Here's Looking at You Kid - Or Just for Julie J.

I have not been in a blogging mood for quite some time. I've still been trying to process the events of the past year and get some perspective on things. My boys don't live at home any more and so I don't have them and their silly teenage antics to blog about and my husband has been dealing with a pretty major depression and some other issues since his Father passed away that has made life kind of difficult and not something I can really write about because its not fully my story to tell.

Maybe at some point I'll start writing about the mundane and I'll be in a place where I can people watch and give sarcastic, witty commentary.

I have been working on a couple of children's stories and will hopefully start submitting them this spring. Of course I don't hold out any real hope of being published because I'm not a celebrity.

Nonetheless just because I love my Cousin Julie soooooo much...I'm answering the questions from her blog that she tagged me with.

1) What is the best (or your favorite) book you have ever ready and why?

It's hard to choose but I have TWO favorites. The first is Anne of Green Gables. I was introduced to Prince Edward Island and Anne's world by a favorite English teacher I had in 7th grade. Middle School was an awkward time for me and so Anne and I became fast friends. It's a relationship that continues to this day. I read Anne of Green Gables almost every year. Anne always had the best of intentions but was forever getting into "scrapes" I could really identify with her. We were the same age when I started reading the books.

The second is Persuasion by Jane Austen - Jane Austen had a rare talent for depicting human nature, and creating a sense of drama and tension without becoming melodramatic. Each story is a love story, tempered with some clever commentary on the society of Austen's day. Despite the formal stuffiness of the time, Austen painted her stories vividly -- powerful emotions and vivid splashes of prose, as well as some really delicious dialogue ("Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way"). And she also weaves in some intensely romantic moments as well ("I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever"). In Persuasion Anne Elliott, the heroine, is sensible, smart and witty, yet she is undervalued by her family because she is not willing to sink to their depths of shallowness with regard to her appearance and the company she keeps. As a girl she let herself be guided by someone she respected and who she thought was above the ridiculousness of her family's rank. But she was led astray and she spurned the one man she truly loved. Years later when Mr. Wentworth has become Captain Wentworth and has made his fortune he comes back into Anne's life and realizes that he has always loved Anne and in the end they are reunited. I think I really relate to Anne because the heroine is not the most beautiful or the most accomplished...yet she proves herself to be the most deserving of true happiness.

2) What is your favorite meal to cook? 

I go in waves of what my favorite meal to cook is. Lately it has been anything I can throw into my crockpot. I have been enjoying a lot of really good soups lately. My favorite has been my 3 Bean Chicken Chili. Very filling and comforting, healthy with lots of fiber and protein and goes great with a salad. It's the kind of recipe that you just dump in set the timer for a few hours and when you get home you have a really nice meal waiting for you.

3)  If you could have lived in any other era which would it have been?

This too varies quite a bit depending on what book I'm reading at the time. But mostly I think I would have like to lived in Regency England during Jane Austen's time. I'm really fascinated by the history and culture of the era and the Empire waist dresses...love them. 


I also have dreamed of being a World War II spy and helping to save Holocaust victims. Or some self-sacrificing work...I could have been a really great Rosie the Riveter. Or actually I think I would have been one of the Female World War II pilots...that would have been way cool!


4) Who have you been told you look like?


I wish I could say Madeline Stowe...but without fail everyone who's ever known my Dad says I look just like him.


5) Favorite TV show?


My favorite is Blue Bloods on CBS. I love cop shows but this one is a bit different because it is about a family of cops. There is a lot that I can relate to from my own growing up years. They are also a close knit Irish family like the McGivens! I watch every Friday night...even the reruns because it feels like home.


6) What brings you inner peace?


Reading my scriptures and praying...and I love reading the conference talks. Curling up with a really good book seems to settle my soul like nothing else. I guess it would be reading in general, but particularly those things with a really good moral or spiritual message.


7) Tell me something you're good at?

I'm actually pretty good at flower arranging. I went to school for floral design and I really enjoy doing it. I worked at a Florist before I got married but after I was married I have only done freelance work. I have a friend who is a photographer and she and I have been doing a pretty good side business for budget weddings. That sort of seems to be my forte is figuring out how to get the most decorative bang for your buck. I did a wedding this fall where all of the centerpieces were made from flowers I made using strips of felt and we used old canning jars and burlap and ribbon to create really pretty fall rustic atmosphere and then used fresh flowers for the bridal party and it saved the family a lot of money.

8) Ever chopped your hair super short?


My entire childhood was spent in short curly hair. My Grandmother, bless her heart, fancied herself a hair stylist and she would always cut my hair and my sister Julie's hair in these dumb shag, blunt bowl cuts. It was hideous. I think that is why I have such hair issues today. I hate my hair long, but I hate it short too and I have uber curly hair that I can't figure out how to properly tame without horrible chemicals. See for yourself. Most days I feel like a Wookie!

9) What is included in your vision of a perfect day?


Several years ago when my boys were pretty young we took a short family vacation to Natural Bridge Virginia. I would do that day again...it went like this.


Wake up in a nice hotel (I won a weekend stay from a contest at work and it was a REALLY nice hotel). Go and have a leisurely breakfast at the Pink Cadillac Diner and take lot's of goofy family pictures in the historic cars parked outside. Take a drive through the wild animal park and feed the animals. Go miniature golfing and eat really good hamburgers at the Natural Bridge Cafe. Hike to Lace Fall and play in the water. Visit the Indian Village and participate in the many demonstrations. Go back to the Hotel for a  bit of a rest before dinner. Kids and husband fall asleep and I enjoy an hour of peace and quiet on the verandah of our Hotel room reading a good book. Finish up the day with a really fun dinner show at the Magic Castle. 


10) What piece of furniture in your house is your favorite or that you are most happy with?


I have always thought that sleigh beds were the ultimate in bedroom coziness, comfort and romance. A few years ago we finally saved enough money to buy some new bedroom furniture and we got a sleigh bed.


I would show you mine...but my bed never gets made because when I'm out of it...my husband is usually still in it because he works different hours than me. But it is very comfy and cozy. The only problem is that makes it really hard to get up in the mornings.

11) If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go, and who would you go with and how long would you like to stay.


I would love to do a month long tour of the British Isles. I really want to see the English lake district where Beatrix Potter lived at the end of her life. I want to visit Ireland and the Isle of Man and my husband wants to do a tour of the castles. We are saving our money for someday being able to do something like that. I also want to go to Prince Edward Island for a couple of weeks and pretend to be Anne of Green Gables. I would do all of these with my husband because he is my best buddy and we have a lot of fun when we travel together.


Alright I tag anyone who reads this blog. I'm going to be shameless and just use the same questions that Julie asked me because I'm lazy like that!