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I love the sun....it makes everything bright and fun and happy...but I hate heat...I HATE it. I hate sweating and I hate feeling hot. Which makes things very awkward in the summer. I look forward to it all year...but then it just gets HOT. So hot that I won't do anything. I will hide inside on amazing days because it feels like 32 degrees outside. Which is just too hot for me. I hate feeling uncomfortable and hot and gross. I feel kinda bad that I've been spending my days off hiding inside...though it's given me a chance to work on a lot of wedding stuff...the smaller crafty items. Which I actually think is great because come September I think I'm going to be VERY busy with work so I don't feel TOO bad....except that it's too hot for me to even want to THINK about exercising...lame...

I do want to go for a swim in the ocean though...I've never swam in the pacific before...but I just don't want to go outside! Or alone....

So! Allow me to review some books!

First up

The Friday Night Knitting Club series.

The above two along with Knit The Season are what I've read thus far in August. I really like the first book, The Friday Night Knitting Club. So much conflict! Definitely difficult to put down...and really got me wanting to pick up my knitting again! (I've been crocheting for most of the summer) It's a fantastic book and double awesome for anyone who likes knitting.

The other two books however....meh...just seem like a cash grab for the author...not very interesting...I can't say too much about them without revealing the plot from the first one...but they certainly weren't on the same level as the first one.

I also read

Not good....At least I didn't like it....it was kind of like....hey we talk about Jane Austen books....sort of...here is a lame plot for every member....It just didn't have any gusto...no major conflict...nothing that would make me relate to any of the characters in a way where I would want to eagerly keep reading.

For an amazing book club book I recommend Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons. That was the first book I started reading when I joined a book club back in Victoria (which I miss very much and will probably end up starting my own club in the fall). It was SO ripe with conflict and struggle and drama....Excellent read.

I'm finishing up Comfort Food by the same author as the Friday Night series....but it's REALLY annoying me....I won't put up a review of it...other than it really annoys me..I think this is a book that other might really like...but for my personality and the personality of the main character and those she's surrounded by...I'm annoyed...Augh...Can't wait to be done.

I also found time to sneak in The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, (which we all know I loved.) I finished this one in about 5-6 hours because I couldn't put it down...These books are amazing and I can't wait for the third one!!! It's being passed through people so I have to wait a bit.

I think I'm going to take a break from new books and read an old goodie....Perhaps a Harry Potter or Narnia book. Speaking of...I cannot WAIT for those movies!!!! It feels like FOREVER until they come out... Part of me doesn't want HP to ever come out....because then it's really over...AGAIN! It was hard enough to read the last book and know it was the end...but the end of the movies!? :( sadmac.

Body Issues

I've been so bothered lately with myself....I feel like I just can't be happy with who I am....

Let's start way back at the beginning....I've always been overweight. Since I was too little....which is unfortunate...Things weren't too bad when I was a swimmer and practicing for almost 2 hours a day, 6 times a week. However, once I stopped swimming things got really bad....and I was tormented in school, which of course isn't nice and thus I have some hurt from back then that I still carry with me.... Luckily due to the closing of Geocities most of the photos of me at my worst are now lost to the world....

I lost a ton of weight in grade 12 thanks to a fad diet....so of course once I stopped that it all came back....coupled with first year of university....Frosh 15? I wish...anyways....It was a very very long time before I woke up and started exercising....I didn't notice at the time...but I look back at photos and I'm just shocked at how I looked....So since the start of university I've yo-yo'ed with my weight a lot.

I've lost a LOT of weight this year....finally due to just LOTS of exercising and smart eating...I'm sad to say that it actually surprised me that it's just as simple as that....

Compared to last year I look fantastic.....I fit into clothes I didn't last year...even remotely...and yet I'm STILL not happy....but I SHOULD be...I look FANTASTIC in my wedding dress....I'm normally happy when I wake up and see myself in the mirror...but I still feel like I'm just not good enough....whenever I see photos of myself the first thing I see is fat...and bleh...I hate photos of me....but then I also LOVE them..I think I look AWFUL at my sister's wedding...like HUGE massive bleh.....and in my engagement photos I'm not too happy either...I look OK...but not great....I see a lot of problems....

I guess I'm really worried I'm going to see my wedding photos and just see how fat and gross I am....

I shouldn't be so hard on myself...I mean look at these girls and Sara Ramirez and Brooke Elliott. Gorgeous...and let's not pretend I don't have my own hot modelling shots.

I just don't know why I can't be happy with myself....I'm still excercising....not as much in the summer because it gets hard with things to do and the heat....and eating well has fallen a little by the wayside with the heat and ice cream being nice and refreshing....and my refrigerator being broken for so long didn't help as that left me with dry goods to eat...meaning mostly carbs and eating out...I think I feel like Jabba the Hut and I'm pretty sure that what everyone else sees....that and my biggest fear is ending up like this...

Pretty much terrified...sometimes I feel like I already DO look like this....

I just don't know what to think....I'm not trying to impress ANYONE...except myself...no one is judging me...I'm healthy (for the most part) and I don't feel any pressure....I'm just...not happy...

The worst foe lies within the self.....

July books

Well, I foretold in my last entry that I had a slew of books to get through and get through them I did...with a couple more additions. I just LOVE reading in the summer...I find in the winter I prefer to knit more because it's warm and there isn't too much to do when it's POURING rain...but in the summer I like to get out and enjoy the sun and such and it's too hot to work with yarn. HENCE my rediscovered love of the library. Free books!! And it only takes me a couple of days to read them!!



First up.




Eh....I really like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies....so I was excited at the prospect of another version of an oldie I would never have read...this book does that...but it's SO fantastical that I have no idea HOW the original plotline would go...With P&P&Z most of the setting and events were the same...in this book there is no WAY any of it was the same...so what was it actually...I think a lot of the book is lost in the fantastical-ness of it...while the original work was more preserved with P&P&Z...

Next!







This book I REALLY liked. It really has nothing to do with Pride and Prejudice, other than the main characters and locations. It's a prologue to the P&P and Zombies work. Otherwise it really doesn't have the boring-o old timey speak as the original Austen did...it TRIES to...but doesn't succeed and I like that. The story was SUPER interesting and I think this was because it didn't have to follow to the storyline as it's predecessor...it knows where the plot has to end up and has the freedom to get there how it sees fit....surprisingly suspenseful for a prequel. I do recommend!!!

Next




Boo. Do not recommend....this is written by the same man who co-authored Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which we all know I was a fan of. But this book...just didn't have a point...it basically took the life story of Abaraham Lincoln and explained that all his decisions were made because his life destiny was to hunt vampires....obviously this isn't true...but the book is just so hard to even pretend it is....It's just not good.... don't bother people I tell you!

I followed this up with

I had been waiting a very long time to read this book. Since the event occurred I have always had a

fascination with the Columbine Massacre (even going as far as to play Super Columbine Massacre RPG! ) ...not to the extent where I'm studying it in order to learn HOW to do it...that's just silly....but the idea that two kids that were not much older than myself in 1999 were able to plan and execute such an event...it just boggles my mind....Getting up and taking a gun to school is one thing....but planning an event for over a year involving decoys, several pipebombs and at least seven propane tank bombs...that is quite a different thing...these kids wanted people to die... A LOT of people....Had the propane tanks bombs actually worked the death toll might have been as high as 500 people....FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE....Two 18 year old kids could have killed at least 500 people....why? Why why why why why....that's where my fascination lies...Sure everyone wants to know that...and some of the best forensic and psychological minds are all over that...which is why I like this book. This man compiled all the information he could get access to..including information on the Basement Tapes and the boys' journals...evidence that was never released to the public (waaaaaay too disturbing). This book was amazing for getting down into the events as they occurred. The years leading up...the weeks and years after...Anyone wanting to know more about this event should definitely pick up this book.

Lastly, I spent the last two days reading this

For those who don't know, I love Michael Jackson....Like LOVE...not just oh he's a great singer, I like his tunes. No, not even close. I grew up on Micheal's music..long before I have memories of life I have memories of MJ...My favourite movie of all time is Moonwalker....I could watch that movie a million times and never get sick of it....His death was incredibly hard...more so on my sister...who loves him more that's for sure....but still...it's unfathomable to think that this man...possibly the most amazing man to ever live...just died last year...up and died forever....He was beyond amazing....some people won't look past the headlines to understand who he was...this book gives insight into that. It came out in 1988...so I was four...but I know the songs and albums and events he's referencing. This book is a look into his world....one that he kept so guarded..and for good reason. Reading this book gives you insight into a man that was bigger than anyone on this planet has ever been. After reading this book you know that all the tabloids and headlines are lies...and this man could never have been capable of anything the tabloids claimed...and still claim....He was a beautiful, gentle soul...and the world will never seen another like him again.


I've just started What's So Amazing About Grace? a book by Phillip Yancey....I have several of his books already and they always open my eyes...and grace is something I REALLY lack....in every aspect...so I'm hoping this book can shed some light on that for me.


My garden is NOT doing well at all...no new tomatoes since that one...and the strawberry plant seems to not be able to recover from the wind storm :( very sad indeed.

New Purse!

Yay! I finished my purse!

I'm pretty impressed! I made this all with my own hands! It's exactly what I wanted! The strap is a little off because I chained too tightly for the foundation chain....however it's done and I can't wait to go out and use it!

Busy hands!

Well I've been up to much more than just gardening...which looks to expand after having paid a visit to my friend Jill...who grows ANYTHING she can get her hands on!




















I've been working on this small side bag...I realized I got rid of the perfect bag when I moved from Ottawa...this distressed me greatly as it was really a beautiful bag...and a part of me is hoping it's just in a box somewhere.....But since I'll need something small for just keys, ID, and a cell during the summer, I decided to whip this up..It's less than halfway but works up quite quickly when I actually sit and work at it...which is harder since I've been working so much lately! (Which is a good thing)

I managed to sneak some time in to go to the aquarium and see David do his shows...he's AMAZING...he's so captivating and funny and he LOVES it....I'm so proud of him..I'll post some teaser photos next time.


I've also dove back into reading....

I spend mid June reading this....ok I didn't spend MID June reading this book...I only spent two days...I couldn't put it down!!!! It's a pretty long book...but I read faster than almost all people (I've been tested...) and so I plowed through it....the suspense is enough to make anyone stay up until 3 am to finish it!! It's amazing and I recommend it HIGHLY



I followed that up with a classic



Okay not so much a classic as an update....I definitely would never have read Pride and Prejudice on it's own...(blah de blah blah) However this book gives it an extra edge...ZOMBIES! It's awesome reading about these prim and proper ladies kicking butt!! And the original storyline remains intact. Love the idea of updating a classic and it definitely motivated me to read it...Next up I have Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters...and right now I'm in the middle of the prologue, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (not an original Austen, but still old timey and super entertaining!)


Lastly I picked up a book I've heard about for years but never remembered to grab it.



I was watching an episode of Corner Gas where they started a book club and read this...which finally got me to remember to get it at the Library...It was a little slow in the beginning...a lot of talk with no real sign of where this book was going...and then BAM.. It just jumps right into it and you are hooked on what the heck is going to happen to this boy...It has a very Lady or the Tiger ending...which if you read this book I would like to discuss with you. But definitely something that should be read...but not for the faint hearted.

I've also starting riding my bike to work....I haven't yet biked the WHOLE way. It's about an hour and a half, but there is a path that takes me directly there! The Central Valley Greenway! I tried to bike the whole way yesterday, but took a massive wipeout and wounded my will so I jumped on a Skytrain for the rest of the way. I've taken to biking to VCC-Clark (which is the terminus station for the Millenium Line, which takes me directly to work) and then hopping the train the rest of the way. It's definitely faster than taking buses and trains from my house...drops about 20 minutes from my commute...and the weather is so nice how can I not bike?! And the excercise...it's great. I'm glad a co-worker shared the bike info with me....now if I can just make it without bailing.

I think that's good for now....I have to get back to focusing on my running... I have a goal to run around all of False Creek before the end of the summer...can't do that if I'm not training! Wish me luck!!

My Garden Grows!!!

See my first little tomato!!!! YAY! I'm so excited. Especially since the plant was all wilty and weak after I got back from being in Ottawa for 5 days

Looks like the flowers just needed some more time to adapt...and the lavender looks like it's ready to grow more!

The cilantro is looking amazing!!! Just like in stores!!!

And finally!!! A whole strawberry!! They are popping up all over the plant!! It's so exciting!!! I made a garden :D!

Quick update

Back in Vancouver from David's sister's wedding! It was lovely. Got to meet Elisha Cuthbert...she loved David lol. Busy busy with work for the both of us. Will upload some new photos soon!! My strawberry plant has it's first berries!!!! So exciting!!!


All is very very well....David and I have some amazing friends and family who love and support us and we are so thankful for them. They are all lovely people.