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Friday, September 30, 2016

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The Elite, a book review

Continuing the story of America, Aspen, and Maxon started in The Selection, KieraCass does a wonderful job of making us care even more about America in The Elite.  We see how America makes her way through the difficulties of palace life and being part of the selection. It's an enjoyable tale and easy, quick read. I finished it in one insomniac night.

This book is youth fiction and appropriate for older teens and adults who want to enjoy a love story without dealing with the characters getting hot and heavy. I wouldn't let my twelve year-old read it, though, because some of the subject matter really is for more mature audiences. She might have the opportunity when she's fifteen or sixteen.

Have you already read it? What did you think? If you read it after finding out about it here, let me know what you think!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

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observations: kids' reactions to me, an older lady

I don't know quite when it happened, but I'm officially a "ma'am" now.  And what's more... I've been asked if I'm my children's Grama.  Yep.  I've decided that's not so much because I actually look like a Grama in general, but because I have a good bunch of gray hair.  You know... in our culture it's not really acceptable to have gray hair unless you're quite old.  But then again, my Mom became a Grama for the first time when she was only eight years older than me.  The only way that could happen in my life is if Ria somehow has a baby at twenty.  It's definitely possible, but I'm hoping she'll be a bit older.

The child who asked if I was the Grama to my group was around ten.

Children who are about 14 and younger generally don't speak to me.  Even when I speak to them.  In the children's section of the library, this is very different.  Sometimes, in the general public, children in this range will smile.  But just as often as some do, others don't.

Youth might speak to me.  If they are on their own, they are more likely to, but it's still pretty rare.  I was blessed to experience a really neat synchronicity and met three really cool teenagers one Friday while I was writing late at Whataburger.  We had a potentially life-changing visit.  I've seen one of them since our initial meeting.

That second meeting was particularly interesting.  And very similar to another interaction I had with a completely different teenage fella I met while at the library.  Both guys greeted me in a particular way that showed that they recognized me and wanted to know if I remembered them.  I did, in both cases.  They both seemed gratified by my remembrance.

Which has led me to wonder if they were glad because of the disconnection in our culture.  I know I have gone through periods during which I yearn for meaningful connections.  I am blessed to have siblings and parents I both admire and enjoy communicating with, so such connections have always been only a text or phone call away.  More recently I've been blessed with some really wonderful friends.  So now I have even more options for meaningful connecting.  Do the youth have as many opportunities, I wonder.

Another time I initiated a conversation with a lovely twenty-something young lady.  I rarely initiate conversations with non-Whataburger employees while writing at Whataburger.  I felt like I couldn't help myself in this case, though.  She set up in so much the same way as me that I wondered if she was a writer.  I wasn't going to ask, but felt compelled.  She wasn't at Whataburger to write, but instead to work on school stuff (college).

We have crossed paths a few times since and had some really enjoyable interactions.  I think we might become friends.  I find it especially interesting because she seems so much like me about 20 years ago.  She is almost twenty years my junior!

If you're an older person (late thirties, early forties), have you had any such experiences?

If you're a youth or young adult, do you feel like you lack and/or seek meaningful connections?


Friday, September 23, 2016

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Michael Vey, The Prisoner of Cell 25, a book review


 Michael Vey is mentioned in at least the Cap'N Hugh "Strongback" Golly YouTube in which he reads When I Was a Chef, I Had a Pirate Crew.  If you've seen that and hadn't already read Michael Vey, maybe you followed the link included there and have already read the book which is the subject of this review.  If you found it through that YouTube, let me know!  If this is the first time you've heard of it, let me know that, too.  I love to know when I'm able to direct folks toward new and enjoyable reads!

This is an enjoyable read, for sure.  Michael Vey, The Prinsoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans.  I believe the author had youth around 15 or 16 years old and older in mind as his target audience when he wrote this book.  I did allow my eldest daughter to read it a few years ago when she was nine and didn't regret it.  Though the intended audience may be teenagers, I did enjoy it.

A story about youth who are burdened with extra-ordinary abilities, this first book in the series follows Michael Vey as he works to manage his powers while also figuring out how to free some people he loves.

It is well written and an easy read.  The chapters are often very short, which lends to the feeling of moving quickly through the story.  It is the first in a series.  The sixth of which will be available Fall of 2016.  My two eldest and I await the release of the sixth in the series with great anticipation.


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

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my thoughts: on love

Love is one of the primary purposes of life.  Both to learn to feel our Father's love and to give/feel it unselfishly and unconditionally.

Family is one way we are both able to feel and express love hopefully readily and often.  It's also an arena for practicing selfless and unconditional love.  How much more difficult is it to love someone who knows how to hurt you and does it?  It's all about opportunities!  Boy do I fall flat on my face... sometimes daily.  Thankfully most of my blunders and less extreme than flat on my face.  Thankfully!  

Through the more recent years, I've learned that our Heavenly Father loves me because I am unique among his daughters.  The funny-awesome thing is that the same is exactly just as true for you (though maybe as a son) as it is for me!!  Because we are fallible, we rarely love perfectly - even our children.  So, it might seem unlikely or even impossible that God loves you as much as I know he loves me.  Nonetheless, it is true and such a glorious and joyous truth!

No matter what I think of someone else's worth... because I look around me and see others doing far better than me!  I know that even though I struggle in visible ways with things I really should have mastered by now, our Father loves me just as much in my foibles as he does another better-performing daughter in her accomplishments!  How awesome is that!?  Well, I think it's spectacular!

Loving others completely unselfishly and unconditionally is not among my spiritual gifts.  Just so we're clear, you and me.  I know a lot of things I'm not necessarily wonderful at actively living on a daily basis.  I know, though, that as long as we don't stop trying we can never fail, we just keep on having opportunities to improve until the lesson is learned!

Although it may seem elementary to you, it took me until I was well in my 30s to realize that the feeling of like and the reality of love are not always companions.  I can love someone without liking them.  Just like I can love them without trusting them.    Love can (and should) continue even when other feelings move like tides.  Love, like joy, can be a solid rock beneath the changeable waters of the feeling sea of like.

Do you see love as a possible foundation stone, like joy?

Friday, September 16, 2016

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Nightmares, a book review

Nightmares, by Jason Segal and Kirsten Miller, is a pretty good book.

Before I share about the book specifically, I have to tell you about my experience of reading it.  I'm telling the absolute honest-to-goodness truth with absolutely no exaggeration, so... there's that.

So, I started reading Nightmares.  I was able to make myself put it down when I felt tired.  So, under normal circumstances I might not have resumed reading it right away.  However, that night, I had a nightmare.  I don't remember really anything about it as far as the dream itself goes.  I only remember waking in the dream and realizing I was dreaming and that it wasn't real, it was only a nightmare.  Then, instead of the thing ending, I felt like I was rerunning horrible parts over and over in my mind.

I literally had to stop myself and decide another subject on which to focus.  Even so, the nightmare kept trying to continue to play.  I had to almost completely wake up to get out of the loop.

Also, my two eldest girls had already either just started or finished it started to have bad dreams right around the time they started to read it.  Strangely, my husband and oldest son, who didn't start reading it, had some pretty bad dreams as well.  The bad dreams spread...  and if you've read the story, you know!

Call it a coinkydink if you want.  I won't.  I believe there are no coincidences.

So, Nightmares...is geared toward tweens and possibly young teens.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed it quite well.  The beginning was pretty scary to me.  Yes, I'm a woosey when it comes to scary stuff.

This story, as with my very favorite reads, points the reader to some strong and even profound truth... or maybe more than one.

Check it out and let me know what you think!  If you've already read it, without giving the story away, what did you think of it?

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

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observations: peoples' reaction to my large family

My Mom has six children.  I'm the eldest of that bunch.  I honestly don't remember many comments about the size of our family.  I do remember some of my Mom's stories concerning the number of children she had.

She explained that when she had three or four, people sort of treated her like she was a little crazy.  Somewhere between three and five, though, the reactions seemed to become somewhat reverent... like somehow she'd suddenly become a saint.

I thought those stories were really interesting.  Although I've always wanted at least four children for as long as I can remember, I never really considered how others might react to the number of children I'd have.  Perhaps as a result of not considering it, or at least in part, I've been taken off-guard at times.

The children and I work hard to find the humor in others' reactions.  Our favorite, which happened in the first half of 2016, relatively soon after GrA was born, was at Lowes.  We'd gone to the restroom before shopping, which is pretty much a standard practice in most any store we frequent.  We were heading out into the store in our usual way, reverse birth order.  This puts the youngest closest to me with my eldest at the end.  Also, because of their heights, I can quickly see whether everyone is where they are supposed to be.

Well, there was a guy trying to get to the men's restroom right when we were coming around the corner and heading out into the store.  He stood and waited patiently.  I watched as my last two (two eldest daughters) came around the corner.  The fella did a bit of a double take and then looked around the corner.  I'm pretty certain he was looking to make sure the coast was clear and there weren't any more children coming around the corner.  The children and I laughed together over that.

The most regular reaction is the, "You've got your hands full," statement.  Sometimes this is said with genuine appreciation.  Others, it's full of shock.  Still other times, these same words are full of condemnation.  I often wonder if those folks mean to use those tones or if it's simply a sort of expression of the culture coming through them.  You know, the unfriendly-to-children-culture in whih we live.

Because we get this particular comment so very often, we've practiced a response.  We don't always get it in perfect harmony, but I think we're getting better.  When someone says this now, I turn to the children and they singsongy-sweet say, "Better full than empty!"

Friday, September 9, 2016

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The Selection, a book review

Hey yall! 

Another book review to share.  I heard about this one from a guy who was a really new missionary in my neck of the woods back in July (2016).  I'd just met him and asked if he was a reader.  He was!  Yeay!  When asked, he told me his fave genres.  Among them was romance.  Surprise! Right?  Well, I was a bit surprised.  Some girl will be very lucky in a couple.... maybe a few years.  And he's pretty cute... in a little boy sorta way.

Anyway... I asked if he had a favorite author and/or book.  He told me his favorite author was Kiera Cass and his fave book (series, really): The Selection.  So, I felt compelled to read it because of his recommendation.

I love it!  We just returned it to the library.  I was able to force myself to put it down after starting it.  The second time I picked it up, though, coincided with one of my hormone induced sleepless nights.  So, I read the rest of the book.  It's an easy read!

Imagine a cross between "The Bachelor" and Hunger Games, heavy on the former, and you've got the premise of this very cool read.  I'm excited to find out if the focus on the latter increases as the series progresses.

Let me know what you think if you check it out!  I'd love to tell this missionary that he's helped others find an awesome series and author.  Thank you, in advance.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

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my thoughts: on the purpose of life

The ultimate purpose of life is to so live here that we may eternally live in the presence of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  This life is a time of learning.  Most importantly, learning to hear Him when we are surrounded by innumerable distractions, and then choosing to obey Him even when there may be other things we would rather do.

Among the things I believe He would have us learn:

To love selflessly and unconditionally.  I struggle.  I mean... I really struggle with this.  Perhaps not so much with new babies and young children, but generally I struggle.  How are you doing in learning to love unconditionally and selflessly?

To learn to enjoy working and do what must be done with a good attitude.  I'm doing so much better at this than I did when I was younger.  I've realized that choosing to find the good in, like, and maybe love what I'm doing, even if there's something I'd rather do, is a huge benefit to enjoying my work.  What has made working with a good attitude easier for you?

To give thanks in all things.  I had an experience years ago in which I prayed a thanksgiving prayer for something I really wasn't grateful for.  Immediately, I felt a dramatic and irrefutable lifting of the burden of that thing.  It was miraculous.  Giving thanks, even for that which we do not prefer, enables us to feel God's Peace and love.  His peace and love are always lifting!  I have so much room for improvement... I need to remember to do this.  I know it works.  I just don't always remember to do it!  Do you remember to give thanks in ALL things?

To serve joyfully and lovingly.  I guess this one is really tightly tied to the unconditional and selfless love.  Interestingly, though, I often do pretty okay with giving the right kind of service... you know, with my heart in the right place.  I'm nowhere near 100%, but I'm definitely not near 0%.  Do you enjoy performing service?

To marry and have a family (often including children).  God gave two commandments in the Garden of Eden.  One was broken.  The other never rescinded... so, we are commanded to procreate and replenish the earth.  We are also meant to be good stewards of our planet.  This planet is an amazing self-healing body, much like our own in some ways.  We are meant to be symbiots with her.  Currently, many humans are not.  But we still can be.  Even with six children, I'm pretty sure my little family currently leaves a smaller footprint than most in the western world.  We have not always been so.  Thus, I know all of us are able to change and become, at least, less harmful to our mother earth.

I'd love to know what other BIG purposes you've considered!
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The Grey

Friday, September 2, 2016

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Circus Ship, Children's Book Review


Chris Van Dusen, author AND illustrator of Circus Ship,  is a REALLY talented fella.  I have come to this conclusion because his children's picture book is so well written that my children and I read it easily... no fumbles or difficulty with his rhyme.  ON TOP OF THAT, he is also the illustrator and these pictures are awesome!

The five of my six children who are interested in books are relatively picky.  They are, at least in part, products of our very visual culture.  So when I tell you they LOVE this book's art... their love really means something. Read: high compliment to the artist!

I love it, too!  When I was studying art at the very beginning of my college years, I yearned to paint like this guy... or similarly.  Now I acknowledge that my style is totally different and way more abstract... but a part of me wishes I could paint such wonderful pieces as this book has on every page.

The formatting is terrific, too.  The words do not distract from the art.  They are not difficult to find, either... which is sometimes a trouble in picture books I've tried to read to my children before.

This is a book I want for my children's book library.  I rarely buy books for our library, but I hope to buy this one.  I even more rarely read a book twice these days (even children's books) because we have so many to choose from.  But I asked to read this one  to my children again before we returned it to the library.  It really is that good!

I hope you'll tell me what you think if you take time to see if my words hold any water!  (pun intended ^_^)