Summer Reading

I have been reading a number of books over the summer. Some good, some not as good. But I thought I'd give you a little update.

Most recently finished:

I just finished this last night actually. Cornelia's character was so endearing. Half of the book was written from her point of view and she goes off on all these tangents about old movies and good books and how the relate to her life...and it made me happy. Great read. I would recommend it to anyone! Thanks Jaclyn.


Not my favorite:

Everyone has been reading these books lately, and normally I like the "bandwagon" books. But I am not going to read #2 and #3. Too graphic for me. I can't imagine anyone just LOVING these books. But I could be wrong. He's not a bad writer, but just not my cup of tea.


One that has changed me most profoundly:

Everyone asks me if this is a marriage book. NO, it's not! Far from it. It's about changing the worlds "me, me, me" mentality. It helped me to open my eyes and think outside of my happy little world and realize that there is so much need out there. It's hard sometimes, because I feel like in the LDS church, we give every month on our little "donation" slips and feel like maybe that's all that we need to do. Or we go to our monthly service projects and tie quilts and feel good. And while those ARE good things, I think there are so many good projects and things to get involved with outside of the Church too. This book really helps you think through how you can do good in whatever your stage of life or circumstances might be. I really would recommend it to any and everyone!


And one I have been perusing lately...

We are expecting #3! Sometime mid-March.

Happy Birthday!

So a little late on this birthday post. But I have good excuses. The day before Nathan's birthday, we went to the Wild Animal Park as a family. The first couple of pictures are from that. I am not sure if I am blowing on his face, or trying to kiss him. Either way, I thought it was a funny picture. And Nathan in the 2nd one was just too cute not to put up.


For his actual birthday we just had a nice day at home and had our friends Emilee, Dan, and Jack come over for dinner and cake. You may notice that Nathan is already a mess before he actually STARTED his cake. He discovered blueberries.


This is his favorite present. His "monkey". We got it at the Renegade Craft Fair that Justin's sister Emily sold some of her goods at. It was sweet! He loves it, and so do I!

$1500 in Costco gift cards is mine

Yep, you read that right. Many of you who know me well know that I would love to be on a game show and win lots of money. (I'd like to be on one even if I DIDN'T win lots of money, but the money would make it more pleasant...) My dream hasn't come true yet, but I did get lots of money in the mail today so it felt like I won something.

I have a neighbor who taught me how to do online offers. She has done a couple and has other friends who have done some too. I decided to try it. You know when you get spam emails that say "Get a free $500 Walmart gift card" or something like that? And then you click on it and you have to sign up for a bunch of other offers to get it? Yep, that's what I did. (This was all done through a specific website that helps you know what companies are legit, so don't just try any online offer you see!)

Today, all my hard work PAID OFF because I got my gift cards in the mail. I figured out that I put about $300 (and quite a few hours) into this project, but when you get $1500 for $300, that's a pretty darn good deal. And I did get a bunch of other stuff too, with that money I put into it. Like books, and movies and free music downloads. And I resold some stuff on Ebay, so I actually probably spent under $300...I should sit down and figure it out.

But right now I am just too happy. I might just hold onto them for a rainy day. :)

Just in case you forgot...

So I realized most of my recent posts are more about Joshua. So just in case you forgot I have a reeeeeally stinkin' cute other kid who will be ONE YEAR OLD on Saturday! Here's the latest...