Spring is in the Air

Photography of James.

Books Read (Feb, Mar)

The latest and greatest books. James has been super busy with the second half of the semester and calculus, so there aren't any that he read this time. Unless you count textbooks. But here are the ones I've read!

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. This was actually for my relief society book club from January, I have no idea why I didn't include it with the other books. I had already read it before, but reading it again was really fun and there was a lot that I didn't remember. It's a great classic-fairytale-with-a-twist story.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. James and I borrowed it from my parents. I think dystopia stories are interesting to think about, and compare the world with what the author thought the future would be like. This one is kind of dark. If you buy into the idea it's pretty frightening, but if you don't then it's just kind of ridiculous and weird. It also isn't very realistic, but I think the author was more trying to convey certain political ideas rather than psychological feelings. Overall I'd say it was pretty okay.

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was honestly kind of boring...definitely not as good as The Great Gatsby. You basically follow a guy through his childhood, adolescent and young adult life during the early 1900s. It's supposed to be like a "self discovery" type of journey but he doesn't actually discover much by the end. In fact it's really just a biography of an average Joe who thinks he's special but doesn't really do anything with his life. Ah well.

The Big Four by Agatha Christie. Although great as usual, it was different from other Agatha Christie mysteries because the mystery was so big that when the detective solved it, he also saved the world. So it wasn't as much finding little clues that turn out to be brilliant, as it was being amazing enough to outsmart the secretly world-controlling, all-powerful gang of bad guys. Like Avengers. I think she wrote this one to introduce a Moriarty-like arch nemesis for the detective.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. This is probably the most excellent book on the list! It is so well written and the story is so "fresh," which is a word that I'm hoping means "ingenious, creative, and unlike any other that I've read," but also SO CLASSIC in how everybody who reads it can identify with it, like Shakespeare. There is truth in this book! It could be made into a parable for so many things in life. Love love love!

The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit. This book is set in World War 2, and is about the wives of the scientists who created the atomic bomb. I actually really liked this book, but for some reason I liked it a tiny bit less when I realized it was published in 2014 and was not a first person account (it's written in first-person). Probably just my prideful self saying "I am NOT a feminist!" Because the book was great. I really liked the detached expository writing style and descriptions.

Hard-Boiled Traditions

The longer we are married, the more I realize that holiday traditions are for families with kids. I still really like doing things like opening stockings, carving pumpkins, and coloring eggs, but it's just less of an event when there are no children. So our egg coloring, while fun, was also pretty quick and somewhat quiet.

Still fun though.

Happy Easter!

Surprise!

Well, I've been busy busy busy. Now it's time to catch up again. So even though it's the end of April I'm going back a few weeks.

So anyway. The last Friday in March after I got home, James said, "Wanna come up to campus with me? I forgot something at work." I truly honestly didn't even think anything of it. I didn't even ask WHAT he forgot. We just left toward campus, and right as we were passing by the Brick Oven, he opened the door and we went inside! It was then that I realized he actually didn't forget anything at work.

It was really delicious and fun. I was slightly confused why he was splurging on Brick Oven, but he finally revealed this!

That's right. James' Dad, out of the blue, had sent a gift card in the mail! Thanks Moore Dad!!!!

Also while we were there we happened to see our friends Ross and Mariah. It's weird how often we happen to run into those two. It seems to always happen at places we've never been before. Anyway, Mariah saw us trying to take a selfie and offered to take a picture for us!

I've never been to the Brick Oven before, so I was excited to finally get the chance! James and I always walk or drive past it because it's right next to campus. Evidently their root beer is of very fine quality. Also they have amazing artichoke dip which is almost as good as my mom's.

Mostly, we both just really liked having a fun spontaneous date together. Life is so much fun with this guy. I honestly don't know what I'd do without him.

Just Fooling Around

I really like to celebrate holidays, even small ones like Saint Patrick's Day, but it's hard to get excited about them when it's just the two of us. Especially since James isn't always big on the whole "get in the mood for the festivities by decorating, preparing and planning some activities" thing, especially if it's a small holiday. But that's good news on April Fools!

I really didn't get very much trickery in. I only did two things, but they were fun! The first was at school, since I was substituting for one of my math teacher friends. I was to be there for the whole week, and on April 1st there was a review scheduled for all classes. The test would be on April 3rd. So at the beginning of the class I made up some gibberish about the substitute plans not being very clear and having some mix-ups, that unfortunately led to the test being that day.

The students were very upset. "What?!" "Are you serious?" "Why do we have to take the test today?!" I was amazed that they all believed me. I told them to take out a notebook paper (claiming the copy machine was broken) and that the test questions would be on the Powerpoint presentation. It also made me kind of sad how easily they believed me, like they were hardly even surprised that a teacher would be so incompetent with scheduling.

Anyway, they get all ready with their papers and pencils, and finally I displayed Question 1 on the screen and when I hit next it said, April Fools! No test today!

"Oh--oops," I said. "Looks like it's April Fools! It's a review today. Don't worry, the test is next time!"

I thought this was most hilarious. All the students, however, just stared at me. A few of them with their mouths hanging open. Some pencils dropped.

Finally one student said, "That... was NOT funny."

Bwahaha. I can't even think about it without laughing.

Next was the April Fools dinner. I made James stay in the living room while I made dinner so it would still be a surprise. Then he came in to see...

Cake for dinner!

It looks like cake, right?

It's actually meatloaf. And pink mashed potatoes. But I'm very very happy with the fact that James actually did fall for it, for a couple seconds! Made it totally worth it. In his own words, "I wouldn't put it past you at all to actually make cake for dinner."




It was my first time making meatloaf. I'm glad I did, because it opened my eyes to how easy meatloaf is. I never would have guessed. The part that took the longest was actually the potatoes, because I dyed them pink with beet juice. I had to boil the beets, and then boil down the water until there was just concentrated red dye left.

At least, that was the plan. But by the time it had boiled for quite a while, I realized the water had changed from pink to brown. I panicked for a second but luckily I had read one website that said bases, such as baking soda, made beets lose their red color and that's why some people used vinegar, an acid, in a red velvet cake recipe. I didn't want to add vinegar, because gross, but I tried lemon juice, and I think it worked!

On the left is the water that had been boiled for too long. The right side is after I added lemon juice and diluted it with plain water. Eh? Eh? It's not like it would have been the end of the world to have brown mashed potatoes--maybe it would have looked like chocolate. But it's fun to learn kitchen chemistry!