New "Addictions"

It's definitely been a little while since I wrote, but not because I didn't have lots on my mind. And of course not because nothing was happening around here. More of the contrary. Instead, I've been spending a good portion of my "free" time indulging in one of my favorite activities from my previous life: reading.

I'm definitely a fiction girl. I love getting lost in stories of other "worlds"--places I can go when my world seems a little crazy! And it's so fun to learn characters--their likes, dislikes, emotions, personality--and finding out how they relate to me. Yes, there are "people" out there like me...even if they aren't real.

But typically I'm strictly a "believable" fiction type of person. I've never been one to dive in to a good fantasy or science fiction-type book and actually enjoy it. In fact, I'm the type of person that doesn't enjoy movies like The Matrix or Star Wars because in the back of my mind I'm constantly saying This really couldn't happen in real life. So much for the imagination, right? But my dear cousin, Mandi, has been begging me to check out the Twilight Saga for some time now (okay, let's be honest...like over a year). Every time she mentioned it, I smugly rolled my internal eyes and ranted off one of my Why waste my time reading a bunch of books that couldn't really happen. As if I have the time! quotes in the back of my head. But several weeks ago when we got together so the kids could play, she brought along the first two books and insisted that I take them and just give them a try. The two books proceeded to sit on top of my jewelry box day after day. I had company coming two weeks in a row and little time to "give something a try."

Before long, I became intrigued by the cover of the first book which features two hands holding a red apple. Immediately my mind wandered to the book of Genesis and the temptation in the Garden of Eden. I wondered if this had anything to do with the theme in Twilight and secretly patted myself on the back for catching it after opening to the first pages and finding a verse from Genesis scrawled on a page of its own. Okay, okay, I told myself. Would reading a few chapters really kill me?

A few weeks of no cleaning, little sleep, piles of dirty laundry, and countless errands left un-run later, the first two books sit back on top of my jewelry box waiting to be returned to Mandi. In exchange for the second two, of course! Despite my loathing of fiction that couldn't really happen, I definitely got drawn in and hooked on this series. While yes, I do still realize that this (probably) wouldn't ever happen, it was so fun to just get lost in a fun story with action, romance, and even some religious themes. (I tend to always be looking for those.)

Now for the embarrassing confession. Beyond being good books, they have begun to makes this series into movies (as I'm sure everyone who owns a television is aware of). Mark and I made a movie night of watching the first one, Twilight, together a week or so ago. First I was shocked that he would actually want to watch it with me, and then I was further amazed that he actually liked it! While the movie was certainly nowhere as good as the book, it did follow along fairly closely and was enjoyable to watch. It's always fun to put real faces with the characters from the pages. Nerd Alert!!! So as for my confession, I'm somewhat ashamed (but not really) to admit that Mandi and I and several of her other Twilight obsessed friends, are actually going to the premier of the second movie, New Moon, on Friday. First of all, I rarely go to the movies. They are way too expensive and often overrated. Secondly, when I do go, I almost always want it to be with Mark. For a date. Thirdly, I don't think I have ever been possessed to do something as ridiculous as go to a premier of a movie as huge and hyped up as this one. Actually, I don't think I've ever been possessed to go to the premier of any movie whatsoever. But I digress. I just couldn't bring myself to turn down both a girl's night and a change to see the book that I just read and loved on screen. Since I'm sure we'll have to stand in line forever just to sit together and fight our way through a crowd of over-the-top teenage girls, I'll probably be back on here regretting this choice next week, but oh well! Good luck to Mark and Co. with watching the babies while I'm off to my fantasy world of Twilight!

On another note, somewhere in between the more than one thousand pages I've read in the past few weeks, we managed to celebrate my first son's second birthday. There are tons of fun pics on our other blog site, but I thought I'd share a few on here of one little element I was quite proud of. Mark and I have always loved to watch cooking shows and I've always been fascinated with the cake making shows. While many people have told me that fondant icing tastes icky, I still had a strange desire to give it a try. And what better excuse than a two-year-old's birthday party!?! If it came out looking like a hot mess, it would be no biggie. So the night before Kolbe's party, Mark and I (with the help of Aunt Abby making little balls for the trim) sat at the kitchen table together and made our little guy's cake. Here are the results!

Another little slightly more domestic "addiction" I've gotten in to is making sugar cookies with royal icing. I've seen them done many times and always wanted to try on my own. The first batch I made (back in September) were pretty good but needed a lot of help with icing. The second batch I made (for Katie's baby shower) were cute but had one major flaw. Instead of making the icing homemade, I bought some store brand that was supposed to work the same way. It didn't. The icing never solidified and so they weren't quite the same as what I had hoped for. Luckily, the third time was a charm and Kolbe's birthday cookies came out just as I hoped. While I find it ridiculous to brag about doing things I should be able to do (like keeping the house clean, keeping two boys fed, cleaned, and happy, keeping our lives in order, etc.) I can't help but share when I manage to crank out something extra special that I never imagined I could hold in my bag of tricks. Thank God I don't have to post all the "flubs" I've amassed in this lifetime too!