A Book: Austenland

"Austenland" by Shannon Hale

Goodread Summary:
Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined. 
Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen;or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

My Rating and Review
I love Shannon Hale. Her books are captivating. This book was a little different for me. It was entertaining and it kept my attention. It just wasn't my favorite. I just couldn't feel a connection with Jane, the main character. I wasn't really rooting for her or hoping things would work out. I guess I am cold hearted. Maybe, because for me, the whole premise was too far fetched. But, neither is Hunger Games and I loved that series. I am willing to give Austenland a 2 1/2 star rating. It's the best I can do.

Fajitas...in soup form

Some really good soup.

Found it on the Six Sister's Stuff blog.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Fajita Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
2 cups frozen corn
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro (optional)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
favorite toppings

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken into slow cooker.
In a bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, salsa, corn, black beans, water, cumin, and cilantro. Pour over chicken in slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (or high for 2-3 hours). Remove chicken and shred using 2 forks. Put chicken back into slow cooker, add cheese, and let cook for 15 more minutes. Serve with your favorite fajita toppings (tomato, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, etc).

Rich

I keep wondering when I am going to be rich.

I'm not talking about rich with love and family and friends and blessings.

I'm talking rich with money. You know...the stuff that can buy stuff.

I keep thinking that it will be tomorrow.

"Dream big!" they say. So I do. I dream...the impossible dream. Sometimes I go to bed early just so I can put dream longer.

But then I wake up...

...not rich!

Sigh....

Maybe tomorrow.

Now if you will excuse me...

...I've got some dreams to catch.


**If only it were that easy.

So, I Married a Deaf Man: Check please.

16 was the age.

A rite of passage. Driving? That was cool but not what I had been waiting for for my whole life.

What had I, along with most other 16 year old girls, been waiting for our whole lives?

Dating.

Having someone like you enough to ask you to spend the evening with them. Someone who liked you enough to buy you dinner, or take you out to a movie, or bowling, or whatever. That's how you make a girl  feel special.

And feel special I did.

Now, we all know how important it is to continue dating after marriage. It gives you time to remember that, "Hey! You clean up nice" and "Wow! So this is what adult conversations are like." and "Hey! I do like you!" Yeah, dating after marriage...but mostly after children...is important.

That's why Hubs and I go out almost every Friday night.

What I can't understand is why, when we go out to a restaurant, I get stuck with the bill.

Every time.

It's not because Hubs isn't willing. He likes me enough to father 5 children... he better like me enough to buy me dinner. It's not because I have more money than him....we share the same bank account. If he's broke, I'm broke.

The reason why I always get stuck with the bill is because the waiter always hands me the check.

Always.

I ask: is this normal? No, really. I want to know from you women who are married?? Is the check normally given to the woman? I mean, it has been a while since I've dated a hearing man. But when I did, the check was always either handed to the guy or put in the center of the table.

Are they assuming that just because Hubs is Deaf, he is unable to pay the check? Do they assume that I am paying because I am voicing the orders and the 'thank you's'  and all that?

It would be interesting to see what would happen if I just didn't talk. Would they assume Hubs was paying?  Would they place it in the middle or the table and let us arm wrestle over whose card gets to be used?  Would the dinner be free, as neither of us are talking?

That sounds like an interesting study of human behavior.

But for now, it seems,  he who speaks....

...pays.

We know our own

What is it about other people's kids' poop?

Look, I have changed my share of poopy diapers. Heck I have 5 kids... all of them poop. Lucky for me, they are all out of diapers and I don't have to have an intimate relationship with their "goings" anymore.

But I remember those years...
...12 years of wiping wreckage...
....and let's face it: Poop stinks!
It just does.

But why do other people's kids' poop reek WAY worse than my own kids'???

I admit there were times when changing my kids' diapers that there was a gag or two. But they were few and far between. (Now, if you are Hubs, then you gag at the very thought of changing a poopy diaper...but that' Hubs...and another post for another time.)

But without question, every time I changed another's diaper pile, I had to hold my breath or I was going to lose my lunch. EVERY TIME!

Does anyone have any insight on this most important matter?  

Book Review: Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Summary from Goodreads
 "Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

"Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart."

I love that this book looks at the other people who suffered during WWII. We know what happened to the Jews, but there were many others who suffered from cruel leaders. I loved that amid all the horrible things that were going on, Lina's mother was so kind and kept herself human, looking out for others. I love that not only did we get to see what Lina was experiencing now, but also were able to have glimpses into what her family's lives were like before the horrible. The only thing that I didn't like was that I felt the ending is a little abrupt. That being said but I would still recommend this book to anyone.

Have you read it? What did you think?

 

Mmmmm….mmmmm…mmmmmm!

Just to mix things up a bit, here is a recipe that I recently found on Pinterest that my family…everyone in my family…that is seven people, People!… loved.

So worth sharing!

I got the recipe from the blog, No. 2 Pencil. You have to try it!!

One Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of diced yellow onion
• 1 cup of uncooked extra-long grain rice
• 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 2 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups of colby jack, monterey jack or cheddar cheese
• kosher salt and pepper
• freshly diced tomatoes
• diced green onions
• sour cream
• guacamole

Instructions

1. Start by sautéing onions in 2 tablespoon of olive oil until they start to soften.
2. Season diced chicken with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
3. Add chicken to pan and cook over medium high heat until chicken has started to brown.
4. Move chicken to one side of pan, in the other side of the pan add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and sauté uncooked rice for about 2 minutes or just until some grains start to turn golden brown.
5. Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin.
6. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low.
7. Cook about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
8. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
9. Sprinkle with cheese, recover and let set for 2-3 off heat to melt cheese.
10. Garnish with fresh tomatoes, green onions, sour cream and guacamole.

That IS loud!

"Mom! Make him move," Brigham cried.

"Why?" I asked, as I pulled up my chair to the table.

"Because he smacks his lips so loud that his food flies onto my plate."

Whoa! That is a problem.
 
He must get it from his father.


Linking up with Mama Kat's writer's workshop.

Hello! It's me....

For the last 16 years of my life we have lived in places where the sun shines abundantly.

We lived 7 years in Mesa, AZ where the sun burns....and I do mean BURNS...brightly most of the year round.

We moved to New Mexico where we lived for the next 9 years with about the same amount of sunlight, with a fraction of the heat.

You can never really appreciate something until you have lived without it. And for the last 16 years, I haven't had to live without the sun.

Until now....

We moved to Logan, UT this last August. Beautiful place. Beautiful fields of green all over. Mountains to the east and to the west. Perfect weather.

But then the sun decided hide from me. It's been hiding since Dec.

It goes to bed early and it gets up late. It hides behind snow clouds, (snow...something that we love and have never really lived in) . It hides behind the fog. It hides behind the inversion. Why?

I really miss it. I miss waking up to sun on a cold day. I miss it's warm light as it fills the sky in the middle of the day. I miss sitting in front of my living-room window as the sun sets and seeing the last of it's light tucking away behind the mountains.

So you can imagine my excitement when I came outside and saw this....

 

Hello, Old Friend. Why don't you stay a while?


Linking up with Jen Matlock's Warm Heart Wednesday.

Books

I love to read.

I haven't always…you know. Back when you were forced to read for a grade. Yeah, that's no fun. But sometime after I had kids, I discovered that reading was a great release for me.

I have read over 172 books in the last 3 years.

Yeah, I've gotten over the hating.

I thought I would share some of my favorites here.
(If you are still in the hating stage, you can just skip this entry. I will never know.)

And please promise me you will never read any of these books below….Please!

There you go. I may add more books as I read them.

Reading makes me happy and I thought I would share my happy with you all here.

Happy reading.

Crush-ed

His name was Shiloh

Shiloh Hatcher.

(I had to include the last name as the name Shiloh, in my house, conjures up images of a cute beagle puppy. I did not have a crush on a puppy.)

He lived in the a barn house. Not a BARN. But rather a  house that looked like a barn. A big brown barn-like house. For some reason I also remember that he had a really big pinwheel like see-saw that allowed up to 6 kids on at one time. (That's weird that I remember that...) 

He was a sun-kissed (evident by the thousands of freckles), blonde haired, boot wearing beauty. No-one knew I liked him...heck, I was in 2nd grade.  I probably didn't even know that.

But I did. I did like him.

Until I didn't... .  

Well, he liked me too. How do I know this?

Because he would chase me at recess. "Ah, well, that doesn't prove he liked you," you may say. "What 8 year old boy doesn't chase a girl now and again?"

It wasn't the chasing that proved he liked me. That was normal for a cute, spunky, little girl, like I was, to be chased by boys at recess.

 It was what he did when he caught me.

I remember the day he caught me, because he did only catch me once. I remember I was wearing my pink velvety shirt (Odd that I remember that fact as well....although it was my favorite shirt so the chances that I was wearing it are very high!)  He chased me until finally he caught me.

Then he did the thing that made me un-like him.

He leaned in and he kissed me right on the cheek.

It was at that moment I knew that I did not like him anymore. Maybe because I was embarrassed. Maybe it was because I liked it and I didn't know, at that early age, what to do with a kiss from the boy I liked. Maybe it was because he had caught me and I was afraid the fun was gone.

Most likely I didn't want to be tied down to one man at the age of 8 years, no matter how cute he was. I was a deep thinker back then.

So my first crush was killed by a kiss.  

Post Script:
I dodged a bullet on that one because he later became a troublemaker....probably never recovered from the crushing blow I inflicted on him at such an early age.

Sorry, Shiloh.

I'm thinking I might like breakfast a little more these days.

Sometimes kids just make me crazy. Not other people's kids....okay, that's not entirely true. But in general, I like people of all ages.

I'm more talking about my own children.

We are simultaneously (look at that big word) raising 2 teenagers, a tween, a pre-tweens and a 1st grader. I love them dearly. But there are moments when liking them....just simply isn't an option.

I'm a horrible person, I know. But at least I am an honest one.

But then, there are days when they save themselves and all is well in the universe. This was one of those times.

I have been having to leave early in the mornings in order to get to work. Most the time I am out the door before my elementary kids are up.

My little Camden has been having a tough time at school and my not being there in the morning has been hard on him.

The other day he said to me, "Mom. I wish you were here in the morning, You are like Breakfast, the most important part of the day!"

 Wait...did you just hear that??

I think it was my heart exploding!

Linking up with Ms. Matlock's Warm Heart Wednesday. Check it out!