My books and their verdicts...

So I've been doing a bit of reading since Spring term ended. Okay, I've been doing a TON of reading since then. Anyways... I chose all of these books because they were highly recommended by people I know, and I'd love to recommend them all to others in return. I figured that this summer my reading list would consist entirely of recommendations, mainly because I figured they'd be exciting, fun and fast reads... which I don't have time to get engulfed in once grad school starts back up in the Fall. I'll leave the more "intellectual" books that require thinking and analyzing for those times when I'm actually IN school and can't devote hours a day to them. Ahh... I love myself a good book.

Fablehaven - by Brandon Mull
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star - by Brandon Mull
Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague - by Brandon Mull
Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary - by Brandon Mull
Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison - by Brandon Mull
These books were ALL awesome - don't get them on CD... we listened to the last one on CD and the reader's voice was TORTUROUS. I absolutely devoured the first four and only gobbled the fifth one, mainly because the reader was so obnoxious. I'm positive I would have devoured that one if I had just read the book...

The Hourglass Door - by Lisa Mangum - another Mormon author recommended to me by a girl in my Graduate program. It was good--really cheesy at points, but cute. I was excited to get through it and it only took 2 days. It's a trilogy and the second in the series was just released a few months ago. I'm not a Twilight fan, but Twilight fans would probably love this stuff.

Digital Fortress - by Dan Brown - typical Dan Brown. Lots of adventure, tons of cliffhangers, a few bad words and good plot twists. Not my favorite Dan Brown book, but still really good. Maybe because my dad's a crytologist for the NSA like the main character. Hmm....

Sense and Sensibility - by Jane Austen - I'm a woman. Of COURSE I love this stuff.

The Lion's Game - by Nelson DeMille - be forewarned... the action is CRAZY but the dude has a vicious potty-mouth. More than his last book that I read... I chose this one because it was written ten years ago and just a few months ago the sequel was released (called "The Lion"). Both books were instant national bestsellers.

Dear John - by Nicholas Sparks - I hated the Notebook and was told that I needed to give Sparks another chance before throwing him out the window completely. This one was better, but still VERY sappy.

What I'm reading right now:

The Historian - by Elizabeth Kostova - recommended by JaiCi Razak

The Innovator's Prescription - by Clayton M. Christenson - recommended by Kelly Rees

Shattered Silence - by Melissa Moore - recommended by Grandma Spencer

Yes... I do read multiple books at the same time. I'm weird like that. I usually keep one upstairs, one downstairs, and one at school. I read the one that's closest :) Multitasking has reached new heights!

These are books that I have on hold at the library:

The Golden Spiral - by Lisa Mangum - sequel to The Hourglass Door. I'm pretty excited to read it.

The Hunger Games - by Suzanne Collins - this is probably the one I'm single-handedly most excited to read. I've heard nothing but good stuff about this book and practically everyone I know has read it.

The Lion - by Nelson DeMille - the sequel to The Lion's Game. Nelson DeMille's writing style is utterly captivating (and he's hilarious) but I still haven't decided if it's worth it to put up with all the bad words to get to the good stuff. I'm sensitive, okay?!

And since the library (my office and second home) only allows me to have three books on hold at one time, I have a VERY longs list of books that I'm waiting to put on hold so I can enjoy them as well. I have a feeling it's going to be tough getting through all these before school starts back up...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest - all by Stieg Larsson

Catching Fire - by Suzanne Collins (and Mockingjay, which I hear is coming out within the next month)

The Lost Symbol - by Dan Brown - which will mean that I've read ALL of his books. :)

The Help - by Kathryn Stockett - I think that every book club I've ever heard of is reading this book right now.

Three Cups of Tea - by Greg Mortenson

The Last Lecture - by Randy Pausch

Atonement - by Ian McEwan

AND IT GOES ON... I can't even tell you how long my wish list is. I've always been a list person..... I feed off of recommendations, so PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY FOR ME!

Oh, by the way... Spencer read the Fablehaven series as well and loved it. Right now he's reading the Eragon series and tells me that it's awesome and keeps getting better. FYI.

Happy reading :)

As of late...

... life is awesome!

In just about one week, Spencer and I will head up to Lake Chelan with his entire family for a FUN week of boating, swimming, wakeboarding, tubing, getting tan, and general frolicking. And we are VERY excited!

I've officially finished my first term of graduate school and am now working full time at the BYU Library. Meanwhile, Spencer's been working his tail off at his two jobs. I've also learned that the best way to wake him up in the morning is NOT shaking him repeatedly, but by announcing that it's 5:30 a.m. and the word cup is on downstairs. I've never seen anyone fly out of bed so quickly! Never again can he use the "it's too early" excuse. :)

Here's a rundown of some fun stuff that's happened:

1. Paige Brianne Tucker was born!
2. Father's Day was on Sunday and I got to talk to my dad about golf
3. Spencer and I made S'mores on the Bell Tower lights at BYU
4. Spencer and I discovered the Fablehaven series and are LOVING those books
5. We faithfully cheered for France in the World Cup and are glad that the U.S. has been playing hard to compensate for Les Bleus
6. Spencer got called as an Elders Quorum teacher
7. We played with JaiCi, Ifraz, and their cute kids TWICE last week (and I got to swim with Mana!)
8. We bought a brand new black leather sectional... it's AWESOME
9. I found out about a secret scholarship that I'm getting so we won't have to pay for ANY of my first year of grad school (HUZZAH!)
10. I'm still working at the temple every Wednesday... but it's closed for the next 5 weeks for cleaning :(
11. We saw the new Karate Kid movie and I got totally mission trunky with all that Chinese
12. The weather has been nice enough that Spencer and I can go on walks (or jogs) several times a week
13. Mom and Tuck are coming to play with me OH so soon!

So yah... we have nothing to complain about! Love you all...

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

I am so OCD. I have discovered that my reliance on schedules, clocks, and calendars is borderline neurotic. At this very moment, I rely on four calendars, two daily planners, two watches, eight clocks and a cell phone (which does is all, anyways). And yet with all of these planners, I never find the time to update my danged blog.

What have I been up to lately? Oh, not much... just Graduate School. I (being young and naive) began this Spring term expecting to be able to work about 30 hours per week in addition to my six graduate credits. The first week of my classes, I discovered that 10 hours of work a week is an optimistic goal and that a one credit class does not in any way translate to one hour of work (more like six in class and two to three outside of class). And this is just with ONE client! Come Fall and Winter I'll have three clients and I will still be getting a grand total of only one credit for the entire experience. Masters Degrees take WORK! However, I'm loving every second of my classes and working in the clinic is SUCH a rewarding opportunity. After so many years of schooling, I'm finally to the point where I feel like everything in my life, in my classes, in my free time, in my family... is all meshing together to form a bigger picture. I love this stuff :)

Here's a quick rundown of some of the eventful things that have happened since I updated this blog (in no order of occurrence or importance)
1. My mom just had a birthday... and she's still looking fabulous
2. My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary
3. Tuck got engaged... and then left for Italy for like 6 weeks (my heart goes out to ya, Hugh....)
4. Spencer and I went to Pendelton, Oregon and spent Memorial Day weekend with his fam
5. I lost 5 pounds for the Walker Biggest Loser Competition... but Spencer lost 15 and is looking FINE
6. On that note... Spencer and I decided to run a 10K on Pioneer Day
7. We moved into our new apartment and love it SO much :)
8. I aced my first graduate midterm
9. I managed to eat salmon, steak and pork ribs within a single weekend
10. I survived a 9-hour car ride with five full-grown adults and two dogs. Twice.

I'm pretty sad that I haven't been keeping track of all of this stuff more meticulously, seeing as I have NO problems planning out every single minute of every single day in all of my day planners/calendars. Spencer's been keeping busy getting skinnier (and even MORE handsome, if you can even imagine such a thing), working two jobs, and keeping me the world's happiest wife. I love him WAY too much for a little blog entry to do any justice.

The take-home message: We're busy, but we've never been happier. I love you, all :)

One down, Infinity to go

One year ago yesterday, Spencer and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Forgive me for not posting these pictures yesterday... I was busy celebrating with my cute husband. Here are some fun photos that I love from the best day of my life:

I love you, Spencer. :)

What's that? "How am I feeling right now?" I'll tell you...

I'm so happy I could just SQUEEZE you!

Yes, all of you.

Our contract was signed by an AWESOME couple at 1:00 this afternoon. Happy day!

All I want....

... is to sell my stinking contract for our cute little apartment already.

THEN, we can move into THIS place :)

Broken ends and broken toes...

So much happens in my life in a matter of days; it's a shame that I don't write more frequently. OH WELL!

To celebrate the imminent Spring season, I decided that I was sick and tired of my nasty, long, stringy hair. I was ready to kiss those split ends goodbye and get ready for a lower-maintenance and less time/shampoo consuming hairstyle. So Spencer and I called up Charlynn and we took my hair to the chopping block! Spencer's never seen my hair short (except for my school picture from kindergarten when mom cut my hair into an 80s-tastic A-line) so he was surely (but silently) apprehensive about my determination to come back with hair a foot shorter than before.

Luckily, I found this hot picture of Charlize Theron to use as a model of "what my hair's SUPPOSED to look like" and all of his fears and apprehensions were abated:

Unfortunately, reality soon set in and we both realized that I will NEVER look like Charlize Theron... but we were okay with settling on allowing me to imitate her awesome hairstyle.

Here's were I admit that my camera is not working properly - I will issue a blatant warning that the following photo is not being posted because I think it does my hair (or my ridiculous face) any justice, but rather because I promised a plethora of people pictures and I REFUSE to be known as a liar. Yes, I used a cell phone, and YES, I had to take it standing in front of a mirror. Don't even get me started on the stupid cat quilt that I made in 8th grade for a Laurel project. I know my bed's not made and I know the quilt is UGLY. Oh well, at least it's not on Facebook... so here's the aftermath:

My favorite part is when I put it back in a ponytail and it makes an inch-and-a-half long knub.

Until my camera regains consciousness, you'll have to settle with this. Trust me, it looks better in person. Plus, Spencer always makes fun of me for putting pictures on my blog of everything except us. EAT THAT!

Much to my surprise, Spencer informed me that I'm never allowed to wait an entire year before cutting my hair ever again. He prefers it shorter... imagine that! (Thanks, Charlize...)

MOVING RIGHT ALONG...

The laundry monster attacked our apartment this weekend and Spencer and I fought back with full-force. We eyed our has-to-be-shared-with-8-other-couples washer and dryer like hawks and moved in for the kill when we noticed the same batch of wet laundry didn't move for 24 hours. We moved some other poor, unfortunate peoples' clothes into an empty laundry bin and plead the "you snooze, you lose" argument as justification for our deeds. However, justice is a vengeful, cruel mistress and my karma caught up with me while I went to switch our clothes three loads later in the evening.

Our laundry room is a floor beneath us. Unfortunately, the hallway lighting burned out a couple weeks ago. As I was walking down the stairs with a big laundry basket, blinded by the darkness, I biffed it on the stairs and plummeted onto the cold, ill-carpeted floor. I thought I was going to escape this fiasco with only a bruised and skinned up knee, but as I stood up to regain my composure and sanity I noticed a much more intense pain throbbing in my left foot. You know, the kind where you can feel your pulse in your injured limb? I took it like a man for the next couple of minutes and successfully switched the laundry over, but as soon as I made it back upstairs I curled up on the couch and complained of the pain to my oh-so-patient husband who fetched me an ice pack and some ibuprofin.

I decided I'd sleep on it to see if it felt any better.

And the verdict is....

Nope.

I'm pretty sure I broke (at least one of) my toes. I'm walking like a gimp (with very cute hair, mind you...) and have a purplish/reddish hue to my now-oversized middle toe. It's very attractive. My biggest concern: how in the heck am I supposed to exercise with broken toes?! I suppose I can use the exercise bikes at the gym... but I'm afraid I might have to miss out on Zumba. Stupid toes.... I figured that there were ten in case some of them decided to stop working for a little while. Apparently not. I always have the lamest bone-breaking stories, which is sad since I have about 15+ stories to tell. Some laundry, eh?

BUT... life is still good. Spencer and I are looking at newer, BIGGER apartments to move into this Spring and I already had a call today from a girl who might want to move into OUR apartment. HUZZAH!

AND... General Conference is this weekend, which I'm stoked for. Kent and DeRue will be in town, and thanks to my cute parents the four of us have tickets for the Sunday Afternoon session!

Life is grand, 8 toes and all.