#2a The Fellowship of the Ring

So, this number is like the one the ones I was talking about earlier- for number 2 on my list of 100 books it says 'The Lord of the Rings'. Well, I feel fairly obligated to write a letter to someone and let them know that The Lord of the Rings is actually three books and now the list is 102! And it is just gonna get longer because it does this several times. Man, people in England may know how to read better, but I can count better.

Anyways, to the book review!

So I have not read this book for ages! Believe it or not I have actually read it before. Even better- I read them before they were famous! When I was in 5th grade (before the movies came out! :D) I read these books and they were fantastic!

Some parts in The Fellowship of the Ring do admittedly seem a little drawn out to me, and some parts just don't seem to actually NEED to be in the book- they serve no purpose. This is one reason I like all of the movies- they are fairly faithful adaptations but they cut out the fairly useless stuff and some of the harder dialogue to follow. And of course with a movie you don't need to have pages and pages of description- so that's nice!

But it was still really good! I'd forgotten how good! There is something about going back and reading a book, and a book will almost always have trumps over a movie! I got to know Frodo so much better! I remembered some of my favorite lines that Pippin or Merry would say and all the adventures that they had to endure- just in the first book mind- became so fresh in my head!

However, now I HAVE to see the movie. I'm not even kidding- I have been craving the movie since I got to the part in the book where the four hobbits got to Elrond! In the book they have the council as well and I couldn't help it- the entire time I was reading it I was just picturing the movie in my head. Where Boromir rides up on his horse, and Legolas swings off and graceful and elf-like.

I have to see the movie!!!

But yeah, it is a good book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read it! Just be aware that there are some parts that are harder to get through due to a bit of overdrawn out description, and there are some parts where you may be like, "Hmmm, what was J. R. R. Tolkien thinking? Why is this in here?" But overall, quite good! :D

Girls Night Out

So last night I got a have a Girls' Night Out and it was such a blast! My amazing friend, Jossi, and I went out to see The Time Traveler's Wife (which was pretty fantastic--I did get a little teary-eyed) and then we went out to dinner at IHOP (and guess what? I actually ordered DINNER- weird eh?) and then we just hung out at her house for a while.

It was so much to just get to have that time! To de-stress from school and work for a little while and just go and have fun!

Thank you Jossi! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

I did like the movie and now I feel the need to find a copy of the book--dang it, there are so many books to read! So little time!!

#1 Pride and Prejudice

As a refresher for those of you who have forgotten I am reading my way down the list of 100 books that Americans should read (or something along those lines) although it should actually be like 120 books or so because half of the ones on this list are trilogys or such and involve more than one book. Anyways, the first book was Pride and Prejudice which of course was NO trial to me to read! In fact, I probably could have written this review in my sleep (as Steph so aptly pointed out) but doing this just gave me an excuse to read it over again!

*WARNING: The following review (which isn't REALLY a review) contains spoilers!*

Ah, I do so love this book! I finished it this evening and reading it again just made it even better! I got completely into it- so completely into it that it was as if I was all of the characters! I laughed at Darcy's haughty scorn as he rejected Elizabeth. I was incredulous at Collin's stupidity as he was kneeling at Lizzy's feet asking for her hand in marriage. I felt Jane's torture as Bingley left to London- seemingly never to return- and Bingley's sadness at the thought that the woman he loved didn't truly love him. I felt all of Elizabeth's shock at Darcy's proposal, as well as his humiliation at her scorn.

I gasped along with Elizabeth and she read Darcy's letter and felt all of her revulsion at Wickham and what he had done. I shook my head with Mr. Bennet at the follies of Mrs. Bennet and her three youngest. I felt just a smidgen of remorse with Lizzy as we toured Pemberly for the first time and saw what we could have had! I started simultaneously with Darcy and Lizzy as they both saw each other on the grounds at Pemberly and I felt all of the hopelessness of the entire Bennet family when they learned of what Lydia had done!

I was SO aware of just how much Lizzy owed Darcy when she found out what he had done for her family and how much she completely loved him- just when it seemed there was no hope for the two of them after all. I felt all of Jane's exquisite happiness as she and Bingley managed to work it out and finally become engaged. I was consumed with anger and annoyance when Lady Catherine De Bourgh had the insolence to march into the Bennet's house and aim all of those unjust, hurtful, and rude accusations at Elizabeth.

And finally I was completely overwhelmed with joy and romantic sighs as Elizabeth and Darcy started that fateful walk, and had that amazing conversation! I giggled in my heart as they became the quintessential 'mushy' lovers, and I sighed with absolute contentment when they got married and Jane Austen wrapped up the story.

Ah, it was just so good!!! So good! I'd slightly forgotten just HOW much I love this story- truly a classic and well worth the read for anyone who needs a good novel! (Although I'm fairly certain I've just highlighted all of the main points...oops, sorry!)

I would so give it 5 stars!!!

Things I didn't learn in school...

Ok, I'll grant I've only been there for two weeks, but I'm pretty sure right now that no amount of time would have prepared me for what I found on my massage table on Thursday.

You see on Wednesday night I came home to find that I had two lovely nieces and a stunning nephew waiting for me! It was awesome! I got to be all loved and 'Bonnie Bonnie Bonnie!!!'-ed which hasn't happened since June. So it is just fantastic to have them here and everyday there comes more and more things that make it so fantastic!

Not only have I gotten to see all of Chamberlain's treasures, and I got to teach Riepe to fly and I got to teach Kassel to slide, but I've gotten to rock them all and play with them all and just have a blast! But I have to say, the crowning moment so far- the moment that school just did not prepare me for- was this one!








You see, I set up my table on Wednesday night in order to begin practicing on friends and family that which I had learned in school! And I came home from school on Thursday and there was my first client, ready and waiting to go! She had originally climbed up on the table and laid down in the center of it, but I suppose she decided that that just wasn't good enough. So Kassel crawled up to the very top and plopped her head down in the headrest. Then she gave a huge sigh of relaxation and contentment and signaled that she was ready for me to begin my work.

So I worked on a little two year old- who quickly got succeeded by a 4 year old and a 7 year old and in that way practiced my stances and movements. It was good days! And just so gosh darn cute!!

Tagged!!

Haha, is it just so sad that I love getting tagged? I'm all like "Oh, people love me!" Anyways here goes...

*8 Things I'm looking forward to (in no particular order...) :
1. My weekend off of school
2. Graduating in March
3. My birthday!
4. Going to the anatomy lab
5. Completing my list of 100 books to read
6. Meeting someone (it will happen :P)
7. Jaren and Jess' reception
8. Playing with nieces and nephews!

*8 Things I did this week:
1. Fell asleep in class (in my defense I was being massaged)
2. Spend three hours talking about the cell
3. Went out to get tacos with Chuck and Maren and the kids
4. flew, slid, and played horsey
5. Watched G.I. Joe
6. Worked
7. Visited friends
8. Cleaned

*8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Sing better
2. Yoga
3. Have more time
4. Manage time better
5. Get to bed earlier
6. Be happier
7. Be more involved in class
8. Draw

*8 Places I'd like to travel:
1. Washington D.C.
2. Hawaii
3. Alaska
4. England
5. Washington (again :D)
6. Italy
7. Poland
8. Fiji Islands

*8 Shows I watch:
1. The Office...and wow- that's about it...

I TAG: Stephanie, SuZan, Val, Kim, Pam, Dieuwke, and Jossi! :D

So, Funny Story

Yeah, funny story. Ok, here goes. So I was thinking about dinner today and what I should make. I mean, I was pretty positive I should make SOMETHING because I was hungry, Dad was hungry, there was just hunger all around-- you know? So, I ran up to Smith's and on the way I called Steph because I had NO idea what I should make--not at all.

We were chatting and all was going well, I was shopping around (I decided to make Shepard's Pie--mostly because I can use it for lunch tomorrow too! Yay for hitting two birds with one stone!) talking to Stephanie, catching up, getting odd looks from the customers from some of the things I was saying, ooh and I did get checked out by the way cute stock boy, and life was pretty good. I got everything I needed, checked out, and started walking out to my car- still talking to Steph.

I get--not even joking--less than 5 feet away from my car (which was parked way out in Timbuck 3 and a half) and the bottom of the potato bag falls out! Potatoes roll everywhere!!!! All down the parking lot (because Smith's parking lot is slightly angled down hill) under the car, oh it was bad!!

So here I was scrambling around, looking like a complete idiot, trying to pick up potatoes and once I had picked up a couple I realized I had no place to put them because, well, the bag was broken! So I ended up putting them in my purse...yeah, dad laughed hysterically when he saw that (well, as much as dad LAUGHS so it was more of a chuckle hysterically persay....) anyway, then some nice lady helped me pick up a couple and pointed out a few I had missed and I managed to get all of them (at least I THINK it was all of them) and get home. Whew...it was sad. I mean it's really funny now, but then it was sad. Because the LAST thing you want to have happen when you've had a hard day, and spent hard earned money on food, is feel a sudden lightening in your hand when there shouldn't be a lightening there--because a lightening would imply that you somehow dropped something (which I did) and yeah...you know?

In other news school is going really well!! I'm in my second week and so far my favorite class is anatomy- I LOVE LOVE LOVE anatomy! The human body is aboslutely fascinating and I finally get more of a chance to delve in and learn! (And the cadaver lab at the U of U is GREAT!)

The classes I am taking right now are Professional Development, CPR/FA, Massage Basics, Accupressure, and Anatomy. Ah, it's fun days! Some days are more awkward than others--haha, remind me to tell you about the funny story with my good ol' homo friend sometime!-- some days more fun than others. But it's great! The drive isn't even as bad as I thought it would be!

And I signed up for an institute class--The History of the Church. Good days!

Firsts

Well the next two days will certainly be full of firsts!

Tomorrow I start Relief Society. Monday I start college. Whoo....I'm quite nervous!! I hope everything goes alright!!

Also tomorrow I start reading the list of 100 books all people should apparently read. Once I finish a book I'll post my own personal review of it on my blog. It'll be good.

Also, tonight I watched The Scarlet Pimpernel for the first time ever and I absolutely love it. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!! Good days!

Bear Lake!!

Alright! Here it is! The long awaited Bear Lake post. I would have had it up sooner, really, but things just kept getting in the way...

So, Mistie, Tiffany and I left for Bear Lake and arrived on Sunday afternoon. And almost immediately the first adventure began. We found out as we came back from a short little tour around the condo that we were locked out! Since the condo we were in was privately owned versus owned by Worldmark we seemed to be out of luck! So we had to walk all the way to town, where we were told that we were still out of luck! In desperation (and praying that my phone battery wouldn't die since I was the only one who had a phone on me) we called Mistie's grandparents who called the original Worldmark people that we talked to, who called a supervisor, who called someone who knew a combination to a safe, who came to the safe, opened it, and found a key. So, we trudged back to into Harbor Village where we were questioned about our true identities before finally receiving the key. (At the very first place we had stopped at...that's right- the 2 miles in flip-flops was completley unnessecary)

Sunday night was spent chilling around the condo, eating a relaxed dinner, watching movies and all around settling in.

On Monday morning we hit the pool, soaked up the sun for a little bit and then headed off to town to check out different stores, restraunts, and hopefully guys! :D We each picked up a few tidbits and then headed out to Montpelier, Idaho to see if we would catch a showing of the only movie playing in the movie theater that was the only movie theater for about 50 miles around. Unfortunately we were about 3 hours too early. So we headed home- but on the way back Mistie got ill and had to take a nap. So while she was sleeping Tiffany and I were watching movies, reading books, napping, and checking out the very hot and competent tennis instructor.

After Mistie got up and felt better we went out to dinner and I bought my very own chocolate dipped raspberries (a little bit of a let down--still good, don't get me wrong, but not as good as I was hoping) and after dinner we hit the pool again until it closed.

On Tuesday morning we packed up and set out for the actual beach. The lake was stunning as always! And not even as cold as it normally is, it was actually quite warm! Especially if you jumped in! We took walks, waded, swam, and then we just lay on our towels and soaked up the sun.

*I would like to make a disclaimer here. I SO used sunscreen! Lots of it! Loads of it! Over all of my body that was not covered by a swimsuit! I did! Multiple times!!!*

On the way home from the beach I started to feel an itching all over my body. I got home and took a shower to prepare for our night on the town and oh the pain! The hot water over my body causing me sheer agony gave me my first hint that I had gotten massively sunburned. And massively sunburned I did indeed get! All over my shoulders, my arms, the back of my thighs, calves and knee caps for heavens sake. It was sheer agony! I checked in with the others and found that Tiffany had gotten lightly toasted, Mistie had gotten a burn, but I had gotten absolutely fried!!

Nevertheless I put the pain behind and started preparing for the night! You see, Mistie's grandparents (who had so kindly and graciously let us use the condo) had come to check and make sure it was still standing. They felt kind of badly that they so obviously had no trust in us so they decided to take us out to dinner and show. I don't mean just ANY dinner and show- this was a full out cookout with full plates and delicious food! And after dinner we went over to a playhouse that was on the property and were treated to a hilairous play entitled "The Hanging of El Bandito" which was freaking HILARIOUS!!! So much of that play was adlibbed and that just added to it. I recollect right now one of my favorites where they made a play off of the Dora the Explora cartoons. And another were they were saying acronyms such as TMI, LOL, JK, and the unknown FEC. It turned out that FEC stood for 'Future Eternal Companion' (it was such a mormon play- you could tell!) The whole play was fantastic and I loved it so much!!!

That night we watched Australia (my goodness, Hugh Jackman is one fine man!) with Mistie's grandma and we all enjoyed making comments on how Hugh Jackman made the movie and just how hot Hugh Jackman is. (Mistie's grandma made quite a few of these comments too....) and it was wonderful!

Wednesday morning I woke up to blisters on my shoulders and searing pain. We packed up, cleaned up, did some final tourist shopping (where we FINALLY ran into a hot guy...it was sad...one, on the whole trip. Just one really...) and headed home.

I got home and wanted nothing more than to strip down to short shorts and a tank top and sleep until all the pain was over. Of course, that wouldn't have happened since I had to work on Thursday morning, and I couldn't sleep for long anyways since it hurt too much, and of course I had to retain modesty because my cousin Aaron and his friend were staying at my house for EFY.

But Bear Lake was SO much fun!! And it was worth every second and every penny--my last fling before school starts! It was wonderful!!

I was not able to get any pictures myself because I didn't have access to a camera, but Tiffany thankfully did and she posted them on facebook. Here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=646565668&v=feed&story_fbid=132112890933#/album.php?aid=2030735&id=1324057675

It was a blast! I'd love to do it again sometime!!!!