Book Blog: The Color of Light - Karen White

This book was listed on some recommended booklist that I saw a while back. It is about a mother, Jillian, who returns to an island she spent summers at as a child and teenager. While she has great memories of the island summers, there is also the mystery of the disappearance of her best friend Lauren. She hopes to make peace with her past and find a place for her and her children to live simply. But when Jillian's daughter starts talking to an imaginary friend named Lauren, and Jillian reunites with friend Linc who was blamed for Lauren's death, all kinds of secrets come out. I can't really say much more because it will give things away.

At first I was weary of the whole ghost-related part of the story, but I actually really liked this book. It's like Nicholas Sparks meets murder mystery, but none of the main characters die in the end (I hate that about Nicholas Sparks books). This book had great characters that I could really picture as real people and I wish I could meet some of them if they were real. I got so invested in the story that I couldn't put it down. This is a great beach or pool read.

Smart Cleaning

Since I now have to clean a whole 3 bedroom house, here are some of my smart cleaning observations/reviews:

I have quickly come to realize how much I miss carpet. Sweeping and mopping an entry way, kitchen, dining room, giant living room, hallway, bedroom, and two bathrooms is really not an enjoyable activity. And non-messy me is the only person living here at the moment. I have decided to try to make this chore a little easier by finding something to replace the broom and dustpan. Since my vacuum is kind of clunky, and I was already planning on getting a dust-buster type of handheld vacuum, I found this: the Electrolux Ergorapido.

It is lightweight, cordless, and the little handheld part pops out. It is also kind of pretty as far as vacuums go. I tried it out today and it was MUCH better than sweeping. Living in El Paso means you consistently have a layer of dust on every surface inside and out of your house. I guess I'll find out when I actually get to mopping how much dirt it leaves on the tile, but I think this is a big improvement to the broom. Plus, the filter is easy to empty, and it is washable.

(Besides that electronic wonder) I have been trying to switch over to "greener" cleaning. I purchased some washable cleaning cloths instead of using paper towels. I used one to clean a couple windows today and was disgusted at how much dirt was on them. It was only the glass patio doors, and two windows, and this is what I was left with:

Gross. I don't even want to know how many paper towels I would go through cleaning ALL the windows in my house.

Another product I like is the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop. It's much like the Swiffer WetJet, but it's not as wasteful. You can use any cleaner diluted with water in the reusable bottle, and the cleaning pads are washable. The Swiffer mop always seems to leave a filmy residue on the floor, but this does a better job at leaving a clean surface. It's great for spot cleaning or quick cleaning when you don't feel like using a mop and bucket.

Happy cleaning :)

Coming soon

I love when movies are made of books that I loved. Here are a couple that come out soon!

The Help (based on the book by Kathryn Stockett)


This one comes out August 10.

Sarah's Key (based on the book by Tatiana de Rosnay)


Online it says this is out on limited release in the US today, but it doesn't appear to be showing anywhere in my area. Hopefully it gets here at some point, otherwise I'll have to wait for Netflix.

I highly recommend these two books if you want to read them before the movies come out!

Book Blog: Summer at Tiffany - Marjorie Hart

This was another war-time story (a memoir actually) but it was quite different than the last one I read. After reading such a tragic story, this one seemed almost silly. This was the memoir of a woman who spent a summer in New York City with her best friend during college. Their plan was to get a job at one of the fancy department stores and get a discount, but they ended up somehow getting a job at Tiffany and barely getting paid enough to get by. I have never been to NYC, but if I get there I will for sure want to stop at Tiffany. It's still in the same building as it was back in 1945 and it sounds like a magical place.

It's funny to read how innocent college girls from Iowa were back in the 40's! Despite wars being fought in Europe and the Pacific, these girls had quite the summer full of sightseeing, dating, and seeing celebrities. Since this is a memoir and based only on one summer, there is not much of a plot. However, it is a nice quick read as long as you appreciate the girly things in life. If you are familiar with the movie stars, musicians, and fashion of the 40's it would be much more entertaining.

Random note: I had no idea a plane had crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945 due to foggy weather.

Book Blog: Those Who Save Us - Jenna Blum

I am glad I picked this book up at the used book store. I actually heard the author speaking on the radio the other day and was excited because I was in the middle of her book. She had enormous success with this book, especially in book clubs, and I see why. This is the story of a mother and daughter that lived in Germany during WWII. It switches back and forth between the mother Anna's life at the start of the war, during, and shortly after the war, and the present (1997) life of the daughter Trudy. Trudy as an adult is a history professor and begins a research project to learn about the lives of Germans during the war. She knows that she and her mother were there at the time, but has very little memory of their experiences. Unfortunately her mother cannot let go of the memories, nor will she speak of them. While much of this book is heartbreaking, I enjoyed following Trudy's discovery of German life at wartime and the discovery of her mother's secrets.

Another reason I liked this book is because the latter sections are set in Minnesota and places described in the book are familiar to me. Not many books or movies are set in Minneapolis, so it was fun to read it and be able to picture the locations and the weather conditions.

I have not really studied much about WWII since high school, with the exception of my history class in France, but that was brief and mostly French focused. With the Holocaust being the most talked about topic from the war, I had not spent much time thinking about what life was like for non-Nazi Germans at the time. Many people blame them for standing by and not doing anything to stop the atrocities, but this book gives insight into the lives of women particularly who simply were just trying to survive and protect their children. There were those who helped hide Jews, provide food to the camps, etc. but those people and others were put in impossible situations where they sometimes had to choose staying alive vs starving to death or being shot point blank in the face. It's easy to say that you would choose the "right" thing, but would you really be able to when put in that situation?

After reading this book I did gain a new perspective on the time and the effects it had on the German population, as well as the Jewish population. Reading the account of Anna's view of the concentration/work camps from the outside is terrifying without even thinking about what was happening on the inside. Today, I visited the El Paso Holocaust Museum to continue my exploration of the subject. The museum is very well constructed and informative, I recommend it if you're in the area. I am thankful that I did not live in that time period, and I pray that nothing as horrible as the death of 11,000,000 innocent people ever happens again.

New Additions

Now that I'm all unpacked, I've been cleaning and organizing. I've also added some new things to the house:

1. Plants to the front of the house so it looks like someone actually lives here. And a new doormat. The hibiscus remind me of Hawaii, and while it's not tropical here at all, they seem to be doing well so far.

 2. A big comfy chair for reading in. I've always wanted a chair like this, and I'm very happy that I went to the furniture store on the 4th of July because I got a really good deal on it. I also got a side table that matches our coffee table.

3. Since it's so hot outside most days, I bought a treadmill from a friend here so I can do something other than be a blob on the couch. I'm excited to be able to watch tv and walk, and not have to watch ESPN, CNN and MSNBC like at the gym.

I did discover though that I live just a few blocks from one of the nicer parks in the city. There is a paved path all the way around it and there are actually trees and grass. I think I really lucked out with the neighborhood we are in. It's close to major roads, a grocery store, the park, and it seems to be really quiet and safe. I don't think I'll be as excited about the school across the street once the school buses are coming everyday, but I do appreciate that they have big bright floodlights on all night that keep the street lit and not creepy.

We have gotten quite a bit of rain this week which is odd for El Paso. It rained steadily for several hours last night. My dining room window was leaking, and I'm glad I noticed because it was dripping on my beautiful wood table. Luckily it didn't make it through the table cloth. I'm not sure if any parts of the city actually flooded, but there are still some large puddles around today. This one is still hanging around in my backyard:

I'm doing really well here so far. Time is going by quickly and I'm so happy to have some good friends here already. I feel very blessed and I can't wait to share this life here with my husband. He just needs to get home safely, keep praying! His work days are winding down and he is looking forward to getting out of there. Until then, I'm happily holding down the fort.

I live in the desert

I actually live in TX now. Weird. So far things are going really well. The house is great and thankfully stays nice and cool during these triple digit days and not much cooler nights. I'm all unpacked and am now just waiting for some additional furniture and my husband to be delivered. I feel pretty comfortable here and have spent some of my time with friends so I have not been lonely. Packing, organizing and cleaning have been keeping me busy. It's nice to have a lot of space, and hopefully Will is ok with most of the decorating being done by me. He said as long as it's not all pink and flowery he is ok with it, so I think I'll be fine.

From GREEN Minnesota...

 

My dad drove down here with me in a truck. I only drove a total of a half hour due to my awful cough and lack of truck driving skills. Somehow we managed to avoid rush hour in every state until we actually got to El Paso. And it was raining here when we drove in which is a rare occurrence. My landlord and some of my friends helped unpack the truck and the POD and it went pretty quickly. My mom flew down the day after we got here, so she helped unpack and wash everything in the kitchen, among other things. It was nice to have my parents here to help and be with so it was not totally overwhelming moving into a 3 bedroom house on my own. I took them to some of the few exciting things to do in this city including a mountain hike, some good Mexican food, and to Cattleman's Steakhouse.

To this.

While this year definitely did not go fast, it does seem strange that we're in the last few weeks and that it will soon be over. The countdown is down to just a few weeks and I am so excited! Homecoming is going to be a great day.