2008: The Year of Books!

Just wait until you see this list of books I've read. 2008 has definitely been the year of READING! Back in November I decided that I needed a new focus for the year 2009, and that is going to be the year of Health!

I'm sure I will still read just as many books, but I also want at the end of this year to be able to post just as great of accomplishments in our family of being HEALTHY. We're taking baby steps, first cutting out the junk food from our diet. Instead of ice cream on our list constantly, we can only have it once a week. Menu planning and an effort on my part to have dinners served by 6:00 pm every night. The kids input on things they would like to eat for snacks as long as they are healthy. Still need to catch that resolve to get to the gym but for now we are focusing on what goes into our bodies and what shouldn't.

So, onto my list of books read in 2008. I'll put in ITALICS my favorites! My goal was one a week, and I beat that! Compared to the year 2007 where I only read 23 books, this year I've read 67! Some of them were easy reads, but for the most part it was one novel a week.

(Edit, I am going to put how many stars I gave each book on a scale of 1-5)

1-didn't like it
2-it was ok
3-liked it
4- really liked it
5-it was amazing

January:
Goodnight nobody by Jennifer Weiner-4
It's not about me by Max Lucado-3
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella-4
Shopaholic takes Manhatten by Sophie Kinsella-4

February:
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel-5

March:
Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert-5
Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card-5
Uglies by John Westerfield-5
Pretties by John Westerfield-5
Specials by John Westerfield-5
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini-5
Can you keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella-3

April:
1000 Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini-4
19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult-1
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult-3
102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flinn-3
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb-4
What my Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Jones-4
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom-4

May:
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett-3
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella-4
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen-2
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale-5
Extras by John Westerfield-4
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray-4

June:
Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst-5
The Host by Stephanie Meyer-4
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner-2
The Road by Cormac McCarthy-5
Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer-3
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson-3

July:
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin-3
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis-5
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides-5
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey-4
Angry Housewives Eating BonBons by Lorna Landvik-4

August:
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer-3
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare-3
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray-3
Remember me by Sophie Kinsella-3
The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks-3
The Book Club cookbook by Judy Gelman-5

September:
Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray-4
The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux-3
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield-3
The Sweet Far Thing by Gemma Doyle-4
Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons-3
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier-2
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb-2
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli-4

October:
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian-5
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell-5
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husband by Dr Laura Schlessinger-3
The Meaning of Life by Bradley Trevor Grieve-4
The Incredible Truth About Mothers by Bradley Trevor Grieve-3
The Art of Expecting by Veronique Vienne-4
The Art of Imperfection by Veronique Vienne-2
The Art of Doing Nothing by Veronique Vienne-3
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine-3
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer-4

November:
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama-3
Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou-4
The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring-3
Meditations for New Mothers by Beth Wilson Saavedra-5
Awake in the Dark by Shira Nayman-3
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver-5

December
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer-4
Just Who Will You Be by Maria Shriver-2
When God Whispers your Name by Max Lucado-2
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Euginedes-1
The Birth House by Ami McKay-3

I LOVE, LOVE this movie!

Just watched it again the other day, and if you haven't watched it, you need to! Some movies just speak to you, and this one does to me. Maybe because it's about a boy who's searching for meaning in the world, and he finds it in music. Beautiful movie, well written, well acted, and the music goes straight to my heart! I've added several songs on my playlist, so stick around and listen to them for awhile...they're at the bottom of my blog.

On Being Grateful....

I've been a little AWOl it seems. We've been out of town the week before Christmas and of course there was all the preparation to get out of town, and the time to unwind once we've returned. I'll talk all about our trip on the next post, but today I just wanted to share the things I am grateful for. Typically I always have a lot more to be grateful for AFTER the holidays are over than BEFORE they start at Thanksgiving time. So here goes what's been on my mind:

I am Grateful for

1. Surprises on doorsteps, you know who you are!
2. Caring neighbors
3. In-laws, I have great ones whom I enjoy spending time with, and the kids love beyond measure.
4. A wonderful family to come home to in Utah as well.
5. The magic of Christmas my parents provided us as children. Although they created high expectations in my head of what Christmas should be like that conflict with Ken's idea of what Christmas should be like. (and that's been fun to negotiate every year) Still, I love what I had in my childhood, and thank them for that, I know it wasn't easy.
6. My Polynesian heritage, I need to reach out to that more and I can't think of a better way than to go to Hawaii or Tahiti, lol!
7. The sacrifices my Pioneer ancestry went through to get us to where we are now.
8. Ken.....I still have a post brewing about all the things I am grateful to him for, stay tuned for that on a later date.
9. The kids, I can't imagine our family without a single one of them.
10. Our amazing opportunities and privilege's we have living in North America. It's amazing when you think about it really. Why us and not them? For unto whom much is given, much is expected.

I'll just leave it at that right now...Oh wait one more Bonus one!

11. Ken's starting a new job in his health field next week. It's not the ideal pay we want to move forward in life, but it's ENOUGH, and we have to be grateful for that, (and that he doesn't have to drive around the County in this snow doing deliveries)

p.s. One last thought....everyone has those "Believe" signs up around Christmas...I always thought they were in reference to the story from Polar Express, but now I realize they mean much more than that, BELIEVE in Christ, BELIEVE in yourself, BELIEVE in Miracles. That's what matters more than this Believing in Santa...

Hope your Christmas was a good one, and may the New Year be full of joy, laughter, and many reasons to be grateful!

Speaking of blog giveaways!

I have another link to share with you! I added this blog in my google reader just recently, and they are doing a giveaway each day until Christmas! Odds are good to win too, how do I know? Because I already won a $25 GC to Downeast Outfitters from them! So excited to get something new to wear!

Click right here to go to the blog!

Let me know if you've seen any other blog giveaways lately too!

Happy Holidays, gotta love them, huh!

My friends giving away an ipod shuffle!

I have an online friend named Angie, and she's giving away an ipod shuffle if you post on her blog your favorite meal or snack. Extra points if you post a link on your blog to her giveaway! So, here I go! My kids all wanted ipod/mp3 players for Christmas! Sigh.... I still remember the day I thought a portable cassette player was cool, and oh yeah, when portable cd players came out! They were so cheap back then it seems!

Here's a link to her blog post with the giveaway! So go enter, and if you win and don't need it, you always know where to send it (wink, wink ;) )

Click right here

Yeah, and that's the first time I've discovered how to share a link, so thanks Angie for the motivation!