Books 1 & 2

I am terribly behind on my reading goal right now. I'm just barely finishing up book #2 and it's already the end of the month (uhm,  it's the end of January guys, when did this happen???) but I think I'm already 1.5 books ahead of my book count from last year! 

At the beginning of the month I flew home for a few days for a quick trip to Michigan (it was lovely) and I picked up a bunch of books (and stashed them in my carry on). My dad asked as he dropped me off at the airport, "Do you have books in here?!". He was kidding. 

So, I have plenty of material, just not the motivation. I'm trying though. 

Also, I have a confession. I already broke a rule. I started reading 'Pride and Predjudice' and just couldn't finish it guys. I tried. I really did but it took me hours to read a few pages and I had no idea what was going on. So, I'll try again later in the year, but I had to move on or I was going to get stuck on the first book of the year and then I would be really mad at myself. 

So, the real book #1 I read was Philippa Gregory's 'The Red Queen'.

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I've always loved historical fiction, the Tudor period in England, and all things Royal related. The Other Boleyn Girl is one of my favorite movies. The Red Queen is the second in Gregory's "The Cousins War" series and even though I read this series out of sequence, it wasn't like I missed anything. In fact, this one takes place before the first book in the series does, so they're not a typical series in the way you usually read them. 

The Red Queen focuses on Margaret Beaufort, who was the grandmother to Henry VIII. Margaret was convinced from a young age that she had a higher calling in life. She idolized the young French Maid Joan of Arc and believed she was a special chosen woman of God. She would rather spend her life in a nunnary than get married and she tries to protest when she is given in marriage to Edmund Tudor at the young age of 9. She becomes a mother at 13 and a widow shortly after. Like her belief that she is destined for something more noble, she believes her son, Henry, is destined for something more noble too. He is raised by her brother-in-law Jasper even after she remarries again and leaves her beloved son behind.

I loved this book. It was rich with detail and humanized the plight of a young woman that, in her time, was seen no more than a human bargaining chip and a piece of property. She started out an an innocent, obedient daughter and blossomed into an intelligent, political mastermind that was highly responsible for placing her son on the throne. If you like historical fiction, this is for sure a must read. 

I'm currently reading, and about to finish, the third book in the series The Lady of the Rivers, about Jacquetta Woodville, who was the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV.

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 I haven't reached the end, but this one has been entertaining as well. It's set before The Red Queen but they both cross the same time period around the middle of the book. 

I should be finished with this one this weekend. 

Up next is The White Queen which is about Queen Elizabeth Woodville, the daughter of Jacquetta. 

Flood.

Let me tell you a little story...one that is still in the progress of being told. 

It's been extremely cold in the Salt Lake Valley the past few days thanks, in part, to a lovely inversion that has parked itself over our heads. The inversion traps the cold air and as a result, there is very little fluctuation in the temperature. 

We woke up on Wednesday morning and got ready like normal. Until T tried to turn on the shower. Nothing came out. Nada. Zip. No water at all. It was weird because everything else was working. Except our downstairs shower and faucet. We didn't hear any water gushing, so we figured it was a frozen pipe. Both showers butt up to the outside wall, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. So, we cranked the heat and hoped for the best. 

When I got home that afternoon from work, I checked the faucets. They were working! We were in the clear! We put space heaters in both bathrooms to keep the pipes from freezing again and kept the heat cranked. 

When I came home yesterday the first thing I heard stopped me in my tracks. I didn't even close the door at first. All I heard was splashing. And gushing. And water. I flipped out. There were several expletives said (oopsie) and I ran downstairs. My first instinct was to shut the water off. Thank heavens T had shown me where the water shutoff valve was in the front bedroom. As I booked it to the valve, my shoes splashed in the carpet...our entire basement had flooded. 

I went into the laundry room and was greeted by a gush of water and 2 inches of standing water. Our furnace, water heater, and brand new washer and dryer had been sprayed by water for goodness knows how long. The leak was directly over the washer and dryer. 

The pipe must has burst soon after T left for work because that little hole flooded our entire downstairs: the living room, hallway, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. Completely soaked. 

Our back bedroom had a lot of our stuff just hanging out there in storage. All of the boxes were ruined. I was extremely overwhelmed. But about 2 hours after I got home there were a few knocks at the door. Our Bishop walked in and asked us what we needed. He told us that he had called a few people and they were on their way over. 'A few' people turned into 7 wonderful ward members who started moving boxes from the soaked room. They helped T rip up carpet. And they helped me keep my sanity. One by one, boxes and keepsakes were brought up. We lost a lot of our wedding cards from people and most of our guest book was ruined. We also lost a few letters T wrote to me while we were still dating. I think those were the losses that hit me the hardest. The printers, books, purses can all be replaced. But the letters he wrote me, the notes from our wedding guests, the cards they gave us, they're all smudgy from water and quickly warping as they dry. 

That was the hardest thing about this flood. 

The entire contents of our basement sat in my living room all night. Now, if you know me, you know that I get overwhelmed fairly easy. If it weren't for our wonderful ward members, T and I would have spent the night (him) lugging up boxes and (me) crying and having anxiety attacks.

The basement is drying out now. Insurance should be paying for everything to be fixed. It's cold in the house because of the fans drying out the carpet and the mildew smell is already starting to set in. But, T knows what he's doing (he does this kind of clean up for a living!) and we're a lot better off than we could be. 

My poor poor laundry room. Where T is standing is where the pipe burst and the entire wall is going to have to be ripped out and replaced. It's going to be a long road and it's going to be stressful. But the fans are going, the dehumidifier is going (it's really humid in here now...), and we're beginning to fix it. It's been a nasty introduction to homeownership for sure, but we're learning. We're learning that bad things happen when you least expect them. We're learning that we're surrounded by people who care and who love us. We're learning that all we have to do is ask and someone will be there to help us. 

We're also learning how much the winter sucks in Utah. womp womp. 

2013

Well heck. I keep managing to forget this little corner of the internet. Things just don't seem all that interesting in the Smith household lately, so I just don't ever think to blog. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas around here. Nice and quiet really. It was our first Christmas together and I'm looking forward to spending many many more with my wonderful husband. 

Most of our nights are spent on the couch watching Netflix (West Wing is now on streaming. #winning!!) and cuddling with the dogs. Wally is a serious cuddlebug. 

I started to think about the New Year tonight and what I wanted to accomplish in 2013. I always seem to make these big huge resolutions and stick to them for about...oh...5 seconds. I'm not going to say that this year is going to be different, because it might not be. But right now, I'm going to try. I'm going to avoid the word 'resolution' though because it kind of makes me twitch. We're going to go with 'goals'. 

Goal #1 is a big one though. Maybe I should lead with something a little more... predictable? Okay, change in plans. Goal #1 is now Goal #2.

 New Goal #1 is the required "I will eat better and exercise in the New Year." But this year, this one is required. I have diabetes. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when I was 14. I recently was told that if I ever wanted to have kids, I needed to get my diabetes under control (it wasn't). I want children more than anything else in this world. I always have and that desire is such a basic need within myself. If I want to successfully become a mother, I need to take responsibility for my health this year. I need to take my insulin regularly, test my sugar regularly, exercise regularly, and eat better. The husband and myself are planning on joining the local rec center down the street from our house soon so I'll have a gym to go to at a fairly reasonable price. I'm excited. 

Goal #2 (formerly known as Goal #1) is to read 50 books in 2013. Told you it was a tough one, didn't I? I know. I'm crazy. I used to read like crazy. You used to have to pry a book our of my hands. I used to be one of those girls that stayed up until all hours of the night (morning most times) reading a book because I was so enthralled. Somewhere between college textbooks and Netflix, I've begun to loose my desire. I need that back. I want that back. This one came to me a few nights ago as I was struggling to get to sleep. I have so many books sitting on our bookshelves that have gone unread. My first book of 2013? Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen. I have to confess, I already started it a few days ago, but I promise it's only a few chapters. I have a few rules: I can only buy 10 new books this year. All others must be already owned or come from the DI. I also may not read a book that I have previously read and if I start on that I haven't read all the way through, I have to start it from the beginning. I must record the books that I read here and give my review and no matter what, I must finish the book once I start it. If you have a suggestion for a book I should read, please email me or leave a comment! I am certainly open to suggestions! 

Goal #3 is my spiritual related one. I will finish Personal Progress. Personal Progress is a program put together by our Church that encourages young women to come unto Christ. I was recently called (given a voluntary assignment in Church) to be in the Young Women's Presidency. Basically, I help with our congregation's Young Women's program. It's probably the best calling...ever. And since I'm a convert, I didn't go through this program during my teen years. So, I'm going back now. I want to set an example for my girls. I can't ask them to do something that I haven't done or wouldn't do myself. I've already started on this one as well and I can feel myself inching closer to a better relationship with Christ, with Heavenly Father, and with myself. 

So, that's it. Those are my three goals.

Get healthy. 

Get my passion back. 

Get closer to God. 

I hope every single one of you lovely people has a wonderful New Year and a happy 2013. 

{instagram}

It's funny how your phone tends to become your camera sometimes. It's a lot easier than lugging around the giant DSLR or even the little point and shoot. It's convenient and with today's technology, you often get pictures that are just as good. 

I instagram a lot. Here's a little of what we've been up to through the eyes of my iPhone

We got some snow...Which promptly melted 2 days later. :( 

We also got a dog! His name is Wally the Wiener dog. We got him from the shelter because I just happened across his listing on petfinder. That site is dangerous I tell you. Dangerous. He's playing nice with Charlie and is a perfect addition to our house. Love. 

My wonderful sister and mom came for Thanksgiving. Really, I just wanted my mom out here to decorate my house. Because I missed the 'decorator' gene. 

I made (and ruined) pecan pies. 

Wally turned into a hot dog. 

We put up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. That thing really needs a tree skirt...

Wally and Charlie snuggled. Kinda. 

And I fell more in love with the mountains. I didn't even realize that was possible really. 

It's been a pretty nice few months here. We're gearing up for our first Christmas as a married couple and in our new house. It's been...an adventure...owning our own home but I wouldn't trade it for the world. We're slowly but surely turning this house into a home that we'll be in for a very long time. Once I get the house put together a little more, I want to do a little house tour. But that's a bit off right now. 

Next up on my plate: 

Holiday baking (Grandma's world famous Stollen bread is among the choices) 

Cooking a giant Christmas day dinner for me and the husband

Finishing out the year strong at work (hey finishing off my first year at 100% for my accounts) 

Coming up with some good New Year's Resolutions 

Logan Road Trip

Hey guys. Long time no talk. Or blog. Sorry about that. Life got a little cray and I let blogging suffer. womp womp. 

But suffer no more! I finally uploaded pictures from both cameras with months worth of stuff on it, so over the next few days I'll be updating frequently. YAY! 

A few months ago (October sometime. We think), I begged the husband to take me on a road trip up to Logan. See, I love the Logan Temple. I wanted to get sealed there but since we were getting married in March and you have to drive through mountains to get to Logan, we thought it wasn't a very good idea. I've wanted to go since I moved here but it's a bit of a drive so we never seemed to have a free Saturday. But one Saturday I made sure we were not busy with anything. This was our chance! We got up early and took the drive up to Logan. And boy was it a pretty drive. I'm pretty much in love with Northern Utah. Love I tell you. 

We stopped at the Brigham City Temple on our way up since it was right there. It had just been dedicated this summer, so it's a brand new Temple. It was smaller than I was expecting, but pretty nonetheless. 

 

The colors on the drive were amazing. These pictures just don't do them justice. And I snapped about 10,000 pictures trying...

And finally! Logan! 

Friday's Letters

Dear Park City: Thanks for being so wonderful to us last weekend. I really do love you. You remind me of up north Michigan and when I'm with you...I feel at home. Dear H: I hope you had a wonderful birthday! I love you! Dear Snow: THANKS for coming so early this year. Can you come around more often this year? I really like you a lot. Dear Thanksgiving: Can you get here already? I'm ready for some sissy/mom/Jacky bonding time. Dear Mom: I think we're going to FINALLY paint our door this weekend. I can hear you cheering already. ;) Dear Weekend: Thanks for being here. I needed you. 

More letters

HERE. 

Happy Birthday!

Hubband. Hubs. Hunnie Bunnie. 

It's your birthday!

Today is one of my favorite days of the entire year. Because if you hadn't been born, well this blog probably wouldn't exist and Charlie and I would be very sad and lonely. womp womp. 

 I hope you don't mind that I outed my nicknames for you up above, but they're just so cute. Like you. 

You know what else I like about you and would miss if you weren't in my life?

Your blue eyes (which I hope our kids get) 

Your laugh. It's contagious 

Your devoted nature

Your testimony

Your smile 

Those dimples. They slay me

The way you call me honey muffin

How you always tell me you love me

Your voice

Your kisses

Cuddles 

I mean, let's get real here. I love everything about you. 

So, I hope you have a very happy birthday and know that I love you very much. 

xoxo

your wifey