The First Year by Crystal Liechty

This is a story about Beth. She and her friends are all newly married but they find out quickly that married life isn't as easy as it looks. And when an old boyfriend shows up, things get even more confusing. Beth must learn to stop making a joke of everything and look inside herself for the answers.

I think that many newlyweds can relate to the things that Beth experiences during her first year of marriage. I found familiar people in the characters of the book. No one was perfect, but everyone was doing the best they knew how. And in the end they kept trying and that was the most important part.

Crystal Liechty had a fresh, almost irreverent style, and she infused the book with humor that kept me smiling. I will be interested to see what her next book brings.

A Well-Spent Afternoon

We took an afternoon trip to Waterton Lakes National Park today. The park is about an hour from home, but I don't spend nearly as much time up there as I could. The kids and I go maybe once a year. My step-mom, on the other hand, has a year pass to the park and goes up there whenever she can. She isn't from Alberta, so maybe for me it is a case of not appreciating the things in my own back yard.

Waterton is a popular tourist attraction and whenever I'm there I always hear a group or two speaking in some European language. My family plays the license plate game to see who can find the plate from the farthest away. Today it was Florida. Again I wonder why I don't get up there more often. What am I missing that people fly all the way from Europe and drive across the United States to see.

There is so much to do in Waterton. As we drove into the park, we passed the stables and I remembered the trail rides we used to go on when I was a teenager. It immediately went on my list of things to do with my own children. Then I remembered the ferry that goes around the lake, taking us all the way over to the American side in Glacier Park. Another thing to put on the list. Then I thought about the "Summit" hike. The hike takes all day, but has some of the most breath-taking scenery. (I am certainly not in shape for that type of hike this year, but it will make a great goal for next year.) We used to do this hike during young women's camp. We almost always saw interesting wildlife along the way, even the occasional bear.

I guess I don't take enough time to stop and enjoy the scenery. Even today, I hesitated to go because there were so many things at home that needed to be done. I have a hard time stopping the roller coaster and getting off once in awhile. And yet the trip was worth it. The kids had a great time, we were in the great outdoors, we spent time together as a family and the memories made this afternoon will linger long after the day ends. It was a much better use of my time than more hours staring at the computer screen. And who knows what little tidbits from today will end up in a story.

Happy Heritage Day

Today is the day Alberta celebrates Heritage Day and also my birthday. We don't do much for the Heritage Day part of the holiday. My favorite was that I didn't have to babysit any children today and mine were at the swimming pool for most of the afternoon. I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed having the house to myself. It happens so rarely, I felt kind of lost for at least fifteen minutes. I got over it quickly, pulled out the laptop and worked for hours without any interruptions. So nice of the government to have a holiday on my birthday.

Anyway, about Heritage Day. I got to thinking about the heritage around me. I see it every day when I go to the post office and pick up the mail. This town was built over a hundred years ago and there are some great old buildings to remind me of that heritage. We lived in a hundred year old house for awhile and I still miss the character that infused the home. New houses just aren't built that way anymore.

I also believe Canada has a great heritage as does the United States. Since I have dual citizenship, I feel free to appreciate my heritage from both countries and like to think that I've taken the best parts of both of them. This is the heritage of my family. We have great stories I love to hear and traditions I love to take part in. I am actively trying to pass that heritage on to my children and trying to teach them to really appreciate where they come from.

One of my favorite ways to learn and teach my kids about where they come from is through old family journals and the family histories that have been recorded over the years. I'm sure many of those who kept the journals had no idea that 150 years later a grand-daughter would be reading their day-to-day thoughts, and finding them fascinating. I've kept my fair share of journals. Maybe someday my posterity will find some sort of fascination with my life.

Another heritage I hope to leave my family is my other writing. It may not be a journal, but everything I write contains part of me. Every story is a piece of my being put on paper for the world to examine. So since I did some writing today, I guess I did celebrate Heritage Day in my own quiet way.

Early gift...

My husband surprised me last week with an early birthday gift. Okay, usually I don't like early birthday gifts...it leaves me with nothing to look forward to, but I'll forgive him this time because I have had so much fun playing with it all week. It is a new laptop. We have been talking for some time about the need for one because I always have to fight for computer time to get any work done on my writing.

It is really hard to kick the kids off the computer when they are doing genealogy or researching some strange topic that fascinates them. (They also spend plenty of time playing games, but that is another topic entirely.) So it has been very nice this week to open up my own machine and work whenever the muse strikes, or whenever the work just needs to be done.

I'm not telling you this to get birthday wishes or brag about my new toy, but I tell you this because I want to share the constant amazement and appreciation I feel for my husband. Every day he encourages me to follow my dreams and reach for lofty goals. He spends time on the internet learning about the LDS book market and the publishing industry so he can knowledgeably help support and promote my work. When we meet people and they ask what I do, he tells them I write novels, even though I don't have a published book to show for it yet. He constantly tells me what great talent I have and encourages me even when I think I might be wasting time for both of us.

He claims to be my biggest fan and who can argue with that. I guess this is what I am getting at. With my own personal cheering section giving me that kind of support, how can I lose? Because in his eyes, I am already a winner.

HP 7 Book Review

I finally wrested the final Harry Potter book from my son. He was very kind and didn't give away any of the plot and I have been careful no to read spoilers anywhere else. Since everyone has probably already read the book or read other summaries elsewhere, I won't go into that. I enjoyed this book because I loved to see everything finally tied up. I thought JKR did a great job of character development throughout the series and everyone acted the way I expected them to act, which made the ending work for me. I also loved the way she developed place. I could picture every scene and that also made the book come alive.

Being a forgetful reader, I feel like I need to go back to the first book and start again so everything will really make sense. I am amazed at the amount of detail she managed to keep straight in the seven books. The amount of planning must have been enormous. It will be interesting to look back over the other books and note how all the facts lead to the end. I look forward to see what else she comes up with now that this series is done. But really, how do you top that kind of success?

School Supplies

Okay, I know school doesn't start until the end of the month, but we started doing our school shopping this evening. It is much better to start early and avoid the crowds of people all trying to decide exactly which size box of crayons their child needs.

I only took the two girls because my son HATES shopping. (I told him I wasn't buying him any new jeans until the end of the month since he grew a quarter inch in the last week!) We started out with the boring things-socks, underwear, shoes- and then we got to move on to my favorite part. The school supplies. I love looking at pens and pencils, paper and binders, and all the other cool things the kids get to take with them on the first day.

I remember how exciting it was as a kid to spread all my new supplies around me on the living room floor while my mother wrote names on everything, and then arriving at school and carefully placing all those labeled items in my desk. Now it is my turn and I get my trusty permanent marker and write names on each crayon and pencil.

I realized today that I really don't have that many years left. When my last one leaves home, I will have to find new reasons to shop for office supplies. (Maybe since I am a writer, I'll use that as an excuse, although that may not explain the crayons and markers.) My oldest daughter has also developed a love for writing and she collects paper as much as I do. So even when she graduates and doesn't need to make the yearly shopping trip, we can still shop together and stock up on paper to fill with the imaginings of our minds.

The Limits We Place on Ourselves

I’ve come to the conclusion that summer is the craziest time to try writing. Every time I think I am going to come up with a little time, something comes up. So far I am not progressing very quickly on my latest project. I am a little closer, but summer keeps happening.

Not that it’s a bad thing. I’ve taken time off to play with my kids, I went on vacation with my family, other family came here for our town celebrations, I am watching more kids this summer than I planned on, and my primary president is having a baby in a week or two, so the rest of us need to pick up her job for a little while. These are all good things, but they sure get in the way of what I feel driven to do.

“There are no limits to what we can achieve except for those we place upon ourselves.” –anon. I heard this quote a few weeks ago and it got me thinking about the things we let get in the way of our dreams. We can’t turn off our family, work or church obligations, and really, why would we want to? They are only limits because we allow them to be. These things make our lives complete and surround us with people who love us, and ideally support us in our dreams.

Without that support we would have a hard time achieving our dreams at all. Sometimes I think we use all those other obligations as excuses. So how can we take those limits and make them work for us? When I let my family know how important writing is to me, they become my greatest supporters. When I fill my church callings without complaint, I find more energy for other pursuits. And the extra kids I watch, well, at least I am home, so I can take the spare moments and type a few words. Suddenly, the possibilities seem endless and I know anything is possible.