Book Review: Three to Get Deadly

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Well, I finished this book in 2 days.  It was so much fun, just like the first two.  I didn't love her case as much this time.  It wasn't really a huge surprise who ended up being the bad guy, but still fun.  Of course the back and forth between Stephanie and Morelli is still great.  And I can see that Evanovich may be starting to introduce Ranger as a possible live interest.  I don't feel any heat between them, but I love them as a friendship.  It was fun to see Stephanie's ex-husband be introduced as a character, and Lula threatening him is hilarious!  Lula is the best.  In fact, all the characters are great.  I don't think I'd get sick of any of these characters for a while.



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Movie Review: Breaking Dawn part 2

 

Breaking Dawn part 2 was Awesome!!  Kristen Stewart was good as a Vampire.  I still wish she could have given a little more, or the contrast between Bella the Human and Bella the Vampire was a bit more striking and she played Vampire Bella a little more intense, but she really did a good job.  When she was yelling at Jacob was the strongest emotion I've ever seen her portray. The two movies really blended well together.  I'm also glad that they didn't spend too long on gathering the Vampires from around the world or spend a lot of time hanging out at the house, which I felt was one of the flaw's with the book.  There were even some big surprises which I didn't expect, because I read the book and all the other movies followed them almost exactly (story-wise).  There was also a sweet sequence at the end that was really a nice bookend for the end of these movies.

Bonus treat:  Lee Pace plays Garrett! 

 

He does a really good job, and it took me the entire movie to place him.  It wasn't until the credits that I realized it was Lee Pace who you might recognize as...

 

 The Pie Guy Ned, from Pushing Daisies!  This was a very excellent show by the way.  You should check it out.  Although it ended way too soon after only two seasons.

Book Review: Two for the Dough

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was even funnier than the first one (One for the Money)!  I loved it.  The story was great, and the chemestry between Joe Morelli and Stephanie was electric.  It was in the first one too, but in this book Joe and Stephanie spend a lot more time together.  It's like you want them to just get together, but Evanovich just keeps the romance slowly slowly building, simmering. 

*Spoiler Alert*
My favorite part is when Stephanie kicks Joe of of the car wearing only his shirt and socks.  Then feels bad leaving his exposed, so she goes back and throws him his gun and drives off!!  Also Grandma Mazer is even funnier in this book too.  Probably because she is in the story more too. 

Loved it!  I already started the third book.



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Wedding

Jerry and I went to a wedding reception this evening.  I don't think we've gone to a wedding reception since before we had kids.  The problem is that we don't know too many single people any more, and the few that were left got married in Utah while we lived in Georgia.

I love weddings.  I love dressing up and getting to see and visit with so many family and friends.  I love seeing the beginning of a couples lives together.  Especially the last few years, it feels like most people I know and the USA in general is just full of bad news, hard times, and tragedy. Things have been tough for so many people, and I just love attending an event of celebration.

There was a photo booth at the reception which I thought was fun, so we got a few pictures taken

And Congratulations and Best Wishes to Cameron and Sariah!

P.S. If you are getting married, send me and invitation, I will totally give you a nice gift!

Movie Review: Skyfall

Did anyone else see Skyfall yet?  It was awesome.  I love all the James Bond movies with Daniel Craig.  They are just so much fun.   I loved that you got to learn a little bit about Bond's past, and Dame Judy Dench is wonderful as well.  And yes, you get a couple good shirtless shots of Daniel Craig.  Nice!  And the theme song "Skyfall" by Adele  has got to be the best bond song yet.

I do have to say that all summer there have only been action movies out in theaters, where are all the romantic comedies? I'm looking forward to going to the Breaking Dawn Part 2 on Thursday!  (Although, now that I think about it, Part 2 will probably mostly be an action movie as well.  All the romance stuff was in Part 1.)

The time I severly injured my (other) finger

When I was twelve I thought I was pretty cool stuff.  I had just cut my hair in my first "grown up" hairstyle (which means I started actually brushing my hair for the first time in my life.)  I was one of the first to get the "Rachel" style from the TV show friends.  Granted, it didn't quite look as glamorous as it did on Jennifer Aniston, but it was cool just the same.

  That summer of 1995, my family planned a trip to the Tetons, Colter Bay, and Yellowstone National Park.  We were going to meet my mom's family at Colter Bay for a family reunion.  I grew up camping and we always stayed in a tent.  My mom had recently remarried after divorcing my father and her new husband decided that he would rent us a trailer!  We were so excited.  What Luxury!  A fridge! A Stove!  A Bathroom!  Me and my two older sisters couldn't believe it how awesome this was going to be.




So we made it up to Colter Bay, met my grandparents and uncles, aunts, and cousins.  We were having a wonderful time.  One night we were sitting around the campfire after dinner getting ready to have s'mores. So I found the perfect stick, almost perfectly straight, and just the right size for roasting marshmallows.  All it needed was a few shoots cut off and the bark scraped off. I was very grown up now, with my sophisticated haircut,  luxury camping trailer, and I was twelve.  So I wanted to borrow my grandfathers pocketknife to make my stick  the perfect marshmallow roaster.  My grandpa wasn't so sure it was a good idea

"Now, be sure to be very careful, Katie" he said
"Of course I will.  I've used a knife dozens of times" (Which was actually true by the way,  just be sure to note my attitude of overconfidence)

So I began, and the very first pass at the stick, I nicked the tip of my right index finger. Nothing too horrendous, so I had my mom put on a band-aid.  No problem.  10 minutes later I returned to the campfire, and my stick.

"Katie, maybe you better not have that knife anymore"  My grandpa said to me
"No, Papa, I'm fine.  It was just a little accident.  It could happen to anyone"  I said.  " I promise, there's nothing to worry about"

So I sat down and began again.  I worked for about 10 or 15 minutes when the knife got stuck, then slipped and sliced open the same finger I had just nicked.  I dropped the knife and stick and yelled:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Ok, take the knife away from me, now!!!"

There was a pie shaped slice that was big enough to reach from my middle knuckle to the hand, and I could see bone. 

We went over to the trailer with the entire family of grandparents, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins following close behind to see the gore, and to help, as needed.  My mom, grandma, and my Uncle John we were working on calming me down, stopping the bleeding, getting me properly bandaged up, and controlling the crowd of relatives who were trying to find out what happened and get a better look.  I was having a hard time calming down, because it really hurt.  My mom is a nurse and she of course stayed calm while I was freaking out.

"John, do you have gauze in your first aid kit?"  "Thanks"
"Oh, that's too big, do you have any scissors so we can cut it smaller?"

I felt like my mother wasn't taking the situation seriously enough. I mean, didn't she see the blood? The bone?  Her baby was going to loose her finger and she was just taking her sweet time making me wash my hand, Hold it with paper towels to stop the bleeding, making me hold my hand above my heart, and finding the right supplies.

"Okay, how about tape, do you have any tape?  Oh, do you have any that's wider?"  she said

"WHO CARES WHAT COLOR IT IS?!!!!!!!"  I screamed.  I thought she had said "whiter". Everybody started laughing hysterically and  of course stopped taking care of me.  I didn't understand.  I was dying here and they were laughing at me, and my mother was more concerned with the color the the tape then saving my finger.  It took along time for everybody to compose themselves and explain to me that she had said "wider" not "whiter".

Capital Reef

This weekend we got away and visited Capital Reef National Park. We dropped the kids off with my aunt in Richfield then stayed the night in an adorable little town called Torrey. The drive there was gorgeous. It had snowed, and the clouds were just sitting on the mountains.
Today when we toured Capital Reef, it was sunny, but freezing. Like, only 20 degrees and windy. We were hoping to do some hiking, but it was just too cold. We did get to see a lot of the park from our car. It was a wonderful day. (Well, until we picked up the boys and found Oliver had been puking and he continued too the entire drive home. Poor boy. When will we learn that every time we leave our kids, they throw up?)