Our Moms love us!

Yesterday we got a Valentine's Day box in the mail from my mom. Today we got one from Justin's mom (I guess technically they are from our "families" but anyone who has a mom knows that the boxes were put together by our moms.)

We are so excited and it makes us feel so loved that they are thinking of us when we are all the way out in Minnesota! We seriously have been blessed in life with amazing Mothers!

Thanks Moms!!!! We love you!!!

And we very much appreciate candy!

(I may have tried to make the dove chocolates, kisses, and cinnamon lip bags look full in this picture because even though we got the box yesterday, they all may be half empty.)

And I am also really excited because I also got my watch that I won online around Christmas. It is from the Timex crystal collection and is real leather with real swarovski crystals. It is pretty pimp!

Wednesday's Read

Okay so I know that I said I may not post in a while yesterday, but Hubs is at school and I have the day off so I figured I should at least do a Wednesday's read.

The theme for today is, "Books I have a love/hate relationship with".

The following books are all fairly popular titles that I heard enough good things about, so I decided to give them a try. All of the books had parts that I loved and parts that I hated. But were the parts that I loved good enough to outweigh that parts that I hated? I like to think so, and I do not regret reading any of these books. Just because I have a different opinion from the author of how a characters life should turn out doesn't make it wrong, just different, and difference of opinion is what makes life(and books) so interesting.

I also learned something about myself through reading these books that I think I need to change a little. The parts that I hated in most of the books were the parts where things turned ugly for a character that I loved, and they didn't get a perfect resolution. But isn't that more realistic then in most books where most things turn out unbelievably perfect? I am not saying that happy endings are bad, I LOVE happy endings! I just think that I need to have better respect for authors who don't do "happy endings" . I think there is something pretty bold in writing a harsh and realistic life for a fictional character that people grow to love.

I still read to get a little escape from reality and I love to read about happy times, love stories, and destiny, but there is also something beautiful and powerful about those books that are a little bit tragic and painful, because that is how many of the characters grow and find out who they really are.

Here are some of those books.

As always no real spoilers, because I hate spoilers in book reviews.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

This is a book about Susie Salmon, a young teen who is murdered by a neighbor. Her murder takes place at the beginning of the book and is quite harsh. It is not necessarily too graphic, but it is so sad and brutal that it was pretty hard to read. Once you jump that hurdle, you join Susie in the "in between". She basically watches her family and friends and murderer in the aftermath of her death and in the years to come. Again there were parts that I loved, and parts I hated.

I loved how some of the characters developed and how they grew, but I disliked the story line that dealt with her mother, and there was a a weird but kind of lovely part at the end that I still have mixed feelings about. Some people were really bothered at how the murderer ended up but I didn't really mind it that much. It seemed to me that not only was it realistic but also ironic. I did enjoy this book, maybe I didn't love it, but it was interesting and lovely and painful and sweet. So who knows maybe you will love it.

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards.

It begins in the 60's with a young doctor and his wife who is pregnant and in labor. They rush to his office and to his surprise delivers twins. A healthy boy and a girl. He sees right away that the girl has downs syndrome and makes a decision that will affect them all for the rest of their lives. I was fascinated by this book from the very beginning, the story was so interesting and the characters were very real. Unfortunately for me, towards the middle of the book some of the characters started off on paths that I wasn't too thrilled about. I will say that this is not a book about unhappy endings, but with a messy middle and broken people who make bad decisions. I was also not a huge fan of the writing style. The over describing and other things were a little annoying. I didn't dislike it though. It was captivating and tragic, but also very beautiful and heartwarming. And although I disagree with some of the plot turns I never stopped reading and never stopped being interested. Getting from point A to Point B was worth some of the mess along the way.

The Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld.

I loved "Uglies", I really liked "Pretties", and I am totally undecided on "Specials". This series posed an interesting question, I did not enjoy how a lot of things turned out in the end for one reason or another, but does that take away the love of the first two books? I don't think so. The first two books in the series are really awesome, I guess I just had expectations that were not fulfilled in the end and it kinda broke my heart. I did read something on the authors website about some of the decisions he made, and it did make more sense...but still. I do recommend this series because it is creative and unique and the first books are good enough that it makes a bad final book worth it.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

This book was more love then hate, but there were still some things I didn't like about it. This book is about a set of twin sisters who inherit a flat in London from their aunt after she dies, only they never knew they had an aunt. The flat overlooks the Highgate Cemetery in London and the mood of the whole book is that of the cemetery. This book is a ghost story (with real ghosts), a love story, a coming of age story. It is kind of spooky, kind of funny, kind of lovely, kind of tragic and very fascinating. It has some unexpected turns and it is really unlike anything I have ever read. I really enjoyed this book, but I added it to this list since it is a list of books that aren't all warm and fuzzy, and there were a few odd parts. Some of the best parts though are about a character named Martin who lives upstairs, never leaves his flat, and is completely overcome by his OCD habits. I know that this book is not for everyone, but just typing up this quick blurb reminds me of how much I liked it. It also helps that my copy of the book is personalized and autographed by the author.

I am going to also make note of another book that I really have a love/hate with, and that is the other novel my Ms. Niffenegger, "The Time Travelers Wife."

Have you guys heard of this book? Just kidding I think everyone has since it has been on the bestsellers list for like 5 years. I will just say that I think the story line is fascinating and clever and romantic and heartbreaking all at the same time. I think it is a love story but also a very sad story. That part I love. I had a difficult time with the language and the sexual content and basically the crudeness that overwhelmed parts of the story. If it was not for that I would've liked it a lot better. "Her Fearful Symmetry "on the other hand had very little language and minor sexual content. And yes I am one of the VERY rare people who have read both and actually prefers HFS of TTTW.

So there you have it. I know that I wrote way too much but now you have my opinion on some of those books that you may have heard about, may have seen, and were maybe thinking of reading. In the end, I think it is rare to find a book that is so bad that I actually regret reading it, but there are a handful of books that I enjoyed, but they have their flaws along the way. These are the books that have amazing highs and bad lows but in the end, I am glad that I read them.

Leave me a comment if you have read any of these books and agree or disagree.

I am sure some of you have loved and hated some of these books.

Get Lost!

It appears to some that I have abandoned my blog. And I see why some may think that since it has been about 2 months since my last post. But in reality my priorities have just not been in the blogosphere. You see, I do have my reasons for not blogging....

It started around Thanksgiving when my parents got here. We had too much fun and were too busy to blog, then we were busy getting ready for Christmas and work and school and such. Then we went to Utah for Christmas for 2 weeks and were too busy to blog then. And then the day after Christmas our memory card magically fried itself and we lost over 1,000 pictures including our whole Christmas trip. When we got home I really was not so motivated to blog with no pictures of anything so I didn't.

But my blog friends I am going to be completely honest and tell you the main reason that I have not blogged ......

We are full heartedly addicted to Lost. The final season starts today, and when we got home from Utah in January we decided to try and catch up while the final season was on. And by "catch up" I mean start. We started at the very beginning and it has been less then a month and we are almost done with season 3. This show is seriously amazing! But it has been a challenge to stay away from spoilers. With the final season starting there are huge promos everywhere and it has taken much self control to look away, plug our ears, and mute the tv when a preview comes on.

So maybe when we are all caught up with our new love, I will return to this blog.

And if you leave a spoiler in the comments I will hunt you down....

Talking Volumes with Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger.

Last night Justin and I went to a great event! We went to "Talking Volumes" put on by Minnesota Public Radio at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. MPR basically puts on a show with authors, talking about their new books. We were lucky enough to get to go to one of the biggest "Talking Volumes" ever. We got to see a rare dual "Talking Volumes" with Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger. My brother is a HUGE Stephen King fan(you should see his book collection) and so he called me one day to see if I would go to this with the chance that there would be a book signing or something along those lines. I was excited for not only Stephen King, but Audrey Niffenegger who wrote, "The Time Travelers Wife." I also recently finished her new book, "Her Fearful Symmetry" and you just might hear what I thought about it in a later post. I made plans to get tickets to the event a few months ago, and it's a good thing since the show sold out in about 30 minutes. Stephen King was pretty much a superstar and everyone went nuts over him. He was so witty and personable and an all around treat to listen too. Audrey was a bit more dry humored and reserved but I can't imagine it is easy to "open" for King as she referred to it herself. They both read from their books, talked about their writing processes and characters and answered audience questions. It was fascinating to me, being such a lover of the written word, to hear two amazing author's talk about how they create and feel about their work.

Even though the "King" did not sign books( I am sure he would have been truly mobbed) Ms. Niffenegger did. I was excited to get my book personalized from her!

One of our favorite parts of the evening were the ooh's, ahh's and gasps from the audience when King would hint at future works or tell the future lives of past characters. It was pretty fun.

We had a great evening. It was fun to get out into the city and hear from some truly amazing people. I only wish that my brother could have been there. Stephen King is his idol and we both felt a little guilty having the opportunity to see him live instead of Jordan, but I did take some good notes for him!!!

Sorry the pictures aren't great. No flash in low light.

This is me and Audrey Niffenegger as she was singing my book.

And here is one for Jordan. I wanted to try and get a little video clip and I got one of him telling a great story about when his first novel, "Carrie" sold.

Happy Birthday Kaden!

Today is our nephew Kaden's FIRST Birthday!

This little man has brought so much joy into our lives the past year!

It is so hard to live so far away and miss all of his first milestones, but we were lucky enough to get to see him a lot this summer, and we will see him at Christmas.

He is the happiest baby I have ever met! He is always smiling at you and is so friendly. He is also cruiser! He has already been walking for almost 2 months!

Being the only Rasmussen grandchild(and the only Murnin one as well), this boy gets a LOT of love. But how could he not? He is the cutest little guy ever!

Here are some photo's of us all getting a little "Kaden love" over the past year.

We were sad that we could not be at his party, but we skyped with him so we could tell him Happy Birthday and see him running around and playing with his new toys.

And this I stole off my brothers blog because I think it is just too cute!

Happy Birthday Kaden.

We love you to pieces!

The Better Burger & Soup Du Jour

This post is actually two posts in one. They are both food related.

The Better Burger

Don't judge us. We like to occasionally hit up a fast food joint and indulge off the dollar menu. As of late we have enjoyed the Dollar McDouble. Its a double cheeseburger for a dollar people! The other night as we were driving to our local Mickey D's we were discussing the recent ad campaign of the new dollar double cheeseburger at Burger King. They have been marketing it as a bigger and better burger than the McDonald's version. It just so happens that our BK is right next door to our McD's so we decided to put their claim to the test.

Our first observation was that indeed the BK burger was a bigger burger. It was also on a sesame seed bun as opposed to the plain bun of McDonald's. I was surprised at how different the burgers tasted. They were very unique to their establishments. The Burger King burger has thicker patties that have that char-broiled taste. The McDonald's burger tasted like a McDonald's burger so.... pretty much awesome. In the end Justin liked the BK burger a little better and I liked the McDonald's burger better. They are both tasty but given the choice I would take the McDonald's any day. But we could not just leave it at that. There is another popular eating establishment who also has a double cheese burger on their dollar menu. They are known as Wendy's. Did we try this burger and compare it to the others? You bet we did. And after comparing the three, we are still set on our first choices. Sorry Wendy.

And please no comments about what we are putting into our bodies, because we already know!

Heaven.

Soup Du Jour

One time we were at a a restaurant in Logan called Hamilton's, and on a whim I ordered the french onion soup, even though I hate onions with a passion. It was heavenly and I have been craving it ever since. I will just say that I don't hate the flavor of onions, I enjoy it. It is totally a textural thing. I despise eating onions unless their texture has been fully compromised. In a good french onion soup they are cooked so long, and are so caramelized that they lose that "crunch" that I hate. Anyway, a few Sunday's ago I decided to bust out my culinary skills and make homemade french onion soup. It took some work, was fairly pricey, and from start to finish it took about 5 hours, but it was so good and so worth it. I was so proud of how it turned out for being my first time!

And of course we couldn't end our meal without a decadent desert to compliment our french onion soup. What better then creme brulee, which I had also never made. It was very easy and inexpensive and also turned out great!

It was a great French meal!

You know what they say, "When in France".

Or is it Rome?

Wednesday's Read

I know it has been forever since I have posted a "Wednesday's Read" and I apologize. I have read some great books as of late that I am excited to share with you. But first, let me begin with a story.

About five years ago I had just finished reading a book and I loved it. I knew that I needed to share it with my mom. I called her up and said, "Mom I just finished an amazing book and I need you to read it so we can talk about it." She said, " Funny, I just finished a great book in my book club and I was going to tell you to read it." I said, "What was it called"? She said, "Life of Pi". I then proceeded to say that that was the exact book that I was going to tell her to read. We had read it within days of each other. And that is how it works between my mother and I. We love a lot of the same books and have similar taste when it comes to what we read(and similar taste in almost everything else too). We are also both avid readers, and have a true love and appreciation for a good book.

And that brings me to today's bookS. Yes plural on the books! My mom and I are always trading reading suggestions so that we can chat about books, and that is how my mom came up with a great idea. My parents live in Washington DC and sometimes my mom substitutes for the schools in Virginia. She happened to be working in a middle school on the day that they were introducing this years "Virginia Readers" books to the kids. She heard a brief summery of all the books and thought they sounded really fun. We also both really enjoy YA books! So we decided that together we are going to read all the books on the list. So far she has read 4 and I am just starting the 4th. I have been loving it so far. It has also been fun to talk about the books as we are reading them. Every year the Virginia Readers Association puts out a list for primary, elementary, middle, and high school aged kids. Then the students are awarded depending on how many of the books they read. It reminds me of the Pizza Hut sponsored "Book It" program. Do you guys remember that? Anyway, every year the kids also choose a winner out of all the books. We think that when we are done with this years list, we might go back and read some of the past winners. They have them all the way back to 1982!

Okay, enough rambling, lets get on to the books!

The first book we read from the list is, "The Black Book of Secrets," by F.E. Higgins. I was hooked just from the title and cover of this book.

The black book of secrets is the story of a pawnbroker, told by his apprentice. But he is no ordinary pawnbroker you see, you go to him to pawn your secrets. They are all recorded in a mysterious black book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little dark(which I totally dig), mysterious, quirky, and even a little whimsical. It was received very well by both my mother and I.

The next book we read is, "First Light," by Rebecca Stead.

Unlike the first book, I was not super excited for this one based on the title, cover, or synopsis. It is the story of a boy named Peter, whose father is a scientist, who goes with his family on an expedition to greenland and discovers "something" in the icy frontier. It is also the story of Thea, who lives with her family in Greenland.

Let me tell you, mom and I were both pleasantly surprised and pleased with this book. It is very interesting and I was hooked and fascinated as I read it. I thought it was a great book!

The next book we read is, "Book of a Thousand Days," by Shannon Hale. Oh how we loved this book! I adored it!

Shannon Hale has done it again! This book is the story of a handmaid named Datshi who is locked in a tower for seven years with her lady Saren. It is written by Datshi and is a journal of sorts. Just like another favorite of mine, "Goose Girl", it is also loosely based on a Grimm's fairytale. So far I think this has been my favorite. I guess deep down I will always be a little girl who loves her fairy tales.

I would recommend any of the books so far to anyone out there. I think that Young Adult fiction is perfect for all ages. We have been having fun reading and discussing so far, and if you would like to join us, here is the list. From the link if you click where it says, "Middle School," you will find the list of books we are reading.

Stay tuned to hear how the others turn out!