Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New things in the new year

It's a new year, time to reflect on the previous year, and look to the next.

In the past year, I've made new friends, accomplished things at work I've never done before, gotten into a fairly regular excercise routine, came out pretty even as far as weight gain/loss, grown my hair out, waxed my eyebrows for the first time, bought a coffee maker, and put Christmas lights up on the house. What accomplishments! :) Haha! You know I'm easily entertained when you read THAT list!

To start the new year off, Jon and I are going to do something we haven't done since our honeymoon (four years ago); we're going to go on a vacation all by ourselves! In one week, we'll be headed to the coast for a cruise! Can you believe it?? I'm pretty proud of us, because it's not like us to do that.

Jon's still skeptical about the cruise life. Our conversation went like this:

Jon: So, do we just sit on the ship?
Me: Oh, no! There's tons of stuff to do! There's times to dress up, go dancing, watch Vegas-like shows, play games, and when the boat gets to a port, we get off and shop for souvenirs!
Jon: . . .
Me: Oh, you don't like any of that, do you.... Well, I plan to sit on the deck and read the whole time.
Jon: Now that, I can do. :)

So that's where we'll be next week: on the deck of a big big boat, in the middle of the big big ocean, reading and relaxing. It's going to be great.

Jon's already stocked up on Shelby Foot's three volume account of the Civil War, so he's good to go. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what to take. Anyone have suggestions for good books? Has anyone read anything by Francine Rivers? She was recommended to me, but I haven't gone to the library, yet. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

12 comments:

  1. Yea for big boats and yea for vacations!!! I expect a souvenir everywhere one of my swimmy suits goes! And I don't mean sand!!!

    Well, I just finished reading Eragon. It was a pretty good book that was pretty much a twist at Lord of the Rings. I just bought the second book, so I'll let you know how it goes. Other than that, my suggestion is to go to Half Price or Barnes and Noble and see what they have laying out. Or perhaps take a look at the best of lists on amazon or bn.com right now for 2006.

    Happy New Years! Happy New Adventures!

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  2. Wait!!!! Are you going to miss my birthday!?? =(

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  3. The "Best Of" lists is a good idea! I'll look into that.

    And we're getting back on the 13th, so we'll be back for your birthday. :)

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  4. Wahoo!!! I am thinking Cookie Company Cookie, food and maybe even a murder mystery! What do you think?

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  5. I'm all about the cookie and food!

    And as long as I have a pillow to cover my eyes, and a Jon to hang onto, I'm all for the murder mystery!

    :)

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  6. @Teresa: If you read this, I notice you have a Francine Rivers series in your profile. So I'm guessing you like her? Would you just recommend that series, or anything she's written?

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  7. I was just about to comment with a list of Francine Rivers stuff. Redeeming Love is a must and its my favorite. The second best is the first book of a three part series called Mark of the Lion. But I only own the first one, so if you borrow it, you should check out/buy/borrow book two to take because it has a very suspenseful ending. I have two more by her "And thre shofar blew" and "The scarlet thread" which are pretty good but not as good as the others. You can borrow the if you want. When do yall leave?

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  8. I am in to Christian fiction and highly recommend Penelope Stokes' "The Blue Bottle Club" is wonderful! I LOVED it! I also recommend Karen Kingsbury. If you are in to non-fiction, books by Corrie Ten Boom "My Hiding Place" and "In my Father's House" are super. They are about her life growing up in WWII Holland and as a missionary! Super! Very inspirational!

    I also just finished reading "The Pursuit of Happyness" by Chris Gardner. It is very full of graphic, unchristian things and had lots of not so good language in it. It is, however, much better than the movie, although Will Smith and his son did a fantastic job acting! :)

    I haven't read any Francine Rivers but am thinking I should after reading your blog!

    Have fun on your second honeymoon!

    CLVance

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  9. Have fun on the big boat. Where will your boat be landing? You can give me ideas because this whole island trip planning is kind of overwelming! Which resort, etc. No clue...love ya!

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  10. @Teresa: Thanks for the F.R. list. I went to the library, and only found one, The Scarlet Thread. Sorry to hear that's not the best one, but maybe they'll have another when I return this one. Also got another (very random) book called Watering Elephants, I think. I'll write a review when I get it read.

    @CL: Good to see a comment from you! Wow! And thanks for the book recommendations. I'll look for them on my next trip to the library.

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  11. I'm not really a reader, but that's one of my new year's resolutions... ha! To read more books!

    I am very proud of you for planning a vacation.

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  12. I took 3 books on my vacation. Two of them I had read half of and intended to finish them plus read the 3rd completely. HA HA! I only finished one of the half-done ones! There's so much to do on a ship, and I am at the stage in my marriage that I can go off for the day and don't have to sit by hubby for him to be happy. Since he's asleep anyway, what does it matter if I'm there or taking a class? hmmm

    I know you'll have a blast on your trip!
    BON VOYAGE!!

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