A Quarter of a Century

Last Saturday was my 25 birthday! This means several things: 1) I have now lived more than 1/4 of my life; 2) I can rent a car! and 3) I am no longer grouped in with the 18 year olds when I take surveys (Seriously, I have been waiting for this day for two years).

Not only was it my birthday, but the first year anniversary of me receiving my temple endowment. Because of this, I wanted to make sure that I visited the temple on my birthday and did a session. I was talking to Roommate M about what I wanted to do for my birthday about a month or so ago and mentioned this. Then I mentioned that I wanted to go to a temple I had never been to before. She recommended going to St. George and staying in her parents' condo for the weekend and going to the St. George temple. Which was an amazing idea, especially once I remembered that I was a grown up and could take off to St. George for the weekend if I wanted to. haha So, Friday afternoon after work we drove down to St. George. We were both so excited to get to 80 degree weather!

That night we just watched some "Veronica Mars" (we are now on the third season with only two disks to go!). The next morning we went to the temple, which was amazing, and then Roommate M treated me to lunch at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, where they have really good smoothies. That afternoon we sat by the pool and read, took naps, and (in my case) got a little bit sunburned! An amazing way to spend an April afternoon!

Oh, if all afternoons could be spent this way!

We watched more "Veronica Mars" that night, as well as Quantum of Solace, and Despicable Me (most of which I slept through, because I'm such an old woman now). We went to sacrament meeting the next day and came home.

I think that that little break away from life, though it wasn't majorly exciting, was exactly what I needed. I didn't have my computer, or internet access. I hadn't been feeling well the last part of that week, and it was so nice to just go somewhere where I could relax, with no expectations.

When I got home, I went to my parents' house for a birthday dinner (baby back ribs, shrimp pasta salad, fruit, and asparagus), and opened presents! Then I had cheesecake for my birthday cake.

Here I am! 25 years old! Thanks for everyone who had been a part of my life somehow or another, it's been an amazing ride.

12 for 2012

Instead of a "Christmas Letter" this year, I decided to do a year in review. For each month I'll recount something exciting or different that happened to me, as well as a book from that month! Cuz that's that way I roll!

January
I started the 8-week experiment! It was an interesting peek into what my future as a wife will be. ;)
Book: Austenland by Shannon Hale (this was a reread)

February
I drove into Salt Lake City for the first time, which made me so nervous, which is funny to think about because I do it everyday now and it's no big deal.
Book: A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

March
I went to see Vocal Point live for the first time! Great night out with the fam!
Book: Everneath by Brodie Ashton (Utah author! Support local artists! [Unless you aren't from Utah, then she isn't a local artist, but you should support local artists wherever you are. And still feel free to read this book.])

April
I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple! It was great to have my entire family there with me.
Book: The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene

May
My friend Michael Ann did a craft month and I did it along with her! It taught me that I can be crafty.
Book: Persuasion by Jane Austen (I was grinning like a fool on the train while reading the ending to this!)

June
The JSP asked me to stay on part-time!
Book: Shane by Jack Schaefer (my first western!)

July
I bought my first car! His name is Perry.
Book: Bellfield Hall, or, the Observations of Miss Dido Kent by Anna Dean

August
I took Perry and bro and we headed down to California for a week to visit the sis and bro-in-law. Great vacation! I got to go to San Francisco, which was definitely a highlight.
Book: The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Patillo

September
I did a no spend month in September. It was a good exercise in self control! I should do it more often.
Book: I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

October
I had a pretty rockin' Halloween costume!
Book: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (my Banned Books Week book this year)

November
I moved out of my parents' basement! That was HUGE! Probably the hugest thing I've done in the past two years!
Book: I started rereading the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness quartet, The Immortals quartet, Protector of the Small quartet, and the two Trickster books).

December
I can't think of anything really huge happening this month, except Christmas!
Book: I'm very excited to get Princess of the Silver Wood by Jessica Day George. It's her new book in the Twelve Dancing Princesses series and this one is supposed to be better than the second (Seriously, read the first book, Princess of the Midnight Ball--it's AMAZING!)

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-man

I actually saw a movie soon enough to make a review seem reasonable! Yay me! (And Yay Dad! for paying. :) ) We decided to spend Pioneer Day (a good day to be a Utahn) at the movies, which is a real treat as I don't get home in time to catch a matinee and we're all too cheap to spend the money the a full priced ticket.

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
MPAA rating: PG-13, for violence
My rating: **** (this rating is completely bogus, by the way. I've never actually come up with any kind of rating system, so this could be four out of four, or four out of ten. I don't know. I've never decided and I think it changes every time I review something. This time, it's four out of four.)

To prepare for seeing The Amazing Spider-Man (TASM), a week or so ago I watched Spider-Man (SM), so I had that fresh in mind as I was watching.

I really like Spider-Man, so I'm not going to bash it or the actors in it, but there a lot of things that I think TASM did better.

Caution: May contain minor SPOILERS (depends on how "in the dark" you want to be)

To start off, I feel like this whole movie was to give the viewer a true understanding of Spider-man's "origin story." Where he came from (dad was scientist, parents died, raised by aunt and uncle), how he became Spider-man (spider bite), why he started fighting evil (Uncle Ben), and what is he getting out of it (at first, freedom from guilt, which then changes to knowledge of doing good). In comparison, SM went quickly over the origin into a different storyline making the movie cover at least a year (if not more). Because TASM only covers a few months, I feel like I got a better feel for all the characters.

That leads me to point number two. Compared to SM, I feel that TASM had a more complex storyline and deeper characterization. Even Flash, a minor character, shows growth and depth after Uncle Ben dies. Because of the shortening of time, I feel that we get to see more about Peter accepting what has happened to him after the bite. We get to see him as the super intelligent person that he is, which I feel like was only alluded to in the previous films. And then when Ben dies, we see the transformation of Peter's motivation from vengeance to genuine heroism.

This leads me to point number three. Gwen Stacy and her father. I felt that the real turning point in Peter's motivation comes from these two. First, when Captain Stacy argues with Peter about Spider-man, and then when Peter tells Gwen that he is Spider-man. A side-kick/confidant is key to a lot of hero stories and I really feel that it helped Peter to have someone he could talk to. In SM, Peter is trying to deal with everything himself, and he ends up losing multiple jobs, and the girl, and his best friend, and fails school. Not that Garfield's Peter Parker won't have issues, but having someone who knows who he is, is going to help ground him, and keep him from losing himself to Spider-Man.

As for Andrew Garfield, I know that there are very differing opinions about him as Spider-Man (as there are of the whole movie). For me, I thought he was great. He was able to play the awkward genius teenager really well (loved the scene in the school hallway with him and Gwen), but he was good looking enough to make me want to be saved by him. :) Though Tobey Maguire was a good Spider-Man, I think Garfield was the perfect choice to play the new one. In fact, I thought all of the actors were great in their roles. I also really appreciated the smaller amount of CGI; it made everything feel much more real.

If you want something a bit more "comic book-y" I would recommend the Tobey Maguire franchise. It's a bit more faster paced, a little bit more cheesy (in a good way). But either way, see The Amazing Spider-Man. It's got some moments of cheese as well, but it's got a good plot and good characters.

Sunday Special: Beauty

Spring has sprung here in Utah, and on my walk from the train to work I love looking at the green trees and the flowers everywhere and the blue sky. Because of this I've been thinking a lot about this wonderful world we get to live in and the amazing people that live in the world and I've realized something: Beauty is everywhere, but for some reason a lot of us don't acknowledge it. After wondering why this is, I have come up with two reasons why we don't see the beauty that is all around us.

First, dwelling on the ugly. There are ugly, evil, and wrong things in this world, there is no denying that. There are bad people who do ugly things, and natural disasters that destroy beauty. But, I truly believe that those are not the majority of things in this world, even though we hear about them more than anything else. What about the good people who treat everyone kindly, or work to make someone's life easier? What about blue skies, sunsets, trees, flowers, oceans, animals, beautiful architecture, art, music, books, etc.? Where is our focus?

I think it is necessary for us to know about the ugly things happening in the world, but that shouldn't be what we dwell on. I love reading those stories on Yahoo! about letters that find their destination 60 years later, or someone fighting against all the odds to fulfill their dream. I love reading about an ordinary person becoming someone's hero. I love looking at the stars at night and feeling like there is something so much more than me out there. There is a beauty that we can't even comprehend.

Second, comparisons. You always hear people say things like "There are so many more trees in Oregon--it's so brown here!" or "I wish I looked like her." or "I only date tall, dark, and handsome guys."or whatever. The thing is, beauty isn't something we can make a checklist for. There isn't one ideal of beauty and the more we compare places, people, and ourselves, to what we think of as the pinnacle of beauty, the more unhappy we are going to be. We have to learn to see something for what it is, not what it isn't. People don't go to the Grand Canyon for the forests, they go because it's beautiful in it's own way.

Here's an example. When I was in London, a Sunday School teacher at church asked those in my group what was the most beautiful thing we'd ever seen was. I answered that it was England. (They kind of gave me weird looks like, Really? This is a topic for another day though.) A couple of days ago I met a woman from England, but living in Wales, that had come to visit my grandparents. She loved Salt Lake City! She talked about how beautiful it was and that she never wanted to leave. Now, I think Salt Lake City is a really nice city, and I do think Utah is beautiful, but she had just come from Wales! She was appreciating SLC for what it was, not what it wasn't.

There is beauty in deserts, in forest, in plains, in beaches, in snow, rain, sun, tall people, short people, blue, black, and purple people, fish and mammals, cacti and trees, mountains, round people, and thin people. Find the beauty in whoever you are, whoever you meet, where ever you might be. Don't dwell on the bad things in life. Beauty is there and finding it will make you happier.

Four Years

Today marks four years since I got on an airplane for the first real adventure of my life: England. Since that time, I have been measuring time from then: Four years have passed since the time of England.

So, let's review what has happened in the past four years:

. . .

Um . . .

Let me think . . .

::crickets::

Oh! I got it! I graduated from college. That's something cool, right? Maybe not on par of flying halfway around the world, seeing amazing sights, and traveling all around a foreign country, getting fat off pastry and chocolates, but, what can I say?

Speaking of chocolates, I have finally lost all the weight that I gained in the eight weeks I was over there. And it only took me four years! Not bad. :)

But, seriously, I really can't complain. My life has had a lot of good moments. Before I graduated from college, I was promoted twice at my job at the CONE, ending on the high note of Front-end Manager. I graduated from college, and in the past year alone I have had three different and wonderful opportunities in terms of internships.

The only thing is, going on the London Study Abroad didn't quench my thirst for adventure, but whet it. As much as I want to see the world, the place I want to see the most is England. The more I read and learn about the country, the more I want to see and experience. I think that going back to London would be like returning home, because I felt at home there. I think it opened my eyes to the beauty of the world, and since then I have tried to find the beauty of everything and everyone.

So, until I can return to my other homeland, I will try to remember all the great things I have, right here, in little ol' Utah.

Review: Utah Authors

By some strange turn of events, it seems like most of the time I read a book I LOVE, when I read the author bio, he or she ends up being from Utah. Or was raised in Utah. Or went to school in Utah. Is it my Utah blood connecting to their Utah blood in some strange cosmic, not nearly as weird as Jolie and Thornton, kind of way? Or are Utahns just completely rockin' the literary world? Whatever it is, I do have to say that some of my favorite authors are from Utah.

Here are some Utah authors everyone should read:

Jessica Day George

I had the opportunity to hear Jessica Day George speak at Books for Young Readers in 2009 (I think). She's very funny, and very sweet. I did an e-mail interview with her for a class (found here), and was really impressed with her first agreeing to do so and second apologizing that it took so long to get back! With that out of the way, Jessica has written 7 books (I haven't read her latest yet), all in the YA fiction category.

The dragon books start with her debut novel, Dragon Slippers. It was meant to be a stand alone but her agent convinced her to write the two sequels, Dragon Flight and Dragon Spear. While I think the first is by far the best, the other two are much better than other author's best.

Then there is Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, a retelling of the Nordic fairytale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." I love this book. It's probably tied for my favorite book by George.

Princess at the Midnight Ball is the other one of my favorites. This is, by far, the best retelling of the "Twelve Dancing Princess" I have ever read. There is a sequel called Princess of Glass and she is writing a third. And since there are 12 princesses, she could probably go one for a while. These are definitely books that I own and reread.

Shannon Hale

I feel that Shannon Hale is a pretty well known Utah author. One of her adult novels, Austenland, is being released as a movie this year. It's sequel, Midnight in Austenland, just came out early this year. I liked it, but I liked the first better. My mom like the sequel better, so it's just a matter of opinion.

Goose Girl was her first book. I really like this book. She turned it into a series called the Books of Bayern. I haven't read all of them, but those I have read are good, just not good like Goose Girl.

One of her books was a Newberry Honor book! Princess Academy is sort of a Cinderella retelling. Great book. I don't think I know of anyone who has read it who hasn't liked it.

She's also written two graphic novels with her husband, Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack.

Brodi Ashton

This is a new author I just discovered. Her debut novel came out this year and it called Everneath. This seems like a typical paranormal romance from the blurb and I was hesitant to read it, but I want to support local authors and all that, so I did. There is a lot that I like about what Ashton did with this book. The premise doesn't include anything about vampires or werewolves, for one. It's more mythology, and I like mythology. Also, the supernatural doesn't get the girl. Thank you, Ms. Ashton! Finally, a girl with some sense in her brain! Also, the characters change and grow over the course of the book instead of remaining the same. And, probably the biggest thing, was that this could be a stand alone novel, or it could be the beginning of the series. It's totally open! But at the same time, it's got an ending I feel good about. This is how it should be.

I read this in one day.

Here is a list of other Utah authors I have read: Ally Condie (Matched), Bree Despain (The Dark Divine), Emily Wing Smith (Back When You Were Easier to Love), Kristen Chandler (Wolves, Boys, and Other Things that Might Kill Me), Ann Dee Ellis (This is What I Did--I took a creative writing class from Ann Dee. She's awesome.), Lisa Mangum (The Hourglass Door--I worked with Lisa at Deseret Book. She's also awesome.), James Dashner (The Maze Runner--I haven't actually read this book yet, but everyone seems to like it), Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Mette Ivie Harrison (The Princess and the Hound--not my favorite book, but a lot of people really like it), Carol Lynch Williams (The Chosen One), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn and Alactraz versus the Evil Librarians--wasn't able to make it through Mistborn, but I love Alcatraz.), Melissa Lemon (Cinder and Ella), Heather Dixon (Entwined).

So, wherever you live, find some local authors and you might just discover a new, under appreciated favorite. Happy reading!