Update

I don't really have much to talk about this week. Work is getting busier, what with the Christmas season. I've just about finished my Christmas shopping. YEAH! We've had our first big snowstorm of the year. That would be great if I could just sit and look at it. But when you have to drive to and from work in the snow, not so much fun! For those of you who check out my other blog, the one with book reviews, sorry that I haven't added anything new lately! I have a bunch of books that I want to talk about, but just haven't had the time to write reviews. I think that's just about the extent of the current excitement in my life!

Oh! One other thing. For those of you who have blogs of your own, a couple of my friends just started a new website with blog backgrounds. Right now most of them are winter scenes, and a lot of fun! In fact, they designed the background that I'm currently using. Everyone should check it out! The address is: www.intothebackground.blogspot.com

Anyways, hope everyone's having a great December so far!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This month, on Facebook, someone challanged me to post one thing each day this month that I was Thankful for. Just a way to be thankful all month, instead of just one day. So, seeing as today is Thanksgiving, I just thought that it'd be fun to post a few of the things that I've mentioned being thankful for. Some are serious; some just fun.

* I am thankful for my parents always being there for me no matter what.

* Today I am grateful for a brother that I can look up to. I am extremely proud of him!

* Today I am Thankful that K-Bull 93 played the CMA awards on their station last night! I left for work very frustrated that I didn't get to watch the awards, and found out that it was being broadcast on the radio! It just made my night!

* Today, I am thankful for the chance to spend a fun day with my mom. We went to the Family Christmas Gift Show, a yearly tradition. And then out to lunch!

* Today I am thankful that I get to work in my pajamas! On a morning like this, it's so much better to just stay comfy in my p.j.'s!

* Today I am thankful for the fact that I have two good jobs. I have been pretty frustrated with things lately, but I just have to keep reminding myself that it could be LOTS worse! I could be jobless! So I have that to be greatful for!


* Today I am thankful for my very cute puppy dog! She entertains me quite a bit throughout the day!

* Today I am thankful for Caffeine. I'm going to need it tonight!

* Today I am thankful for long, hot showers! Perfect way to warm up on a cold day!

* I am thanful that my grandma is finally letting us interview her for her life history. I am learning so many things that I never knew before!

* I am thankful for computers. I really don't know how I would get by without one!

* Long "Thankful" today so bear with me! Today I am thankful that I live in this amazing country. I am thankful to live in a country where it's all right (sometimes even encouraged) to have a differing opinion! I am thankful that I don't have to agree with everything that my government does. I am thankful for every man and woman who has ever fought for our country. I'm thankful for both those that have served in the past to make our country what it is today, and those who are currently fighting to continue to keep us free. I am also thankful for every friend and family member of every service man and woman. Sometimes I feel like the sacrifices made by those left at home are at least as great, if not greater, than the sacrifices made by those in our military.

I am thankful that I was able to grow up in a place and time that encouraged me to think for myself, make my own decisions. And I'm thankful for family and very good friends who stand by me, even when the decisions I've made aren't things that they would necessarily agree with. And I am thankful for all of the blessings that I've had in my life. There are too many to even begin to name.

And lastly, I am beyond thankful for my family, for their love and support. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they will always be there for me. Even when I've done things that I'm not proud of, I know that I can turn to them for help.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving and truly takes the time to think about all of the things that you are thankful for.

Friday the 13th

So, since there wont be another Friday the 13th until next August, I figured that I'd take a minute to mention the date! Traditionally, everyone always considers Friday the 13th to be an unlucky day. Some of the radio stations that I listen to even do whole segments of their shows for people to call in and say all of the bad things that have happened to them on Friday the 13th. But for me, I think the exact opposite is true! I LOVE Friday the 13th. I've always found it to be a lucky day for me. And even if nothing necessarily lucky happens, it's at least never a bad day. *Knock on Wood*

I don't know when it started, but ever since I was little I have always found 13 to be a lucky number for me. I've always loved that my lucky number is one that most people don't like. Even look at my email address, and my blog address: kas913. That is my initials and my two lucky numbers 9 and 13! So, I hope that this Friday the 13th, some of my luck will rub off on everyone else. Hope it's a fun one!

Hmmmm.....Sleep? or Read?

You would really think that after 27 years, I would have FINALLY learned my lesson! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER start reading a new book an hour before you need to go to sleep!!! Because if you do, instead of going to sleep in an hour, you continue to read, and read, and read. And then the next thing you know, you are looking at the clock and you have to be awake in 1 hour! I think that I would probably be shocked if I knew the exact number of nights that I didn't end up sleeping, all because I was too busy reading. I can think of MANY times even as a kid when on a weekend or summer night, I stayed up until 8am reading. Have I learned from all of those sleepless nights? Nope! Just yesterday, I was off at the Post Office, so it was a rare night when I could actually get a good amount of sleep. Considering that most days I survive on far too little sleep, you would think that I'd take advantage of this chance to catch up! Nope! I started reading a new book. 5 hours later, I finally forced myself to put the book down so that I could get at least a little bit of sleep. Will I never learn? It's a good thing that I've learned to function on very little sleep!

BTW, for those interested in knowing, the book was "The Summoning" by Kelley Armstrong. I'm a huge fan of her Otherworld series, and this book is the first book of her new Young Adult series. Look for a review of it on my other blog within the next few days!

Target Practice in Henefer

Traditionally, at about this time each year, my Uncle Mark and his sons would come into town. Then my dad, my brother, two of my uncles and a lot of my cousins (all boys) would go deer hunting up in Henefer. As all of the boys have gotten older, they tend to do their own thing now when it comes to hunting. And the older guys no longer care to stay in a camper all night out in the cold! This year, instead of hunting, they just decided to go target shooting for the day up in Henefer. And, for the first time ever, a couple of girls were alowed to tag along! Me and my cousin Kelsey. Once it finally stopped raining, we had a really fun time. We had a number of different types of targets, including shooting clay pigeons with the shotguns. I have to say that Kurt was probably the best shot, with Kyle a very close second! Hopefully we do this again soon. It was great!

Disneyland and the joys of flying standby!

So about a month ago, my family decided that we wanted to take a quick trip to California to see Disneyland all decorated for Halloween. Our family LOVES Disneyland! I couldn't even guess at how many times we've been. I think that my parents have been at least once a year since they were married. Or if they've missed a year, that's not too common. In fact, they've now been twice this year. Anyways, as Scott and I were growing up, we visited Disney most years as well. But I haven't been back for about 6 years. So this trip was long overdue! Since I work for JetBlue, we can fly standby down to California. Perfect! None of us really had a lot of time that we could take off of work, so we decided on a very fast trip. Down early Thursday morning, spend the day in Disneyland, fly back early Friday morning!

Ahhh...the joys of standby! For three weeks, the flights looked fantastic for us to get on. There were about 50 seats available on the flight, and only 6 people besides my family on the standby list. Plenty of room! 2 days before the flight, about 25 seats had sold on the plane, but that still left 25 and still only 11 people on the standby list! Perfect! Then comes the day before the flight! Every time I checked, things looked worse. More and more people we signing up for standby! By midnight there were over 40 people listed. I was just panicking! We can check in to the flight up to 4 hours before, and the order you get on board goes off of who checks in first. So I knew that it'd be a race to get checked in. Somehow, miracle of miracles, I got all 5 of us checked in fast enough that we could get on! But there is nothing more stressful than being up at 3:30 in the morning, fingers crossed that you can all get on a flight in 4 hours! I didn't want to let my family down by not being able to get us on!

The flight was great. Gotta love those TV's! So, we picked up the rental car, checked in to the hotel, walked to Disneyland, and then it was time for fun! There were pumpkins and Halloween decorations EVERYWHERE! It was so much fun to see!

Here's dad at the entrance to the park. If you look closely you can see that they made Giant pumpkin versions of some of the Characters above the entrance.

The Haunted House was one of the things that I was the most excited for! I love The Nightmare Before Christmas! It was great to see how they had completely changed all of the decorations both inside and out to go along with the movie!

Over in California Adventure, they had an entire area called "Candy Corn Acres". Everything was done with giant candy corns! They had windmills, corn stalks, flowers, and lots more! Candy Corns are one of Scott's favorite goodies, so I had to take a couple of pics of him and Kelli with the Candy Corns. Sorry, one of the pictures is a bit dark.

The rides were all great. I hadn't been on Pirates since they updated it with characters from the movies. And Scott got to go on the Matterhorn. He was pretty insistent that we needed to get on it asap, because it seems to always break down before we get a chance to go on it! We went on the Tower of Terror a couple of times. Even convinced dad to go on it the second time! The park wasn't too busy so we got to ride everything that we wanted to. I think that the longest wait we had was about a half hour. It was a really fun day!

Surprisingly, the best part of the day was probably the fireworks show! I have NEVER seen such a fantastic show! I really wish that I'd had a video camera with me! It was all Disney Villains. They had music and lights and images projected on a big screen. Even fireballs! Also, they lit up the castle with all of these different colored lights that somehow transformed it into looking like a haunted house! It was just such a fantastic quick trip! I think that we need to make a Halloween visit to Disneyland a new tradition!

Halloween at Disneyland

I am really excited! My family is heading out Thursday morning for a quick trip to Disneyland! I haven't been to Disneyland since the Jay Break-Up trip! And that time I was so stressed out that I couldn't even enjoy myself. So, I'm pretty excited. I've never seen Disney all decked out for Halloween, but the rest of my family has. And they say that it's great! Space Mountain and the Haunted House have all been changed for Halloween. The Haunted House is the Nightmare Before Christmas theme! Considering that I've been working for JetBlue for 18 months, it's about time that we finally made time to take a trip to Disneyland. I'll take lots of pictures and post them when we get back!

Book Reviews

So I decided to make a bit of a change to how I do my blog. I am part of an online book club, and I've had several people talk to me about a blog that is strictly book reviews. Well, I don't really want people that I only know online reading about my personal things in my regular blog, so I'm going to start a second blog that's reviews. I'm sure that I will still be talking about books quite a bit on here, but the second blog will only be about books! On that blog, I'm also going to open up the comments section so that anyone can comment, instead of only people that have the right accounts. So, for those of you looking for some good books to read, I hope that you check out my other blog! The link for it is up on the right hand column of the page. For the next few weeks, there will probably be a ton of new posts over there as I write reviews of a lot of my favorite books! I hope that you enjoy it!

3 Important Anniversaries

The next three days are all very important milestones for my family. All for very different reasons, and kinda fun that they are all together!

The 1st Important Day - Tomorrow, October 3rd, is my dad's Birthday! I'll refrain from teasing him about his age, because I'd hate to embarrass him! LOL! Instead, here's a little blast from the past pic of him. This was taken only a couple of years after my parents were married. I've always gotten a kick out of this picture, with his Mr. Tough Guy look. Plus on more than one occasion, I've seen my brother looking the exact same way! Just thought that it was kinda fun!



The 2nd Important Day - The next important day has always been called My Special Day. On October 4th, 1982, when I was 6 months old, I was sealed to my family in the Jordan River Temple. As most of you know, I am adopted. My mom and dad got me when I was 6 days old (on April Fools Day, but that's a whole other story!). I'm not sure what the waiting time is now for adoptions to be finalized, but back then you had to wait 6 months. This first picture is of our family outside of the courtroom that morning. The judge had just declared the adoption finalized! Sorry about the smudge on the picture! Someone had their finger over camera, and this was WAY before digital cameras!



From what I've been told, we practically went straight to the temple after leaving the courtroom. I, of course, don't remember anything about it. But I think that Scott, who was 3 at the time, has a couple of brief memories of it. I'm not sure though, we haven't really talked about it in a number of years! Here's our family, dressed all in white, standing outside of the temple!



The 3rd Important Day - October 5th is Scott and Kelli-Rae's 7th Wedding Anniversary! Wow! 7 years! That still seems crazy to me. Seems like they just barely got married. I am still so happy for them. They are perfect for each other. Scott dated a lot of girls that I really liked before he met Kelli, but none of them really seemed to complete him. I never felt that he seemed completely himself around all of them. The first time that I saw him with Kelli-Rae, I just knew that they would be fantastic together. They are just like two peas in a pod! I still have to laugh at them every time that I see them together. They are just constantly laughing and teasing each other and goofing around. I love it! I think that Kelli-Rae is the best thing that ever happened to Scott. And the great thing is that he'd be the first person to whole heartedly agree with me! This is one of my favorite pictures with Scott and Kelli and my parents.



So, those are the 3 important dates that my family will be celebrating this weekend!

October

I really hate changing the backgrounds on my blog. I'm just not as creative as some people! And I'm not very good at matching up all of the different colors to make something look good. So I figured that I found a background and color layout that I really like, and I had no intention of ever changing it. But I had to change my mind when it came to October. I mean, I have to have a Halloween background! When it comes to decorating, I think that Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. Now hopefully once Halloween is over, I'll be able to get my background back the way that I like it!

On my online book club, someone mentioned the other day that October really should be my favorite month because of the kinds of books I tend to read! I guess that's true. I mean, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, Ghosts, Fairies, Immortal Hunters....hmmmm sounds like a Halloween costume party! lol! So, in honor of Halloween, throughout the month I'll try to share some of my favorite Halloween books, stories, poems, pictures, etc.

So to start things out, here's just a fun little poem:

Halloween Warning

On Halloween Evening, one night in the year,
When ancient graves open, all the ghosts then appear.
We flit through the shadows, we moan and we groan,
We pounce on the mortal, straying too far from home.
So Humans be wary, stay safely within
Lest a Halloween ghost scares you out of your skin!

FYI - The picture at the top of the post is the cover to a book called Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs. I love the covers of her books! They are all so great looking!

4 Years

Wow! Today I hit my 4 year anniversary at my job with the Post Office! That is huge for me! I tend to get jobs, have fun while I'm learning all of the new stuff, get bored doing the same thing every single day, and finally quit after about a year or so. In fact, the second longest that I have held a particular job was with Marriott. I quit 2 years to the day that I was hired. So, I've now officially doubled my old record!

I actually really love my job. There are a few things about it that bug me to death, like the fact that even after 4 years I'm still not considered a full time employee with benefits and everything. But other than that, I couldn't ask for a better place to work. I have a great manager. She's always willing to help me out when I need it and she's great at telling you when she a appreciates a job well done. The other managers that I interact with are really nice too. Plus, the best thing about my job, I basically get paid to read!!! I thought that I would get really bored doing data entry. I mean, all that I do all night is type! Nobody to talk to, no real challenge once you've figured it all out. But, I get to listen to headphones. So, I always listen to audio books! It's great! Basically, it's my dream job! Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that one of these days I can finally become a "career" and get benefits!

Proud to be an American

Today is an anniversary that none of us should every forget. It's a day that changed so many lives forever. I know that I will never forget what I was doing at that time or the feelings that I had later on. I was working for Marriott at the time as a reservations agent. I was on the phone with a lady when she said that they had just announced on the TV that there was a fire in one of the Towers. Well, Marriott had a hotel that was right in between the 2 Towers, and connected them each. So, immediately I pulled up the page where we would get updates on anything happening at any of our hotels. There wasn't anything. I thought that it was a bad thing and was worried about everyone being able to evacuate, but that was as far as my feelings went at that point. I had to work, so didn't really have time to wonder about why the tower was on fire. Then, while I was helping someone make a reservation, she started to kinda freak out. She just kept saying "No, No! It can't be!" Finally, she calmed down enough to tell me that she just watched on the TV as a second plane hit the other tower. I just froze! This obviously wasn't some random event! I got off of that call and quickly went to the break room so that I could watch the coverage on the TV in there. I remember how panicked I felt after the Pentagon was hit! What was going to get hit next? Were we a possible target since the Olympics were only about 5 months away? I ran to the phone and called my dad, who was working in the middle of downtown Salt Lake. I begged him to go home. I was just so scared that we might be next.

The next week was one of the most difficult weeks that I've been through. We started to get phone calls from friends and family members of the employees and guests that were at our hotel. It was the hardest thing telling someone that we had no information about if their loved one made it out or not! And there were several phone calls that I received with people canceling trips because of family members being killed. One of the hardest calls I received was canceling a group booking because of a wedding being called off. The groom, his brother, and his best man were all currently missing!

Since that day, I have never been prouder to be an American. I look at the sacrifice that our troops and their families make on a daily basis in order to keep us safe. It would be impossible to truly express the depth of my gratitude for them all. There is no sacrifice more honorable!

I don't want to go into a political speech, because I know that a lot of my friends have differing opinions than I do. But I just feel like so many people in our country have truly forgotten what that day meant. I think that many have truly forgotten exactly what it is that the men and women in our military are fighting for on a daily basis. I think that the lyrics to Darryl Worley's song, "Have You Forgotten" express my feelings completely. Here are just part of those lyrics:

I hear people saying we don't need this war
I say there's some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground?
We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down
They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start your preaching
Let me ask you this my friend.

Have you forgotten how it felt that day
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside
Going through a living hell
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

I've been there with the soldiers
Who've gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they're fighting for

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost
And those left to carry on
Don't you tell me not to worry about Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

My love and prayers go out to everyone that lost someone that they love on 9/11 and to all of the soldiers and their families that have fought to keep us safe and free!

Goals

Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep the goals that I set? Sometimes I just really get frustrated with myself! There are a few things in particular that I am working on in my life right now. And time after time, I set these goals for myself. And they are even pretty realistic goals, nothing crazy! But it's like I just keep sabotaging myself!

There will be a particular thing that I shouldn't do. And I know that in order to stick with my goals I shouldn't do it. I sit there and tell myself that I shouldn't. And yet, for some reason, I do it anyways! I start to rationalize it all in my mind, or just tell myself that this once wont hurt and I'll get back on track tomorrow. But then a few days later I'm telling myself the same thing again!!! I just never get anywhere with it all.

Honestly, I've never really been one of those people that ever sets a particular goal. I have never cared for New Year's Resolutions or anything like that. So, I really don't have any experience in making and keeping goals. But I know that things will really improve in my life if I can just reach these goals, so I know that in the long run it will be worth it! Anyone have any help you can give me?

Happy Birthday!

It's my mom's birthday today! Just wanted to wish her a happy one. I told her that she needs to just relax and take it easy all day! And then Scott and Kelli-Rae are coming by tonight and we are all going out to dinner. So that should be fun. Also, I want to wish my best friend Michelle a belated happy birthday. Her's was last week.

As a side note, it seems like my cousin has decided that she is going to get married today too. So congrats to her.

Dystopia

So I learned something new the other day and wanted to share it. And yes, I'm also going to talk about books! Anyone surprised by that? lol On the website for my online book club, you can track all of the books that you read. Rate the books, write reviews, read other peoples, and other things like that. Also, you can make as many categories, or bookshelves, that you want to sort out your books. In other words, like I have a bookshelf that is audio books. So, if you wanted to know every book that I've listened to on audio, you'd just click on that shelf.

Well, several of the books that I've looked at and read recently, one of my friends has added to a bookshelf that she titled "Dystopia". I had no idea what Dystopia was, so I finally got curious and had to find out! According to wikipidea, "a dystopia is the vision of a society in which conditions of life are miserable and characterized by poverty, oppression, war, violence, disease, pollution, nuclear fallout and/or the abridgement of human rights, resulting in widespread unhappiness, suffering, and other kinds of pain." So basically, the opposite of Utopia, and somewhere that you would never want to live! Why in the world would someone want to read about a world like that? Except, then I started looking through all of the books that I have rated on the website, and was shocked when I realized just how many of them could really fit into that category, especially books that I 've read lately. So why is it that I keep reading these kinds of books? What about them makes it worth it?

I was thinking about all of the different types of worlds that some of these books portray. In "The Hunger Games" and it's sequel "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins, the world is a vicious place where the government controls everything. The citizens can't even stop the Capital from taking 24 of there children every year, and basically murdering them for sport. All while the citizens of the country have to watch and pretend to enjoy what they are seeing. (Quick side note, I just finished reading "Catching Fire" and it was better than I'd hoped for! Fantastic!) I also just recently read the first book of the "Ender's Game" series by Orson Scott Card. In that world setup, when children are just toddlers, a device is implanted in the back of their neck so that they can be watched and examined at all times. Then the smartest, most promising children are taken away from their families at around the age of 6! They are thrown into Battle School, where they learn war techniques at a time in their life when they should be just enjoying being kids. They have no contact whatsoever with their families and probably wont even see them until they are 12-16 years old. In the "Shadow Children" series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, the government wont allow people to have any more than 2 children. So any additional children that are born are forced into hiding. Imagine the type of hiding that the Jews experienced in Germany during WWII, but it has to happen for a child's entire life! If anyone learns about them, they and their families will be killed. And the list just keeps going on! Including, "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer, the "Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld, "Poison Study" by Maria V Snyder, or "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury and more.

Why do I read these? Why would I want to read a book about kids having to kill other kids just to try to survive? These worlds and situations are horrific, but there is just something about them that is compelling! I think that it must be the triumph of the human spirit that I love. These are characters that you feel like you can identify with in some way. Then you watch them be put into an impossible situation, and you just have to hope that they can survive and thrive! You get the chance to watch how someone can rise from the worst situation and become great! There is just something about this genre that is so heartbreaking and yet completely wonderful! And after reading some of these books, all that I can say is that I sure am glad that they are just fiction!

Severinsen Family BBQ

Last week, some of my relatives that live out of town were here for a visit. We ended up using that as a perfect excuse for a Severinsen Family BBQ. There were a lot of cousins and spouses and kids that I have not seen for quite a long time! Plus in the last year, there have been 8 new babies born. So it was really fun to have a chance to all catch up. Just about everyone was able to make it and we missed those that couldn't be there for one reason or another.

Here are the pics that I took of each family. I somehow missed taking the picture of my Uncle Lynn's family. I didn't realize what they were all doing until too late. If I can get one of my cousins to email me the picture I'll add it later.

We really had a nice turnout. Of the 65 members of the family (my family, aunts, uncles, cousins, theirs spouses and their kids), 56 were there! 4 family members that live out of town weren't able to make it. And then the timing overlapped with a couple of previously planned trips. So, not too bad! The BBQ was great. Everyone brought fantastic food, and best of all, there were 3 kinds of homemade ice cream! YUM! Here are just some random pictures that I took throughout the evening.

It's been way too long since we all got together or even communicated in some way other than blogs and facebook! Hopefully we can make this a tradition in the future!

Pictures

Today, I was downloading pics off of my camera so that I could make room to take pictures at a family BBQ tonight. I decided that while I was at it, I should finally figure out how to do some of the fun picture albums that I've seen on other people's blogs.

These pictures are from the 4th of July up in Henefer. I went riding 4'wheelers with Scott, Kelli-Rae, my cousins Amy and Eric and some of their friends. Let's see how this works out! My favorite one has to be the close up of Amy! We all had a blast and were extremely dirty by the end of the day!

Travel Agent

Sometimes I feel like I really should have gotten a job as a travel agent. I mean, I'm pretty much my families unofficial travel agent already! Whenever my parents want to go on a trip, either with the family or just the two of them, I'm told where they want to go and when. Then it's up to me to find flights, hotels, car rentals. I even help them find what attractions are near by. I used to always have to figure out all of the maps and directions to everything as well, but dad's learned the joys of map quest and so he usually takes care of that himself.

Anyways, my parents are currently in San Diego. They decided to take advantage of the JetBlue flights there before it gets cancelled. There is a particular hotel that they've stayed at numerous times, and loved. So of course, that's where we booked them. Then yesterday morning, I get a phone call about how horrible the hotel is this time, and the staff are just completely rude. So now, I'm scrambling to find them something better! I'm happy to say that I succeeded! I got a phone call about 20 minutes after they had checked into the new hotel, and it was like night and day. But now I just need to get them new maps and directions of where to go!

lol, Maybe I missed my true calling! I should be planning trips! I guess for now though, I'll just be content with being the family travel agent. Time to start planning for Hawaii in May!

Favorite Authors and Genres

So, I thought that it'd be fun to add links to a few of my favorite authors websites and blogs onto my own blog. But as a started adding, I just couldn't narrow it down to only a few! LOL, I think I've ended up with over 20, and I would be surprised if I don't think of a few more to add later! I just wanted to mention some of them briefly for anyone looking for some new authors to read. I'm sure that some of them I'll end up bringing up in more detail later, especially when they have new books released.

A few of the authors are ones that I've followed since I was a teenager. They are LDS authors that I've always enjoyed, like Anita Stansfield, Jennie Hansen and Rachel Ann Nunes. Their books are some of the first that really got me hooked on reading. A couple of the other authors that I've loved in the same genre are Gerald N Lund and Nancy Campbell Allen. They don't have their own webpage's, so I couldn't add links! Of all of those, my favorite series was probably Allen's "Faith of our Father's" series. They are set during the civil war, and highlight characters both in the North, South, and a little bit from the church members already settled in Utah. If you really aren't into LDS fiction, but still love history, give these a try. The Church is only a very small part of these books, mostly because they weren't affected by the war too much since they had already moved to Utah.

Dan Brown, John Grisham and Vince Flynn are my favorite authors when I'm looking for a great action novel. Flynn is by far my favorite in this genre. He writes political thrillers, with his main character, Mitch Rapp, being a CIA agent. The first book of the series, "Transfer of Power", revolves around a group of terrorists that are intent on taking over the White House and killing the President. It was extremely intriguing to see the way that different members of the government react in very different ways to the crisis. Vince Flynn is one of the best action writers that I have ever read. Once you've started reading his series, you'll want to read them all!

Just about all of the rest of the authors that I have links for would fall into either the Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance genres. I find it really kinda funny that I am so into those genres lately. When I was growing up, I hated fantasy novels! If the things in the book couldn't happen in real life, then I didn't want to read it. I never even read the "Chronicles of Narnia" when I was younger. I was more of a Nancy Drew and Thoroughbred Horse Racing girl. When Harry Potter really started to make a name for itself, I did read that series, and loved it. Same with Twilight. But still, I really wasn't into reading anything else fantasy. Then, Kelli-Rae told me that I had to read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, and I have been hooked ever since! For about the last year and a half, that's about all that I've read! I just can't get enough of vampires and werewolves/shifters. Throw in a few witches, wizards, and fae and I'm happy!

3 favorite authors in the genre:

Charlaine Harris - Her best series is her Sookie Stackhouse books. It has lots of different paranormal elements, but vampires are the main focus. The first book is called "Dead Until Dark." If you've watched (or heard about) the show True Blood on HBO, this is the series that the show is based off of. I also really like her Harper Connely series, but it's more of an acquired taste. Not everyone would probably love it. I haven't read her mystery series yet, but hopefully I'll get around to them soon.

Patricia Briggs - Her Mercedes Thompson, shifter series easily tops the list. I just love her characters. Mercedes is a were-coyote and most of her neighbors and friends are either werewolves, vampires or fae. If you've never read Urban Fantasy, this is one that I'd recommend. I love novels with a strong, kick-ass female lead. That perfectly describes Mercy. She never lets anyone push her around, not even her neighbor and friend, Adam, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack. WARNING THOUGH! I have had a lot of people not want to read this series because of the covers. For some odd reason that I really can't fathom, the covers make Mercy look like she's a slut. She is FAR from it! In fact, while there is some romance in this series, it plays just a tiny part in the story. And all of it's clean. Please, don't judge this book by it's cover! Start with "Moon Called"

Richelle Mead - Her young adult series, "Vampire Academy" is an all time favorite. It's one of those series that just keeps getting better and better. So far, there are 3 books released. And I have been waiting very impatiently for the 4th book to come out later this month. Mead has several other series as well. I've only read the first book in her Succubus series, but enjoyed it. And I've heard good things about her other books as well.

Hope this gave some ideas to people of what to read next!

The Hunger Games

I just finished re-reading one of the best books that I've read all year. It easily makes the top 5, possibly even the top spot. The book is called "The Hunger Games", and it's by Suzanne Collins. This is the first book of a Young Adult trilogy, but really it's a book that anyone would love. Kelli-Rae originally read it and lent it to me. I really apologize for how long this post is probably going to end up being. I usually don't like really long blog posts, but I'm pretty passionate about this book! So, it's going to be hard for me to limit myself on what I say!

Before I talk about the book, let me just give an example of how engrossing it is. My mom really enjoys reading, but she's never been someone that will just sit and read for hours on end and finish a book in just a few days. Typically, it takes her a month or so to read a book, especially if she's reading it during the school year. She's too busy with work and everything to read. She's never really understood how I sometimes would rather stay up all night finishing a book instead of sleeping. Also, if she isn't really interested in the book, she's not likely to finish it. I can't tell you how many books she has with a bookmark about 100 pages in, that she's never finished. Anyways, after I finished The Hunger Games, I told me mom what a great book it was, and she decided to give it a try. I believe that she started reading on a Thursday afternoon once she got home from work. For the next couple of days, I rarely saw her put it down! She would walk around the house carrying the book, and when she had a minute or 2, she opened it up just to read another page. She was done with the book sometime on Saturday. I have NEVER in 27 years, seen my mom read a book that fast! Especially not a book that's almost 400 pages long! If that doesn't make you want to think about reading this book, hopefully my description of it will.

The book takes place in an alternate reality. Imagine our country in the future. There have been wars, famine, natural disasters, and a completely and total breakdown of our government and country. What is left is a country called Panem, which consists of the Capital and 12 districts throughout the nation. While the Capital is very wealthy, the districts are very pour. There's no welfare system. You are completely on your own. And the laws are brutal. If you break them, you'll either be subjected to a whipping or more likely be killed. This is not a fun country to grow up in. The main character is a 16-year old girl named Katniss. She is quite the survivor. At the age of 11, her father is killed in a mine explosion and she becomes the soul provider for her mother and little sister Prim. Every day, Katniss and her best friend Gale risk their lives by breaking the law, sneaking under the fence that surrounds their district and going into the woods to hunt, fish, and gather plants and berries. Anything that their family doesn't need for food gets traded on the black market for essentials. Although life is far from pleasant, Katniss and her family are surviving well enough.

But then comes Reaping Day when everything changes. Once a year, the Capital holds The Hunger Games. It's basically their way of showing the districts who is in charge, and who has all the control. 1 boy and 1 girl (called Tributes) from each of the districts has to compete in the ultimate game of survivor. Only one of the 24 will leave the arena alive. Katniss becomes one of the tributes and now she is literally in the fight of her life. She just has to hope that her brains, and nerve, and talent will be enough to keep her alive. She also has to decided who she can trust, or if she can trust anyone. What are people's ulterior motives for what they say and do?

This book has everything! Action, suspense, mystery, friendship, romance, humor in the most unlikely places, and a great psychological element! Once you start reading, you can't put the book down. And then you come to the last page, where it says "End of Book 1" and you wish that you had a time machine to go forward to the day the next book is released! I can't even tell you how much I recommend this book to everyone! Also, as a side note. After I finished reading the book, I ended up having to find a copy of the audio book. It's a fantastic version as well. Also, the second book, Catching Fire, will be released on September 1st.

LOL, I did warn you that I am passionate about this book! I wasn't exaggerating!

Happy 24th of July!

I hope that everyone has a great Pioneer Day! I can't help but think of those years that I marched in the Days of '47 Parade. Both lots of fun and completely exhausting! Have fun and stay safe. As for me, I'll be working all day. Oh well, I guess that someone has to do it!

100th Book

This year, for the first time, I decided to keep track of how many books I read throughout the year. The other day, I finished my 100th book of the year: Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery. I have no idea if that's a lot of books for me, or just typical! I guess that next year we'll just have to see how it compares.

What a fun and cute book this was! I'm really not sure why I've never read it before. I grew up reading everything that I could get my hands on, had this entire series sitting on my bookshelf for years, and loved the movies. And yet, I never read it! I can easily see why this book is such a classic. It was just a great read! I understand that Anne's ramblings could bother some people, but for me, she just reminded me of myself when I was her age! Of course, my mom would probably say that it reminds her of me now. Who knows! Maybe Anne and I are "kindred spirts". I mean, I do have her name, even spelled with an "e". And yes, I agree, it looks so much better spelled that way! Loved it and can't wait to read the next book in the series!!!

BTW, you might notice that 2 of the things that I have on the right side of my blog say goodreads. That's a website that my friend Michelle got me hooked on! As for the favorie quotes that it shows, if you don't like the one that's up, just refresh your page and it'll change!

Hello!

So, I finally gave in and created a blog! I'm not sure why I've never had one before and the only excuse I have for starting one now is that I was bored while working! I guess that I've always felt like I would never really have anything to talk about on a blog, but my mom is always telling me that I never stop talking so hopefully I can keep things interesting! Honestly, I have a feeling that at least half of my posts will end up being about books. I'm always having people ask me what books I would recommend, so I'll probably use this blog to do that. Also, with my crazy work schedule, I have a really hard time keeping in contact with everyone that I wish I could. So, hopefully this will help.

I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to designing a blog, so any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!