Through the Ages

Recently I have been thinking about all the post 1900 time periods in America and how they each have their own distinct culture, history, fashion, music, media. They are pretty distinctly different too, they each have basically their own personality. There is the 20's with the jazz age, flappers, and push for liberation... the 50's with the poodle skirts, diners, and rock n' roll... the 70's with the hippie culture and clothing... the 80's with the bright colors, pop and techno music, and spandex... and so much more between. I have found that many girls have a particular time period that they relate with most. I have friends that are all about the 50's culture, the 70's influenced style and colors, or bright colors and fun music of the 80's. And styles always cycle over time so we always see fashion influenced by the different time periods. Recently I have been thinking about which time period I most relate to since I don't really relate as much to the most prominent ones even though I think each era has some really cool, unique things to offer. Well I have finally figured it out: the 1940's! There are so many things that I like about the 1940's although I have discovered most of them in the more recent years of my life. As a teenager I didn't really like a ton of 'old' movies or music. Maybe it just had something to do with being a teenager, but I have found more recently that there are actually a lot that I like. Some of my favorite movies from the 40's:


I have also found that I really like the music of crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby:


I also like the classic style fashion of the time period with women in dresses and guys wearing suits (not that I am complaining about wearing pants now, I am completely okay with that).

I've got to say I really like the fedora too

My favorite time period of all time is still definitely the Medieval age (I will always love the castles, royalty, knights, and more!) but the 1940's is my favorite of the modern ages.

Creation Appreciation

This weekend a couple different things made me think about the creation and how I took it for granted a lot of the time- some aspects more than others. I went to the Bean Museum for the first time with Samuel Friday night and it was really cool to see all of the taxidermy animals. Samuel's child like excitement for all the animals made me see how truly amazing animals are and that were given a day in the creation. It made me think back to my childhood and all of the animals that I liked, as well as the other aspects of the creation I really enjoy as well.

As a child my favorite animals were the polar bear and the cheetah:



Then a little later in my childhood I became obsessed with monkeys(which I still really like)



Samuel's favorite animal is the penguin:


He also really likes wolves and says that if he were an animal he would be a wolf:


Of all the plants that were created, I would have to say my favorite are the lily and big, strong trees. Especially ones you can build tree forts in or hang swings from :)



There are many different landscapes that I love, including the rolling hills, snow covered land, and the mountains


Water bodies such as the ocean are always a beautiful sight as well. Water in general is a beautiful thing in the way that moves, reflects light, etc



There are many beautiful forms of light as well, my favorite being the sunset

And of course, I am also grateful for the creation of man which is also a pretty beautiful and amazing thing.

Books Read in 2011

As promised, here is my list of books read in 2011. I really liked this idea of keeping a record, and I plan on continuing it. This year I have really expanded my previous reading material and have read many different kinds of books and really liked doing so. My book taste has been much more eclectic as I have read fiction, non fiction, young adult novels, historical fiction, dystopian, fantasy, memoirs, fairy tale retellings, paranormal, inspirational, and holiday. I plan on continuing to expand my reading material this next year and I already have more books than I can read planned for next year. I am sure the list will only get longer. Here is the list of the books I have read this year in order:

1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
2. Things I Wish I'd Known Before We Got Married by Gary Chapman
3. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
4. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
5. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
6. Pretties by Scott Westerfield
7. Before My Heart Stops: a Memoir by Paul Cardall
8. Specials by Scott Westerfield
9. Extras by Scott Westerfield
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth
11. Between Shades of Gray by Rupta Sepetys
12. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
13. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
14. Possession by Elana Johnson
15. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
16. Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans
17. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
18. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
19. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
20. Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
21. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson
22. The Giver by Lois Lowry (reread)
23. Entwined by Heather Dixon
24. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
25. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
26. Steel by Carrie Vaughn
27. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
28. Blood Red Road by Moira Young
29. Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories, anthology edited by Meagan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones
30. Matched by Ally Condie (reread)
31. Variant by Robison Wells
32. Lost December by Richard Paul Evans
33. Crossed by Ally Condie
34. The Battle of Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
35. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
36. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
37. Legend by Marie Lu
38. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans (reread)
39. The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
40. Gathering Christmas by Larry R Laycock
41. The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke

*I am currently in the middle of reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis , so that will be on next year's list

Almost all of the books I have read this year I have really liked, some of them I loved! Here are pictures of some of my favorites from this year:



Samuel wanted to include his little list of books he read this year as well. He was very proud:
1. The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day by Cornelius Ryan
2. Calvin and Hobbes: Weirdos From Another Planet by Bill Watterson
3. Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis by Lisa Sanders (He had almost finished this one before he misplaced it, so he will finish it once he finds it again)
4. The Kolob Theorem by Lynn M Hilton (Half of it, he still needs to finish the rest)
5. Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Ronald W Walker and others

I hope you all found some good books to read this year as well!

Christmases Past

With Christmas coming in only a week, I am thinking of memories of past Christmases. We have had some good times!

My brothers on my first Christmas

Yes, I am the camel. And Jeff is the wiseman. He made me give him a ride on to the stage.

Santa came to our house!

We had a lot of fun building this

Snow football!

Enacting the Nativity Story

Helping Hyrum go through his stocking

Samuel met my family last Christmas and some of us went caving

Christmas Eve last year