Books I Read This Year

Here we go again! One of only 6 post this year :)... Books I've read in 2011:

• Fallen by Lauren Kate
  
• Building You Paparazzi Business by Ryan Daley
  
• See Jane Date by Melissa Senate
• Wicked Games by Jill Myles
• Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie
• Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
• Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
• Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J.K. Rowling
• City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
• Way to Be! by Gordon B. Hinckley
• Sugar and Spice by Lauren Conrad
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• Deceit by Brandilyn Collins
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
• Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Condrad

Favorite book of the year: Divergent
Favorite re-read: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I cry every time)
Most influential book: Start Something That Matters (Read it! You'll want to change the world)

And now I'm looking for book suggestions for 2012! Go!

Copycat

I am a total copycat. I fell in love with this mirror from IKEA:
Isn't it AWESOME?!? It is also $129, whomp whomp....
SO, I conned Brody into helping me make one! I took an old floor length mirror that I've had forever (the frame was held together with Duct tape - HOT) and chucked the frame:
This is the back view of the mirror (photographing mirrors is hard!) Then Brody made me a sweet frame:
And I bought the most amazing orange paint at Home Depot (did you know you can buy sample jars of ANY color for $2.95???) And WAHLAH:
It's so pretty!! And I love the reflection of my alphabet picture in the background (also an IKEA find) :)

Yes, Traci went Camping

We had a lot of fun in Moab with Brody's family over the Memorial Day weekend.

We went 4-wheeling...
And hiking...

Found a giant hole...Did NOT almost fall in, thanks to me...
and stood on top of an arch!
And we got to experience all types of weather.
SUNSHINE
80 mph WIND...

and when we got home, SNOW...boo

And I got to read!!! If you liked the Hunger Games - read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. It's awesome. And here's a Friends quote about books and wind!

Friends Quote:
MONICA: Rachel you have to read this book. It's called Be Your Own Windkeeper. It's about how women need to become more empowered.
PHOEBE: Yeah and oh, and but there's, there's wind and the wind can make us Goddesses. But you know who takes out wind? Men, they just take it.
RACHEL: Men just take out wind?
PHOEBE: Ya-huh, all the time, cause they are the lightning bearers.
RACHEL: Wow.
PHOEBE: Yeah.
RACHEL: Well that sounds kinda cool, kinda like The Hobbit.
MONICA: It is nothing like the Hobbit.

Before and After

We did a little bedroom makeover this week. I've been wanting something gray and yellow for awhile, and of course my Target had the perfect thing. And my handy-man, Brody, helped recover the headboard. I think it turned out pretty great :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Harry Potter Land

It's been a month since Brody and I went to Orlando and I've finally gotten around to blogging about it...sounds about right. It was a spur-of-the-moment vacation and it was wonderful. My favorite part, of course, was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I want to live there. It was magical.
Here are just a few pictures - check out my facebook album for the rest of them :)

Hogwarts Castle

Butterbeer! Sooooo good

Hogsmeade

Blue Man Group

Books I Read This Year

Not sure if anyone has noticed my running list of books I read this year - I totally stole this idea from a friend's blog (hollah Brittney!) But I have realized that the year is now over and so I should probably start this list over...but it hurts me a little to just delete it, so here it is, preserved forever in a blog post:

• Matched by Ally Condie
• Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
• The Confession by John Grisham
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
• Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
• Paradise by Judith McNaught
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
  
• Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peter Meyers
• Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
• Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris
• Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris
• Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Favorite book of the year: The Hunger Games
Favorite re-read: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Most influential book: Our Stolen Future (threw out all my Tupperware after I read this)

And now I'm looking for book suggestions for 2011! Lay 'em on me!

Cozumel

Brody and I were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving week in Cozumel, Mexico with my family. It was a wonderful, warm, and relaxing vacation.

XPLOR - cave swimming, ATVing, and ZIP LINES

SNORKELING

Having a little Marilyn Monroe skirt moment...

Our resort had FLAMINGOS!

and IGUANAS (didn't know they climbed trees...)

It was such a fun week! And it is SOOOO cold in Logan!

Friends Quote:
Phoebe: I think David would probably wanna hear a few lectures.
Ross: Oh, right, because he's a scientist!
Phoebe: No, no, because, you know, he's been in Minsk for 8 years and if he gets too much direct sunlight, he'll die.