June 2015

The other night we had a pretty good storm, complete with grape-sized hail. No real damage right around us, except that our over-achieving tomato plant (Jeran counted 56 tomatoes!) lost one of its most laden branches, Really just bent it good, it might pull through.

Here are some hail pictures - not very good ones since I was in a hurry and holding a squirmy baby, but you get the idea.

Allison has been sick with a decent cold for over a week. I think she's improving but still wakes herself up coughing. Since she gotten sick she has been staying up until 11pm instead of her normal 9:30pm. She has also been pretty much impossible to set down during naps without waking her completely and won't nap well unless she's held. So we've been holding a coughing, sleeping baby a lot recently. I'm not sure whether it is just a normal phase or if it is because she's sick, but hopefully it won't last forever.

Jeran is sick now too, and he gets pretty miserable whenever he gets a sore throat, but it can't be too serious because he was well enough to go wake-boarding twice this weekend despite the rain. :) Allison also wakes up to his coughing, so I got treated the other night to the amusing sight of Jeran rushing into the bedroom to grab a pillow to smother himself with while he coughed after putting her to bed one night.

My sister, Jessica, came to visit us this past week. She braved Allison's sickness and we just hung out and went out to eat and talked. It was so great to see her again and talk baby stuff. Woohoo! Not long for her now!

My work is going pretty well and I think I'm doing a pretty good job balancing work and home even as they are blended together so thoroughly. Jeran has been trying to study most every day for a few hours for his Masters qualifying exams that will happen at the end of July so that's keeping him pretty busy. I'm excited for the few weeks in August between those being over and school starting again, plus my friend Mary and baby Peter are coming to visit during that time so it will be doubly good.

I'm going to try to post a little something much more regularly. I always enjoy my family and friends' blog posts, even if it's only one or two lines or just a picture, so I'm going to try to update my own more even if it's just a tiny post. Happy end of June (already?)!

Reading Update

I don't have much time to write long reviews on these so I'll keep most of them very short. Actually since this list goes back about 8 months, I don't even remember some of these very well. I put an asterisk in front of the ones I particularly liked.

Rose Under Fire (Code Name Verity, #2) by Elizabeth Wein

* The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

* Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

* David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

* The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1) by Rae Carson

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2) by Rae Carson

The Bitter Kingdom (Fire and Thorns, #3) by Rae Carson

* The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All For the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II by Gregory A. Freeman

The Selection (The Selection, #1) by Kiera Cass

The Elite (The Selection, #2) by Kiera Cass

The One (The Selection, #3) by Kiera Cass

The Guard (The Selection, #2.5) by Kiera Cass

The Prince (The Selection, #0.5) by Kiera Cass

Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Testing (The Testing, #1) by Joelle Charbonneau

Independent Study (The Testing, #2) by Joelle Charbonneau

Graduation Day  (The Testing, #3) by Joelle Charbonneau

The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1) by Shannon Hale

The Islands at the End of the World (Islands at the End of the World, #1) by Austin Aslan

* Terrier (Beka Cooper, #1) by Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound (Beka Cooper, #2) by Tamora Pierce

Mastiff (Beka Cooper, #3) by Tamora PierceMajor Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved My Life by Sarah Boston

* Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal

The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran, #1) by Farmer, Nancy

* Unearthly (Unearthly, #1) by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed (Unearthly, #2) by Cynthia Hand

Boundless (Unearthly, #3) by Cynthia Hand

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

More baby pictures

Now, more baby pictures! She has really started smiling good occasionally, but we don't have any real great pictures of that because I would rather just stay and watch her and smile back than get the camera out and miss it!

Getting dressed up with Grandma B

Cuddle time with Mom

Nap time with Dad

We had a baby!

Our sweet baby Allison is two three almost five weeks old. Yes, this post has been a long time coming. We are blessed to have a darling, oh-so-cute little girl join our family. After being married and on our own for over 10 years, it has been quite the adjustment to have a new addition.

Allison is healthy and doing well. She's right on track for growth and is generally happy and sweet.

12 hours old! 

All the clothes we had for her at the hospital were way too big. Oops. :)

Napping with Daddy 

She is very good at pulling weird faces, waving her arms around, and blocking her face when the camera comes out. Wonder who she gets that from...? The result is that I have lots of sweet pictures of her like the one below, peaceful and sleeping, that all look more or less the same.

She looks a lot like Jeran but every once in a while I see some of myself in her.

She is pretty good at being hungry at predictable times, but we haven't yet gotten into a predictable sleeping pattern, besides sleeping pretty well most nights. Thus we're tired but not completely out of it (most of the time).

We are very happy and love being parents to this wonderful baby!

My Recent Reads (May - September 2014)

Sighhhhhhh. I need to do this more frequently, or start writing these right as I finish each book. I do enjoy posting these, partly to just reflect on what I have read and whether it has stuck with me or not, and partly because I just like talking about and sharing books.

The Golem's Eye (Bartimaeus, #2) by Jonathan Stroud
This is the sequel to the Amulet of Samarkand, featuring the lovable djinni Bartimaeus and the boy magician Nathaniel again. Faced with increased responsibility, Nathaniel tries to track down the members of the Resistance and stop their disruptive attacks on London. He has to enlist Bartimaeus's help again, much to each of their dismay. Not as good as the first one, but still entertaining. 3 stars.

Ptolemy's Gate (Bartimaeus, #3) by Jonathan Stroud
The next and final Bartimaeus book brings all the loose ends together and Nathaniel must again face the mysterious Resistance girl that he has encountered in each book. Bartimaeus is suffering from being enslaved in this world for too long without rest, but they need him to get through the crazy going-ons around them and stop the bad magicians. 4 stars.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
The concept of golems and jinn was brought up in the previous two books in an intriguing manner. They are middle eastern mythological or theological beings, so I looked to see if there were any books with good reviews on the topic and found this one. I prefer to pick books based on recommendations, but I was glad I found this one. It was interesting and informative, while still being a novel. A golem and a jinni separately end up in old New York City and are striving to fit in and go unnoticed when they chance across each other.  4 stars.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
I did pick this book on a recommendation, but those don't always work out. Terry Pratchett books are often just too ridiculous for me to get through, let alone enjoy. I didn't make it all the way through this one, although I might try again some day because the premise is interesting. Basically, this man dies and he can choose to either die or become the post-master at this crazy dysfunctional post office that is full to the ceilings with undelivered mail.

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
A period romance, this was a nice fluffy book that was good for a quick read. Here's what I said on Goodreads: "This book made me happy, although there were several sections that made me roll my eyes from the cheesiness or poor writing. Still, it's the type of book that you like because it is so cheesily romantic that it makes you smile and sigh and then you laugh at yourself." That pretty much sums it up. So if you like a good, clean romantic drama I would recommend this. 4 stars.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Weird. This book was a bit confusing because of the creative way it flows, and probably also because I was listening to the audio book and I'm betting the real book has some indication that you're jumping around while the audio book does not. This book explores the many divergent paths that our lives may take by following Ursula Todd from the time she is born to when she dies. It starts with one story with one outcome, then bounces back to a different turn of events at a certain point and does this repeatedly throughout the book until you've heard several variations on the life Ursula could have lived. It gets awfully repetitive because it has to repeat parts to remind you where you're jumping back to, but the concept was interesting. 3 stars.

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
Similar in style but not plot to Edenbrooke, this is another happy romantic book. 4 stars.

Austenland by Shannon Hale
So silly. Both me and the book. I got to the last 3-4 pages and finally realized I had already read this book before. I don't know why I didn't realize it until then, but I don't take that as a good sign. It's about a young woman who is obsessed with Mr. Darcy and Pride and Prejudice and it has ruled her life. Her aunt gifts her a trip to Austenland, this immersive Jane Austen-style experience, to try to work it out of her system. 3 stars.

Parkland by Vincent Bugliosi
This was a non-fiction book about the JFK assassination and investigation. It was super interesting, and occasionally very saddening and pretty gross. Poor Jackie. The author has done extensive research and gives very detailed information about the events before, during, and especially after this tragic moment. I also watched the movie, and it wasn't half as good as the book, but it was okay.

On a related note, I remember for a while as I child almost every time we went to the library, I wanted to check out this certain blue, hard-cover children's book about the JFK assassination. I'm not sure why or if it had my parents concerned, but I really liked that book and checked it out frequently.

Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassen
Julie Klassen writes books quite similar to Julianne Donaldson (see above). This one is about a young woman who becomes pregnant and must go to a house for unwed mothers and the people and circumstances she finds there. 2 stars

The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen
A young woman works efficiently in her father's apothecary but is not allowed to own or run it because she is a woman. She goes to London for a time, but while she's away, her father's business falls apart. When she returns a rival apothecary opens shop, and makes the choice between returning to London and staying even harder. 4 stars.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley
This is a book about a girl who meets and befriends(?) an unusual vampire. It was actually pretty interesting and well-done, but so not like anything I expected from Robin McKinley who wrote things like The Hero and the Crown, Blue Sword, and The Outlaws of Sherwood. Despite this and the fact it's about vampires, which seem so cliche today (10 years after this was published), I did enjoy this book. 4 stars.

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
This book brought me to the realization that when we hear about tragic happenings, like the tsunami in southeast Asia in 2004, and hear numbers of dead or missing, we often don't personalize the people involved. They are just numbers until you read a book like this. But this made me realize that likely all of those 230,000+ people had stories and people who loved them and grieved for them. And also that as much as an untimely death is unfortunate, being injured and surviving afterwards, often desperate to know what happened to your loved ones is really just as tragic, and we don't usually even hear numbers of how many people are affected this way.

Anyways, this book is about a Sri-Lankan lady who lived happily with her husband and two children in London and went to Sri Lanka to visit her family. She, her husband, two children, and both parents were happily vacationing in a hotel they regularly stayed at on the coast when the tsunami struck. So much of this book is about her life weeks, months, and years afterwards and is very sad and depressing, but that was her life. We never know what we would do in those situations until we're there ourselves. So, this was pretty interesting and thought-provoking, but if you want something about the tsunami that ends up slightly happier, try the movie The Impossible, based on the true story of another family vacationing during the tsunami. Fair warning though: I found this movie emotionally jarring and pretty frightening because they do an incredibly realistic job of the terror of being caught in the tsunami. 3 stars.

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
A pretty good fantasy book, but not as good as some of Sanderson's other works. Every time, he creates a world of magic that works in a different, creative way. Besides just being a deft storyteller, I think that is what primarily draws me back to his books. 4 stars.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
This is a young adult fiction book about two girls set during WWII. Verity is a secret agent and her friend is a pilot. When they are shot down over Germany and Verity is captured by the Gestapo, she writes and writes "secrets" for the Germans in order to stay alive. The point of view in this book is interesting and unique. 4.5 stars.

The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen
This is a unique period romance in that it's told mostly from the man's point of view. The main dude is a dancing master like his famous father was, and when he and his mother and sister move to this small town where dancing is mysteriously but unofficially banned, he decides to go against that sanction and teach dancing anyways. 3 stars

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
As a girl, Bethia encountered a Native American boy and they secretly romped the woods together. Her father is attempting to convert the various tribes and teach them English. The boy later goes on to attend college and Bethia has a change in circumstances that gives her a front-row seat to observe his accomplishments and challenges. Not intensely interesting, but okay. 3 stars.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
I had a hard time getting into this book because it seemed so comic bookish, but I took it on vacation with us and it ended up being pretty good. There are some people who have superpowers but most of those are evil and rule their various domains. There is a group of rebels who want to overthrow the current evil leader of Chicago, Steelheart, who rules with an iron fist and has turned the whole city to steel, killing whomever he wishes. David saw Steelheart kill his father and now believes he knows Steelheart's secret weakness, so he sets out to try to join the rebels in their quest. 4 stars.

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
The plot in this book is a bit comical because this young lady runs away from home and secretly and in disguise becomes a maid at the manor of two brothers who both were at one time potential love interests. Neither recognize her and she lives secretly as a maid there until circumstances force her to come back to society. 3 stars.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The story of the woman whose mysteriously immortal cervical cancer cells were taken and distributed, later being used in many important discoveries. So much of it is about her poor family, and how they dealt with the aftermath of learning about Henrietta's life and death and what has happened with her cells since then. 4 stars.

Toby and the Baton

Since it has been so long since I have posted anything about Toby, I figure I'll share this video of him playing with that mysterious foil-ended baton that is always perched above the door frame between our two front rooms. 

Amazing! Many of you have seen Toby but may not believe that he actually does more than just wander in and out or flop onto his side or lounge splayed on his back in the middle of the room or meow loudly when he's hungry! Well here is your proof.

Also, I'm working on another book post coming soon but I didn't realize it had been like 6 months since the last one so the list is rather long and daunting for me to work through. Hopefully this will hold you over until then.

Kaua'i (Hawaii part 2)

Warning, this may be my longest, most picture-filled post I've ever done, but it was so hard to choose just a few pictures because everything we saw on Kauai was so beautiful. And was had such a wonderful time, I want to transport you all there for just a while.

We arrived in Kauai and headed north to Hanalei Bay Resort. The whole island was really lovely, especially the north shore where we were staying. We picked up a few groceries for meals and checked in. Our room was very nice with one exception: it didn't have a real bed, just a fold-out hide-a-bed. Maybe I knew that when we booked it, I can't remember. I believe I thought when I read the description that when it said it had a couch that folds-out into a bed, it meant a real bed PLUS the couch, who knows. Anyway, besides being the creakiest, spring-filled bed ever, it was not unbearable so after looking at our alternative option that had a real bed but no kitchen and down three flights of stairs, we decided we could live with a couch-bed for a week.

There was not a view of the ocean from our room either but I think this view from our comfy balcony pretty much made up for it. I think this was just as lovely.

Another view of the mountains from our balcony.

Hanging out at the resort pool. It was an awesome pool area.

On Sunday we went into Hanalei Bay for church at the Hanalei Bay branch. It seemed like a good branch that was used to supporting twice it's actual number in visitors every Sunday.

Hanalei Bay branch church building

The rest of Sunday we just settled in, relaxed, napped a lot, and walked around the beautiful resort.

We took a boat tour of the gorgeous Na Pali Coast. It was almost certainly the most spectacular thing we did there so there are lots of pictures here. I was a bit wary of a 5-hour boat trip knowing that I often get a bit seasick on boats but I used all the tricks I've learned from dive trips (Bonine, don't sit in the exhaust, watch the coastline, etc) and luckily the water was super calm, so I didn't have much trouble at all.

Ready for an awesome boat tour.

Beginning of the ride, note the nice calm water. Mountains aren't too steep either.

We saw a pod of about 150-200 dolphins, they just kept coming and swimming past us, more and more, some babies by their mothers' sides. It was amazing. One dolphin even jumped all the way out of the water and Jeran got that on video.

We saw a bunch of sea turtles swimming along. We even saw a rare endangered monk seal swimming around in the water, which is apparently not too common to spot (they're easier to spot lounging on a beach).

I don't remember what this place was called but there was a cave that led into a donut shaped pool where the Hawaiian royalty and others used to go on outings. They'd cruise in and hang out on that center rock and swim around.

The tunnel entrance into that pool

Waterfall into the ocean

  

This famous arch, apparently we've likely all seen it in movies, like Pirates of the Caribbean 2, etc.

Craggy peaks on the Na Pali coast

While snorkeling, we came across this little 3-4 foot white tip reef shark. How exciting.

"Not too cold yet"

After the boat ride, we drove back up to our hotel and got cleaned up. We took a nap then had dinner at a little diner called Hanalei Gourmet. Jeran wasn't too impressed with his burger but I liked my local chicken sandwich.

The next day was Jeran's birthday! Happy birthday!!! We went to nearby Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Preserve. It was so beautiful. The lighthouse is out on a point and there are gorgeous views in all directions. It is a bird refuge, with tons of red-footed boobies and albatrosses hanging out there.

Kilauea Lighthouse

Selfie!

You probably can't see them, but the white specks on the hill across this little inlet are all red-footed boobies.

The view from the lighthouse west towards Hanalei Bay.

That afternoon we just relaxed by the pool and read and napped and chilled.

A few waterfalls into the pool, one of which you could climb behind.

This is the hot tub. It had sand on the bottom and a nice waterfall or two.

That evening we went down to the beach (you have to go down a fairly long paved trail to finally get to the beach shared between Hanalei Bay Resort and the St. Regis).

Sunset approaches Hanalei Bay

Jeran prepares for a sunset snorkel.

I sat on the beach and read my book, took pictures, and kept an eye on Jeran.

Jeran saw an octopus in its hidey-hole.

It was a lovely end to a nice, relaxing day.

The following day we went to Queen's Bath, a little tide pool near our hotel that apparently can be so dangerous as many people have died there, being snatched by a wave and swept out to sea or crushed against the rocks. Luckily for us, it is summer with calmer waves on the north shore and we went at low tide, so it was pretty calm.

The hike down to the tide pools. These weird trees were everywhere on Kauai.

Queen's Bath. We decided not to swim, but we watched the ocean, the critters in some of the other tide pools, and the people for a while.

That afternoon we lounged by the pool again until we got hungry. We went to Fredrico's Fresh-Mex restaurant and it was super good. I had an enchilada wrap that was pretty amazing and Jeran had fish tacos that were apparently really good. Then we went back and repeated the sunset snorkel at the resort beach.

These are actually sunrise at the resort beach that Jeran took one morning while I was still asleep.

We went to Tunnels Beach bright and early the next morning. It was a lovely stretch of beach supposedly known for great snorkeling and it didn't disappoint. We saw lots of fish and many sea turtles. You have to stay back away from the sea turtles but it was nearly impossible when you would swim over a section of reef and they would rise up out of a dip in the coral they were breakfasting in.

Turtle

Turtle

Turtle with Mindy in the background

After snorkeling, we hung out on the beach for a while. For lunch we went to Bubba Burger, which is apparently a popular and famous place, because they have pictures all over with all sorts of celebrities with the staff at Bubba Burger. We also had some more famous Shave Ice, which really hits the spot on a hot humid day in the sun. Then we swam at the pool and lounged, then went all over the resort taking pictures of every different type of flower we could find. There were sooooo many. I won't include more than one for now, but there were diverse flowers everywhere at the resort and around the island.

Sigh, now the final day. Usually we are good and ready to head home at the end of a vacation, but this was so relaxing and refreshing, not to mention the daunting tasks awaiting us at home, that we didn't want it to be over all ready. We packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. We drove back to the far south towards Waimea Canyon, stopping at a few waterfalls along the way. This worked out pretty well because we wanted to do activities this day that didn't require showering afterwards, and the airport was in that direction anyways.

First stop: Wailua Falls. When we saw this one, Jeran said he had imagined that more of our time in Hawaii would be spent at places like this, and maybe if our trip had been longer we would have, but what we did do was nice too.

There was a person down swimming in the pool at the base of this falls, which I believe is what Jeran pictured us doing a lot of that we actually didn't do any of. Might have been nice. Maybe next time. :)

Then we drove to Opaeka'a Falls:

Then we drove up, up, up Waimea Canyon to the three lookouts:

Beginning of Waimea Canyon

The grandest canyon in Hawaii.

The view of the Na Pali coast from above through the clouds from the top of Waimea Canyon.

Jeran at Waimea Canyon

One more quick stop at the rather disappointing Spouting Horn and it was off to the airport for the first of four flights homeward bound.

Spouting Horn. Not half as cool as La Bufadora.

Goodbye Hawaii! I don't know when we'll ever get to come back, but it was a magical trip and just what we needed to unwind from the stress of the spring and summer before Jeran starts his Masters program.