Twilight

Okay, so, I realize I am pretty obsessive and nerdy when it comes to books. And so this will make me sound even more so. But I have to confess, I might have a tiny crush on the main character in the latest book I'm reading.

He's 18. And a vampire. Actually, he's like 110, so it's not THAT bad. Right? Right.

I always get attached to the characters in my books. I fall in love with their stories, get caught up in their fictional lives and honestly care what happens to them. Tyler doesn't get this at all. I've actually only ever seen him read one fiction book the whole time I've known him. He thinks I'm a little weird. I think he is too. We're both right.

And I think he might be a little worried that I'm a bit too attached to the aforementioned vampire. But, I kid you not, this is one of the most mesmerizing characters I've read in a long time. And oh boy, the love story between him and the human girl he's in love with will make you SWOON. That's right, I said swoon.

So, I'm not playing around when I say you should rush out and get this book as soon as you can. It's actually a series of 4 books, but the first one is called "Twilight". You will love it. One of my fellow blog readers read the whole book in one day. And it's over 500 pages long. It's THAT good.

And the bonus? They're making it into a movie. Let the obsession continue...

Happy Birthday, Savannah!

It's our sweet niece's birthday today and we wanted to send her a shout out in the blog world. She's clearly awesome, as you can tell from the Auburn shirt she's wearing. Savannah, you'll thank us later for posting this picture of you. Happy Birthday! We love ya.

~Ty-Ty and Jennifer

KISS

Just some Friday fun - too funny not to share! Happy Weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1uHWyQHMK0

Morpheus and the Bee

Is it just me or does Laurence Fishburne play every character he's given exactly the same? We watched Akeelah and the Bee a few nights ago. All I could think of the entire time was that Morpheus was teaching an 10 year old girl how to spell, and that at any moment he would begin explaining the Matrix. It's the exact same delivery - every time. I swear.

Bible Trivia

I'm sure some of you have heard Tyler's infamous Bible trivia story. Only he can tell it as well as it should be told, but suffice it to say, it involved Noah, the F word, and a hearty dose of parental discipline. If he ever wants to be a guest blogger, I recommend that be his first post. It's high comedy.

So, when we were visiting his family this weekend, we brought Bible trivia back with us. This was prompted by my daily reading of the Bible and wanting to see if my knowledge of it was increasing. FYI - it is, but it is nowhere near where it should be if I ever wanted to play competitive Bible trivia. Luckily, I don't.

However, high comedy again ensued on the following exchange between Tyler and I as we were playing on the way back home.

Me: Why did Moses remove his shoes before approaching the burning bush?
Tyler: Because his feet were hot.

People, you couldn't pay me to write this stuff. We both laughed for about 5 miles - I even cried a little.

Home Sweet Home

There is an area in my life that is severely lacking. That's right, there's only one. Pretty impressive, right?

I seem to be missing the gene that motivates one to decorate their home. I have lived in my house for 3 1/2 years now. It looks pretty much the same as it did about 6 months after we moved in. Don't get me wrong - it looks lived in - we have furniture, we have pictures - but aren't I supposed to have the walls all decorated and curtains hung by now? I thought it was cool that I didn't have curtains because I have wooden blinds, but was informed by a friend that I really should have them. Oops. And I have great plans for artwork for the walls, but somehow, they are still blank. Except the downstairs - the place people actually see is pretty fixed up. I'm fooling everyone. MWAHAHA!

I admit part of this is due to my own laziness. But the other part, I think, is my hesitance in putting down roots here. I miss my hometown, I want to move back one day, and so it makes me feel less connected if I haven't invested a lot. Which is a little ridiculous, actually. Why would I not want to feel at home in the city I've lived in for oh, 7 years now? It is, in fact, my home after all. I'm perfectly happy here and if I ever do move away, I would miss it terribly (mostly I would just miss all my friends terribly). Or maybe all of this is just an excuse for me to be lazy. It's very possible.

But really, as long as it feels like a home, does it really matter if it doesn't look like a "house"?

However, I hereby declare that I am going to start making a concerted effort to "spruce up" the place. My role models will be: my friend, Kristin, who after being in her house for 6 months, looked like she had been there years longer and my sister-in-law, Melissa, who is a decorating rock star. As Chicago would say "You're the inspiration."

I knew I could get an 80's reference in this post.

Summer Reading

With the absence of most good television this summer, except of course, So You Think You Can Dance (and The Closer), I've had a lot more time to read. Also, I went on vacation for a week, so that helped too. Here are 2 excellent books I've read so far this summer.


The Shack by William P. Young
I'm going to have to read this book again. There's so much I missed and so much I want to go back and re-read. It's the story of Mack and his struggle with his faith and coming to know God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit. It's one of the most challenging, gut-wrenching, uplifting books I've ever read. Young has a gift for writing in a relatable, kind of folksy, way. It's like he's just a good friend, telling you a story, which made me feel the emotions so much more and understand the story in a completely different way. It caused me to re-examine my faith and look at it a different way, which is always good thing in my book. No pun intended. Well, maybe I sort of intended it. :)

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
This woman is an excellent writer. She is hilarious, relevant, touching and she clearly loves movies, which immediately made me love her, of course. It's an unconventional love story that's both sweet and bittersweet, filled with laugh out loud moments and "I'm not crying, I've just got something in my eye" moments. She really knows how to tell a story and I was riveted and entertained from the first sentence. Clearly, this is a completely different book than The Shack and I was glad I had chosen it to read afterwards - it was just what I needed.

Other books in the wings right now:
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George
The Bible - I've never read the Bible completely through and so I've gotten a little schedule that breaks it out for me to read in a year. I'm on day 11 and I'll tell you, the Old Testament is way more fascinating than I thought.

It's shaping up to be a busy summer of reading - ahh, love it.