Book Review, 2011

I read 25 books in 2011. 2 were re-reads.
5 were autobiographical.
4 were non-fiction.
16 were fiction.

Apparently I needed a lot of escape this year, because I was way heavier on fiction than I normally am. This was a good year for me as far as finding a lot of books I really enjoyed. Normally, when I look back over my list for the year, there are only 1 or 2 that really stand out and that I say, "Oh, yeah, I really loved that one." This year, there are at least a handful that I not only liked, but would read again.

Picking my favorite is tough, because in a year where I read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and The Help and was introduced to Anne Perry for the first time?? It's really difficult to decide.

I have to go with Encompassing Charity, however, because it completely broadened and expanded my understanding and now sits in a short stack of books that I refer to as my "life textbooks." There are a few books that have so overwhelmingly and profoundly taught me things that change who I am and how I feel about core principles, that I mark them to death with highlighters and scribble in the margins as I consider how what is written fits into and expands what I already know, and they become books that I go back to again and again. Encompassing Charity has become one of these books for me.

For my least favorite, I'll say Bossypants. It has gotten such buzz and I love Tina Fey, but I wasn't thrilled with it. There was a chapter or two that were really good, but a lot of it was dismissive and snarky--and not in a good way. I love snark and sarcasm when it's done well, I just didn't feel like this was.  It didn't help that I read 2 Nora Ephron books, one before Bossypants and one after, because Tina really suffers by comparison. Nora is a genius at the New York humor. I still love Tina, she's just no Nora Ephron.

So, what are you going to read this year?


On my "to read" list:

The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, the Harry Potter series

quote of the week...

"We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger." 


~Tad Williams

quote of the week...

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

--Elizabeth Stone


I am feeling this one a lot at the moment. I have a piece of my heart in Tomball, Texas...and now another piece in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. Not to mention bits and pieces scattered around town at middle and elementary schools during the day.

quote of the week...

"Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim, swim."


--Dory, Finding Nemo

quote of the week...

"It is our choices that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities."


--Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


My children have been after me for years to read these books...and I may, now that I have read this quote.

car conversations...

Marin: You are SO pretty, Momma. You are just beautiful....You should be a super model, because you are so pretty....You should! But you probably can't be a supermodel, Momma....because you are so busy...because you are a mom, and a young women's president, and you work. So...you probably can't be a supermodel.

Me: Yes, Marin. THAT is why I can't be a supermodel. Lack of time.

Quote of the week...

"A year from now you will wish you had started today."


---Karen Lamb

quote of the week...

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach."

--Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol 

quote of the week...

"Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment."


--H. Ross Perot

quote of the week...

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

--Joseph Campbell

Oh, dear.

I walk into the room after having been on the phone.
My 7 year old daughter sits up quickly and says brightly:

"Hello, Mother! We have been sitting here doing nothing wrong while you were on the phone."

My gut instinct? She is totally lying.

never say never...

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a animal lover. Through a series of events that I still don't completely believe happened, we now own this little guy, who we named Gatsby.

I am shocked that I actually adore him. It has been so fun to discover that while you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you can find a puppy that will teach you that you really can love animals...you just have to find the right one. Not to mention the fun the kids are having now that they have something they have wanted for years and years!

Anyway, the moral of the story is: never make a final decision about what you will and won't allow in our life when it's just based on preference or the current season you are in. You never know what may change or how YOU may change that causes you to have a place in your life for things you wouldn't have considered earlier.

quote of the week...

“The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.”


― Alan Bennett

quote of the week...

"Where we love is home. Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."



Our girl and her boy are coming home today. We will try to stretch the week out so it seems longer.

at the doctor's office...

Pediatrician: Okay, everything looks good! Today we need to give you 4 shots, though.

7 year old daughter: 4???

Pediatrician: yes, 4. I know it's a lot. Sorry.

....long pause...

7 year old daughter: I want you to knock me out for it.

just want to let it be known...

I love my life.

It is messy, loud, flawed, imperfect, frustrating, over-extended, bittersweet, and average.

It is also blissful, awe inspiring, tender, meaningful, soul stretching, hysterically funny, and filled with unspeakable joy.

And it is mine. And I am blessed. I see it, and I feel it. I am humbled by what it is now, and what it is becoming.

That is all.

quote of the week...

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

— Albert Einstein



I think I struggle with balance in my life more than anything. I am either going 100 miles an hour or at a dead stop. I am seeing the wisdom and peace that comes from just consistently moving. Both literally and figuratively.

quote of the week...

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”


― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I Choose Him.

Tonight was our evening to honor the young women for the good things that they do. This slideshow was my final project to earn my young womanhood recognition. The pictures were taken by me and 2 of our young women, and the song was our theme for the evening along with 2 Nephi 33:9.

It was a wonderful night. They are wonderful girls.

halloween...






from left to right:

Oliver the Trumpeter (search you tube to understand), Little Red Riding Hood,

Harry Potter, a fairy, and Ron Weasley.