Zoo 2 by James Patterson and some baby updates

Last year I read Zoo by James Patterson and watched the first season of the television show it inspired.  I enjoyed the version of a post-apocalyptic future and even though the book and television show were VERY different, I liked them both on their own.  The television should have recently started it's second season, but I haven't watched any yet.  I'll likely let a few episodes air and then watch them all online when I've got some time to burn.

Zoo 2 the book was written as a Book Shots version.  This is my first experience with Book Shots, but I think I liked it.  At only 160 pages, Zoo 2 was written more like an episode of a television show.  It doesn't have a ton of descriptive writing, but just enough that you can visualize what is happening and use your imagination to fill in the blanks.  It ended with enough information that you didn't feel like it wasn't finished, but also left it wide open to make this a much longer series.  I will likely continue the series if more are written in the future.

Confession:  it actually took me more than a week to finish this short book, but not for lack of desire to read it.  It has been really hectic in my world!  Who knew twins could cause so much more work before they ever even make their appearance to this world?!?  We've been remodeling to create room for the little angels by turning our bedroom into the nursery and moving our stuff to the man cave (sorry you have to lose your man cave, honey).  Princess has been begging for about a year to repaint her bedroom as it hasn't been updated since she was 2.  I thought it was a great idea to do both rooms at the same time.  I thought this because I know nothing about remodeling and renovation...  We took up the carpet to install tile flooring as these were the last two rooms with carpet remaining and I hate carpet.  Both rooms required paint.  Our bedroom was a dark chocolate brown so we had to paint on a couple layers of primer in order to paint the walls pale peach for the babies.  This is MUCH more work than I had expected and our house is still a disaster, but we should be in better shape by the end of next weekend.  I hope to be showing off some great after pictures in the next couple weeks.  In the mean time, here are some progress pics.  Roll your eyes at me, I really should have known this would be more work that I had originally thought...

MIL helping remove carpet

So. Much. Stuff.

Can't even get into Princess' room

The most patient and giving man in the world making sure things turn out the way I wanted

A Few from the DNF List

Do you always finish a book you start?  Are you that committed?  Most of the time, I'm not.  I was pushing myself to read all the books assigned in Book Club, but I didn't finish the last couple because I'm just not in a place to read books I don't want to read.  A few of the most recent books I haven't finished:

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey:  This was assigned in book club because we hadn't read a single western and several of my fellow library patrons are huge fans of the genre.  I don't know that I'd ever even tried to read a western, I'm not really a huge fan of the movie genre and assumed I wouldn't love the book genre either.  If this book was an accurate depiction of the genre, I was correct.  The book was VERY descriptive.  I get it, writers back then got paid by the word for their short stories.  People didn't have access to travel or the internet like we do today, so they got to "see" the Wild West through the eyes of the characters in these books.  This was exciting stuff!

I also assumed that westerns had more shoot-out scenes.  This one really didn't, at least not as far as I had gotten.  In light of how crazy this country has gotten in the last several years, you'd think I'd be thrilled that a book about a community of religious extremist didn't have more gun violence, but it just wasn't what I was expecting.  I'm not sad about it, just surprised based on the little I've seen of the movie genre.

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien:  This is a big, fat book!  Over 1200 pages big!  I thought maybe it would be less intimidating if I downloaded the audio from the library's site, but that wasn't really the case.  I still knew that I had to finish listening to it in 2 weeks time or I would have to get back in line to listen to the rest.  That's a lot of pressure and I was not in a place in my life where I was ready to commit to over 1200 pages.  (It's really starting to sound like I have commitment issues, we'll save that for a future post...)  This book was also very descriptive.  I like to be able to visit these places in my mind, but sometimes the details put me on overload and I tune out.

The Secret Healer by Ellin Carsta:  This was an available download one month as a Kindle First on Amazon Prime and it's about midwifery in the Middle Ages.  "Free", midwifery, Middle Ages, all things I would like to read about, but alas, I didn't finish.

Now I'm no history buff, but the language of this book sounded like it could have been written for any time period, including the present.  Maybe it has something to do with being a foreign-written book and translated to English?  Maybe it wasn't well researched?  Maybe it was just poorly written?  I really don't know.  The writing was very simple and sure didn't conjure any images of 14th century Germany to me.  I know my complaint about the last two books was too much imagery, but this one sure didn't have enough.  The characters were flat and the the story wasn't well developed.  It really pressed on very basic female rights issues like sexual abuse, rights to control our own money/heath/bodies/life.  This book had potential, but I just couldn't finish it.

I'm sure there are others that I DNF lately, but these were the most memorable.  Maybe I'll revisit these at some point in the future and I'll like them for some of the very reasons I didn't like them this time.  I'm fickle like that.

What books have you started and not finished?

Never stop dating your husband

Well folks, I have been doing almost no reading lately.  I'm halfheartedly rereading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and I'm slowly listening to the Harry Potter books.  I'm not reading anything new or anything that hasn't been reviewed a million times on the interwebs, so I don't really want to talk much about books these days.  I'd have much more to say about Netflix than books right now, but we don't need to talk about that either...

Let's talk more about relationships.  I got some nice feedback on the last bit of relationship advice I posted for you, so maybe I'm onto something.  Please know, I am in no way an expert on anything relationship, these are always only my opinions so use your own brain and consider how what I say may fit into your own life before you take any of my advice.  I'm not always good at things like feelings and emotions, but I tend to be fairly practical and that helps and hubs and I have been married for almost 10 years and still like each other.  So here we go:

We change over time; personalities, values, priorities, etc.  What was important to you in your early twenties before kids, is probably not nearly as important in your early thirties with a few youngsters and a career.  I know I am a completely different wife at 32 than I was at 22 and I'll likely be a completely different mother to these twinsies than I was with Princess.  A few things I've learned while raising Princess and experiencing nephews:

• Babies and toddlers aren't nearly as fragile as I had expected.
• The house won't always be clean.
• Accept help from people and let them do things their way.
• Dog treats won't actually hurt your toddler.

Don't judge me, life can be crazy.

Something else I realized is how easy it can be to neglect your marriage when your kids rely on you so much.  It is especially important to spend time on that relationship when it is the easiest one to ignore.  In order to keep your relationship healthy, you must continue to get to know your husband.   Just like we must maintain our relationship with God through prayer, we have to continually have conversations with our husbands.  When we start neglecting rather than nurturing that relationship, the enemy will start to push his way into the gaps that form.

I know, I know, I hear you.  "But April, we are so busy!  Who has time for all that?"  I'm not saying devote huge chunks of time here,  I'm just saying talk to each other.  Ask each other's opinions on matters around the house.  Ask how his day was.  Ask him if there is something you should all do over the weekend. And... wait for it... this is a big one... LISTEN to what he says.  Even if you can only handle about 10 minutes before you go to bed at night, try to have some kind of adult conversation with your husband, preferably about something other than the kiddos.

• What is going on in the news around the world?
• Did you see that funny video so-and-so posted on Facebook today?
• Did you see how pretty our yard is now that the flowers are blooming?

What are some topics you like to talk to your husband about?

Always Fight Fair

Today I would really like to talk about relationships.  This is something I've been thinking about adding to the blog for a while, but have only touched on the subject here and there.  Today I'd like to talk about the rocky times.  About the times when you are grinding on each other's nerves and are maybe fighting more than you should.  Something I've had to learn the hard way over the years is that even when you are fighting with your spouse, you should never take the gloves off and fight dirty.

There are things that you cannot unsay.  When you say mean or hateful things in the heat of the moment, they will linger for much, much longer.  It's a good idea to set up some ground rules in advance for the times when fights happen.  Here are a few things I've learned over the years:

1. Fight in private:  This one should go without saying, but I'm going to say it.  Don't fight and argue in front of your children, your neighbors, your families, anyone.  Table whatever the problem is, go to a private place where you can discuss the issue and don't yell for all the world to hear.  Also, don't get on social media to gripe either openly or vaguely about your issues.  (This should be a general rule in life, not just in your relationship.)  Don't vent to everyone you see.  If you must vent, you need to have that one person you can trust to be open minded and encourage you to fix the issue, not to jump on your side and tell you that you are right all the time.  

2.  Don't use the Dirty D Word:  That's right, Divorce.  God gave you your husband to be your help and companion for the rest of your life.  He didn't plan for you to get a divorce and you shouldn't use is as a threat. Ever.  If you get to a point where either of you are even considering the possibility, you should take a time out.  It you think about it regularly, you probably need to seek out some help. Ask a trusted friend who can be impartial, talk to an elder in your church, seek out a certified counselor, find someone you can talk to to help sort things out and get to a better place.

3.  Don't say things just to hurt one another:  Fights happen because you disagree with one another, this is already a rocky time in your relationship.  Don't say things to intentionally hurt each other, it only makes things worse.  The end goal of any fight should be a compromise on one or both parts, this will not be achieved if you are attacking each other.  Don't bring up old arguments, don't bring up things you consider to be character flaws, stay on point.  Only talk about the issue at hand, this is not a time to hash out everything you perceive to be wrong with your spouse.

4.  It's not about winning:  Think about this, if you always "win" when you fight, that means your husband always "loses".  Now you are married to a loser.  Is this what you really want?  Is this how you really feel about the man you pledged to love until death do you part?  Is this how you want to feel about him?  No.  I didn't think so.  Everyone has to compromise at some point.  Go into these situations looking for a real solution and trying to work together, not trying to win and get things your way all the time.

5.  Encourage each other in the off season:  You can be proactive about fights and arguments.  If you always try to find things you appreciate about each other and you encourage each other in your everyday life, you will be less likely to get to the point of having actual fights.  I'm not saying they will never happen, but if you are constantly trying to see the positive in each other, you are more likely to come to a solution before fights even start.

Remember, your husband is NOT your enemy.  You have to stand united, even when you are in a fight.  If you don't follow the rules and you start disrespecting each other, you open the door up wide for the actual enemy to get his claws into your marriage.  My marriage and my life are definitely not perfect, but I have come a long way.  I have had to learn some of these things the hard way and I hope you can use some of these tips to save yourself some pain and heartache.

What is the best marriage advice you ever received?

Mornings aren't my thing

Hub's alarm went off at 3:45am like so many other Monday mornings.  Difference this week was that I couldn't go back to sleep!  I tossed and turned for an hour and a half before I finally gave up and got up to start my day.  I made breakfast, I moved some laundry around and I even did a couple workout videos!  Very productive morning!

Smoothie and eggs

Smoothie ingredients

I should be eating this healthy and working out everyday anyway, but today I have to tell you about an even more important reason for me to get and stay healthy!

I'm PREGNANT!

WITH TWINS!

Crazy, huh?  

What is the worst pregnancy advice you have ever heard?

Harry Potter and the Major Procrastinator

Remember how I skipped YA when I was young?  Not only did I skip it, but I rolled my eyes at adult who were reading it.  How little did I know when I was a YA!  (This is true is SO many ways, but that is another post.)  My mother has been a fan of Harry Potter since the 90s.  She has been telling me for YEARS that I'm missing out by not reading them and I have been ignoring her or rolling my eyes for years.  She found a way to make me read the first book.  She started the book club.

Mom knows that if she assigns a book to the book club, I will read it.  I forced myself through Eat, Pray, Love even though it took me 3 months to finally finish it.  To date, I have only skipped one book in book club and that was because I was too busy listening to Harry Potter.  That's right folks, I've been won over.  Princess and I are both listening to the books on Audible.  We're both on the 4th book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and looking forward to getting through the whole series.  I likely won't review each book as there are already millions of fans and reviews out there and I'm a little late at this point, but so far I really enjoy the stories.

Since starting this book blog and joining a book club I've gotten way out of my comfort zone with reading and I'm happy to say that it is okay.  I've read LOTS of stuff that I would never have read.  While I didn't enjoy everything out of my comfort zone, I have found lots of gems.  If you are stuck on one genre or in a rut, take a suggestion from someone and actually read the suggestion.  This blog has lots of reviews of things you should read, your local librarian would LOVE to help you find something new and there are book clubs all over the place.  Check out a list on GoodReads or just ask friend.  Read something different, it's good for you!

What book would you recommend I read?  Be patient, I'm only half way through HP!

Because I haven't run away forever

Hello Dear Friends!

Great news!  I have NOT fallen off the earth or been attacked by zombies or gotten lost in the woods.  Sadly, I didn't get my letter to Hogwarts, haven't been to visit Eretz, or been on holiday in Wonderland.  Life has been happening.  You know how it can go sometimes; kids, work, reading books, watching Netflix, life can be busy!  Have no fear, though, I will talk about the things I'm reading and maybe some shows I've been watching and lots of other stuff from life soon.  In the mean time, how about some photos!

Super nephew

Dog treats

Crafty stuff

Silly Princess