Summer Reading at the Library

As a kid, I remember doing the summer reading program at the library each year. One of the prizes was a free pizza coupon, which was motivation enough for me. Friends who know me today are always extremely surprised to hear that I haven't always loved to read as much as I do now. My parents used to put me to bed pretty early with one stipulation--I could stay up as late as I wanted reading. By doing this, my parents tried to encourage me to read. (Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, and Babysitter's Club were some my favorites.) 

Now that I'm not working, I have much more spare time than I've ever had. Plus, school has taken over Andrew's world, so I've learned to keep myself busy while he studies. I love reading more than ever before. I have been reading about 2 books a week. I set a goal on "Good-reads" at the beginning of the year to read 40 books this year. I have already read 31. I guess I should have set a higher number.

I decided to participate in the adult summer reading program at the library. Going to the library (at least) once a week is part of our routine. For every book I read, I filled out a review and entered it into a drawing. (While filling out the reviews, I always gave James fruit snacks or M&M's freely, so I think he's sad this is over.) Every Friday, one winner was picked. I was shocked that the winner wasn't me since I turned in so many reviews. Anyway, this last week was the final week of the adult summer reading contest. Knowing that I only had one more chance to win the drawing helped me remain focused and I read and submitted 2 more book reviews.

I got a call Friday evening to let me know that I won the drawing! I was so excited-- more so than I should probably admit. It's not like it was an amazing prize or anything, but I wanted all of my reading to pay off! When I got the call, I asked how long I had to come claim my prize. The librarian told me that I had a week. Who was I kidding? I got in the car immediately, rushed to the library, and picked up my gift-bag and free book ten minutes before the library closed.

I was disappointed in the lack of book selection for me to pick my free book from (but beggars can't be choosers) and ended up picking something I haven't heard of that doesn't have amazing reviews. My gift-bag included a: water bottle, lanyard, free movie ticket, coupon for free ice cream cones, coupon for free doughnuts, Del Taco coupons, a pen, etc. I was really hoping to win the grand prize drawing. I thought my chances were pretty good because they put all of your entries in for the whole summer and I had a lot. I shouldn't complain though because hey, at least I won something!

Here are the books that have been consuming my life as of late (this summer):
They are in order from the most recent that I've read. I put a star by the ones I recommend. You can check out my Good-reads account if you want a full review.

*1) The Glass Castle By: Jeanette Walls

2) Chances Are By: Traci Hunter Abramson

*3) Ready Player One By: Ernest Cline

4) A Gentleman in Moscow By: Amor Towles

5) The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency By: Alexander McCall Smith

*6) Salt to the Sea By: Ruta Sepetys

*7) Educated: A Memoir By: Tara Westover

8) Sarah's Key By: Tatiana de Rosnay

*9) Beneath a Scarlett Sky By: Mark T. Sullivan

10) 84, Charing Cross Road By: Helene Hanff

*11) The Secret Life of Bees By: Sue Monk Kidd

*12) Magpie Murders By: Anthony Horowitz

Currently, Andrew and I are reading "The Kite Runner" together. 

Recently, I was with some friends. Most of these friends are in book club with me and of course we ended up discussing books. One of my friends said that her mom told her in High School that before she could read another book, she had to read the Book of Mormon. She said she has never read the Book of Mormon so quickly. This helped me realize that my scripture study should not be put on the back burner now that I'm reading so many other books. I have since started the Book of Mormon over and set a goal to finish it by October 13.

Nowadays, I put myself to bed early to give myself as much reading time as possible. Thanks Mom and Dad for starting that habit early-on.

Independence Day!

We had a memorable fourth of July. It's always fun when Daddy is home! We headed to the mountains early to get a hike in before the heat and crowds were unbearable. I'm so glad we went so early because when we finished the hike, it was so crowded and there weren't any parking spaces left.

We hiked Stewart Falls which is about 3.5 miles. This felt ambitious with a wiggly (almost 16 month old) boy. James impressed us and enjoyed his ride in the backpack. The temperature was cool, and the trail was pretty deserted on our way up. We let James get out once we reached the falls, but the ground was uneven and it was hard for him to walk. James liked seeing the "wa-wa." Although, the water was pretty loud up close which was a bit scary for him.

James has never been a fan of hats

On our way back, we encountered lots of people. At the end of the hike, I ran into one of my former 4th grade students which was cool for me. Her mom took a picture of us together. When we got home, we made a well deserved, high-calorie breakfast.

Later on in the day, we headed to my parents' house. My dad watched all the grand-kids while the adults went to the movie "Won't You Be My Neighbor." I enjoyed the movie and liked learning more about Mr. Rogers.

After the movie we had a big BBQ at my parent's house. Grandma and Grandpa Denning came as well as Grandma Langlois. The little kids did sparklers and we roasted marshmallows for s'mores. The evening went by way too quickly. We weren't sure how James would do staying up late to watch fireworks, but he was a champ. Watching him see the fireworks was one of my favorite moments of the day. His sound effects were adorable. "Ooooh." "Awwww." He didn't get to bed until about 10:30, (3 and 1/2 hours past his bedtime!) but he was such a trouper. 

He ate SO many marshmallows

Action

Cousins

What a day!

Catching Up

Lots has happened this month and I feel like I'm playing catch-up. Here are 6 big things that have gone on: 

1) We painted our kitchen cabinets white. Our house is much improved with this update and I regret not painting the cupboards sooner. I always felt like the floors clashed with the cabinets. The white in the kitchen looks so fresh and clean. (The cabinets were filthy we discovered as we were sanding and painting them.) We appreciate all the help we had from family to get this big project done.

Out with the old

Cutest helper there ever was

In With the New

2) James got his first haircut. This was much needed, but I didn't want to get rid of his precious curls. He did really well and was able to sit still while sitting on my lap eating his first sucker.

Look at those curls

Check out my hair and my new pajamas.

3) My mom successfully defended her thesis and now has her Master's Degree in English from BYU. I was able to watch her talk about her 30 plus page thesis and was impressed by her knowledge and research. She has taught me to value education.

4) I went to Park City with some friends from my ward. We went to Suss Cookies in Midway on our way. I'm mad at myself for only ordering 2 cookies because I think they honestly are the best cookies I've ever had. We went shopping, ate way too much, went hot-tubing, stayed up past 2:00am talking, and had a blast. Some of my friends ran a half marathon Saturday morning. I trained with them and thought about joining them, but have been having some knee problems and didn't end up running the race. I'm kind of glad I didn't because it was an extremely hilly course.

5) Andrew and I ran the Strawberry Days 5k yesterday. The course seemed much easier to me this year, but I'm in much better shape. I improved my time, but think I could have gone faster because I had a lot of energy left at the end. I finished in 27 minutes and 17 seconds and Andrew's time was 27 minutes and 47 seconds. My grandma and James cheered us on at the finish line. We're hoping the tshirts will be better next year. My knee felt pretty good during the run, but is sore now.

6) We bought a new car! This wasn't something we were planning on, but Andrew's car broke down a few weeks ago on the freeway. The timing belt broke and because Andrew was going freeway speeds, it also damaged the engine. His car was only worth about $2,000 and to repair the engine it would have cost $1,800. I've been talking about the Lancer dying/blowing up for years and I guess it finally happened. My parents were so generous to let Andrew borrow their truck for a couple weeks until we figured out what kind of car we wanted. After much debate, we finally decided to purchase a Hyundai Sante Fe. We test drove several cars and were surprised by how much we liked a van. I don't want to drive something so huge quite yet. We bought a 2017 Hyundai Sante Fe and they call it "Storm Blue" with a gray interior. I will not miss car shopping one bit or dealing with pushy salesmen.

This was the car I drove in High School. I'm not too sad to see it go.

Love the car, dreading having a car payment

Here's to a less chaotic July!

Piano Recital

When I started advertising about piano lessons, I put on my flyer "Annual Piano Recital" without thinking too much about it. These words have haunted me ever since. I wanted to stay true to my word, but wasn't necessarily looking forward to putting a recital together.

The recital is now over and it was a smashing success! (Coming from an unbiased teacher.) My students made me proud. There weren't really any hiccups and the students remembered their songs. I played the teacher duet with many of my students which made the students sound extra polished.

I was pleased that 10 of my 11 students were able to make it to the recital. I was unsure about where to hold the recital because some of my students live in South Jordan and others live in Pleasant Grove. I decided to rent a room at Prattland Music in Lehi. It was a good halfway point for my students and there was a grand piano. 

Unfortunately Andrew wasn't able to make it to the recital, but he has a good excuse. I was extremely bummed he missed it. I really wanted Andrew to see how hard I've worked and meet some of my students that he doesn't know. Andrew and James were quite sick (stomach bug) on Saturday, so they stayed home. I tried to have my mom record the recital, but we ran into some issues. I'm grateful that my parents and grandma were there to support me. Here is a copy of the program:

My students treated me like a celebrity and I left with Reese's and other chocolates. I cherish teaching and look forward to putting my brain to work and coming up with games and activities for my students to enjoy. 

The fantastic news is that my flyer said "Annual Recital," so I won't have to think about doing this again until 2019! One of my students at their lesson today asked me, "Am I going to play this song at the recital?" I happily responded, "there won't be a recital for quite a while." 

In all seriousness though, the recital wasn't too much work and definitely exceeded my expectations. It's important for students to have something to work towards. 

Mother's Day

I rarely say that I love social media. Mother's Day is one of the days I actually enjoy it. It's so fun to scroll through and see so many pictures and tributes to women. I hopped on the bandwagon and posted a picture after taking far too long deciding what the caption would be. Soon after, I deleted the picture because it was a little blurry. I wanted the post to be perfect for my mom.

This was the caption: Mom, @j5denning thanks for teaching me: to love reading, to value education (she's graduating with her master's degree this summer), to always make room for dessert, to attend the temple often, to obsess over pizza, and the real meaning of the word love.

I'm so grateful for my mom. She is such a big part of my life. I told her she fits many roles in her life: nana, friend, mother, sister, teacher, organist, student. She fulfills all of them well. It's comforting to know that I can ask my mom for help at anytime. 

I saw "Momma Bear" come out several times growing up. My mom would do anything to protect her kids and go to great lengths to ensure our happiness. Over the years, I have seen my mom experience hard things and deal with difficult people. I don't know of someone who is more forgiving than her. 

My life will forever be blessed by how my mom raised me. I hope to be as selfless as my mom was and still continues to be.

Mother's Day takes on more meaning for me now that I'm a mom. Being a mom brings me so much joy! James is so happy and adds such a fun dynamic to our home. I'm not going to sugarcoat my life and say that motherhood is perfect or that I love it every second of it because that is not the case. Like all jobs, there are hard days. I will say that the good, far outweighs the hard though!

Blowing kisses to daddy

Reality... Taking pictures with a toddler is hard work!

Being a mother requires so much patience which is something I lack. It's sometimes easy to forget that James is small and doesn't quite understand or know better. For instance, yesterday, I taught sharing time. I had so many props and materials for my lesson that we had to drive to church instead of walk like we usually do. I had ten wrapped presents in a basket in the back seat next to James' car-seat. He immediately tore into a present, ripping it. I wish I could say that I was patient with James, but I definitely raised my voice and went into sacrament meeting irritated.

Someone gave a great talk in church about how no mother is perfect. We are all just trying our best and I should not expect perfection for myself. I'm so grateful to be a mom and to learn from James daily. He is adorable. (He now says "hi" and waves constantly, even to strangers, which melts my heart.)

I have strong feelings on women and know many women who have motherly qualities who aren't "mother's" by definition. I have a single friend who would love to be a mother someday, but it hasn't happened. She is an amazing aunt to her niece and nephew who she babysits frequently. She also watches her friend's kids for free all the time. 

I have another friend that has been trying to get pregnant for years. Being a mom is what she desires most and I can see how hard it is for her that her dream hasn't come true. She has worked with children in church for years and is the epitome to me of a nurturing, loving mother. 

Another person I know doesn't necessarily want children right now. She works with kids all day and gives her whole self to her job. She is being a mother.

No matter what our circumstance is, women all have the power to influence children's lives.