It's Official

I passed my first semester at The George Washington University.
*Whew*
It was a bit rough.  Now I've got a week off, sadly with no plans, before I head back for torture session number two the second semester. And we're off...

I'm drowning.  That is all.

I don't post much...

'Cause I'm in school.  And will be for the next two years.  Enjoy it for me people.

The 2011 Book List

So-once again I tried to shoot for the goal of a book a week in 2011. I didn't quite make it-I only managed to get in 51 and a half books. That's still pretty good considering the business of the year. Trying to get the application to grad school in was QUITE time consuming-not to mention that I also took 3 classes. So, with that said-here's the list for 2011. My favorites are so marked by an *.

1. The Five Greatest Warriors-Matthew Reilly

2. The Kiss of a Stranger*-Sarah M. Eden

3. The Pharaoh's Daughter- N. C. Allen

4. Wench-Dolen Perkins Valdez

5. The Water is Wide-Marianne Monson

6. The Overton Window-Glenn Beck

7. Heaven Is for Real-Todd Burpo

8. P.S. I Love You*-Cecelia Ahern (I LOVED this book. I laughed, I cried, and yep-it's way better than the movie. Though I do love the movie. Who doesn't love Gerard Butler?!?!? And that first kiss scene....mmm....*drool*...Oh, *ahem*, sorry...bit of a tangent...he just looks so darn kissable...)

9. The Legend of Shannonderry*-Carol Warburton

10. Introduction to Psychology-Kalat (I know, I know-it's a textbook. But darn it, it counts-because I read all 641 pages of it)

11. The Stone Traveler-Kathi Oram Peterson

12. City of Fallen Angels-Cassandra Clare (I love this series, and I loved this book-but it's not one of my favorites simply because of the ending and that I have to wait so blasted long to find out what happens)

13. Trespass-Sandra Grey

14. Mermaid-Carolyn Turgeon

15. The Postmistress-Sarah Blake

16. Poisoned Pedigree-G.G. Vandagriff

17. The Hidden Branch-Same

18. The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes*-Brandon Mull (I have LOVED every book he's ever written. They're all fabulous and I can't wait for my kids to fall in love with his books when they're older.)

19. Illusions-Aprilynne Pike

20. The Throne of Fire-Rick Riordan

21. Key Lime Pie-Josi S. Kilpack

22. Blackberry Crumble-Same

23. The Warlock-Michael Scott

24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*-J.K. Rowling (I know, I know, I've read it twice before, but I HAD to read it again before the movie came out! It's still my favorite series. I have a quote on my Pinterest board from Alan Rickman (Severus Snape for those of you who don't know who he played) that says, "When I'm 80 years old and sitting in my chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, 'After all this time?' And I will say, 'Always.'" It's as true for me as for him.)

25. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced-Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

26. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation-Lauren Willig (I blush thinking about this book...it was way more racy than I had expected. I had already ordered the other books in the series by the time I found that out and I sent them all back....and I'm still blushing.)

27. Foreign Influence-Brad Thor

28. The Forgotten Locket-Lisa Mangum (How dumb could this series have ended?!?! I'm still a bit ticked-and I still get a bit of a headache thinking how confusing and disorienting this book is.)

29. The Borgia Betrayal-Sara Poole

30. Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story-Carolyn Turgeon (This book is a disappointment. And weird. Avoid the urge to read it.)

31. The Daughter of Siena*-Marina Fiorato (Some of the truth behind Romeo and Juliet!)

32. The Glassblower of Morano-Same

33. The Facade-Kathy Brown (It'll be published some day! That's my mother-in-law who's the author. I'm still the only person to read it in it's entirety...I think. Maybe some of of the other siblings have read it..I'm not sure.)

34. Madame Tussaud-Michelle Moran (Her books based in Egypt are way better.)

35. The Hangman's Daughter*-Oliver Potzsch (A surprisingly interesting read that I found at Costco. Had a fab time finishing it at the beach.)

36. The Botticelli Secret-Marina Fiorato

37. The Lost City of Z*-David Grann (A great biography that totally reads like a novel! I found it fascinating.)

38. Moloka'i-Alan Brennert (Made me want to go to Hawaii more than I already do.)

39. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand*-Helen S. Monson

40. The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise*-Julia Stuart

41. The Guernsey Literari and Potato Peel Pie Society**-Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows (Okay, so the last three books in a row are all British novels. I loved every one of them. All fabulous, but the last is my particular favorite. If you don't get British humor, you should, because they're ridiculously hilarious.)

42. The Son of Neptune-Rick Riordan

43. The Genesis Secret-Tom Knox (By far the worst book I read the whole year-but I had to finish it...I'm stubborn that way. Seriously. The worst. I even noted that on my sheet of paper I was keeping my book tally on.)

44. Inheritance*-Christopher Paolini (If you've not read it yet, do not read my next comment. I'm seriously disappointed with the way it ends. SERIOUSLY?!?! They don't even get together???!?!??! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!)

45. The Maltese Falcon-Dashiell Hammett (If you like the movie, you'll like the book. They're exactly the same in almost every detail.)

46. Michael Vey-The Prisoner of Cell 25-Richard Paul Evans

47. The Inner Circle-Brad Metzler

48. Clockwork Prince*-Cassandra Clare

49. The Night Circus**-Erin Morgenstern (SSSOOO good. Go read it. Right now.)

50. The Book of Mormon (I didn't actually finish it last. But I read it every year...most of the time I can get it in more than once. I'm already in Alma again and I finished the last time in...November?? It's always worth it. Read it every day. You'll never ever regret doing so.)

And the last book I was reading that I only got half way through is The Athena Project by Brad Thor. I finished it on the 2nd of January. So it didn't count.

Don't be expecting this many books out of me for the next two years. No way that's gonna happen with the PA program in full swing. So..I'll post a list next year of the few I manage to get in this year, but don't hold your breath. I'm only on book 4 as we speak.

Do I Wish That I'd Been Born In the Times of the Pioneers?

Yep. Sure do.

I wish I had been born in a time of less. Less of everything. Less time spent wasted on the Internet or Facebook. Less worrying about whether or not my kids will make the right decision when confronted with drugs or sex or alcohol. Less worrying about whether or not my clothes make me look fat because there was so much clothing on it didn't really matter. Less worrying about eating carbs, or whether or not I'm working out hard enough or long enough. Less time wasted on mindless television or video games. Less concern placed on looks and not on what really counts in a person. Less mouthing off and more respect shown toward others. Less development and more wide spread wild land full of beauty and mystery. Less materialism and more fulfillment in life's simple joys. Less vanity and more personal happiness based on who one really is.

Less...just less.

In May 2014...

...I will be a graduate of The George Washington University Physician Assistant Program. I will be fellow alumni with Colin Powell, J. Edgar Hoover, Alec Baldwin, Casey Affleck, and Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis to name a few. And where do I get to have graduation?

That's right. On the Mall. So mark your calendars people.

So here are some pictures from our beach trip over my birthday back in August. These are some of my favorites, and mostly speak for themselves.

Look at these eyelashes. Totally unfair.

Dead jellyfish. Both Jer and I got stung on this trip. Jerry's was much more worse, and continued to get worse over the next week. Apparently he's a little sensitive to them.

We met this family on the beach-and their little girl pictured here had a blast playing with Misha. Her name is Liesle. Sadly, that "L" at the beginning of her name got changed to a "W" a few times by Meesh. Poor thing. Good thing she was only two and wasn't bothered a bit.

Wait for it....

Oh yeah. This little boy LOVED the water.

I love southern architecture.

And one of the best things was that we got to see Kelly, Matt, and their daughter Natalie. She's pretty much family to me, and I was so glad they came and spent some time helping me celebrate my birthday. Love you guys!

Thanks to Blogger not letting me post any photos, I will have to put our beach trip pictures on hold until they fix their issue. So instead, I found this site on my friend Annie's blog. And look at what I found...it's just awesome.

http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/08/22/the-real-life-up-movie-house-interior-photos/#more-31269

Enjoy!

If the door is a rockin'...

Don't come a knockin'....we just had an earthquake out here for those that didn't know. It was a 5.8 magnitude that hit in Mineral, VA (near Richmond-about 115 miles from us) and was felt all along the eastern seaboard (all the way to Massachusetts at the highest report so far). I was on the phone with my mom at the time she felt it in her office and said, "Oh my gosh, it's an earthquake" and we immediately felt it here at the house. Pretty freaky. Certainly brings to mind the scriptures speaking of "earthquakes in diverse places" when speaking about the last days. We are certainly in them. For all our friends along the eastern seaboard-we hope you're okay. We're fine, just a little amazed and surprised.

Birthdays

We've had a lot of birthdays in the last few months-all of ours in fact. Here's some snippets of each one.

Scott-April 7

Misha-May 20

Jerry-July 8

Hayley-August 15