April Book of the Month

Apparently this month has not been the best month for reading. As in, I've only read four books this month, which is really weird (for me). In that case (and because I'm not feeling well), I'm going to just tell you three of the four books that I read:

A Beginner's Guide to Acting English by Shappi Khorsandi. Memoir of Iran refugees in England.

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher. YA Fiction about a girl writing to a murderer on death row.

This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl, et al. Nonfiction book being a collection of letters, journals, and memories of Esther Earl, a teenager who died from thyroid cancer.

All of these will be reviewed on my book review blog in the coming month.

Update: Birthday and Comic-Con

April has been an exciting month, lots to do and lots of fun. The month started with LDS General Conference, which I got to spend at home with Mom, Dad, and Bro. The next weekend was my birthday! My birthday happened to get stretched out to cover the whole weekend, and into the week a little bit.

The day before my official birthday I spent with friends. That morning I went to the temple to C, then in the afternoon M and I went to see a matinee of Les Miserables (a Christmas present from my parents--twice the enjoyment!). The play was AMAZING! I've seen it before, but I'm always struck by the story of redemption and how it only took one person to show val Jean that he was more than just a former prisoner. It just gets to me, so of course I cried.

After the show we got dinner at one of my favorite restaurants and took it to go (what we usually do). Then when we got home I opened the door to this:

As my brain was trying to make this fit into my reality, I was surprised by friends popping out from behind the kitchen counter! M and C had planned a surprise party for me and I was totally oblivious to the whole thing! It was a fun night, with just a few friends, which is exactly what I like.

Then on my birthday, I got to wear a new dress I had bought precisely for my birthday (because I felt I deserved it :) ).

I love the fifties style! After church I went to the parentals and had a little nap, then dinner, presents, and cheesecake! My birthday was extended even further on Tuesday when General Minion and Minion S took me out to lunch to Kneader's.

Then Thursday was Comic-Con! I was excited and nervous for my very first con. I went with my coworker and fellow whovian, K. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun! Just being around all these geeks, and feeling a connection to hundreds of people you don't know is awesome! Highlights: I made friends while waiting in line for a panel; I met Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion (oh, so handsome); and seeing all the creative costumes people come up with. Here a just a few pictures:

My day one cosplay! I got a lot of compliments, and a few people even asked if they could take my photo!

My new friends!

Ioan Gruffudd. He's so charming. 

James Marsters. I just couldn't get a really good picture of him. 

Day 2 cosplay--Nerdherder!

Karl Urban. He drove right past us! 

Getting Adam Baldwin's autograph. He was so nice!

Awesome Christoff and Elsa--I love her attitude.

The oh so ruggedly handsome Nathan Fillion. 

The cute and fun Karen Gillan.

Adam Baldwin during his panel.

Me and R2-D2! He even made squeely noises.

Definitely can't wait to go to another con! I was exhausted every night, but it was so much fun!

That's about it for now--hopefully I'll have some news on the job front in the near-ish future!

Sunday Special: Faith Needs Action

There has been something on my mind a lot lately and that's that faith takes action. It came up in Sunday School, I think when we were talking about Isaac and Rebekah, in Genesis 24. When the servant was sent to find Isaac a wife, the Lord told the servant who to choose. When Rebekah is asked if she will go back to Canaan to marry a man she has never met: "And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go" (v. 58). That took so much faith for her, but it's the action that shows how much faith she actually has.

Even though I knew about the faith=action thing before, for the time of life that I'm in at the moment it really struck me hard. So in my own personal scripture study I started noticing all the times that someone acted on their faith and what that means. 

I was IMing with my Mom about applying for jobs and why I had been so hesitant to do so. I didn't want to be rejected anymore, but really I needed to get over that and just start applying, because if I didn't I never would get a job. I can say all I want "God has a plan for me" but with out me actively searching, that plan will never come to pass. And that's what I was reading in my scripture study, that the people I was reading about were acting instead of just waiting for the Lord to provide, but they were keeping the Lord in on their plans. 

It's hard. I like having roots and just staying where I am, but that isn't possible. Some times it's better to move on, some times it is forced on you, but if you keep your faith and move forward, things will work out. Even if you are unsure how. 

Just one last thought. My mom told me this a couple of years ago and it's another thing that I have had to remember the past year: Once you make a decision, you never look back. In another part in Genesis, Lot and his wife are told to leave Sodom, and not to look back. "And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for they life; look not behind them . . . lest thou be consumed . . . But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19: 17, 26). This was a very physical consuming, but I think that it's a good metaphor for this decision making. If you keep thinking "what if" and "if I had" then you will be consumed by something you can't change. So focus on the "now" and the future. 

Sorry if that seemed kind of all over the place, but my thoughts have been making a circuitous route in my brain for a while. Mostly, act on your faith and don't look back. 

March Book of the Month

I realized on my way home that I haven't posted my recommended book that I read during the month of March! How dare I post it one day late?! I've been busy applying for jobs and getting ready for comic con (yes! My first con! So excited.) that it completely slipped my mind.

Anyway, here's my suggestion for the month: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. For a full review of this book, you can go to my new book review blog here. Here's what I'm going to say about it. It's beautiful, it's heart wrenching, it's unique, it's thought provoking, it's spunky, and it's amazing. Wein introduces characters and a setting that I never even thought about existing, creating a wonderful piece of WWII fiction that, for me, is right up there with Markus Zusack's The Book Thief. I felt attached to Verity almost immediately, and the twists and turns in her story were perfectly paced and completely intriguing.

Pesto Pizza

One good thing about only working three days a week is that I get to try out more time intensive recipes. Today I made Pesto Pizzas, and even made the dough! I know. The best part is when M got home she said that she could smell the pizzas all the way outside. This is a big deal, because we always smell other people's cooking outside and it always smells amazing and makes us jealous--I like to think I made a few people jealous.

For the dough I used a recipe from Lauren's Latest. It doesn't take that long to make, and then you need to let it rise for about 2 hours. It yields enough for 2 pizzas.

Then I put pesto on (from a jar--I think it was Classico brand), spinach, mozzarella, red onion, and a sprinkle of shredded parmesan. Presto Pesto!

The last time I made pizza, it definitely wasn't round. I think I'm almost more proud at the roundness of the pizza than anything else.

New Blog!

Hey everyone! I've decided to try something new and that is book reviewing! I've created a new blog called Whitney's Nook, where I will give honest reviews to new and older books, hopefully with a post a week.

I'll still be posting a monthly book recommendation on this blog every month, and will keep updating with little things about my life, etc., but if you want more reviews (positive and negative) then please feel free to head on over to Whitney's Nook and follow me there. You can also like Whitney's Nook on Facebook at www.facebook.com/whitneynook.


Thanks!

February Book of the Month

Hello people of the interwebs! While I've been trying to figure out which direction I want my life to take (I'm calling this time in my life my "quarter-life crisis"--that's when you are trying to figure out how you're going to make it to your mid-life crisis), I have definitely still been making some time to read, though not as much as I usually do this month. I don't know if I should blame it on the short month, or all of the bad things that have happened this month, but whatever the reason, I have very few books to choose from. Fortunately, February is finally over!

I've been going back and forth on which book(s) to recommend. I've read mostly "lite-lit" this month, and there was a trilogy of books. But, since I recommended a trilogy last month, I think I'm going to go with Heist Society by Ally Carter.

Heist Society is a YA novel that would be great for people who love Ocean's Eleven, The Italian Job, and similar types of stories. The main character, Kat, is a girl who comes from one of the biggest art crime families in the world. Trying to have a "normal" life, she started on her biggest con of all--boarding school. But just a few months in she is kicked out and reluctantly joins her friends in order to clear her father's name, which involved stealing four paintings from a the most secure museum in London.

Not only is the writing fun and fast paced, but the characters are well developed and quirky. With the whole team being teenagers, it appeals to a middle school audience, especially as they outwit most of the adults in the novel. While some people may think that it's wrong to be rooting for art thieves and cons, I think that what Carter excels at is the "gray" area--yes Kat and her team steal things, but their reasoning is in the right place. Also, there is someone much worse than them in the story. People and situations are not ever simply good or bad, and Kat truly does want to be good, but she also can't deny her history and family. It's an interesting dynamic.

This is the beginning of a trilogy (hah, I basically recommended a trilogy anyway), but I think that this book stands well on its own.