A New Year

It's that time of year again. All the promises and vows to eat better and work out more, to be happier and complain less, to spend less time at work and more time at home, or to get out of debt. Everyone makes resolutions at the beginning of the year... We all want a fresh start come January and we just know we are actually going to do it this year!


Two years back, I decided to make a goal/challenge for the year (I have never liked the word resolutions) for myself... Of course, it ended up being book-related so it wasn't a fantastic goal - but still, it was fun. I did the same thing last year - though I was a few books shy of last year's goal - but I'm okay with that.

I know there are some of you out there that think making "resolutions" or goals for the New Year is stupid... But I'm really trying to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone this year... to not be so content with just being "blah"... I want to be more and do more. The Lord has brought to me a place in the last year where I am doing things I never thought I'd do... and I want to continue down that path.

That being said, this year I am branching out beyond just book goals/challenges... I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do... Of course I had to have some sort of book challenge (I just can't help it!)... But I wanted to do something MORE.

So, after thinking and praying about it, I now present my 2014 Goals/Challenges!!

• I want to do something new every month. It can be a new activity, trying a new food, or going somewhere new (if you know me, you know I don't like change or doing anything new - so this is going to be interesting!). 

• I want to be more aware of the sweet moments that happen in my life. So I'm starting to write them down (I have already been blessed with so many sweet moments in the last two weeks!).

• I want to read more classics. More specifically, I want to read all of Jane Austen's novels (I also want to read "The Jane Austen Book Club" and re-watch the movie)

So watch out! You may be seeing some new and interesting things coming from me this year. :)

Fifty Two Books. One Year.

Literature moves my soul in a way nothing else can. To say that I love to read barely scratches the surface of my obsession with books... I rarely have less than 15 books sitting in a pile waiting to be read. Even though I have a stack of unread books on my shelf, that does not stop me from heading down to Powell's Books to pick up new (and slightly worn) reads (which I will be doing today with my  lovely Emily thanks to a gift card from my cousin). There is a list of about 25 books that I reread each year. I have books stacked on top of pretty much every piece of furniture in my room at this moment and I tend to stash at least two or three books at my desk at work. Also, my best friend is also a book lover, which only fuels my obsession even more and spurs many a discussion about books whenever we are together. 

Okay, maybe I have a problem... :)

But it's my thing. For others it may be hiking, cooking, musical instruments, riding bikes, photography, cycling, or painting. I enjoy other things like baking, writing, and music...  but for me, books are my obsession.

So, at the end of 2011, when everyone else was making resolutions to save money, lose weight, be nicer to people, etc, my friend Mandy and I (being the book lovers we are) decided to make a resolution to start a book challenge for 2012. My goal was to read 52 new books - one book a week. No rereading allowed. I shared my idea with a couple of my other book-loving friends, and they also decided to join us in similar challenges. Emily's goal was to read only new books in 2012, and I am proud of her for finishing this goal (and extremely proud of her for finally reading and finishing "The Hobbit"! Check out her blog post here). Brenda flew past our goal and I believe finished 2012 with a list of almost 100 titles (she's my hero!). 

I am proud to say I also completed the challenge. I ended 2012 having read over 20,000 pages with a grand total of 54 new books. 

It was a great year of books. I didn't branch out to other genres as much as I would have liked (sticking mainly to YA, Fantasy/Science Fiction, and Fiction), but I am pleased with the books I chose. 

Instead of boring you with a long list of books on here, you can visit my GoodReads page to see the complete list and my ratings (should you ever need a book suggestion). But there are a few authors/books I want to highlight here...

Dan Brown

I read "The DaVinci Code" many years ago, but hadn't touched any of his other novels. Thanks to my friend Mandy, I was able to read all of his other books and LOVED them all. I think if I absolutely had to choose a favorite, it would be "Angels and Demons" followed closely by "Digital Fortress". 

Michael Crichton

I love the Jurassic Park movies. I didn't find out until recently that they were based on books! So I had to read them. I flew through "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" only to discover he had also written "Timeline" - which is another movie I like! So, I had to add that to the list. I enjoyed all three of the books and highly recommend them. I love all the detail in his books (his writing reminds me a lot of Dan Brown). In fact, I just added two more of his novels to my "to-read" stack on my nightstand this week and I have my eye on several more to be added soon. 

Rick Riordan

I read Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series a couple of years ago and loved it. I love Greek mythology and it was a lot of fun to read about the group of demigods led by Percy on several adventures, ending with saving the world. This year I tackled his "Heroes of Olympus" series, which starts not long after the end of the Percy Jackson series and includes both Greek and Roman mythology and a handful of new characters. I am anxiously waiting for the next book to come out sometime later this year. 

I also read his "Kane Chronicles" series (I wrote a short review for the first book here) which is about Carter and Sadie, descendants of two pharoahs from Ancient Egypt. This series has a lot of Egyptian mythology (another subject I am fascinated with!). I read all three books and LOVED them.

While his books are for kids, they are incredibly well written and entertaining. I know several adults who also enjoy these books and have been able to share them with both kids and adults this year. I just read a blog post by Riordan on this very subject on GoodReads. I would like to check out his "39 Clues" series this year. If you (or your child) are looking for a good series to read, I suggest checking out any of his books!!

Non-fiction

I am not a huge fan of non-fiction. I think it stems from the fact that I had to read several non-fiction books when I was younger that were incredibly boring, so it just turned me off of them. But there were two I read this year that I enjoyed immensely. 

"Choosing to SEE"

Mary Beth Chapman

A truly excellent book about the life of Mary Beth from her childhood to marrying Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman, from the birth of their children, to adopting their two daughters from China, and ends with  the months after the loss of her adopted daughter Maria after an accident involving one of her sons. One of my favorite books of the year. The desire to adopt a child has always been heavy on my heart, and this book solidified that desire even more. The Chapman family have started a great organization called Show Hope that helps families who want to adopt internationally. They opened an orphanage in China in honor of their daughter. It's an amazing book that will speak to your heart and bring tears to your eyes!

"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?"

Mindy Kaling

I am a huge fan of the show "The Office" and Mindy Kaling is hilarious as Kelly on that show. So, I saw her book and thought "Why not?". I'm so glad I picked it up. Mindy (after reading this book, I feel she would be okay with me using her first name) is a person I would really like to meet. She's honest, hilarious, and (mostly) happy to be who she is. This was a fun and easy read and gave a good insight into the making of Mindy. I highly recommend it. 

Started, but not finished.

There were three books that I started, but did not finish before the end of the year. Not because I didn't like them, but I just ran out of time.

"World War Z"

Max Brooks

I love all things zombie. Which is weird because no one else in my family enjoys things like that. I'm not a fan of horror movies at all (stemmed from an obsession with them in high school that may have resulted in me starting to "see" things in the shadows at night due to an over-active imagination and too many late nights full of horror flicks), but I enjoy anything about vampires, werewolves, many other supernatural/fairy tale creatures... and now zombies. This book chronicles a zombie outbreak through interviews with many people throughout the timeline of the outbreak. It's fascinating - but a slow read (at least for me). I bought after my friend Emily and her husband read it and gave it a raving review. It's now going to be a movie and yes, I will probably still go see it (even if it has Brad Pitt in it. **gag**). If you like zombies, definitely check this book out. I will be finishing it up in the next couple of months. 

"11/22/63"

Stephen King

My first Stephen King novel! I was super excited to add this book to my 52 book challenge, but started it too late in the year. December was busy, and I just didn't have time to finish the 850 page book. On New Years Eve, I sat on my couch and read all the way up to midnight trying to finish it before the end of the 2012. I still had 250 pages left when the clock struck twelve. It's a great book layered with American history and time travel. I have about 150 pages left, and I can't wait to see how it ends. 

"P.S. I Love You"

Cecelia Ahern

I love the movie that is based on this book. I started the book earlier this year... but had a hard time getting into it and was easily distracted by the many other books I had waiting for me. So I put it down, and regretfully, never picked it up again. It's back on my list of "to-read" for 2013 though, because I know it will be a great book. :) 

 The Lonely Books of 2012

There were so many books I didn't get to this year, and I am a bit disappointed. Here are a few that I hope to get to in 2013:

• "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• "The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone" by Sophocles
• "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum
• "House Rules", "Salem Falls", "The Pact", and "Handle With Care" by Jodi Piccoult
• "Wildwood" and "Under Wildwood" by Colin Meloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis

~~~

I am going to end this very long blog post with a quote my friend Paul wrote in the book he gave me for Christmas (which might have made me tear up a little bit when I read it)...

My evil plan.

A couple months ago I devised an evil plan... Okay, it's not really evil. Nothing about world domination or starting an apocalypse or anything. There is a candy shop that opened a few months ago in downtown Gresham called "iCandy". It's super cute. They make fresh pop corn (regular, cheese, and caramel) every day and they have a lot of retro-ish candy. After visiting the shop a couple of times, I had a thought: I wonder if I could talk them into selling my cupcakes there someday? 

One problem with my thought: there is already a cupcake shop in downtown Gresham (Bella Cupcake). It went in about 2 years ago, and they seem to be doing pretty good. I didn't actually go in and taste their cupcakes until last summer (I had to check the competition!). They were good, but they had that "mass production" type of cupcake taste them, and not to sound boastful, but my cupcakes definitely have that "yummy, home-made" taste to them; thus, mine are better. ;) 

So, I devised my (non-evil) plan. I would go in every Saturday - buy a couple of chocolates and a bag of popcorn - become familiar and get to know the owners (it's a family who runs it) in hopes that maybe I can approach them about the cupcake idea. I haven't seen Bella Cupcakes interact with iCandy at all (no sharing of business cards or anything), so I think I have a good chance of making a contact with these owners. 

I've been doing this for about eight weeks now. Every time I go in I mention that it's my "Saturday tradition" to get popcorn from their shop... and they always thank me for supporting them and for remembering my "punch card" so I can get a free bag of popcorn when I fill it up (apparently people keep forgetting to bring theirs in)!

Today I went in for my usual caramel marshmallow bar and my bag of caramel corn after wandering through our Farmer's Market. While one of the gals who works there was ringing me up, one of the owners looks up and says "Hey! You came in for your popcorn! You come in every week AND remember your punch card!". 

It's a such small thing - but it made me smile. I am a big supporter of local business - I love shopping at our local Farmer's Market and buying from the local farmers. I love to walk downtown Gresham and go into all the little shops. I prefer to buy my TOMS from "The Glass Butterfly" instead of Nordstrom in the mall. Not only am I supporting this local business, but this has the potential to become a possible business venture someday where they can also support MY local business! 

We'll see what the Lord does with this. :) 

Broken.

I'm surrounded by brokenness.

Broken friendships I just can't figure out how to mend. Was it all my fault? I try and try, so hard, to find a way to piece things back together... but I just can't figure it out. Sometimes I think maybe it's better off broken. Maybe, I'll just leave the pieces on the floor, push them under the table, and just move on. But those are pieces of my heart....and it hurts. And all I want to do is pick up the phone and talk... but I can't... and I don't know how to fix that. 

A broken mind.... I can barely control. I look at someone and wish I could rip into them, that the thoughts that roll through my head would somehow escape through a scream, and that release would relieve the pressure that I am constantly fighting.

Broken words... that I can't seem to string together to communicate any coherent thought. I have always relied on words to reveal my heart, and now I can't seem to do anything with them.

A broken heart.... Infected with anger, bitterness, and sadness. I feel dead inside.

A broken life... lost and spinning out of control.

I'm broken... I am desperate... I need the Lord so badly to come in and clear everything out. To overthrow the tables in my heart, the things that are holding me back, the things that are infecting my very soul. 

I need Him.

"O my God, I cry by day, 
but you do not answer, 

And by night, but I find no rest.  

Yet YOU are holy...

...Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up...  

...But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 

Deliver my soul from the sword..." 
(Psalm 22)

Come and dig me up
Reach down to the roots
Rip the deadness out
And plant something new.
(Ghost Ship)

Wordless Wednesday: California Coast

Wordless Wednesday: Apples

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Wordless Wednesday: Playful

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