A Little Update

I was just looking through my goals this morning and ran across the one for watching all of the movies nominated for Best Picture for the years while doing the list. I am supposed to start with 2007 movies. I just wanted to put the list here so it would be easier to keep track of. I will bold the ones that I have seen so far. (The * is the picture that won.)

Atonement -- Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

Juno -- Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

Michael Clayton -- Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

* No Country for Old Men -- Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

There Will Be Blood -- JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Now I need to go through the rest of the goals and update them. I need to find a good, convenient way to keep track of these. I thought that putting them on the sidebar would be perfect, and it is nice to be able to look at them there, but it is kind of hard to actually update the stuff on the sidebar. I need to create a table or something. I don't know. I will think on that one.

Books 22 and 23

Book #22 - Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel - Here is a blurb about the book found on www.goodreads.com.

"In the earthquake’s aftermath, the lives of four strangers will converge.… Sarah Sloane, the beautiful wife of a financial whiz, watches her perfect world fall to pieces…. Grammy-winning singer Melanie Free, the event’s headliner, comes to a turning point in her life and career…. Photographer Everett Carson, a former war correspondent whose personal demons have demoted him to covering society parties, finds new purpose amid the carnage…and Sister Maggie Kent, a nun who normally works in jeans and high-tops with the homeless, searches through the rubble–and knows instantly that there is much work to be done….

As the city staggers back to life, a chain reaction of extraordinary events will touch each of the survivors.… For Sarah, it begins with the discovery of a crime and a betrayal, then a strength she never knew she had. For Melanie, volunteering at a refugee camp will open new worlds of possibility. And Everett will be shaken by the unlikely relationship he forges with Maggie, who helps him rebuild his shattered life–and upends her own in the process. But as a year passes, and the anniversary of the earthquake approaches, more surprises are in store–as each discovers the unexpected gifts in a tragedy’s wake…and the amazing grace of new beginnings."

I loved this book. Danielle Steel has been, for quite a while, one of those authors who I have read but haven't really shared with other. Kind of like a guilty pleasure type of thing. This book was so different from her normal books. It was good enough to make me share the fact that I do enjoy the guilty pleasure books, but this one was so much more than that. This book was such a quick read for me. I just couldn't put it down. This book left me with another one of those warm, fuzzy feelings and it was very inspiring. I love the characters in this book. I wanted the book to go on and on because I just didn't want to let go of these characters. The book seems to have very mixed reviews, probably more on the bad side than the good, but I really liked it a lot.

Book #23 - Between Sisters by Kristen Hannah - And yet another blurb from GoodReads.com.

"Meghann Dontess is haunted by heartbreak. Twenty-seven years ago she was forced to make a terrible choice, one that cost her everything, including the love of her sister, Claire. Now, Meghann is a hotshot divorce attorney who doesn’t believe in intimacy—until she meets the one man who can change her mind.

Claire Cavenaugh has fallen in love for the first time in her life. As her wedding day approaches, she prepares to face her harsh, judgmental older sister. It is the first time they have been together in more than two decades. Over the course of a hot Pacific Northwest summer, these two women who believe they have nothing in common will try to become what they never were: a family."

OK, I realized by looking at this blog that it seems that I love almost every book that I read. That is not true. The problem is that for this goal I have to finish the book for it to count. I don't finish all of the books that I start, but I don't blog about them either, since they weren't finished. I honestly do not finish all of the books that I start reading. So one of these days I will have to write about the ones that I didn't care for.

This is another book that I loved. I love the characters and I really felt while reading the book, that I knew them. I loved that the relationship of the sisters wasn't perfect, but that I could still feel that they cared for each other. I think that at times it is easy to lose that connection with the ones that we love. Maybe the people involved don't have much in common or something tragic has happened to make it hard to continue the relationship. Maybe it is just that people change and sometimes it is hard to change and continue to keep the relationship going through that change. This book made me feel that even though there are those things, that there are ways to show that we care and ways to come together and learn from those experiences. I have really had a rough time connecting with people as I have changed. In the past few years I have gone through quite a few changes, questioned many things about my beliefs and just myself. I am not anywhere near the end of that path that I am on, and I am struggling. This book just made me feel better about that. It may seem weird, because this book to some might be just a light read, but it really touched me in a time that I really needed it.

Books 20 and 21

I am so far behind on my reviews of the books I have read. I am still reading, a lot, but I haven't been keeping up with the reviews. So there will be quite a few in the next few days or so.


Book #20 - The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks - This book is about an ex-marine, Logan Thibault, who gets out of the military after three tours of duty to the Iraq war. During one of his trips to Iraq he finds a picture of a woman that he comes to believe is his good luck charm. After getting out of the Marines, he walks from Colorado to Hampton, North Carolina to see if he can find the woman from the picture.

I found this book really good. It was one of those that I just couldn't put down. I know that many people don't like Nicholas Spark's books because of one reason or another. I am not one of those people. I love his books and I have never been disappointed with even one of them. This one I loved as well. I can't give a good reason why I loved the book, I just did. It is a feel good book for me. I love those kind.


Book #21 - Tithe by Holly Black - Here is a little blurb about the book from Amazon:

"Sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch is not human, but she doesn't know it. Sure, she knows she's interacted with faeries since she was little--but she never imagined she was one of them, her blond Asian human appearance only a magically crafted cover-up for her true, green-skinned pixie self. First-time author Holly Black explores Kaye's self-discovery and dual worlds in her riveting, suspenseful novel Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale."

Sydney is starting to get older and has been having and harder time lately finding books she wants to read. We have started trying to find books in the "Young Adult" section, so I am trying to read a few of those books so that I have a better frame of reference when helping her to find books. There are a few things that I don't care to have her reading about yet, especially since she is only 11, so I want to know a bit more about the stuff that is out there right now. I do enjoy the "Young Adult" books too from time to time, so this isn't torture for me.

This book came from that section in the library. It sounded interesting from the blurb so I started there. The book took a while to get into. It isn't very long, but it did take me quite a while to get through it. It just wasn't catching me. I didn't find the writing to be very engaging and it turned out to be a book much more about teenage drama with the faerie stuff thrown in to possibly appeal to the "goth" kids. As I got over the half-way point, the story started to draw me in a bit more, but I still wouldn't add it to my "must read the rest of the series" list.

Books 17, 18, and 19

The book thing has not been going so well lately. It seems like the books that I picked the last couple of times at the library weren't good choices for one reason or another. I did finish these three books before the blah books hit, but I just haven't posted about them.

Book #17 - A Perfect Day by Richard Paul Evans - This book was pretty good. I enjoyed most of it. Here is a little blurb from Amazon:

"Almost 10 years ago, Evans's first novel, The Christmas Box, became an enormous bestseller, thrusting him into the international spotlight. In his present novel, good guy protagonist Robert Harlan writes a novel titled A Perfect Day, about his wife, Allyson, and her relationship with her beloved father. The book comes out to popular acclaim, rockets up the charts and thrusts Robert into a new life of fame and fortune. An extended book tour, constant interviews, the adulation of millions of women, and a greedy Hollywood agent soon begin to erode his perfect marriage to the patient, loving, beautiful Allyson. There have been other books about authors self-destructing after great success-Youngblood Hawke by Herman Wouk, to name a notable example-but it's a story that seems timeless, still able to enthrall readers. Evans freshens the material by bringing in a hipster angel with attitude ("Actually, angel folklore is the height of nonsense, right up there with the Easter Bunny") and some bad news for Robert: in 40 days he's going to die. Robert begins to see his life in a new light, realizing that his pre-fame love for his wife and daughter is what he has wanted all along. But is it too late? Robert learns man's purpose on earth ("It's about learning how to love") and returns to hearth and home, hoping Allyson will take him back before he dies. The inevitable twist is clever, the writing throughout assured, the sentiment unapologetic and the author confident that he knows just what his readers want and that he's the man to give it to them."

I did find parts of it a little too much. Who the "angel" actually turned out to be was pretty irritating. I was actually pissed off for the main character in the book. I actually really enjoyed the book up until that point and then I was just mad. It is hard for me to decide if I enjoyed the book enough to look past the crappy part or if the crappy part kind of ruined a really good story for me. At least I don't feel like I wasted my time reading the book though.

Book 18 - Alone, Together by Jack Weyland - Here is another blurb from Amazon:

"This heart-wrenching and heartwarming story about the challenges of growing up will have you rooting for two struggling young people in their search for happiness and for each other. Madison, the only Mormon in her high school, isn’t part of the in-crowd. But when she wins a free makeover, she learns some skills that give her the self-confidence she has always lacked. What she has to decide now is whether it is more important to look good or to be good. Josh, a substitute on the high school basketball team, makes an unlikely last-second shot to help his team win the state championship. But unexpected hardships and an untimely death in his family mar his senior year and leave him wondering if there isn’t more to life. Can these two youth who grew up basically alone find happiness together?"


Book 19 - Adam's Story by Jack Weyland - And another Amazon blurb:

"Elder Roberts knows that he and his companion are out of their area. But he has only a few months left on his mission in New Jersey, and there’s one door he just has to knock on. His mom’s parents, who haven’t seen him since he was a baby, live there. Maybe, just maybe, he can get them to accept the gospel like their daughter, Charly, did more than twenty years ago. And maybe he can find out something about his mother who died when he was a baby, and discover a little more about himself in the process. In this humorous and tender sequel to the novels Charley and Sam, best selling author Jack Weyland finally reveals what happened to Adam their only son. "

I saved my review of both books for the end because it is more of a discussion about the author than the individual books. Growing up I loved Jack Weyland and all of his books that he read. All of his books have the same formula. LDS person has a fairly good life, does something "bad" or against church teachings, learns lesson and becomes a better person, lives happily ever after. Growing up I loved a story that had a clean, happy ending. I loved that all of the people in these books lived happily ever after. I guess the one exception that I can think of would be in Charly. That one didn't end as happily.

I checked these books out remember how I loved to read his books growing up. I found that now that I am in a different place in my life, the formula really irritated me. I noticed that the stories are pretty much all the same formula, which I didn't notice back when I loved them, and it bugged me that I loved them so much growing up. I don't feel like I wasted my time really, but I do feel like I'm done reading his books. Normally I don't mind authors who have a "typical formula" but for some reason this one really irritates me right now.

So, now for the books that I have started and not finished. This honestly doesn't happen to me that often. I usually enjoy most any book enough to at least finish reading it. I don't know what caused my funk, but I seem to be in one. I started "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner. I think that if I were in a different frame of mind, I might have actually enjoyed this one more. I enjoyed some parts of it, but I just couldn't get into it. Then I started "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson. I had heard on a few different reading threads on some forums that people really enjoyed this one. It started out so good. I loved the beginning parts and I had such high hopes for it. I finally had to stop reading it though. The author is one of those that puts way too much detail into the story. My enjoyment of the book got bogged down in all of the details. I would be reading along and it would just feel so tedious to keep going. Then I would get to a part that would just flow and would really keep my interest. That would last through that bit of the story and then the boggy details would return. It took me more than a week to go about 100 pages into the story. I am a very fast reader, so this was not normal. I actually found myself dreading reading. That was not normal and I did not like that feeling. I love to read and I don't want to dread it. So, I finally just stopped reading it.

Now I am reading "The Pursuit of Happyness". This one is going pretty good so far. I also just bought the newest Nicholas Sparks book. I can always lose myself in one of those books, so I'm looking forward to reading that one. I know that some people don't like Nicholas Sparks or his "formula" but I find myself loving his books and formula. Hopefully one day I won't look back and really dislike it like I have done with Jack Weyland's. Hm....

Book 14, 15, & 16

Book #14 - Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer - Here is a review on this book from Booklist.

"It sounded simple. Go to Savannah. Finish directing an action-adventure film. Earn some quick money. Get a chance to see sister Daisy and niece Pepper. Instead, as soon as Lucy Armstrong arrives on the set of Don't Look Down, she discovers that nothing about her current job is simple. The cast is lackluster. What she has seen of the script is, even by Hollywood standards, unbelievably incoherent. The stunt coordinator is none other than her annoying ex-husband, Connor Nash, and her sister seems to have become a zombie. Bryce McKay, the movie's leading man, turns up with Captain J. T. Wilder, whom Bryce has personally hired to be his stunt double and military consultant. The last thing Lucy needs is a taciturn, too-sexy-for-his-own-good male like J. T. on her set, but once the going gets tough, someone like J. T. turns out to be exactly the kind of person Lucy decides she wants in her life."

This book was alright. It wasn't one of my favorites that I have read recently, but I don't feel like the time I took to read it was wasted. It was entertaining and had some funny bits, but it was pretty forgettable.


Book #15 - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffery Zaslow - This book was amazing. I was so inspired while reading this book. Here is what the inside cover says:

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, or enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you might find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come."

I am actually going to read this book again before taking it back to the library. Then I will actually make a different post in my other journal about this book. I also will go to the Last Lecture website, and actually listen to the lecture. If anyone reads any of the books that I have talked about so far on this blog, I would hope that this would be one of them. I think that everyone should read this book.


Book #16 - Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - Here is the review on this book from Amazon.com.

"On her way home from school on a snowy December day in 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is lured into a makeshift underground den in a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer--the man she knew as her neighbor, Mr. Harvey.

Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams," where "there were no teachers.... We never had to go inside except for art class.... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue."

The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years like an episode of My So-Called Afterlife. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family, and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on Earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow." Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish, and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings."

This was a good book. Like many that I seem to read, the subject material is hard, but to be able to look at things through the victims "eyes" makes it very interesting. I'm not sure what it is about books like this, but I do enjoy reading them, even if they are hard. Most anyone who knows me, knows that I am a weeper and that I cry, sometimes way too much. But I enjoy a good book that makes me cry and also makes me think. Sometimes I end up a little depressed in the end and I have to deal with that. Not an unpleasant depressed feeling. This one I didn't feel that way though. This one left me thinking, but not sad.

Books 11, 12, & 13

Book #11 - All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown - Here is what the cover insert says:

"When Paul Miller's pharmaceutical company goes public, making his family IPO millionaires, his wife, Janice, is sure this is the windfall she's been waiting years for -- until she learns, via messengered letter, that her husband is divorcing her (for her tennis partner!) and cutting her out of the new fortune. Meanwhile, four hundred miles south in Los Angeles, the Millers' daugher, Margaret, has been dumped by her newly famous actor boyfriend and left in the lurch by an investor who promised to revive her fledgling postfeminist magazine, Snatch. Sliding toward bankruptcy and dogged by creditors, she flees for home, where her teenage sister, Lizzie is struggling with problems of her own. Formerly chubby, Lizzie has been enjoying her newfound popularity until some bathroom graffiti alerts her to the fact that she's become the school slut.

The three Miller women retreat behind the walls of their Georgian colonial to wage batter with divorce lawyers, debt collectors, drug-dealing pool boys, mean girls, country club ladies, evangelical neighbors, their own demons, and each other, and in the process they bceom achingly sympathetic characters we can't help but root for, even as the world they live in epitomizes everything wrong with the American Dream."

I liked the book. I agree with the person who wrote the blurb. Even though they were pretty snotty people to begin with and they had some major issues, I still found myself rooting for them for things to turn out in their favor.

Book #12 - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Here is a blurb from Amazon:

"Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison.

Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob's life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the "menagerie" and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass and as his reward he spends most of the novel beaten, broken, concussed, bleeding, swollen and hungover. He is the self-appointed Protector of the Downtrodden, and... he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August's wife. Not his best idea.

The most interesting aspect of the book is all the circus lore that Gruen has so carefully researched. She has all the right vocabulary: grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May, what the band plays when there's trouble, Jamaican ginger paralysis, life on a circus train, set-up and take-down, being run out of town by the "revenooers" or the cops, and losing all your hooch. There is one glorious passage about Marlena and Rosie, the bull elephant, that truly evokes the magic a circus can create. It is easy to see Marlena's and Rosie's pink sequins under the Big Top and to imagine their perfect choreography as they perform unbelievable stunts. The crowd loves it--and so will the reader. The ending is absolutely ludicrous and really quite lovely. --Valerie Ryan"

I really loved this one. I think it is one that I am going to want to read again, probably sooner rather than later. I am sure that I missed some of the details in it. I really pretty fast, and I have a tendency to read too quickly to catch all of the little details because I just want to see how it ends. This book was great!

Book #13 - T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton - I love this series of books. I started reading them a few years ago and so far I have read every one of them in the series. I just hope that she is able to finish the alphabet. There is a book for every letter of the alphabet. They are about a private investigator named Kinsey Millhone. This one was about a woman who had a habit of stealing people's identities. There are always lots of twists and turns in her books and I just love them. I'm so sad that I am done for a while. And in my humble opinion, these books are MUCH better than Janet Evanovich's books that I have just started reading.

Update on how it is going!

I'm going to try to update on the items that I have completed or that are in progress. Hopefully I can do this once every few weeks or so to keep myself on track with the items that I need to be working on.
/
10. Apply for a design team or submit layouts for publication. One of the monthly scrapbook clubs that I used to receive is having a design team call. I'm going to try for it. I have to have it submitted by Sept. 15th.

19. Get yearly physical and well-woman check-up. 2008 well-woman in August

31. Complete remaining questions in journal jar. I'm not sure how many are left to go, but I'm working on getting them completed.

32. Complete an entry in one of my on-line journals at least three times a week for 1 year. OK, just starting this one, but I'm really going to try this one out right now. So I'm putting the start day down as today, 09/03/2008.

35. Read an average of a book a week for the entire 1001 days. That is 143 books. I'm on track with this one right now.

36. Make a list of all books read during 1001 days. Write what I thought of each book in my blog. So far I have actually completed at least some sort of "review" for each one.

54. Go on at least 5 camping trips. One completed with our trip to Alpine to visit Mom and Dad.

58. Try 10 new restaurants. These can be fast food or sit down restaurants, but preferably fairly inexpensive. One down when we tried Scholtzsky's while in Sierra Vista.

59. Have at least two characters who are at the highest level on World of Warcraft. Breka counts as one. Lalaith is next. Breka is already 70 which is the highest until the next expansion comes out. Lalaith is level 50 as of today.

69. Discover 5 new singers or groups that I really enjoy. I found one that I really like so far called Lady Antebellum.

92. Read all e-mail in in-box within 3 days. Keep in-box organized for 6 months. Unsubscribe from all mailing lists that I don’t even bother opening. I am really trying with this one. I need to work on the unsubscribing part, but I did clean out the in-box and I am keeping up on the reading within 3 days. Started August 27th.

I'm on track!!

I just looked and I am way more than on track. Tomorrow will be 7 weeks that I have been working on this list and I'm already well into book #11. We also went to the library yesterday and I have four more books waiting for me.

I also checked out a couple of cookbooks but those don't count. Those might just add some nice new recipes to our diet though.

Books 9 & 10

I'm still not doing good at posting after each finished book, but at least I am still keeping track of them. I need to go back and see if I am on schedule with my goal. I am guessing that I am, since I do read quickly, but I just need to check. I am going to try to do an update post for the whole 101 things sometime this weekend.


Book #9 - English as a Second Language by Megan Crane - This was not one of my favorite books. I was interested enough to want to know how it ended, but it seemed like it took me forever to get there. This was a pretty short book compared to most that I read, but it took me a lot longer than normal to finish it.

The book is about a girl who, after breaking up with her boyfriend, decides to go to school in England. Her ex said that she would never be able to get into a school there for her Master's program, so she decides to prove him wrong. She spends most of her time there drinking, smoking, and partying. I found the character development to be lacking. I don't feel like I ever really got to know the people in the book, because the talk was always about how much drinking was done and how many papers there were left, but not anything of real substance. I like to know the story of the people. Their backgrounds and why they do what they do, not just that they do it.

I would like to try another one of her books and possibly see if it is any better.



Book #10 - Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie - I really liked this book a lot. It was a very quick read for me, even though it was quite a bit longer than the last book. The words just flowed and I was entertained through the whole book. I will post a little blurb about the book from Amazon, since I have already returned it to the library.

"Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Emotionally numb from her divorce 18 months earlier, Nell Dysart is about to waken with a vengeance. When she takes a job as office manager for McKenna Investigations, she's determined to reorganize, redecorate, and revamp the stuck-in-the-'50s surroundings, but she runs smack-dab into senior partner Gabe McKenna, the immovable object to her irresistible force. Gabe likes the dated ambiance just fine and doesn't want a thing changed, but he soon learns that nothing in his life is going to stay the same now that Nell has arrived.

Rough and gruff, but with a heart of gold, Gabe is just what Nell needs to jump-start her hormones. Nell's formerly dull life is suddenly wildly active, for not only is she lusting after Gabe (and vice versa), but there's also a case of embezzlement to uncover, a dog to steal, and bribery to investigate. And, oh yes, there are those very cold, very dead bodies in the freezer.

Fast Women has well-rounded characters, an interesting mystery to resolve, and author Jennifer Crusie's trademark humor. In addition, Crusie gives readers a little something extra in her exploration of the emotional stages of divorce, the viability of marriage, and the value of self-honesty--all of which add up to an excellent fictional tale layered with a thought-provoking look at contemporary culture. --Lois Faye Dyer "

This was a great book and I can't wait until I can find some more books by this author to read. The library here doesn't seem to have anymore, so I will have to find them someplace else or maybe do an inter-library request or something. I need more!!!

Books 6, 7, & 8

Book #6 - Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer - I was so excited to buy this book and read it. I really liked it in some ways and I was actually a little disappointed in others. I had certain things that I wanted to happen in the book, so that I why I was disappointed. I expected certain things, I guess. When I get past the fact that my expectations really don't matter in the grand scheme of things, then I was really able to look back and see that I did, in fact, really enjoy the book. I love Stephanie's writing and I love where the story ended up.



Book 7 - Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich - This book was a short, quick read. I liked it and found it pretty funny. There are parts that are just way too much. Things that I hope would never happen in real life, but it made the book funnier in a way. I would like to keep reading the books, to see if they get better, but the library doesn't have number 3 in the series and I'm not sure that I like them enough to start buying the series. I guess I could get it from Bookman's next time we go and then sell it back later if I don't want to keep it.


Book #8 - Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer - I really enjoyed this book. The book is over 400 pages but they just seemed to fly for me. Here is a little blurb from the inside cover of the book.

"Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells the incredible and inspirational story of how she emerged from the confines of the Fundamentalist Church of Later Day Saints (FLDS) and helped bring one of America's most notorious criminals to justice. Offering a child's perspective on life in the FLDS, Wall discusses her tumultuous youth, explaining how her family's turbulent past intersected with her strong will and identified her as a girl who needed to be controlled through marriage. Detailing how Warren Jeffs's influence over the church twisted its already rigid beliefs in dangerous new directions, Wall portrays the inescapable mind-set and unrelenting pressure that forced her to wed despite her repeated protests that she was too young."

I really liked the way that Elissa shared her life with the readers. She really told her story in an amazing way. It was hard to read some of the stuff that she and others in this religion have to go through. She told her story with such clarity and bravery.

I love this kind of book. I love to learn about the lives of others. That is probably why I love reading other people's blogs so much. Some of my favorite books have been people's life stories. Some of them have been very sad and hard to read because of the things that have happened to these people, but they make a huge impact to me.

Books 3, 4, & 5

3. Snowed In by Christina Bartolomeo - I really liked this book. It is about woman named Sophie Quinn who has been married to her husband for two years when they move from Washington D.C. to Portland, Maine. The book basically covers how she deals with life in a new place. She pretty much has to do it all herself because her husband is busy with work. I really enjoyed it. A little blurb from the cover of the book that really says it well.

"For any woman who has ever had to confront the landlord about the heat, for any woman who has ever longed for impractical shoes instead of winter boots, for any woman who has ever been in the wrong place at the right time, Snowed In will have you laughing, crying, and rooting for Sophie Quinn."

4. The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff - I read this one because I had read one by this author a few weeks ago. That book was called "The Kommandant's Girl". It is a good thing I read that one first, because this one is actually a continuation of the Kommandant's Girl. So, if anyone wants to read "The Diplomat's Wife", please read the other one first.

I really loved both books. The time in history that most intrigues me is during World War I and World War II. I really enjoy reading books written about that time, even though it is hard to keep from crying most times. I am a weeper, but I don't really mind it. I actually love a good book that will make me cry.

This book is about a woman named Marta who worked with the Polish Resistance during World War II. The book begins with her inside a prison camp after being arrested by the Gestapo. The book covers her release from the prison and what happens in her life after that. I would saw that out of the three books I'm reviewing today, this one was my favorite.


5. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella - This one was a pretty fun, light read. I read it very quickly because it just flowed so smoothly and kept me really interested.

Here is a blurb from the cover. "When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she's in for a big surpirse. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident - in a Mercedes no less - Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she's about to find out just how much things have changed."


I am realizing that throughout this reading goal, I am probably going to like or love most of the books that I write about in here. Usually if I don't like a book, I'm not going to keep reading it, so then it won't complete a step in my goal. I guess if I pick out one that I just hate, I could do a little review to warn others about the stink of the book, but that one will just be done as a public service announcement. I do enjoy most of the books that I read though. I just love books!!!!

Books 1 & 2 for 101 List

OK, I have finished the first two books for one of my goals, so now I need to post my reviews. Hopefully all of this stuff doesn't get too boring for my few readers. Maybe at some point I will have to create a separate blog for all of this stuff. For now I will just keep it like it is.

1. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich - I had heard many good things about this series of books before I decided to check this one out. It is about a woman named Stephanie Plum who becomes a bond hunter after losing her job, having her car repossessed, and having to sell most of her belongings. Over all, I really liked the book. It was pretty humorous. I would have to say that I enjoy the Sue Grafton books better, but then that could change as I get a little further into the series. This one I checked out from the library here in town. Who knows how much of the series they actually have, but I will try to get through the series either from borrowing from the library or purchasing from Bookmans.

2. Midwives by Chris Bohjalian - This book was very good. It took me a bit longer to get through the book than most books. I'm not sure why though, because I really enjoyed it. The book is told from the viewpoint of the daughter of a midwife who is on trial for something that happened during the delivery. I don't want to give too much away, in case someone would like to read the book, so I will just leave it at that.

101 Things in 1001 Days List

Crafts

1. Learn how to knit or crochet. Make two usable items.

2. Organize cross-stitch stuff. Finish 2 already started projects and complete 1 new project. Frame all completed items and hang in house, sell, or give away.

3. Complete at least 8 scrapbooks. Three of these must be the following: All About Me, 101 Things, and a personal album. This albums can be any size, including mini-books.

4. Organize all craft stuff, but especially scrapbook stuff. Eliminate the stuff I no longer want or need.

5. Create a binder to collect quotes, stories, and other stuff I find interesting or inspiring.

6. Complete at least 150 scrapbook pages each year.

7. Enter Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contest or another similar contest. Be happy with my submission whether I win or lose.

8. Create a scrapbook inspiration binder. This can include pagemaps, sketches, pages I want to make, etc.

9. Subscribe to all scrapbook magazines that I buy, instead of buying them off the rack to save money.

10. Apply for a design team or submit layouts for publication.

11. Sell stuff that I hand make to at least 3 people.

12. Scan memorabilia, girls’ drawings, etc. into computer and organize so they are easier to put onto scrapbook pages.

13. Post pictures of scrapbook pages I create and other craft items on blog.

My Health

14. Lose at least 100 pounds. Small reward after each 10 pound loss. Big reward after losing 100.

15. Eat breakfast daily for 3 months.

16. Keep food journal with daily calorie information or WW points for three months.

17. Avoid soda for 30 days.

18. Avoid sweets, especially candy, for 30 days.

19. Get yearly physical and well-woman check-up.

20. Drink 64 oz of water daily for 2 months.

21. Go for 1 full month without eating out. Exceptions are when out of town and for work related functions.

22. Monthly self-breast exams for 1 year.

23. Get at least 6 hours of sleep every night for 1 month.

24. Create exercise routine and stick to it. Must exercise at least four times a week for three months straight.

25. Plan menu for two weeks at a time. Make grocery list and buy only what is on that list. Do this for 3 months.

26. Cook at least 5 recipes from each cookbook that I own. If I purchase a new cookbook, I much also cook 5 recipes from that book.

27. Find a recipe for Sesame Chicken or Orange Chicken that we love.

28. Give blood at least 3 times.

Knowledge or Personal Progression

29. Learn how to use these four computer programs (or equally good programs) properly: Excel, Power Point, Quick Books, and Photo shop.

30. Learn how to use camera properly. Take at least 1 photo worthy of framing to hang in our home. Actually hang it.

31. Complete remaining questions in journal jar.

32. Complete an entry in one of my on-line journals at least three times a week for 1 year.

33. Practice the piano at least one hour a week for 6 months.

34. Learn how to change the oil in one of our vehicles.

35. Read an average of a book a week for the entire 1001 days. That is 143 books.

36. Make a list of all books read during 1001 days. Write what I thought of each book in my blog.

Home Cleanliness and Organization

37. Organize each room of the house. Make sure everything has a “home” and those things we do not need do one of three things with: throw away, give away, or sell.

38. Organize storage unit. Decide what to keep and what needs to go. Bonus points if we can make it up to Colorado Springs to clean that one out and be able to quit paying on that storage unit.

39. Wash dishes nightly for at least 3 months straight.

40. Make to-do lists and stick to them for 3 months. Daily, weekly, and monthly.

41. Clean car and keep it clean for six months. Inside and out.

42. Wash and fold all laundry at least once a week for two months. Laundry needs to be folded when taken out of dryer.

43. Once house is organized, maintain it. Nightly clean-up before bed with deep cleaning done on each room at least once a month.

44. Make a household inventory including pictures and serial numbers. Includes catalog of movies, CDs, books, games, etc.

Financial

45. Track all expenses for 1 month. Create budget and stick to it for 1 year.

46. No late fees, overdue charges, or late payments for six months.

47. Get credit reports and work on getting them cleaned up.

48. Get life insurance for all of us.

49. Create a will.

50. Work on investing in our future. Sign up for 401k at work.

51. Save a minimum of $3,000 in savings account to be used for emergencies as well as save money to move out of Willcox.

Travel

52. Take 1 family trip just for fun. This needs to include a visit to one of the following places, or an equally fun place that we all decide on: Sea World, Six Flags, Disneyland.

53. Go to Phoenix Zoo. Visit at least two other zoos or museum type places that we have never been to.

54. Go on at least 5 camping trips.

55. Take trip to Prescott area to see if that is where we would like to move.

56. Take trip to Georgia and South Carolina to visit family and friends.

Entertainment

57. Watch all movies we own and decide if we want to keep them. If the keeper is a video tape, try to replace it on DVD.

58. Try 10 new restaurants. These can be fast food or sit down restaurants, but preferably fairly inexpensive.

59. Have at least two characters who are at the highest level on World of Warcraft. Breka counts as one. Lalaith is next.

60. Take at least 1 picture each day for 365 days.

61. Purchase WII Fit and use it three times a week for 4 months.

62. Put music from all CDs that I enjoy onto I-pod. Organize all music, complete with playlists. Delete songs we don’t like.

63. Compile a list of 101 “can’t believe I haven’t see yet” movies and see all of them.

64. Blog about those movies with thoughts on each.

65. Watch all movies nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards for each year completing the list. Start with movies from 2007.

66. Find a special way to celebrate holidays that we will all enjoy. Create new traditions.

67. Take the girls apple or pumpkin picking at least 1 time.

68. Learn how to play pool and beat one person.

69. Discover 5 new singers or groups that I really enjoy.

Friends and Family

70. Send birthday cards to all friends and family members for 1 year. No misses.

71. Get family pictures taken at least once per year. Pictures an be professional or taken by friend or family member. Frame at least 1 for hanging in home.

72. Read to girls at least 4 nights a week for six months.

73. Enroll the girls in swimming lessons.

74. Write letters to each of my siblings and parents about what they mean to me.

75. Write letters to at least five friends who I have lost touch with. Visit at least one of those friends.

76. Make time to hang out with a friend at least 1 time a month for 12 months.

77. Make and send out Christmas cards at least 1 Christmas during the 1001 day. Bonus points for sending out cards for all Christmases.

78. Contact all siblings monthly for 1 year. Phone, e-mail, letter, anything is OK.

79. Make and send at least 30 just because cards and 10 just because packages.

80. Write and send 3 letters of appreciation for excellent customer service and 1 letter for poor service.

81. Design family sticker or stamp and pass it around.

82. Have a date night at least once every two months for a year.

83. Have a Mom/Daughter date with each girl at least once every two months for a year.

84. Do at least 3 special things for someone. Example 12 Days of Christmas, meal when sick, pay for someone’s meal, etc.

85. Make at least 1 trip to visit one of my family members.

86. Have Mom and Dad over for dinner, or make them a special dinner at their place.

87. Contact most influential and favorite teachers and let them know how they impacted or changed my life.

Personal or Misc. Items

88. personal

89. personal

90. personal

91. personal

92. Read all e-mail in in-box within 3 days. Keep in-box organized for 6 months. Unsubscribe from all mailing lists that I don’t even bother opening.

93. Get properly fitted for a bra.

94. Make an effort to cultivate new and lasting friendships by commenting on blogs, forums, being more open to new people I meet, etc.

95. Get professional massage, manicure, and pedicure.

Money items

96. Purchase freezer (chest or standing) for additional storage to make buying in bulk easier.

97. Decide what I want to be when I grow up and take at least three courses that apply.

98. Take a dance class.

99. Visit a large, natural waterfall.

100. Visit at least 5 states I have never been to and actually DO something in those states. Stopping to pee does not count.

101. Learn to use GPS and go geo-caching at least 5 times.

101 Things in 1001 Days Explanation and Rules

I actually created a version of this list back in September. I have made a bit of progress on a few of the goals and completed a few of them too. From today I am starting over. The already in progress and the completed ones will be restarted, even giving up soda for 30 days. That one was really hard for me to complete, but I did. I'm kind of sad I have to do that one again.

The reason for the change is that I was doing some looking around at other people’s lists, as well as reading about research that people have done as to what goals are most attainable, and I realized that I had way too many goals on the original list that required more than a little bit of money. I need to work more on saving money than I do on spending money, so I have revised my list.

I tried to get rid of as many of the “money” goals as I could. There were a few that I just had to keep, such as a fun trip for our family. At the end of the list are a few goals that I am aware would take money to complete. At this time I have not found a suitable replacement for those goals. I would love to be able to complete those goals if we have the money, so for now they will reside at the end of the list. I reserve the right to change those higher money goals, for other goals that I find through the course of my experience.

Day Zero is the place that started it all. They have links to a lot of different people's lists. I found quite a few ideas from the lists of others, and just enjoy looking at others goals.

Here are the rules and at the end, my little gift to myself for finishing the list.

Day Zero is the place that started it all.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific with a result that is either measurable of clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
2. Stay Focused. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.
5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Start Date: July 14th, 2008
End Date: April 11th, 2011

I have decided that for each item I complete, I will give myself $5 to spend on something nice for me and $5 to John Jay and Rich for their Christmas Wish program. If that is not available, I will pick another excellent program to donate the money to. For each item I do not complete, Christmas Wish will receive the $5, but no money for me.

My list will be posted in the next entry.

The New Home

So, I decided that I would make a separate blog for my 101 Things list. I don't want to clog up my regular blog with all of this stuff. So here begins my new blog for my list.