Reading Goal Update

Well, the year is almost halfway over and I’m looking at my book reading goals. So far, I’ve read 39 of 78 books so I’m pretty well on track. My mood to read new books has really come and gone quite a bit this year so I actually don’t know if I will hit that goal. I’m feeling a bit ambivalent about it. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of web comics and re-reading both comics and other books.

I’ve read 21 of 41 of my actual reading goal, so I’m doing well in that regard as well. Surprisingly, I have almost completed my non-fiction goal. I’m happy to have discovered my love of non-fiction. It was just a matter of find the right kind of non-fiction. Diverse authors is where I’m struggling. I've got 1 out of 5 there. Then classics and childhood favorites are also lagging behind. Funny, because I thought non-romance would be my hardest to fill and I’m halfway on that one. I’m still enjoying trying to make this goal. It’s been fun to look through my bookshelves to see what catches my mood. 

Duran Duran Concert

I went to the Duran Duran: Future Past concert tonight in Salt Lake City. I had SO! MUCH! FUN!!

I heard about it on the radio a couple months ago and just knew I had to go. Duran Duran is one of the bands of my childhood. This is a silly memory but my cousin always wanted to play house and I didn’t really care for baby dolls so I always told her that we could play house as long as we were married to members of Duran Duran. Ha ha ha. I still have their greatest hits CD and guess what’s going to be playing for days to come. 

Anyway, I heard about it and checked with my concert loving friend and she couldn’t make that date so I checked with my theater loving friend and she said yes. We have a season pass to the theater but both of us have decided we need to watch for fun concerts now as well. 

The opening acts were Bastille and Nile Rogers and Chic. We got there and found our seats in time to hear like the last Bastille song and the only one I knew. I truly have no idea who Nile Rogers and Chic are and didn’t recognize their music, except that Nile Rogers wrote a ton of songs that I do know and they sang a bunch of different stuff so it was pretty fun. 

Then it was finally time for Duran Duran a little after 9 pm. They started with Wild Boys and ended the encore with Rio. In between they played all my favorites with about 4 songs I didn’t really know. It was fantastic. Simon can still sing and John Taylor is still on the guitar. Nick Rhodes still on the keyboard. Roger Taylor was on drums. 

It was a seriously good time.

Road Trip UT-CO

I’ve had the week off. I went on a road trip with my sister and her 3 year old twins. My sister is my favorite travel buddy and we haven’t been on any trips like this since the twins were born. She’s been a few places, and I’ve been a few places but not together. It was really fun. We did have to cater to the kids a bit but it wasn’t a problem. And if they had a few hard spots, she got to deal with them. I only got impatient a few times when I was tired or hungry, and I didn’t get tired of being with them, which made it even better. 

We started by dropping the dog off at my other sister’s house (Thanks Anna!) and headed south. 

By the time dinner came we were in Moab and found a food truck park. The kids had corn dogs and Amy and I split a falafel wrap and a gyro. Both were excellent and it was a nice break. 

We spent the night in Monticello and in the morning headed to Mesa Verde National Park. I had reserved tickets for the guided tour to Cliff Palace 2 weeks earlier and we had the 2 pm tour so we had time to get there and explore a bit beforehand. 

Spruce House

Cliff Palace

We didn’t walk/hike too far since we needed the kids to be able to do the stairs and ladders on the tour, but still had fun looking at the sights.  The Cliff Palace tour was good and I’m glad we were able to do it. The kids thought the stairs and ladders were an adventure. They got antsy as we listed to the ranger but after we got to a certain spot, we were able to leave when we needed to. Strangely enough, I thought the ladders and stairs would be in the “palace” itself, but you don’t get to do anything but walk by it, which makes perfect sense because it is a sacred place to the people and their ancestors. But there are very steep stone stairs and a few ladders to get in and out of the place. 

After Mesa Verde we headed to Durango, CO. The kids fell asleep in the car and didn’t wake up until we got to the hotel. We had a great time in Durango. Again, we did things the kids would enjoy as well as checking out the town. We spent some time every day at a park so the kids could play. It was just so nice to be outside. Plus, we had fun in the hotel swimming pool. And we got to see the Silverton train leave the station. We had already decided that even the shorter train ride would be too much for the kids at their age but they had fun watching it leave. 

Then when we left to drive home, we went up the mountains to Silverton. The San Juan mountain range is really beautiful. They still have snow and we saw a bunch of “waterfalls” as the snow was melting and running off the cliffs. 

Storefronts in Silverton

Of course after the fun in the morning, the rest of the drive home felt super long. I got home just before 10 pm and got to sleep in my own bed again. But it’s been a great week and I got to mark another place off my travel list. We would totally love to do it again one day when the kids are older. 

Spring has Sprung!

Hard to believe that a month ago we had snow. Now we have blossoms. I do love the changing of seasons. 

Fairy Garden

Pinterest finally got to me and I broke down this year and made myself a fairy garden. The plants are supposed to flower as it gets hotter so I'm hoping I choose well in that regard. It was fun to do. I have it on my back porch because I thought it would be fun to look out my kitchen window and see. And it is. The only problem is I'm too short to see that angle very well. LOL so if I stand at my kitchen sink and get on my toes and try real hard, I can see it. 

Earth Day

It’s been a very nice day. I’m not sure that I actually saw any sun or blue sky. It’s been overcast and a little drizzly in spots. That didn’t stop us though. I started the day meeting my mom and sisters and a few of their kids at the library where they were giving out packets of lady bugs for Earth Day. We’ve gotten lady bugs a few years now and it’s always fun for the kids. This year they gave them to the adults as well. Mine got donated to another niece who couldn’t come which I’m cool with.

Then we all headed down to a huge nursery for plants and flowers. I was trying so hard not to go overboard (and succeeded!) that I actually have quite a bit of space in my flower garden still. However, it’s still a little cool and I’m not sure how many of them will survive so we’ll see how that plays out. My biggest score was that I found a gargoyle for my garden. I’m very happy about that. I’ve wanted one for years but only ever saw them online so it was hard to tell size and stuff on some. I’m not putting it out yet because spring is barely here and I want the trees and bushes to actually have leaves on them, but it will go out maybe next month. 

It’s been fun. While I do enjoy winter, I’m glad spring is finally here. 

Happy Easter

One week ago, even just 5 day ago, you never would have guessed it is Spring. Even on Friday, I was joking that you didn’t need to color eggs, just hide the white eggs in the snow. And today, I have 1 tiny patch of snow left on my lawn. It most definitely feels like winter is finally over. 

Today we had only 1 meeting in church and it was mostly music. It was really nice. I played the piano for the primary kids to sing a song. We were a little worried after the last practice, but they sounded so great and knew the words pretty well. Then I also played a hymn for the bishop to sing and he sounded really nice as well. There were other musical numbers and they all did a great job. It was a really nice way to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of the Savior. 

I took a little nap and now am just reading/wasting time as I wait for dinner to finish cooking. We will have family dinner next week but I’m making a nice dinner today. Pork roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and rolls. And I made a chocolate raspberry torte for dessert. Luckily, all of it freezes so I can enjoy leftovers later.