There has got to be a way to make a healthy cookie I can eat.' Lo and behold, I think I've done it! Well, it might not be "healthy" (I mean, really, what cookie is healthy?), but at least it's a cookie I can eat that's not too sweet and doesn't have a whole lot of calories. The recipe (and pictures) are below. Give it a try and tell me what you think. Mom says they taste like homemade Pecan Sandies. I just know they're yummy (especially dunked in a little Almond Milk).

Katie's Healthy Walnut Cookie Thingamajigs

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Splenda (or other artificial sweetener)
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (but I usually add more)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (other nuts - like pecans - would work well, too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl cream butter, sweetener, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add soda, salt, and flour. Blend into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts.
Drop by heaping tablespoon about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-13 minutes or until outer edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Do not overbake. Cool one minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Store in a tightly covered container. Cookies can also be frozen.
Makes about three dozen cookies.

Pictures of the final product:

Free Time

It's not very often that I have free time (between work and school, there's VERY little of it), but when I do have free time, I absolutely LOVE to read.

Recently, I stopped at Sam's Club (one of my favorite book joints) to see what paperbacks were for sale. (So hate me - I'm a cheap skate.) They had all of the Percy Jackson series in paperback, except book five, for $4.98 each. Book five only came in hardback for $10.98.

I bought the whole series. And I also bought the first book in his new series (The Red Pyramid).

And then I had a few minutes of free time. Big mistake. HUGE! I picked up The Lightning Thief and now have to finish the series as soon as I can. The thing is, I'm always behind the times when it comes to books like this. With Harry Potter, I didn't read the first book until after the third book came out, and I refused to buy any of them in hardback because I didn't know whether or not I'd like it. Then, I fell in love with the series, and replaced the first three books I had in paperback with hardbacks. I have the whole series in hardback now. And I'm afraid I may have to do the same thing with the Percy Jackson series.

Great. More money spent. On a freakin' paper fettish. That I inherited from my mother. Who has one of the largest libraries I've seen. And who has read nearly every book in that library. It's a sickness, I tell you. A disease. Of huge proportions. In fact, I used to dream as a little girl about two things (and no, it wasn't who I'd marry and what kind of wedding I'd have - that's just plain silly stupid!):
1) Having a room in my house devoted to music, complete with a grand piano
2) Having a library room with hundreds and hundreds of books and a moving ladder to reach them

This means that free time is really evil. Heh. I knew it all along. Too bad I don't care and will be looking for every opportunity to fill that free time with words and paper and binding that smells divine. Yes, I just admitted to loving the smell of books. Do you think they could put that in an air freshener for my car? Hm. Maybe I'll also have to invent that in my free time. I'd buy it.

Regrets

I have to admit that I don't have many regrets in life.
Choices have consequences, and things happen for a reason and purpose.

One thing I do regret:
Loving certain people

Sounds silly, I know. The reason? Because the more you love people, the more they know how to hurt you. Sometimes it would be easier to go through life not loving anyone because then you'd never be hurt.
Too bad that would also be a very lonely existence ....

Ahhhh, perfection

There are very few things in this life that are perfect.

I don't know any people who are perfect.
I don't know of any perfect clothing line.
Or perfect hairdo.
There's no such thing as a perfect car.
Or house.
So what, pray tell, do I think is perfection?

This cherry I just ate:



NOT kidding! It was beautiful. A lovely sight. With the little green leaf and all.

Sometimes God sends things our way in simple forms so that we have to stop and recognize Him. Well, it worked for me today! All in the form of a dark, red, delicious cherry. It's the closest thing to perfection I've seen in a long time.

Gimme!

If anyone is feeling generous, this is what I would like to have:



And I will also need this in order to pull the ATV:



Only make the truck silver, please.

Having this to ride along wouldn't be so bad either:



If only there were a rich uncle who loved me more than anyone else ...
Maybe PCH could just drop off a $10 million check at my house instead. That oughta cover it.

It's the simple things

Last Friday, I spent the day with a very dear friend. She and her family just returned from three years out of state while her husband attended law school (which he graduated from - 1st in his class!). Anyway, my friend and her two little girls had never been to the movie theater, so I treated them to "Toy Story 3." We bought popcorn, waters, and M&M's. Good times, right?
YES! Absolutely good times!
Not even 10 minutes into the movie, little 3-year-old Aubrey accidentally tipped her M&M's bag upside down and they spilled every which way on the floor. As I'm trying to keep her from crying and promising to buy more (which her mother was opposed to - whatever, mom!), I knocked over the bucket of popcorn and added to the mess. Oops!
Aubrey and I went out and purchased more M&M's. Never have I seen such a smile on a little girl's face. SO cute! We returned to the theater for a (mostly) uneventful rest of the movie. Toward the end, Aubrey had to go potty (too much sugar and too much water for a 3-year-old's bladder to handle, I guess), so I took her to the restroom.
--Let me just insert here that I've always had a problem taking other people's children to the bathroom. What if they start yelling, "Stranger!" or something and I get hauled in for kidnapping or abuse?! It just freaks me out, but the girl had to go.--
Aubrey's doing great, until she says, "I need help." Uh oh. Now what?! I opened the stall to see her looking up at me with a huge grin and pointing at the toilet paper. Thank heavens Mommy taught her to "take care of business" by herself! Phew! We got over that obstacle, and as we're drying our hands, Aubrey says, "Paper towel." I look down, and on the floor someone has left a paper towel. I said, "Yep. Somebody made a mess, didn't they?" Aubrey says. "Yep ... you pick it up?" Ha, ha, ha! Oh, man. Mommy has got to stop teaching those girls about cleanliness!
Anyway, we went back to the theater and finished the movie. As it was ending, this thought crossed my mind: In the past, I would have been upset over the spilled M&M's, annoyed about the potty break, bothered about having to pick up the paper towel, and resentful that I missed part of the movie. Reality: it's the simple things that really matter. I was actually happier replacing spilled M&M's, taking a 3-year-old for a potty break, picking up a paper towel to make said 3-year-old happy, and having no clue what I missed during the movie than I've been in a VERY long time.
In other words, mothers have the best job in the entire world. And I think those who get to be mothers should feel very blessed that they can serve the "little people" they love so much. There's no amount of money in the world that could make another job quite as satisfying as being a mom. After all, mothers are best at doing the simple things.