July's Book Club Book: Ever

I've always been a fan of Gail Carson Levine's books such as Ella Enchanted and Fairest, and I definitely wasn't disappointed in Ever. Although Gail Carson Levine usually writes about princesses and fairy tales, she took a different avenue and wrote about a young woman in a greek-like period who falls in love with a God (the God of wind), and finds out that she has only a month to live. I really liked this book and how the author tried something different than her normal subjects and I think that she succeeded. If you enjoy princess or fantasy books, than I would definetly reccomend this to you. I loved it! If you read this book, please let me know what you think!

Mamma Mia

Last night a couple of my friends and I went and saw Mamma Mia! Although some of the actors cannot sing (Pierce Brosnan), it was hilarious! I thought going into the movie that I'd enjoy it, but I wasn't prepared for how much I was going to laugh! I loved it and would definitely see it again!

August book club book...

If anyone interested in my book club has any suggestions for the August book, please let me know! Thanks!

I found Vanessa...

Everyone's name has a meaning. A name could mean brick builder, or princess, or many other things. Well, one of my names (Vanessa) means butterfly. This morning I found that my name means butterfly not because it sounds nice, but because there are actually butterfly's that are named Vanessa such as Vanessa atalanta, Vanessa cardui, Vanessa gonerilla, Vanessa myrinna, and many more. It was really cool to be able to find out more about my name and how beautiful it is (and how beautiful the butterflies are also).

Dark Knight

Chris and I saw Dark Knight last night on the IMAX screen and it was amazing! Heath Ledger did an amazing job as the Joker, as did the rest of the cast. This movie keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time and has some great surprises in the mix. I think that this was one of the best movies of the summer!

Tahoe

Well, last week, Chris, my parents, and I went on our yearly pilgrimage to Lake Tahoe, CA. We go camping at a wonderful place called Camp Shelly which is owned by the city of Livermore (where we used to live). Also camping with us were my cousins (and their families) Dustin, Jeremy, Canyon, Aunt Laurie, and family friends, The Morris's, the Pfiefers, and friends of Dustin and his wife Emily. It was a huge group, but we had lot's of fun. The first day out Chris and my parents, (and I), were the first to arrive (about 6 hours before anyone else) and we set up camp and relaxed until everyone started showing up.
The second day, Chris, Dad, Jeremy, Derek (Jeremy's son), and I went on a canoe trip to Emerald Bay. It was beautiful. In the middle of the bay was an island with a tea house of a rich lady who died in the 50's. The tea house was in ruins, but it was a nice small walk to get up there and once we were at the top, it had a nice view of the bay (if you could see it from all of the smoke that was blown our way from all of the California fires). After our canoe trip, we sat on the beach until dinner and relaxed.
The next day, Chris, Dad, Mom, and I set out to hike Mt. Talac. We started early in the morning and were dismayed to find mosquito's out in full numbers. Mom and I got bitten the most, and luckily the higher up we hiked, the less mosquitoes bothered us. Mom and Dad turned around and went back after we reached Cathedral Lake, which is about 1/4 of the hike, while Chris and I continued on. After we left Cathedral Lake, everything got much harder. It felt like we were climbing vertically up. We finally did reach the top (after many rests and a lot of persuasion from both parties) after about 3 hours of hiking. Unfortunately, when we reached the top, it was so smoky, that we could hardly see the beautiful view. So, we ate some lunch and decided to hike back down. The trip down took us another 3 hours, but it didn't seem quite as strenuous as the previous 3 hours. Luckily my Dad met us at the bottom to give us a ride back to camp where we could take a nice shower and relax. I think that this was the hardest hike that I've ever been on...
The last full day we were there, everyone went to the beach to relax. My dad brought an air mattress and the kids had fun riding it and laying on it in the water. A contest was even held as to who could balance on top of the mattress the longest. Chris beat all of my cousins with an amazing 10 seconds! It was really fun and funny to watch. As soon as we left the beach in the evening, we got a crazy thunder storm and we got poured on! We all huddled in tents and campers until the worst was over, than Mom, Dad, Chris, and I went around South Shore Lake Tahoe eating at Chevy's and walking around shops.
Sunday morning we packed up, ate breakfast, and drove out 10 hour trek home where we were met by enthusiastic pets. It was a great welcome home.
Overall, we got really red, lot's of mosquito bites, and had a blast! Thanks Amanda for watching the "pups" for us while we were gone!
Here are some pictures from our trip:

When does it happen?

A friend of mine posed an interesting question at work. She asked when was the turning point in our lives from childhood to adulthood. That really got me thinking, does feeling like an adult (or having to act like one) come from a result of age or does it result from an event. I feel like in my life, the turning point to a more adult-like phase was when I moved out of my house and went away to college. For the first time in my life I was truly responsible for my actions and self being. I had to buy my own food, get myself places, earn money to continue buying grocery's, and such. I think it's amazing how much you grow from having only yourself to look out for. I think another instance that helped me into adulthood was getting married and having the responsibility of another person (and adorable dog) to think about. To sum up, I think that responsibility is what shot me off into adulthood...but even if we have the responsibilities of adults, I think that many of us (hopefully including me) still have child like qualities.

Happy Independence Day

We are so blessed to live in a country where freedom rings and our votes matter. I hope that we can all think about what freedom means and pause for a moment for those who are fighting to keep that freedom for us and our posterity. I am so grateful for the brave men who founded this country and for those who faced tremendous dangers to defend it. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Hancock

Going into this movie, I didn't think that I'd enjoy it very much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it. I don't think that this movie is for everyone, but if you like action movies with a twist, than this movie is for you!