Tea For Me. Tea For You.

I am sitting in the tea shop (shocker) and it dawned on me that I haven't had anything frozen like a frappe in so long.
I decided to fix that. Instead of just a pot of tea, I got a chai tea frappe. It's so frozen and delicious. 

Plus, I've been doing so much better on my diet lately so I figured I deserved something frozen. I've been running every morning (except for this morning) to get in training for the Cheetah Chase 5K at Binder Park Zoo in June. I'll be doing my run closer in the evening tonight when its cooler outside. 

There are two 'races' in the Cheetah Chase. 

One is the Gazelle Gallop (the run). Or you can do the Sloth Walk (the walk). I'm signed up to do the run portion because I feel like I'm going to be so ready to do that. When I started training, I had forgotten how much I loved running. At first, it sucks. You're wheezing and heaving and feeling like you're about to die, but once I hit my stride, I feel powerful and fast and unstoppable. 

I love the burn I feel in my legs when I've reached my limits and can push myself through it. Plus, I have my favorite radio station as an App on my phone so it gives the most uplifting music to listen to ... and that keeps me going too. 

Speaking of the Binder Park Zoo, they just opened up for the season. The bear exhibit is now open and I WANT TO SEE!!! 

I'll bet they're really cute and climbing up trees and having fun because they're so young. I can't help it. I love the zoo. 

I have been reading that romance novel I mentioned in  my last post. I admit it, it's actually really good. I didn't have the highest hopes right away because I've never read Mary Balogh before ... but now I'm hooked. The main guy, Vincent, is blind and the way Balogh describes his world is fascinating. She does a really great job keeping up the fact that he can't see so everything from his perspective is all described by touch, hearing, smell, and taste. It's actually kind of interesting. For example, instead of just writing 'He picked up the tea cup and took a sip', Balogh writes instead something like 'The smell of bergamot assaulted his senses and the taste of the Earl Grey went down his throat like a bitter medicine'.

I made that sentence up, but you get the idea. Focusing on the other four senses instead of sight makes the reading experience that much better. 

However, I can't wait until I get to the next book on my list. I'm FINALLY going to read Cinders and Sapphires by Leila Rasheed. 

It's a Young Adult book about a girl named Rose Cliffe who goes to this house to be a lady's maid to Ada Averley who is about her age. For the first time, Rose has a chance to make a friend, even if that friend is her employer. And when a scandal surrounds Ava's father, they depend on their friendship to get through it. 

I got it for a STEAL from a bookstore in Grand Rapids that was closing down. I HATE when bookstores have to close due to business being slow. I wish I could say that I had a plan to make bookstores come back in popularity again, but I don't. I'm just one person after all. It's one of the things that breaks my heart though. When I was little and my heart set on being an author, I also had this idea that I would open my own bookstore where I could sell my own books as well as other local authors and have my own coffee bar/tea shop and have a stage for poetry readings or author signings. 

But in today's world? I don't know if it'd make it. 

For my SECOND big book recommendation, I wanted to share another book on my To Read List that I found. 

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L'eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she'll have inside information about the mysterious L'eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara's blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn't sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L'eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn't seem more alien. She's certain about one thing though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn't just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life-not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

Doesn't that sound good? I thought so. I read this on the cover jacket and was like 'MUST. READ.' I'm on the waiting list for it at the library. I would get it at work but it's not there. Sadness! *sighs* I love Sci-Fi stories. I might have to try and share some more of those on here. I tend to get carried away with other genres for a while and then come back to some of the favorites. Like Terri Pratchett or Neil Gaiman or Ray Bradbury or Brandon Sanderson. 

All right, I'll leave you all for now, but I'll be back and with more inspiration to share with you all. 
Until then, I remain your faithful blogger

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn

Easter Is Tomorrow

So tomorrow is the holiday with the bunny and the eggs and the chocolate. 

No it's not. 

I mean ... yes it is ... but it's not. Easter is all about celebrating the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and saved us ALL from dying with our sins. 
This year, I did something a little different than I normally do for this day. Typically, we go to a family member's house for a nice dinner but ... due to the fact that my cousin Karissa is very VERY close to having her baby ... we're having a nice dinner at our own house. No big deal. So this year, I went out and got a couple of LITTLE things for my family. I even wrapped them up in pretty paper.

It's kind of my way of saying 'Thanks and I'll work on being more responsible'
Normally, this is the part where I'd tell you what I purchased, but my family reads this and it would spoil the surprise. :P

Speaking of the Easter bunny though ... I'm willing to share a bit of my childhood with you. THIS is what I thought the Easter Bunny looked like when I was little. 

I just thought that it was a normal sized PINK bunny that ran all over the yard, hiding eggs that were filled chocolatey deliciousness. 
It was the only explanation that made sense. Little rabbits can hide really well. That giant THING at the mall that torments children? Too obvious! You'd notice that in seconds. 

It's funny how these little traditions get started. My one big question is ... how did the concept of the bunny and eggs come into play? No amount of googling can give me that as a straight answer, I'm afraid. If ANYONE knows this, I'd love to know. Leave it in the comments and I will thank you with a smile and virtual hug. 

So this past Christmas ... my parents had gotten me a blu-ray player. I opened the box a couple of weeks after that and realized that it hadn't come with a very important cord. Sold separately, of course. It took a long time,  but I had finally gotten a cord and was trying to figure out how to get it plugged into my tv. I hadn't wanted to just jam it in and break it after all. I have a bit of a timid nature. *laughs* Last night, my sister comes in and in ... about five seconds, she plugged in both ends of the cords, turns on the tv. Guess what? It worked. I was so excited that I watched the Little Mermaid. I couldn't believe it was that easy. 
Now I feel like I need to go through all my blu-ray movies and watch them ALL on this new player. So that means I have Avatar the Last Airbender, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, 2012 (yes, I love the dumb disaster movies. No judging), The Little Mermaid, and my Oceans documentary. 

I won't be spending all my time with the TV though. I have way, way, WAY too many books to get through. I actually made a stack of SOME of the books that I have not currently read and it came to above my knee. I might have to admit to a problem sometime soon. Maybe. Not likely. But maybe. 
The book I JUST finished today was one that I wanted to share since Easter is tomorrow and everything. 

Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect Of The Holy Spirit by Francis Chan is written for any Believer who has fallen into this trap of neglecting the Spirit of God. 
Sadly, I myself have found myself in this position too. 
When Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised that He would send the Counsellor or the Helper to us. Francis Chan discusses how sometimes we live in awareness of the Father and the Son, but we forget that we also have the Spirit who guides us who loves us as well. 

It was a very enlightening read and I do recommend it.

Another book I read very recently is this one. 

The Museum Of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman 
This is a book about Coralie Sardie. She lives with her father above his museum where exhibits like the Butterfly Girl (a girl with no arms and her face painted like a monarch), the Wolf Man (a heavily bearded and hairy man with an appetite for books), and Coralie herself as the Mermaid are featured. She's treated not like a treasure, but a possession by her father and when she falls in love with a photographer named Eddie, it only makes her vindictive and vicious father hold on tighter. 
Set during the tragic events of 1911 on Coney Island, Alice Hoffman writes the tale of Coralie in a poetic and beautiful fashion that captured my attention from page one. 

Last Friday, my friend Stephen came to visit for a couple of days from Washington. I showed him my pile of books that I had currently not read yet too. He showed no surprise. I think that was a good indication that he knows me too well. *laughs* He was the friend that finally made me finish the Divergent series. So to Stephen ... I finally FINISHED Allegiant. I'm a little sad still. I hated the ending and when I get a chance to update my Goodreads, you'll see the rating I felt I HAD to give this book. 

Now ... on to the book I just moved onto. It was literally the first book I picked up off the top of that particular pile. It is .... a romance novel. BAM! 

Don't worry, as you all know, I only read the TASTEFUL romance novels. 
The Arrangement by Mary Balogh 

Desperate to escape his mother’s matchmaking, Vincent Hunt, Viscount Darleigh, flees to a remote country village. But even there, another marital trap is sprung. So when Miss Sophia Fry’s intervention on his behalf finds her unceremoniously booted from her guardian’s home, Vincent is compelled to act. He may have been blinded in battle, but he can see a solution to both their problems: marriage.
 
At first, quiet, unassuming Sophia rejects Vincent’s proposal. But when such a gloriously handsome man persuades her that he needs a wife of his own choosing as much as she needs protection from destitution, she agrees. 

So far, the book is kinda funny. I'm not disappointed with Balogh's writing style. But I do have one criticism that I know is not the author's fault. The cover. Really? They just had to have the guy's shirt open ALL THE WAY. *laughs* I feel like the photographer was thinking something along the lines of this: 

Photographer: Okay, [model] this is for a book cover. Look historical.
Model: How about this? 
Photographer: Could you unbutton the top buttons of the shirt? Great! That's REAL historically sound, right there. Guys did that all the time.
Model: *poses*
Photographer: Oh wait. You have really great abs. Let's unbutton the whole shirt.

*head smack* Why don't we just go back to the Fabio lookalikes too, why don't we? If I was to ever write a romance novel (let's face it, I'm going to need the cash), I think I want a say on the cover. So I would say .. no girls with their chests practically falling out of their shirts/dresses/etc. and no guys bearing shirtless facades and a sour expression. I put my foot down on this. 

Jeanne, I think you'd like this book, though. Ignore my humor about the cover. 

All right, I think I'm going to end this for now. It's been a long time since my last post after all. I would hate to overwhelm my beloved readers with too much. I hope you enjoyed. 

I really AM going to get better about posting on a proper schedule. Really. With summer approaching, I'm bound to improve, correct? 

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn