Jason Mraz, I'm Yours

So Joe was a huge sport and accompanied me to the most wonderful concert I have ever been to: the one and only Jason Mraz. I am proud to say that I have been a big fan of his since his first album debuted, which I constantly must remind all of those who think they are fans NOW simply because of the new hit, "I'm Yours." There are a lot of you posers out there. For example, I have had a Jason Mraz poster hanging in my classroom for the last five years (his first album was released six-ish years ago), and every year my students ask who he is. This is the first year they have said, "Oh, Jason Mraz! I love that song!" And I always ask, "Which song? "The Remedy"? "You and I"? "Did You Get My Message"? "Forecast"? "Please Don't Tell Her"? Because those are my favorites." Without fail, I am always met with a blank stare. "He has more than one song?" Posers. All of them.

So, when I was on Ticket Master last July looking for So You Think You Can Dance tickets and saw that my wonderful Jason was coming in concert, I thought, "Screw you, Chelsie Hightower! I've got a date!" And I bought myself my own birthday present. And wonderful Joe, who doesn't really like Mr. A-Z, agreed to go and be my camera man so I could pay attention. He loves me.

So, on October 28, we headed to the E Center and enjoyed the best concert I have ever been to. There was dancing, there was singing (of course) there were pictures, and a about a 25 minute encore. It was so worth it being tired; I had arranged to take the next day off work so I could sleep.

This is Joe and me before the show. For some reason, Joe can't take a picture without closing his eyes. I don't get it, because he's the one pushing the button. He knows when it's gonna flash.

If you watch America's Next Top Model, you'll get this nex joke. We decided we wanted to practice "smiling with our eyes," as Miss Tyra Banks would say. She's not the brightest bulb in the box.

This is us with "dead" un-smiling eyes.

This is us "smiling with our eyes." It's a process that involves squinting and dipping your chin. Those models. What will they think of next? Rocket scientists! Every one of 'em!

Awesome shots from the main event:


1) These were the horn guys. They were freaking amazing! They would go out in the audience and pop up once in a while and play like...wow. It was cool.
2)This is a shot of the stage. You can see those screens behind Jason (yes, we're on first-name basis). Those were really cool. Before the show started, they had a number you could text messages to and they appeared on the screens. You could also take pictures with your phone and send them, and they would also appear on the screen. You can even look up Salt Lake City concert pics on Jason Mraz's website.
3)A close up of Jason on the screen. Isn't my husband a wonderful photographer?
4)The trombone guy. I had no idea trombones were so bitchin'. 5) Jason. He had this cute/funny little dance where he would wiggle his butt and nothing else. It was just fun!

The clip below was a pain in the freaking rear, but I had to figure it out because this is when Jason was singing really fast (which is his specialty) during "The Remedy." Joe pans over in the middle of it because apparently I was freaking out, but you can't see anything.

It really was an awesome concert, and I am not saying that because I am biased. Even Joe, who's not a big fan, said it was really good. I had a couple students come to school screaming at me about how awesome it was, and we were jumping and squealing like he had actually winked at us or something. I would pay for that again.

I feel sad for all of you who missed out on the concert. I am even more sad for those of you who don't care. It's like not caring about starving children in Africa, or that our ozone is going to crap. You're losing so much, without even being aware of it. I also feel sad for those of you who are new fans. How much you missed. Posers.

Effects of Baby

Disclaimer: Throughout this and subsequent blogs, I will be referring the Baby as 1) Baby or
2) He/him. This is no way "announcing" anything. As stated before, we will not be knowing the gender of Baby. I am choosing to use "him" as the preferred pronoun because writing s/he and him/her very tedious. Also, I refuse to call baby "it," and, being the level 1 Grammarian I like to believe I am, I cannot bring myself to use the plural pronoun "them," even though it is becoming more and more accepted. Therefore, despite the un-political-correctness of it all, I am choosing to use the biblical pronoun "he" to refer to both genders. In short, I choose God over politics.


It is very exciting to hit week 12, almost 13! Joe and I heaved a collective sigh of relief that Baby has made it this far, and it looks like he is here to stay! I have been very lucky, since I have almost no sickness or anything since Baby's arrival on the pee-stick, but Baby has been a little naughty so far and has had a stern talking-to.

Baby gave me zits. It's not that I have never had them before, but they were few and far-between, only occurring once in a while in my hair line when I used hairspray--thank you, Grandma Jones! (Those injuns have the best hair and skin.) However, since Baby's arrival, I have had numerous breakouts that not even Proactive is being very good at combating. I do realize that Baby is only a Baby and doesn't know any better, but honestly! So we had a little talking to, and I told him, very Super Nanny-like, that zits were not acceptable, and Mommy does not appreciate it, and if he does it again, he will be sent to time-out (which I am designating as around the bowel area. I don't know if that is possible, but it's really the worst place I could think of.) I think we have an understanding.

Also, I was wondering if babies can kick you in the head? Because Baby is giving me headaches! If this continues, it's time-out for him!

One thing that I am very grateful to Baby for is my figure. I know this is the part most women don't like. But when you have grown up battling weight, crying every time you come home from Weight Watchers, and not allowing yourself to eat even a little tiny cookie, you become grateful for nine months of not dieting. And, it's okay to gain a few pounds--not only is it okay, but you know why you are gaining it! Don't get me wrong, I'm not going crazy with food or anything. In fact, I have stuck pretty closely to my Weight Watchers lifestyle, just allowing a few extra points, and taking the workout down a couple of notches. And I am gaining weight. And for the first time in my life, I don't feel guilty about it. Thank you, Baby, for making me feel better about my belly, even though I am used to looking top-heavy (thanks, Mom), and now I look a little like a Star-Bellied Sneetch. (I am aware that no one else notices this shift. But I do. And Joe does. And that's all that counts.)

Besides the physical, Baby has affected me in many ways. I have never been one much for worrying. No matter what happens, things that have to get done have a way of getting done. This has always been my theory. But last week, I looked at the stack of essays, projects, poems, journals, and book reports that needed to be graded, and I thought about how I had to go to scouts, we were leaving for the weekend, I needed to put together a Christmas Program, and possibly come home from my weekend early so I could go to Relief Society, well, I started to bawl. I usually don't cry for things like this. I typically only cry when I am really really sad; I simply deal with stress. But last week I broke down on the way home from Blimpie and bawled. I think I scared Joe a little bit because he was trying to solve all my problems, which made me cry harder because I didn't want solutions. I can figure it out for myself! And then I started crying because I was crying and I'm not a cryer. I think I can chalk this break-down to Baby. And today, one of my sweet students came in and asked if I needed help on Thursday with stuff because "I looked a little frazzled" in class today. Which is weird because I didn't feel frazzled. I think I can thank Baby for that one, too.

But, I am so thankful that I have to deal with zits, headaches, Star-Bellied Sneetch bellies, and breakdowns. I paid a lot of money to feel this way, and I am so grateful I did. All in all, I am glad that Baby is here, and if he continues to behave himself, I think we will get on very well. I never thought I would be so happy feeling so crummy. Yay, Baby!

I don't feel like I am showing any that people will notice besides myself, so I haven't taken any pictures of Baby yet, but I will once I feel like I look pregnant rather than fat.

Ooooh! Fun!

I always like anything that plays with new names.

1.YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Dave Blazer

2. YOUR GANGSTA STAR NAME (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe):
Rocky Stilletto
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Red Cat
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Jane Provo

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name): Bin Sa

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Maroon Juice
7. NASCAR NAME (the names of your grandfathers): Winton Ray Tracy
8. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Ewell Evanston
9. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, favorite flower): Autumn Daisy
10. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing right now): Pineapple Jeans
11. HIPPIE NAME (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): (Marshmallow) Maties Willow

So I think my favorites are Dave Blazer, Rocky Stilleto, and Autumn Daisy. Maybe I should name my first child Rocky Stilleto? Hmmmmm.....

And the verdict is...

So, I found this list of books on a friend's blog (thanks, Becky!) and since I am an English teacher, and a self-proclaimed reading nerd, I thought it would be fun to see how many books I really haven't read. SO here's my list, and I hope you enjoy it.

"The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or were forced to read at school and hated.
5) Reprint this list in your own blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them! :)"

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So, 27 books read, 10 books loved, 23 books I intend to read, and 10 books I don't intend to read, or hated when I did read them. Very interesting. I did better than I thought I would, but maybe not as well as a respectable English Major should do. Then again, there aren't a whole lot of American Lit books here, of which I am a huge fan...

It's Our Little Gummy Bear

It is official! We are going to have a little baby, who currently looks like a gummy bear (so says my doctor), but hopefully will grow out of that...but if s/he doesn't, we will still love him/her as our own.

Currently, I am 9 weeks and 5 days, which puts me due on April 29, 2009. There is very little dispute on this date, since I know exactly when I got knocked-up: August 6, 2008 at exactly 10:45 A.M. This is the beauty of modern-day technology. (Don't worry...I'm not giving you our ... schedule. We got pregnant by IUI). We already have stellar names picked out, which we refuse to tell anyone because I know everyone will love them and steal them, since baby-making is the regular past-time in my ward. And we aren't going to find out if s/he's a she or a he until the big day in April. Just to drive everyone nuts, including my mother and my mother-in-law. I haven't been sick at all, just really tired, and I am not a nice person when I don't eat. Just ask my A3 class, whom I yelled at for turning in their assignments. On time. In the right basket. On the due date. Yeah. Big-time B#%@^. But just feed me, and I am the nicest person in the world!

We went to the doctor for our very first appointment today. It was very exciting. I was starting to get scared that there wasn't anything in there because I haven't had many symptoms or anything. It's unreal, when you've waited as long as we have, to actually believe that there is really a little person floating around inside me. And s/he was floating, boy. That kid was kicking and punching and waving. S/he looked kind of like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when Charlie and Grandpa Joe drink the soda and it makes them float and they have to belch to get down. We were so excited and happy and just so glad that it's finally true.

However, I will be breaking the tradition of the floating fetus. Even though my fetus was floating...but Joe can't stand it, and honestly, I get a little creeped out by the thing. I did buy a shirt that says, "The Hottest Fetus Ever," because I thought it was hilarious. And my fetus is probably the hottest ever. Even though it looks like a floating, kicking, gummy bear.

I would just like to say thanks to everyone out there who was rooting for us. I know there were a lot of prayers sent our way, and I know our names were on many a temple roll. And I know everyone has been very concerned, and we are so grateful to know so many wonderful people and have so many great friends that care about us. And I would like to thank the academy, and of course, my manager.

Pity, Party of One?

Have you ever had a week where you just feel that it has been the longest, most horrible week, but then you look back and realize nothing really bad has happened to you? I have just had one of those weeks, and the crappy thing is that I really want to complain and write a very long blog about how horrible and bad, bad, bad that my whole life is, but, unfortunately I can't think of anything that has made it horrible and bad, bad bad. But I'm going to write a really long blog and complain about it, anyway.

I guess it all started Sunday when I came home from church, and it suddenly dawned on me that I have three callings. I love serving in my ward, don't get me wrong, but when I realized that I could never be late to church because I am the Relief Society chorister, I could never sneak out on Sacrament Meeting a little early because I am the Ward Choir Director, and my Tuesday's have to stay free and clear because I am the 11 year old scout leader, I got a little distraught. I am not a skip-out-on-church-type of person, but the idea that I'm not free to if I ever wanted to...well, I feel a little trapped. I have been assured that they would release me from one of these jobs (either the first one or the last one; the middle one is new), and I am sure I will be. Soon. Hopefully. Obviously, I need these callings, or someone needs me, so I go where I'm called. Still...

Monday was actually a really nice day because I went to a follow-up workshop. I went last summer to a week-long cohort called Secondary Literacy Institute, which has four follow-up sessions throughout the school year, and Monday was the first one. I have really enjoyed my cohort, and I have learned so much while I am there. The instructor is fun and entertaining, and he helps me make my classroom fun.

But it was an epiphany I had on Monday that is a little distressing: I really love professional development. Those of you who are not in the educational field, or even those of you who are not secondary ed might not realize the dire consequences of this discovery. In my school, professional development is synonymous with Satan's Plan: the worst thing that could ever happen to teachers--especially those veteran teachers who have been teaching 20+ years. So admitting that I enjoy professional development is like choosing Satan's plan, and now, I am one of his minions who must go out and persuade all those other "righteous" teachers to cross over.

And, another realization: I think I prefer being a student to being a teacher. I do love my job, but there's so much less stress and more enjoyment being the student. I do what you tell me to, and I don't have to make a whole lot of decisions, and the best part? I don't have to grade anything. You don't know how disheartening it is to realize that when you are a good teacher, and you have planned a stellar lesson with meaningful homework, and you've just done your job to the best of your ability, that you are then punishing yourself with loads of your own homework--90x what I have ever given my students. Sigh.

Tuesday I was so tired, all I wanted to do was sleep. But alas, I had dumb scouts from 4:30 to 5:30 (which usually lasts an extra 15 minutes), and I had signed up to take dinner to a very nice lady in our ward, but we needed to have it there by 6:00 because the person I had signed up with needed to be home by 6:15. And I didn't have anything I had volunteered to bring, because I had forgot about it in the midst of my Monday Epiphany, so I was reduced to salad kits and Peterson's pumpkin cookies. I came home exhausted. Thank goodness Kristin was so sweet to bring me dinner for no reason at all! Thanks so much!

Wednesday was the longest day of my life. I had a meeting at 7:15 about the up-coming split of our high school. When I realized one my closest friends here might have to go to the new high school, I was all sorts of wound up. Then I went to lunch, and everyone there was being these huge negative nay-sayers, which was starting to make me upset because, contrary to popular belief, my principal isn't ALL evil. And then it was Parent/Teacher Conferences, the most dreaded day of the whole school year. I hate telling parents their kids are failing. I hate it even more because then for the next few days I get stacks and stacks of late work, and everyone wants their grades updated right away. I finally got to leave the school at 8:00 only to find that Joe had pulled muscles in his back and wanted me to pick up Icy-Hot patches and cheese. So then I went home and fell asleep on the floor.

Thursday was so long, just because 5 hours of talking to parents following 8 hours of teaching exhausts you.

Today, I finally broke down. I have to plan for two classes on A days: English 11 Honors, which I have never taught before, and Creative Writing. Since I have never taught English 11, all my time is spent prepping for that one class, which leaves no time for my Creative Writing class, so things usually get thrown together. I feel like a very harried and bad teacher in my Creative Writing class. And to make things worse, I forgot that I didn't have any lunch, and my lunch hour is only 35 minutes long, and when you are competing with 2200 students all getting lunch at the same time, it's pretty much impossible to pick up anything and be back in time. So I went to my parent's house to eat something, and their fridge stinks. Literally. It smells like rotten fruit. So I couldn't eat anything there because smells gross me out. So I called Joe, and that poor guy, I started bawling on the phone about how hard it is to prep for three classes, and I couldn't do it, and it was too hard, and I'm too tired to do anything, and this week was too long, and how I couldn't even sleep in tomorrow because of women's conference, and that my parent's fridge stinks so I couldn't eat. I feel really bad about it now. It's not fair to call Joe with that type of stuff because he feels helpless, and then he worries the rest of the day. But I guess I needed to get it out.

The rest of the day was interesting. I yelled at my A3 class for no reason, and a I got mad at a couple of students turning in assignments that were due, but I hadn't called for yet, because I lose things if they aren't all turned in at the same time. By A4, I was better, but I was so drained that I didn't care what they did, and I don't think anyone learned anything from me today.

But it's the weekend, and I'm going to say thanks but no thanks to our Women's conference tomorrow morning so I can sleep in and still go to the General Relief Society meeting tomorrow night. I just wish the weekend consisted of two Saturdays and one Sunday, because my Sunday certainly isn't a day rest....

Life will be better Monday. I know it will. It's just been a very long week with Parent/Teacher Conference emotionally exhausting me. The week is over. I'm going home in 15 minutes, and I will finally get a chance to breathe. I'm okay.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I was trying desperately to find a book to read. I am really tired of trying to plow through The Odyssey, and trying to enlighten my mind by reading classics like Madame Bovary, The Scarlett Pimpernell and Anna Karenina just to name a few of my latest attempts. I actually don't mind The Scarlett Pimpernell. I think I would like Anna Karenina, but it involves too much thinking. And don't even get me started on The Odyssey. For some reason, my Honors kids are really psyched about the idea of reading that. So I am trying. Oh...but kill me now! (I am SO NOT a world lit girl. Give me the good old ex-patriots of the Modern American movement every time!) So I wanted to read something that was for pure entertainment, but wasn't about crazy vampires and wolf-people (because Edward insists they aren't really werewolves), or about crazy 50 year old wizards who are trying to kill boys with weird scars. And I didn't want to read about sex. I tried to read a few YA lit last summer, and well, I am about fed up with all these teenage girls having sex and drinking beer and talking about finding themselves. Don't get me wrong, I am all about finding myself, but to be completely honest, I had to find myself before I got to have sex. It can be done, people! Anyway. We were on our way to the ward campout, and I just really wanted to read something fun and didn't involve deep analysis.

I scrolled throught the e Book store as fast as I could, because I knew I didn't have time to go to the library or to the bookstore (I love that thing!). I didn't even know where to start, because for the last five years, I have been reading only what I needed to read for planning classes. I don't really have any idea of what the students are reading because for the first little bit of my career, all my students were reading Harry Potter, and then once that was over, the Twilight phenomenon hit, and those who aren't reading either of those are reading weird fantasy novels in a series, and I really can't handle all these different people from Zoltron or where ever the hell they're from. And Oprah's books fall into that category of too much thinking. And there's probably a lot of sex in those, too. So I finally found something that looked familiar. It was the cover to this book called Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I had seen the book on one of my student's desk this past week. My student is a fairy intelligent girl, who reads voraciously, and I think I could trust her taste. She, just like me, read all the Twilight books, thought they were okay, but wasn't impressed. I think I could trust her. So I hurried and downloaded it, and we were off to the campout.

I didn't actually read at the campout, even though I had fresh battaries in my book light, but I started it the next day (Saturday) and I finished it today (Sunday). I'm not jumping up and down, but I was pleased and surprised that I liked it.

The story is, yet again, about a girl who is trying to find herself, but in a way that was different than anything I had read this summer. She wasn't sleeping around. She wasn't experimenting with drugs, and she wasn't being a brat to her family. She is just a quiet girl who was trying to deal with something tramatic that had happened to her over her summer. Her friends have abandoned her because they think she did something she didn't, and the only person who ends up understanding her is this weird, slightly scary guy, Owen. Of course the sub-plot with Owen is predictable, but everything else in her life a long the way is interesting.

The book talks about how her family (a traditional family: mom, dad, and siblings) have handled issues such as eating disorders and depression. The girl, Annabelle, is the youngest of three girls sisters. Maybe that's why I enjoyed the book. I could totally realate, being the youngest of three girls, myself. I was interesting because the oldest sister, Kirsten, was loud and dramatic (um...do I hear a Natalee?). The middle sister, Whitney, had a really hard time reckoning with her position of the family, and her decisions reflected that insecurity. She struggled with her choices, and learned from them (sounds familiar, Yarley). And then the main character, Annabelle, saw how her sister's choices affected her parents and tried to do everything she could to make life easier for them (Did I ever tell you why I didn't get in trouble in high school?). But while the similarities were eerie, there was also enough for me to remove myself and look through a different lense.

There was one scene at the end when all the sisters were together, and Whitney reads something she wrote. It was beautiful, and I started to cry because I could see me and my sisters in that scene, with Yarley talking about all that she's been through. I don't know if you can fully understand that moment unless you have sisters. As for the Owen story, predicatble? Yes. But you couldn't help but root for it. He was so good for her. He saved her from herself.

One last thing that I really liked about this book was that it didn't focus on the worldly aspects of life. It was mostly focusing on Annabelle's growth in learning how to express herself, and how to deal with the ups and downs of life one day at a time. It had a good message. There was one quote that I particulary liked: "Like Owen said, it was day by day, if not moment by moment. All you could do was take on as much weight as you can bear. And if you're lucky, there's someone close enough by to shoulder the rest."

It was nice to read a book that fell in line with my own personal beliefs. Because I do believe that you do the best you can with the resources you have, and someone else will take up the rest. But I don't think it's luck. I think it's our gift from a loving Heavenly Father. It was nice to read something that taught that, and it was nice to read something about families getting through crappy stuff together. It made me feel like there was hope for my students if they read this book. Anyway, if your tired of vampires, sex, drugs, cutting, death, and all the other happy literature there is out there, you should read this. It's not all nice. Bad things happen to good people. But the way the characters come through it is refreshing.