Books

I am not usually one to read books more than once. It is very common for me, to read a book and think it is amazing. Later I will start to read it again, and over the course of trying to, I restart it over and over again, and never am able to finish it. No matter how much I love Harry Potter, I have struggled with trying to read all the books again. I have read the 6th one twice, but only because I read it all really quickly in 2 days.

When I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (see previous post). I loved it! I was addicted to the book before the first chapter began. The preface, half a page of something later int he book, hooked me in about 1 minute. I immediately wanted to read the rest of the book...And so I did. When I finished that Thursday night (just over a week ago) I didn't have books 2 and 3. On Friday morning, I went out and bought book 2 and borrowed book 3...Trying to be thrifty and not spend TOO much money on books right now. I sat down and read book 2...When I finished book 2 later that day, i immediately started book 3...I finished it on Saturday afternoon. I loved them. I was addicted. I immediately sat down and started reading stuff on her website about the books. Then I found other sites that have stuff about her books. I started looking at videos that people had put together for the books. I started figuring out which actors i had pictured the characters as in my head. I was completely and utterly addicted and obsessed. Well, it wasn't enough for me. I hate the fact that I have to wait another year for the 4th book to come out. Monday (labor day) I decided that I hadn't gotten enough of Edward and Bella over the weekend and so I picked up Twilight...again and read it. On Tuesday i started New Moon, again. When I finished it on Wednesday, I felt releived. Surely I could take these books a little bit slower. I had returned book 3, Eclipse, to its right ful owner, and mine hadn't arrived in the mail yet! I was so addicted that over the weekend, I decided that I had to have my very own copy of Eclipse. I went out after finishing New Moon to check the mail. I wasn't expecting the book for another day or two...when i opened my front door...there is was on my doorstep! WooHoo! So after I got the girls down to bed, and Justin had settled into his studying for the night...I picked up Eclipse...and on Thursday...I finished it...again. So this time it took me 4 days instead of 3...but it was still not enough. As soon as I finished it, I wanted more. I wanted to pick up Twilight and read it all over again. I am insane! I know!

But to be good, I shelved the books...I put them away on the shelf, there to stay for at least a little while. Instead, I decided that I would get my fix some other way. I started researching Forks Washington. First Beach. Volterra. I researched everything I could think of about this book. I found where I think the Cullen house would be in Forks. I mapped it out on Google and found it. I found where I think their meadow is. I found Charlie's house and the ball field and the field 9 miles north where parts of Eclipse took place. I mapped it all out. Am i insane, YES! I do not doubt that. I am totally, completely, utterly obsessed with this book. I think that it is my new favorite series. I loved Harry Potter. I really did. I still do, I think it is an amazing series and Rowling amazes me. But something about Twilight makes it totally trump Harry in a way that even 2 weeks ago, I didn't think possible. I don't know what it is about Edward and Bella that make me want so much more out of these books. I don't want stephenie to stop at 4 books...I want her to keep going. I want the movie out now! I want someone to write a TV series with this...I want a weekly fix of this book that will keep me going...Surely there is more that can be added in to the story to make a whole series of...They have done it with Superman and Smallville, why not Bella and Twilight! I am sure that there will be a great conclusion to this book with book 4, but I want more...I want the whole series from Edwards perspective...Not just the first one. I just want more. I know, I am insane! And I have to wait a whole year to get more of them.

Yeah like i said...I can't read books more than once...

We see how far that got me with this series!

Twilight By: Stephanie Meyer

Here is a book that I have just read! IT IS AMAZING! To give you an idea, i got hooked on the half page preface as i got hooked on Harry Potter. This author is an LDS woman from Arizona. The book came to her in a dream, and then developed into this amazing book! Anyway, if you haven't read it, DO! It isn't a cheesy mormon novel, it is a great novel by a mormon. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 3 books so far in the series, 1 more to come next fall (2008) It is a great book. Read it!

First day of School!

Well...Yesterday was Jaicie's first day at preschool. She absolutely loved it. Felicity wanted to be a part of everything. So here are a couple of pictures of Jaicie just before we left for school.















This is me walking Jaicie into school...she was excited! Anyway, just wanted to share our pictures!

Jaicie's school goes from 8-3 Monday-Friday.

Busy girl!

Random pictures

WOW...we have some cute kids. I have been snapping random photos of the girls, whenever I think about it lately. We got a new digital camera not too long ago, and it takes great pictures. For the longest time, Jaicie has been the funniest person to take pictures of. If you say smile and hold up a camera, she poses, just about the same pose everytime....Always...It is really cute.




Well, Today Felicity started doing it too. It was really cute, so I thought I would share. I also wanted to share some other cute pictures...




Felicity got a hold of one of her sisters toys. It was a little hello kitty stamp...She had some fun with it! Apparently, A LOT of fun with it! It was cute nonetheless!


We went to run some errands one day. I got home and the girls were both asleep in their car seats. I woke them both up and brought them inside...I brought some groceries in and came in to find them both curled up back asleep on the couch. Apparently they were REALLY tired!


The girls love rainbows. with the new door on our house, we get lots of rainbows on the floor. Jaicie was playing and we saw a rainbow on her head. I told her about it and she wanted to see a picture. Here it is. It turned out pretty cute I think!

Those are just some of our fun pictures. All in all, things are going really well. We are really happy with out new house and love the freedom it is giving us and love the space. It has an attic and it has been really nice to have a yard. We have an extra bedroom and tomorrow when Jaidi's dad comes, there is even a room for him to sleep in. It is really nice and we love it. Justin starts back in school in about a week and a half, and we will be enjoying the last little bit of our free time before the next 3 years start. Jaidi is enjoying being back at home and not working. She missed it a lot more than she realized. Jaicie starts school on August 27th. She is starting Pre-school and is more excited than I can protray. Felicity is just loving life, and for her it is really good. She is not going to enjoy time when she has to say goodbye to here sister every morning...It will be a sad time for her :( We will make our time together during the day though a lot of fun. If you have suggestions, please let me know! :) Hope everyone is doing well!

Harry Potter

This morning...yes this morning, early...exactly 2:00 am actually...Justin and I finished reading the 7th and final installment of Harry Potter---The deathly Hallows was a great book. Don't worry no spoilers here.

It was a bittersweet finishing...Justin and I didn't really get into Harry Potter until around the time Jaicie was born. We saw the first movie and decided to read the books. Jaicie is 4 now...Yes, 4...We have only been in the web spun by the harry potter books for 4 years now. Finishing the book, after waiting what 2 years since we finished book 6...We have been waiting so long, and now the wait is over and we are done...we the whole series. Now the wait begins for the movies. 6 in 2008 and 7 in 2010. It just seems amazing that we have only been apart of the web since 2003...and it consumed us.

As we were reading the books, I came to the realization for the first time, that Harry was born in 1980. I was utterly amazed...I was born in 1980, It just surprised me...I am not sure why. But I don't remember ever knowing that before.

Rowling ended the book the only way possible. To do it any other way I feel would have been an injustice to all involved and engrossed in the book. Rowling amazes me. As an author, she has managed to take a book series and spin a web that catches kids of every age. As we stood in line a couple of weeks back to watch the midnight showing of OOTP, we saw people of every age. I was kind of appalled at the fact that there were parents their with their 2 and 3 year old children. Although the beginning of the books are fine for young children, I do not feel that book 5 was appropriate for the youngs ones. However there were people from so many ages. My in-laws love the books. My 4 your old loves the first 3 movies. She doesn't get to watch move until she is older. Just in my own family I see such a great age span of people who loved this book. She captured kids with the young ages at the beginning and managed to catch everyone else by her absolutely brilliant writing. She is an amazing writer and I hope that one day I will be able to experience the excitement again of reading a book the Rowling has written. Though I don't know of any other series like this that has quite the following that HP has had, I feel the Rowling herself has made such a name for herself that people will buy her books, simply because her name is on them. Rowling is indeed an amazing author. She has mastered the art of fantasy writing (I think that is the genre the book would fall into) She has mastered the art of creating a character who would stand the test of time. Waiting for each book brought greater anticipation for what was coming. We helped bring a person or two into the web she spun, but we only have them the introduction, Rowling spun them in.

Well Done Rowling. I am happy to say that your book was amazing and the entire series will sit on my shelfs and be read again and again. We will likely have two complete sets...hard bound and soft bound in the future. Our children will read them, and hopefully so will our grandchildren. I commend Rowling for her amazing talent and her wonderful abilities.

If you haven't read the books yet, I HIGHLY recommend them. They are captivating. You will read the first book and not be able to stop. Take the time to read them. It is wonderful.

Fundraiser

I just realized that I hadn't updated everyone on the fundraiser a couple weeks back! It was great!

Our event here in Lubbock was a success. I am sad to say we didn't raise a ton of money, but nearly $2000 will help a bit. We ended up with 12 people shaving their heads. 1 of these 12 was a female. Her mother works at bodyworks and as they were driving past they saw the sign and decided to stop and see what it was all about. This girl, decided on the spot that she wanted to shave her head to help such a wonderful cause. She sat down and let the barber do her thing. The news station showed up just as they were about to start, so they paused and let them make it over. She is starting high school in August, so this sacrifice for her is very great. She was so excited to be able to join the cause. Everyone that participated was overwhlemed with joy to help out. I was so happy with the turn out, especially for the first time having it in Lubbock. Since then we have had a few stories both on the tv and in the newspaper. I have included a couple of links for the articles.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/070107/loc_070107062.shtml There is a link here for a slideshow the the AJ put together. I would take a look at it, it was done very well. The speaker is mostly my husband Justin.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/070707/edi_070707013.shtml (the bottom story on this page is about me. I was overjoyed when I heard it. I feel flattered that they commended me.)

There were also a total of 4 tv clips done. I have not been able to get digital copies of them yet, but they were on KLBK (.com) and KCBD (.com)...Both have websites and I was able to watch a clip on one of them the night of the event.

There are a few things I will do differently next year...
1. Shorter event timing...5 hours was too long, it would have been better to keep it at 3.
2. Hold it in the mall parking lot--Bodyworks members do not take money to the gym with them, it didn't occur to me. Bodyworks says that we can still use their equipment if we do it elsewhere.
3. Maybe a little earlier in the month.
4. Start looking for sponsors and donations earlier, such as food, supplies, copies, so forth. I didn't know that most office supply stores require 6-8 weeks advance request, and through corporate not your local store.
5. Be more aggressive getting the word out.

I loved doing this event and I definetly want to do it again next year.

Jaicie's Birthday

WOW...My little girl turned 4 today. We had her first ever birthday party where she actually invited her friends. It was an adventure, but so much fun! We had about 10 kids here, from church and when I worked at Bodyworks mostly. As everyone was arriving, the kids all played in the girls bedroom. Then after they had all arrived, we took them out and they played in the back yard in our newly bought swimming pool.They loved it. They played in it for about 45 minutes and had a ball! Afterwards everyone came inside and got dressed and then we ate cake. then we opened presents! It was so much fun and such an adventure. I hadn't thrown a birthday party before...not for kids especially. it was fun and I think it went really well. The kids all seemed happy and to enjoy themselves. It really was a lot of fun. We took lots of pictures and about 18 minutes worth of video tape. Anyway, it was a fun day. Happy Birthday to Jaicie! I can't believe that she is 4 already! 4 years ago, i was lying in a hospital bed in labor with an epidural that actually worked, not even trying to push...now, i am mother to a 4 year old and a 2 year old. My how time flies!