“Monsters are bad things, but monsters that do not walk and talk like monsters are the worst.” ~ Matthew Dicks

It has been awhile since I've reviewed a book, because I generally like to spend my time reading them rather than writing about them. In fact, I'm not going to spend a lot of time writing about this book other than to tell you to go read it.

Description (from the publisher):

Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He’s been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age, and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear.

When I first picked up this book I thought it was going to be something light and cheesy. How could a story about an imaginary friend not be light and cheesy, right? Usually, I find myself disappointed when a book is not what I expected, but I can't tell you how happy I am that this did not meet my expectations. I really don't know what to say without giving too much away (not that it would really ruin things, but I think a little mystery is nice); I just want everyone to go read this right now. 

You can thank me later. 

“It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression, 'As pretty as an airport.” ~ Douglas Adams

 

A month has already gone by, so I’m pretty sure that anyone who reads my blog is aware that I just went on a trip to Istanbul!

Basically, the whole trip was a LOT of mosques! You can’t walk down any street in Istanbul without seeing a mosque. A lot of the larger mosques look very similar, so we got lost a lot since we would use the mosques to figure out where we were!

In addition to getting lost in/around the mosques, we did a lot of shopping. The Grand Bazaar is HUGE, which is crazy because it is pretty much all touristy trinkets and carpets. I’m amazed there is such a big market for that sort of thing. Much more fun was the smaller Spice Market since you can wander the stalls and eat samples of Turkish Delight (which I love!!).

Other activities includes a Turkish cooking class, a cruise up the Bosphorous River, and a visit to a Sultan’s harem.

 

 

 

All in all, it was a pretty fun trip.

“New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.” ~Mark Twain

 

I’m fairly certain the last time I blogged (January!) I had told myself that I was going to blog every Sunday. Unfortunately, my life just isn’t exciting enough for that!

However, last week something exciting happened! I went to New Orleans! This is actually the second time that I have gone to work in that office, but last time I was by myself so it was a little less exciting (wandering the French Quarter at night is not something I would want to do by myself). This time, there was a whole group of us so we had some fun eating our way through the French Quarter. It’s been 2 days and I’m still feeling full from the trip!

I thought this was kind of funny. Are that many taxi drivers killed in New Orleans? Does this really need to be in every cab? Also, why would you kill a taxi driver and assume that it wouldn’t be a First Degree Murder offense?

Later this week I’ll be going on a more exciting trip, so stay tuned! =)

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”~ L.M. Montgomery

Today, my brother Ray left to live in China for 6 months. Because he is moving to China for an internship that involves video editing, he decided to practice on some old family videos before he left.

As today is #ThrowbackThursday, I figured it was a perfect time to post them.

You may or may not have seen these on facebook (except this last one). If you’re not bored enough to watch a bunch of my old home videos, at least check out this one (although I may be the only person who thinks it is hilarious):

If you want to follow Ray’s adventures in China (and if he can figure out how to get around the internet restrictions there), follow him at: http://todaywithray.blogspot.com/

“I think I'm a tiny bit like Harry 'cos I'd like to have an owl. Yeah, that's the tiny bit, actually.” ― Daniel Radcliffe

 

On a recent book-buying trip (or perhaps not so recent… I can never remember where/when I pick up books), I picked up a book that is definitely not in one of my usual genres:

Since I generally hate animals, I especially hate books about animals. All those books about how much people love their dogs/cats/ferrets? Gross. However, due to the past 15 years that the Harry Potter books have been in my life, I have started to find owls pretty adorable (admittedly, I would probably still be terrified if one flew near me).

I have to tell you: I loved this book. I learned so much about owls that I never knew before! They are such smart, such emotional animals! Of course this is just going to make me cry all the more next time I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (poor Hedwig).

http://www.wesleytheowl.com/

“There are brown eyes in the world, after all, as well as blue, and one pair of brown that meant heaven to me as the blue had never done”~ E. Nesbit

 

One of the best decisions I have ever made was the decision to get LASIK. Recently, I ran across this email I sent home from my first year of college in 2005. Looking back, I am even more grateful for the miracle that is LASIK!

It’s pretty funny, so here it is for everyone’s enjoyment:

The craziest thing happened. I’m on my last pair on contacts and something happened to one of them so I've just been walking around with one contact in one eye. Luckily both my eyes have the same prescription so I have been changing eyes so that my eyes don't get too terribly strained. This has been going on for about 2 weeks. At night when I get home I change into my glasses because the one contact gives me a headache. Last night, something happened to the remaining contact so I have had to wear my glasses all day (I haven't worn glasses in public since I got contacts in 9th grade so it was terribly embarrassing). Then tonight I was cleaning my glasses and the lens popped out of one side! So, I tried to pop it back in and apparently I actually broke the glasses so that they're unfixable. The problem is, I am REALLY blind. I can't see more than 6 inches in front of me. Plus, tomorrow in my humanities class we are discussing film and have to watch movies! So, I decided to try and order more contacts online because I could get them delivered here rushed and have them in 2 days. However, It's been a year and a half since I last got my eyes checked and apparently eye prescriptions expire in a year. So basically I'm screwed. So, that's  about it. My roommate thinks I'm crazy because my face is inches from the computer. I don't know how I'm supposed to work tomorrow since we do everything on the computer. I'm going to bed in hopes that this was all a terrible nightmare. Good night.

In case you’re wondering how the story ended, I think I remember Julie walking me to work, where I clearly remember sitting at the reference desk with my face about 2 inches from the computer screen every time a student had a question. Luckily there were not a lot of questions!

That weekend we were able to take an emergency trip to Honolulu and get some glasses in a rush!

Like I said, so grateful for LASIK.

“Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering 'it will be happier'...” ― Alfred Tennyson

Well, 2012 has come to an end! It was both the best and the worst year to date. I guess that’s how you know you were really living! As I sat down  to go over the happenings of the past year, I realized I can’t remember any of it! Or at least, not as clearly as I would like to! So, I guess that means I either need to start blogging more regularly or keep a better journal!

Without further ado, here’s what happened in 2012!

January: The end of January marked the beginning of the Year of the Dragon! I got to go to a great Chinese New Year party with all the Chinese church members in Houston. I also started taking 二胡 lessons!

February: Rosie and I found out that our apartment complex was going to be knocked down! So, for the first time, I moved into an apartment all my own! The best part of having your own place? Decorating however you want!

March: My parents and I took a trip to Israel! Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea; all in all, I think this was my favorite trip yet!

April: I FINALLY met Orson Scott Card!!! I also got to take a trip to Florida to see Julie’s adorable new son, Troy. It felt a little weird to be in Florida and not going to Harry Potter World… but it was worth it!

May: Family trip to Italy! We tried to do it all: Positano, Napoli, Roma, etc… The highlight of the trip? The best pizza known to man…

June: June was perfect.

July: July even more so.

August: August was a super last-minute trip to Alaska! By last minute, I mean I decided to go the morning I left! Haha. It was great though! Alaska is beautiful!

September: September brought some changes at work. It was my last full month at Hess.

October: I turned 26! I celebrated my new age and new job with a quick trip to Taiwan! It had been far too long!

November: A trip to Costa Rica with Lucy!

December: The family visits Houston for Christmas!

Wow… looking back it seems like it was a pretty busy year!

I don’t want to be too cheesily optimistic, but let’s hope 2013 is even better!

“But you know, the thing about romance is... people only get together right at the very end.”

 

It’s that time of year again… time to watch the best Christmas movie of all time!

Because it is rated “R” and perhaps not meant for all audiences, I’ve post my favorite clips for all to enjoy.

Oh man, now I’ve just realized the entire movie is my favorite clip! I’d better stop here…