Goodreads

One of my goals last year was to read more. I have found that when I read more for fun, I do better in school (as long as I also read for class, of course). I felt that I did read a lot more last year and now it's just a habit. If I'm not currently reading a book, I'm all antsy and feel empty. 

Just recently, one of my best friends, Nina, graduated from BYU (yay Nina!). With more time on her hands, she's been reading. It has been so fun to share books and talk about the characters, what we like and don't like, and how we feel about the book in general. Having a reading buddy makes reading even more fun. 

Nina also introduced me to this website called goodreads.com. I don't know how I didn't know about this before. But let's just say that it's awesome. It's a great way to gauge if you'll like a book or not, depending on your friends' and others' reviews. I also love that you can create read and to-read lists. I was just browsing books and came across a ton of books that I read as a child that I had completely forgotten about! I rediscovered the memories of Wayside High, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Holes, Little House on the Prairie, and so many other books. I remember loving these, although I vaguely remember what they were about. Now I want to reread these childhood favorites. I also remembered books that I had read as a middle school-er, that seemed way too dark and deep for a 12 year-old. I wonder if I really understood what I was reading. Those books also deserve a reread. 

I'm also very excited for the long list of books to read. I've always had a current to-read list, but having it online makes it so much easier to manage. If you have a goodreads account, add me. If you don't, create one! Here's to 2012 and a year full of good reads! 

 

Day at Sea & Captain's Night - Day 3

Tuesday was a great day. Papo, Bruce, and Blaine played basketball for hours. Damaris and I watched them play for a little bit and took some pretty cool pictures of them. They continued playing while we lounged around. I was able to begin a book that I've been meaning to read for while now. It's titled The Peacegiver by James L. Ferrell. My mom had it at home and I decided to pick it up. It was a short, easy read and really insightful. I usually don't enjoy LDS fiction, but this was good. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We just hang out with everybody and ate (of course). A family favorite on the lunch menu this cruise was the chicken fingers. The chicken fingers were good, but the honey mustard that came with it was what made it the bomb. We also went to the jacuzzi and pool for a little bit. The boys obviously didn't get enough exercise playing basketball and decided to hit the gym with my uncle, Ulises.

Tuesday night was also Captain's Night. This is when all the people on the cruise dress up a little bit nicer than usual. The food is usually a little bit fancier as well. We had yummy lobster. I hadn't eaten lobster in a long time. Blaine was pretty excited and ordered 2 for himself. Personally, my favorite part of the meal every night was the appetizer. I'd always order whichever soup was available (I really like soups). If there wasn't anything on the menu that I liked one night, I'd just order 2 cups of soup. I can eat soup everyday and not get tired of it.

As a family, we always take a picture on Captain's Night. We were all planning on it but then Ulises wasn't feeling great and had to go to bed early. But we still took some professional pictures. I took one with Blaine, one with Papo and Damaris, and then one with all of us and my mom. It was a lot of fun. The thing with taking these pictures is that they always come out nice. On our first 2 cruises, my family went crazy buying all the pictures we took. Carnival is pretty sneaky. They take the pictures, print them out, display them every night, and then once you have it in your hand, how are you not going to buy it? My mom would always shoo away the random photographers asking if we wanted our pictures taken. She said that if she saw pretty pictures of her kids, it was too much of a temptation not to buy them. She's a funny lady.

After dinner, we went to one of the shows on board. It was like a musical of music through the years. I had seen it before the last time I was on the Valor. They need to update their shows! We ended up leaving early and...playing Monopoly Deal. We also went to the arcade and played some games there. Papo and Blaine would've stayed there all night if we didn't drag them out. All in all, it was a good night!

To the Rescue

One of my goals for 2011 was to get back into reading...like really back into reading. Years ago, I read for leisure everyday - no matter what. I really feel that it helped me intellectually and emotionally. So far, I've read about 2 books this year and now I'm reading President Monson's biography by Heidi S. Swinton. I confess, I've never read a full biography before. I always found them to be boring. When I was sick a couple of weeks ago, I decided to do something productive with my time in bed and started reading "To the Rescue." It has been everything but boring! Maybe it's because I'm reading about a true, prophet of God. I don't know. This biography has made me realize that Thomas S. Monson, who is called "Tom" or "Tommy" by some, is an ordinary man. His life has had ups and downs. He's had to work hard for what he wanted. He had doubts. He was scared. He felt inadequate.  What I find extraordinary about him is that he took those negative feelings and decided to react optimistically. He put his trust in the Lord and knew that everything would work out, as long as he did his best. From his life and example, I am learning great truths. I also feel like I know him just a little bit more, even though I might never meet him. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is God's chosen and anointed vessel to guide us in these latter days. I know that as we strive to keep our lives in line with the counsel of the Prophet, we will be blessed with happiness, peace, and purposeful lives.

I highly recommend this book to anybody - young, old, married, single, parent, Church member, non-member. It will make your day a little brighter to know that people of good character and morals, like Thomas S. Monson, still exist today in a world that is dwindling in values.