25 days of Advent Calendars - Starts this week!

Get ready!

This Thursday I'll begin showcasing 25 days of Advent Calendars. I don't know about you but I'm a procrastinator and I always forget to get the Advent calendar together until December has already begun. Very sad.

So this year we are gonna try something a little different.

Every day beginning this Friday, November 6th and ending November 30th, I will link, blog or post a picture of an Advent calendar. So there is no real reason to be without an Advent calendar for your poor kids when December 1st gets here.

If you have an Advent calendar you'd like to have linked here just leave a comment. Come back on Friday and get ready for the fun!

More sucking up to my favorite authors

Okay so if you've read this blog for more than one day you may have seen several mentions of books. My favorite authors tend toward the young adult section. On author whose work never disappoints is Shannon Hale. The writing style, no matter the genre, is always top quality. And her characters are some of my all time favorites.

I wish I could say I did the interview but I'm not seeing that happening any time soon. lol.

Publishers Weekly has an excellent interview they did recently with Shannon Hale about her latest young adult fiction novel, Forest Born. I can not wait to get my hands on this book. So any news about the novel is welcome here.

Here's a link to the article:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6695636.html?nid=2788&source=link&rid=1876091980

My 43 Things

Have you done this? It's a site called 43things.com

Basically, you make your "bucket list" of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. It can be simple stuff or seriously crazy stuff. It's up to you. And they also will show how many other people have listed that goal and you can research to see how others have completed that goal.

I'm having a hard time making a list of 43 things but here's what I've got so far:

1. visit ireland 2383 people
2. be quoted 88 people
3. Write down my stories 66 people
4. climb a 14-er 33 people
5. visit forks washington 18 people
6. actually complete the thirty day challenge 1 person
7. start an etsy store and make a sale 1 person

So far I have 7 so my question is this. If you had to make a list of things to do what would be 7 of them?

Happy 4th of July!

Enjoy your Independence Day!

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Check out the wikipedia entry for the US Declaration of Independence. Makes you wonder if some of the officials have even read it.

The Actor and the Housewife: A non-spoilerish review

I'm a huge Shannon Hale fan. Let's just get that out in the open. It's shameful. Well not really shameful but obsessive. I've read every published work. Some multiple times. I'd like to say that I own them all as well but after my recent book buying kick I think I'm on a budget. I dragged my family 12 hours from Denver to Phoenix back in April to see Shannon Hale and Stephenie Meyer at the Project Book Babe event.

I follow Shannon's blog and when I heard a few months ago that she had a new non-YA novel coming out I was very happy. The last non-YA novel she published was Austenland. I waited for that book to be released. And then I devoured it in 4 hours. It must have taken months to write, edit, etc. And it took me almost no time to rip thru it and really want some more. It was good. I liked the idea alot. The plot drew me in. Good stuff.

The Actor and the Housewife was a good book. I really enjoyed it. I'm going to be as descriptive as possible without giving anything away. I hope. This book was a slow starter. By that I mean it didn't immediately draw me in. I knew the basic premise of the story from the blurbs I'd read and the discussion on Shannon Hale's blog.

There's an actor and a housewife obviously. They become friends. They have life. They have laughs. People think they are weird. They are weird. Things happen to them. Life events bring them together and apart. They made me laugh and cry.

NOTE: Thanks a lot by the way, Shannon. My husband had to come comfort me at the end of Act 2. I was a mess. But I continued reading anyways.

The story take some surprising twists and turns. I really didn't see some things coming. Others were more obvious to me. In the end, I can look back on this book and say I really enjoyed it. My favorite lines from the whole book (and it's hard to pick just one) are:

Felix: "I don't know how you persist in being so stubborn---"
Becky: "It's a superpower. I was bitten by a radioactive mule."

I woke my husband up about 15 minutes after he fell asleep last night to read that to him and he fell back to sleep with a laugh.

This book brought out emotions from me that I didn't want to experience. To me that says something about a story. That you experience emotions with the characters. It means you made a connection. It really did start kind of slow. However, like most good stories if you stick with it for the first couple of chapters you won't be sorry.

And by the way, if like me you've already devoured this yummy book there is a great "behind the scenes" of how this book came about. Here's the link: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books_housewife.html

If you happen to be in Denver. . .

Here's a photo from last years event:



When:
Saturday, June 6th from 10am to 10pm
Sunday, June 7th from 10am to 7pm

What:
Italian Chalk Art on Larimer Square

Where:
Larimer Square, Downtown Denver

And most importantly this is a FREE event!

Extra treat: The Denver Art museum will have FREE admission that day as well because it's the first Saturday of the month.

For more info:
http://larimerarts.org/index.html

There and Back again - Day Four

DAY FOUR

We were up early the next morning. We were ready to tackle the Rockies. All of them. So 450-ish miles back home and nothing to do but drive. We have comfy leather seats in our van. They start to not feel so comfy after 3-4 days of sitting in them. So we drove thru Utah. It's a really pretty place.



We saw some really neat places. We saw some of the famous Utah Arches from a distance. We drove through Moab, Utah. It was the oddest place. Lots of desert and then you drive around what seems likes a corner and you are in a valley surrounded by giant red cliffs. Further down the interstate we came across a strange site. It's called Hole"N the Rock. It's one of those Route 66 type places. It's a 5000 square foot home carved into a large rock. There's also a petting zoo and gift shop. It was a fun stop the kids really enjoyed it.



We got a drink and got back on the road. We still had quite a drive ahead of us. The landscape was amazing. Soon we got up into the Rockies. It was really pretty up there. Top of the world. And finally we were back in Colorado. We passed through some of the most beautiful ski towns. We saw Vail and Breckenridge. The whole area is a great site. It was a great weekend for skiing. We made one last pitstop in Idaho Springs.

If you are coming through Colorado, you have got to check out Idaho Springs. It's very popular with the skiing crowd when the weekend it coming to a close. Idaho Springs is a very cute little mining town. Our two family favorite places to visit are Beau Jo's Pizza and TommyKnockers Brewery. Beau Jo's has the best pizzas ever. They have pizzas named by how much they weigh. And TommyKnockers is just awesome. They have their own stills in the restaurant. The artwork on the walls is really something. This day we only stopped by for my DH to pick up TommyKnocker rootbeer.



Another 45 minutes and we were home. Looking back I think if we had thought about it we would have planned for one more day. We'd have been a lot less rushed. But we saw so much of the west. My husband got to see the desert he's always dreamed of seeing. We took our kids to the Grand Canyon. I saw my 2 favorite authors. So no regrets other than we didn't have more time. Oh and the driving thru Monument Valley in the middle of the night. That was not great also. But we know where it is now so we can always go back in the day time.

So I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed the experience. And maybe you'll be inspired to go check out the Four Corners area.

The End.

There and Back again - Day Three

Caption: Our little fam in front of the sign.

DAY THREE

That's right, you guessed it. We were going to see the canyon. We spent a lovely night in Flagstaff. My adventurous husband spent the evening plotting our course while I spent the entire night worrying about my 3 kiddos throwing themselves into the Grand Canyon. It's one of those irrational things. I know that my kids aren't gonna take a flying leap but somehow my heart and my head where not on the same page. So we got up and at 'em. After a brief trip to the Target, to acquire a jacket for me, we headed out making our way north to the Grand Canyon. I have to say I was having mixed feelings. I mean it's the Grand Canyon for crying out loud. Who doesn't want to see it? That would be me. I really wanted to see it but within reason. If that makes any sense?

We had to drive thru this National Forest area. I'm sure I can find the name of it online somewhere. But right now it escapes me. The drive from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon park was interesting. As I said Flagstaff and the surrounding area is evergreen forest. The national forest area was very similar and then you come to the end of the forest and you are in the grassland with a great view of a snowcapped mountain in the background. Very panoramic. Worthy of a ton of photos which are still on the other camera.


Caption: The view of the mountain and grassland on the way from Flagstaff to Grand Canyon park.

So we arrive at the gates of the Grand Canyon park. I cannot imagine what the wait must be like during the summer. That is not something I ever want to experience. As it was we only had to wait for about 20 minutes to pay and drive thru the gate. The ticket we got was good for up to 7 days. Not that we needed it, just a little fyi. So now we come to it. The Canyon.

You can't describe it. And no matter how many photos/videos you see, you can not be prepared for the view. You just get out of the car, walk up a small sidewalk and BOOM! You are hit with the most awe-inspiringly beautiful scene. You can't imagine the size of it until you stand at the edge of it. Well not exactly the edge unless you are one of those crazy people who want to walk up to the edge. It is huge. And wide. And deep. And beautiful. And majestic. And all the other things people say about it. You just stand and stare because your jaw drops. You can't take it all in.


Caption: Those are people over on that rock. That's the first viewing area you come to.

The only thing it is not is railed. As in, the majority of the walkway around it is not lined with rails. It is wide open and the walkway is less than 5 feet wide and the near side of the walkway was, oh let's say, less than 5 feet from the edge of the canyon. We are talking shock and awe. Those were the emotions I was fighting with. We walked up part of the walkway. It was beautiful. There were some really strange plants there and more cactus. We drove further to the east. We drove the South Rim stopping at every viewing area.







Then we came to a really pretty area called Navajo Point. It's the highest point of the canyon right around 7000 feet. There was an old watchtower with a gift shop. It was a great view. And it was the last stop on our way through Grand Canyon park.


Caption: This is Navajo Point.

Some facts about the Grand Canyon:
- It is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km) (6000 feet). - from wikipedia
- It can take 5 hours to drive around the whole canyon - from park literature
- The Pueblo people consider the Grand Canyon to be a holy site - from wikipedia

So with much ado, one small camera filled and dead, and the other camera not even close to filled we headed out of the park and into the desert. North toward Utah.

But the day wasn't even close to over. We drove through the Painted Desert. We went through a small but growing town called Tuba City. The town's first McDonald's had just opened that weekend and when we were there a busload of European tourists decided to check it out. They were trying to order and didn't speak English. It was right out of a movie. We grabbed our early dinner and headed on. The plan was to get as far as we could into Utah that night.

Yeah, about that. Google is a lovely thing. Google maps has issues I think. It's dark now. We are driving into Utah. We've never been there before and there is nothing but open range as far as you can see in the pitch black of night. We look forward to any small town that we catch glimpse of. We pass through a small town and Google maps tells us to take a left at the light. Okay, sounds good. We leave the town and all signs of civilization. There are few houses and they are way off the road. I say road because this no longer resembles an interstate. Still open range. A truck from time to time and then some rock formations in the moonlight.

Google maps decided that we needed to see or rather not see Monument Valley at night. You know Monument Valley. It's in every old western movie. The giant desert with the huge rock formations that take your breath away. Yeah, you remember the whole Agoraphobia thing? (see Day Two) So we drove through some of this country's most beautiful landscape at night. And there's nothing but desert out there. For miles. You should Google "Monument Valley". Go ahead, I'll wait. I'd post pics but I'm still a little freaked out by it.

And then we come to another small town. It's called Blanding, Utah. We stayed there that night. It was cheap, it had two beds, we didn't care that it was a big fake wood paneled box. We slept.

More tomorrow. Isn't this fun?

There and Back again - Day Two

DAY TWO

So where were we? Oh right. Grants, New Mexico. Okay, so Grants is probably a great place and all. But we had expected to get well into Arizona on day one and we had a time crunch. The Project Book Babe event was at 2pm.

Just a side note:
I had planned for us to eat fast food no more than once per day. We brought a 13 gallon storage container packed with bread, peanut butter, chips, pretzels, dry cereal, foam bowls, plastic silverware and plastic cups. Also a small cooler for sodas and water bottles. Many hotels have complementary breakfast so we weren't overly concerned about breakfast but dry cereal is good for munching anyways. My thought was that if we didn't end up at a place without breakfast would just need to get a small container of milk. I tried to make sure we had either bottled or Colorado water in the cooler. We've been known to not do well with "foreign" water. Better safe than sorry.

So back to the trip. We headed on thru New Mexico. It's a very beautiful place. The desert is amazing. We had never seen anything like it. I found that I have quite a big case of Agoraphobia (a.k.a.- I panic in wide open spaces. lovely.) That became more and more evident throughout the rest of the trip.

So we drove stopping from time to time to see the sites (potty breaks). We saw Route 66 on several occasions and we also saw THE rock formations from the movie Cars. It felt like we were driving thru Radiator Springs.

Caption: The white stuff is snow.

So the next really note-worthy place we went to was Flagstaff, Arizona. You drive for hours and hours thru nothing but desert and suddenly you are in a evergreen forest. We saw log cabins. Flagstaff was beautiful. The weather was nice. It was a breath of fresh air after almost a year of being without trees. (We moved to Colorado from the southeast about a year ago. The lack of trees is something that we have yet to get over.) There are lots of hotels, restaurants, Starbucks, department stores just in case you forgot to bring a jacket. But we continued on to Phoenix.

The drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix was really picturesque. Our second born, Monkey, has been studying animal habitats at our homeschool science program and he got lots of photos of the desert. I've never really seen a cactus. But we saw thousands. He was pointing out that certain species of cactus grow an "arm" every 50 years. Some of them had several "arms". We were quite amazed by the height of them. At one roadside store the cactus that was standing next to the building had to be almost 20 feet tall. Amazing.

We finally got to Phoenix! Yippee! It's like an oasis. There are palm trees everywhere. Not like the ones you see in Florida. These were very lush and bright. The ones I've come across in Florida are usually not bright green. These were really pretty. Swimming pools everywhere. And these really bright red bushes. I have no idea what they were but I'm sure the proud natives would know. Anyways, we took a wrong turn and there was a bit of construction. So I got there a little late. But I got a really good seat at the event. Hubby and the kiddos explored the neighborhood near the school where the event was held and found a really nice park and playground. Which I think the kids probably really appreciated after the long ride.

Here's a photo from the Project Book Babe event:


Caption: That's Stephenie Meyer and Shannon Hale, 2 of my favorite authors.

So after the event was over and we had a nice early dinner we drove back up to Flagstaff. We found another affordable hotel. I wish I could remember the name of it. But the cost ($60) was about the same as day one. I know we filled up the tank before we left Phoenix but I'm not sure if we got gas earlier that day. I think we grabbed breakfast sandwiches when we got into Arizona and we had Arby's after the event. Also on a side note we were really worried about the time crunch until we stopped just inside Arizona and found that there is a time change? We had no idea that we would go through a time zone. So that helped with our trip.

We spent the night in Flagstaff, which DH discovered is less than 2 hours from the Grand Canyon. So can you see where this is going?

More tomorrow and the pics are worth the wait.

A million and 1 things to do with paper

I just stumbled upon this site and had to share. If you have one of those afternoons when the kids are just bored to tears. Send them to this site and make sure your printer has plenty of ink cause you are gonna need it.

It's called Canon Creative Park. (This is not a paid ad.)

Here are a couple of my favorite projects:



and also this:



For those of you less crafty you could try these:




Anyways, how cool are those? Go check 'em out.