Sunrise

This was the sunrise Friday (3.28) morning. Gorgeous. It was better, but in the time it took me to get out there with my camera, it changed! THEN I got some better angles, all in the same time of 7:03 am, and they are not as bright either. Oh well, I am just glad it worked out! I don't often appreciate this event. I am either too tired to care or I am asleep. LOL.

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a fabulous Easter! We had MANY things going on... we still have not finished the celebrating. We are going to celebrate with Jody's mom tonight. Here are pics, so far.

The purse Sydney is carrying she received as a gift for Easter, she loved it and carried it almost all day and evening. I guess I have a girly girl :).

Jody was in Hutchinson, Kansas all week covering the NJCAA basketball tournament, so we had our own little family stuff this morning. He arrived home and came straight to my parents' house last night and we were excited to see him!

Amatuer Baking Session

Okay, so my friend Natalie posted about the cutest baked goods I have ever seen in my life, from a blog by Bakerella. I went to church a few days later and they sent around a signup sheet for fancy cakes to be used as center pieces and given away at the Relief Society birthday celebration. So I signed up. I was excited cause Bakerella made those cupcakes sound so easy. HAHA. Well, I had a lot going on and I am not a pro, but here's some pics of how they turned out. As gross as it sounds, that single cupcake has been on my counter for like two weeks now. I just need to bring myself to throw away the last of my creation (that took me hours to make). It is hard to throw away something that took so long to make. Please do not compare mine to hers-- hers are far superior!

My Opinion

I am die hard, and if you read my post a few days ago, you know who I choose. I have several reasons why I would choose Edward. For one, he is who she really loves. Isn't that why people read the books? Once you read the first one, isn't it all about them? I will say no more about that. I just decided that, since I could not stop thinking about these characters, that I would read book 3, Eclipse, again. I would have re-read Twilight, but I gave it back to my sister. So I know, twice in a week and a half is a little much, but since I had already read it, I took much longer to read it, savored it, if you will.

Anyway, I will have to read the other two again to remember if I have favorite lines from either of them, but I just have to post my favorite line-- Keep in mind that I am trying also to not give any important information away- I have more favorites than this. However, this one is hilarious and I love it. I guess not if you are a Jacob fan, but oh well.

Just a little setup. Bella and Edward are sleeping in a tent, Jacob is outside keeping watch. It is snowing and Bella is freezing. Edward can not help her, he is icy cold himself (does not affect him). Something has to happen, so Jacob comes into the tent (he is very warm) and zips himself in the sleeping bag with her. Edward can read thoughts (and does not sleep, so he listens to her sleep-talking and him dreaming all night) and, since they both are after Bella, is a bit jealous. Jacob knows this, he is very satisfied with the situation (being able to help Bella where Edward can not, being so close to her like that, and I am sure he enjoys Edward's jealousy). In the morning, Jacob asks if Edward had a nice night (such a brat!) and it comes out that it is possibly among the top ten worst nights of his life. Of course, Jacob is satisfied. But then Edward says this and I just love it. Keep in mind, there is nothing dirty about it.

"But," Edward went on, "if I had been able to take your place last night,
it would not have made the top ten of the best nights of my
life. Dream about that."

Such a trump. I love it, you know, since he was so happy about the fact that he slept all night with Bella in his arms (something he never has done, the closest they have ever been, and was thinking things that bothered Edward). Then Jacob leaves the tent and I quite enjoy the conversation that follows between Bella and Edward, about their ten best nights. I just like them as a couple. :)

Just to balance out all the vampire love talk: This is almost two years old, but I liked it. We are in San Diego. It is my birthday and we are at dinner before going to see Martina McBride. It was a GREAT day! It is crazy to see changes, when I really feel like this was just yesterday (except the fact that I was pregnant with Sydney at the time, and she is 16 months...)

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Syd getting ready for the parade a few days before.

Our Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast. The eggs had spinach in them, and were very tasty. I don't like ham, and it looks nasty!
She only wore that crown for maybe 5 minutes... or less... The Crew-- we have a pretty good crowd who comes every year. Probably the most sober out of all the parade goers...
Ethan trying to get some candy!

The mastermind of the day's events (for our family, at least)-- my grandma.

My Uncle Tracy with my family.It was cold, but fun. When I said it sucks for adults, I just meant that it is a parade full of families, crazy drunks with political agendas, radio stations, advertisers, Irish dancers, etc. So if you are looking for excitement (are parades exciting?), you may be able to make fun of some drunk person doing a jig... But it is a lighthearted and fun parade. Everyone throws candy, beads and other things. It is easy to find a spot, and it is low-key, that, along with all the candy, makes it a great parade to take your kids to.

After this, the family gets together at someone's house for a green/corned beef and cabbage lunch. Fun times!

Hip Hoppin' Boutique

So this weekend there is a boutique going on in American Fork called the Hip Hoppin' Boutique. It is at the Odyssey Charter School- 738 East Quality Drive. If you get off the 500 East exit, head north, make the first turn east (right) and pass Office Max, etc, and there are signs from there (up ahead on the left). I know that the Holy Cow Boutique is going on this weekend as well. Well, let me tell you-- some of the vendors at Hip Hoppin' are at the Holy Cow as well, but the ones who are not are every bit as good, so come check it out. There are some really cute purses, crafts, toys/games, food (yummy chili bowls!), super cute yard art (they sell at Swiss Days-- the metal stuff), bows and flowers, WAY cute purses (even I am tempted). Anyway, just a plug. I did not even talk about our stuff :). If you have a chance, these places are great to shop for yourself or gifts.

This is even one that we take our own money, so Jenni and I will both be there. I am going to the St Patrick's Day parade (a GREAT parade for kids, SUCKS for adults- they throw lots of candy too) so I will be there later.

I am in Love

Okay, you say you already knew that. Well, this new love is not a real person (and yes, I am still in love with my husband). I hate admitting this. But I just joined millions of girls in love with a vampire. Yup, Edward. I just read the whole Twilight series. Well, I guess not book 4. I am not sure I will sleep until August... Jody and I went to Twin Falls, ID for the weekend (hahah exciting, I know!) and I took Twilight with me. I have had it in my possession (ha ha I am listening to that song right now) for MONTHS now, so I decided that while I was kid-free, I would read it. Jody was at a basketball tournament, so I started Twilight on Saturday night. 7 pm. I read at Applebees, with Jody (he eventually ditched me to go hang out with the SLCC team). I read until I fell asleep. I read in the morning. We checked out, visited Jody's aunt whose husband died while we were there. Then I finished the last little bit in the car on the way home. Less than 24 hours. Then I came home and could not put off New Moon. So I read it while we were driving to pick up the kids. I did nothing Monday but read (I did not change my clothes! Though I did not neglect my kids as much as myself). I finished that evening and, like a complete idiot (This is such a busy week!), I started reading Eclipse, thinking I would have some self control. I guess "some" was the key word. I started as I was laying down for bed Monday. I read a little Tuesday, I had a Relief Society dinner that I volunteered to make a cake for {another post, another day, with pictures :)} so I really had to be disciplined- and I did have to take a shower and get ready too. But today, it got the best of me and I tried really hard to paint (more plaques to be posted soon on Tres Chic's blog; we have a boutique this weekend), and I read most of the day. It was worth it!

I have a habit of doing this. I read all 8 or 9 (?) books of The Work and the Glory in months-- I can not remember how many, but I KNOW it was less than a year. I read MUCH faster than that, and I did not have kids then! I did not have a desire until the day I started reading (I was going to New York and thought it a good idea to read the 1st book while driving through that very area-- was a great idea).
I read the first four Harry Potter books within a few months as well. Funny enough, we went to Yuba Lake and I could not put #4 down. I am so much fun to be with while reading...

So back to the whole reason I had to write. It is really funny what this series has done to me! I get so involved in the characters, sometimes I wonder if it is normal. The only way I can even describe Twilight is intoxicating. I could not put it down, had a stupid smile on my face the whole time I was reading it (except for sad parts, of course-- I can not remember what happens in each book, sorry). I even liked my husband more! Funny. Anyway, it is a good thing, cause I did not like the 2nd book, New Moon, as well. I did like it, but it was not intoxicating, like the first. I really just kept reading because I was waiting for something I wanted to happen. I really liked Eclipse though there are a few things I did not like. AT ALL. So if you have not read the book, please do not read the next few lines! Besides, some of what I have to say may be a tad embarrassing...
I do not like the relationship that evolves between certain characters. I like the friendship, but I was DYING when bad kissing was going on. I am an intensely loyal person, I guess. I could relate to Bella on many levels, but definitely not that one. I would not have let that happen! Anyway, I did not like the ending either. I want to see things happen the way I want, not just imagine but not know for sure. That said, I am glad she is writing a fourth book. Maybe we will find out things... I really would like to know (please do not fault me for this! And no, I do not read romance novels!) how everything works out... I want to know about the wedding, uhummm... the night after, and when he changes her. I am surely not the only one who feels that way?! Well, I guess we will have to see. I want to see Charlie's reaction to the engagement, everything. Plus, I can not get enough of when Bella and Edward are together for some reason (when they are happy, anyway).
All in all, I am going to say that this has been such a great day (and a great reading experience, thank you Stephanie Meyer!). I had a great time reading, playing with my baby girl (she played with my hair and other silly stuff while I was laying on the carpet, reading). This booked, for some reason, helped me appreciate some things today (maybe it was that permagrin? cheesy and embarrassing to admit... so glad I was reading with no other adults present!). It put me in a Sarah mood, which means lots of music, but especially her, and just made me think about things that are so "me". It is always nice to get back to knowing who I really am. I am an intensely hopeless romantic, and I have not really been that way in a while. And when I listened to music that I LOVE tonight (ie Come What May, and others from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack; Hold On, Building a Mystery, Elsewhere, all by Sarah McLachlan; Angel's Lullaby, Richard Marx, etc) after finishing that series, I am reminded of just how intense some of those songs are! I forget. IS this making any sense?! All you deep people are knowing what I am talking about, I hope! There are two things that really move me, music and books, and this time, in my head, they really went together. Cathartic experience, maybe. Maybe this should just be in my journal? Well, hoping I am not sounding crazy, I will just go out on a limb and post this anyway. Thanks for listening, this is, I suppose, a very personal thing, in some ways.
Let us hope that the actors and the soundtrack will be worthy of the book and help us all like it even more. Especially those like me, that can't afford the time to spend reading the books again for a while (movies are much more doable these days!).
Oh, and one reason I was interested in reading these books, is the vampire I already like! I am really into the show Moonlight (yeah, all 3 episodes I have seen...), and it is a vampire show. Maybe they will actually put some more episodes online? Either way, I liked Mick first.