Then We Went on a Trip!

Well friends! I'm home from a lovely vacation out at Bear Lake! It was my first time at Bear Lake, I've driven by Bear Lake and made a stop once by it on a road trip before, but I hadn't stopped long enough to enjoy the lake. I was really excited for this trip to see what all the fuss was with Bear Lake.

 Probably the biggest highlight for me was discovering SUP boards. Super fun! We initially had thought to rent a Jetski for an hour with my birthday money...but we decided a cheaper rental might be better to get more hours out on the lake. Can I tell you...TOTALLY worth it. I loved this!

 

Can you believe how blue that water is? It was clear too! You could see straight down to the bottom anywhere on the lake. We had fun spotting fish swimming nearby...and my husband had fun knocking me off the board and otherwise dunking me. Everyone was happy...most of the time. 

We were somewhat successful in our camping attempt. Neither one of us had been camping in a few years; there really is a skill to camping and you can get out of practice at. Despite that we were pad/mattress-less, forgot pillows and only brought 4 ounces of bug repellant (Which was way bad with the mosquito population at our lakeside campsite! We needed more like a half gallon!) we were able to have a good time. I'm lucky my husband is so clever and made us pizza for dinner over a fire. If nothing else, we ate very well. 

It was a great trip to get out of Happy Valley for a little while and enjoy some clear air and free time. I got to enjoy some writing. I've been on a poetry bend lately, so I enjoyed sitting on the beach alternating between novel writing and poem writing. I'm hoping some creative juices break loose now that I've had a little time off and I can really plow ahead on a great novel. In the meantime...keep an eye out for some poems on this blog soon! (I'm not unpacking my bags and fishing out my notebook just yet...)

Build My Summer Reading List!

To be a good writer, one must be a good reader. I'm the daughter of a librarian, which means I probably had more access to books through my childhood than just about anyone else. I'm not sure why everyone was so surprised when 5 years ago I told everyone I was off to college to be an English major.

To me, I think it seemed only natural for me to study something that would involve the maximum amount of time with my nose in a book and with lots of fresh white paper waiting for one of my million dollar essays. I still remember a strange pamphlet I got from a neighbor about "Women in Science Careers". Someone was catering to my feminist side...but my love for word and rhyme won out for at least the first year of college. Then I guess I became a Finance major just to prove I could. I'm complicated.

I'm blogging today though, to ask for some ideas of what my next book to read should be?

I just finished reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. It was a great book, by the way, it changed the way I look at things. I'm still questioning how true everything in that book is as it is a bit unbelievable but, if nothing else, it provided an interesting perspective on international economics and a politics. Has anyone else read this book? If so, I'd love to have a discussion about it...there was a lot there I just couldn't wrap my brain around. I would like to hear some other perspectives.

Now, I'm on the search for more reading material. I am currently writing a fantasy-type novel. So I'd like to read something in that vein. I wouldn't mind having science fiction recommendations as well. 

As an odd request...I particularly enjoy a good horror novel. I've been through the Steven King circuit already,  and I'd like to hear of some other authors and titles that I could read that will keep me up at 3AM...or at least REALLY awake at my late shift at work. (I've finally trained myself to be a night owl, sort of...I can't say my inner morning bird is too pleased.)

High School is Over...

Recently I saw a YouTube video that for humor sang about how after high school your life will now forever suck. It was humorous, I'll say that much. It's always great fun to laugh at poor kids who's mothers were far too kind and unleash their child in to the world unable to do their own laundry or boil water.

However, my argument to make is that life only gets better after high school. I had a great time in high school. I had a great group of friends, few enemies and really the only thing bad about attending high school was how dreadfully boring classes were. My point is, high school wasn't a horrible experience for me, and yet I feel life only got better after high school.

Yeah, you have to get a job. Yeah, you're paying rent to get your own place. College tuition is too high and you are only 18 and have no idea what you want to study for the next four years. You're faced with decisions that get bigger and bigger each passing year. At first it's just picking friends, boyfriends and classes...then it's picking a career and settling on a spouse, then it's kids and mortgages, then...

But that's what is awesome about life after high school. More responsibilities, but more life you get to live. Your horizons expand. Your adventures that make up your life story continue on and get bigger and better.


High school is five years behind me. So as my wiser, older self (sarcasm to be noted here.) my advice for new graduates is to remember you always have a choice. Always.