From the bookshelf...

Currently reading:

"The Shell Seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher

I absolutely love this book and find myself re-reading it at least once a year. I usually have a couple of copies lying around (3 at the moment) because I inevitably end up loaning it to someone and they love it so much that I let them keep the copy they borrowed! This is a very touching and comforting sort of book... a perfect accompaniment to snuggling in a blanket on a cool evening while sipping hot chocolate!

Don't be fooled if you find a copy with the old floral cover (I love the new one shown above, but haven't bought one with that cover yet) ... "The Shell Seekers" isn't a romance novel... there is romance in there, but its not the bosom-heaving-bra-buster that I once feared it to be.

We open the book to meet Penelope Keeling, a woman in her mid 60s who is coming home, having just checked herself out of the hospital after having a (possible) heart attack. As she settles back into her home and life in the country, we are introduced to her three grown (and incredibly selfish) children, all with their own problems and dramas. As the novel progresses, we watch Penelope's life unfold in both the present and the past, as well as through the eyes of her feckless children.

We walk alongside Penelope as she suddenly must grow up at the start of the second World War. With all of its horrors, she decides she must do her part and joins in the Women's Corps... a decision she comes to regret. We share in her joys and tears as she becomes a wife and then a mother, falls in love and even loses those she loves to the war. We see her at war's end, leaving her childhood home by the sea and forging a new life for herself with a shiftless husband. We watch her raise her children and go on being kind and giving to all she meets, even at times when she has nothing to give but a kind word and a warm meal.

Years of wanting to visit the home of her youth finally come to a head and, despite her heart condition, Penelope travels back to the town where she was young and loved. It is there that she learns that while you can't truly go home again, those we lose along the way are not really lost, but become a part of ourselves.... and in that way continue living on....bringing her life full circle. In the same unselfish way that she has lived her life, Penelope has one more gift to give... a decision that has ramifications not only in her life, but in her children's lives and the lives of those around her.

Of course I am leaving out a lot of the story... but you can discover Penelope the way I did, one page at a time until she became someone I love dearly.... someone I would have loved to know. There is a reason that this book has come to be such a beloved favorite of mine, and I hope you can discover a bit of that sweet magic for yourselves.

Rating: PG-13

Why: Several of the characters are sleeping with one another out of wedlock, and, given that its set in England, alcohol consumption is throughout the book. Still, there is no foul language and nothing graphic is written detailing anyone's sordid love life.

I want...I want...I want....

Someone needs to buy this off of Etsy for me....

Get exercise escaping from zombies....

New app being developed for the iPhone, iPod Touch and Android.... you are given audible instructions as you run/walk/stroll/catch a cab. Along the way you "find" supplies for everyone waiting back at base. This app will work whether you are outdoors running about or if you hop on a treadmill...though I am not sure how the whole "we keep track of the miles you run/calories you burn" bit will work. If its GPS based it makes sense, but I have no idea how they would figure out the treadmill bit... the blog states they were still working on that big of programming.

From the website information, it appears that you will hear the zombies (in the distance or even chasing after you) as you get fit... sweet! You will also receive voice commands from fellow survivors letting you know where zombies have been spotted and what supplies they really need back at the home base. The Kickstarter page mentioned approaching some big-name talent for voices...the names Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day were mentioned (but not promised) but that would certainly kick it up another notch.

The app doesn't come out until next year, but is available to pre-order at $12 (40% off what will be the standard price). All the information is available here. Its probably something that would get old after awhile, but it certainly sounds like a lot of fun in the meantime.

Automatically collect crucial items for your base as you run, plus artefacts, notes, voice recordings, and more

Use the items you've collected to develop your base and help your surviving population thrive. With a bigger base comes more missions and some unexpected surprises.

I

Pinterest

I have a new pet peeve....and its name is Pinterest.

Anyone else sick and tired of seeing so many blog posts of "this is what I have pinned today" or "I just found so-and-so's pin list and look how cute it is"?

I know Pinterest is supposed to be a way to save your inspirations, etc and to have other people comment on them, but I'm tired of checking my blog reader and find that multiple blogs I follow only posted their "pin list" for the day. Honestly people, not everyone is interested in seeing what new things you have "pinned" for the day... and I've stopped following a few blogs altogether when it became obvious that they were only going to post new pins every day. I realize its the new shiny toy out there that everyone just has to play with, but its reached annoying enough levels that I have no intention to even join Pinterest.

Oh, and the "Wordless Wednesday" thing has been done to death people....

I think its time to weed out my Reader blogs again... too many people I am following are following one another... which means there is a lot of repeat blogging out there as people show "so-and-so did this on her blog and I just had to share it with you"...which is fine if only one gal does it, but when you are two weeks out from reading the original blog post and people are still sharing it, you realize how tired you are of seeing the same stuff over and over and over, and wondering why these people don't share more original posts.

disclaimer: despite this posting being a bit of a rant, I am actually in a very happy place right now.... I am just getting tired of deleting so many posts without reading them because its the same stuff over and over again....

second disclaimer: honestly, I really am happy....

And the hair has been cut....

No, this specific style wasn't on the list.... but I was scrolling through the internet to find a larger version of the hairstyle I had planned on going for and scrolled past something similar to this. Richard immediately wanted to know why this style hadn't been on the list for him to choose... (I didn't have the heart to tell him that several of the styles to choose from were variations of this cut!)

The sad thing is, I printed out the chosen hairstyle at the office and then set it on a box in the front seat of my car... a box that Richard hauled into the apartment right before we left for our hair appointments! Ugh! The gal did a pretty good job though considering I quickly found two images in one of their "books 'o' hair" and said "its a combo of this and this but without that and that...basically I want a pageboy cut".

I'll have a new picture of myself in a day or so.... I have to dig my camera out from whatever pile of stuff its currently buried under! I know its in the apartment and I know its in a safe enough spot.... I just can't find where in the apartment it is. Guess I'll just have to keep unpacking and moving boxes until I find its secret hiding place....

Note: Miya, I haven't tried the hair color yet... I'm currently enjoying being a brunette at the moment. I must admit though, after seeing the color she's sporting in this picture, I am seriously tempted to try red again!

Whew! Weekend Update....

Well, Saturday has come and gone and the final big move is finally over...

Thank freaking goodness....

Richard and I got hold of the U-Haul early Saturday morning and went to my old place to meet the Elders (who were scheduled to help with the move) and, while no one was there immediately at 9:30 am we weren't worried. We just started hauling stuff to the truck and figured the guys would show up at 10... after all, we said anytime between 9:30 and 10 would be great.

Ten came.... and went.... and still no help.

Then came ten thirty....

Finally I dug out our EQ President's phone number and gave him a call....

EQ Prez: Hello?

Me: Hi.... this is Sister Zimmerman....

EQ Prez: Hey Sister Zimmerman.... how is the move going?

Me: Well, fine.... considering its just my husband and I hauling things out.

(pause)

EQ Prez: You mean NO ONE showed up?

Me: Not yet....

EQ Prez: Lemme make some phone calls....I know I had a couple guys lined up for you today...

Fifteen minutes later I get a call back....

EQ Prez: I can only get a hold of one of them.... but he'll be right over. I'm still working on getting you a few more guys so I will call you back

Another fifteen minutes or so go by and then I get a final call...

EQ Prez: I am on my way and there should be a couple other guys coming right over to help....

Me: Thanks!

It took about another twenty minutes before anyone at all showed up, but then 5 or 6 guys showed up in dribs and drabs. By this time all that was left were two large items (my tool chest and the china cabinet) that Richard and I couldn't handle by ourselves, and about 15 or 20 boxes (Richard and I had already handled the other 3/4 of the boxes and the rest of the other furniture items)... luckily once they got underway we were loaded in another 15 minutes. It is amazing what a crew can accomplish rather than just the individual....

Believe me... I was grateful for the help.

We got the last of the stuff loaded and I (foolishly?) asked if anyone needed a lift over to the new place to help with the unloading (which our EQ had promised would not be an issue when I set this whole help-us-move-thing a week and a half prior, seeing as we were moving just down the road not even a mile away).

Guys: Uh.... you want help unloading?

Me: Yes please.

Well two guys managed to come over and they helped Richard haul the china cabinet and tool chest in the house before they had to bail to do other things. I was still grateful for what help we'd received (we'd have never been able to get either one of those things up those stairs by ourselves!) but we were already tired and not looking forward to hauling all those boxes up the stairs by ourselves.

Enter Aiden. Cute kid... maybe 11 or 12. He lives further back in our complex and was apparently dying of boredom, because he offered, at no cost, to help us get stuff up the stairs. He could certainly talk though, and kept up a steady patter as he ran several of the small boxes up the stairs and helped Richard with the lighter cupboards. He and Richard then devised a system where Aiden would find all of the light boxes and shove them to the back of the U-Haul. Richard would then carry the boxes over to where I stood on the balcony and he'd toss the boxes at me and I would then stack them immediately into the outdoor storage room on our deck.

It was a good system.... stuff was certainly flying out of the rig.

Once we had all of the lightest stuff out, we kept Aiden pushing boxes to the back and Richard and I hauled stuff up (well, Richard mostly hauled it up and I met him at the top of the stairs to take it from him and then decide if I was putting it in the house or carrying it out to the storage space, while Richard would head back down the stairs to grab another box).

The truck was cleared out, and we were able to return it to the facility just before the 2pm cut-off time (hooray!)

Of course, now we have a pile of boxes in the living room and office. Our bedroom was spared the majority of it, but once I have my bookshelf up tonight I will be dragging a few boxes of books down there to fill it with (which will actually clear out the majority of living room boxes... the rest of the living room overflow is some bedding and stuff to go into the china cabinet).

Have a I mentioned I own a lot more junk than I should? Pretty sure I have several times over by now....

We were both so tired Saturday after dropping off the U-Haul, but we had to stop back by the house to grab a couple of storage bins that were overlooked, and a couple of boxes of items from the cupboards in the kitchen (which are still sitting in our cars...neither one of us had the energy to lug more things up the stairs). We then went to WalMart to get a vacuum cleaner (we still hadn't picked one up, but after that morning's load of stuff, we certainly needed one ASAP!)

We then grabbed dinner at Kneaders, drove home, took showers because we were both completely filthy, and then tumbled into bed at 7.... too tired to care that it was early. We ended up watching a movie (Scream 4... which was surprisingly good) before we both passed out.

Sunday morning found us both incredibly stiff and sore. We crawled out of bed around 8:30, made breakfast, headed back for bed at 10 and slept until around 3pm! We were both too sore to do much besides shuffle a few boxes out of the way and we watched a couple movies (Pirates of the Caribbean 4--total crap and Green Lantern--not half bad). Then Richard decided he had the energy to haul a load of laundry down to the laundry room...which was a great thing, since we were getting low on clean clothes. (I look forward to getting a washer and dryer in a couple of weeks... no more hauling clothes around!)

After work tonight I will stop by the store long enough to grab some shrimp and steak (its our one-month anniversary today!) and then head home. After dinner Richard will move a few things around in the bedroom so my bookshelf will fit while I tackle the stuff to go into the china cabinet. Once he has the bookshelf set up (it will be the third one in our room and I think we could easily fill one or two more.... we both love to read and it shows in our collections!) we'll pull out as many books as possible to fill the shelves. I think once those things are done then we'll be able to navigate our way around the living room again.

For the remainder of this week I plan to get off of work on time (I am trying for no late nights at all) because I want to have the rest of the boxes in the house unpacked by the weekend. That would just leave me with every night going through a box or two in storage and weeding out a lot of the stuff. I would love to be much lighter on junk before the holidays.... and then I can be ruthless again in the spring. I would love to have our next move (in a year or two) to be much more manageable.

As it is, what a relief to know we don't have any more of those dire "must-get-stuff-out-now" deadlines... we can both come directly home after work and not have to worry about finding time to go pick up more of my stuff. From here on out, what you see is what we've got... no more "uh, really I have no idea how many more boxes we still have to haul over..."

And what a relief to finally be feeling better.... the cyst has either gone or is too small to be causing any more issues. Major relief with the move this weekend to not have that pain to deal with!

All-in-all we are doing good. We can both breathe again, and I can finally finish up all the stuff I've been meaning to do these last few weeks (I have package's for Y, L and M to box up and mail, as well as finish addressing my thank you cards and editing my wedding photos!)

I'll be busy for awhile, but we really are doing good.... we send our love to everyone who has been so patient with our not being available, and not really keeping in contact. Honestly, we did not fall off the face of the planet!

Until later,

Shawna

Quote of the week....

One day closer....

.... to an nearly unpacked home!

Got home late last night (worked late, fought my way through the store with the after-work dinner rush crowd and then was outside the apartment chatting with a neighbor for nearly 40 mins!) I started working on some rice and hamburger stuffed bell peppers for dinner (big hit... and they were really good, thanks to using Zatarains Dirty Rice mix.... good stuff!) Yes, dinner was mostly rice and veggies (I am trying to feed us healthier choices than either of us were eating prior to marriage... so far its working pretty good).

Anyway....

While dinner cooked I cleaned up the dishes, and then dragged my desk into the office, and started unpacking boxes.

Richard was home at 9 and I took a break for dinner, and then went back to the boxes again. With Richard's help we have over half of the junk that was stacked in the living room cleared out (HOORAY!) and all of our clothes are properly hung and folded (whew!) I wasn't paying attention to the time, so it was nearly 1:30 am by the time we were finished, but I went to bed this morning feeling pretty darn good about how things were progressing. I think I can get the rest cleared out before Richard comes home tonight. That leaves us with tomorrow morning to set up the office space (so we can both use it effectively) before Richard goes to work, and to decide out where we want to hang pictures and then like (I can handle the actual hanging of items after he's gone).

This way everything will be cleared out and ready for next weekend's final haul of boxes. A lot of those boxes (for now anyway) will go straight into the storage room on our deck for future perusal. I figure if I can haul out a box of two a night I can have the last of the stuff worked out within a couple of weeks, and haul the discarded stuff over to donation on my way to work each day, rather than let it pile up.

Did I mention I feel really good about how things are progressing here?

Its nice to have the space to spread out again with my things.... and to re-discover things I hadn't remembered even owning. Its actually making me look forward to getting the rest of my stuff over to the apartment.... well, not the actual heavy lifting, huffing and puffing (but thankfully we will have the Elders Quorum helping out this time so it should go much faster), but I am definitely looking forward to weeding things out and separating the gold from the dross.

Thank goodness for little miracles...

Yesterday I was supposed to move the last of my bedroom stuff out because my old roommate found someone to rent the room, and she's moving in today.

Okay, bit of a scramble, but its my own fault... between wedding prep, the cyst issue (and resultant emergency room visits and evenings tanked up on meds) not to mention the regular routine of always too much to do at work but not enough time (hell-o overtime!), I haven't moved my stuff over to the apartment in a very timely manner.

I tried working the day out so I'd only work a half day at most, and then would leave as soon as my co-worker came in, but she's called in sick for yesterday, today and tomorrow... and for a bit of last week as well. I am not sure what all is going on with her, but I think its safe to say its serious.

Anyway, I ended up working a full day.

The U-Haul place I was getting the truck from (a little 10 footer from a few blocks down the street ) was only open until 3 pm and the boss was running all over the place, so it became clear pretty quick I wasn't going to have even 5 minutes off to go get the truck before they closed... so I called Richard, tossed my debit card at him (his new one hasn't arrived yet) and sent him down to secure our wheels.

At 4:20 I was finally leaving the office, we grabbed the truck from where it was waiting for us on the lot, and headed over to load up my piles of junk. My old roommate showed up around 6:30 and helped, but (thankfully) the majority of it was already loaded. We stopped on the way to the apartment for a quick bite at KFC (which I normally hate eating at because something in that chicken always makes me throw up...but it was on the way and quick).

We got to the apartment and started unloading, hauling boxes and my small armoire and the like.... we hadn't even gotten to the two old-fashioned (ie: super deep) televisions, or my desk and I felt wasted. I'd already run around all day, was not feeling good and was unable to take my pills as I was driving. Keep moving I told myself....we're nearly there.

That was about the time I had to run for the bathroom and toss up the KFC....

I stepped out of the bathroom and heard a stranger's voice coming from my living room.... I walked down the hall and here pops this little gal in a yellow t-shirt carrying one of my boxes in, accompanied by my old roommate.

God bless my neighbor (literally.... she lives in the apartment right under us!)

We moved some more boxes and then were joined by a young man from across the complex, who helped Richard wrestle in both tvs, and the dresser.

Bless him too....

With their help we had the last of the items out of the truck in no time at all. I am not sure which apartment Dillon is in (but I will find out!) and both he and Kimberly are getting a plate of cookies and a hearty thank you this weekend.

We drove the U-Haul back to the lot and dropped the keys in the slot.... and I have never been so happy to have a day behind me.

Of course, when I get home tonight, I will be dealing with the pile of stuff stacked all over my living room.... but, between today, tomorrow and Saturday, that stuff should find their homes fairly quickly. I am glad though that my pictures and the like are at the apartment now, so I can finally start hanging some things on the wall and making our place look more like a home....

...and there is no place like home....

I am a winner....

... of a giveaway!

Whee! I've entered a few of these in my time (just the stuff that actually interests me, so, on the whole, there are a lot of giveaways on blogs that I don't bother with) but I won one!

Yippee! I am seriously stoked because a lot of the projects look fun. You can check out the book on its original blog here or on Amazon here. I am really looking forward to getting this in the mail and to start playing around with the different projects.

Yeah! I love cool freebies!

Good news.... I think....

Well I am back from the emergency room.... again

My cyst pain is still around. It fades, and then comes back pretty strong, so I take my pills, hunker down with a heating pad and just suck it up.

Friday night was incredibly bad and I should have had Richard take me to the emergency room then....but I didn't.

Today though it hit me halfway through Sacrament meeting.... I had Richard bring me home as soon as the meeting broke, I took some of my pills, and after three hours they still weren't doing anything about the pain. So I had him take me to the ER after all.

Wow, the Provo ER was amazingly backed up.... when I went to American Fork the day before my wedding I was immediately processed and given a room, and almost immediately went to have the ultrasound and MRI done. At Provo we had a couple hour wait just to get to a room....and more to get the ultrasound done...

We were at the hospital for about 5 and a half hours total, and the results were that while I still have my cyst, it actually has decreased in size from 10cm down to about 3. It hasn't ruptured, at least, not that the ultrasound showed, but it IS being reabsorbed by my body.

I was sent back home with the information that since it is resolving itself, that surgery is out (which I most certainly did not want anyway) but I do have to suck it up with the pain and the nausea for probably another week or two before my body finishes the job.

Ow-itch!

At least I know that it will be coming to an end soon.... but the nausea is pretty bad tonight. Think I will take a pill and crawl off to bed....

Time for a haircut?

Hey everyone.... I've been thinking of cutting my hair shorter again, and I would like your opinion. Rather than going with the short style I normally get.....


(My typical short cut, which I do love)


.....I would rather go shoulder length to start and then maybe go shorter at a later date. Feel free to links of any different styles you'd like me to consider in your comments....


if I could manage this look, I'd go for it in a heartbeat!





Do any of these strike you guys as looking good on me?

p.s. Richard just took a look in here and he prefers the bottom left picture... which was actually the first one I picked out....

From the iPod....

Simply because I loved this song before Richard and I got together.... but it means so much more now that I have him in my life....besides, its an amazing video

I am obviously into sappy love songs these last couple of weeks.... another one that I adore, though it seems to be massively overplayed lately

This is "our song".... though Richard prefers the Keith Whitley version, which is a little too much country twang for my taste....

Longer update...

Hey everyone...

Married life is going well. At some point all of my junk will be at the apartment, where I can start unpacking it, tossing some of it, and making our place look more like a home. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to work, go over to the old house and pack some more stuff, haul it home and then do it all over again. I am tired.... but its a good tired. I am seeing some stuff that I haven't had unpacked since I left Washington... and I am happy to say that I still love the majority of it. Its a good feeling to have a lot more of myself out and about, rather than crammed into one room. I get up in the morning and look around our still fairly empty bedroom and find that, while I know that dressers and the like will fill it up more, I am also happy to have space to walk around.

Last Saturday I went out to Cynthia's and we cleaned up the small mountain of wedding stuff in her garage... some of which is currently sitting in the trunk of my car (and will have to be unloaded tonight). I am glad to have that last task done... and I am sure she and her husband appreciate getting a chunk of their garage back. I really owe them loads for all they've done in regards of the wedding.

I should call our Elders Quorum President about having the guys help move over the furniture items on Saturday, but I would rather do it the following weekend, since I will be able to rent a U-Haul then, instead of having everyone help me do multiple trips with a pick-up. It would be nicer (and much faster) for the guys to be able to get everything into one big load. So I am thinking Richard and I may grab the truck Friday night after he's off work, do a load that night of my dresser and our pantry cabinets, and then we will do one more load of my bookshelf, steamer trunk and desk on Saturday before he goes to work. That way I can clear off my kitchen table of pantry items that are nothing more than an eyesore (and a feline temptation to knock over) and Richard's clothes can finally have a home, since he's getting my dresser and I will be using an antique one I found right before his move up here (gotta love beautiful antiques on sale for a really really good price!)

As it is we hauled all of my clothes and hangers, etc etc over to the apartment, so tonight I will be pulling everything out of their boxes and hanging them up, putting them away, etc etc so I can stop pawing through a variety of boxes trying to find an outfit for the day! I figure if I also spend tonight unpacking a few of the other boxes that have been tucked into the office/craft room, then I can reuse those to pack up what little remains in my bedroom at the roommate's place... and its just less stuff sitting around making me feel guilty that its still boxed up and not put into a more permanent placement. I don't like having boxes sitting around....

The more time that I spend in our home the more I love it... but then that's also because I love everyone I share the home with (Richard.... cats.....) Richard loves the cats as much as I do.... and is very tolerant, considering there is usually a cat draped on the bed, chairs, laps at any given hour of the day. Oliver has gotten into the habit of coming in as soon as we're tucked in, just to snuggle between us and purr away contentedly. We're settling into a routine that feels very comfortable and every day finds me loving this man I married just a bit more than I had the day before. Of course its not all wine and roses.... but I know I have a very good thing with Richard. We are enough alike that we agree on what shows to watch, what music to listen to, what activities to pursue.... but we have enough differences that keeps life interesting, but not conflicting.

I'll have to post more later... I have my wedding photos, but haven't had time to do much with them yet. I will try going through a few tonight and posting them.

Two-Second Update.....

I am alive....

I am happy....

I will post more by tomorrow.......

p.s. Miya.... Pinkie Pie will be finished tonight and will be in your hot little hands within a week! Sorry for the lateness of the b-day present!