The Story/Book-Steph and Nick

Nick and Stephanie Hammer are definitely the kind of people that I'd want to be friends with in real life. He's an architect and she's an artist, hence the address to their blog. As these pictures show, they are a very fun, bright and funny couple. I was just reading their Bucket List and wishing that we lived closer to them so we could hike the Narrows again in Zion National Park with them, and so that I could dress up and go to her "real tea party." They are way too cool to live so far away!

Thanks Steph and Nick, for being a part of The Story/Book.

The Story~

I have a hard time picking which books are my favorite. I get attached to one and claim that it's my ultimate favorite. Then, a while later, I read another book and claim that as my absolute favorite. What's a girl to do? Well, my favorites as of right now are some design books we picked up right before moving from Salt Lake. I love that both my husband and I mull through pages and pages of ideas and history for hours and never run out of interesting things to talk about.

The Book~

The NEW Big Book of Layouts. It's not your typical kind of reading with words and stories. What enthralls me is that I have the chance to imagine and concoct situations leading to how a certain designer created a specific piece. Each example is a story in and of itself, and I grow personally and isn't that what reading is all about? 

Other Recommendations~

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen, Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom, Twelfth Night William Shakespeare 

Thanks Steph and Nick, for being a part of The Story/Book.

The Story/Book-Kimberly

Kimberly is the kind of person who names her camera, which is definitely my kind of person. (The name is Perry since I know you were wondering.) Her attachment to her camera is well earned since she is an amazing photographer.  You can find her blogging and photographing her life in Hawaii (I know, I'm jealous too) on her blog, Amusing. I'm sad to report that her Etsy shop is closing as she moves on to a different phase in her life, but the good news is that she's offering a 20 percent discount for all of her lovely, minimalist jewelry from her shop, Fildee.

Thanks Kimberly, for being a part of The Story/Book.

The Story~

I remember when I first began to discover the world of books. My mom was a great reader in the past, and when I started to see my older brother reading thick novels, I wanted to try it too -- literature was in our blood. However, I didn't fall in love with books until I discovered the realm of classics. My mom suggested I read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, one of her favorites when she was my age. Once I dove into Jane's heroic tale, I was smitten.  

The Book~

One of the main reasons I admire the character of Jane is because of her integrity and unwavering faith in God. Her selflessness in love and yet honest inner struggles were worded beautifully throughout. To me, Bronte's writing style is a work of art. I re-read my favorite passages constantly just to marvel at her style. Not to mention that one of my favorite things in a story is a good twist, and Jane Eyre is loaded with them.

Other recommendations~

The Blue Castle L.M. Montgomery, Great Expectations Charles Dickens, Shirley Charlotte Bronte.

Jane Eyre is the reason I love the classics. Thanks Kimberly, for being a part of The Story/Book. 

The end of January

Lately I've been feeling a bit blah. New job, yay, interesting classes, whoop dee doo, planning for the future, awesome, life in general, meh. But I really believe that it's January that's been messing with my mojo.

I've waited til the last day of the month to say this, but January is my least favorite month. I hope this doesn't offend any of you, especially the many good friends I have whose birthdays are in January, but for some reason it always feels like a month worth of Mondays all strung together. Perhaps it's the post-holiday season hangover or the pre-birthday and fabulous February anticipation but I am not a huge fan of January. There's even an Arthur (as in the cartoon about the aardvark, and yes I did sing the song in my head to know how to spell aardvark) episode about making up a holiday after New Years to get through the January blues.

To end my mild tirade this last week in particular hasn't been too awesome, with a broken garbage disposal, (gross!) Nick being sick for five days :( while i remained impervious until last night's stuffy nose and tight throat (darn your irresistible kisses) the only bright side was nick accepted an offer from PWC for a summer internship and now we know for sure that we're going to Boston!

Hasta la pasta January, and see you tomorrow February.

movies to watch during Thanksgiving break

I love Thanksgiving for itself, but I also love that afterwards it's acceptable to be excited about Christmas. I can listen to Christmas music, put up decorations and talk about the holiday without people saying "It's not even Thanksgiving yet."

Here are some of my favorite movies that you should watch while waiting to baste your ten-pound turkey (yet again) or during your food-induced coma on the sofa next to your sleeping aunt.

The first two images are of two of my favorite movies. They are both from Miracle on 34th Street, the old version and the remake. I don't have a favorite between these two. It's a pretty sappy-sweet story, but I love it. There's a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus and her mother who's in charge of the Macy's parade during Thanksgiving. (So, Hah! It is a Thanksgiving movie too.) It's also about the love interest between the cynical single mother and the lawyer neighbor. I love the black and white movie, it feels untouched and outside of time, but I also love the new version, the little girl is so precocious. Try them both out.

My other flick pick has to be It's a Wonderful Life. Even though this is a quintessential Christmas movie, lots of the scenes don't take place during Christmas time. It's more about George Bailey and his wife, Mary's, life together. How they met, or remet, and what happened after. I love this movie because so many other stories are about that first part, meeting, getting to know each other and then they ride off into the sunset and I never know about the nitty-gritty parts of their life together. But this movie shows what their life has become and it's not a picnic, in fact it begins with him trying to commit suicide, but they've built something beautiful together. Even with the angel and the flashbacks this story has a very real quality to it. Above everything it's about love, and enduring and kindness. "You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary." -George Bailey

Have you seen any of these films? What is your favorite holiday movie?

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The Power of Books

via

I love to read. 

When I was young reading was more important to me than eating, a new book, food. 

I have lived a thousand lives, been on a hundred adventures, and saved the world more than once. 

When I find myself crying as I read a book I am not crying for the character. I am crying for myself because I am that person in the book. 

For a few hours at least I feel what they feel I see what they see and I want what they want. At least that's what happens when I read what I would characterize as a good book. 

I needed books when I was growing up. 

They kept me and I kept them. 

Mostly. 

The only problem that I had with books was that they always had an ending.

You can feel it as you become immersed into a world of wonder, their is a kinship between you and at least one other character and you are excited for the journey they take and worried for them at the same time, but with each page turn the book becomes lighter in your right hand and thicker in you left. The climax will happen and the end will come. 

Endings always left me somewhat flat and empty. 

It wasn't a feeling of is that it? 

More like a deflated balloon after it soars. 

I do sometimes still feel hungry for a good book, but endings don't leave me so empty anymore.

And I wonder if I wasn't really empty, because those books have stayed with me and changed me. Perhaps I just wasn't full yet. 

It's been many years since I finished the last book in the Harry Potter series, and this last weekend Nick and Stephanie and I went to see part 2 of movie 7.

(I was Winky, just so you know.) 

And while I loved the books, they were not the only ones that shaped my teenage years. 

Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite authors. 

She died earlier this year after battling cancer. 

I owe a lot to her and her stories for the imagination that they helped me develop and the choices I had to make, as I lived through her characters, in situations I'll never really have to face. 

If you have never read her books I am sorry. 

They are magical.

And it's not just that they are fantasy stories or her writing style is simple and beautiful. 

It's all of it and more for me.

Go and read The Homeward Bounders, The Time of the Ghost or The Dalemark Quartet.

Go beg for someone to lend you their copy, borrow it from your nearest library or buy it from a bookstore. They are worth it. 

Thank you for your books and letting me get to know you through them, Diana.

Food, glorious food

I made this yesterday and have been snacking on it since. I used a different recipe from allrecipes.com but it was still delish.

I found the picture on pinterest but I first tried the salsa/mix at my sister-in-law, Stephanie's, reception and had been daydreaming about it ever since.

I have really enjoyed using pinterest. For anyone who may not know what pinterest is: It is "a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes."

It is my most favorite recent discovery. I wish wish wish I had this when I was planing my wedding. Have you ever found something online that you thought was cool and when you went to find it again you couldn't? I have done that so many times that my bookmarks are now full of sites that I might possibly one day want to revisit. Now I can just pin it. Thanks Layla ;)

Do you have pinterest? If not, why not?