Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

So a few months ago I found a blog that was starting up a book club.  I was excited to join but then work cranked up at the mall and life got crazy so I skipped the first month. So this is the first blog I have done for the Cover2Cover book club.


Anyways so with this first book blog I am a whole month late but the book took me a little longer to get than I thought and a little longer to get into than I would of liked to but once I did I couldn't put it down!










So here is my over all review of the book:

I need to start by saying that I LOVED this book! I liked how it followed a group of women through their struggles, their accomplishments, and just everyday life.  Every woman had something different going on in their life, each had a different story but at the same time they were all apart of each other’s stories.  This book made me laugh, cry, and even made me a little mad at some points.   I am looking forward to finding other books by this author and reading them this summer.  I would recommend this book for any woman who things life is just not fair sometimes because these women all had something unfair happen to them at one point or another in their life yet it made them all stronger. 

Ok so from here on out everything in black is from the email I got about book club and all my answers are in blue!

Listed below are the questions for this month! Feel free to answer all the questions, or any 7 of them!
Here are the questions:

1. During the sixties and seventies, the Angry Housewives smoked cigarettes and threw back highballs-even while pregnant-without knowledge of the harm it could do. If they could have glimpsed their futures then, what do you think would have surprised them most about their future selves? What is one thing you know now that you would have really appreciated being aware of ten years ago?

I think if they could of had glimpsed into their futures I think they would be surprised at how happy they are, how good of friends they have become, and how their lives turned out. They all changed so much throughout the book, yet at the same time stayed true to themselves even if it meant change in their lives. I also think they would all be surprised that they no longer smoke.



Let's see there are a lot of things I would of wished I knew ten year's ago. For starters that my mother really does know what's best and that it is best to do what she says. That running is really good for you and the only way to keep your small little body that you took for granted in high school. That suntan lotion is a great thing. That saving money is always better than a new pair of shoes (this one I still don't like but try to do). I think the biggest one would be that you should always spend time with those you love because they will not be around forever.

2. Why do you think groups like AHEB-women who live near each other, raise children together, and bond over books together-persist even in a climate of working moms and in a culture that is flooded with other types of media?

3. Audrey has a talent for sensing upcoming events. In what ways do her capabilities influence how she deals with her family? Does it differ from how they affect her friendships? How much do you believe in psychic phenomena? Would being endowed with such a gift help or hinder one's decisions?

4. How do you feel about the later inclusion of Grant as a member of AHEB? Did you think the inclusion of a male affected their particular group dynamic? What is valuable about inviting men to participate in women's dialogue?

I was very happy to hear that they were going to be adding Grant to the AHEB.  He fit in with the group so well, he was loving, caring, and even better yet had also gone though some very hard times in his life.  He lost someone he cared about, something that I think just about every one there had also dealt with.  He at one point had a secret, he had been hurt, he was scared of something, and he had a lot of love to give just life everyone else in the group.  I really wish I could say that Grant brought a man’s point of view to the group but I don’t think he did.  I think he was a great addition because he had so much in common with all the other’s.  I think that it is sometimes good to add men to women’s events to get them involved in what women think, believe, and want to fight for.  If we never invite them in then they can never see what we see.

5. Merit eventually finds Paradise, literally and figuratively. Do you believe that good things come to people who wait?

Merit had gone through a lot, and I was starting to think she would never find anyone to love her the way she deserved to be loved.  She put up with so much in her marriage to Eric, went out of her way to give to her girls, and was just full of love that she deserved Paradise more than anyone in the group.  I don't think Mr. Paradise would of seemed so amazing had it not been for some of the things Merit had been though.  Sometimes great things don't always seem so great until you have been though the bad. 

6. How are midwestern values portrayed in this book? In what ways might the book have differed if it had been set in the northeast or the south?

7. Did you like the format of the book? How did giving every character the opportunity to voice their thoughts support the all-for-one and one-for-all theme of the book and the club itself?

In the past I have found it hard to keep up with who is who when books are done in this sort of format, and it was a big concern of mine when I started this book.  It may even be why I put off starting the book and why it took me so long to get in to the book.  Once I finally started to pick up on who was who and what they all had going on in their life’s the book took off for me and I couldn't wait to read it.  I loved being able to see what each character thought of themselves and each other.  It let you see everyone’s secretes from their own point of view, how big they all thought those secrets were, and how big everyone else saw their friends secrets if they even saw them at all.  I think that each group showing just how much the AHEB group ment to them, why they each love it, and how it helped each of them at different points of their life helped support the all-for-one and one-for-all theme of the book.

8. In order to attain a greater understanding of herself, Faith utilizes therapy, learns from her friendships and culls inspiration from books. How do these three supplement each other as means of self discovery? Which books and authors have inspired you most through the years?

9. What did you think of Merit's idea to unite mothers around the world to stop war and halt violence? Were you surprised this notion came from her?

I was surprised the united mothers around the world idea came from Merit, I saw it more of a Slip idea.  I like the idea because all mothers want to protect their children, all mothers want them to be safe, feel loved, and have the best things life has to offer.  With that being said you think it would be easy to unite mothers and halt wars; but sadly (and I mean very sadly) it isn't. 

10. Slip tells Merit that re-dubbing their book club Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons would be taking their husbands' words and "giving them and their chauvinism the finger." What other subversive techniques do the women display for giving chauvinism the finger? Do you feel it's an apt name for the club and all it turns out to be?

11. How does AHEB compare to our book club? Are there any ideas in the novel, like themes for meetings, which you'd like to incorporate?

12. Which character was your favorite? Was she or he the one you identified most with?

This one was a hard one for me because first I thought that Slip was going to be my favorite, small but so full of life, adventure, and fight. Then I thought that no maybe Audrey will be my favorite she is pretty and seems to have it all, but then I kind of thought that maybe I shouldn't like her because she does seem to have it all. Then I liked Merit because she was a good wife, then I tried to life Faith but she was just kind of plain, but then I think I finally decided to like Kari because she really was just full of love. Some of the things Kari does in the book surprise me. She loves all her nieces and nephews so much, hand making them cloths (something I really wish I could do), and even going so far as to take one of their children and loving it like her own. She was all around just a great person.
 I think I had such a hard time picking who to like because I identify with each of them in one way or another. But if I had to pick just one I would pick a Slip-Kari mix......

13. A number of the characters in the book harbor secrets. What does secret-keeping do to characters like Faith and Fred, who fear their actual secrets as opposed to Kari or Beau who fear the reactions of others?

At what point who in this book didn’t have something to hide?  They all had secrets some big some small they all had something they didn’t want everyone to know.  I think everyone has secrets and what people do with those is their own choice unless it is harming someone else or yourself.  Faith and Fred were both people who were haunted by their secretes and dark things in their past.  These secretes slowly started to affect their personalities and how they treated those close to them.  Faith and Fred both feared what their secretes would do to them more so than what they would do to others.  Kari and Beau I think both feared what their secrets would do to those they loved.  They were worried about how others would take it, they were worried that maybe someone would stop loving them, or that they would look at them differently.  

So if you haven't read this book I would highly recommend it! What are you reading? Any good suggestions?


Ok time to curl up for the night with the book from last month One Fifth Avenue, maybe I can catch up this month!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! My Monday was long and I feel like I am so far behind already!

October & November Books

So it is already December 3 and that means that I never got around to updating my book list for October so I am just going to go ahead and clump it in with November, because there really aren't many.  Really don't judge I do love to read.

October:


Amber Fox is a late 30's chick who acts like she is 20 and seems to be all over the place, but hey there is nothing wrong with that now is there? At the same time....I just didn't quite like her but the story wasn't half bad but not thrilling either. 

This was a free Kindle book so I thought I would give it a try. I didn't hate it, it wasn't one of those "can't put it down" books either it was just ok. There were some things I liked and others that I just found well strange about the writing style of this book. If I see the 2nd one on Amazon for free I might pick it up but I don't think I'll pay to read it or go out of my way to find it.

November:



I really don't have too much to say other than that this was a cute book.  I was kind of distracted when she would say things that didn't seem to add up. Like she told her friend her mom's bachelorette party was tomorrow but then she had to be there that night and her friend was there. So just little stuff like that.  Over all the story line was simple, and a quite read.

Yep told you that there really weren't many.  Sadly I just haven't found anything to read that I love and can't put down. 

What are you reading?

September Book....

Sadly if you are thinking that is a typo and it should say books....it is not I only read one book....yes ONE book this past month.  I really don't know what to say other than life has just been here, there and everywhere but yet I haven't been blogging....yep again I know.

Anyways on to the book:



This book kind of gets a mixed review from me.  On some points I really loved for the history and the twist on the children's fairy tail, I mean a Holocaust twist it something I never saw coming.  On the other hand it was kind of gory and well graphic. I thought it was well written, had a good plot, and just rapped everything up nicely at the end. I love when books do that, I hate being left hanging.

And well that is about all I can think to say about it without giving to much information. 

Hope everyone had a great September! I have my fingers crossed to do much more reading this month...if I can pull myself away from all of the cheesy kids Halloween shows/movies. 

August Books

So some how the month of September snuck up on me. My bad I guess it's time to recap what I read in August, and I won't lie it was a historical month, where as September is turning out to be a dull month in the land of books. 

Sadly as I have found with a lot of the books I have been reading this summer I couldn't wait to start it and then I couldn't wait to finish it.  That was just how I felt when I read the first book I read this month:



 I think I even found myself saying one night that I needed to "work" on finishing my book. Reading should never be "work". When it comes to Poison I am a little torn. I love to read books about history, even more so when they are fiction but with foundation on a historical background. I sadly don’t love it when the plot is going along all fine and dandy and then bam the main character is off telling you about all kinds of history, that yes is related to the story at hand but also got my mind going in so many different directions. I don’t mind different points of views in books at the same time I don’t quite like it when I feel like the main character is not only telling the story but also talking to me and they go out of their way to stop halfway through what they are saying to say that they won’t say any more. I also have to make a small complaint about the fact that the author liked to use words that were not always well English. I really do need to say that I did like the story once I learned to skim however I am not sure I will be reading any more of her books at the time.

The next I read however I loved and hated to have to put down:



Did I already say I loved this book?  It had just the right amount of history and drama to make it maybe one of my favorite books of the summer!  I cannot wait to read more by this author! I cannot say enough good things about this book other than that you should pick it up and read it yourself if you like history and drama!

Sadly the next book I got just because I loved the cover; however it was neither great nor awful.



 I don’t really know what to say about it, it kind of dragged at the start and I almost gave up on it but seeing as how it was only 262 pages I just used it for a light read for a day to relax.  I love to read but the author almost pushed how important reading is a little too much bringing it up all the time, and the main character just seem to find trouble everywhere she went and I found it all to be a little far fetched.

My next read was another historical fiction that I loved.



I am a new reader of historical fiction and would have to say that history was always a subject I liked but never anything I really paid much attention to, so I was quickly pulled in by the authors story of Marie Antoinette.  I now find myself going out and looking things up to see if they are fact or fiction, and I love to hear what the author thinks might have been going through Marie Antoinette’s head during different things that were happening in her life.  I didn’t quite like how the fact that Marie Antoinette was not very smart was brought up again and again in the book, but yet the author had her use words that would her imply to be otherwise.  I am looking forward to reading more about the life of Marie Antoinette.  

And I just recently gave up on this book:



Sad I know but where as I read it was memorizing it was anything but, unless I missed something. I just could not get into it no mater how hard I tried. 

Read anything good lately?

July Books

These past few weeks I have gotten the chance to do a good bit of reading, mainly one of the biggest reasons I have not been spending so much time here. 

So let me turn to the amazing bookshelf at Shelfair and see what all I read this month.



For starters I just happen to love polar bears so this book kind of got picked up becuase of the cover (I know I know you can't judge a book by it's cover and this was kind of one of those) This book was different and I don't quite know if I liked it. Yet once I got into it I couldn’t put it down but it was almost like a guilty pleasure of watching someone else mess up their life.  Both the husband and wife in this book had a lot going on, and the wife was still trying to find herself if not maybe even going through a midlife meltdown of some sort. In the end I think the just proved you need to forgive and forget sometimes. I am not sure if I will read anymore books by her or not right now.

 

 I liked this book way more than than the one above, it was just well cutter. This was a free book on kindle so I thought I would give it a try.  It was a really cute, quick summer read.  I would really like to give it a 4.5 but you can't do half points.  Anyways this book is about a woman in her 40's still trying to figure out life.  It may (or may not) make you take a step (a small one) back and think about some things if you are still trying to figure out your path in life.   I look forward to reading more of her books this summer.



I don't know what to really say about this book other than it was a little no make that a lot different.  I felt like it took me forever to read this short little book.  Sadly I do not recommend this to any of my friends.

 

I saw this book on a few differnet blogs and was happy to see when our small little libarary had it in. This book was a rollercoaster and I cannot even begin to describe it without giving things away.  Once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down because I couldn't wait to see what was going to  happen next. I look forward to reading more of her books.



I don't have much to say about this book.  When I first picked it up I had high hopes because I have heard good things about Meg Cabot; however I had a really hard time getting into this book because it started off just so strange to me and then got a little stranger but kind of cute and then well it ended up like every book should (ok well not all but you knew it was coming with this book) with a happy ever after.  I don't think I will read anymore of this particular series but I may look into her other stuff once I have caught up on my "to read" list.  Sadly I don’t really recommend it to anyone (some parts were almost painful to drag myself through and I love airhead lit for the most part) but I will let you know if I change my mind about her books. 

Currently I am reading



I am really looking forward to finishing this, not becuase it is not good but becuase thanks to a trip to the libaray today anI have a few more bookes to add to my reading list.  So far I find Poison to be pretty good, I have always like historical fiction and this one starting off strong. 

June Books

Wow! So am I the only one that is a little shocked that it is already July 2nd?  Really I don't know where the time is going, but I am extremely happy that I am getting to spend it with my amazing family. 

Anyways lets get to the point BOOKS! So I didn't get to read as much as I wanted to this month but I still think I did pretty good.

Let's see where to start where to start? 

Oh I finally finished The Hangman's Daughter! Don't get me wrong when I say finally but really that book took me forever and I have no clue why.


There once was a hangman who had a big heart for humanity and wanted to save a midwife from a misunderstanding. There also was a physician who loved this said hangman’s daughter and wanted to also help this said midwife. A friendship forms and off they go to solve the crime, save some kids, and live happily ever after! Well, there is really so much more than that to the story like a man with a hand of bones, a witch, and treasure.

For some reason this book took me forever to get through and just seemed to drag at some points. Please don't get me wrong I loved the plot and the history they had in it but sometimes it just seemed to go in a big circle. It is a little gory so if you really don't like blood and guts I would pass on this one, I mean it starts with a woman being beheaded and her head slips so they have to strike her 3 more times. If you like murder mystery books then you might want to give this one a try. I may or may not check and see if the author has written any more books that have been translated into English.

Next I moved on to a light hearted book.

You think your life is a mess?  You think you have a cruddy job with cruddy coworkers?  Emma has the same problems only maybe in a more humors way going on in her life. This was a cute book that I found myself laughing just about all the way through, sometimes I just wish there was a little more something to the book.  This was a quick summer read and I think I might enjoy reading more of her books this summer. 

After that light hearted read I thought I might move on to something.....well with a little more depth so I moved on to this book:

This book was good, it started a little slow but once I got into it I didn’t want to put it down.  Without giving to much away I'll just say that it starts off with her husband, a pilot, going down with his plain.  This story is about the changes that the wife and her daughter go through, and all the information they find out along the way.  I want to say so much more about this book but at the same time I don't want to give anything away.  I look forward to reading more books by Anita Shreve.

And then there was that one random book that I read.  Well Ryan wanted to read it because he once worked at a Wonderland and wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  I don't think either of us really liked it but anyways here it is:


After spending a year in Korea teaching I thought I would read this book and see what the big fuss was.  This book does talk about some of the things that can happen when you go over to Korea without doing all your research first but at the same time this book was a lot of complaints about things that most ESL’s go through or things that others were faced with and just left.  There are things that you can do in Korea when some of these types of problems come up.  Anyways unless you are thinking about going to Korea to teach (in which case this book is a good read for what to look out for) I wouldn’t bother to read this book.

And well that is that I finished a book, read two other full size books, and then one little short story. 

I have many books on my "to read" list now that I am home and have access to the library.  Sadly I thought I could download books to my Kindle but sadly the Kindle does not work with the way the library downloads the PDF files.  Oh well life happens I guess I'll just be reading a lot of "real" books this summer.

What are you reading?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and is getting lots of reading in this summer!  Reading was always one of my favorite things about summer!

May Reading List

 Ok packing is taking way to long and I own way to much stuff so it is time for a break and a little bit of a blog update about life, or well to be more specific one of my favorite parts about life BOOKS!

This past month I have gotten to catch up on some of my "to read" books; however still not as many as I would of liked to.  I guess the last book I blogged about was True Blue so lets work our way up to now from there.

I was so looking forward to reading this book and I was sadly let down by it. I really wanted to love this book because all of the reviews I read said it was GREAT. It was good yes and I liked it a lot but I just was a little shocked when I read it and the world didn’t move, my life didn’t change, it was just a book, with just normal words, and nothing too amazing. This book is an easy beach read and don’t be put off by the reviews that say “sick animal cruelty” because it is really not that bad or that in detailed, so give this book a try. I look forward to reading others by this author and I am really looking forward to seeing the movie!

I enjoyed this book.  At first I thought it started off a little strange and there were some points where I was not to sure where it was going next and I am still trying to decide if I like the ending or not.  It was a good light, easy, travel read and it was free. 

I wanted to really like this book; however it was almost a pain for me to finish it.  It started off with a pretty good story line but then it bounced from thought to thought often making me go back a few pages thinking that I missed something.  On minute the main character is babysitting someone for the DA’s office, then he is in a law class, then he finds out that the death of his niece is being covered up, then they find out it is drugs, then is has to do with vampires, then more students die, then there is some link to a woman who is trying to make a virus that will take out all of China, they are trying to frame him, then they believe him but are no longer looking for the woman but now looking for corrupt government officials and so on and so forth.   I often found myself thinking “oh so that is where he is going with this, ok that makes sense” only to be shocked and yet again trying to piece it all together.  I know I am not perfect at English however he had some very odd mistakes that jumped out at me like missing words, typos like swapping the word divilan for civilian, “i” for “l” just to name a few, and better yet  towards the end of the book he changes one characters name 3 times in one chapter from Tony, to Thomas, to Tom, used extremely out of place words that worked but were not needed, and you get the picture.  I would of given this book at 2.5 but it is not an option.  I do like where he tried to go with this book I just think he tried to take it too many different ways.  I may give his next book a chance if it only cost me 99 cents again.

This was a good quick read.  I enjoyed the story line and I liked that the book took place in my home town.  There were enough twist to keep it interesting, but without going crazy.  I also had a guess as to who the "bad guy" was very early on in to the book so it made it a little interesting to see how everyone else couldn't see it. I enjoy reading Christian books and I almost hate to say that I feel like the “characters” in this book almost go repetitive with their conversations about God with one of the main characters.  Page after page of beating  him over the head and he finally gave in.

Cute book full of love, adventure, and even a good life lesson.  The characters are so easy to love (or hate if need be) and it is so easy to picture the main character stumbling through the summer and learning so much about herself and her family. I loved the history in this book and felt like I had been taken back in time.  I look forward to reading more of her books.  

This book was cute but I often found that I would have to remind myself that this book was about an adult and not some young girl in college or high school wishing for her life to be everything it wasn't. I liked the main idea of this book but maybe just not how much the main character thought/talked like a child.

And the last book for the month was:

Cute book with cute characters that are easy to love.  This was the first book in the series and it was free on Amazon and I am thinking about paying the low price of $5 for the next book. 

Currently I am reading The Hangman's Daughter and so far it is nice and gory, there are a ton of people who names I am having a hard time keep straight and I am still trying to figure out if the names of the towns are important or not yet.  Ryan read this book earlier on and told me that it was good but long, I am looking forward to hopefully finishing it on the ride home this weekend.

Hope everyone is having a great week!  I swear time has come to a standstill over here and is just taking it happy little time.  Back to packing and fingers crossed that the next 3 days will pass before I even know it, I mean that is how time is supposed to work right?



Really? I thought I had read so much more?

Sorry about the two post in one day, and maybe a third but I may of had a few too many cups of coffee today at work and I have been really putting some of these off.

So I have not updated on my reading list for a while now and think that it maybe time to do that before I head off to the beach next week and hopefully get to cross a few books I have been waiting to read off my list.

So lets see what book did I last write about?  Have I told you guys that I finshed The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo yet?  Humm I don't think I have so I guess I will start there!

I wont lie when I first started this book I was really not that into it, I mean this book started out slower than a snail.  For the first few chapters I found it complicated to keep up with all the places and people that were talked about but once I figured out that I really didn't need to keep up with it all I really enjoyed the book.  I just wish it had gotten better before the halfway point, but once it got going it was really going.  I never thought the book would go the way it did, and I didn't see even a 1/3 of what happened coming.  I was a little upset about the ending but hey over all I loved it!  Why I loved it thought is kind of hard to explain, and re-reading what I just wrote it sounds like I only halfway liked it.  Over all this book was ODD but GREAT!  I cannot wait to read the other ones; however I have heard the 2nd one is slow but the 3rd one is great, I am not looking forward to slow.

My parents brought this book over with many others that my dad had read for me to read. Over all I liked this book.  It started off a little slow but once it got going had a pretty good story line with many twist that I didn't see coming.  It is a story about two sisters one who is the chief of police and one who was a cop but got set up and is now trying to figure out how to live outside of a uniform and is not taking it to well. If you like a book about strong women you will like this book. On the other hand if you cringe at the thought of breaking the law you better pass because Mace will do anything to get back on the police force even if it means breaking a few laws here and there to do it.  I had a hard time putting the book down once it all started to fall into place because I could not wait to see how it all played out.  It was not great but if I come across any more of these at my parents house this summer I'll read them.  


Wow sadly I thought I had read so much more.  I have downloaded a bunch of new books and cannot wait to dig in to them next week when I am in Jeju relaxing on the beach!

As of now that puts me 14 books for this year so far and my goal for the year back in January was only 24 books a year (so average of 24 books a year) and I don't want to be too over ambitious but now I am thinking about moving it up to 30.  Fingers crossed I can handle that, I mean it is only 2~3 books a month and I LOVE to read.

Also don't worry I may of not posed about Beth Moore for the past 2 Sundays but I am still surly but slowly making my way through the books and questions.  Did I say slowly? I should of said at a snails pace. 

Happy reading everyone!  Anyone got any good books they want to share?  I am always open to suggestions.

Beth Moore Week 1

Beth Moore "So Long Insecurity" week 1 blog take 1.

When the word insecurity pops up in conversations I don't know about you but I get just a little bit light headed, my palms get clammy, and I start to try to find a way out of the conversation, maybe "I'll be right back I have to use the restroom" and then just running for the closets exit, or "I think I left my stove on, I'll be right back" and so on and so forth. As you can now tell I do not like to talk about insecurities, however I cannot think of anyone person who does.

So why in the world would I not only read a book that forces me to take a closer look at why I have the insecurities I have, but why blog about them? Oddly other than to learn about myself and see where this takes me I don't have a clue. I am sitting here already starting to think of all the reasons I can give in a few weeks when I have gotten myself nice and deep into this book and am now no longer happy putting it all out there. I know, I know, it's never good when you haven't even started something yet you are looking for a way out.

With all that said I am actually looking forward to all this and cannot wait to get started! I cannot lie, I really started this book about a month ago but due to random things and well just my extreme laziness I have been putting it off and putting it off. I have gone back and forth over email with a close friend of mine who is also reading the book talking about our answers to the different questions, and I have really enjoyed it. Getting to read her answers has been something truly special and now I am just wondering what other people have to say about some of the questions. So here I am sharing mine in hopes of hearing yours, and well even if no one feels the need to share or reads this blog I at least will have learned a little bit more about myself.

I guess the best place to start is with some questions I found online. I also stumbled across a blog that goes along with the book (http://blog.lproof.org/2010/02/so-long-insecurity-week-one-2.html) that I am using as a guideline. I will be reading her Week One Blog entry and answer the questions. Please keep in mind that I am not a writer and the answers will not be all pretty and poetic like. Anyways here are the answers to some questions I found on some other blog, and sadly have lost the link to.

1. In which areas do you feel the most insecure: [Circle the top two]

**I know it says to pick two but really there are so many to pick from.

Body Image – what woman fully loves her body? I am happy with mine but would love to lose a few pounds, would love to have fewer pimples, would love to have thicker hair, so on and so forth. Humm doesn’t sound like I am jumping up and down with joy about my body now does it? I have always felt cute, pretty and been told I have a great smile, and I believe those things to be true, so all in all I just want to be in better shape and a little less flabby. Oddly that is something I can control and fix.

Personality – for the most part I believe if someone is going to like you they are going to like you for your personality, well unless you are rich and famous and then they will like you for what you can give them not what you are. I have always been pretty happy for my personality. I can be a little bit of a pain, I can be moody, and I can throw a pity part like the best of them but hey I am me and I am happy about that.

Talents – I have many hobbies, and may things I want to learn how to do, yet I do not feel like there is much I am good or well “talented” at.

Intellect – when I put my mind to things for the most part I will do them, but for the most part I don’t feel like I am the brightest crayon in the box. Yet again this is something I can change if I just work at it.  I won't lie thought I HATE it when my students ask me a question because I am the teacher and just think I know all the answers to everything, like why is it P.E. when it is short for Physical Education teacher, umm because English is confusing....I don't know....because the P is silent?

Spiritual matters – everyone wants to feel closer to God, it takes work and I just need to put in the time and effort.

Professional accomplishments – I am young and I am quite happy with my haphazardly landing a job in Korea teaching English.

Your Family – I love my family, really can’t say there is anything I would change about it to be any happier.

Your past – it is what it is; dwelling on it won’t change anything.

Your grades/education – I graduated in 3.5 years from a 4 year school, it sucked but I did it and now I am done with a degree to show for my hard work.

Friendships – I have learned that friends come and go, and over the past year I have seen a lot of them go, but I have also found out which of my friends are true friends.

Fitting in/belonging – I always wanted to fit in, always tried to do as others do, but now that I am older and out of school I see that I was not helping myself at all, and I was not being true to myself. It is not about how many people like you but that you like yourself.

Your looks – please just go up and look at body image.

Aging – I feel like I am getting old but hey if you’re not ageing your dead and I would rather be getting old than dead any day.

2. On your last trip to the grocery store, what did you notice about the magazine covers?
I would have to say that I look at the people first, well unless there is a nice big old chocolate cake on the front and then I see nothing but chocolate goodness, and what they are wearing, how their makeup looks, how their hair is done, are they toned, are they tanned and do they look perfect or not. For the most part unless there is an article about “Dropping 10 Pounds’ or “Eat This Not That” ect I don’t pay much attention. I honestly couldn’t tell you who is dating who, or who is having a baby or who is in rehab and so on and so forth. Oh I always find myself wondering how in the world they couples on the covers can fake such happiness or love and I wonder what they are thinking at the exact moment the photo is taken.

3. Judging from their headlines, has beauty or fame seemed to make anyone exempt from failures, relationship break-ups or bad choices?


Since the answer is so obvious, why do we continue to place such a premium on looks, wealthy, fame and broad spectrum acceptance?
Yes we all know the answer to the first half of the question is going to be no, maybe that it has even messed up their lives and only added to their destruction and harmed them.

When it comes to the second part of the question I cannot help but think that everyone wants to be part of a group, to belong, to be over all accepted, and yes I know that is not deep at all and just a proven point for the most part. So well what do I think then? That is a good question. I guess we all think that we have a better change of friendships, love, happiness, ect if we have the right look, wealth, and fame. Well then that makes me ask myself what the standard is to judge all of those things? Who gets to say what is pretty? Who gets to say what wealth is? Who gets to say what fame is? We all like to think it is whatever we want it to be, but at the same time the media, our friends, and just about every outside force tells us what they think standards are and there for their standards kind of become our standards. So what do we do? Well I know that I for the most part just follow the group and try my best to fit in. Now I am asking myself what happens if I don't fit in? Will everything be as lonely as I think it would? Would I be happy? Would life go on?

Sadly it is not just friends that we try to impress with our looks. When you go to seek employment you need to have the look. Employers are looking for people who look clean cut, nicely dressed, and put together. This all also takes into account weight, people don't think you are "put together" or "hard working" or "motivated" if you are overweight or come in dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. So am I now a bad person because I want friends and need a job? No, but am I myself? Or am I trying to find acceptance where I do not need it?

We don't need to have millions of dollars to be wealthy, this is one thing I know. I am a big fan of the love, happiness, family, fun, and memories kind of wealth. At the same time we do need money to live, but then what is the right amount of how much we need to live? As I look around and think about what is a need and what is a want I find that I have many wants, and very few needs, and all my needs are being met so when it is enough? Is it enough for me now? I am happy, I am safe. But how much do I need to have of my wants to be accepted by other people? What gives those people the right to look at what I have and say it is not good enough? Why do I feel the need to try to compete my friends or even people I do not know to impress them or make them "envy" me? I know I should not envy anyone and I know I should not want them to envy me.

*Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of working hard to enjoy what I have and living how I want to live, nice and comfortably. I don’t think there is nothing wrong with working hard for money and being proud of it.*

Fame well I really don't have much to say about fame. I have never wanted to be famous, I have never wanted everyone to know me, talk about me, or want to be me. I more or less kind of like to keep to myself and fame would mess that all up. I mean I don't even like to have too many friends, I know you can't have too many friends but I want true friends not fake friends that would come with fame.
Ok so I have lost myself in thought now and don’t think I accomplished anything here right now other than rambling and telling myself (and you) things I already know.
4. Be honest for a moment. From what things or people do you seek your security?

I don’t know if I like this one, and I think I might have to come back to it in a few chapters, but I would say that I seek my security from my family, my boy friend and a few close friends. I have always had my family to fall back on and they have always been there for me throughout my good and bad decisions.  I cannot lie Ryan is also becoming a big part of my security. There is always that fear that one day my family will be gone. I went through it with my grandmother 2 years ago, who ever knew she was going to die?  I surely didn't in my mind she was going to be around forever to fix everything.   Oh and the big answer, God!  He has always also been there asnwering some prayers and handing things how he sees fit.  I just always have to remember that he knows best and that what I always want and pray for is not what is his plan for me. 

5. In the introduction to the book, Beth Moore talks about the victim mentality we women sometimes have.
Without a lot of thought I would have to say that yes to this question. For starters and for a brief moment I must admit that I have a very active imagination and can often find a conspiracy theory in just about everything where I or this past year Ryan and I are the ones someone is out to get, when really it may partly be us that is the problem to. Now back to a more normal conversation, yes I feel “we women” for the most part like to say that most of our problems are due to other people. Our job stinks because of……my life is not going well because of……we have so many reasons for all the things that go on in our life but almost never take the blame ourselves. So let’s see if I can change that starting now, or well change a little bit about it I am not jumping to take the blame for everything now. Ok let’s start with why it has taken me so long to start this book, I could blame it on my job and say I work all the time, but come on I know I come home every night and veg out in front of the T.V. or my laptop. I sadly have to say the same thing about why I have gained weight, I could say that the food in Korea is just that amazing and I don’t have time to work out, but yet again it is about me being lazy and not making the time. And both of those answers right there are also why my closet is in such a mess with clothes everywhere and why my apartment is slightly chaotic, or why I have yet to learn Korean or improve on my English. So on and so forth the list could go on and on, so far blaming it on other people or random things like work or time has gotten me nowhere so it looks as if that “victim mentality” of everyone is out to get me and that it is never my fault is not working out or me too well.
And for the last question of the night:

6. Do you believe Beth’s assertion that most every woman experiences insecurities to some degree or another? Why or why not?

I would have to say yes, because well I know I cannot be the only one out there who feels this way. Yea that answer needs work still, it is a little blah and I won’t lie I didn’t put too much thought into it.
Ok well after those long answers I hope you are still interesting in what else I have to say along the way. I am looking forward to this week and seeing what I can get into what hopefully have some break though thoughts that might be a little deeper than those from today.
NOTE:

I am not one to shove God in anyone’s face because I believe we all believe in something and I choose to believe in God. I love God and am hoping to grow closer to him as I do this study but I am by no means am a perfect Christian or anywhere near one, nor will I ever claim to be so please do not judge me or Christians for that matter on things I blog about, or the answers I give. I do not want this blog to be a God blog once a week; I more or less just want to share my answers and thoughts to a book that happens to be a bible study. I am more or less doing this as a self study and may or may not bring God into a lot of it.
My year in Korea has shown me a lot about Christians and how the rest of the world sees “American Christians”. Oddly it is now the biggest religion in Korea yet they do it with more of a Buddhist twist with how they treat people and see things. I do not have a perfect life nor will I ever try to get you to believe I do. I make many mistakes and that is what makes me human.
I hope if you are not a believer in God you can still feel comfortable reading this and my answers and maybe even learn something about yourself and your own personal insecurities.  

If you are a believer in God please pray that I don't wimp out half way though this blog!

Reading Update

I have had my Kindle back for  a few weeks now, Ryan hijacked it for a week or so to read The Hangman's Daughter, and I must say I missed it tremendously! I have been reading as much as I can lately and guess it is time for another update on what I have been reading sense I never got back around to finishing the book update from February. 

First things first I finally got back into the book I was reading after a few days and finished it. 



The book was a little slow to start and a little slow to wrap up but it wasn't bad. It has a cute story line, and most of the characters were really likable. Once I got pulled in I hated to have to put it down.

The next book I moved in to was:



It turns out this book is 3 of her books all rolled into one.  I dragged myself through the first book "Spellbound" that was a little odd, its about a guy and a girl, all about Ireland, witches and well just very heavy on the magic and well just plan strange.  Sadly I would not recommend this book.

The second book in this well book, that sounds strange to say, is "Ever After" and it yet again takes place in Ireland, seems to have something to do with magic, and yet again is about a guy and a girl who seem to be falling in love.  I will let you know it goes, so far it is better than the first book, and if I have to drag myself through this book like I did the first I think I will have to pass on the third book, and that saddens me seeing as how I normally like Nora Roberts.

A book that I absolutely loved and could go on and on about is:



I made the mistake of starting this book last weekend on a train trip heading to Costco and well sadly after about 30 minutes Ryan almost had to take my Kindle away as I would just burst out in random laughing and look like a crazy woman.  I laughed my way though most of this book, and even though it was odd, sometimes pointless I could not put it down, I mean I was walking home from the gym every day reading my kindle looking like a nut bag laughing.  So it was free and anyone who likes reading about fat, forty and unemployed men should check it out....well not really maybe just anyone who could use a laugh. 

I am trying to read and do a bible study with:



And so far I like it however find if my mind is not clear I am not getting it and have to re-read it.  I have a good friend who is also reading this book with me and I look forward to getting deeper in to it and learning about myself and her. 

Sadly I am still reading this last book:



It is a great book don't get me wrong but too much of him at one time can make you go a little crazy.

So I have many books waiting to be read and cannot wait for my beach trips in a few weeks so that I can sit on the beach and just read!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

February Books....

(so far)

I started the month of with:



A Dog Named Slugger was a very cute and touching book that made me laugh and made me cry but other than that was just so-so.  It did make me think that I might not be the type of person to train an dog and then to turn around and give it up to be a service dog, but I might like to train my dog (or dogs) to be a therapy dog.  My grandfather has always loved when the therapy dogs come into the home or to visit the hospital and I would love to bring that same precious smile I remember on his fact to the fact of other people.  

Then I moved on to:



Fire Burn And Cauldron Bubble was hard for me to put down but was an odd book.  If you like to read about witches, warlocks, vampires, and a love triangle that is tangled worse than a necklace in a 50% off drugstore bin this is your book!  I have yet to make up my mind when it comes to reading any more of H.P. Mallor's books or not; however, I see myself getting sucked in to at least one more if not two,

And the last one the list right now is:



It was a cute book but yet again it was the same story, girl meets boy and they fall in love. This book more or less kind of hit me over the head with God at least every few pages, and yes I feel as if the author over did the "Christan" thing on this book but I also guess I am ok with that as this book made good points and helped me take a step back and look at different parts of my life.

I have now started this lovely little book in hopes to get a few good laughs at the end of the day:



And so far I can't lie when I say I find myself laughing quite a bit.  If you are a fan of Stephen Colbert I recommend this book; however, warn you that it is not for kids and it is a little on the "adult" side. 

I am also reading:



I am only 3 chapters in so I will get back to you on this book, but so far it seems to be pulling me in like any good book should! I look forward to reading more of it and seeing where it goes. 

To End The Reading List For January.....

Last Friday I finished another book on the oh so amazing Kindle. I have  now come to think of my this amazing gift from my parents as the gift that just keeps giving and I cannot thank them enough for it.

Yet again I found myself reading a light hearted, love story called "Always The Baker, Never The Bride" another freebie from Amazon. 



I don't have much to say about this book other than that is was simple and cute.  It was a great light hearted read that was a great way to end a long day before bed.  From the beginning you can kind of see where the book is going and by the third chapter you pretty much have it all figured out.  I am looking forward to reading more books by the author even though they are not my normal style it was a good change. 

I think I also loved this book because when I was younger I wanted to go in to hospitality and do some sort of event planing or run a hotel and well this book has both of those aspects. 

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When diabetic Emma Rae Travis wins the prestigious Passionate Palate Award for her innovative crème brûlée wedding cake, she is thrilled to be offered the position of pastry chef by the new proprietors of the Tanglewood Inn, an Atlanta institution being renovated into a five-star wedding-destination hotel. She is also attracted to its CEO. But Jackson Drake is still mourning his beloved wife’s untimely passing and is unable to reconcile his burgeoning feelings for Emma Rae with his loyalty to Desirée’s memory. Although both consider themselves blessed with supportive family and friends, Emma Rae and Jackson would rather be spared the well-meaning efforts at convincing them to return to their childhood faith. And when Emma Rae’s unappreciative former boss and her ex-boyfriend—the cad and his fiancée are about to become the Tanglewood’s first wedding clients—both suddenly want her back, Bricker’s contemporary inspirational romance really heats up! Topical recipes, menus, and how-to tips entice the reader with an insider’s perspective on the lucrative business surrounding all things bridal. --Lynne Welch

Product Description

Thirty-six-year-old Emma Rae Travis has been baking specialty cakes and melt-in-your-mouth pastries at The Backstreet Bakery in historic Roswell, just outside of Atlanta, for the last six years. But here s the rub about her job as a baker ... Emma is diabetic. When she tastes her creations, it can only be in the most minute portions. Emma is considered an artisan for the stunning crème brulee wedding cake that won her the Passionate Palette Award last year, but she s never even had one full slice of it.

When Jackson Drake hears about this local baker who has won a prestigious award for her wedding cake artistry, he tells his assistant to be sure and include her in the pastry tastings scheduled at his new wedding destination hotel the following week. And for Jackson, that particular day has started out badly with two workmen trapped in a broken elevator and a delivery of several dozen 300-thread-count bed linens in the wrong size abandoned in the lobby. But when the arrogant baker he met a week prior in Roswell stumbles into the dining room with a platter of pastries and a bucketful of orders, he knows for certain: It s going to be a really rotten day.

Can these two ill-suited players master the high-wire act and make a go of their new business venture? Or will they take each other crashing downward, without a net? And will the surprise wedding at The Tanglewood be theirs?
 
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The past few days I have been trying to get into another book.  After having Lasik done last Saturday (that blog is soon to come) I got to use the "text to speech" app on my Kindle and loved it, but after a few hours felt like I wasn't reading anymore and well part of my love of books is getting to read it myself.  The past few books I have tried to start have not pulled me in yet I am looking forward to reading them, I guess they are just not what I am in the mood for.  I think I finally found "the one" today, it is called "A Dog Named Slugger". 

I was doing my monthly check up on my 2011 goals (check out all my big plans for the year in this blog from earlier last month http://bart-megan.blogspot.com/2011/01/wow-its-really-2011.html) and I am happy to say that I kicked my two books a month goals butt!  Sadly I started one business book and I am still trying to finish it so I didn't meet that goal, but I am doing better on cooking!  I know not even related to the same topic but hey I can be proud.  I also have been doing better on my lesson plans and keep up with stuff around the apartment.....now if only I could tackle some of those other goals this month.  Oh and even with a very stressful month last month I think I did much better at just staying happy and not worrying as much. 

I know, I know I ramble.  So what was this blog about again?  Oh yes books! One of my favorite things in life.  I guess to recap this month the books I got to enjoy, ponder over, and can hopefully talk some of you into reading were:

1. "The Potluck Club" and I must say that it was a great way to start off the New Year and I cannot wait to read more from the series.   
2. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" cute and fun.   
3. "So I Dated An Axe Murderer" it was interesting and I liked but oddly a little to short for me.   
4. "The Justice Game" this one I liked but I didn't like, it's hard to explain exactly what is going on inside my head about this book. 
5. "Always the Baker Never The Bride"

To read a much more thought out and better put together review of any of these books check out past blogs or even better yet just run your mouse over my Shelfair bookshelf over on the left side.  Sadly shelfari is a sight one of my friends who also loves to read got me hooked on and I love it.  It is a great way to keep up with everything I have read, because sadly sometimes books that I loved somehow seem to just slip through the cracks of my brain when I am trying to find something new to read.  Now I just have to look back and I am instantly reminded of what I thought about the books and the sight will even recommend other books I might like by that author or in that general area. 

And now it is time to wrap this blog up.  I guess I will end today with a question, something I have never done before because well I know that most of the time my family and some very close friends read this to keep up with is going on over here in the land of far far away and don't have time to post back.  But here it goes. What books do you recommend?  What are you reading? 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and I hope those up in the cold cold north are staying nice and warm, maybe even with a good glass of wine and a great book!

The Justice Game

Another Kindle book down and already another one started.  This book was longer then the rest and started out strong leaving me with many thoughts to share and ponder.

For starters once I finally finished this book I felt as if there was no justice for the way it ended or for how much time it took me to read.  It started off pretty good and lead to me telling Ryan about it always bringing up different points to get his thoughts or to argue some of the arguments in the book (even though we both agree on the topics).  I even recommend it to my dad, and even though I feel it was a good book I think I am going to have to withdraw that recommendation due to how book seems to go on and on forever and then just end in a way I found to be both good and bad.  Good because I agreed with the verdict of the court and bad because I didn't agree with how the author seemed to just wrap it up in a very odd way and added in aspects to the book that I found just odd.

 Unlike with past books where I was reading to find out what was going to happen next I more or less found myself just ready for the book to end so I could start another just as much as I wanted to find out how it ended.  It kind of reached a point where I was sick of reading and was ready to be done.  I felt like this book was dragged out in some places, however I felt like I was getting the chance to know all the characters.  Yet I was annoyed at the fact that some points were so repetitive that I wanted to yell at the book to just get to the point and tell me what it wanted to instead of just touching on the same points again and again. 

I won't lie when I say I had no clue how the book was going to turn and I rather liked that aspect because some books lead you to the answer before you are even half way though it and others lead you to think it is the wrong person so much to the point that the end doesn't even make sense. I feel the ending was wrapped up a little too well; I felt the ending was rushed and it just all seemed off.  The author tells you at the beginning of the book that he did an interactive video and asked readers to cast their vote on the verdict of the trial presented in the book and he used the votes to write the end of the book; something that I find to be very creative.  I agree with the choice the readers made and I like how the author never leads you to feel one way or anther in the book but does a good job of showing both sides of the case and leaves you asking yourself questions about how you feel about the topic.  And once again I just want to complain about the end and how I guess felt like it was not the ending he would of picked and so he did his best to wrap it all up nice and neat, but it was a little to neat and a little to rushed for me. 

Sadly when it comes to this book I do and don't recommend it at the same time.  If you are looking for an interesting read on gun control to kill sometime go for it.   Or if you are looking for something provoke thoughts and start conversations yet again it is a great book.  On the other hand if you are looking for a quick read or hate books that drag on and on I would pass on this one. 


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Editorial Reviews


From Publishers Weekly

Christy Award–winning novelist and lawyer Singer (Directed Verdict) lets the action sprint out of the gate with a murder in the first few pages. With murderer and victim dead, the moral issue of gun control takes center stage in the book, with a number of side dilemmas. The opposing counsels in the gun control case are young, ambitious lawyers, and both have hidden sins that could sink their careers. A law firm that both worked for further complicates the action. Singer piles the moral and plot complexities a bit too high; the backstories of main characters Jason Noble and Kelly Starling are relevant, but the tangled relationship between Jason and his cop father bogs down the action. The legal-thriller genre lends itself to the pattern of conversion that evangelical Christian novels require, and Singer offers logical character developments that aren't heavy-handed. The only stock feature in this well-plotted novel is the generic, fakey-sounding names (Brad Carson, Kelly Starling). But that's a quibble about a book that will entertain readers and make them think—what more can one ask? (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

At the center of the heart-pounding action are the moral dilemmas that have become Singer s stock-in-trade. . . . An exciting thriller.
--Booklist on By Reason of Insanity

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I just finished Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella and I must say I enjoyed reading it quite a bit.  I was shocked at how fast I read it and how it just kind of ended leaving it wide open for the next book.
Yet again I found this book hard to put down just wanting to read it whenever I could often leaving Ryan to tell me that I make a cute dork walking around reading a book all the time.

The book often left me wondering what trouble she would get in to next or what crazy lie she would come up with to get her way out of some mess. I however found myself loving to hate her because of her amazing luck, for instance she is in ton of debt yet she has 2 multimillionaires falling all over her and many other lucky things I don't want to give away. I also loved that the character lived in England and the words she uses like "bloody".  I kind of feel myself thinking that "wow this was kind of a modern day Cinderella story" in a screwed up kind of way, minus the evil step mom and sisters, oh and singing rats. 

Sadly that is about all I can think to say about this book without giving away loads of details as I discuss the book with myself playing back different things in the book that I find unbelievable.  I did a lot of think "wow that would never happen" but then I would think back to all those touching Opera stories you hear about and think well maybe it could. 

Over all this was a light hearted book that left me laughing and giggling most of the way through it and I look forward to reading more of Sophie Kinsella's books.

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Amazon.com Review


If you've ever paid off one credit card with another, thrown out a bill before opening it, or convinced yourself that buying at a two-for-one sale is like making money, then this silly, appealing novel is for you. In the opening pages of Confessions of a Shopaholic, recent college graduate Rebecca Bloomwood is offered a hefty line of credit by a London bank. Within a few months, Sophie Kinsella's heroine has exceeded the limits of this generous offer, and begins furtively to scan her credit-card bills at work, certain that she couldn't have spent the reported sums.

In theory anyway, the world of finance shouldn't be a mystery to Rebecca, since she writes for a magazine called Successful Saving. Struggling with her spendthrift impulses, she tries to heed the advice of an expert and appreciate life's cheaper pleasures: parks, museums, and so forth. Yet her first Saturday at the Victoria and Albert Museum strikes her as a waste. Why? There's not a price tag in sight.

It kind of takes the fun out of it, doesn't it? You wander round, just looking at things, and it all gets a bit boring after a while. Whereas if they put price tags on, you'd be far more interested. In fact, I think all museums should put prices on their exhibits. You'd look at a silver chalice or a marble statue or the Mona Lisa or whatever, and admire it for its beauty and historical importance and everything--and then you'd reach for the price tag and gasp, "Hey, look how much this one is!" It would really liven things up.

Eventually, Rebecca's uncontrollable shopping and her "imaginative" solutions to her debt attract the attention not only of her bank manager but of handsome Luke Brandon--a multimillionaire PR representative for a finance group frequently covered in Successful Saving. Unlike her opposite number in Bridget Jones's Diary, however, Rebecca actually seems too scattered and spacey to reel in such a successful man. Maybe it's her Denny and George scarf. In any case, Kinsella's debut makes excellent fantasy reading for the long stretches between white sales and appliance specials. --Regina Marler
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I hope those of you that enjoy reading and get the chance to read this book enjoy it!  I now hope to get in to a good murder mystery, or any kind of mystery for that mater.

Cooking- Working on another resolution

This past Sunday I started working on another one of my many New Year's Resolutions, one that I hope I can get in the habit of doing and will make life easier in the long run.  I tried to precook a few (3) meals for the week, it is something my mom always use to do when I was a kid so we could always have a warm meal ready even if her and dad had crazy work schedules.  Sadly this task seemed a lot simpler when I thought of it (and when I use to watch mom do it) because with my lack of kitchen space and a dishwasher it pretty much went something like this:

-Use all the pots and pans to cut, cook, simmer, and fry recipe one.
- Complain to the kitchen about how it is totally useless because of the lack of counter space and sadly end up setting most pots and pans on the floor when I had to move them from the head or use the burner for something else.  Sadly some pans even made it out to the table in the laundry room.
-Worry my pot is not big enough to mix everything together so whip out the Tupperware, set it on the floor, pour it in and mix.
-Set the dish in the laundry room to "chill" (there is no heat in the laundry room so it is more or less extra cold storage for us)
- Wash all the dishes, dry them, and put them away.
- Check on the first dish to find out that some how it had a very thick layer of oil on the top, so grab some paper towels and use them to absorb the grease of the top of the stew.  This oddly worked very well and left me feeling quite crafty!


- Use just about all the pots and pans I just washed from recipe to make recipe two
- Repeat most of  what happened in the first set of these steps only  setting some random parts of the dish that were finished early  in the sink
- Try to make Ranch out of Ranch Dressing (that mom was nice enough to send me among many other things for cooking) subbing in milk for sour cream to make a liquid mixture that wasn't half bad.
- Leave all the dishes in hopes of washing them after dinner and starting recipe 3.


-Meal 3 starts by looking at the dirty dishes and the time and thinking about how I really could lose a few pounds and just skip a few meals this week as I walk away to Skype with my mom.


Ok I know I know I shouldn't be complaining because at least I have a kitchen that is full of food (cooked or uncooked) most days.


Recipe one:

Cheesy Vegetable Stew Soup

Ingredients :

1 pound lean ground beef 
2 slices of bacon
3 large potatoes peeled and cubed
1 large onion (chopped) 
2 cloves of garlic pressed 
3 carrots (sliced or chopped) 
2 stalks celery
chicken bouillon or paste 
Approx. 42 oz of water 
2 cups shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar
2 1/2 cups milk (if sauce gets too thick add more milk as needed) 
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour


How to make it :

 In a lager soup pot with 42 oz water, add chicken bouillon or paste and carrots. Bring to a slow boil and add celery.

No chicken bouillon or paste so sub in whatever it is we think is chicken broth (it taste like chicken) with carrots. Skip on the celery because I have yet to see any anywhere in Korea.   

Let simmer for 10 minutes then add cubed potatoes.


Meanwhile brown the bacon in a pan. Don not discard the bacon drippings. Remove bacon from pan and add onion and garlic to the bacon drippings. Let them fry in the pan for about 5 minutes then add ground beef and brown.

Skip the bacon part and just add oil to the pan as a sub in for bacon drippings in hopes to not burn the onion and garlic. 

When the meat is browned crumble bacon over meat and set aside.

Rember at this point that we do have bacon bits in the fridge and throw a few handfulls of those in. 


In a smaller pot melt butter and add flour. Stir flour and butter mixture over medium heat for a few minutes until it starts to smell yummy and nutty. Season with some pepper (do not add salt at this point). Add cold milk to the mixture and stir frequently. Mix will become nice and thick and bubbly. Let it boil for just a minute or 2.

Sadly I am pretty sure I did this right but I didn't smell anything nutty, and it didn't ever become thick and bubbly. 

Take pot off the burner and stir in shredded cheese very slowly until all cheese has melted.


Test if your vegetables are done. If so add the ground meat mixture to the soup.

I couldn't help myself and had to add in random mixed vegetables from Costco's frozen vegetables pack once I realized that there were only potatoes and carrots in this soup and the main reason I was making it was to use up some of our frozen vegetables in the freezer.


Let it simmer for just a few minutes then take off the burner. Add the milk cheese mixture to the soup very slowly and stir very good to mix it all up.


Taste your soup if it needs salt. Lots of times it does not since you add all the sharp cheese and bacon to it.


Sprinkle with some fresh chopped parsley and serve with crusty bread.

I skipped on the parsley and bread; however I did add crushed bay leaf at some point in this process.


The things in italics are how I did things or things I added or subbed in to the recipe.  Ryan has eaten this for dinner tonight and had some last night with pizza and seems to like once he adds more cheese however he says everything always needs cheese. Hopefully soon I hope to also try it for some odd reason I can't bring myself to try it.

However recipe two was very good and is sadly already gone. 

Recipe 2:

Easy Beef Stroganoff



1 pound beef round tip steaks, cut 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick
1 clove garlic, minced
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (1/2-inch)
1 (3/4-ounce) package brown gravy mix
4 cups uncooked wide egg noodles (about 5-ounces), cooked
1/4 cup dairy sour cream

 1. Stack beef steaks; cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1-inch wide strips. Toss with garlic.



2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1/2 of beef; stir-fry 1 minute or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. (Do not overcook.) Remove. Repeat with remaining beef. Season with salt and pepper.


3. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in same skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add mushrooms; cook and stir 2 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat. Add gravy mix and 1 cup cold water; blend well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 minute or until sauce is thickened, stirring frequently. Stir in beef; heat through. Serve over noodles. Pass sour cream.

For the most part I went along with everything here step by step however had to leave out the sour cream becuase we can't find it unless we buy a huge cafeteria sized one at Costco.  Also it said "pass sour cream" so I don't know if that means use it or not. 



Raw beef, sadly I am getting much better at handling raw meat now that mom is not here to do it.

 


Steaming the green beans in a strainer of the boiling pasta.



Half of the beef and garlic mixture.  I am not sure why they had me do it in two separate batches.



The "Korean" mushrooms we subbed in for the "American" mushrooms



The mushrooms, beef, and gravy simmering as I wait with my fingers crossed hoping it is going to "firm" up a bit.



The final meal, we even had some salad with what is as close as we can get to ranch dressing.