Fall

I think we can officially call it - school has started, the weather is cooling and leaves are turning. Summer is over. :(

After the long, long, looooong winter we had, I was loving the hot weather this summer. Here's to hoping snow only falls between the months of November and March this year. I'm trying to look for the silver lining, so here's my list of things I love about fall:

• Sweatshirts and sweatpants
• Wool socks
• Snuggling with my babies
• Hot tea and carmel apple cider (mmm...Starbucks!)
• Eye makeup inspired by football teams
• My kids in Halloween costumes (sounds like we'll have a paleontologist and firefighter this year)
• Autumn colors
• NaNoWriMo

Okay, so that's the list so far. Goodbye, summer. Until we meet again...

"Hello" Cards

Boy, I've been a busy little crafting bee lately. Well, actually, I've just been really bad about uploading photos. Since today is kinda dreary outside, and I'm sick in bed with some sort of bug (boo!), I figured this is a perfect opportunity to get some stuff off my 'to do' list.

Here are some cards I made, just to say 'hi'.

FYI - if flowers look cut off in any of these pictures, it's because I cropped the photo. In real life, the flowers hang off the edge of the card.

Birthday Cards for the Troops

So, Karen Giron has inspired me to get involved with Operation Write Home. I've got some ideas for getting my fellow local papercrafters involved as well, but for right now, see my contributions to this cause below.

It may not seem like much, but if this is something I can do to show my gratitude and appreciation for the people who risk their lives for my freedom, I'm doing it. I don't care how insignificant it may seem to us; it sounds like it means something to them.

My First Entry

I'm entering my first "Sketch Challenge". Karen at the sweetest thing... posts a weekly card-making challenge, but I've never actually participated. This week, however, I was inspired by more than just Karen's adorable sketch and example.

Here's what Karen posted that piqued my creative interest:

"The extra challenge this week is to create a birthday card and mail it to Operation Write Home and they'll send our challenge cards on to those men and women who are serving in the armed forces."

Thanks, Karen, for introducing me to Operation Write Home. I'm so excited to start creating handmade cards for our awesome troops!

Oh, and here's my entry:

One Year Down, One to Go

School is back in session, and while we are celebrating several important school-related milestones in this house, there is one that brings a sense of giddy anticipation: my husband has hit the halfway mark in his MBA program. That's right - he has two semesters left. Two semesters, albeit, of difficult work, long nights, study-filled weekends, and, for me, weeks filled with higher-than-usual hours of single-parenthood. Two semesters, and then we're freeeeee!!

Now, I know it's totally selfish of me to be so excited as I daydream about our lives a year from now. I promise, I love my family, and would (ahem, do) sacrifice my own hopes, dreams and desires in order to do what's best for them. I know my primary role as a mother is to chauffer, manage schedules, help with homework and piano practice, watch sports practices and games, and maintain our house's level of cleanliness. I know it and I love it. But I am excited for the day when I'm not trying to figure out how to be in two places at once; knowing that, as the kids get older and get involved in more activities, I won't have to juggle activities alone, or ask my parents to help out once again, helps get me through the day.

I also know I'm not alone in this eager anticipation. It's tough for my hubby to miss out on activities because he has homework or group meetings; it's tough on the kids when he's not able to put them to bed or take them to soccer practice. May 2011, we can't wait to see you - we shall ring you in with fanfare like no other month of the year!

I feel guilty for even thinking this way, let alone admitting it to the world at large, but here goes: I am looking forward to the freedom that will be added to my own schedule in a year. The freedom to spend more time writing, reading, hitting the gym, working on albums and creating cards, and maybe, just maybe, taking a dance class or two a week. When I don't have to squeeze 65 minutes out of every hour, when I don't have to feel guilty for leaving the boys at home with their dad when he has tons of homework. When I don't have to feel guilty for asking for help, even though I know the others in my life are just as burdened.

It will be glorious. But it's still 9 months away...

It's Been Awhile

Wow. This summer was insane. Lots of fun, but still crazy - I'm somewhat relieved that it's over.

We went on a bunch of cool trips between May and July: Disney World, several camping trips, a week-long camping tour of southwestern Colorado, and Comic-Con in San Diego. For the first time in a few years, I found myself without my laptop+Internet connection for days on end...and I was able to let go of my need to control everything, and actually enjoy relaxing time with my family and friends. It was incredible! [I will get around to blogging about some of these trips...eventually.]

Now that fall is near, school has started for two of my three guys - kindergarten for my oldest kiddo, and second-to-last semester for my hard-working hubby. In a couple of weeks, my baby will start preschool, and I'll be the only one in the house not in school. I get to manage the Family Schedule, chauffer to school/lessons/practice, and maintain our casa. Oh, and work three days a week at my new, totally amazing job at Crossroads Church...and, well, whatever else comes up for us over the next year.

It's going to be a crazy fall, full of changes and new adventures, but we're ready. I think. After I throw in another load of laundry.

Book Review: So Cold the River

**This book review is purely my opinion of the book after having read it. I would love to start some discussions about other readers opinions. Thanks.**

This is a review of So Cold the River, by Michael Koryta. Copyright © 2010; fiction. List price: $24.99. ISBN 978-0-31605-363-1.

Synopsis (from the publisher):

It started with a beautiful woman and a challenge. As a gift for her husband, Alyssa Bradford approaches Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a 95-year-old billionaire whose past is wrapped in mystery. Eric grabs the job even though there are few clues to the man's past--just the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he's kept his entire life.

In Bradford's hometown, Eric discovers an extraordinary history--a glorious domed hotel where movie stars, presidents, athletes, and mobsters once mingled, and hot springs whose miraculous mineral water cured everything from insomnia to malaria. Neglected for years, the resort has been restored to its former grandeur just in time for Eric's stay.

Just hours after his arrival, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase and draw Eric deeper into the town's dark history. He discovers that something besides the hotel has been restored--a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain its lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense with a racing, unstoppable current.

Analysis:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a great, quick read – suspenseful, with good characters and an intriguing plotline. From the opening chapter, Koryta captures the reader’s attention with vivid descriptions and flawed, but still likeable, characters.

I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks, secondary character points of view, and various characters’ back stories that were intermittently sprinkled throughout the main tale. Koryta uses these tools to move the story, to allow the mystery to unfold, and to foreshadow future discoveries by both the main character, Eric, and the reader. He allows the reader to be just a bit more omniscient than Eric for a good part of the book, while holding back some surprising twists that are revealed with perfect timing.

The supernatural elements of the tale are woven masterfully into the everyday natural events, and might be unbelievable had they not been written with such clear and realistic prose. Koryta’s descriptions bring these elements to life, and his ability to create such vivid scenes keep the reader on the proverbial seat’s edge.

Koryta’s background as a private investigator and newspaper reporter have served him, and his readers, well in his writing career. I will definitely add his previous novels (and any upcoming novels) to my “must read” list.