Crossed

Last weekend, Cass and I read Ally Condie's Crossed, a sequel to Matched, and my worst fears came true. . . Ally Condie is a Stephanie Meyers. Okay, that was rude. She's not that bad. But my fears of Crossed turning into more of a Twilight than a Hunger Games came true for sure.


Problems:
1. The novel lacks voice -- esp because I read this in-between/at the same time as The Help and Sing You Home [reviews coming soon!] which were also told from different perspectives and done much better.


2. Condie says "says" too much. I know she doesn't want to be all "he exclaimed" & "she gasped" all over the page-- but just cut it out. Just dialogue it. "Blah." Enter. Indent. "Talk-ity-talk." Enter. Indent. Carry on. In all fairness, I may have noticed this one more because I was reading it aloud to Cass. I didn't notice it as much while reading silently. 


3. I'm not sure any of my questions were even answered, other than Ky's back-story. But I guess that's why there is a third book . . .


4. I still do not like Ky. He still just creeps me out.


Overall, meh. I'll still read the third when it comes out, but it's just not my type of book. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about guilty pleasure teen books. This one just isn't for me. I think I'll go read The Giver now. 

Vegas & Ka

Yup. Saw this. Ah-may-zing.

Cass and I went down to Vegas this weekend to spend a few days with Cass's dad, who had been there for a work conference. We got down late Friday night and spent some time driving up and down the strip . . . mostly because we were lost . . .   Saturday we went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch with Morrell's Aunt LaDawn, Uncle BN, and some cousins. We hung out and watched a football game, which ever one it was that the 49's won. Which was pretty exciting at the end, actually! Then we headed back over to the strip to see Cirque Du Soleil's Ka at the MGM Grand. 

It was fantastic. I have wanted to see a Cirque show for years and regret not having gone to a show in Orlando when I could have gotten a Disney Discount, so I was so excited to finally go to a Cirque show. It was fantastic! The upper-body strength of some of the performers . . . wow. This little teeny girl holding up a man. Intense, ya'll. And the man jumping rope on on the circle thing . . . It was great. The only thing I didn't like was the baton twirling part - I thought it was a little lame. But overall, it was fantastic! I loved it! 

Errors that Irk

Ya'll know how I'm a hater? 

Well, these are some of the errors that irk me!

~When people use apart when they mean a part.

Example: "I'm so glad you're apart of my life."

 [you're/your is also a problem, but eh]

~Over-correction of I instead of me.

Turns out that's not a picture of I with my friends.

~"Circus Ole"

Ya'll have hear it,

c'mon folks,

it's CIRQUE DE SOLEIL.

F'real.

~Possessive apostrophes used when the noun is merely plural.

I've seen this, in a classroom--

"Good reader's: predict, infer . . ."

~When of is used instead of have. 

I know it's a problem. We all say could've, would've, should've,

I've even been caught with couldn't've. I know that's bad. But this is worse.

"We could of had it all."

NO! Never! Please! Stop!

~And my last irking error, for today, is not really an error, 

but truly a problem nonetheless. 

It's this whole "good v well" problem.

If you answer that you're well when someone has already said they're good-

you sound stuck up.

And sometimes it just gets confusing when to say it. But still.

You're good at something.

But you're feeling well.

Which really gets into the bad/poorly problem. . . 

Well, folks. Thanks for stickin with me through today's rant.

And, yes, "stickin" was on purpose.

Sometimes I'm a hick.

But really, I hope I didn't make any errors in this post!

That would be embarrassing.

The Zookeeper's Wife

One of my dearest friends recommended this book for me after she loved it. It's a war story, surrounding WWII, dealing with the German invasion of Poland and the ghettoization, concentration, and killing of the Jews.  Zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski struggle to raise their family and save their zoo, all while hosting an array of Jewish "visitors" on the zoo grounds. It's an interesting story, and clearly heroic, but I honestly found the writing a little dry. There was a lot of (to me) unnecessary background information. It felt more like a senior thesis than a book. However, it is non-fiction, which is usually on the drier side. I just was expecting it to be a little more exciting. Sometimes I think maybe I have this problem where I want all books to be fiction? But I do enjoy autobiographies. So I'm just not sure. Maybe I'm the problem? Either way, this was a good book, just not exactly a thriller. I give it a half-hearted recommendation. Read on!

Circus Galacticus

To be quite honest, I picked up Circus Galacticus by Deva Fagan because of the cover. It was on the new book display and it caught my eye. It's kind of a cute book and has a pretty good premise, but not super well thought out or creative, nor was it very well written. I felt like I was being told the story by a super hyper gossipy teenager. It was your basic where-do-I-belong teenage story. In space. Can't say I loved it.

Hawkes Harbor

As ya'll know, I loved The Outsiders and enjoyed That Was Then, This Is Now, so when I saw Hawkes Harbor, in the ADULT section of the library, I figured I'd give it a go. After all, it's Hinton.

Unfortunately, she wrote better as a sixteen year old than as an adult. Hawkes Harbor had an interesting concept, a unique take on vampires, but in trying to be mysterious she comes off as vague and the story seems lacking. And to be quite honest, if the flap had said anything about vampires, I probably would have put the book back on the shelf. I'm not entirely sure it was worth the read.

Why should I care more than you do?

My jobs are different, but they're very much the same. In both of my jobs, it is my responsibility to help my students to do better. At school, I help them with their work. And at dance, well, I help them to be better dancers. But I can only help them as much as they let me. They can have goals, but if they don't let me help them, they won't achieve their goals. If they don't accept my help, accept that I have been there, that I do, in fact, know what I am talking about, they won't make it. They can't do it alone. No one can. And I am learning, maybe the hard way, that I can't put in more effort than they do. They have to care, too. Sometimes, I think I care more than they do. And I really just can't do that anymore. Because then it hurts to much when they turn on me, make me the bad guy-- when they can't see that I am only looking out for them. I want my students, all of them, to do better. But some of them don't want that for themselves. Or, rather, they don't want to put in the work necessary. And then I just can't help them anymore.

The Paris Wife

I've never been much of a Hemingway fan, though as a self-proclaimed vivid reader, I desire to be well versed and am familiar with his text. That being said, I was excited to read Paula McLain's The Paris Wife, the story of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley. I'm not so interested in the works of the "Lost Generation" -- but their lives have proven to be interesting, and I do need to give their works another go.

Ernest and Hadley were newly married on their Paris arrival, and he was not yet the literary genius many now consider him to be. It was interesting to read of The Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach's bookstore and a gathering place for many of the "Lost Generation." We get to meet the Fitzgeralds, Zelda and F Scott; Gertrude Stein and her lover Alice; Ezra Pound and Dorothy Shakespear. Joyce is talked about but not present. Throughout the novel we see Hemingway's writing process and the journey to The Sun Also Rises, as well as see the connections from the writing to real life. Sadly, Hadley is not a character in The Sun Also Rises, and that is when the descent of their marriage occurs.
 
The Paris Wife is a love story, yes, but it is also a desperate story, a story about a writer, a story about ghosts that haunt, a story of how a couple can seem so solid, how a woman can still love a man, and their marriage cannot last. It is a love story and perhaps a tragedy. Hadley always loved Ernest, at least cared for him; he held a special place in her heart. But not so for he. 

I really liked this reading, it was thick in content, but enjoyable. It made me want to write more. It made me want to read about Zelda and Fitz (for it seems that he was Gatsby). And isn't that what good books do? Make you want to read more? Make you want to live your life just a little different? 

I have not really been exposed to the "Lost Generation" before, other than in school, and it was really neat to read about their lives and how their work was so intertwined with their very being. I can't say that I loved this book, but I highly recommend it.

Hong Kong Here We Come!

It's a posh, posh traveling life for us! In May, Cass and I will be going on a lovely journey to Hong Kong! He's so excited to go back and I'm so excited to see it for the first time! We are so lucky to have this opportunity; it may be our only chance to get over there!

Flashback Friday: Mazatlan

 

 December 2007: Dad, Jord, Jenn, Ma, me, Am, Michael, Matthew

This picture is of us horseback riding on the beach in Mazatlan.

We went on a Mexican Riviera Cruise with our extended family.

We had a great time & I can't wait to go again! I love my family!

 

My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business

I have a great big chimney sweeping, car flying, singing and dancing crush 

on one Mr Dick van Dyke.

Let's be real- Who doesn't? 

He's amazingly talented, even in his post-retirement age days.

He wrote this book about himself, and I absolutely adore it.

And him.

Oh Dick, I swoon.

He's quite an amazing man, in addition to the song-and-dance man

we all know and love.

His life has truly been lucky; he is so lucky.

He married his high school sweetheart and stayed with her almost 

entirely through thick and thin. She gave him four children. She stayed with him during the early, struggling years. And when they parted, he made sure she would want for nothing.

The one thing I admire most about Dick?

He made a promise to never be in anything he couldn't watch with his children.

He didn't want to tarnish his name or his character.

And you know how we all like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but it's kind of missing that Disney Magic? That little spark that just makes you sit in awe and wonder? 

Dick knows that too. He actually turned it down quite a few times before he agreed to it.

I just love this man. 

All I want is one last Dick-and-Julie song-and-dance classic.

Dick? Julie? Robert Iger? Can you help a sister out?

I think Walt would approve!!!

So anyway, if you love Dick as I do, read this book. Watch Mary Poppins.

.: magic :.

Uprising

I'd had a faint interest in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, but [as you can probably guess] I initially was interested in Uprising because it's by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Told from the view points of three young girls- Yetta, Bella, and Jane- we also see how the factory conditions, the strike, and the fire, affected all those in the building. 

This book was the perfect storm for my cravings. Historical Fiction. MPH. YA novel. It was fascinating, and factual in events. The characters were relate-able. They were very real, very much the people I would picture working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. And, as a side note, it showed how far women have come in the last century, as well as workers conditions. I highly recommend it. 

And for those of you who are wondering- Triangle is the name of the company, although a shirtwaist does form you, relatively, into a triangle. And a shirtwaist looks like this: 

New Year's Resolutions

[oops, almost typed revolutions]

I'm not generally a New-Year's-Resolutions-Type

Probably because I never follow through on any of my goal

I kind of lack self motivation

Cass, on the other hand, is the resolution type

or maybe it's just cuz we're married now

& he thinks we should make some goals together

So we did!

1. Live A Healthier Lifestyle

we are super unhealthy.

So now we're trying to be more healthy.

Walks together

Less fatty food, more chicken and fish

And less eating out

also, we're going to try waking up at a reasonable hour

{it's really hard when your job doesn't start til 10:45}

 2. More Spiritual Lifestyle

we try hard, but our spirituality is often pushed aside

mostly because we're lazy

I'd say busy, but lazy is really the case

3. Do not get arrested 

     I stole this from a friend who includes goals they're sure to fulfill. 

I figured I'd like to at least accomplish one goal :)

So this year, we resolve to these

-No Drug trafficking

-No money laundering

-No public urination or other sex offenses

-No importing of illegal goods or bads

I thought maybe I should have some goals for myself, too

In accordance with a Healthier Lifestyle-

I want to dance more with my dance classes

Mostly this means stretching and conditioning

Hello sit ups, butt ups, and more!

My other goal is in regard to my Books-

I have a bunch of friends with goals about reading books

That's not really a problem for me (if you hadn't noticed)

but I would like to work on [a] reading the books I have

aka not buying new ones

[b]  reading books on my own level.

ya'll know I love YA books

So those are my goals for the new year. 

Wish me luck!

Wrapping Up 2011

2011 was a big year for me with lots of changes! [although nothing too exciting tonight, hence this post] Here's the recap:

• Cass and I rang in the New Year together, finally becoming official.
• In April Cass proposed
• Later that month, I finished my last semester of school, but didn't get my degree due to some "technical difficulties" on behalf of me and my professors. Although I did just receive it in the mail :) 
•  We had originally planned for an August wedding, but Cass got the CC job and we moved it up. We were married on July 18, 2011
• We honeymooned  
• We made our first home
• I started teaching dance class
• We left Juniper and moved into our second apartment
• We had our first Thanksgiving
• We had our first Christmas
• And we moved into our third apartment!

It's been a crazy year full of many firsts, and while I can't say I've loved every minute of it, it's been a great year! Thanks 2011!

Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

Our first married Christmas was full of family, friends, competitive games of Catch Phrase, Ice Skating, catching up with old friends, and a great time! [warning: long post!]
 

Our tiny tree & Disney ornament that was too big for it!

Because we would be traveling all over for Christmas, we had ours the night before we left town. I got Cass some tools and a GRE prep book; he got me a subscription to a writer's journal. 

Our first weekend of vacation landed us in Flowell, UT for the Swallow Family Christmas Party. Cass had to work that morning, so we left a little bit late, but we made it in time to eat a little before the basketball games. Some of the cousins play for Millard, so we watched them play. Varsity even won their first game of the season! That night we had a little visit from Santa and handed out presents. We ended up staying up playing with cousins til almost two in the morning! Church was the next day and there was a great speaker. We hung out the rest of the afternoon, until Cass headed south with two St George cousins (he had to work Monday and Tuesday) and I headed north with Grandma Carma.

Cass & Dylan playing at the Swallow Party.

The kids had school Monday and Tuesday, so I just hung out with Mom and (sort of) helped her get ready for Christmas. Tuesday night was the big wrestling duals. Ammon wasn't feeling well, so he opted to wrestle JV at his weight rather than wrestle up for varsity. He won the match but it was clear he wasn't feeling well. Regardless, Ammon and the team won! Wahoo! 

Sisters!

Ammon wrestling!

Wednesday I had a Paparazzi Party. Not too many people showed up, but it was still nice. Veronica, an old dance friend, came by and it was great to see her. Dana and Natalie also came over and we got to visit, which was likewise lovely. Jenn also came by and we made sugar cookies with Jordyn and Matthew. We were going for non-messy, but that didn't really work! 

The kiddos decorating!

Jordyn made a Grandma Angel

 Thursday we helped Cass's friend move and spent the evening with Morrell and Dylan before they headed up to Seattle for football and Christmas. Friday we headed back to my mom's and had a late lunch with all my old high school buddies. It was great to see everyone, and their babies! 

The old group!

 Saturday was Christmas Eve, and it played out perfectly and according to tradition. Girls cooked during the day, then got all cute. Grandpa, Scott, and the cousins came over for dinner.

Jordyn jumped into our picture!

 

Jenn & Adam

Dad, Jordyn, Mom

Grandkids and Grandpa!

After they left, we got our new Christmas Jammies, read The Night Before Christmas, and headed to bed, where we were all too excited to sleep! 

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early. I told Jordyn she couldn't wake us up before six. And so promptly at six the door swung open. Santa came!! Dad handed out the presents (via Jord) and everyone was happy with what they got. I was especially  happy with my brand new ah-may-zhing pot and pans set. They're lovely!!! I also got two books, from Jenn, which I have wanted for a long time and am so excited to read! (after I finish my library books!) I also rock at picking out gifts -- Matt loved his books from Cass. 

After a cinnamon roll and chocolate milk breakfast and a rest, the lover and I readied ourselves for the day and headed northbound. We pitstopped at Spacious Acres to give Grandma and Grandpa McCoy their Christmas present, and ended up receiving cute towels and an ornament as well! 

We made it in time for church with Chris and Pyper, who was so excited to see us! She couldn't wait to see what Santa brought us, so we did that the minute we got back home. Pyper was so cute and excited. When we gave Chris her present, Pyper was all, "Do you need help unwrapping?" It was cute. Unfortunately, I got sick that afternoon and slept the rest of the day. 

Monday we went ice skating and it was a blast! Pyper even had fun!

Cass & Pyper

Chris

Cass, Pyper, me

 Tuesday we also rise bright and early, so we could make it to Cedar for Cass to pick up the on-call phone. I stayed awake the whole drive, so, needless to say, I was a little crazy, but we made it home safe and sound. We had a great vacation and loved to see everyone! Merry (late) Christmas!

If I had a twitter. . . aka #ihatemoving

• Woke up this morning, Hubby had unpacked the kitchen! Yay! 
• It sounds weird to call him hubby. 
• Moving is sooo  much easier when you don't have work/school. 
• Dirty colored walls and showers are hard to clean #ihatemoving
• Ahh! I broke the wall!! #ihatemoving
• Old apartment = clean and empty! Now to tackle the new. . .   

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We sure did & posts are coming soon! 

Mr Finnegan's Giving Chest

Friday was the last day of school before Christmas Break for the middle schoolers, so it was a pretty laid-back day. In one of the sixth grade classes they were listening to this book: Mr Finnegan's Giving Chest with Mr Finnegan based on Dick van Dyke, who also read the story. I loooove Dick van Dyke, and it was a great Christmas story! I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been at school I totally would have cried. It was super cute and true-meaning-of-Chirstmas-y! Read it!

Letter to Gavin DeGraw

Dearest Darlingest Gavin,
You know, I love your latest single: Not Over You. And you really do have a beautiful voice. But every single time I hear it, I get confused. At first I think you're singing that you can only see my beauty in your dreams because in real life I'm ugly. I'm only beautiful in your dreams. And that's kind of rude, ya know? And then, after a rather long pause, you continue to sing, saying "face, anymore." Because, it turns out, all you have is my picture and you're still not over me. It's just a really confusing pause and I really wonder who gave you the go-ahead for this song. Did that not come up between you and the music equivalent of an editor? Because it drives me crazy! 
Love, 
Jayme

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was definitely not the book I thought it would be. Rhoda Janzen is no Elna Baker or Chelsea Handler, which is what I was expecting. Everything I had heard, and even the cover and title, was misleading. It was not the tale of a sheltered Mennonite trying to navigate life with the gentiles. It was a tale of going home in your 40s after a bitter divorce. 
Really, it just hadn't been pitched well to me. I was expecting something different than I got, which led me to not really enjoy this book as much as I would have otherwise. I really hate it when something get so worked up you can't enjoy it in its own right. Case in point. Read on! (but read this before you read Elna or Chelsea! They're funnier.)

The Willoughbys

In a cute throwback to books I'm sure Lowry read as a child, The Willoughbys tells the story of four children who want to be orphans. And it turns out, their parents don't  like them very much either. It's really a cute little story; I enjoyed it and I think kids really would too! Read on!

I know it's cliche, but . . .

. . . sometimes my job is really rewarding! Teaching dance is, obviously, generally more rewarding than helping struggling students with their school work. But every once in a while, it just clicks and being an aide is pretty fulfilling. All week long I have been trying to motivate a young man, who we shall call Reginald, to take this test that's really hard for him. Reginald would rant about hating school, hating tests, hating just about everything, wanting to completely give up and drop out of school. It's also difficult because at CMS they have "Core" class for two periods in a row which covers all things "English" --reading, language arts, grammar, etc. I only go to one of those two classes, and the work usually overlaps from one class to the next. 
But Friday was Egypt day for the sixth graders, and all they were doing was playing Bingo. So I left and headed to Reggie's first English class period. All I did was sit down next to him. He wasn't really paying attention, of course, but I was able to get him to copy down some notes that he had neglected to take earlier. Right before their break they were assigned an essay which they would be working on for the next period. I asked Reggie to think of his topic. They could pick "My Worst" or "How to". He was back before the break was even over and had a great idea. We went into the back room and Reggie made some great progress with brainstorming. Then he changed his mind on his topic, but was verbalizing a lot of great ideas for it. We did a super quick outline and then he worked for the rest of the period. He got so much done and we didn't have to fight about it at all! I was so proud of him! He said he'd even work on it over the weekend, as they were assigned, so we'll see how he does!

Prince Across the Water

Also in the Stuart Series is Prince Across the Water. It takes place in Scotland, of course, and tells the tale of a young boy who sneaks off and joins their equivalent of an army to fight for the "Bonnie Prince Charlie" in order to restore his father, James Stuart III "The Old Pretender" to the joint English and Scottish throne. He had been replaced by his sister, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange. 

Unfortunately, I hadn't read anything about this throne/succession problem before, and Yolen didn't really explain it well enough for me. So heaven knows a (pre)teen would have no clue what the Scots were fighting for in the first place. Same as Queen's Own Fool, I enjoyed the book, albeit less than others, but would not recommend it to non-nerdy youth. And how many youth are historical fiction nerdy? So while it did make me want to read about the royal Stuart family and the Orange succession, I didn't really find Prince Across the Water to be a complete success. However, the story of the prince was background to the story of the young boy, so from that perspective, it was pretty good. So, mixed feelings. I don't regret reading it, but I'm not certain I would recommend it.

Queen's Own Fool

As ya'll know, I'm a fool for historical fiction, and I'm kind of on a YA FIC kick.

Also, I love Jane Yolen. 

The Devil's Arithmetic? My favorite Passover book.

Briar Rose? So creative! I love the mix of fairy tale with the Holocaust.

I used to read a lot of Holocaust novels.

Turns out, I've actually read this book before. I still enjoyed it though.

I wouldn't really recommend it to a kid who struggles with reading, but it's a great  book for a nerd like me. Mary Queen of Scots? She's a total powerhouse. I've read non-fiction about her! So yeah, Queen's Own Fool was great. Not my favorite Yolen, but still a good read!

Revolution is not a Dinner Party

Ya know, this was a pretty interesting read about Mao & the Chinese Revolution from the perspective of an upper-class young girl. Not the best book ever, but worth a quick read. Again, it's YA Fiction, so keep that in mind. But I liked it well enough. Read on, Revolutionaries!

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. 

Lost

Gregory Maguire writes weird books. I'm not sure why I continue to read them. Lost is no exception, which I unwittingly keep looking for. So yeah. Weird. A little too vague at parts. It's like he's trying to be deep, but he isn't. Or else I'm a bigger idiot than I thought. . . And that is all. Read on kiddos!

Cleopatra Confesses

The sixth graders at CMS have been doing an Egypt unit for the past few weeks, which inspired me to read about Egypt, ie: Cleopatra Confesses  by Carolyn Meyer. I've read about Cleopatra before, but not as the main character, and not in her youth. This starts with Cleopatra at age 11 and continues throughout her life. I'd rate this novel about in the middle. It was interesting and historical, but there were definitely some dry parts. For a young adult novel, I didn't find it quite interesting enough. I'm not sure teenagers would really enjoy it and might give up halfway through. So, eh, meh. If you're into Cleopatra, it might be worth a go. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Read on, stalkers!

Turnabout

My Margaret Peterson Haddix addiction must soon come to end, I fear, for there are only so many novels left! But Turnabout was definitely an enjoyable read with a nice sci-fi angle. Scientists approach the nearly-dead at a nursing home and ask them if they'd like to live forever, without quite expressing all the nitty-gritty details. Yet they take these elderly folks, fake their deaths, and give them an injection to reverse their aging. There is supposed to be a second injection, a "cure", to be injected when they want to stop un-aging. But everyone who takes it dies. 

I enjoyed this book as well. I stayed up one night reading it while Cass played a game on my iPod. We're super cool like that. But it's great! Read on!

Escape from Memory

I may have an addiction. Her name is Margaret Peterson Haddix. In this novel we meet a girl named Kira, who, at a sleepover, is hypnotized and regains some strange memories. Memories of a foreign language, a war, and strange women she called "Mama." Kira asks her mother about these memories, and her mom clams up. So what's Kira to do but snoop? All she finds is a key to a safety deposit box, which she couldn't access without her mom anyway. And then she comes home from school and her mom is missing. Unusual, but not suspicious. Until Kira sees the key to the car on the ground, with a note from her mom: "Take the car, go to Lynne's." But Kira doesn't. A strange women shows up at her house, claiming to be her Aunt Memory and saying her mother is a kidnapper and has also been kidnapped. Kira must go with this stranger to save her kidnapper/mother, as well as her home country from war. 

I really enjoyed Escape from Memory. It was a great mystery and had a nice ending. And it was nice and short; I read it while doing laundry. Read on!

Here We Go Again!

You know, I've been meaning to post about our new apartment and have just been to lazy to clean up to take pictures. And then I get this news: we're moving again. So I'm just going to forgo that post, if you don't mind. It's just another apartment, anyway. 

So what happened is this: Katie, one of the other CC's, the one over Cedar Hall, got a job/accepted to grad school at ASU. When she applied she was thinking Fall, but they offered her to start immediately, or, rather, January. So in January, Cassidy will be taking over for Katie. Which is great, because it solves the whole no-building/no-job dilemma that we were worried about happening, but I'm really not wanting to move again!

Better Late Than Never: My Thanksgiving Post

As soon as we got back to Cedar from our Thanksgiving trip, I got a lovely little cold which hasn't been terrible, but was enough to keep my from posting about, well, anything. But we did have a great Thanksgiving and were able to visit both sides of the family, so that was really nice. We drove up to my parents' house Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we sold my car, and then spent the day with my family. My sisters did some arts-n-crafts:

While Cass mostly did this:

Thursday we headed up to Cass's grandparents for an extended-family Thanksgiving dinner. There were about 40 people there, which was pretty different from my Thanksgivings of the past. I'm used to under 20, and half of them my siblings! 

Cass is the oldest cousin, so we spent most of our time playing in the backyard with the kiddos. I meant to get some pictures of the kids spinning Cass on the dizzy-swing but didn't get any done. My bad. Those kids sure have a lot of energy though! 

Friday we just chilled up at Cass's mom's, which was a nice little break. Saturday we headed back down to Salt Lake for McCoy family pictures. Turns out I'm still pictured-out from the wedding! After pictures we went back to the grandparents and Cass and I ended up back out in the backyard with the kids! That night we went out to dinner with Morrell and Grandma Carma and had some great Chinese food!

We spent Sunday back in Mapleton with my parents and siblings and I even got a nap in before we drove back to Cedar. 

It was a great vacation and I loved seeing everyone. I'm so grateful for the many blessings I have been afforded, especially my family!