Annual Holiday Book Exchange

I have been a book club with some close friends for a a little over two years now. We all get together at the beginning of the year and vote on the 11 (we don't read January- that is our voting month) books we will be reading. We always have a great choice of books, a lot of them I would never have picked but I ended up loving. At the end of the year we have dinner at a fun restaurant and do a book exchange. This year we met at the Bushambe Tea House in Boulder; the Tea House has all sorts of foreign foods (Indoneishan mainly). It is delicious and has such distinctive and strong flavors.

Jaime, Kristen and Tanaya

Wendy, Aubrey and Uli

Uli, Me and Emily

This year for the exchange I recieved The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is a book about World War II and I have been wanting to read it. I am really excited to have this chance.

Here are the books we read this year in book club:
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd- This is a chick flick, girl meets boy and falls in love, book but it is interesting because it takes place in a bakery


Oneness with All Life by Eckhart Tolle- This is a book of inspirational quotes (I must admit I didn’t really read this one).

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza- This is a true account of how a woman finds God through the Rwandan genocide. This was one of my favorites.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin- This was a mystery with an interesting ending but it was written for a much younger age and was a little dull and boring.

Matched by Ally Condie- This is a ‘Giver’ esk book about a strange ‘perfect’ futuristic society and a girl who goes against the idea of arranged marriage.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot- This is a scientific history about the woman who’s cells (HeLa) began almost all medical advancement in cancer research and many other ailments.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne- This is a story about World War II from the perspective of a little German boy, who finds himself friends with a Jewish boy in a concentration camp.

The Blue Zone by Dan Buettnet- This is a documentary of the lifestyles of groups of people throughout the world that have the highest life expectancy rates.

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde- A comedic mystery in which all the characters are from Nursey Rhymes. Very clever and very funny.

Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Party

Some of our good friends threw a Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Party the other night, and it was a lot of fun. They went online and found recipes for non-alcoholic cocktails (catered to pregnant women who can't drink) and we made those; drinks like a 'Warmer' (pear juice, lemon and cinnamon) it was all so delicious. AS with a cocktail party we all got to dress up and there were h’orderves. We had a white elephant gift exchange (each couple brought one real and one goofy present and they were all in one big pile so you never knew what you would get).  It was so much fun and there were a lot of laughs. After lots of stealing Ben and I ended up with drinking glasses (one side of the eye glasses are in the drink and the other is in your mouth- very funny) and delicious chocolate bars. As always it was wonderful spending an evening with our close friends; talking, laughing and, of course, eating.

Zach got a bump it- so his hair could be bumped and beautiful (Utah hair- ahhh).

Natalie, Jaime and Eric- Lounging

Aubrey, Emily and Tanaya- Anxiously awaiting the next gift!!

I got drinking glasses- Ben tried them on for size!

Maybe a little too much Mocktail!

Melted Dessert

I was asked to make a dessert for our annual Relief Society Christmas Activity. I found a recipe for Salty Carmel Shortbread squares on Pinterest decided to try those. It took some learning and cooking skills I had not yet done (candy thermometers, ect) but it turned out great. I made them the night before and left them to set and harden.


The next day I ran home from work, cut them into squares, plated them and was off to the activity. By dessert time they had melted into one big pile of shortbread and caramel. I don't know what happened, was the caramel to soft? Did I not let it boil long enough? Was the shortbread slippery (haha)? Needless to say, they did not get served for dessert at the Activity, some ladies chipped off a piece and ate it and told me it was delicious.

I took this picture as I started cutting because I was going to put it and the recipe on the cooking blog but I probably wont now.

Nedra told me to cut them up and roll them into balls, pushing the caramel and shortbread even closer, this however lead to melted balls on a plate. So, I don't think I will be making this recipe again!!

Frosty Window Panes

Before the winter started we got our front window re-done and resealed. This has been a great blessing as the cold winter months have approached. However we were not able to get all of our windows/doors fixed so we have been having some 'cold' problems. Our front door is not actually an exterior door and because of the carpet it does not close completely to the floor. You can see light streaming in under the door, which was bearable until it got below freezing and you could feel a frozen breeze coming in, resulting in a bundled up towel by the front door.


The other day we were down by our game room and noticed it was very cold, despite the heater being on. And we found that our back windows and door were not as insulated as we initially thought. We had ice covering the INSIDE of the windows and backdoor. So we covered those seals with towels and extra sheets. We have been able to control the cold pretty well; the only problem is that we are running out of towels!

This shows that this is not dew/fog it is indeed ice (this is toward the top of the door- not down by the seal at all).

The Interest in Pinterest

I have been hearing about Pinterest from some of my friends for a while but was a little skeptical. Pinterest is an online billboard where you can find something online and 'pin' it to your board for future use (example: recipes, Sewing patterns, crafts, home design ideas, family games, ect). These pins are also shared on a group page, where others (usually friends/family) can see what you pin, and in turn you can see what they pin. By looking at these things you get more ideas (that you can pin to your wall of stuff to remember). Many of these 'pins' come from blogs, which you can peruse and find more things to pin. It is an ever going link of creativity and fun. I find that I am really enjoying it, even, sadly to admit, addicted to it. I have to check it, I have to know what others have found. I have to find new creative and innovative things to fill my 'part-time stay at home' lifestyle.

Ben has been teasing me about it and when I sit down to show him things, he even gets into it and wants to link and see more things. If you have not experienced this wonder of internet and blog browsing, you should defiantly try it out.

pinterest.com