Book Review: Calico Ball

I love clean romances. This wonderful collection of stories was fantastic in so many ways. 

In The Keeper of the Western Door, we meet Mary Blue Eye who has journeyed with her friend but finds herself to be less of a friend and more of a servant. Enter Sergeant Blade who turns out to be not just a friend, but a help made for Mary's difficult transition to life in the West. This story was light-hearted and endearing. It never got too serious, stuffy or overly romantic/dramatic. It was the perfect touch of honesty with story-telling and a great start to the collection.

From there, we meet Patrick and Mirabelle in A Convenient Arrangement where we learn that, while convenience in marriage is certainly a plus, one must take care not to neglect the feelings of the heart. Stirring and poignant, this tale made me reflect on if I am not only clear in my expectations in my marriage but if I am truly giving what my spouse needs. It was a tender tale that reached deep into my thoughts and feelings in ways I did not expect.

Isabella & Henry are dentists who make an unlikely team in the next tale Isabella's Calico Groom. This story is connected to other short stories I have read and the addition of these new characters to a town of strong women in the West was enchanting. I liked seeing glimpse of other familiar characters in this story and yet it was completely Isabella and Henry's own. 

This collection throughout was charming and fun - giving life to new characters without being a 'dramatic romance'. Each was well-written and the stories were matched well to each other even as they were unique. 

GOODREADS

AMAZON

Book Review: The Promise of Home

I have honestly and truly enjoyed each of the books in the Hearthfire Romance (Scottish Historical) series. While secretly I think my ultimate favorite was the second one (A Promise for Tomorrow), each has a really fantastic tale to tell and a story that is made more beautiful in its completeness with this third chapter.

Katie and Collin have the most fantastic relationship with each of them giving so much of themselves to the other, yet neither sacrificing the best of who they are. As they prepare to leave England for America, they find themselves facing unforeseen dangers and complications - including bringing along Katie's younger brother, finding Ian's lost brother, and more. The story has a dynamic plot and characters that fill your heart and mind. I loved it and read the last couple of chapters more than once. ;)

Find it on Goodreads and Amazon

July

July has been different. I'm still puzzling over whether different is good or bad or somewhere in between. Right now, it is just different.

We had a great couple of days with Daniel's sister Lorraine & her family coming to visit. We desperately needed some family time and they just at the perfect moment for us to take some time off and do some playing. Lorraine is the third of Daniel's siblings to visit us in Vernal and it was fun to visit the Dinosaur Monument, have them try out the guest room, and show them the fun things we do like ice cream and playing at the theatre. It was a beautiful few days and Hannalyn still looks at pictures from the trip that have her cousins in them. <3

I have been busy with "Annie, Jr" - a production at the theatre made entirely of students ages 6-16. It's been a blast and a lot of work. The kids come so hungry and so ready and so excited with all sorts of enthusiasm to be onstage, so even though there are things that are hard about it (ie wrangling 71 youth), it has been an extremely rewarding experience and one that I am very grateful for. We perform next week after only three weeks of rehearsal so it's been a whirlwind of everything, but I'm truly enjoying myself.

In other news . . . there really isn't any other news. Things continue on and we continue on with them. I sometimes feel like I'm learning and growing and sometimes feel like I'm not. I am confident that that is also part of life, however. So I don't worry about it too much. Mostly I'm just trying to soak up all the time I can with Hannalyn before she goes to school and I'm all alone all day. I have no idea what I'm going to do. Probably go clean the theatre or something. Ha!

May God's blessings be on you.
xo
me

Prepping for Season 3 (and a video)

I can hardly believe that we are getting ready to begin Season 3 at Vernal Theatre: LIVE.

It seems like yesterday we were hoping we'd have the keys in time to clean, hoping we'd have the scripts in time to rehearse enough to prepare for opening the first show, praying that someone - anyone! - would come!

Wow.

And now on to Season 3. The work, time, talent, love, dedication that has been given to this theatre is immense and truly amazes me. I am so grateful for the amazing people that I have met and who have blessed my life so completely. I am honored to be a small part of what is happening.

Here is a video showing a little bit of what Vernal Theatre: LIVE has been up to. This was recorded during our run of The Secret Garden, so the cast members you see are from that production:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkJaJvhda_Q

our trip

We had the awesome opportunity to go on our first family vacation in 4 years last weekend and it was SO great. So needed, so timely, so perfect for us, so everything.

We left at 5:30am on Friday morning and drove all the way to American Fork before stopping. Hannalyn slept the whole way and Daniel slept most of it (clearly that means I was driving). It was a nice drive, the fires hadn't started yet, and traffic was mostly clear. We met brother P & sister-in-law L at IHOP (I refuse to call it IHOb. how lame) for breakfast and had so much fun sitting and talking and eating delicious breakfasts. Really, it just reconfirmed to me how much better IHOP is than Denny's. I just can't even guys.

Then we drove to Thanksgiving Point to visit the dinosaur museum. My brother T joined us, as well as the Meg & her boyfriend. We did the museum twice because Hannalyn had ALL the energy and would not. stop. running. We couldn't keep her in one place for more than a millisecond before she was off looking at the next thing. It was great fun, though. We spent a couple hours wandering and playing and looking at weird exhibits or cool exhibits. It's a really great place - family friendly and very accessible to all ages. And open so that little ones can run without running into too many others. Whether that is a pro or con I haven't decided yet. Ha! It was great.

We all had lunch at JDawgs (please come to Vernal!) then the three of us piled back into our car to begin the second part of our trek to St George. Hannalyn fell asleep immediately, then woke up 30 minutes later when we stopped for gas in Santaquin and would not go back to sleep. It was so sad. She was exhausted from running around but . . . alas. Thankfully, she was content to jabber at Daniel and look at her books and toys we'd brought so I still got to sleep for an hour or so. The drive was nice again - made it to St George only seeing one small fire and just before dinner. We met up with my cousin who is going to school down there for dinner before checking into our motel and going for a swim. It was SO nice to swim. Hannalyn didn't love it, but gradually allowed herself to get pulled in and held as we bounced around. (have I mentioned her dislike of water? oi. it's an adventure)

Then we drove up to Tuacahn for 'Matilda'. Hannalyn went to Show Care and had a great time playing with all the little kids and Daniel & I loved 'Matilda'. It was such a fun show to see and get so many ideas for the theatre, both now and hopefully for when we someday do it. ;) Hannalyn fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and stayed asleep even as she almost fell out of my arms walking into the hotel. Talk about a dead weight. She was out. It was really funny.

We slept in the next morning and had breakfast at the motel. Then Daniel's sister R and her family came to swim with us! Hannalyn was in cousin heaven - she really really loves playing with other kids her age and something about them being cousins (whether she actually understands that or not I'm not sure) makes her extra happy to see them and extra sad when they leave. We had so much fun swimming and talking in the pool. Hannalyn was even willingly going in further with the kids than she'd do with me or Daniel so that was a double-bonus! After a good swim, we found an amazing taco place for lunch and then we all napped.

The afternoon found us playing mini golf and other arcade games which Hannalyn found absolutely fascinating. She really loves golf. It's so fun to watch her wack the ball around. She gets it. Then we went to dinner before heading back up to Tuacahn, this time to see 'Cinderella'. Hannalyn joined us for this one and she loved the beginning and end, but got really restless in the middle. We watched the last part of Act I and first part of Act II from the walkway above the seating so she wouldn't be distracting to those around us. Other than her wiggles, it was a great experience and I still really loved the show. A classic, with some fun changes that really enhance the story in my opinion.

We made it to the motel late, fell asleep quickly, and didn't wake up to the alarm meant to send us on our way! After we rushed to check out, we drove to Spanish Fork to join brother P and fam for church. We made it just in time and I loved holding their baby for sacrament meeting. Everytime I held him, he'd start singing to me. I may have swooned a little bit. ;) And Hannalyn loved being with her baby cousin, so it was a win all around.

We stopped at a park for lunch before heading home to Vernal. We made it just before dinner and so spent the evening recuperating with my parents before coming home to unpack.

3 days, 2 nights. So much fun. We really need to do it again . . . sooner than 4 years from now. ;)