Labor Day Weekend

So I've been kind of a slacker blogger lately! With school starting and then this stupid cold, 

I haven't felt much motivation to do anything!! 

Last weekend I went up to visit my parents; I was homesick for my mom and Jordyn! She's my best little bud. As soon as I got up to Mapleton on Friday, it was time to go to the football game. Ammon and his fellow Eagles crushed Payson, but I sure wasn't counting on the cold and the wind! Good thing Mom was prepared enough for both of us! 

Saturday Dad wanted to see a movie, so we went to the discount theater and saw Madagascar 3. Meh.

It was okay, but nothing special. Definitely a series movie & a discount theater see. Jordyn really liked it though, so I guess that's what counts! We spent most of the rest of the day watching Ammon's favorite show, Pretty Little Liars (yes, my brothers love gossipy girl shows. It's okay. We all do), and hanging out. Jordyn loves sister time!

Jordyn had also been wanting to watch Newsies, so we started watching that on Sunday evening. She didn't quite have the attention span to watch it straight through, and we didn't finish it, but she loved "I'm the King of New York." 

Monday was more family time. We ate at Pizza Pie *yum!* and did some pretend shopping. Then I headed back to Cedar before it got dark. We had a great little weekend visit!

Distant Waves

Well, folks, now that I'm caught up on blogging about my life, I think I'll start blogging about books again :) 

Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn tells the story of a young girl named Jane as she comes to age in a world of mysticism, Tesla, and the Titanic. Jane's mother, a medium, is down-on-her-luck, and after a strange encounter with Tesla, she moves her family to the town of Spirit Vale, which is fully of mediums. Jane's mother and twin sisters are quite sold on the idea of mysticism, but Jane isn't quite convinced. 

Jane and her older sister are working hard to make it on their own, outside of Spirit Vale.  Jane encounters Telsa again, she even has a little crush on his assistant, and makes Tesla the subject of her article for a journalism contest. 

Thanks to mysticism, Jane and her family end up on England, and then the Titanic. Disaster, obviously, ensues, and Tesla may be involved!

I found Distant Waves  to be an interesting YA Historical Fiction read, though it was a little more speculation than actual history when you come right down to it. It was a cute book, nothing amazing, but I liked it well enough. Plus, Tesla's pretty awesome!

Girl Time!

This past week my mom and sisters came down to visit, and this is the only picture I got!

Ammon had football camp down here at SUU, and my mom, being the good chauffeur that she is, drove Am & his friends down to Cedar. Jenn and Jordyn came along for the ride so we could have a little girls vacation! 


They got down here Sunday night. Jordyn was super hyper after the car drive and all she wanted to do was run around! Jord  slept on our couch that night, probably so she could have poptarts for breakfast :) 


Monday morning Jord and I headed over to the hotel & we played in the pool with Jenn.  Mom just hid in the shade. After Cass got off work, we all went to the theater to see Brave. It was a cute movie. Not what I was expecting from the commercials, but I liked it.  Jordyn, of course, LOVED it! After dinner we went back to the hotel to play in the pool again. We practically had to force Jord out of the pool when we got cold! 


Tuesday we went down to St George to do some shopping. Mom got some really good deals on clothes for Jord and some non-gender specific baby clothes. Gap was 40% off on top of them already being marked down, so I was able to get Cass some jeans without holes in them! Yay!


Wednesday we went to Park Discovery so Jordyn could play and then headed back to the pool that afternoon. Jordyn even got brave and quit requiring her floaty! After dinner we had a little nail painting party & then Mom made funnel cakes. Delicious! 

It was great to have some girl time & I loved having my mom and sisters down to visit! We had a great time! 

Flashback Friday: The Pulse

One time, we met Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, and some other cool dancy-dudes.

And took dance classes from them.

It was November of 2007 at The Pulse Dance Convention.

And it was totally awesome. 

Nefertiti

 

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

We have all heard of Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt.  Moran tells her story from the unique perspective of her younger half-sister, Mutny. Nefertiti married Pharaoh Akhenaten, and together they appeared to be quite heretic due to Akhenaten's choice to worship the sun, Aten, as the only Egyptian God. 

They story starts as Akhenaten is still Amenhotep, after the Sun God Amen and his father, and his older brother, and heir, is still alive. It is implied that Amenhotep/Akhenaten kills his sick brother to hasten his own path to the throne. 

Nefertiti and Mutny are still at their parents' home, and the story shows the path of Nefertiti to marry Akhenaten and for her to become Chief Wife and Queen over Akhenaten's first wife. This is important because Nefertiti's father and Akehnaten's mother want Nefertiti to reign in Akhenaten's heretic ways, which is imperative to the storyline, as well as the happiness and support of the Egyptians to Akhenaten. 

Mutny, our narrator, as the younger sister, is thrown into Nefertiti's life as a constant support. Nefertiti walks all over her and demands her presence, to the point where Mutny has no life of her own. 

I strongly recommend this book. I really enjoyed it. Moran explained the importance of the Gods in Egyptian life, as well as the relevance of the change from Amen to Aten. The relationship between the sisters is very real, and the writing is great. I feel like I really got to know Mutny while learning a little bit about Egyptian history. Moran's Nefertiti should definitely go on your list.

[Aside: Nefertiti reminds me a lot of Anne Boleyn. And now that I say that, Akhenaten and

Henry VIII do have quite a few similarities themselves!]