Read-A-Thon!!

I've been reading a lot since school got out and I love it! I stayed up until 3 am last Monday night/Tuesday morning reading (yes, Ethan was gone!) and my mom couldn't even ground me! Gone are the days where she can hide my books around the house so I won't read anymore! I know I'm a bit of a nerd, but I love reading! I'm pretty open to any kind of book so if you've got suggestions send them my way!! In the meantime, here's what I recommend!

Loves Music, Loves to Dance
by Mary Higgins Clark

--It's a good thriller book and a pretty quick read. If you're prone to nightmares I'd be a little wary, but don't worry about it too much. It's about a serial killer in New York but has some pretty interesting twists. Not very graphic so you don't have to worry, but it does get into the killer's mindset, which I found more fascinating than creepy, but that's just me!




Considering Kate
by Nora Roberts

--Another pretty quick read, but I guess that depends on the person, a quick read for me is about 350-400 pages. An interesting romance I guess you would call it. I really like the main character, Kate. She's very determined and spunky. It's one of Nora Roberts' earlier books meaning it's cleaner and, thank goodness, has not been turned into a Lifetime movie!!



Big Stone Gap
by Adriana Trigiani


--One of my favorites to date. I absolutely loved this book! The main character is a down to earth, blunt, not afraid to say what she thinks, self-proclaimed spinster and I love it! From the minute I started reading I was laughing at the way she just states everything, point blank, and how she sees it! It's written in first person and it really helps you get into the characters and fall in love with them!


The Promise
by Danielle Steele

--Gentry recommended this one and I read in about 2-3 days. Not my favorite, as the ending left something to be desired but not a bad book all in all. The story line is interesting and the plot has a lot of potential. Gentry really really liked it, so the recommendation comes from her.





Something Wonderful
by Judith Mcnaught

--This is the one I stayed up til 3 am reading! I read it in one day and loved it!! It was a really good book set in about the 1800's and has very tumultuous characters that you fall in love with! It's one of those books you know what's going to happen but when it does you're screaming at the characters and have to keep reading to find out how it ends!! I highly recommend!





So Worthy My Love
by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

--This one was a little bit harder to read because it's set in medieval times so their speach is very different, but it's a really good book! It definitely falls in the category of historical romance but has quite a bit of adventure in it!! I borrowed it from my mom and it was really worn out so everybody else must has really loved it too!

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon

by Billie Letts

--This is a good story about a small town, the troubles of life and gives hope that there's always a way to get over it. The characters were interesting and were very developed and had such diverse backgrounds it gave a very interesting dimension to the story line. It took me a minute to get into it, but it was a good read and not too difficult.

So far those are all the ones I've read in the lovely month of May! I'm currently reading The Oath by Lindsay Chase which is about a woman in the late 1800's who is a doctor but is meeting some very stiff opposition. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week! One more plug, I highly recommend reading Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. It's about a girl on a dairy farm in Wisconson and is way fun!! I'll have another review at the end of June!

Paris in the Springtime

The biggest perk we get from Ethan's job is free domestic flights (and almost free international flights) so in celebration of me surviving the school year Ethan took me to Paris!! It was the first time he's been back since his mission and he was awesome, still knowing the bus stops and speaking wonderful French! We stayed with a lady from his mission and she was soo kind to us! We went to The Louvre, where we of course saw the Mona Lisa, and lots of other amazing art. Unfortunately after being there for over 3 hours we got pretty turned around and started going in circles, which is not good on an empty stomach! After that we walked down the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe! It was a very long walk but I loooove people watching so it was lots of fun! We also went to the Chateau de Versailles and I looooved it! I don't know all the history but I love going to historical buildings and soaking in everything that happened there. The smell of old wood, the creak of the floor, the vintage furniture, I love it!



Natascha was a great cook and had the missionaries over so she made Ethan's favorite which, honestly I don't know how its spelled but I would say Tart de Flete...don't ask. She also made Tiramisu LDS style (without coffee or alcohol) and it was really good! Friday was a holiday for them so most businesses and shops would have been closed so we went to Disneyland! It was so fun! It was interesting to see the difference in the rides from California, and I pretty much just get excited about Disneyland. As soon as we got through the gates I started running for the rides! Ethan thought I was crazy! I was really sick on Saturday when we went to the Eiffel Tower, but I held in strong and walked up 700 steps to the top! It was hard when I felt like my head was going to explode and my nose was beyond clogged, but I'm so glad I did it! The view was incredible! We ate at Mcdonalds the most because there are not as many cafes and such like you see in the movies, so we got a little desperate! The fry sauce was different and sweet and sour was called Chinese sauce and the Sprite was bitter...bearable, not horrible!




We went to see the Notre Dame on Sunday and it was a little bit awkward because they were holding Mass while all of us tourists were wandering around with cameras! Flash is not allowed inside any of the buildings so my pictures are blurred any time I took pictures inside, but this was worse because it was sooo dark in there! It was gloomy looking but I loved the architecture, I loved walking around the building and seeing the old age on the building. Some of the gargoyles faces were weathered off, but were still intimidating! We saw a guy in confession too, which made things a little awkward. The organ was playing during Mass and it was soo loud echoing off the stone walls and made the building even creepier! Sunday night Natascha made us a farewell dinner of ostrich steaks and fries, with a dessert of pastries from the Bulongerie (I don't know how to spell in french) and it was very good! It was really weird eating ostrich, but I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!